• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Sailor Moon Crystal |OT| In the name of the manga, I'll entertain you!

Status
Not open for further replies.
Nemesis_

Nemesis_

Member
royalan said:
Completely disagree.

I don't watch a lot of anime now, but I did back then. And whenever I think of "Early 90s anime where the English dub was actually better than the original" Sailor Moon is one of the first to come to mind. The orginal English voice cast was stellar, and primarily because the voices chosen fit the character and not the archetype that character filled.

Luna is the best example of this. The original Japanese voice for Luna is exactly what you'd imagine if someone asked you to imagine what a "cute talking cartoon cat" would sound like. In that sense, it's perfect. However, the English dub fits more to Luna's role in the story. Luna sounds like a nagging old lady because...well, she IS a nagging old lady. She's the adviser and guardian of the sailor scouts, especially tasked with mentoring Sailor Moon, the brattiest of all the scouts. Making her sound like a British nanny was, in my opinion, genius.

Likewise, I loved how confident Ami's English voice is, not just one-tone meek sounding. And I especially love how Serena's season 1 English voice knew how to tap into Serena's hidden intelligence. She knew exactly when to not make her sound ditzy, and I loved how she actually made her voice deeper the few times we heard her as the Moon Princess.

All around, I think the English dub just nailed it. In fact, it's the only anime series to come from that period that I think did nail it with their English dub.
Click to expand...

I actually agree with you, I think you've hit the nail on the head with regards to Luna and the like. Although I think it was a bit shit the way they changed things around during the Super series and onwards, but yeah, I definitely prefer the dub.

I still wonder if people prefer the original VA out of artistic principle tho
 
B

Bladenic

Member
Nemesis_ said:
I actually agree with you, I think you've hit the nail on the head with regards to Luna and the like. Although I think it was a bit shit the way they changed things around during the Super series and onwards, but yeah, I definitely prefer the dub.

I still wonder if people prefer the original VA out of artistic principle tho
Click to expand...

I'm not sure, but I think part of the reason why I dislike the dub has to do with the awful shit they were often made to say, since the translation was awful. But even then, there were some characters that were far better in the original IMO, Ami and Minako for sure. Plus the fact that a lot of them had VA changes, often for the worse, wasn't good either.

Also Naru's dub voice was an abomination.
 
Nemesis_

Nemesis_

Member
Bladenic said:
I'm not sure, but I think part of the reason why I dislike the dub has to do with the awful shit they were often made to say, since the translation was awful. But even then, there were some characters that were far better in the original IMO, Ami and Minako for sure. Plus the fact that a lot of them had VA changes, often for the worse, wasn't good either.

Also Naru's dub voice was an abomination.
Click to expand...

But I mean that's what Royalan's point was - that those are issues with the script but not necessarily the voice actors themselves.

Naru's voice was a bit annoying but I found it cute sooooo >_>
 
B

Bladenic

Member
Nemesis_ said:
But I mean that's what Royalan's point was - that those are issues with the script but not necessarily the voice actors themselves.
Click to expand...

I know, I'm just saying that perhaps that's why I can't appreciate it. I do think my fave Jupiter had a great dub voice.
 
Nemesis_

Nemesis_

Member
Bladenic said:
I know, I'm just saying that perhaps that's why I can't appreciate it. I do think my fave Jupiter had a great dub voice.
Click to expand...

I just think the characters sound so great and fit them so well. Jupiter is a good example, she's kind of got a more masculine quality to her compared to the other girls and her voice is appropriately cast as such. Mars is the same - she sounds like a right bitch but that's because, well, she is.

I agree there's some really shitty dubs out there but I think the original dub for the anime was pretty good.
 
H

Hitokage

Setec Astronomer
Nemesis_ said:
I agree there's some really shitty dubs out there but I think the original dub for the anime was pretty good.
Click to expand...
Having been an anime fan since the 90's, I've seen a bunch of them. As much as I loved the show at the time, SM's dubbing is among the worst. True, a lot of it is scripting and stuff unrelated to the actual process of voice recording, but the voices themselves have their sore spots as well.
 
C

Curler

Unconfirmed Member
Without any nostalgia, I do think that the Inner Senshi had good voice casting. That's pretty much it though
 
N

Nephtis

Member
royalan said:
Most of those things you point out could be blamed on the script, and not the voice actors themselves. Although there's no defending Serena's second voice actress. She wasn't nearly as a good.

Also, I personally PREFER English Serena's reaction to Dorian being Tuxedo Mask. Her line, "...he is Tuxedo Mask I don't believe it." line comes off so funny, and intentionally so and with great effect, because to the audience it's always been fucking obvious that Dorian was Tuxedo Mask. Usagi in the Japanese dub comes off as too awe-struck by the reveal. The tone of Serena's English voice heavily implies that she knows she should have realized that he was Tuxedo Mask this whole time...because duh.
Click to expand...

At least TM wore a mask.

Usagi's only addition was a *tiara* and people still did not recognize her.
 
C

Cheerilee

Member
royalan said:
"Could barely speak right"? it's called a New Jersey accent.
Click to expand...
And Osaka Naru didn't just have an Osaka accent, it was also an obvious name pun. Let's just be thankful that the dub called her "Molly Baker" and not "Molly Brooklyn". *shudder*

Also, Ami's English voice comes off as intelligent and more soft-spoken than the other girls, but I like that there's strength there, because that is Ami. Ami isn't just meek and insecure.
Click to expand...

Karen Bernstein sounds intelligent because they made her enunciate her words. Karen Bernstein and Mary Long (Naru/Molly) had the lead roles in an early-90's version of Hello Kitty, and they were both much more bearable over there. Like Terri Hawkes, I think their performances would have been better if they were a bit more restrained.

Fimbulvetr said:
Serena's second VA.
Click to expand...
That was Serena's third VA.

Serena's first VA (used for 14 episodes in the 1st season) was Tracey Moore, and she was the best "English Usagi".

Serena's second VA (used for the bulk of the DiC episodes) was Terri Hawkes, and she was the definitive "Serena".

Serena's third VA (used in S & SuperS) was Linda Ballentyne, and she did a bad Terri Hawkes impersonation.
 
H

Hitokage

Setec Astronomer
Cheerilee said:
Oh, my bad. I can't think of her voice offhand, and remembered someone saying she did. I never questioned it, because Japan loves name puns.
Click to expand...
I guess it can be difficult to tell if you don't know Japanese and a lot of the time anime kind of cheats in its representation of Kansai dialect, but sometimes you can find a full blown version and the difference is rather pronounced. Three examples that come to mind are Juna from Earth Girl Arjuna, Aiko from Ojamajo Doremi, and various characters from Oniboshi in Urusei Yatsura like Lum's dad, Ten, and Ran.

Also, Arino from GameCenter CX speaks in mostly Kansai.
 
C

Cheerilee

Member
Hitokage said:
I guess it can be difficult to tell if you don't know Japanese and a lot of the time anime kind of cheats in its representation of Kansai dialect, but sometimes you can find a full blown version and the difference is rather pronounced. Three examples that come to mind are Juna from Earth Girl Arjuna, Aiko from Ojamajo Doremi, and various characters from Oniboshi in Urusei Yatsura like Lum's dad, Ten, and Ran.

Also, Arino from GameCenter CX speaks in mostly Kansai.
Click to expand...

I know I noticed "Osaka" from Azumanga Daioh, and could instantly tell that her voice stood out, but I just didn't notice that Naru's voice didn't stand out.
 
H

Hitokage

Setec Astronomer
Well, it's not just how they say stuff, but what they're saying to begin with. A lot of stuff is swapped out, including basic grammatical forms. That's why it's easy to hear Naru not speaking kansai, because none of the trademark vocabulary is present.

Amusingly enough, though, Aya Hisakawa, Ami's VA, is from Osaka but does the role in standard Japanese. When she voices Kero in Card Captor Sakura, though, she lets loose.
 
A

Ayumi

Member
MikeMyers said:
Speaking of Ami, we'll be seeing her this Saturday!

Well, you guys will, I'll be out of town will little internet access.
Click to expand...

Haha, same! But I'll be on Izu-hantō so I'm not really bothered with having to wait a day. I refuse to bring my computer on vacation. Gonna be so exciting to see Ami on Sunday though, and worth the wait!
 
B

BassForever

Member
Mr_Zombie said:
I didn't remember what the episode 20 was about so I youtubed (is it a verb yet?) it and watched the American version. I think this was the first time I watched US version of Sailor Moon and damn, the voices were bad. Luna had the voice of old lady with weird accent, Nephrite sounded as if he had throat cancer (isn't he supposed to be 19 years old?) and Zoisite was turned into woman (wtf?). Also, what's the deal with those weird transitions between scenes and the lesson from Sailor Moon about being good and not judging people based on their appearances and actions at the end of the episode?
Click to expand...

This actually isn't episode 20, the dub cut certain episodes from the original series so that's actually a later episode in the series. Episode 20 is about the girls going to the beach to train and the hotel they stay at is a spooky adams family esque mansion. Its a terrible episode that is filler even in terms of the original series.
 
M

MikeMyers

Member
Speaking of the dubs, I only saw a few episodes of the DiC stuff, but the instant I first heard the Japanese audio, I never went back. I won't begrudge others if they prefer it, though.

I'm kind of curious to see how the VIz translation is. So far I dig Luna's voice but Mamoru sounds rather bland. Furuya's Mamoru sounds a lot more suave.

Maybe there's just no English equivalent of Furuya. =/
 
S

Shard

XBLAnnoyance
BassForever said:
This actually isn't episode 20, the dub cut certain episodes from the original series so that's actually a later episode in the series. Episode 20 is about the girls going to the beach to train and the hotel they stay at is a spooky adams family esque mansion. Its a terrible episode that is filler even in terms of the original series.
Click to expand...


Which episode is it in regards to the DIC Dub?
 
R

ROBOKITTYZILLA

Member
I decided to watch the original Japanese version in parallel with the new version. All this goofy and pointless filler to get to the Ami episode is already wearing me out.
 
H

Hitokage

Setec Astronomer
ROBOKITTYZILLA said:
I decided to watch the original Japanese version in parallel with the new version. All this goofy and pointless filler to get to the Ami episode is already wearing me out.
Click to expand...
The old anime is episodic, so it's not filler. It's the meat. That's what you get. Granted, the episodes themselves become a lot better when Usagi, Ami, and Rei are around to interact with each other.
 
B

BassForever

Member
The original Sailor Moon anime would have been 100x better if they had cut episodes 2-6/7 and just had Ami's introduction be the second episode of the show. It might as well be filler as all those episodes were bad
 
Christopher

Christopher

Member
I remember when this would come on before pokemon in the morning and I thought it was a fun show...then the internet stuck nose up at the changes and I see the originals...boring as hell. The dub made the show interesting to say the least
 
K

KDash31987

Member
HypnoDarkrai said:
Will episode 2 streaming be available to non-premium members on Crunchyroll?
Click to expand...

It should.

Less than five hours to go!

qpIGfvs.jpg


...and then, another two week wait.

x0k0qC6.jpg
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

  • Locked
Sailor Moon Crystal 3rd Season Premiering in Spring, New Staff Revealed
2
74
15K
Lord Ghirahim replied
  • Locked
Sailor Moon Crystal Season 3 Trailer, 1st episode April 4th, OP/ED revealed
1
2K
fudgey_lumpkins replied
  • Locked
Sailor Moon English dub cast announced
2 3
138
15K
MikeMyers replied
Sailor Moon Community Thread: She Blinded Me With Science!
112 113 114 115 116
6K
743K
MikeMyers replied
  • Locked
Sailor Moon Community Thread: Moon, Prism, Power!
2
77
17K
duckroll replied
Top Bottom