Dub Translation and Overall Presentation Issue

[DEMOLITION D+]

Hey, just out of curiosity, I was wondering why some of the audio from the Japanese Evangelion and the English Evangelion was so unecessarily changed?

For instance, Unit-01's roar sounds ten times more intimidating in the Japanese audio compared to the English dub's, so why was the change even made? Seems so unnecessary. And don't even get me started on the EoE "brain splatter" sound effect put in by Amanda Win Lee and her team of retards when Misato shoots the JSSDF guy in the dome (really? Stupidest thing in the entire world...)

And one more thing, this time in favor of the English over the Japanese dub- Asuka speaks German at appropriate times during the show, effectively giving her more personality and apparent German heritage. But I noticed that at some points when she curses or says little phrases in German in the English dub, she is simply speaking Japanese in the Japanese dub. Was this just a little tid bit put in by the English VA's? If so, the Japanese could learn a thing or two, I love hearing Asuka's infamous "Mein gott!" line.

THANKS AHEAD OF TIME!

Completely Different Post That Was Moved Here:
Hey, something I find very unsettling is how the Japanese dub, English sub, and English dub are all essentially 3 different versions of what the characters are saying in Evangelion. It makes it hard to recall famous one liners and feel cool saying them when you're not even sure if that line is 100% what the characters are really saying. It makes it hard to believe that I have the full Eva experience when I watch Episode 22 in English and then watch it in Japanese with subtitles and see/hear, no lie, literally TWO DIFFERENT SENTENCES WITH TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT MEANINGS.

My question is, how is this? I don't understand. What I do understand is that Japanese is hard to directly translate to English in that many different things can be interpretted different ways.

But what I don't understand is how something can go from, "I'm glad for you Asuka." "Shut up! What is there to be glad about?" in the English subs to "Hey Asuka, I'm glad you're okay." "Shut up! Who the hell is okay!?" in the English dub.
Sub: "I had to be rescued by HER."
Dub: "That little bitch, that little bitch rescued me!"

I'm sorry but do the Japanese have a word for bitch? If so, was it used in that previous line? If so, WHY do the subs not include it? If the word was not used, WHY does the dub include it? I just can't comprehend how inconcievably different these two forms of translations are. It really make me wonder, what the hell is actually being said? Is it EITHER of those things? Or something completely different? And if so, I MUST be missing out on a lot of important information throughout the series.

And here is a more prominent example.
Sub: "I hate it! I hate it! I hate everyone! I hate everyone so much!"
Dub: "I hate her! I hate you Shinji! I hate everything!"

......... Okay now clearly, there has to be some distinction as to whether or not Asuka told Shinji she hated him. THERE HAS TO BE. Either she told him that she hated him, or she didn't, so how come we have to possible translations here? I don't get it. And I'm pretty sure it is very important and more emotionally effective if she did tell him that, instead of just saying she hated everything. I mean if you were Shinji, which one would hurt you more? A generalization, that may or may not include you directly- or a certain, "I hate you Shinji!"

It makes it hard to connect with the character, because God knows I want to, and I wanna know how Shinji and Asuka are feeling and put myself in their places, but if I don't know what the hell they're even saying, then it just feels like a bunch of grey area.

Am I expected to watch the dub with the subtitles going and try and absorb it all in one stride all while making my own interpretation in order to comprehend and fully experience what the Japanese viewers are experiencing?



Sorry for the outburst, but really to sum it up for you: I just find it gut wrenchingly horrid that such polar opposites can be interpretted from one line (and I'm sure you know already, but believe me, there are plenty more examples throughout the series). This could also lead to some dangerous misinterpetations, considering Evangelion is such a detailed work.

[Joseph the PRPD]

The extra german in the dub I think had been added in by the VAs cuz they wanted to I guess.

Also Amanda Winn Lee is to blame for any odd sound FX in EoE.

As for the roar... I dunno.

[Mr. Tines]

For instance, Unit-01's roar sounds ten times more intimidating in the Japanese audio compared to the English dub's, so why was the change even made?:

Yui-sama was on the dialog track (naturally!), not the SFX track. So when they replaced the dialog track, she needed to be redubbed.

[DEMOLITION D+]

For instance, Unit-01's roar sounds ten times more intimidating in the Japanese audio compared to the English dub's, so why was the change even made?:

Yui-sama was on the dialog track (naturally!), not the SFX track. So when they replaced the dialog track, she needed to be redubbed.

Oh alright, that makes a lot of sense! Still, there was absolutely no way to get that original audio back? Little hard to believe, but still sheds some light on it, thanks

[schismatics]

Also Amanda Winn Lee is to blame for any odd sound FX in EoE.

*brings up memories of that horrible commentary*

[Joseph the PRPD]

I've never heard the EoE commentary...
But I fear it's like some of the commentaries that had been heard from the platinum discs.

[DEMOLITION D+]

Oh I thought the EoE commentary was very good, even if it didn't quite shed much light on what was happening. It was more like just 3 people sitting around talking and joking. But it was from that commentary that I learned that Mrs. Lee was to blame for the brain splatter SFX.... So dumb.

Haven't listened to the Platinum commentaries

[kaji kun]

Haven't listened to the Platinum commentaries

Do yourself a favor: don't. Greenfingers and his boy wonder McCoy will scar you for life, SCAR YOU FOR LIFE I SAY!!!

[DEMOLITION D+]

Haven't listened to the Platinum commentaries

Do yourself a favor: don't. Greenfingers and his boy wonder McCoy will scar you for life, SCAR YOU FOR LIFE I SAY!!!

Well... Now I'm interested xD

[Eva Yojimbo]

EoE commentary is comedy gold but substantially crap.

[DEMOLITION D+]

EoE commentary is comedy gold but substantially crap.

Alright, I'll agree with that :/

First day EoE arrived in the mail I watched it twice in a row with all the blinds shut and the surround sound blasted, then I watched it again with commentary, then my friend came over and was like "What are you doing? And why are your blinds closed?" And then I sat down with her and watched it a fourth time that day....

[DEMOLITION D+]

Hey, something I find very unsettling is how the Japanese dub, English sub, and English dub are all essentially 3 different versions of what the characters are saying in Evangelion. It makes it hard to recall famous one liners and feel cool saying them when you're not even sure if that line is 100% what the characters are really saying. It makes it hard to believe that I have the full Eva experience when I watch Episode 22 in English and then watch it in Japanese with subtitles and see/hear, no lie, literally TWO DIFFERENT SENTENCES WITH TWO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT MEANINGS.

My question is, how is this? I don't understand. What I do understand is that Japanese is hard to directly translate to English in that many different things can be interpretted different ways.

But what I don't understand is how something can go from, "I'm glad for you Asuka." "Shut up! What is there to be glad about?" in the English subs to "Hey Asuka, I'm glad you're okay." "Shut up! Who the hell is okay!?" in the English dub.
Sub: "I had to be rescued by HER."
Dub: "That little bitch, that little bitch rescued me!"

I'm sorry but do the Japanese have a word for bitch? If so, was it used in that previous line? If so, WHY do the subs not include it? If the word was not used, WHY does the dub include it? I just can't comprehend how inconcievably different these two forms of translations are. It really make me wonder, what the hell is actually being said? Is it EITHER of those things? Or something completely different? And if so, I MUST be missing out on a lot of important information throughout the series.

And here is a more prominent example.
Sub: "I hate it! I hate it! I hate everyone! I hate everyone so much!"
Dub: "I hate her! I hate you Shinji! I hate everything!"

......... Okay now clearly, there has to be some distinction as to whether or not Asuka told Shinji she hated him. THERE HAS TO BE. Either she told him that she hated him, or she didn't, so how come we have to possible translations here? I don't get it. And I'm pretty sure it is very important and more emotionally effective if she did tell him that, instead of just saying she hated everything. I mean if you were Shinji, which one would hurt you more? A generalization, that may or may not include you directly- or a certain, "I hate you Shinji!"

It makes it hard to connect with the character, because God knows I want to, and I wanna know how Shinji and Asuka are feeling and put myself in their places, but if I don't know what the hell they're even saying, then it just feels like a bunch of grey area.

Am I expected to watch the dub with the subtitles going and try and absorb it all in one stride all while making my own interpretation in order to comprehend and fully experience what the Japanese viewers are experiencing?



Sorry for the outburst, but really to sum it up for you: I just find it gut wrenchingly horrid that such polar opposites can be interpretted from one line (and I'm sure you know already, but believe me, there are plenty more examples throughout the series). This could also lead to some dangerous misinterpetations, considering Evangelion is such a detailed work.

[NickFury90]

Aw shit African-American brother, here it goes...

[Mr. Tines]

Sub: "I had to be rescued by HER."
Dub: "That little bitch, that little bitch rescued me!"

I'm sorry but do the Japanese have a word for bitch? If so, was it used in that previous line? If so, WHY do the subs not include it?

"Traduttore, traductore" as the Italians put it.

Subs are typically a more literal reading of the original, whereas the dub is (perhaps excessively) localized. And ADV do tend to be highly informal in their dubs (e.g. adding Shinji's outburst "Bullshit!" in Platinum episode 5).

In Japanese, the use of pronouns, rather than names, can be indicative of informality or familiarity. Given the context, Asuka is being rather disparaging about Rei, so the localization is a plausible one.

[Reichu]

Oh alright, that makes a lot of sense! Still, there was absolutely no way to get that original audio back? Little hard to believe, but still sheds some light on it, thanks

I'm sure there was a way; it was just more convenient for them to recreate it (badly). For example, 4Kids, maligned as they are, actually maintained a lot of the Japanese Pokemon "voice performances" in the English dub of that show (including Pikachu, of course).

[thewayneiac]

@ Demolition D+:

One reason for the sort of changes you are talking about is the need to make the dialog match the lip flaps. If you've ever seen a badly dubbed foreign film where the lips keep moving after the voice stops you'll know exactly what I mean. It usually takes longer to say things in Japanese than it does in English, so to make the dub match up they end up having to re-write the line to add extra words. For instance, a simple line like "This is unforgivable!" might become "Do you think I'll ever forgive you for this?"

Changing Sub: "I had to be rescued by HER." to Dub: "That little bitch, that little bitch rescued me!" adds the three sylables needed to match the line to the lip flaps. By definition, this makes dubs less accurate and is an argument against watching them.

[Squirrel Ninja]

inconsistencies etc

One of my professors liked to say way more often than necessary that there's no such thing as a perfect translation. The subs are often going to be the most accurate translation. As they don't have to deal with the inconvenience of good timing, or the incompetence the ADV audio track [Pa-chel-bel, Spencer, rhymes with Taco Bell]. In addition to some warped translations, there's also instances, even in the first episode of just fucking with the script entirely. Example: Cute subtle pun

Misato: Does it really work? I heard that it has never worked yet.

Ritsuko: The possibility of it working is 0.000000001%. O9-system
seems a good name for it.

Misato: You mean it won't work, don't you?

Ritsuko: Oh, how rude you are! It isn't zero.

Becomes:

Misato: Does it really work? It's never worked before has it?

Ritsuko: The possibility of activation is 0.0000000001%. Around here
we just call it the "09 system."

Misato: Does that mean it doesn't work?

Ritsuko: Don't be insulting. Its 09, as in Oni a Japanese Devil.

Clunky, illogical bullshit that makes it sound like they lowered the chance of activation intentionally to make puns.

So in short, take heart that your not alone. Your problem is as old as translation itself. I wouldn't be too worried about quotability either, no one on the street will get it, and if they could, they wouldn't respect you for it. Power level.

[kaji kun]

There's no such thing as a perfect translation, but here is one of the things that really irks me from the dub/sub differences from Episode 24.

Synch ratio, zero. I can't be the second child anymore. No reason left for me. Nobody cares about me anymore.

Synch rate, zero...Not qualified to be the Second Child...There's no reason for me to exist anymore. Because no one will look at me now.

Now that change I bolded may not seem to be particularly important, but...taking into account the opening scene where Asuka goes on about "look at me", I find it to be a terrible change, and it's those subtleties that all too often get lost in the sub/dub translation, and I hate that.

[thewayneiac]

^That's especially true in light of the fact that this isn't the only episode where she says "Look at me!" She also uses it in the pool scene in Episode 10. She sees Shinji watching Rei and yells "Look at Me!" as she dives into the swimming pool. It's an important Asuka catchphrase and ought not to be changed in any instance.

[DEMOLITION D+]

^That's especially true in light of the fact that this isn't the only episode where she says "Look at me!" She also uses it in the pool scene in Episode 10. She sees Shinji watching Rei and yells "Look at Me!" as she dives into the swimming pool. It's an important Asuka catchphrase and ought not to be changed in any instance.

LMAO, and they changed it to "Hey Shinji, lookie lookie!"

So stupid... These are the subtlties I'm talking about, that get LITERALLY, lost in translation. Feels like I'm being jipped on my Eva goodness