Sean Akizuki's Super Sentai Blog

Some time ago, I remembered reading a post from Dramabeans concerning subtitles either as a barrier or gateway . I'm no speaker of Japanese, Korean, or Mandarin (and yes, it's obvious that using a nom de plume) yet I enjoy those shows even if I can't understand a word. However, I enjoy them only if they've got English subtitles and ignore them when they don't. It's stupid to say that a show is better because it's in English or in one's native language. I remembered back in the 2000s when I first saw Meteor Garden in Tagalog then there were bootleg DVDs that had the English subtitle. Lately, there's Netflix where people can watch non-English shows with subtitles. I gave a thought about it with Super Sentai and why it was underappreciated. My bigger thoughts on Super Sentai's underappreciation for some time? It's all about the language barrier as Super Sentai is a show in JAPANESE aside from cultural differences prevented it from getting dub...

The moment you realize Nyaa got absorbed into a black hole...  I may not be the first to react like I'm not the first one to do episode reviews with my opinions shared into them. So it's going to be hard and I feel like I'm despair. So there's some migration issues for all the fan subbers. There's going to be some adjustments for the fan subbers. I just want to reveal my frustration and it's wasn't a lucky day for many viewers. Some of the fan subbers have already transferred to Anidex  ever since what could be the tragic end of Nyaa. From what I heard, the owner willingly shut it down for personal reasons. I could understand that if there were some issues like inability to pay bills but I also smell a rotten conspiracy. Do some people to blame the Yellow Empire's shadow empress from the United States? Hmmm I want to pretend the empress of the Yellow Empire wants to get rid of any competition and force people to watch telebasuras all day long. Wh...

Pretty much, I'll just admit I dislike Tokusatsu dubs and also, in extension any live show that gets dubbed outside its original language.  Now for my reasons: If you're watching Sentai dubs, you're really getting a lot of holes like that costume above.  That's right, you should expect a huge error margin maybe 90% error in dubs or even 99.9% error and when you start knowing what the real plot is, you'll probably feel shame like you're not wearing anything at all.  A good example that you could try to check out is how many times Maskman dubs really skip out the IMPORTANT role of Igam as a woman disguised as a man is one reason why sooner or later, you can't understand how the events unfolded in the whole series. Those dubs hurt my ears most of the time.  Most dubbers of these shows are what I'd call really bland and really, really are no substitute for the real deal of the voice of the actors. Some are pretty good but some really lack and I mean la...

As a Super Sentai fan, I personally feel I'd rather read accurate subs even if it sometimes hurts my eyes.  In fact, there have been a lot of errors and there's only a few out of many I can point out: Maybe the one I could share first is the Bioman English dub.  Plenty of stuff were altered like the powers of the New Empire Gear are exaggerated (for example, the bomb that was set on an earthquake fault was actually only meant to destroy Japan, not the whole world).  Plus, it really is something to realize that the Prince was introduced as Dr. Man's son, Mason knows Dr. Man was human from that episode and there was NO plot to steal the world's energy reserves.  A lot more will be known by fans later through GUIS to how many errors there are. Another was Hikari Sentai Maskman translated as "Laser Squadron Maskman" when it should be "Light Taskforce Maskman".  Hikari means light, not laser.  The Tagalog dub not only erroneously translated the open...

I could remember that in Super Sentai dubbing (as well as other Tokusatsu, Anime and my favorite evening Chinese soap operas) have name changes. I could remember some of these series had some name changes in dubbing which are: Goggle V had the following name changes in the dub: Fuehrer Taboo- Totopama Bioman had the following name changes in dub: Gou Shirou/Red One- Kenny Shingo Takasugi/Green Two- Sammy Ryuuta Nambara/Blue Three- Frankie Mika Koizumi/Yellow Four 1- Casey (good thing they didn't name her Trini) Hikaru Katsuragi/Pink Five- Kimberly (weird huh?) Junichi Kageyama- Sonny O Hara Hideo Kageyama (Dr. Man's real name)- Michael O' Hara Dr. Shibata- Dr. Shishiro Monster- Vargo Messerjuu- Falconoid Juuoh- Zeroid Mettzer- Plasmanoid Aquagaiger- Aquanoid New Empire Gear- Neo Empire Balzion- Bio Destroyer Maskman had the following name changes: Takeru- Michael Joe Kenta- Leonard Akira- Adrian Haruka- Eloisa Momoko- Mary Rose (dub name speaks for herself) Sanjoru Sugata-...

To dub or to sub? That is the question. Hee hee. I'm starting to sound like Shakespeare. I'll admit I like William Shakespeare's books. So I'd like to list some of the advantages and disadvantages of dubbing and subbing for TV or DVD. Note: I think Sentai that's planned to be shipped to the U.S. should just be released for DVD immediately, never mind the TV. Saban should start with Shinkenger's dubbing/subbing. Not all Sentai can click with America. Yup that's that! I. Dubbing Advantages: No need to strain our eyes reading subtitles (for people with poor eyesight like me, I'm wearing glasses whenever I read subs). Removal of inappropriate language and names (ex. Dragon Ball's Hercule was originally Mr. Satan). For Americans, maybe Power Rangers fans will hear their favorite cast members like for example, Jason David Frank dub certain characters or Barbara Goodson dub Bandora. Or maybe, Saban's new cast dub Shinkenger. Disadvantages: Inac...

Since Power Rangers was dubbed in Japan for some time, why not dub Super Sentai (don't forget to edit out some scenes) in America? Maybe not. Some white Americans are kind of used to listening to Japanese voices on Japanese shows already, even to the point to consider it murder if they dubbed it. However dubbing has some advantages- like changing some things you think are deemed inappropriate like how Dragon Ball Z in the U.S. changed Mr. Satan's name to Hercule (however in 99% of anime, Satan always implies evil) or those bad words that villain speak, for example in Boukenger has episode 22 with the &$!@ speaking of Shizuka and Zutakangami- which I think can be dubbed over as "Oh my!" I think Haim Saban while he's having his plans for adapting Shinkenger may actually do this if he really wishes to promote Super Sentai as well- ask permission from his franchisor Toei to sub Super Sentai (accurately, many subs are just STUPID) and release it straight on DVD ...

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 w...