MovieChat Forums > Meitantei Conan (1996) Discussion > Who else thinks it's retarded to America...

Who else thinks it's retarded to Americanize the names?

posted 17 years ago by ChineseRiverCrab
20 replies | jump to latest

I'm pretty much against dubbing to begin with coz nothing is better than hearing the anime in it's original voice acting (is often much better too) but I don't see this name changing happening in most other anime dubs, not that I watch dubbed anime.

In fact I think it's patronizing to even put the surnames at the back. =_= Changes the whole sound of the name when it's read backwards.

IMO all this name changing is just reinforcing the stereotype that Americans are too dumb and lazy to recognize that there are different cultures and languages besides the American one.

Isn't it just sad how sometimes you can't even tell if someone was being sarcastic or not?

[–] psycho-katie 17 years ago

You know what? I agree. -.- Every other anime (that I've come into contact with) uses the original names. The only cases where it would make sense to change an original name would be if 1) It's actually an offensive word in the new language, or 2) if it's really, really difficult for the foreign audience to pronounce. Neither of these seem to occur with Case Closed/Detective Conan. I mean... Ran? Shinichi? North Americans can definitely handle these names.

But, I suppose, it's whatever they want to do, in the end. Since I'm now stuck watching subtitled versions of later episodes on bootleg dvds because they won't show new episodes on tv (Hey. They shouldn't have given us a taste if they weren't going to give us the cake), I (and I'm sure many others) have to get used to the original names, anyway. Since I'll be hearing them more often, I'll probably use the Japanese names in lieu of the translated names offered.

[–] yousuke_kobayashi 17 years ago

I don't mind the dubbing since it makes me feel like I'm introduced to the story the first time again, but yeah, name changing is a disaster. Look at the Street Fighter series to see what I'm talking about. I think I'll never get over that.

[–] CaptainHowdy1987 17 years ago

I think it's retarded to Americanize the names. Americans are stupid.

"Warhorse. Warhead, Fuq 'em, man, White knuckle tight. Through black and white"

[–] emasterslake 17 years ago

Normally a name would be change under the circumstances of it being hard to pronouce or too long to include in a spoken dub sentence. For me I'd kept all the names the way they are in Case Closed.

The other Funimation own anime I've seen so far have kept the names untouch. But funn this one's the only one to have a lot of altered names.

[–] chooflafla 17 years ago

Even the dubbed version of Yu Yu Hakusho kept the original Japanese names. The American version of Meitantei Conan is heavily cut anyway thus it's *beep* I'm surprised with the amount of violence in the original version, which is why I like it so much. It's kiddy yet gritty at the same time! I'm almost on episode 500! God damn that Mizunashi Rena!

[–] pcoffey-1 17 years ago

You're stupid.

[–] kasumi_arakara 17 years ago

I'd rather have it not changed, but since I love the name Jimmy/James, I'm fine with it. I though Case Closed was a better name in general than "Detective Conan" but Meitantei Conan does sound a lot better.

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"I'm assuming that's a joke. I'm ignoring you for time reasons." -Wilbur Robinson

[–] DethKillers04 16 years ago

It probably would have been retarded to have Americans trying to pronounce the original names. It kind of bugs me how they say "Kira" in the English version of Death Note. Even though it was supposed to be pronounced like that, it just doesn't sound right.

They probably wanted to go the safe side and give the characters new names so the Americans can say them properly.

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"I don't want to work, I just want to bang on this mug all day."

[–] jackpwnz 16 years ago

I disagree, funimation produces great dubs with better voice actors than you see in most other dubbing. I think you're just another American kid who idolizes the Japanese and thinks that other Americans are stupid. Well, we're not stupid. Besides, Japanese voice acting isn't very great, you can just tell what it's like in those Japanese recording studios. When they do voice acting, it really sounds like work. When Americans do it, you can tell they're having a lot of fun.

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OH I GIVE UP, MY LIFE IS IN MAGNIFICENT SHAMBLES!

[–] sage-presage 15 years ago

I don't see anything wrong with "sounds like work". Japanese voice actors/actresses are very professional, they treat their work seriously, which is no substitute for having no fun. After all, it's serious work, not some relaxing talk show. It's not that American dubbings are really bad, but most of the time they just give me the feeling that they don't get the soul of the characters. Japanese anime choose voice actors/actresses very carefully, not only skills are required, the feeling of characters is a must.

I love character actors and I don't give a deal about "STAR"s :)

[–] oliversquidditchbabe 16 years ago

I definitely prefer the english dubs. I hate reading subtitles, and I don't speak Japanese.

Michael Jackson as voldemort. . . . . no wonder he's been after Harry

[–] Minlawc 16 years ago

I can understand with Ran, Ran would end up sounding like Ron and it would confuse some people. But they could always use Lan, and it would actually sound closer to the original.

[–] BHLani 16 years ago

I don't really mind the name changes for the most part, but when it comes to The Thirteenth Target, that's when I get annoyed, because the name changes largely effected the dub for that movie. All of the numbers are supposed to be in the character's names, like Ichi in Shinichi.

[–] emasterslake 16 years ago

Before I saw that one, I wasn't too sure how they'd pull it off. But least I liked how they rewrote the way they deduct that whole number and character connection for the English dub.

[–] DethKillers04 16 years ago

I actually heard on a conference video that it's often the Japanese decision on whether they change the names or not. It was said that sometimes, Funimation would want to keep a name in Japanese, but the Japanese would say "no you're changing the name."

I heard it on a youtube video. Colleen Clinkenbeard, voice of Rachael, explains the name thing. It's pretty interesting. I think she talks about Shin Chan first, but about 19 seconds into the video she gives an example on Case Closed. Here's a link to the vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITfWYHOkCuE
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"I don't want to work, I just want to bang on this mug all day."

[–] Togodzilla2006 15 years ago

Don't hate me for this, but I actually kinda agree with jackpwns. So many people get into this rut about, "Oh, I watch the original so it's automatically better!" thing just because it's in japanese.

You guys who are like that have to give the dubs a chance, they're not going to kill you. Actually now that I think about it, this is the only anime I've watched that has americanized names. And the names of the characters themselves aren't that bad, they have a likeness to their japanese counterparts.

[–] jgoersch 15 years ago

I live in Germany and our dubbed Conan has the original names. I think it's better this way

[–] cjpdigi90 15 years ago

I'm all in favor of uncut anime, but name changes here and there have never bothered me. The only confusing name change for me occurs with Haibara. She's been called Anita Hailey in the video game and (presumably) the manga, but in the movie dubs, she's given the name Vi Graythorn. Neither are particularly bad names and work easily into a dub(Vi=Ai, Anita=Haibara), but when I watched Last Wizard of the Century, I was surprised to hear a different name than I was expecting. Nonetheless, name changes are a small price to pay for an English dub of any anime, and in most cases, I prefer them.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] 15 years ago

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