American Otaku: Fans or Critics?

Believe it or not, anime is pretty popular in America apart from other countries beside Japan.  However, anime fans, or otaku, don’t always abide by the rules when it comes to viewing and translating shows. My topic for my exploration paper explores the issue of fansubbing (and sometimes fandubbing), which is when fans create their own subtitles directly translating (or attempting to) the original Japanese into English. However, the article I have chosen explains the popularity of anime in America as well as the challenges American dubbing teams face when creating English dubbed (officially dubbed, I might add) versions of shows. Charles Solomon, a professor of animation at UCLA, is the author of the article, titled “The State of the Art of the Anime Dub.” 

He starts by stating the importance of the English dub, saying it can make or break the audience’s opinion of the show, as it is hard for American otaku to relate to the show if not translated correctly, while respecting the original Japanese script. Japanese figures of speech and idioms are very different than those of Westerners, which can be hard for fans to understand. In addition, finding actors that can portray the proper emotions and personalities for characters, even behind a mic, poses a great challenge. Directors must decide if the cast should be close to the voices of the original Japanese cast, or reinvented with a new English version. One more challenge, which is probably joked about the most with anime, is having English voice actors match their words with the mouth flapping of the character originally animated to speech Japanese. To help this, voice actors record individually, so they can focus on their own character. However, they must also remember that their character is interacting with others, even if they are not in the recording booth. 

Solomon cites a great example of an anime English dub done right, which is Fullmetal Alchemist (one of my personal favorites). He explains even though Vic Mignogna (VA of the main character, Ed) hadn’t met Aaron Dismuke (VA of Ed’s brother, Al) when they started recording, they still created a very authentic brotherly bond on the show, as if they’d known each other for years. 

Overall, Solomon wants to explain that though American otaku can be very critical of English dubs, they often don’t understand the difficulty of producing them. So, what's your opinion on English dubbed anime (if you have seen any)? Why do you think it is as popular as it is in America? If you've watched any, what are your favorites and why did you like it?

Additionally, I have attached a few clips of english dubbed anime for you to reference to if you've never seen anime. I highly recommend all for viewing though :). The first is from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. Ed, the one I talked about, is the blonde kid and his brother Al, is in the suit (long story). The second is from Ouran High School Host Club (context: the boys are all rich, they invaded her home, and they are trying not to offend the girl because she's not). The third is a clip from Hetalia, a historical satire parodying the world's nations (context: England and France hate each other and constantly fight. Each person represents a country. England has the bushy eyebrows, France has the long blond hair, America is the one with the glasses).

Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/09/arts/television/09solo.html?_r=0