Episode #0488 (18 April 2021)

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VegettoEX
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Episode #0488 (18 April 2021)

Post by VegettoEX » Sun Apr 18, 2021 11:03 am

Episode #0488 (download MP3) (rss feed) (subscribe in iTunes) (Spotify version) (YouTube version) (SoundCloud version)
55:09; 96 kbps, mono; 38.1 MB

Episode #0488! Mike and José discuss fandom in Portugal, discovering more about the original version of the series from an international perspective, moving into the world of translation, and much more!

REFERENCED SITES: No segments of note! We get right into it! But maybe stick around after the Famicom tunes...
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:: [| Kanzenshuu - Co-Founder/Administrator, Podcast Host, News Manager (note: our "job" titles are arbitrary and meaningless) |] ::
:: [| Website: January 1998 |] :: [| Podcast: November 2005 |] :: [| Fusion: April 2012 |] :: [| Wiki: 20XX |] ::

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Re: Episode #0488 (18 April 2021)

Post by TrunksTrevelyan0064 » Tue Apr 20, 2021 8:08 am

Huh. That was different. Not in a bad way. In a relatable way, actually. Fellow European with a background in language here. :wave: All the commentary about translation was on point. How beginners think they know more than they actually do, how you want to convey not just the words but more importantly the actual message, how you're never 100% satisfied with any translation - I was just nodding along.

I find it interesting that, as someone who does not live that far from Portugal, the way Dragon Ball came to my country was still considerably different. I've noticed that Americans sometimes like to treat Europe as one single country, which is understandable when you're born and raised in a 50-in-1 country, but uh... no, that is not how it works. :P

It's crazy to me that Portugal got the series as early as 1995, whereas we didn't get it until 2000. And they got the whole series too, beginning to end? In order? Whaaat? Fascinating. Bizarre. Looking at the various distribution and localization processes between countries, it feels like some decisions were made so... randomly. Change one small decision here or there and our experiences could've been vastly different. Thank goodness for Kanzenshuu creating some order among all that chaos and bringing us together. :lol:

Agreed with the shout-out to Terez towards the end there. The 27 in her name must stand for the 27-hour work days she puts herself through. Props!

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Re: Episode #0488 (18 April 2021)

Post by jrdemr » Tue Apr 20, 2021 7:23 pm

TrunksTrevelyan0064 wrote: Tue Apr 20, 2021 8:08 am Huh. That was different. Not in a bad way. In a relatable way, actually. Fellow European with a background in language here. :wave: All the commentary about translation was on point. How beginners think they know more than they actually do, how you want to convey not just the words but more importantly the actual message, how you're never 100% satisfied with any translation - I was just nodding along.

I find it interesting that, as someone who does not live that far from Portugal, the way Dragon Ball came to my country was still considerably different. I've noticed that Americans sometimes like to treat Europe as one single country, which is understandable when you're born and raised in a 50-in-1 country, but uh... no, that is not how it works. :P

It's crazy to me that Portugal got the series as early as 1995, whereas we didn't get it until 2000. And they got the whole series too, beginning to end? In order? Whaaat? Fascinating. Bizarre. Looking at the various distribution and localization processes between countries, it feels like some decisions were made so... randomly. Change one small decision here or there and our experiences could've been vastly different. Thank goodness for Kanzenshuu creating some order among all that chaos and bringing us together. :lol:

Agreed with the shout-out to Terez towards the end there. The 27 in her name must stand for the 27-hour work days she puts herself through. Props!
The History of Dragon Ball in Portugal is something absolutely out of this world and we barely scratched the surface during our conversation.

  • After a while, Dragon Ball was so overwhelmingly popular in Portugal that some workplaces would actually let you take a break when the episodes were airing so that everyone would be able to watch.
  • There were so many students skipping class to watch the episodes that after a while, some schools actually rescheduled their breaks around the time the episodes were airing - which was partly because some of the teachers themselves asked the schools to, because they, too, wanted to watch them!
  • By the time we got to the Cell Games, the country was overrun with Dragon Ball mania. There were 11 (eleven) brand-new episodes airing every single week.
  • There is also the fact that I keep hearing that most Americans hate Dragon Ball GT, but over here, we sort of enjoy it for what it is. And we love the theme song so damn much, it's almost like our national anthem. I've seen with my own eyes just how much the Portuguese love that damn theme song, enough to make for a pretty interesting anecdote.
  • I've also mentioned in passing how our dub actors got a bit (understatement) of a diva complex, but didn't really get into it in much detail. For instance, Goku's voice actor (who is otherwise a very well-respected actor, dub or otherwise) recently let it go to his head so much that he started spouting some top-grade bullshit about the original Japanese version on Facebook - enough for me to actually reply to him just to get the facts straight. And I'm generally a pretty chill guy that doesn't really let this kind of stuff get to him all that much, so you can imagine how serious the crap he was spouting was. I wasn't really rude or anything like that to him, just tried to explain some things before it got out of hand. I And to my surprise, he actually answered back! And he was not happy... Not only did he not back down, he actually doubled down, spouting some stuff I can only describe as genuinely vile. Despite me despising the Portuguese dub from the very start as a semi-parody of the original, I actually used to respect him as an actor and as the Portuguese voice of Goku. But that was the day I lost any semblance of respect for him.
  • Then there's also everything surrounding the Super dub, which was just a completely different train wreck...

So yeah, I basically still have enough stories about the Portuguese fandom to fill yet another podcast. Maybe next time 8)

P.S: Oh yeah, by the way, I was actually later told by fellow forum member and real-life friend Quebaz that apparently there was some sort of limited-run release of all 153 episodes of Dragon Ball on DVD, meaning that the only series that got completely snubbed on the home release front over here... was funnily enough, Dragon Ball Z :lol:

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Luso Saiyan
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Re: Episode #0488 (18 April 2021)

Post by Luso Saiyan » Wed Apr 21, 2021 12:04 pm

I think if there's one thing that gets exaggerated in regards to Dragon Ball in Portugal are the joke factor in the dub. Jokes which were sparse, even though one might get a different idea by finding them all neatly compiled online. The jokes were never part of Dragon Ball's huge success or appeal. They were what they were, a relatively amusing way the actors used to fill in the gaps in the dub. Those who watched the series, wether they enjoyed the jokes in particular or not, were stuck with them. It was never what made the series appealing or an overwhelming success. It's a bit like filler in that sense.

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Re: Episode #0488 (18 April 2021)

Post by jrdemr » Wed Apr 21, 2021 3:06 pm

Luso Saiyan wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 12:04 pm I think if there's one thing that gets exaggerated in regards to Dragon Ball in Portugal are the joke factor in the dub. Jokes which were sparse, even though one might get a different idea by finding them all neatly compiled online. The jokes were never part of Dragon Ball's huge success or appeal. They were what they were, a relatively amusing way the actors used to fill in the gaps in the dub. Those who watched the series, wether they enjoyed the jokes in particular or not, were stuck with them. It was never what made the series appealing or an overwhelming success. It's a bit like filler in that sense.
For sure.

Even when the actors weren't ad-libbing in actual jokes, there was always this "joke-y" feeling throughout the entire dub. And the fact that they had to divide hundreds of characters by a measly seven actors also didn't help - there's a limit to how many different voices you can put on before it starts to encroach on "parody voice" territory.

That said, yeah, despite what many fans over here might think, it was never the jokes nor the ad-libbing that made Dragon Ball the massive success it was in Portugal. One thing that really gets on my nerves is the Portuguese dub actors (namely Vegeta's, João Loy), repeatedly stating that if Dragon Ball was successful, it was because of them.

Yeah. Sure. That's why it was famous in Japan. And America. And France. And pretty much everywhere else. Because of you. :roll:

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Luso Saiyan
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Re: Episode #0488 (18 April 2021)

Post by Luso Saiyan » Wed Apr 21, 2021 3:36 pm

Yeah, they clearly let their actor's ego and narcissism get over their heads (not all of them, of course). That's not to say they did a bad job. They did a lot with very little, and overall the dub was fine. But they rarely have the humility to recognize that they happened to have been part of a project that ended up having mass appeal due to its characters, story and universe.

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Re: Episode #0488 (18 April 2021)

Post by Quebaz » Thu Apr 22, 2021 9:41 am

jrdemr wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 3:06 pm
For sure.

Even when the actors weren't ad-libbing in actual jokes, there was always this "joke-y" feeling throughout the entire dub. And the fact that they had to divide hundreds of characters by a measly seven actors also didn't help - there's a limit to how many different voices you can put on before it starts to encroach on "parody voice" territory.

That said, yeah, despite what many fans over here might think, it was never the jokes nor the ad-libbing that made Dragon Ball the massive success it was in Portugal. One thing that really gets on my nerves is the Portuguese dub actors (namely Vegeta's, João Loy), repeatedly stating that if Dragon Ball was successful, it was because of them.

Yeah. Sure. That's why it was famous in Japan. And America. And France. And pretty much everywhere else. Because of you. :roll:
I actually brought this up in a conversation with Audio In's (the studio that dubbed DB Super) owner once and he does agree that the jokey nature of the old dub had a hand in the series becoming popular. He thinks that at the time Portugal's view of cartoons was different compared to Spain or France's and that the show needed "a bit of the country's touch" to succeed.

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