From: dhiga@aludra.usc.edu (Darold Higa)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.anime
Subject: Re: Macek, God help us...
Date: 22 Nov 1992 15:40:25 -0800
Organization: University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
NNTP-Posting-Host: aludra.usc.edu

In regards to whether some (or a great deal of us) would complain about
Streamline (or any other company, for that matter) subbing (as opposed to
dubbing) is more complex than simply "hating Carl."

The fundamental challenges caused by dubbing and subbing can differ:
Dubbing:
-lip synch (very few people care about this, just watch American high-volume
stuff...still companies who dub are preoccupied with this) because of the need
to translate Japanese dialogue into approxiamtely the same timeframe in 
English.
-sound quality because this requires the separation of multiple tracks, the
remastering of the voice tracks, then synching the whole thing all over again.
Until totally digitized systems become standard across the sea in Japan, that
means a lot of pain (and a lot of audio quality loss...just spend a couple of
hours trying to splice 16mm mag tape with a splicing block, you'll get the
idea).
-translation because to fit the same time periods for Japanese and English
dialogue REQUIRES alternations.  Try saying, "isn't that so" in the time it
takes to say "nee" and you'll see what I mean there, too.

Subbing:
-readibility becuase, beyond the technical aspect of having subtitling that
can be read (anyone who watches the stuff that USR or AnimEgo or USMC makes
is spolied...try watching old Sergei Eisenstien films subbed, yech...)
Not to mention with the role that entertainment tends to take in pop culture 
is to turn the mind off, and in the anti-book culture of TV, reading is a nono,
particularly if it enters and leaves the screen quickly (to match the dialogue)
-visual asthetics becuase animation, after all is a series of artworks shown in
rapid succession.  Subbing can distract from the visual impact of a work, and
therefore is a constant source of worry.
-translation once again because if you don't change the basic story (as you're
more likely to do with dubbing for technical reasons), you've got to worry 
about cultural in-jokes and understandings that a native audience should
understand.  Just look at everything from "gochisoosama" to "ranma-sama" and 
"gundam ikimasu!"

The final question comes down to, what do you want?  Dubbing inherently
requires a lot more changes in original content than subbing.  This is
where most people attack Carl.  Windaria with the mysticism explained away?
Those kinds of changes are somewhat a part of dubbing, since the original
language cannot be translated at a one-to-one syllable for syllable trade.
Dubbing can be done without those kinds of changes, but it is difficult, to
say the least.  Subbing is popular here probably for the same reasons I like 
it; like French cinema film buffs, you enter the viewing experience with a
certain set of baggage and expectations.  UNLIKE the crowd that pops on the
boob-tube at night (Macek's proported audience), you, as an anime fan, want
as close to the original as you can get.  You understand, or at least want to
understand, what "yaki-soba pan" means, or what bloody noses represents.  The
lesson best learned in this controversy can be taken from Foreign film buffs.
In many ways it is like anime.  A diehard group of individuals willing to
sit through Renoir's "The Rules of the Game"  with unreadable subbing, in
select movie theaters make up the core of the hobby, while the mainstream is
fed unletterboxed (yuk!) dubbed versions of "Martain Greere" or something like
that.

nyway, I think that's why so many people who are hard-KOR :) fans tend to like
subbing  (just look at the RAA crowd anyway!).  For all it's worth, if 
companies want to go both ways, that's fine with me (expensive and highly 
unprofitable I'm sure...sigh).  I just think that Macek's insular and boorish
attitudes merely excaborate the situation (I have much of his AE92 rantings on
8mm video...shiver...)

Just a thought...

Darold Higa of Ikkoku-kan (dhiga@aludra.usc.edu)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.anime