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said at 8:15 PM on Wed Jun 6 2018
Am I the only one who's disappointed with the English dub for Steins;Gate 0? I just find that everything from voice direction to script writing feels so off in many ways compared to the original. Now don't get me wrong, I understand that Funimation was able to bring back the same core English cast and that the characters have gone through some development. That's not the problem I have here. My disappointment stems from the fact that Funimation imho made a huge mistake by not keeping the dubbing staff consistent: they've replaced J Michael Tatum with Jeramey Kraatz as the scriptwriter and Colleen Clinkenbeard with Cris George as the ADR Director. As a voice acting fan who cares about quality, this is a huge red flag that deserves attention.
There is a reason why people including myself consider the dub of the original Steins;Gate to be one of Funimation's greatest. Colleen Clinkenbeard, J Michael Tatum, and the rest of the dubbing crew infused so much passion to that project and it clearly shows through the strong voice acting and scriptwriting. There's more to a dub's quality than just the voice cast, the ADR Directors and scriptwriters are just as equally important. Steins; Gate 0's dub illustrates that changes to the dubbing staff can have a major impact in quality despite having the same English cast. It doesn't take more than one episode to notice this. Very disappointed with Funimation for putting in a lazy effort for this dub and I was very much looking forward to watching it. :(
ReplyThere is a reason why people including myself consider the dub of the original Steins;Gate to be one of Funimation's greatest. Colleen Clinkenbeard, J Michael Tatum, and the rest of the dubbing crew infused so much passion to that project and it clearly shows through the strong voice acting and scriptwriting. There's more to a dub's quality than just the voice cast, the ADR Directors and scriptwriters are just as equally important. Steins; Gate 0's dub illustrates that changes to the dubbing staff can have a major impact in quality despite having the same English cast. It doesn't take more than one episode to notice this. Very disappointed with Funimation for putting in a lazy effort for this dub and I was very much looking forward to watching it. :(
said at 8:53 AM on Thu Jun 7 2018
@Silent-Ninja
Okay, I disagree with most of this (which might sound strange because I clicked the "Shout Out!" button. That was an accident and I can't reverse it. Wasn't the first time that's happened either. ANYWAY...) Yes, I do agree that replacing Tatum as scriptwriter was a mistake (no clue why they did it, honestly), but have you seen past the first episode? By episode 3, Emily Neves has replaced Jeramey Kraatz as scriptwriter and she's been doing a much better job (though now the issue is the change from the Japanese name order that Tatum had used to the more typical Western name order, a change that was a bit jarring to hear at first, but that's beside the point).
Another reason why I'm NOT disappointed with this dub is the voice work. It's still top notch. The characters sound a little different this time around (different timeline, different director), but the voice actors know these characters frontward to backward and it shows, especially in the case of J. Michael Tatum as Okabe Rintaro. He's no longer acting out his own scripts, but the guy continues to do fantastic work (just like his original take on Okabe, it's some of the best voice work of his career) under Cris George's solid voice direction. Cris George is one of the best new voice directors working at FUNi (Death Parade, Snow White with the Red Hair, Black Clover, Pop Team Epic), so if there's anyone I can accept taking Colleen Clinkenbeard's place as director, it's this guy, and so far, I've been pleased with his work on this series.
So no, I don't see this as a lazy effort at all, at least not by the voice director and actors. This dub isn't quite at the same level as the original dub, but, as of episode 6, you could say the same for Steins;Gate 0 itself. Once things finally get moving (which will apprently happen in episode 8), I'm sure the actors will be able to show a bit more of their acting chops. So far though, I think they're still doing great work.
ReplyOkay, I disagree with most of this (which might sound strange because I clicked the "Shout Out!" button. That was an accident and I can't reverse it. Wasn't the first time that's happened either. ANYWAY...) Yes, I do agree that replacing Tatum as scriptwriter was a mistake (no clue why they did it, honestly), but have you seen past the first episode? By episode 3, Emily Neves has replaced Jeramey Kraatz as scriptwriter and she's been doing a much better job (though now the issue is the change from the Japanese name order that Tatum had used to the more typical Western name order, a change that was a bit jarring to hear at first, but that's beside the point).
Another reason why I'm NOT disappointed with this dub is the voice work. It's still top notch. The characters sound a little different this time around (different timeline, different director), but the voice actors know these characters frontward to backward and it shows, especially in the case of J. Michael Tatum as Okabe Rintaro. He's no longer acting out his own scripts, but the guy continues to do fantastic work (just like his original take on Okabe, it's some of the best voice work of his career) under Cris George's solid voice direction. Cris George is one of the best new voice directors working at FUNi (Death Parade, Snow White with the Red Hair, Black Clover, Pop Team Epic), so if there's anyone I can accept taking Colleen Clinkenbeard's place as director, it's this guy, and so far, I've been pleased with his work on this series.
So no, I don't see this as a lazy effort at all, at least not by the voice director and actors. This dub isn't quite at the same level as the original dub, but, as of episode 6, you could say the same for Steins;Gate 0 itself. Once things finally get moving (which will apprently happen in episode 8), I'm sure the actors will be able to show a bit more of their acting chops. So far though, I think they're still doing great work.
said at 12:11 PM on Thu Jun 7 2018
@Silent-Ninja If your referring back to the staff I would imagine that Colleen Clinkenbeard is busy with MHA. Script writing wise however, I am in agreement. I'm not to big on the order the first and last names are said either and I've already stated my huge dislike for the translation scene but aside from that I'm enjoying it myself!
Replysaid at 4:33 PM on Thu Jun 7 2018
@Raebo
Funny thing you mentioned that you made an accidental mistake because I've also made one too by clicking the "Post Comment" button before I had the opportunity to explain what I meant by "lazy effort". Unfortunately due to this, it has caused some misunderstandings and I want to clear them up as best as I can.
When a franchise with a very well-established dubbing staff has changes made to it (either due to the simuldub system or an entirely different reason altogether), I have every right to show cautious optimism or concern. I never put blind faith into any dubbing company and Funimation is no exception from that. I sure hope you're already doing the same since you're clearly a fan of them. In any case, Cris George is a decent director and has potential but he's not consistently good enough for me to become a favourite of mine compared to Mike McFarland (at least for now). When I said "lazy effort", I wasn't referring to the voice acting itself. I agree with you that it's good (for the most part) and better than most simuldubs in the current season. Rather, I was referring to them being lazy in performing their research on some of the characters and their role in the story and how it was reflected negatively in their voice direction which is entirely different from voice acting. Here are some examples to help illustrate why I feel this way:
Alexis Leskinen (Chris Wehkamp) - I can see why they've decided to have him use an American accent simply because he's an American foreigner visiting Japan. I would be okay with it if they've confirmed that he's an American of Finnish descent. However, from what I've researched about him, it turns out that he was originally modelled after Alexander Stubb, the former prime minister of Finland, before he got his own character design. Although the VN doesn't directly confirm his origin (I believe?), this implies to me that he's actually from Finland who was hired as a foreign professor in America. With regards to the translation scene, I also share my strong dislike of it with Soul-dragon and I was thinking that they could have him speak Swedish or Finnish since those are the two official languages of Finland and just have Maho speak English. I just think Funimation could have done so much better with it if they have taken the time to do more research so that they can gain the knowledge of how to handle that better. Just because it's a simuldub, it doesn't mean that I should give it slack and first impressions are everything. Alexis also sounds villainous in the dub which takes away the subtlety of the character. You don't have that issue in the sub where he just seems like a weeb and you wouldn't even think that he's a villain to begin with at first glance.
Maho Hiyajo (Monica Rial) - Maho in the dub sounds so much louder and obnoxious than in Japanese. She's the only voice I can't stand at all and it ruins my enjoyment of the dub. Kind of similar to how I can't stand Daru's Japanese voice and having that ruin my enjoyment of the sub. If I'm going to be honest, I'm not a big fan of her except for a few roles I enjoyed from her (but I can't remember them off the top of my head at the moment).
Just so you are aware, I didn't register on BTVA simply to post my negative feelings about Steins; Gate 0's simuldub. I came here because I wanted to share civil discussions with other voice acting fans including yourself and Soul-dragon and express my positive/negative feelings with honesty and respect. I look forward to having more discussions in the future. Regardless of our differences in opinions regarding the simuldub, it still doesn't change the fact that it's not even close to being on the same level as the original dub. That alone is the very reason why I consider it disappointing. If you don't, that's fine by me and I respect your opinion.
ReplyFunny thing you mentioned that you made an accidental mistake because I've also made one too by clicking the "Post Comment" button before I had the opportunity to explain what I meant by "lazy effort". Unfortunately due to this, it has caused some misunderstandings and I want to clear them up as best as I can.
When a franchise with a very well-established dubbing staff has changes made to it (either due to the simuldub system or an entirely different reason altogether), I have every right to show cautious optimism or concern. I never put blind faith into any dubbing company and Funimation is no exception from that. I sure hope you're already doing the same since you're clearly a fan of them. In any case, Cris George is a decent director and has potential but he's not consistently good enough for me to become a favourite of mine compared to Mike McFarland (at least for now). When I said "lazy effort", I wasn't referring to the voice acting itself. I agree with you that it's good (for the most part) and better than most simuldubs in the current season. Rather, I was referring to them being lazy in performing their research on some of the characters and their role in the story and how it was reflected negatively in their voice direction which is entirely different from voice acting. Here are some examples to help illustrate why I feel this way:
Alexis Leskinen (Chris Wehkamp) - I can see why they've decided to have him use an American accent simply because he's an American foreigner visiting Japan. I would be okay with it if they've confirmed that he's an American of Finnish descent. However, from what I've researched about him, it turns out that he was originally modelled after Alexander Stubb, the former prime minister of Finland, before he got his own character design. Although the VN doesn't directly confirm his origin (I believe?), this implies to me that he's actually from Finland who was hired as a foreign professor in America. With regards to the translation scene, I also share my strong dislike of it with Soul-dragon and I was thinking that they could have him speak Swedish or Finnish since those are the two official languages of Finland and just have Maho speak English. I just think Funimation could have done so much better with it if they have taken the time to do more research so that they can gain the knowledge of how to handle that better. Just because it's a simuldub, it doesn't mean that I should give it slack and first impressions are everything. Alexis also sounds villainous in the dub which takes away the subtlety of the character. You don't have that issue in the sub where he just seems like a weeb and you wouldn't even think that he's a villain to begin with at first glance.
Maho Hiyajo (Monica Rial) - Maho in the dub sounds so much louder and obnoxious than in Japanese. She's the only voice I can't stand at all and it ruins my enjoyment of the dub. Kind of similar to how I can't stand Daru's Japanese voice and having that ruin my enjoyment of the sub. If I'm going to be honest, I'm not a big fan of her except for a few roles I enjoyed from her (but I can't remember them off the top of my head at the moment).
Just so you are aware, I didn't register on BTVA simply to post my negative feelings about Steins; Gate 0's simuldub. I came here because I wanted to share civil discussions with other voice acting fans including yourself and Soul-dragon and express my positive/negative feelings with honesty and respect. I look forward to having more discussions in the future. Regardless of our differences in opinions regarding the simuldub, it still doesn't change the fact that it's not even close to being on the same level as the original dub. That alone is the very reason why I consider it disappointing. If you don't, that's fine by me and I respect your opinion.
said at 4:45 PM on Thu Jun 7 2018
@Soul-dragon
I am well aware that Colleen is too busy with directing MHA at the moment and it's understandable why Funimation wasn't able to have her reprise her role as the director. The simuldub system is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it brings out dubs much faster than before. On the other hand, it doesn't always guarantee good quality.
ReplyI am well aware that Colleen is too busy with directing MHA at the moment and it's understandable why Funimation wasn't able to have her reprise her role as the director. The simuldub system is both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, it brings out dubs much faster than before. On the other hand, it doesn't always guarantee good quality.
said at 4:57 PM on Thu Jun 7 2018
@Silent-Ninja "Alexis also sounds villainous in the dub which takes away the subtlety of the character. You don't have that issue in the sub where he just seems like a weeb and you wouldn't even think that he's a villain to begin with at first glance."
Wait a second...Alexis is evil? Thank you so much for the spoiler I guess...but moving on I think it's fine. The reason I'm not mad about the spoiler is because even as a person who watches the sub first, it was easily to guess thus far. Neither him or Judy are what I'd call subtle TBH and to me it was not surprising to learn. Does a part of me wish they had gone with Eric Vale since he's played a character with a very strong American accent before? Yes. But Chris does a great job.
"Maho Hiyajo (Monica Rial) - Maho in the dub sounds so much louder and obnoxious than in Japanese. She's the only voice I can't stand at all and it ruins my enjoyment of the dub. Kind of similar to how I can't stand Daru's Japanese voice and having that ruin my enjoyment of the sub. If I'm going to be honest, I'm not a big fan of her except for a few roles I enjoyed from her (but I can't remember them off the top of my head at the moment)."
Really? I've been enjoying her as Maho. It's not like her Sakura where she's trying to be innocent and enduring, she honestly nails Maho's loud personality. I also appreciate how it's her Stocking voice, since god knows that show should've gotten a second season. I will admit that a part of me wants her to use her deep register more often (I honestly think it would be perfect for Hilda from Under Night In Birth and Juno from Fire Emblem the Blinding Blade when the time comes for both of them to be dubbed) instead of her cute one, since I honestly find it more pleasant to listen to when she's not swearing, praising Jesus or bashing Muslims/Jewish people. I also love her Sayaka Maizono, Mirajane, Froppy and Mila!
ReplyWait a second...Alexis is evil? Thank you so much for the spoiler I guess...but moving on I think it's fine. The reason I'm not mad about the spoiler is because even as a person who watches the sub first, it was easily to guess thus far. Neither him or Judy are what I'd call subtle TBH and to me it was not surprising to learn. Does a part of me wish they had gone with Eric Vale since he's played a character with a very strong American accent before? Yes. But Chris does a great job.
"Maho Hiyajo (Monica Rial) - Maho in the dub sounds so much louder and obnoxious than in Japanese. She's the only voice I can't stand at all and it ruins my enjoyment of the dub. Kind of similar to how I can't stand Daru's Japanese voice and having that ruin my enjoyment of the sub. If I'm going to be honest, I'm not a big fan of her except for a few roles I enjoyed from her (but I can't remember them off the top of my head at the moment)."
Really? I've been enjoying her as Maho. It's not like her Sakura where she's trying to be innocent and enduring, she honestly nails Maho's loud personality. I also appreciate how it's her Stocking voice, since god knows that show should've gotten a second season. I will admit that a part of me wants her to use her deep register more often (I honestly think it would be perfect for Hilda from Under Night In Birth and Juno from Fire Emblem the Blinding Blade when the time comes for both of them to be dubbed) instead of her cute one, since I honestly find it more pleasant to listen to when she's not swearing, praising Jesus or bashing Muslims/Jewish people. I also love her Sayaka Maizono, Mirajane, Froppy and Mila!
said at 5:57 PM on Thu Jun 7 2018
@Soul-dragon
"Wait a second...Alexis is evil? Thank you so much for the spoiler I guess...but moving on I think it's fine."
I apologize if that was a spoiler as it wasn't intended but I was just simply stating the differences between the English and Japanese performances of the character based on my impressions.
"Really?"
Yep, I can't stand her voice as I personally found to be very grating to my ears. Sorry man, she's not a favourite voice actress of mine. I know I haven't watched every single anime she starred in, but almost every time I heard her voice, I didn't like it no matter how hard I tried not to. My opinion of her isn't as a result of being influenced by what other people say about her. This is just based on my personal experience so far. I do try my best to be open-minded about her as I do great respect for all of her hard work and dedication to her craft. After all, it would be incredible boring if we all liked the same voice actors. Heck even I don't like all the popular seiyuu myself.
Reply"Wait a second...Alexis is evil? Thank you so much for the spoiler I guess...but moving on I think it's fine."
I apologize if that was a spoiler as it wasn't intended but I was just simply stating the differences between the English and Japanese performances of the character based on my impressions.
"Really?"
Yep, I can't stand her voice as I personally found to be very grating to my ears. Sorry man, she's not a favourite voice actress of mine. I know I haven't watched every single anime she starred in, but almost every time I heard her voice, I didn't like it no matter how hard I tried not to. My opinion of her isn't as a result of being influenced by what other people say about her. This is just based on my personal experience so far. I do try my best to be open-minded about her as I do great respect for all of her hard work and dedication to her craft. After all, it would be incredible boring if we all liked the same voice actors. Heck even I don't like all the popular seiyuu myself.
said at 6:03 PM on Thu Jun 7 2018
@Silent-Ninja
*Correction: Heck even I don't like some of the popular seiyuu myself.
Reply*Correction: Heck even I don't like some of the popular seiyuu myself.
said at 6:35 PM on Tue May 1 2018
I'll be completely honest here; I really didn't like the first episode of the dub for this show.
Is it because I'm still annoyed that the good people at Funimation haven't realized the potential in Monica Rial's deep register? No. Well kind of but I can move past it. I'm honestly mad about how they treated the translator. If you must know than they had him continue to speak English while Maho spoke Japanese even in the dub. I have many issues with this. I understand that engrish in anime can be hard but I really wished that they had taken a different direction, like Caitlin Glass did with Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card. For those who don't know than she had the English speaker speak French instead to make since of the language that was being listened to. There are tons of other languages that Funimation could've chosen from to have translated into English. For instance Spanish. I remember reading somewhere that Jeannie Tirado knew it? It wouldn't have been that hard to do. Or they could've pulled a Cardcaptor Sakura and chosen French. Or German. Or anything that could've been translated into English so it didn't become confusing!
Sorry. Just had to get that out.
ReplyIs it because I'm still annoyed that the good people at Funimation haven't realized the potential in Monica Rial's deep register? No. Well kind of but I can move past it. I'm honestly mad about how they treated the translator. If you must know than they had him continue to speak English while Maho spoke Japanese even in the dub. I have many issues with this. I understand that engrish in anime can be hard but I really wished that they had taken a different direction, like Caitlin Glass did with Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card. For those who don't know than she had the English speaker speak French instead to make since of the language that was being listened to. There are tons of other languages that Funimation could've chosen from to have translated into English. For instance Spanish. I remember reading somewhere that Jeannie Tirado knew it? It wouldn't have been that hard to do. Or they could've pulled a Cardcaptor Sakura and chosen French. Or German. Or anything that could've been translated into English so it didn't become confusing!
Sorry. Just had to get that out.
said at 5:38 AM on Wed May 2 2018
@Soul-dragon I`m actualy surprised u hated the translation scene Alot of people like that scene mainly because of how Monica Rial spoke Japanese preety good.
In the case of your spanish comment. Jeannie Tirado is hispanic so she can pull it off. Monica Rial is part Hispanic too.
ReplyIn the case of your spanish comment. Jeannie Tirado is hispanic so she can pull it off. Monica Rial is part Hispanic too.
said at 6:19 AM on Wed May 2 2018
@Abdullab She is? Wow you learn something new everyday! And yeah as much as I dislike the using Japanese she did do a nice job speaking Japanese. I'll say that much...Oh well. At the end of the day it won't effect my experience with the dub ha ha.
Replysaid at 6:02 PM on Wed May 2 2018
@Soul-dragon Mainly because it's all worth it to hear Ashly Burch's tu tu ru and Tatum as broken Okabe. Seriously I love it so far however I do still miss Hououin Kyouma.
Replysaid at 11:34 AM on Thu Apr 19 2018
This, right here is my most anticipated anime of the Spring season.
Steins; Gate is easily my third favorite anime series of all time (behind Madoka Magica and Clannad) and this spin off is already shaping up to be perfect. The second episode gave me so many chills...
I do wonder how the dub will turn out. I wonder how Funimation will handle the one guy who speaks English and needs a translator as well as who they'll pick for Mayuri if Ashly Burch has truly gone full union. Either way I can't wait.
ReplySteins; Gate is easily my third favorite anime series of all time (behind Madoka Magica and Clannad) and this spin off is already shaping up to be perfect. The second episode gave me so many chills...
I do wonder how the dub will turn out. I wonder how Funimation will handle the one guy who speaks English and needs a translator as well as who they'll pick for Mayuri if Ashly Burch has truly gone full union. Either way I can't wait.
said at 5:44 PM on Thu Apr 19 2018
@Soul-dragon Ashly reprised for attack on titan s2 simuldub last year so she may be open to reprisals not sure about now but we will wait
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said at 8:25 AM on Fri Jun 29 2018