(no subject)

[flemmings]

The DVD of Mononoke Hime comes with extras, which I've never watched because uhh why would I want to see Japanese trailers or listen to American voice actors talk shop? But at a loose end today I did. And discovered 1) my god the western voice actors' voices and acting are baaaaad and 2) Mononoke's DVD does what Sen to Chihiro's DVD did- washes out all the beautiful beautiful colours. I know both of these facts because the VA chat contains scenes from the film, glowing colours intact and characterization very not. This is tragic. To see the film properly I'd have to watch it in a theatre; and while I can bear StC in English without heartburning, Mononoke is so painful I couldn't even finish that clip. Two hours of such clumsiness isn't to be thought of. But if they can keep colours intact for the bumpf filler, why can't they keep them intact for the film itself? (...wondering if the French dub is as painful and if a review house in Montreal might be showing it ever....)

Comments

[summer-queen.livejournal.com]

Frighteningly, Mononoke is one of the *better* dubs I've heard (even studded with stars as it is), which says volumes about the quality of the typical TV show dub. I've been told the Peace Maker dub went for the southern accent, including having all the Kyoto women sound like southern belles. I can only assume that's excruciating.

[flemmings.livejournal.com]

I think I've heard exactly two dubs in my life- the early one for Vampire Hunter D that made the skin crawl off my bones; and StC, which was surprisingly convincing. I'd assumed dubbing had just gotten better, as everyone assures me it has. 'Better' of course is not an absolute state. But the Mononoke characters can't be easy for actors accustomed to modern drama to voice. Bet Shakespearian-trained would make a better job of it.

[shiny-monkey.livejournal.com]

And would probably cost more than the hungry Canadian VAs they generally employ for these things =(

[deepfryerfire.livejournal.com]

I swear I remember hearing the French StC dub somewhere, which must mean it's on our DVD, and I remember it sounded pretty good. But that's to someone who doesn't really know French, so take that as you will.

We make a habit of listening to every DVD we buy in all the languages it has, even if only for a few minutes- and while a good 95% of English dubs aren't worth bothering with, every so often they dig up one of two good actors, who are still usually married to otherwise bad or mediocre casts. Our watching of GTO was rather comical, as we depised the Japanese Onizuka and liked the English one somewhat better, but couldn't bear the rest of the Englsih cast; so we kept flipping back and forth between language tracks depending on who was onscreen.