Mispronunciations in Dubs

[AsianBlossom]

Is anyone on here annoyed when voice actors mispronounce things in dubs for anime? For me, I can let certain things slide, like, when it comes to Japanese names, pronouncing the letter 'R' like an English 'R' or getting the syllables wrong. But what I can't stand is when English-speaking actors get English words wrong. Like, in Angelic Layer, most of the characters pronounce the 'L' in 'salmon'. I mean, what's up with that?! "Yes, we're going to eat saLmon sandwiches!" (ROFLOL)

Has anyone seen any similar situations in any other anime?

[Etoh*the*Greato]

I don't think it's a mispronunciation so much as a mark of where the VAs are from. Rememer back in the day when it seemed like everyone in Japan was actually canadian because all the dubbers were?

[Tenshi no Ai]

Rememer back in the day when it seemed like everyone in Japan was actually canadian because all the dubbers were?

Well, it's true that most stuff from Viz is done in Vancouver... Still, even when it's my own country I cannot STAND it when they call characters such names as "NarUUUtUUU" (well, that one is more people in real life, so I'm assuming it's from the show too), "NaRUUUUkUUUU" "MirOOOkUUU" and "InuyAAAAhShAAAA". I mean, it's as if the vowels are quite overly emphasized or something :/ I applaud VAs when they can say they can say their 'r's, like on Gundam Wing.

[Puguni]

I always think of Fruits Basket when I think of mispronunciation. They put a lot of unnecessary emphasis on Kyou's name.

Actually, Tokyo is mispronounced a lot. It's not To-KEE-yo, it's just Tokyo, just like it is written. For some reason, because the "kyo" in Tokyo is pronounced that way, dubbers think that "kyo" also is "keeyo." It's not, it's just kyo.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

You have to remember that many of these people don't speak Japanese. There is a large number of them that don't even particularly care for Anime. They're just paying bills. When they see a japanese word that has been romanized, they'll pronounce it the way that a word would be pronounced in America. That y in Tokyo, for example, usually means an Ee or an Ai sound in English. Thus we get Tokeeyo. Also, don't forget that the English way of saying Tokyo is Tokeeyo. Places and things that are brought in to other nations with other languages will be interpreted by that languages standards - not necessarily the standards of the originating country. Thing of how many english words were used in Japan, and how horribly butchered they were. Not saying it's right, but at least its an explanation. The problem is slowly starting to disappear as anal retentive japanese speaking fans get jobs in the dubbing industry.

[mitsuki lover]

I think that some of it might be simply that the VAs have busy schedules and so sometimes they don't have the time to get the Japanese words down as good as
they might like to.
You have to remember that the typical VA is probably doing more than one show at a time plus other non-anime related jobs.
So there maybe times when their day is so full that they don't have the time to
focus on getting every word as right as they possibly could.

[Nate]

Also, don't forget that the English way of saying Tokyo is Tokeeyo. Places and things that are brought in to other nations with other languages will be interpreted by that languages standards - not necessarily the standards of the originating country. Thing of how many english words were used in Japan, and how horribly butchered they were.

Exactly. Everyone knows how my name is pronounced. If I went to Japan they would add a vowel onto the end of my name, because of the rules of the language. And honestly it would be kinda ridiculous for me to get upset or angry or ask them in an irritated tone to pronounce my name correctly.

[KhakiBlueSocks]

I don't know if this counts, but there was one of the Band of Seven members on Inuyasha (I think it was the leader) who always kinda flubbed on Inuyasha's name, calling him "In-A-Yasha". Am I alone in noticing this?

[uc pseudonym]

I'm fairly ambivalent, but I wish people would be consistent in how they feel about this. If you complain about the pronunciation of Japanese words in dubs, it seems to me as though you should be equally harsh on the often slaughtered English words in many anime.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

Which is pretty much what I was saying. I hadn't really come to the opinion until reading the above. It was kind of like... uh... well... I don't know what it was like, but it was definitely like something. Yeah. Something. As for the Band of Seven, the only thing I remember about them was Killdozer. The giant sawblade battlebulldozer in the middle of feudal Japan. Which brings me (in a round about it was the last word of the previous sentence kind of way) to one major example of what I was saying in my previous post. Japan isn't even the name of the country! It's an americanized thing that sounds only vaguley like what the natives call it.

[Tenshi no Ai]

If you complain about the pronunciation of Japanese words in dubs, it seems to me as though you should be equally harsh on the often slaughtered English words in many anime.

I can find that amusing as well^^ Especially when the American characters seem to have Japanese accents, and I've only seen a couple anime where they actually used english-speakers to play the part. *shrugs* Might be hard for them to say certain things too (like "th"), just like us and their "r"s requiring almost "skill" in saying it. Don't usually bug english VAs too much too much for that since it is a task...

2 things I've noticed with the Japanese saying english things that bug me: the word "virus" (I mean, can't they say "vaiirasu" rather than "viirasu"?) and "energy" (which is SOMETIMES "enaajii" but more commonly "enerugi"... it just doesn't make sense :/ Actually, in the Sailor Moon manga they use both terms, which... seems odd :/)