An essay on whether or not Stars should be dubbed – from a Mousie viewpoint.
The very first thing I have to say in this essay is I am most definitely NOT a dubbie of Sailor Moon. I don’t disagree with dubs as a matter of principle – they are usually a very good way of educating Westerners about anime, they can fuel an obsession, convey the charm of the original series, and bring the same viewing pleasure to other countries that the Japanese version brought to Japan. Sound good? Well, all these things should be present in a good dub. The only problem is, the Sailormoon dubs are not, or even have been, GOOD.
Since I live in the UK, I haven’t seen the dubs of the S and Super S seasons yet, done by Cloverway, however, I HAVE seen the DiC Dubbing of the first and R seasons, aaand… they’re not great. In fact, they STINK compared to the original version. The original contains fantastic acting, gripping and original music, and a realistic portrayal of real life. (Well, apart from the henshin, evil death queens, kids coming from the future, etc…) What I mean is, in real life, people DIE. In real life, some people are GAY. In real life people’s VAs do NOT change from one episode to the next! This is where the DiC dub falls horribly short of the originals. As well as having wooden, uninspiring acting, (How anyone can warm to “Serena” mystifies me,) hacked up, Casio keyboard versions of the original theme, plus boring, repetitive music. Not only that, but the story itself, which was nothing short of a piece of art in the originals, has been dumbed down, Americanized beyond belief, and sugar coated for audiences much younger than the original makers of Sailormoon intended. Some of the most glaring omissions include the changing of Zoisite’s sex because of his overt homosexuality. Haruka and Michiru (Lesbian lovers in the original) suddenly found themselves to be COUSINS, (So incest is OK, Cloverway?) the violent deaths and resurrections of the Inner Senshi, save Moon, were omitted entirely, Wiseman and Demando’s battle was cut and episodes were simply axed for no reason. Is this something we REALLY want to happen to Stars, arguably the best of all the Sailormoon seasons?
For me the answer is “NO!” Personally, I couldn’t give a toss if they kept the original music in, like Cloverway did. I agree this is an improvement, but it still does not account for the merciless character hacking and ham acting that still goes on in the dubs. Not only does this make devotees of the oringal Sailormoon cringe, but it also gives a false impression about the series to people who have only seen the dub. Believe it or not, the Senshi (Or “Scouts”, as DiC non-agressively re-named it) do not act like a bunch of bored Valley girls, especially in serious scenes. Naru does not have that hideous Bronx accent, Zoisite is not a woman with an annoying laugh, and Japanese colloquial speech does NOT include phrases like “Hunkmeister!”, “Wigged out!” and, the most heinous of dub crimes, “Wicked cool!” That is something that I really don’t want to see happen to Stars.
All this complaining, and I haven’t even gotten round to what would they would do if they DID dub Stars. (It’s probably inevitable) Well, the hardest, and most obvious problem for those politically correct, non-corrupting dubbers, *ACK! * is the matter of the Starlights. Obviously, a simple change of gender that Zoi boy and Fish Eye had to suffer is out of the question, because of Usagi’s relationship with Seiya/Starfighter. What form of butchery will the dubbers resort to to make sure that the new “cleansed” Stars is innocent, pure, pre school stuff? Well, they could do what other countries did, and have the Three Lights call their “Magical Twin Sisters” when they are shouting through their mikes at the start of their henshin. But what would they do when Seiya injures himself at the hands of Nyanko’s Kitty Bazooka? There are some things that are just not so easy to fix. And what will they do in the Stars arc, when hundreds of nekkid Nehelenia mirror parodies are running around? (And at the end, Galaxia and Moon are in the nip too.) What are they going to do to fix THAT? Paint sweaters on them?
And now I come to something I dread the most: The dubbing of Sailor Iron Mouse. Not only will she probably be yoked with a corny Nezu Chuuko form name, like Nibbles or something, *shudder* but what is worse, she will most likely get a VA that will dispel all of her cuteness, sass and charm. Hara Eriko does an excellent job of injecting life into a series of moving pictures with Mouse. Her vocal range can make Mousie evil, desperate, livid, dismissive, and a ton of other emotions, remaining unspeakably cute all the while. How will a dub studio (Which isn’t fussy about actors at the best of times) ever be able to match that? I can see them hiring somebody with a very cutesy-cutesy sort of voice, and I can see them hiring someone with a classic evil villain voice, but not someone who can integrate both flawlessly. Also, if she IS made to be too sugary sweet, or too evil, no doubt she will get on SOMEONE’S nerves, and not be liked. I would like to see Sailor Iron Mouse judged by her original form, not by a dub that seriously twists characters beyond recognition.
In conclusion, I would do anything to stop Stars being dubbed. (Unless it has a PG rating, and decent acting…. Which I seriously doubt will happen.:P)
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