Do any of you dislike the old english dub?

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Sep 9, 2011
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#41
The DiC dub should always be viewed as a product of its time. It was produced in 1995 by a company completely inexperienced with anime, back before there was much of a market for anime. The show was edited for children's syndication, and marketed to a mainstream children's audience. In that context, the DiC dub was successful in many ways. The voice acting was terrific for the low standards of 90s anime dubs, especially coming from actors almost completely inexperienced with anime dubbing. All the performances were distinctive and memorable, even if some don't hold up well today. The music had a magical quality that was arguably superior to the Japanese soundtrack. The writing and editing were about as faithful as they could be under the circumstances, and the overall product was successful in bringing the show, and anime as a whole, to a mainstream American audience. It did its job, and has its place. With that said, there's no reason to watch that dub now with the Viz dub, outside nostalgia and curiosity. The Viz dub isn't perfect, and some of the voice actors aren't as good, but it's a solid representation of the original Japanese series. Also, it's covering the entire series. If you're unfamiliar with Sailor Moon, and must watch it in English, I would definitely recommend the Viz dub.

The Cloverway dub of S and SuperS is another story. It was attempting a straighter, uncut dub that was lightly edited for television, but fell far short of similar dubs of the era, like Gundam Wing, Outlaw Star, Yu Yu Hakusho, InuYasha, and especially Cowboy Bebop. Even Dragon Ball Z had a better dub in 2000. Continuing DiC's character names is understandable, but the other changes made little sense, and lacked continuity. The voice acting was atrocious across the board, even from talented actors, except for maybe Stephanie Beard and Susan Roman. Everything about this dub was sloppy, and doesn't hold up at all because it was never good in the first place. It doesn't take much from the Viz dub to be an improvement from this.
 

C-17

Luna Crescens
Mar 26, 2013
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#42
MementoNepenthe said:
I don't see how the original dub's censorship bogs down the show anymore than the original Japanese version was bogged down by its own homophobia, heterosexism, fat-shaming, and sexual objectification of women
LMAO. You forgot racism, anti-semitism, transphobia and islamophobia.

OT:
Yes, it's horrible. And although I haven't watched the latest US dub, it's probably horrible too.
My issue with it is not only the censorship, no-sense dialogue, etc, but the actual poor quality in the voice acting. The voices, regardless of what they are saying, sound atrocious, and the acting is terrible.
I doubt it got better on that department, no offence.
 

blondibear_17

Lumen Cinererum
Mar 3, 2017
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#43
Although I am completely biased I honestly feel like the Dic dub is more interesting than the Viz dub because it has its own unique flavor. I mean seriously I love the fact that the soundtrack of the Dic dub sounds like it was sung by Robin Sparkles. It must be true that The 80s didn't come to Canada til like '93

 
Sep 6, 2014
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#44
C-17 said:
MementoNepenthe said:
I don't see how the original dub's censorship bogs down the show anymore than the original Japanese version was bogged down by its own homophobia, heterosexism, fat-shaming, and sexual objectification of women
LMAO. You forgot racism, anti-semitism, transphobia and islamophobia.

That doesn’t undermine Memento’s (correct) statement at all just because you want to be a smarmy twat about criticism against your pwecious original
 

astarte

Lapis Lunaris
Jan 29, 2018
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#46
I can't stand the English dubs at all. The dialogs in the old ones are completely terrible and overall they just sound so awful. To be honest it really amazes me that Sailor Moon managed to get fans in the English speaking world sounding like that. The little I've seen of the Swedish, Russian and Italian dubs has been way more "palatable" to me.
The South American one was superior in pretty much every way and to me it's still very watchable (less censorship and overall way more faithful to the original, specially with the opening song... "she is the one named sailor moon" is just ugh, one of the things I hate the most about the english version), although I prefer the Japanese one nowadays.
 

blondibear_17

Lumen Cinererum
Mar 3, 2017
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#47
astarte said:
I can't stand the English dubs at all. The dialogs in the old ones are completely terrible and overall they just sound so awful. To be honest it really amazes me that Sailor Moon managed to get fans in the English speaking world sounding like that. The little I've seen of the Swedish, Russian and Italian dubs has been way more "palatable" to me.
The South American one was superior in pretty much every way and to me it's still very watchable (less censorship and overall way more faithful to the original, specially with the opening song... "she is the one named sailor moon" is just ugh, one of the things I hate the most about the english version), although I prefer the Japanese one nowadays.
It was targeted towards little kids even dumbed down it was more sophisticated than 99% of what tv had to offer for little kids at the time. The dialogue may sound ridiculous today but that's what a lot of kids shows sounded like back then. I mean think Ninja turtles and clueless.
 

astarte

Lapis Lunaris
Jan 29, 2018
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#48
blondibear_17 said:
It was targeted towards little kids even dumbed down it was more sophisticated than 99% of what tv had to offer for little kids at the time. The dialogue may sound ridiculous today but that's what a lot of kids shows sounded like back then. I mean think Ninja turtles and clueless.
The Sailor Moon anime was always targeted towards kids (just look at all the 90s japanese ads for sailor moon toys for kids, and here in south america there were sailor moon coloring books and dolls everywhere), yet I still think those English versions are just too much. I guess those kind of dialogs seems to me more like something from the 80s than the 90s, and being born in 1990 I was never drawn to that sort of campy stuff.
 

Memento

Stella Nova
Mar 8, 2012
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#49
I was also born in 1990, so I don't think that has anything to do with it. The original dub is very North American, so not being North American is probably why you find it strange. However, it is interesting to me that you find the dub's dialog too weird/campy to enjoy, but not the Japanese version's. I mean, none of Sailor Moon's or Tuxedo Mask's speeches are exactly serious or normal sounding, and the MOTD yelling "Refresh/Cleansing/Lovely/Stage Out/Beautiful" upon being defeated is also super weird. Frankly, the Japanese dialog is just as campy and ridiculous and full of puns as the DiC dub dialog.
 
Jun 6, 2006
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#50
MementoNepenthe said:
I was also born in 1990, so I don't think that has anything to do with it. The original dub is very North American, so not being North American is probably why you find it strange. However, it is interesting to me that you find the dub's dialog too weird/campy to enjoy, but not the Japanese version's. I mean, none of Sailor Moon's or Tuxedo Mask's speeches are exactly serious or normal sounding, and the MOTD yelling "Refresh/Cleansing/Lovely/Stage Out/Beautiful" upon being defeated is also super weird. Frankly, the Japanese dialog is just as campy and ridiculous and full of puns as the DiC dub dialog.
I totally agree! I will say though, the dub sometimes did it in inappropriate times, or with the wrong characters. I can handle and accept Serena and her friends using slang because... well, that's how we talked in 2000. My friends and I definitely said things like "you're trippin" or "as if!" a lot, haha. But, it's another story all together when a character like Rini, or Pluto uses slang.

But otherwise, I completely agree. It's basically a double standard. Kind of like how everyone chastised the old dub for rewrites, or additional dialogue, but applaud Viz for their attempts at humor.
 

Memento

Stella Nova
Mar 8, 2012
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#51
Serena, Mina, Lita, and even Raye using slang was totally fine and consistent with their characters. I think it would be consistent with Rini's character as well, the only issue being that being from the future, she should maybe use different slang? But whenever Luna or Amy used slang or turns of phrase that weren't proper English, that was always jarring and out of character. (Though "Go bleach your roots, creep!" remains the most iconic line in television history as far as I'm concerned :lol:)

But yeah, it's a double standard. It's fine if, as a matter of taste (which is subjective), you happen to enjoy the Japanese version's brand of oddball dialog while not being able to get into the original dub's, but when people say that the original dub is terrible because of its corny dialog while acting like the Japanese version had 100% totally normal dialog, I'm just :orly: :orly: :orly:
 
Jun 6, 2006
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#52
MementoNepenthe said:
Serena, Mina, Lita, and even Raye using slang was totally fine and consistent with their characters. I think it would be consistent with Rini's character as well, the only issue being that being from the future, she should maybe use different slang? But whenever Luna or Amy used slang or turns of phrase that weren't proper English, that was always jarring and out of character. (Though "Go bleach your roots, creep!" remains the most iconic line in television history as far as I'm concerned :lol:)
Exactly! Even for Rini, it wasn't too bad... but there were some points that were just jarring.

Like the episode "Kickin' into High Gear" had a little too much for my tastes. Especially when they're discussing Rini and Robert.
 

Memento

Stella Nova
Mar 8, 2012
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#53
The CWi dub went overboard using real world/contemporary slang (e.g. trippin', da bomb, phat, etc). That slang was already pretty dated/cringey at the time, and it's only gotten more so since. The DiC dub used slang less often, and the slang it did use was made up stuff (e.g. freakazoid, nega-sleeze, wongo, etc) that had a certain consistent aesthetic to it (if that makes sense). (It's also not "valley girl speak." Serena never says, "Like, oh my god you guys, the Negaverse is, like, so grody to the max! And they think they can beat us? Like, I am so sure!" None of the characters talk that way. 90s slang =/= valleyspeak.) So while the DiC dub dialog is still very 90s, it's not 90s in a bad way. I think it's aged pretty well, especially compared to contemporary kids series.

In any case, if people want to talk about bad puns and cringey dialog...they can save it for discussions of the musicals. (Which I say with love!)
 

astarte

Lapis Lunaris
Jan 29, 2018
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#54
Hm, I did mention that it's mostly because of how it sounds rather than only some weird dialogs. With Usagi I felt that both she sounded weird and had bad dialogs (maybe it's because in Japanese and Spanish she sounds just cute to me? I don't know, in languages other than English she mostly seems like a cute weirdo, in English she seems like the insufferable rich popular girl cliche to me). I do think that in general USA anime dubs are quite low quality in comparison to latin american dubs, to be honest I have a hard time watching almost any old anime english dubbed, and don't even dare looking for the newer ones. Pokemon added so much mexican specific slang in the spanish one but somehow it sounded very appropiate and awesome. "Bleach your roots" was just too much. Perhaps it's mostly a character specific thing, it's mostly Usagi and Ami that I couldn't stand when I watched english eps :sick:
 
Jul 29, 2012
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#56
While I support the fans of the DIC dub, the DIC dub is... not for me.

I grew up with the Brazilian Portuguese and Mexican Spanish dubs and I love those versions because they feel authentic and close to the original material: unedited episodes, original score; changes, the very few ones, did not alter the show.

The DIC dub essentially created a new show within an existing one.

The first time I watched an episode of Sailor Moon in Japanese, I felt awkward because the voice of the characters sounded so different than those I grew up with. Usagi, particularly, felt very strange in Japanese. But I got used to watching the show in Japanese with no subs; I had already seen season one, I knew the context of each episode.

Regretfully, I cannot say the same about the DIC dub. I remember watching an episode of the DIC dub with Beryl talking about sweetness and cavities. That line felt... completely out of character. Fans of the DIC dub, however, have my support. I want them to get a DVD with the DIC dub. If they want to be reminded of their childhood or of how they experienced watching "Sailor Moon," I fully support their wish. Why wouldn't I?
 

Memento

Stella Nova
Mar 8, 2012
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#57
If you're only familiar with the Japanese or with another dubbed version of the series, I can see how Queen Beryl's "This is so sweet I'm getting cavities" line can seem out of character, but in the context of the DiC dub it isn't, and it's certainly not in the greater context of (North) American villains in children's media. Think of the Wicked Witch of the West from the 1939 "The Wizard of Oz" film. Her sarcastic quips like "I'll stuff a mattress with you" or "Wanna play ball, Scarecrow?" are right in line with some of the things DiC!Beryl says. :)
 
Jul 29, 2012
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#58
Of course, within the context of the DIC dub, the line is not out of character.

The problem is, I grew up with three different versions of "Sailor Moon," and Beryl, as a character, was and felt essentially like in the original version: cold, laconic, very brief when giving orders. She didn't speak like the Wicked Witch. I became used to that version of Beryl because the character is the same in the three dubs of "Sailor Moon" I watched when I was a kid. Then, I came across the DIC dub, and when I heard Beryl say "that's so sweet I'm getting cavities," I felt... well, shocked. I did not watch many episodes of the DIC dub, but that particular line that Beryl delivered crossed the line, no pun intended. I don't have much knowledge of the DIC dub, but it is very difficult for me to imagine the senshi using American slang or acting like Valley girls.

To make a comparison: while watching the Brazilian Portuguese dub in the 1990s, they did change Usagi's name to Serena, but other than that Serena was and felt like Japanese Usagi: there was no Brazilian slang, the character delivered lines that felt as close to the original Japanese lines as possible, and did not act like Canadian-American Serena. Brazilian Usagi (first season) spoke with a softer, sweeter voice than Kotono, but other than that the character was extremely close to the original Japanese character.

To summarize, if you watch the Brazilian Portuguese, Mexican Spanish, and the original Japanese version of "Sailor Moon," you will not notice many differences. Other than the names of the characters, the fact that Zoisite is actually a man (I didn't know that until I watched the original version; "oh my God, what happened to her voice?" I remember asking myself), and the voice of some characters (it took me a long time to get used to Kotono's voice), there are really not many differences. The episodes were unedited, the original score was there, everything was there. Then, if you watch the DIC dub after watching these three versions, you will say to yourself: "hey, what is going on here? Is this an anime or an American cartoon?" Because I also grew up with American cartoons and the DIC version, in my opinion, feels closer to an American cartoon than to an anime.
 

blondibear_17

Lumen Cinererum
Mar 3, 2017
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#59
For some reason when it comes to watching the Japanese the thing that is most difficult to enjoy is the background music. The music of the original doesn't complement the show too well in my opinion. I don't like the smooth Jazzy quality it really sounds like elevator or hold music to me. The music they used in Stars is way more appropriate for the tone of the series in my opinion.