Are Vancouver dubs going to go extinct?

[IMB]

I've griped about shows animated in Canada not having much else done here, but at least those are primarily produced for foreign companies. Now we've got Canadian companies doing the exact same thing...

Zo Zo Zombie getting a federal tax credit is wild to me. The series is animated in Japan, dubbed in the U.S. with an American lead writer. The only thing that seems to be completely Canadian is the music. I'm sure it wasn't given much money, but I know indie YouTubers with a larger local crew than that.

[IMB]

Not a GVR dub, but I don't know what to think about Cardfight Vanguard's dub. The newest season's been on for over a month and there's been nothing but dead silence regarding the English version. No statement on if it's just delayed due to coronavirus or if they're skipping this season (which is some magical girl spinoff thing???) and plan to pick things up later. Just nothing. Posts like this from the cast and crew make it sound like it's been cancelled, but there's also some uncertain language there.

On one hand, the mobile game wasn't dubbed ... but it's the first English Vanguard game ever released so maybe they weren't sure of the demand. They seem to still have the cast do VO for the TCG commercials, though who knows how far in advance those were recorded.

If it is down for the count, it would be a shame. The show's gone through too many recasts over the years, but it's rare for anything to run for nearly a decade without interruption. Doubly so for a modern Canadian anime dub.

Originally Posted by IMB

This may have been the 2009 Kimba TV movie. They dubbed it for The Japan Foundation (video footage from DSM's website). No idea if it'll be released in North America like their Black Jack dub was. None of the voices in that clip are recognizable to me.

This showed up on RetroCrush for free over the weekend. No credits, but from what I've seen on social media, this IMDB cast list seems right.

[drakh]

I wonder what's Viz's plans for the InuYasha spin-off is. You'd think getting Ocean back would be a given, but I'm not taking anything for granted. How are they likely to debut this anyway? Adult Swim? Cruncyroll? Do they do simuldubs?

[IMB]

Originally Posted by drakh

I wonder what's Viz's plans for the InuYasha spin-off is. You'd think getting Ocean back would be a given, but I'm not taking anything for granted. How are they likely to debut this anyway? Adult Swim? Cruncyroll? Do they do simuldubs?

It's a shame this is even in doubt, but when Viz goes a decade of dubs (yes, I know Mazinger Z: Infinity exists) exclusively recorded in LA, it is.

I think it would be bad PR to not have Ocean dub Yashahime. I've followed a lot of the conversation regarding the Gundam SEED HD re-dub and much of it's from fans mad at the complete recast. That show is far less notable in the English anime fandom than InuYasha. If that dog demon doesn't sound like Richard Ian Cox, people will voice their displeasure. It's not as though the leads from The Final Act's dub have vanished. We've even seen David Kaye express interest in returning as Sesshomaru (though, I don't think it's likely he does). Someone ask Monica Smouter if she's game. Kagome can't have many lines in a show where she should be dead, right? The good news for Viz is that this should be cheaper on a per-episode basis than TFA's dub. The dollar was at parity back when that show was recorded. $1 CAD = $0.73 USD today.

Viz doesn't do simuldubs. Unless the staff have blown their budget on more niche projects few are interested in, the dub would likely premiere on Toonami.

There's similar uncertainty regarding the third season of Kingdom. Given the poor reception to the dub of the first two seasons, the obscurity of the show and its uncredited cast, I'd be inclined to believe Funimation would just do it internally. That's what they did with the live-action movie. However, with coronavirus derailing their entire pipeline, I suppose they could outsource it to prioritize newer shows. I think it's likelier it just doesn't get dubbed, though.

[NCZ]

Originally Posted by IMB

It's a shame this is even in doubt, but when Viz goes a decade of dubs (yes, I know Mazinger Z: Infinity exists) exclusively recorded in LA, it is.

I think it would be bad PR to not have Ocean dub Yashahime. I've followed a lot of the conversation regarding the Gundam SEED HD re-dub and much of it's from fans mad at the complete recast. That show is far less notable in the English anime fandom than InuYasha. If that dog demon doesn't sound like Richard Ian Cox, people will voice their displeasure. It's not as though the leads from The Final Act's dub have vanished. We've even seen David Kaye express interest in returning as Sesshomaru (though, I don't think it's likely he does). Someone ask Monica Smouter if she's game. Kagome can't have many lines in a show where she should be dead, right? The good news for Viz is that this should be cheaper on a per-episode basis than TFA's dub. The dollar was at parity back when that show was recorded. $1 CAD = $0.73 USD today.

Viz doesn't do simuldubs. Unless the staff have blown their budget on more niche projects few are interested in, the dub would likely premiere on Toonami.

There's similar uncertainty regarding the third season of Kingdom. Given the poor reception to the dub of the first two seasons, the obscurity of the show and its uncredited cast, I'd be inclined to believe Funimation would just do it internally. That's what they did with the live-action movie. However, with coronavirus derailing their entire pipeline, I suppose they could outsource it to prioritize newer shows. I think it's likelier it just doesn't get dubbed, though.

BlogCZ activated!

If anything good comes out of the now (because anime dubs are obviously the most important issue in the world right now), I sure hope it's companies realizing that there's good talent all over the world and that makes them stop leaning so heavy on the US. Cali and BC even got the same timezone, man! Can't be hard for their producers!

It's interesting how Funimation are probably the ones who've hitched themselves hardest to simuldubs, but also got hit hard by the shift to working from home. Almost all of their simuldubs got put on hold and they've scarcely been announcing or releasing any new ones*. Meanwhile Studiopolis for example are still dubbing Netflix and Crunchyroll shows. They've been using a lot smaller casts because of it, but they apparently jumped over faster than Funi or Bang Zoom.

I hope jumping off of that Viz realizes there's nothing actually stopping them from using talent around the world** if we've proven this is possible to dub from home. There's only really so much that's my place to say so I'd love if someone with more insight could chime in; I only personally have small nuggets of insight on the matter but the vibe I got is that there's people in Vancouver who've been able to adapt so the VO boat hasn't been rocked as badly as other industries. So I mean, I feel like we're well past the point where the bigger question is why not dip outside the US?

Gundam Seed's redub is still just funny to me. It's seriously something that nobody was dying for but it still got sucked into the "homogenize EVERY DUB" machine. Especially since the whole thing is basically vapourware now. Like they don't even want to sell it either. I think you mentioned it once but it's interesting how whenever there's a show getting redubbed that was originally done in the US the reaction is always, "Better get the original cast!" or "Wish they got the original cast!", yet Vancouver or Toronto dubs never get that luxury of the thought even getting entertained. It's something I've been thinking about a lot lately since I've been looking at a bunch of shows that were originally dubbed in Canada and redubbed elsewhere and I actually struggle to think of any times where the redub was clearly not only massively better but also a truly great dub in its own right.

I guess what I'm saying is I hope that we're kind of on the cusp of something and I'd seriously be more surprised if there weren't big changes coming for the dubbing world. It's the best possible time to rebuild, yo. The homogenization of dubs really makes a cycle where it means samey dubs and choices are what people get conditioned to accepting, so they're always in big need of having more variety in perspective so they don't get watered down or overly tropey and self-referential.

*I've talked a bit about my thoughts on the "SIMULDUB EVERYTHING!" train and what that means for both dubs and the industry before, but all I can really say now is if we are on the cusp of a bubble bursting I can't say it was unexpected.

**Watch this backfire and they get people off Fiverr.***

***If it ends up being Miami I'll actually laugh.

[martyyahar]

Originally Posted by NCZ

If anything good comes out of the now (because anime dubs are obviously the most important issue in the world right now), I sure hope it's companies realizing that there's good talent all over the world and that makes them stop leaning so heavy on the US.

Completely agreed. I'd love there to be more Canadian and British, and maybe Australian-New Zealander dubs of anime and other stuff. I don't think too many new dubbing scenes are going to come about anytime soon; but Vancouver, Toronto, Alberta*, Montreal, and London aren't new. They've got a tried-and-true history of dubbing animation; although the latter two have been rather uncommon for anime specifically. They also should be given video game dubbing work as well, but that's another can of worms.

In the case of London, I hope the dubs don't try to force American accents in there this time around. I could go on about accents and dubs, but I don't want to stray too far off-topic.

Originally Posted by NCZ

So I mean, I feel like we're well past the point where the bigger question is why not dip outside the US?

I will add that the US's talent scenes shouldn't just be Los Angeles and Dallas alone. I'm aware Houston, and sometimes New York City and Miami (more on Miami in a bit) get work too, but there used to be a fair bit more. And New York City and Houston used to be in a bit better shape. Heck, animation and games made in the US used to be recorded in more places, altho that's not the same thing. And also, "moving where the work is" is obviously harder when you need to emigrate.

Originally Posted by NCZ

If it ends up being Miami I'll actually laugh.

I'm somewhat worried that Miami is the industry's idea of trying out rarer/ newer locales. Maybe it's just a replacement for the cheaper dubs Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo were before it, and I'm happy to hear the industry branching out of the same (comparatively) few people over and over again; I just feel off about new scenes being used without the use of experienced, but now-rarer ones. There's room enough for Miami and Vancouver.

I know Miami's (anime dub) output hasn't been well receieved, but I don't believe any talent pool should really be wholesale dismissed.

--

I also don't want to dismiss the efforts of the industry to keep things afloat, nor do I want to speak over professionals. Not to imply anybody in this thread is, or that I'm some expert. I sincerely apologize if I'm again stating any inaccuracies or in general being rude.

*I say "Alberta" as shorthand for Calgary and Edmonton, regarding its talent pool.

[IMB]

The game and series wound up being recorded in NYC at 3Beep, but Ocean created a pilot for Snack World.




Given the franchise seems to have been met with total indifference everywhere, maybe it's for the best. One day there will be a VC between the Tokyo cast in the concept pilot, the actors in the dub pilot and those in the final version.

Originally Posted by NCZ

BlogCZ activated!

If anything good comes out of the now (because anime dubs are obviously the most important issue in the world right now), I sure hope it's companies realizing that there's good talent all over the world and that makes them stop leaning so heavy on the US. Cali and BC even got the same timezone, man! Can't be hard for their producers!

It's interesting how Funimation are probably the ones who've hitched themselves hardest to simuldubs, but also got hit hard by the shift to working from home. Almost all of their simuldubs got put on hold and they've scarcely been announcing or releasing any new ones*. Meanwhile Studiopolis for example are still dubbing Netflix and Crunchyroll shows. They've been using a lot smaller casts because of it, but they apparently jumped over faster than Funi or Bang Zoom.

I think the consolidation we've seen in where VO's recorded might be most prevalent in anime, but it's not exclusive to it. I haven't run the numbers, but it definitely feels like there are fewer notable prelay and game projects recorded outside of LA than there were in the past. It does run counter to what you'd think would happen given how much smaller the world is now. Though, I guess the world being smaller means you can take advantage of lower costs ...

The simuldub stuff collapsing isn't really a surprise to me. I've heard the LA pool has managed to cope with the COVID-19 lockdowns better because a lot already had at-home setups. That presumably wasn't the case with the Texas actors. I know many of the Canadian studios have re-opened.

Originally Posted by NCZ

Gundam Seed's redub is still just funny to me. It's seriously something that nobody was dying for but it still got sucked into the "homogenize EVERY DUB" machine. Especially since the whole thing is basically vapourware now. Like they don't even want to sell it either. I think you mentioned it once but it's interesting how whenever there's a show getting redubbed that was originally done in the US the reaction is always, "Better get the original cast!" or "Wish they got the original cast!", yet Vancouver or Toronto dubs never get that luxury of the thought even getting entertained. It's something I've been thinking about a lot lately since I've been looking at a bunch of shows that were originally dubbed in Canada and redubbed elsewhere and I actually struggle to think of any times where the redub was clearly not only massively better but also a truly great dub in its own right.

I couldn't tell you why it's taken literal years for Gundam SEED HD to come out. At this point, we're closing in on the show's 20th anniversary and Sunrise will probably dump out some 4K upscale. The reasoning behind the redub isn't illogical. The CE shows are some of the most popular Gundam entries in Japan. Allegedly, that movie is still in the works, too. The HD recut is now the default version of the show and the original dub doesn't match with the new alterations. Of course, just because it makes sense to Sunrise doesn't mean it makes sense to fans. Like I said, a lot of the discussion is frustration over the disregard for the original cast. Gundam fans who don't like the CE shows are salty they're getting another dub while there are other series without any.

[IMB]

Zoids Wild is on Netflix. It's live in Australia and will launch in a few hours in Canada, the UK and the USA. The dub was recorded at Ocean and stars Cole Howard as Arashi, Michael Adamthwaite as Quade (Bacon), Sam Vincent as Analog (Onigiri), Adrian Petriw as Drake, Maryke Hendrikse as Battalia (Penne) and Andrew Cownden as Gigaboss (Gallagher).

As someone who's seen the entirety of the Hong Kong dub, I'm obviously calling dibs on the request thread.

[drakh]

Originally Posted by IMB

Zoids Wild is on Netflix. It's live in Australia and will launch in a few hours in Canada, the UK and the USA. The dub was recorded at Ocean and stars Cole Howard as Arashi, Michael Adamthwaite as Quade (Bacon), Sam Vincent as Analog (Onigiri), Adrian Petriw as Drake, Maryke Hendrikse as Battalia (Penne) and Andrew Cownden as Gigaboss (Gallagher).

Huh, I wonder how this came about, it's been a while since Ocean did anything for Hasbro, right? And it looks like a straight Vancouver dub, so cost was presumably less of a concern. Most of Hasbro's anime dubs seem to have a third party, like Sunrights, acting as supervisor though, while this appears to be straight up Ocean doing everything like the old Zoids Zero and Chaotic Century dubs. Maybe old relationships still matter?

Also Gabe Khouth is in this? That would make the dub over a year old, from a pre-COVID world.

[IMB]

Yes, this dub's been in the oven for a while. I've known about it for over a year now. Speculation is that Hasbro's had difficulties finding the show a home. There's probably some meat to that theory given how it was just dumped onto Netflix without any fanfare.

This is the first anime Hasbro has handled themselves since ... Idaten Jump? It's been a really long time. I guess it's because none of the production committee members on ZW have any international branches. Hasbro usually doesn't work with Ocean. I'm not certain of the specifics behind the dubs of the first two Zoids series (did Hasbro actually do them?), but most of their Vancouver projects have been with Voicebox and Vida Spark. It might've been an attempt to get the band back together for Wild. Curious to see what happens to Hasbro's shows now that they're being produced by eOne.

It's interesting to note that the game appears to be retaining the dub's cast. This is the first time that publisher is keeping the Canadian actors, though I guess they figured they could get away with it on the toddler toons.