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RWB

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  1. RWB

    Topic: Dubs.

    By RWB,

    There's often a large outcry over dubs. There are claims aobut them being lacking in particular departments and overall being bad.
     
    But what really makes a great dub?
     
    To this, I'd say there are several important factors:
     
     
    First of all, let's not delve into voice acting just yet. Let's stick to the guys that are so central to the process: the translators themselves.
     
    What do they need to do to make a great dub?
     
    1. Make sure the translation itself is excellent. Don't give up halfway and leave half the words still untranslated.
    2. Make it workable in the language according to the pictures. If you don't want the viewers to lose interest, you need to at least make a bit of sync possible.
    3. Don't be afraid to switch up the original text(people may be annoyed at this sentiment). Being to faithful to the original text can make dialogue stilted, and jokes that work well in one language, may not translate well.
    4. Do not make your translation simply perfectly correct but lifeless- inject some energy in it.
     
    Essentially, there's a lot more than just quality of the translation itself.
     
    Now we can move on to the voice actors.
     
    1. Flair. As a rule- do not cast voice actors to emulate the originals. It can work, but it is rare. What makes the originals work is their flair and usage of the voice, not so much the pitch or similar things. Instead, cast people who have a flair that fits the character.
     
    2. Emotion. There's nothing quite as important to a good dub as this. If the actors don't emote, no script, no matter how well thought out, is going to work.
     
    3. If your dub is going to have songs- think beforehand about the actor chosen. Can he/she sing well? If not, how can you work around it? Who can do a an impersonation?
     
    4. Dialect. This is more important than you may realize- but if you want to emulate certain stereotypes, you need to get the equivalent in your language. This partly goes under flair.
     
     
     
    And of course, for both translators and VAs, experience matters a ton. There's a reason why the "Swedish dubbing dynasties" are a thing.
     
     
     
    The problems of the Swedish FiM Dub(as I am Swedish, this will be my example) are numerous.
     
     
    Again, let's start with translators.
     
    1. The translation is haphazard and a lot of words are still in english.
    2.3. The translation also fail at both these points. It sticks far to close to the original and ends up very stilted and uncomfortable.
    4. As a natural side effect of the above, this point also fails.
     
    Now to VAs.
     
    Obviously the failure on the translation team's does negatively impact the VAs' performance.
     
    1. Flair. There's a lack of freedom taken with the characters by the dubbers overall, making the characters rather lifeless.
    2. As a natural consequence, the emotiveness of the dub sinks.
    3. This is the part that really works. Almost all the VAs for the Swedish Dub have extensive schooling, or even extensive careers as singers. This allows them to save pretty haphazard texts with sheer skill.
    4. They missed dialects completely, having just about everyone speak with a similar one. AJ should really be scanian.
     
    It is worth mentioning that dubbing experience was woefully lacking here. The translators are young and relatively new, and most of the VAs might have theatric schooling, but are still doing their first VA work.
     
    The best VA in the Swedish dub so far is Lizette Pålsson, who voices Fluttershy. Anneli Heed does a decent job with Spike, and a rather mediocre one with Spitfire(incoming flames?), but she's not up to her regular standard.
     
    FiM had the bad luck of arriving to Sweden during what can be considered a generational shift- young and inexperienced VAs trying to establish themselves, while the old guard is becoming exactly that- old.
  2. RWB
    It Begins
     
    We are introduced to a dystopian world as soon as the show starts.
    Here we meet the hot-blooded hero Caleb, who is apparently trying to steal black powder for use in a rebellion. He is forced to retreat and we get to meet some of our main cast, before returning to the dystopian world again.
     
    We make a return to the main cast again and we get to learn a bit about how they interact, and we get some tensions in the group immediately.
    Then we get treated to a short introduction of the villain.
     
    Now we truly get into the meat of the episode- we learn about the threat the villain poses and what is so important about our main characters... They are the only ones who can stop him from taking over the world, as he has already done his homeworld Meridian.
    In Meridian, Caleb runs into danger, while in the real world the girls are testing out their new abilities... and do pretty terribly. Suddenly, Caleb tumbles into the real world, chased by the giant snake monster.
    Our heroes try to help Caleb, but with their lacking abilities, they can't even aim correctly. They are forced to seal the portal Caleb came through with Cedric and Caleb on the other side.
    The episode ends on a really negative note, with the characters quarreling.
     
    The execution of this episode is pretty dang good.
    There is some great juxtaposition between the dark and gloomy Meridian and the lighter and much cheerier earth.
    The characters all get some time to bounce off each other(and there actually are a lot of them in this episode), and there is some pretty funny dialogue here. Caleb probably gets the most love, but that's clearly intentional, so that we care when he gets taken by the villain at the end.
    The exposition is done well and sets up the whole season, while the settings of Earth and Meridian are made very distinct. The humour is solid overall, but a bit lackluster at times.
     
    Also, I love the Phobos Moon ending. Because you know, there's an actual moon named Phobos.
     
     
     
     
     
    It Resumes
     
    We get some things established: Caleb is alive and is to be questioned , but is imprisoned when he refuses. The main five is still a bit shellshocked at the event itself. Oh, and it will be picture day in school soon. Gee Willikers.
    As we return to Meridian, we get our first indication that not all of Phobos minions are loyal... and we're are introduced to Blunk, the ugly cute comic relief character. He'll be a fantastic source of unfunny humor and gross-out jokes. Joy. Thankfully, even he gets some character development later on in the show.
    Back on Earth, Will is kidnapped in short order. The girls decide to go to save her. Meanwhile, Will is introduced to Caleb and Blunk, and they... don't get along. The girls go to save Will, but without their full power, they are very badly equipped against the dangers that await them on their journey.
    They still manage to sneak into the dungeon and unite with Will, and they get their first proper fight scene, and it's pretty well done.
     
    From here on out it's mostly action and suspense. In the end, Cedric is thrown of a cliff and only barely saved by Hay Lin. Finally the girls end up fighting a giant stone monster(we will later learn that it's name is Gargoyle) blocking their route. They manage to get past it but very barely.
     
    This episode ends on a much happier note than the last, with all the characters safe... for the moment.
     
    This is a really strong end to the two-parter, with some good action, character moments, some solid humor, and such. It's sad that it still falters here and there.
     
     
    Cornelia was the only character in the first episode to portrayed in completely negative light... and this episode is even worse- seriously, Picture Day is more important to you than Will's life? Not cool.
     
    Also, continuity error in the beginning of the episode. Phobos found out that the girls where the new guardians in It Begins by using a spell to spy, but here he has forgotten that fact and has to be informed.
     
     
    All in all, It Begins and It Resumes is a fantastic two-part pilot. Far from flawless, but certainly very very good.
  3. RWB
    Part 1:
     
    Our main character, Twilight, and her faithful companion/assistant/surrogate brother Spike is set out on a quest to make friends against her will, instead of averting a disaster... or so she thinks. Hilarity ensues as she tries to avert the disaster instead. Also, this gives us our first look at the other main characters as she gets to interact with each of them.
     
    The execution of this plot is pretty solid all around, the scenarios flow well into eachother and everything makes sense. The writers made sure to have an organic way to set up the entire scenario. While cartoon logic dictates that we will see the disaster unfold, Celestia's odd answer works because from what we've seen, it's clear that Twilight really does have problem with socializing, and that it could cause her trouble. By giving Twilight a actual task, she is forced to actually meet other people and interact. Then we end up with a suspenseful cliffhanger.
     
    The comedy in this episode is great. The comedic timing is spot on, and the dialogue is fantastically funny almost throughout.
     
    However, the one part of the episode I have to complain about is actually the characters. Outside of Twilight and Spike, most of them are very one-note. AJ is a friendly but loud family person, RD is a lazy but justifiably cocky jock, Rarity is simply a fashionista who wants to go to a classier town, Pinkie Pie is an over the top silly party animal and Fluttershy is just... very shy.
     
    This is actually a pretty glaring issue since this episode should be setting up the characters personalities, but they are pretty much just cardboard cut-outs for now. Still, a very solid starting episode.
     
    As for the backstory...
    Jealous sibling went bad and wants revenge. It's a very overused scenario, but for good reason, and I can't fault the backstory because it is very concise and solid.
     
    Now on to the sadly much weaker half of this two-parter...
     
    Part 2:
     
    Now we get our main cast together on a quest, and they are off to find the Elements of Harmony, our dear MacGuffin. However, they must all face a series of trials by Nightmare Moon to reach them, and then defeat the nefarious villain.
     
    The episode starts falling apart on itself pretty early on, sadly. Why is Nightmare Moon even giving them trials, and not attacking them outright? Later villains have excuses for why they didn't go this route, but NMM doesn't.
     
    The trials themselves are hit-and-miss.
    Fluttershy's is one of the better ones, even making reference to a greek/roman myth(a pegasus doing that? Neat.), that of Androcles and the Lion.
    On the other hand, we have AJ's trial which doesn't at all reflect her element at all. Perhaps we should've had trust instead of honesty? Wouldn't help that much- the scene is still forced and out of place(and makes AJ look like an idiot).
    Rarity's is solid in regards to her element, but breaks the mood of the episode, being quite a bit silly. RD's fails to have any stakes, because there's really no reason for her to join the Shadowbolts whatsoever. It should've been illusory Wonderbolts. Pinkie's trial is pretty well done, though.
     
    The conclusion is good enough, bringing the pilot to a satisfactory end.
     
    Part 2 on it's own is one of the weaker episodes in the series, to be honest. However, as a whole, Friendship is Magic is a pretty good pilot(mostly due to the strong first episode). It has a lot of problems, but most pilots do, since the writers haven't quite learned to play to their strengths yet.
  4. RWB
    I have long wanted to do reviews of MLP:FiM. However, then it hit me that I could make a comparison and review blog shared with another series that got a fanbase much different from what was expected- certainly not as MLP, but still, W.I.T.C.H. has a sizable adult male fanbase. Also because I feel the W.I.T.C.H. cartoon gets a bit more flack than it deserves.
     
    This blog will primarily deal with the cartoons, and once I've worked through them, I'll go for the comics.
     
    My general reviewing pattern will be that I do one episode of FiM, then one of W.I.T.C.H. If the episodes are two-parters, they will be done in a row.
     
    Pure comparison entries will be more erratic.
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