English dub not close to original in Anime/Video games

4 comments

1. So Ive watched a few videos on this, and apparently it has ALOT to do with matching the timing of lip flaps and the scene to the actual dialogue being used.

   For example, if theres a phrase thats long in english but the japanese statement is shorter (lets say it omits the subject for example) , the english version would have to have words changed to get the jist across while accounting for the timing of the scene as well as the lip flaps.

   Final Fantasy X was a notable example of this

2. Translation is an art not a science. A line could be less than literally translated for any number of reasons. Maybe it won’t fit in the textbox with a “direct”-ish translation, maybe the localization team is trying to reflect the personality of the character and that would be lost if you try to translate the sentence word by word, if the line is voiced maybe it won’t sync up properly with the lips of the character.

3. Two reasons.

   1. Literal translations suck and don‘t make sense most of the time.

   2. They have to lip sync the translation.

4. Main reason is to get the point across and because the literal translation doesn’t sound right. Since translation is a whole other skill set within itself