2003 Astro Boy English vs. Japanese Release Dialogue Changes - Wow...
Posted: Wed Dec 30, 2009 10:46 am
So this week I watched the 3rd Astro Boy 2003 (first US release, then Japanese subtitled version from the Korean set [see Bad Username's fansub thread for a way to get to see this set [only 23 eps exist] and possibly support/help with the fansub project to get the entire series translated the way it should be]).
Anyways, I need to rant a bit at the English anime translation, which has really managed to shock me...
I still can't get over how much they changed things for the English release... It's really pretty jaw-dropping to watch the episodes back to back - I've never seen stories messed with quite so much before, despite the (in my opinion) excellent English voice cast. (I'd certainly say it's worth supporting the English release as it can be had quite cheaply, and the voice cast really is quite good despite my frustration with the scripting changes - if nothing else, it's incredibly interesting to compare versions, and there are some lines worth hearing).
Aside from the episodes being out of order (confusingly so) on the English set and the video/audio fairly severely being penalized (I notice there are distortions and such in the audio right on the discs...for example near the very end of the English version intro music) [and the Korean set, at least this first disc, is about as perfect video/audio as I can imagine - Japanese set looks to be the same or even better from what Bad Username's posted], it just strikes me as really sad some of the changes they made.
I had read before the edits they made were to make Astro appear more adult in the English release, but taken as a whole, I'm sad to say they ended up doing just the opposite and making the English release far more juvenile. Yes, the scenes they cut are generally things like Astro playing (which is just cute and fun to watch and adds to your sense this is still a little boy, even if he is incredibly powerful), but the dialogue they changed just makes me ask why. They consciously seem to try to remove a lot of the thoughtfulness and nuance - I'm not sure if they were trying to make it more action-packed or what, but it certainly lost a lot without adding anything IMO.
Here's just a few examples just from the 3rd episode about Astro going to space/Mars (obviously spoilers if you've never seen the episode):
1.) They cut a scene with Astro playing with some toys, and Ochanomizu getting ready to leave and changing (offscreen obviously - you just see clothes flying with Yuko blushing a bit and looking the other way on Robita's monitor). Not a huge offense.
2.) Dr. Ochanomizu explains where he's going much differently to Astro. In the English version, he names the moon (Deimos) and says its 40 million miles off. In the Japanese version, he simply explains he's going to space, which is higher than the sky (which ends up being much cuter as Astro has more wonder in his eyes).
3.) They make Astro try to sound more "bad" in the English release when he decides he's going to go along despite Ochanomizu's wishes. He says something along the line "See you soon. [under his breath and cocky] Real soon." whereas in the Japanese translation it's much more innocent than that (something along the lines of "I want to see space too!". This is one of the few exceptions where I actually kind of like both versions, but it does make quite a difference in character tone.
4.) In the English release, when Astro stows along and is discovered, he says he's sorry and the reason was it sounded like there was trouble and he wanted to help. Ochanomizu (O'Shay) immediately switches to he's proud of Astro for that as it proves he's advancing, which seems a lil...eh. In the Japanese version, Astro simply says he was curious, and Ochanomizu instead focuses on the curiosity being a positive trait in his development but that's no reason to disobey, which just sets better and makes more sense.
5.) This was one of the big ones for me. When they're moving down the mineshaft toward the center of Deimos to figure out what's going on, the English release says something frankly idiotic about if they go down any further, they'll be crushed by the pressure (but they must press on despite the danger of course). They then proceed to go to the bottom anyways and completely ignore this for the rest of the epsiode. In the Japanese, translation, however, the conversation is about the strata on the walls being much younger than they should be, and Astro not understanding why tens of thousands of years isn't really old, with Ochanomizu explaining that in terms of the universe, that's still only a moment. This is a scene that actually poses some serious thought, especially for children viewers, and might spark investigation and curiosity and learning - it's a really beautiful scene, and it really bothers me that the team that did the English translation felt they had to change something thought-provoking and genuinely wonder-inspiring to something idiotic just to make things more action-packed.
6.) Another huge one. The antagonist of this episode, Archer, comes off completely and utterly different between the English and Japanese versions. In the English version, he's an unsympathetic character, bent on destroying all disobedient robots. Essentially all his dialogue comes down to "I will destroy any robot that malfunctions! I will destroy them ALL! Muhahahaha" In the Japanese version, however, he's much, much more sympathetic as he comes off as more heroic but misguided! Yes, he wants to destroy the malfunctioning robots, but he's far more nuanced because he sees it spreading to his robots and fears if it continues, it will spread to Earth's robots as well! (This is very slightly alluded to in the English version, but doesn't appear his main motive). While the actions are the same in both versions, you really get much more of a sense of why he's acting the way he is in the Japanese version, and you can see where he's coming from even if you disagree with him. In the scene where he intercepts the team going down the shaft, in the English version he's going back on a deal and going to destroy the robots anyway, whereas the Japanese version, he's actually trying, again in a misguided way, to save the human team going down as he fears things are getting worse and they're putting themselves in too much danger!
7.) The ending dialogue is quite a bit different. The alien in the English version tries to get Astro to come with her and considers it a pity when he won't, whereas in the Japanese version she's far more understanding that he already has a home. In the English version, the symbols at the end are translated (conveniently by O'Shay's neuro-translator as Galaxian) that Astro will lead the way towards peace between man and robot, whereas in the Japanese version, it's much more open ended, with the suggestion that maybe they'll meet the alien again once man and robot can work together to translate the message! Not tied all up in a neat little bow.
There are other changes, and I can honestly say just about every line in the episode (and the others I've watched too) is a little bit different between the two, with many obviously being totally different in content, not just semantics.
One shocker was, in the Japanese version (and maybe this was because it was a subtitle translation - I don't know), they actually occasionally and lightly swear! There were 2 or 3 hell's and a damn in the episode. Nothing terrible (in my opinion at least), but it surprised me.
Another thing the English team does - they apparently feel like the characters need to speak more. A lot of times when Astro's back is turned or he's flying, etc., (same with all the other characters), in the English version there's filler dialogue whereas in the Japanese version there's none. Some of this dialogue is okay or entertaining (for example, Robita makes a somewhat funny joke about why robots might malfunction when loading the car in the English version that's not present in the Japanese version), but sometimes the silence is more effective. For example, there's a scene when Archer has to decide whether to shoot one of his own robots, and in the English version he says something about "I might need Higgins [robot's name] later" before dropping his gun, whereas in the Japanese version, he simply can't do it and drops his gun. Even though it's such a simple change, the latter with no dialogue, for me, is much more emotional and makes him much more human.
The music in both versions is good and worth listening to. It's vastly different (English version has rockish soundtrack whereas Japanese is orchestral), but I really do enjoy both - some scenes I find I like one version better than the other and vice versa; it seems to depend on the scene.
Finally, seeing it in 16:9 aspect ratio and with 5.1 sound is a completely different experience than 4:3 with 2.0 sound, more with this series than a lot of things as the art is just so beautiful and there's so much you don't see with the cuts. It's a shame they cut the English release down like they did (though I suppose in 2003/2004 that was much more acceptable than it would be today, but still).
Just some thoughts - hopefully someone else finds this stuff interesting. =oP
Anyways, I need to rant a bit at the English anime translation, which has really managed to shock me...
I still can't get over how much they changed things for the English release... It's really pretty jaw-dropping to watch the episodes back to back - I've never seen stories messed with quite so much before, despite the (in my opinion) excellent English voice cast. (I'd certainly say it's worth supporting the English release as it can be had quite cheaply, and the voice cast really is quite good despite my frustration with the scripting changes - if nothing else, it's incredibly interesting to compare versions, and there are some lines worth hearing).
Aside from the episodes being out of order (confusingly so) on the English set and the video/audio fairly severely being penalized (I notice there are distortions and such in the audio right on the discs...for example near the very end of the English version intro music) [and the Korean set, at least this first disc, is about as perfect video/audio as I can imagine - Japanese set looks to be the same or even better from what Bad Username's posted], it just strikes me as really sad some of the changes they made.
I had read before the edits they made were to make Astro appear more adult in the English release, but taken as a whole, I'm sad to say they ended up doing just the opposite and making the English release far more juvenile. Yes, the scenes they cut are generally things like Astro playing (which is just cute and fun to watch and adds to your sense this is still a little boy, even if he is incredibly powerful), but the dialogue they changed just makes me ask why. They consciously seem to try to remove a lot of the thoughtfulness and nuance - I'm not sure if they were trying to make it more action-packed or what, but it certainly lost a lot without adding anything IMO.
Here's just a few examples just from the 3rd episode about Astro going to space/Mars (obviously spoilers if you've never seen the episode):
1.) They cut a scene with Astro playing with some toys, and Ochanomizu getting ready to leave and changing (offscreen obviously - you just see clothes flying with Yuko blushing a bit and looking the other way on Robita's monitor). Not a huge offense.
2.) Dr. Ochanomizu explains where he's going much differently to Astro. In the English version, he names the moon (Deimos) and says its 40 million miles off. In the Japanese version, he simply explains he's going to space, which is higher than the sky (which ends up being much cuter as Astro has more wonder in his eyes).
3.) They make Astro try to sound more "bad" in the English release when he decides he's going to go along despite Ochanomizu's wishes. He says something along the line "See you soon. [under his breath and cocky] Real soon." whereas in the Japanese translation it's much more innocent than that (something along the lines of "I want to see space too!". This is one of the few exceptions where I actually kind of like both versions, but it does make quite a difference in character tone.
4.) In the English release, when Astro stows along and is discovered, he says he's sorry and the reason was it sounded like there was trouble and he wanted to help. Ochanomizu (O'Shay) immediately switches to he's proud of Astro for that as it proves he's advancing, which seems a lil...eh. In the Japanese version, Astro simply says he was curious, and Ochanomizu instead focuses on the curiosity being a positive trait in his development but that's no reason to disobey, which just sets better and makes more sense.
5.) This was one of the big ones for me. When they're moving down the mineshaft toward the center of Deimos to figure out what's going on, the English release says something frankly idiotic about if they go down any further, they'll be crushed by the pressure (but they must press on despite the danger of course). They then proceed to go to the bottom anyways and completely ignore this for the rest of the epsiode. In the Japanese, translation, however, the conversation is about the strata on the walls being much younger than they should be, and Astro not understanding why tens of thousands of years isn't really old, with Ochanomizu explaining that in terms of the universe, that's still only a moment. This is a scene that actually poses some serious thought, especially for children viewers, and might spark investigation and curiosity and learning - it's a really beautiful scene, and it really bothers me that the team that did the English translation felt they had to change something thought-provoking and genuinely wonder-inspiring to something idiotic just to make things more action-packed.
6.) Another huge one. The antagonist of this episode, Archer, comes off completely and utterly different between the English and Japanese versions. In the English version, he's an unsympathetic character, bent on destroying all disobedient robots. Essentially all his dialogue comes down to "I will destroy any robot that malfunctions! I will destroy them ALL! Muhahahaha" In the Japanese version, however, he's much, much more sympathetic as he comes off as more heroic but misguided! Yes, he wants to destroy the malfunctioning robots, but he's far more nuanced because he sees it spreading to his robots and fears if it continues, it will spread to Earth's robots as well! (This is very slightly alluded to in the English version, but doesn't appear his main motive). While the actions are the same in both versions, you really get much more of a sense of why he's acting the way he is in the Japanese version, and you can see where he's coming from even if you disagree with him. In the scene where he intercepts the team going down the shaft, in the English version he's going back on a deal and going to destroy the robots anyway, whereas the Japanese version, he's actually trying, again in a misguided way, to save the human team going down as he fears things are getting worse and they're putting themselves in too much danger!
7.) The ending dialogue is quite a bit different. The alien in the English version tries to get Astro to come with her and considers it a pity when he won't, whereas in the Japanese version she's far more understanding that he already has a home. In the English version, the symbols at the end are translated (conveniently by O'Shay's neuro-translator as Galaxian) that Astro will lead the way towards peace between man and robot, whereas in the Japanese version, it's much more open ended, with the suggestion that maybe they'll meet the alien again once man and robot can work together to translate the message! Not tied all up in a neat little bow.
There are other changes, and I can honestly say just about every line in the episode (and the others I've watched too) is a little bit different between the two, with many obviously being totally different in content, not just semantics.
One shocker was, in the Japanese version (and maybe this was because it was a subtitle translation - I don't know), they actually occasionally and lightly swear! There were 2 or 3 hell's and a damn in the episode. Nothing terrible (in my opinion at least), but it surprised me.
Another thing the English team does - they apparently feel like the characters need to speak more. A lot of times when Astro's back is turned or he's flying, etc., (same with all the other characters), in the English version there's filler dialogue whereas in the Japanese version there's none. Some of this dialogue is okay or entertaining (for example, Robita makes a somewhat funny joke about why robots might malfunction when loading the car in the English version that's not present in the Japanese version), but sometimes the silence is more effective. For example, there's a scene when Archer has to decide whether to shoot one of his own robots, and in the English version he says something about "I might need Higgins [robot's name] later" before dropping his gun, whereas in the Japanese version, he simply can't do it and drops his gun. Even though it's such a simple change, the latter with no dialogue, for me, is much more emotional and makes him much more human.
The music in both versions is good and worth listening to. It's vastly different (English version has rockish soundtrack whereas Japanese is orchestral), but I really do enjoy both - some scenes I find I like one version better than the other and vice versa; it seems to depend on the scene.
Finally, seeing it in 16:9 aspect ratio and with 5.1 sound is a completely different experience than 4:3 with 2.0 sound, more with this series than a lot of things as the art is just so beautiful and there's so much you don't see with the cuts. It's a shame they cut the English release down like they did (though I suppose in 2003/2004 that was much more acceptable than it would be today, but still).
Just some thoughts - hopefully someone else finds this stuff interesting. =oP