What happens when you change the openings of anime
I have been meaning to do this post for a long time, and it's going to be very trite and fangirlish, but what-the-fuck-ever... stop reading or don't click if you are not in the mood for trite, fangirlish bullshit... seriously... don't read... no one is making you...
When adapting anime for an American audience, some of the worst decisions have been centered around changing the main title and the opening theme song. The idea is that for American children, the theme song MUST be about the show, and it must give certain information about the characters and what they do and who they are, etc. In reality, the songs that are used for animes are often pop songs or rock songs done by currently popular artists, and the song only relates to the show in that it shares themes. The theme song used does not feel the need to beat the audience over the head with what will become obvious upon viewing the show and it serves to deliver the animation. Now, yes, sometimes, a song is written specifically for a show and it is even done by the voice actors, and the show is referenced in the song, but in a lot of the long-running shows that have been brought over here, this is not the case.
So, lets start with the classic example: the familiar American opening to Voltron that was bastardized from the original Golion -
Would it surprise you to learn that planet Earth in Golion was a lifeless rock because humans couldn't stop from destroying themselves? The intro sets up one of the many edits and changes that is made to make Golion become Voltron. It also completely skips over the part about Golion being an arrogant asshat who was broken by the goddess of the universe for his pride... but hey! We don't need to warn American kids about having too much pride and inflated self-esteem! Here's the original -
Now, I will cop to the fact that the Voltron intro does give me chills, but that music and Peter Cullen's voice could have been used without attempting to pretend Earth hadn't been nuked into a wasteland and that it was all good because humans are SOOOOO noble. The entire meaning of the series changes when it goes from a small group of people fighting against enormous odds to "Hey! We have a whole alliance backing us up! No worries bitches!" And it starts with that intro, in which the scenes with people meeting and acting like they were discussing affairs are from a completely different show!
How about the most egregious pandering opening change ever? That's right, the 4Kids One Piece rap opening... don't watch this... seriously... don't press play -
What the fuck??? I warned you! Do not press play! So the point of this opening is not just to turn the intro into an info dump, but let's show a ton of action as well and nothing else. How was it originally? Well -
A little bit of info dump, and yes, this is one that was written for the show, but much less action and a lot more showing the whole cast together and presenting this as an adventure and not just endless fighting. AKA, in reality, One Piece is not Dragon Ball Z "Pirate Edition," but it is its own story. Watch the American version, and they are hoping to just grab the DBZ fans because they are the only people watching anime on TV, right?
How about when an opening is used to change the main character of the show? Well, who remembers the Cardcaptors American opening?
In this opening, they are doing everything they can to convince the viewer that Li (the boy) is an equal character to Sakura, when he isn't. They also make the entire show seem like it's a battle to collect cards, almost like they wanted to merchandise some kind of card collecting game (thankfully, they didn't). In reality, CLAMP's original story and the actual anime, the cards were a part of it, but they were not the focus of the series. The focus was on Sakura and her coming of age and discovering who she was. The original opening is all about her -
Notice something? No cards! No mention of them, and there is just a flash, less than a second, of Sakura holding a card, but you cannot even tell unless you are looking for it.
Now the one I'm going to get in trouble for. The American opening to Sailor Moon sucks. Do not sit there and talk to me about your nostalgia for it. It sucks.
I put them side by side for a reason: the American version does a rewrite of the song, but it strips away all of the meaning of the song which discusses the emotions and challenges that actually face Usagi (Serena for those of you who have never watched the original) and does not hint at all about the realities of the universe that this takes place in or the complicated temporal plot that will evolve as the story goes on. They could have at least had the decency to write their own song instead of stripping the original of all meaning for the sake of an info dump with worse singing.
So what about getting it right? Well, shock and surprise, you can create your own dub intro and not fuck up the story, the animation, or the song:
This is the opening for Yu Yu Hakusho. The animation is the same and the song has the same melody, different arrangement, but the song is just a direct translation into English. Was it necessary? No, it wasn't, but it also doesn't change anything about the story or the world in which that story takes place.
So, what's the point of all of this? It just bugs me, that's all. If localizers make changes to the intro, it sets the stage for the show, the meanings in the show, and the effect of the show to be misrepresented. These changes are symptomatic of other changes that were made by racist TV executives that were trying to convince you that these shows were set in America (in the case of Card Captor Sakura and Sailor Moon), featured Americans (Voltron), or attempting to cash in on pop-culture "edginess" through rap (One Piece). It's intellectually dishonest and it should offend anyone with a brain. Of course, if you choose not to care about this at all, then why are you reading this line? You should have left this post a long time ago! I warned you it was going to be trite and fangirlish! Jeez, you probably watched the One Piece rap too, didn't you? ...
When adapting anime for an American audience, some of the worst decisions have been centered around changing the main title and the opening theme song. The idea is that for American children, the theme song MUST be about the show, and it must give certain information about the characters and what they do and who they are, etc. In reality, the songs that are used for animes are often pop songs or rock songs done by currently popular artists, and the song only relates to the show in that it shares themes. The theme song used does not feel the need to beat the audience over the head with what will become obvious upon viewing the show and it serves to deliver the animation. Now, yes, sometimes, a song is written specifically for a show and it is even done by the voice actors, and the show is referenced in the song, but in a lot of the long-running shows that have been brought over here, this is not the case.
So, lets start with the classic example: the familiar American opening to Voltron that was bastardized from the original Golion -
Click to viewWould it surprise you to learn that planet Earth in Golion was a lifeless rock because humans couldn't stop from destroying themselves? The intro sets up one of the many edits and changes that is made to make Golion become Voltron. It also completely skips over the part about Golion being an arrogant asshat who was broken by the goddess of the universe for his pride... but hey! We don't need to warn American kids about having too much pride and inflated self-esteem! Here's the original -
Now, I will cop to the fact that the Voltron intro does give me chills, but that music and Peter Cullen's voice could have been used without attempting to pretend Earth hadn't been nuked into a wasteland and that it was all good because humans are SOOOOO noble. The entire meaning of the series changes when it goes from a small group of people fighting against enormous odds to "Hey! We have a whole alliance backing us up! No worries bitches!" And it starts with that intro, in which the scenes with people meeting and acting like they were discussing affairs are from a completely different show!
How about the most egregious pandering opening change ever? That's right, the 4Kids One Piece rap opening... don't watch this... seriously... don't press play -
What the fuck??? I warned you! Do not press play! So the point of this opening is not just to turn the intro into an info dump, but let's show a ton of action as well and nothing else. How was it originally? Well -
A little bit of info dump, and yes, this is one that was written for the show, but much less action and a lot more showing the whole cast together and presenting this as an adventure and not just endless fighting. AKA, in reality, One Piece is not Dragon Ball Z "Pirate Edition," but it is its own story. Watch the American version, and they are hoping to just grab the DBZ fans because they are the only people watching anime on TV, right?
How about when an opening is used to change the main character of the show? Well, who remembers the Cardcaptors American opening?
In this opening, they are doing everything they can to convince the viewer that Li (the boy) is an equal character to Sakura, when he isn't. They also make the entire show seem like it's a battle to collect cards, almost like they wanted to merchandise some kind of card collecting game (thankfully, they didn't). In reality, CLAMP's original story and the actual anime, the cards were a part of it, but they were not the focus of the series. The focus was on Sakura and her coming of age and discovering who she was. The original opening is all about her -
Notice something? No cards! No mention of them, and there is just a flash, less than a second, of Sakura holding a card, but you cannot even tell unless you are looking for it.
Now the one I'm going to get in trouble for. The American opening to Sailor Moon sucks. Do not sit there and talk to me about your nostalgia for it. It sucks.
I put them side by side for a reason: the American version does a rewrite of the song, but it strips away all of the meaning of the song which discusses the emotions and challenges that actually face Usagi (Serena for those of you who have never watched the original) and does not hint at all about the realities of the universe that this takes place in or the complicated temporal plot that will evolve as the story goes on. They could have at least had the decency to write their own song instead of stripping the original of all meaning for the sake of an info dump with worse singing.
So what about getting it right? Well, shock and surprise, you can create your own dub intro and not fuck up the story, the animation, or the song:
This is the opening for Yu Yu Hakusho. The animation is the same and the song has the same melody, different arrangement, but the song is just a direct translation into English. Was it necessary? No, it wasn't, but it also doesn't change anything about the story or the world in which that story takes place.
So, what's the point of all of this? It just bugs me, that's all. If localizers make changes to the intro, it sets the stage for the show, the meanings in the show, and the effect of the show to be misrepresented. These changes are symptomatic of other changes that were made by racist TV executives that were trying to convince you that these shows were set in America (in the case of Card Captor Sakura and Sailor Moon), featured Americans (Voltron), or attempting to cash in on pop-culture "edginess" through rap (One Piece). It's intellectually dishonest and it should offend anyone with a brain. Of course, if you choose not to care about this at all, then why are you reading this line? You should have left this post a long time ago! I warned you it was going to be trite and fangirlish! Jeez, you probably watched the One Piece rap too, didn't you? ...