Should Super Sentai Dub, Sub or Adapt?
It has crossed my mind just recently with Super Sentai (as well as Tokusatsu) for the foreign market. Before Zyuranger was adapted into Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers Season One, Super Sentai was being dubbed into different languages- English, Filipino, French and Latin. To reduce the violence, some scenes deemed inappropriate (like gunshot wounds) were deleted without hiding the fact that the enemy died. The dubbing went until Jetman, which I believe was another choice for what Saban wanted to become Power Rangers.
In the Philippines, they saw dubbed versions of Goranger, JAKQ, Goggle V (unfinished), Bioman, Maskman (unfinished), Turboranger (unfinished), Fiveman and the last was Jetman. After that the MMPR craze went, ignoring Super Sentai (which is a BAD idea, why not get both?). Then again, grab little at a time.
Haim Saban was interested in dubbing Super Sentai if I'm not wrong. Rumors spread that he actually dubbed Bioman as an entire series but it clicked more with Asia than America. I think so because Hikaru or Pink Five was named Kimberly, a name that his first pink ranger will take soon enough- and both the chick of their teams. If I'm not wrong he felt Super Sentai should just be dubbed and edited but cultural boundaries ARE a problem one must solve.
Because of cultural boundaries, Power Rangers was born instead of Saban dubbing Super Sentai. For some reason, he chose Zyuranger instead of Jetman which many believe was because Jurassic Park was also showing. Later some American fans discovered the existence of Super Sentai later and some even white ones became fans and were categorized as either they like Sentai more now, still liking Power Rangers more even if they like Super Sentai and they dumped Power Rangers entirely. Some thought that Toei and Saban should have cooperated to dub and edit instead.
Later for some reason, Dekaranger became the very first series to be completely subbed. Fan subs were also born. Fan subs were later created for other series for the English speaking fans. However no more Super Sentai series were dubbed, sadly Filipinos don't see dubbed Sentai anymore :-(. Only Anime left unadapted (but some scenes edited) was ever dubbed from Japan by American voice dubbers. However I'm recently a fan of sub over dub. Some fans think that the cast members are very much like MMPR in terms of personality. I agree but only with Hoji, Jasmine and Tetsu. Rest. IMO- nah. They're likable in their own way.
Lately for Haim Saban after buying Power Rangers back chose to adapt Shinkenger with his own a little more original interpretation presumably to remain American friendly, rather than dub Shinkenger. But then, I hope he'll start dubbing and subbing Sentai soon, that is starting with Shinkenger, at least PR fans will know why Power Rangers exists as well. :-P
In the Philippines, they saw dubbed versions of Goranger, JAKQ, Goggle V (unfinished), Bioman, Maskman (unfinished), Turboranger (unfinished), Fiveman and the last was Jetman. After that the MMPR craze went, ignoring Super Sentai (which is a BAD idea, why not get both?). Then again, grab little at a time.Haim Saban was interested in dubbing Super Sentai if I'm not wrong. Rumors spread that he actually dubbed Bioman as an entire series but it clicked more with Asia than America. I think so because Hikaru or Pink Five was named Kimberly, a name that his first pink ranger will take soon enough- and both the chick of their teams. If I'm not wrong he felt Super Sentai should just be dubbed and edited but cultural boundaries ARE a problem one must solve.
Because of cultural boundaries, Power Rangers was born instead of Saban dubbing Super Sentai. For some reason, he chose Zyuranger instead of Jetman which many believe was because Jurassic Park was also showing. Later some American fans discovered the existence of Super Sentai later and some even white ones became fans and were categorized as either they like Sentai more now, still liking Power Rangers more even if they like Super Sentai and they dumped Power Rangers entirely. Some thought that Toei and Saban should have cooperated to dub and edit instead. Later for some reason, Dekaranger became the very first series to be completely subbed. Fan subs were also born. Fan subs were later created for other series for the English speaking fans. However no more Super Sentai series were dubbed, sadly Filipinos don't see dubbed Sentai anymore :-(. Only Anime left unadapted (but some scenes edited) was ever dubbed from Japan by American voice dubbers. However I'm recently a fan of sub over dub. Some fans think that the cast members are very much like MMPR in terms of personality. I agree but only with Hoji, Jasmine and Tetsu. Rest. IMO- nah. They're likable in their own way.
Lately for Haim Saban after buying Power Rangers back chose to adapt Shinkenger with his own a little more original interpretation presumably to remain American friendly, rather than dub Shinkenger. But then, I hope he'll start dubbing and subbing Sentai soon, that is starting with Shinkenger, at least PR fans will know why Power Rangers exists as well. :-P
Me personally, I hate listening to anything dubbed. It just feels so unnatural to me. With any dvd I have or rent, I chose to use English subtitles and leave the audio in its original language.
ReplyDeletePurists and weaboos will say subbed.
ReplyDeleteEveryone else will say dubbed.
Meh, as long as 4Kids doesn't dub Sentai in the future, I'm cool with it. Heck, I even think Disney will do better with a subbed Super Sentai.
I thought Saban dubbed Kousoku Sentai Turboranger but no one was interested at the time. I could be wrong though.
ReplyDelete@Mr. Smith- Most of the time, the natural voice is better but at times, dubbing happens because of swear words.
ReplyDelete@DancingAlienDude- So you prefer to watch subs don't you?
I don't like dubs, cause most of them turn out bad. Subs are good enough for me.
ReplyDeleteWithout Power Rangers, not much people would have probably known about Sentai. So I say adapt and sub because of that and....well, you guys know me. XD
@Kingdom Rider- Most dubs turn out pretty bad. The Bioman dub is a good example- enjoyed it when I was young but now, 99% of dubs are AWFUL. Toei got more money for the win didn't they with Power Rangers? I mean, after all, Saban pays for royalty fees.
ReplyDeleteI don't care, really. (I meant to say "dubbed" for Disney. Stupid typo >_>) But there's always been a war with Japanese media to say whether anime should be subbed or dubbed.
ReplyDeleteToei owns half of Power Rangers since it's most of their material used, so Toei gets half profit. The budget for Sentai was cut back because they weren't getting a profit from Power Rangers since Disney canceled the show. But now that Power Rangers is back, the budget for Sentai is going to get higher again.
ReplyDeleteIf i am to be asked, i prefer the subbed version of Super Sentai. It is cool to watch the subbed version for me, because dubbing restricts the use of words.Here in my country the Philippines, some words like "gago", "tanga", "hinayupak" and "tarantado" were filtered when dubbing considering they are bad words. But in subbing, these words could be used especially in fan subs. For me, using bad words adds more color to the program but this could only be done in subbing.
ReplyDelete@Guyferd20- Actually I'm from the Philippines too but I have relatives residing in America, China and Hong Kong.
ReplyDelete@Sean-san, so you too are a Filipino like me. Well i all i can say is good work kabayan!
ReplyDeleteIn fact, Saban never wanted to do a dubbing Bioman. From the beginning he wanted to be considered the producer of the show. To do this, he combined Japanese and American film,in Bio-Man,a pilot directed by Shuky Levy in 1986.(The New Yorker).
ReplyDeleteHi, I'm a SENTAI fan from the USA that was into SENTAI before POWER RANGERS was ever created. I feel sorry for the Japanese/Asians now. When I talk to Asian friends or Asians online they pretty much agree in what they have to say that "Segregation in the USA has Returned!" Only this time for the Japanese / Asians , on USA TV! How do you think Japanese feel when they see POWER RANGERS on USA TV? When you look at USA TV in the past decades It's alot like ETHNIC CLEANSING ON U.S. TV! As compared to if you travel to other countries and watch tv there, ya know? Then you see series from the USA on their TV.
ReplyDeleteAbout the only time the Alphabet Networks ever took some big steps in what some hoped would be the right direction was of course with Fox and their attempts during the 1990's with POWER RANGERS and other Saban programs. Sadly however this again was another example of how American tv networks would now begin to import quality made Asian programing in the coming decade by totally replacing the Asian actors! It's sad. What other country on Earth has had television networks that show such extreme prejudice in such a manner? Does any other country on Earth ever censor our programs any time we have a black actor in an American made series? Not that I know of. Probably not even Germany! Why then must broadcasters here in the U.S. censor programs that are made with Asian actors? Some would say it's partly because dubbing such shows does not work well, although this never seems to be a problem in most other countries. But imagine what if the voice over was perfected by using computer animation to match the mouth movements perfectly? This eventually can become a reality! US TV Networks sadly are not carrying on "Dr King's Dream" if we keep seeing POWER RANGERS segregate the Japanese!
In Asia , Europe and almost anywhere else in America for example it is not unusual to see programs imported from Hollywood or other countries or to hear English music from the USA broadcasted on the radio there as well. But why don't we hear more music from other countries on our U.S. radio stations??? Do America listeners really think that English music is somehow better than all other languages? I don't think so. But the corporations and networks that have been calling the shots for too long apparently seem to think so. I for one would prefer it if I could turn on my radio and hear some good Asian music, ya know? And I'm not Asian!
So do we have "HOLLYWOOD SUPREMACISTS" in the USA? In the case with television programs some would argue that some think Hollywood is in some way better than all other sources of entertainment in the world. But is it really? That in itself seems like a somewhat racist attitude. To act like your country is somehow superior to all other nations around the world in some way. Where is the equality in that way of running things? But I believe we can help change this!
We do see more imported Japan programs now than like we did 20 or more years ago but like I said before , often whenever this rarely ever does happen, the programs are marketed for mainly "just our children". That in itself can be a kind of "another derogatory way" of handling things as well one could say. To consider Asian programing to be only good enough to ever marketed for only American children? Many folks would much rather see more anime and other foreign made programing imported and shown during prime-time on the Alphabet Networks in the future instead of the trash they show now. And together I believe we can help make that happen in the future!
Thanks & God Bless!
Keep.Jesus.1st@gmail.com
I totally agree, im 20 and when i found out that power rangers was a white washed rip off made by a corprat cheepskate mr Krabs jerk. I imedistly started hating on the company. I mean i still like power rangers, just because of nostalgia, but i love sentai better, my top three sentai teams are unoffical sentai akibaranger, go busters, and gobusters. I also love kamen rider. My favorit kamen rider is takeshi hongo ( kamen rider ichigo/the first). Thank you for pointing this out to all the ignorant ranger fans who cant except that power rangers is a rip off of a japanese masterpeice.
ReplyDeleteI prefer raw Super Sentai they could do subbed I don't like adaptations of any foreign shows I have been a fan of Tokusatsu sense 1986
ReplyDeleteI don't think any sentai was dubbed in Latin. But I wish it were!
ReplyDelete