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Anime Media

Central Park Media Lets Fans Cast "Outlanders" 135

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the pr-fun-and-excitement dept.
Peter Tatara writes to let us know that Central Park Media is holding a public casting call for the English version of "Outlanders." For each of the four main characters you get a choice between four different voice actors. Seems like a fun way to generate interest and ensure that the majority of enthusiasts like the dubbing.
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Central Park Media Lets Fans Cast "Outlanders" More

Central Park Media Lets Fans Cast "Outlanders"

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  • "Battia: a sexy friend" (Score:5, Funny)

    by ReformedExCon ( 897248 ) <reformed.excon@gmail.com> on Tuesday September 27, 2005 @02:07AM (#13656411)
    The "sexy friend" has cat ears and a tail. What kind of perversion is this?
  • Not sure why South Park is casting, but I'm thinking: Tom Hanks as Stan Ben Stiller as Kyle Jack Black as Cartman Billy Bob Thornton as Kenny

  • Dubbing can be strange (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Cave_Monster ( 918103 ) on Tuesday September 27, 2005 @02:30AM (#13656470)
    I find it weird watching dubbed anime sometimes. There are times when the finished product is comical because...

    (a) the characters' mouths move beyond what has been said
    (b) the character is still speaking yet their mouth has stopped moving
    (c) the dubbed voice has been sped up or slowed down to match the mouth movements.

    Why not just leave the animation in the native language and add subtitles?

    • To be fair (Score:5, Funny)

      by Aexia ( 517457 ) on Tuesday September 27, 2005 @02:35AM (#13656482)
      All that still happens in the original Japanese.
    • 1) Because not everyone can read, or at least read fast enough to keep up with a spoken conversation.
      2) Because reading subtitles is a lot more tiring than listening and not everyone wants to put in the effort.

      Despite all the fuss about dubbing removing much of things such as nuances that the original voice track has, most people who argue that point forget that if you don't actually understand the spoken language, you're still getting it through a (translated) filter and so you're missing most of those nua
      • Yes, but if you *do* kind of speak the language, then you can catch some of these suttle nuances.

        I know I enjoy watching subtitled anime better, because I kind of read for the main points, and listen for the suttle points. I have a copy of a Japanese anime that I really like dubbed in Cantonese. It's frustrating to to be able to get any hint of the nuances out of the spoken dialog.

        Now, granted, I'm sure that's what it's like for most people watching subtitled versions. But they should always try to inclu
        • For example, native English speakers should be able to spot the four subtle English mistakes in your post. ^_^

          I keed! I keed!

          But you're absolutely correct. Watch Tenchi Muyo! dubbed (to know what's going on), then watch it again in Japanese with the literal subtitles turned on, and listen to the difference.
        • Oh, I absolutely agree. I wasn't arguing for dubs (although reading my post now it seems that way). Having both is essential. I personally think it's better to watch with subtitles whether you understand the language or not, because there are also things that the director and original actors convey through their use of things like tone that transcend language.

          Being a Japanese speaker myself, I experienced the same thing of picking up all the little nuances (and getting annoyed when the subtitles are just pl
          • Yeah, actually, it's kind of funny. Me and two friends were watching a fan-subbed Initial D, at various points the actors say "san kyu" (thank you) and they subtitle it as "arigato".

            One of my friends, who listens strongly to the dialog said, "hey, they said 'thank you'" the other friend, who essentially exclusively reads the subtitles said, "Hey, they didn't translate that." And I just went, "huh? I didn't notice anything."

            But yeah. Often I'll hear a phrase in the original Japanese and realize that the s
        • If you only "kind of" speak the language, then you won't be catching any subtle nuances. Cultural references and humor where a word is used because it sounds like another word (pun) does not work well if you only "kind of" know the language, you might not have a large enough vocabulary to get the pun.
          • If you only "kind of" speak the language, then you won't be catching any subtle nuances.

            I say, "kind of" because I don't hardly speak Japanese as well as I would need to watch anything totally unassisted and get everything. I never really said that I caught *all* of the subtle nuances; I said that I listen for the subtle nuances.

            I was able to play FF7 and FF9 both in Japanese relatively well (I made good progress on FF7 because I already knew the story, but I was still able to understand a good 90% of the
      • I hate dubbing, there's nothing more odd and disturbing that Japanese characters speaking in American accents. I mean, they're often really heavy American accents as well. I'm afraid I can't really see samurai speaking like Texan prospectors.

        If you find reading tiring perhaps you should read more.

        • there's nothing more odd and disturbing that Japanese characters speaking in American accents.

          Dunno, at least to the eyes of foreigners, anime characters don't really look "Japanese" - or even Asian, except when they are deliberately drawn with exaggerated Asian features (usually to emphasize Chinese-ness).

          I think people who watch a lot of anime have just gotten used to the child-like voices & the linguistic "rhythms" of Japanese speech that the voice actors & actresses use with most of the charac

    • Yes, indeed, it can. But of course, people who like dubbed anime will most likely want to counter your argument with reasons like they shouldn't have to do two things at once (i.e. read and watch) while viewing an animé, the video can easily be altered frame-by-frame to match the dubbed voices, etc., etc., ad infinitum. I've witnessed some of this debate before, and I just simply adopt a neutral point of view [wikipedia.org] whenever the subject comes up.

    • Sometimes it just makes the story more enjoyable to have it in your native language. I'm partially fluent in Japanese, but I still find myself glued to the subtitles to make sure I don't miss anything. This focus on reading the words sometimes detracts from the enjoyment of just chillaxing and watching the show. Furthermore, sometimes it's nice to be able to multitask, like working out or eating dinner while watching a movie. If you have to focus on the subs, it can be more difficult since you have to a

    • This is not specific to animation. Applies to live action movies too. Believe me - you don't want to know how they "dub" US (for example) movies here. Actually - for anime this is much less of a problem because (unlike US animation) they aren't anal about lip-sync'ing at all. Which is a good thing IMO - I'd rather have them working on a story, character design etc.
    • Why not use linux/windows instead of windows/linux?

      And why not use emacs/vi instead of vi/emacs? And just for good measure, let throw in Google's growth, NASA's spending, the RIAA, and DRM. What about those?

      Dub vs. Sub? Nah, that one's obvious.
    • There are good dubs and there are bad dubs. Subtitles are generally uniform, though the translators can still screw up and there can be poor color and font choices.

      I've heard dubs that were so enjoyable that I almost preferred them to the original soundtrack. Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water and Cowboy Bebop are two. Then there are absolutely rotten dubs like Fullmetal Alchemist, Saber Marionette J, Wolf's Rain, basically anything released by the main US licensees under low budget. Apparently a cast from Pok

      • Although it's pretty rare that I find an anime in which I enjoy the dub better than the original, the two you mentioned definitely do break the mold with some truely talented voice acting. Other English dubs I really enjoyed include Noir, Mahoromatic, Ranma 1/2, and Outlaw Star (yeah, a lot of older ones, I know).

        Any other anime with great dubs that anyone out there can recommend?

        • I don't really think I can answer your question, but I have only ever liked *one* animé title (i.e. Sailor Moon), and I have only seen its dubbed version in full. But I have seen a few snippets of its subtitled version, and I think I could judge it to be okay.
        • Hellsing. It has a rather good English dub. I actually like it better than the Japanese voice track. (Except for the neko-chan bit in episode 1. That wasn't translated well. It sounded a bit forced, perhaps a shade too literal...) But that is probably due to the fact it takes place in England.

      • I usually prefer subtitles - I can read quickly, so I don't find them a hassle to keep up with* - but it really depends on who did the dub or sub and how much effort and skill was involved. I thought that the dubbed British version of Hellsing was enormously better than the incoherent fansub that I had previously seen (I thought it was completely arbitrary when I watched a few episodes of the sub, but I really enjoyed the dub and watched the whole thing).

        On the other hand, I saw the subbed DVD of Brother

    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • Re:Dubbing can be strange (Score:5, Insightful)

        by fbjon ( 692006 ) on Tuesday September 27, 2005 @05:14AM (#13656841) Homepage Journal
        Only because you're not used to it, and are thus a slow reader. Me, I live in Finland, where dubs do not exist (except for kids' movies, and then in two versions). I find that, while I can't glare at the screen trying to pick up all the details, I'm not constantly glancing at the subtitles either. They're sort of just inside the field of vision, so I can see what is there without looking. You need to read outside your center field of view.

        This is also why subtitles should be in clear colors with uncomplicated font (i.e. not dark purple in old gothic). Otherwise it's mostly pointless, but some subbers don't get this. There is also the minimum time that a line must be shown on screen, and usually you have to start showing them slightly before the charater speaks. Also, if something is about to happen, the sub should be shown so that it can be read just before it happens.

        Subtitling is an art that no fansubber I've seen has mastered yet, unfortunately, but other than that, I prefer subtitled any day.

        • I don't watch anime, but I do like a lot of european movies (french, spanish, etc) and my language skills are rarely up to the job. I refuse to watch a dubbed version, as not only is the lack of lip sync distracting but the original voice (and language) gives you so much in the way of expression and emotion which is always lost when some $20/hour "voice talent" butchers it.
        • I mostly agree, and although transparent subs sounds like a good idea, they could be more trouble then there worth. I'm sure most of us that watch subbed stuff have seem some times when you can barely read the subs because they blend in with the background. Transparency would seem to be a step in the wrong direction (at least if they were transparent enough to be really worth it). Ah, if only Japan used PAL, then we could make use of the extra pixel height....
        • I find that, while I can't glare at the screen trying to pick up all the details, I'm not constantly glancing at the subtitles either. They're sort of just inside the field of vision, so I can see what is there without looking. You need to read outside your center field of view.

          Huh? Sorry to nitpick, but I don't belive that this is physically possible. The human eye is only capable of perciving fine detail (like reading) from the light that falls on the fovea, which like in the center of the retina. The
          • Actually, it is possible. Some people can look in the center of the line, and read the whole of it without moving their eyes. It is, again, mostly a matter of being used and trained to it (I have a lifetime of training :). It's true that fine detail is only perceived in a surprisingly small area, but that is why the subs need to be of a certain size. With a proper font, the shapes of the words can be perceived even outside the fovea. And even if you can't perceive it when looking dead center in the screen,
        • After watching several complete anime series and many movies subtitled, I find I don't even notice I am reading them anymore. Now I have the problem that I am watching something and I will look away, to the computer screen or something else, and after hearing a couple seconds of speaking in a langauge I can't understand, I'm like "wait, I can't understand what they are saying. Oh yeah, gotta read the subtitles..." :)
    • That would be intentional.
    • Why not just leave the animation in the native language and add subtitles?

      Simple, because the market prefers dubbed anime. Subtitles would be cheaper to produce, but companies are willing to take on the expense of dubbing it because they know it will generate more sales in the long run.
    • Why not just leave the animation in the native language and add subtitles?
      Because there's a whole range of wannabe's who don't want to read subtitles. So the only way to capitalize on those too lazy to read subtitles is to dub voice overs for those who don't wish to have the complete experience.

      • So the only way to capitalize on those too lazy to read subtitles is to dub voice overs for those who don't wish to have the complete experience.

        "When you watch the subtitled version you are probably missing just as many things. There is a layer and a nuance you're not going to get. Film crosses so many borders these days. Of course it is going to be distorted." -Hayao Miyazaki [guardian.co.uk]

        • "When you watch the subtitled version you are probably missing just as many things. There is a layer and a nuance you're not going to get. Film crosses so many borders these days. Of course it is going to be distorted." -Hayao Miyazaki

          Ah, but all of his movies are dubbed quite well and are a good experience either way. Most other anime aren't treated so well.

    • (c) the dubbed voice has been sped up or slowed down to match the mouth movements.

      What do you mean, "sped up or slower down" ? What kind of crazy ultra-high-quality anime do you watch that does this ? Who cares if a dubbed conversation (which always cuts to a face shot of whoever's speaking) lags twenty seconds behind the screen events ?-) It's just good practice for your brain to try to keep track of what's happening and who's saying what - teaches one to concentrate...

      • What do you mean, "sped up or slower down" ? What kind of crazy ultra-high-quality anime do you watch that does this ?

        No, anime that does that is low quality. It means that instead of paying an actor to do fifty takes of a single line to make it both sound good and match the video, they just do a few takes and then digitally arrange them to follow the face animation. A good, professional dubber like Disney movie corporation doesn't take cheap shortcuts like that.

        Obviously, editing audio this way damages

        • What do you mean, "sped up or slower down" ? What kind of crazy ultra-high-quality anime do you watch that does this ?

          No, anime that does that is low quality.

          No, anime that does that is high quality compared to anime that ignores synchronization of voice and picture completely (which I was talking about in my post).

          If you watch anime that has avoided these flaws, then you are a rather lucky one.

          If you don't know what I'm talking about, then you are the lucky one ;).

    • Why not just leave the animation in the native language and add subtitles?

      One simple, good reason is dyslexia.

    • Why not just leave the animation in the native language and add subtitles?

      Well, that's the way that I buy all of my anime, but most of the friends that I have that are into anime (not as heavily as I am, but still)...well, they just flat-out refuse to watch it in Japanese. The dubs will also attract more new fans.

    • Actually, what REALLY bugs me is how they pronounce all the Japanese names as if they were English. It kills all the joy in your soul. It leaves the impresion they're little kids monkeying around trying to pronounce foreign stuff, or that they're being ironic.

      The second all-time issue is the choice of voices, and I'm glad to see CPM letting the public decide for once. In most of the English dubs, girls sound either like horny skanks or high-pitched and annoying, while all the boys and men regardless of age

  • Castratime (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Well, if this is going to sound like most anime, just kick me in the balls a few times and I'll do the voices.

  • Recall the old cast (Score:2, Informative)

    by node357 ( 889400 )
    I love the Outlanders manga, and the anime was alright. I kind of with they would create an anime more true to the story, but eh. The original dubbed version I heard had pretty decent voice actors, and I think they should be called in for a second run.
    • Are you kidding?! Tetsuya's voice acting in the original was terrible! Now, if they brought back the voice actor who did Geobaldi, that would be cool. He sounds so good with a thick Texas accent. "I kept telling him, don't go outside the ship without a spacesuit, but he just wouldn't listen." Good times, good times.
  • To name a few: Overheard [overheardintheuk.com] Geek Show [thegeekshow.com] Happy Hentai [happyhentai.com]
  • Maybe I'm a bit a fan of the original Japanese, but all those voice sound bad. If you take the first audition for Kham, all those voices sounds like the same squeeky, obnoxious female voice for young girls that you hear in all US dubbed anime.
  • Outlander! We have your woman Outlander! She still lives!
  • I loved the Manga and the Anime(in original Japanese+subtitles). I think it is about time they brought this anime to DVD!

    Personally, don't really care about the voice dubbing so long as the original voices are there and subtitles are available in english.

    Listened to some of the test clips, but didn't have time to listen through all of them. Kahm-B isn't so good though. The voice is way too "open". Kahm's voice always struck me as being a bit more compressed. Time to swing by Hitoshi Doi's website and see wh
  • I'd hate to be a negative kinda person, but every dubbed anime i've come across (including the voices I've seen in this one) 'suck' compared to their japanese couterparts. The english language just doesn't show enough emotions, its simply not expressive enough. I don't think its possible to do a good dub, which is why everyone should just WATCH THE SUBS (which are usually included in the dvds)!!! I was outraged when I heard the voices for the naruto dubs (shown on cartoon network). They couldn't even pronou

    • I wouldn't say that (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Ogemaniac ( 841129 ) on Tuesday September 27, 2005 @03:44AM (#13656643)
      I live in Japan and know a fair bit of the language. English is just as "expressive", in my opinion. The problem is that we express things in such fundamentally different ways that one-for-one translation is impossible. I agree with you - subs are better - but not because they are more accurate or expressive. They are better because you still get the emotion as it was emoted in Japanese, with the neutral English translation below. When it is dubbed, the emotion must be placed directly atop an English phrase, and they often do not match or sound really silly.
      • I stand corrected. I agree that it is infact a cultural difference and not a lingual one. But an important difference nonetheless.

        • Re:I wouldn't say that (Score:1, Informative)

          by Anonymous Coward
          I agree that it is infact a cultural difference and not a lingual one.

          That's not entirely true either. There are things that can be expressed as a single word in Japanese, but take several in English. If that one word has stress placed on it or is separated somehow, it's difficult to translate it properly.

          I'm thinking of a recent fansub where the character paused a bit for emphasis before ending with the final "nai." Even the subtitle was a bit awkward and I have no idea how this could be properly done w
    • Well, in English's defense, it's more of a culture clash than language clash.

      Also, and more importantly, the mouth movement timing directly affects what English phrase can be said, which often leads to either ridiculously cheesy or otherwise bad dialog.

    • I don't think its possible to do a good dub,

      It's certainly possible, as can be heard in Disney's Ghilbi dubs [nausicaa.net]. Although weak points can be found in Mononoke Hime, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Porco Rosso, they are all basically decent (and, I can't recall any shortcomings in Spirited Away).

      There are a few chronic obstacles that prevent typical anime companies from doing similarly good jobs.
      (a) Cheapness. Typical anime are dubbed in just a few takes. Keeping the actors and director together long enough to
      • It's certainly possible, as can be heard in Disney's Ghilbi dubs. Although weak points can be found in Mononoke Hime, Kiki's Delivery Service, and Porco Rosso, they are all basically decent (and, I can't recall any shortcomings in Spirited Away).
        You missed Castle in the Sky, which has a terrible dub. (Which is really too bad, as it's among my favorite movies.) I don't know how they managed to do such a good job on the other movies, but screwed up that one royally.
  • ...They're AMERICAN. I'm not voting. What a swizz. :-(
  • I could swear all those voices (except one Tetsuya and one Battia) are the same 4 people repeating their lines three or four times. I love animé, I really do, but I only ever watch it subtitled since the girls always have that sqeeky voice, the boys have a really high voice, that dog thing (and all other non-human baddies) have fake gruff voices, etc. You could watch two animé with your eyes closed and couldn't tell one from the other by the voices alone. When dubbing, why do "they" have to give t
    • "When dubbing, why do "they" have to give the impression of only having half a dozen voice actors for the entire collection of animé that'll ever be imported?"

      Because that's pretty much the case?

  • American Anime Dubbers: They just don't get it (Score:3, Insightful)

    by TuxPaper ( 531914 ) on Tuesday September 27, 2005 @04:42AM (#13656772)
    They really don't get it. They obviously see there's a problem with their dubs. They "see" it by all the people badmouthing the dubs, but they don't really understand it. What CPM is doing right now is a prime example of their misunderstanding. They are letting fans choose between 4 voices for each of 4 characters. All of these voices can not act. I doubt they've been to a voice acting school. Sure, you can choose the best sounding voice actor/actress (VA) out of the group, or the one that closest matches the original Japanese voice (which is hard, because all 4 voices sound very similar, and nothing like the originals), but the end result will still be poor. They still won't be able to act the parts. You'll still be left with a feeling that they are reading from a paper, or over hamming it up.

    In the end, the type of voice really doesn't matter, as long as the VA can portray the character in the manner s/he needs to be portrayed in. If the VA is good, you'll soon forget that s/he doesn't sound like the Japanese voice. You'll be immersed in the story and the character.

    One has to wonder if CPM (and the other anime dubbers) are being cheap, and are not hiring (or interviewing) expensive, professionally trained VAs, or if there are just no professionally trained VAs in America.

    If voice in the samples are actually from people who have gone to VA school, I apologize, but the school you went to is crap crap crap.
    • > or if there are just no professionally trained VAs in America There definitely are. Crispin Freeman springs to mind...
      • There definitely are. Crispin Freeman springs to mind...

        Maybe he's had formal training. And looking at the length of his resume [imdb.com], his dubbing is a full-time job. But the proof is in the results: none of the handful of dubbed DVDs I have with him are even close to acceptable listening quality.

        Maybe that's not his fault- maybe it's just impatient or incompetent voice directors. Or it might just be my untrustworthy personal opinion. But notice that in that long list of jobs, he doesn't have one cartoon orig
        • Crispin's a great guy, a good actor, and genuinely cares about the works he's dubbing. ...and even he will badmouth some of the stuff he's worked on. There's a HUGE problem with the whole process of making dubs in the U.S. that simply hasn't been fixed by the companies, and probably never will be (see earlier posts that enumerate some of these flaws). A good actor can't save it.

          Hell, even a good director can't save it if the system is flawed.

          If we fix the system with ensemble recording, more time to fix pro
    • Ladies and Gentleman, it's Maurice LaMarche! One of our generation's most versatile and distinguished voice acting talents! I had no idea he had a Slashdot account!

      Or at least, I'm assuming it must be Maurice LaMarche. There's not many people who could be familiar enough with the voice acting business to level the kinds of criticism against CPM's talent that TuxPaper is making, and have it be worthwhile! Coming from anyone else, it would just sound like the uninformed whinings of a fanboy with an inflat
      • Or at least, I'm assuming it must be Maurice LaMarche. There's not many people who could be familiar enough with the voice acting business

        Do you actually think CPM is in the same business as LaMarche or Chalk? Re-dubbing imported anime is a separate field from voicing original English cartoons*

        Maurice and Gary do domestic productions. They don't dub anime, or at least I can't find [imdb.com] any here [imdb.com]. Conversely, most well-known anime VAs rarely work an original English cartoon. The two businesses seem to have mai

  • Useless attempt (Score:2, Insightful)

    by tehpwn ( 896928 )
    Fans who are used to hear japanese in animes will never get used to english dubbed version; the languages intonations variances are too different (Japanese is very expressivly varying in intonations compared to US english), so feeling aren't so marked in english phonetics.
  • At least it's not 'Manga' [sic] doing the dubbing/subtitles, anyone else remember how they managed to translate 'Phoenix' (Japanese, quite clearly audible as it didn't change between languages) into 'never die bird' in the subs?

    Maybe they just use babelfish...?

  • Wow. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by MasamuneXGP ( 824006 )
    Putting aside the anime-haters and sub vs dub arguments, this is a MAJOR step in the right direction for anime in the US. Dubbers who actually care about what the already-existing fans think?! Unthinkable. I can only hope more dubbing companies start doing this. I can only imagine how awesome it would be if a popular anime such as Naruto got similar treatment.
  • Or it'd look like this [vgcats.com].

  • Fool All of the People Some of the Time (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Doc Ruby ( 173196 ) on Tuesday September 27, 2005 @09:11AM (#13657603) Homepage Journal
    Democratic voting is far from a guarantee that the majority will be happy with their selection once its made [msn.com]. But it is very handy in making people feel like the selection is their fault, that they should get defensive, and protect their selection from the others, even when they become the minority through attrition.
  • I do not know many people who REALLY like anime that would ever listen to a dubbed track. Check out some subtitles and some dubbings. Maybe it is a matter of translation, or a matter of censorship but you will constantly see things being said in English dubs that are editted for speech and/or other reasons. Sometimes almost to a comical point.

    Now, by using different voice actors you might be able to get enough variety that some people can get over the whole, the voice just doesn't sound right issue. W
  • With four choices, the "winner" only needs 25.000...01% of the vote to win. This hardly seems like a majority, and more like a plurality.
  • Seems like a fun way to generate interest and ensure that the majority of enthusiasts like the dubbing.

    No, seems like a way to ensure that the majority do NOT like the dubbing.

    Unless each role receives a clear majority winner made up from the same people, then a simple plurality will decide each role, and when a plurality wins, the majority has voted for someone else.

    To demonstrate: A, B, C, D, and E are voting for people 1, 2, 3 and 4 for each role. For the first role, the votes are: A,B: 1 C:2 D:3 E:4

  • Outlanders was actually one of the first dubbed available in America back in 1986. Here's the cast list from that first dub [imdb.com]. There are some interesting names to anime fans in that list.

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