Gundam Wing: Redefining the Word "Dubbed"
by "Frieccolo"

Originally Posted: 20 March 2000

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Dubbed. An almost dreaded description in the world of anime. From classics like Robotech/Macross to relatively new shows like Dragon Ball Z, dubbing has taken a little something, or everything, away from a classic anime. What has resulted from dubbing? Other than the addition of the English language, of course. What has resulted is numerous edits, sometimes too numerous to name. Ideas, scenes, or characters too intense for us to handle. Maybe even changes to agree with the new, Americanized plot (cough Southern Cross cough), or the American names (can anyone imagine this site called "GovitaEX"?). With these handy additions, we can only expect something else to be cut. Well, it is the music. The original music will almost certainly be cut and replaced with a constant, repetative beat to keep us interested in otherwise uneventful shows. If the wind was ever blowing without Casio accompaniment, I know I'd change the channel. There will be as little evidence as possible that this is a Japanese show, unreadable kanji will be cut when it is convenient, say at the title or show identification. I expected almost the same when I went to watch the new dub running after Dragon Ball Z, even though the bomberman-like host actually used the word "anime" when describing it. Was I ever blown away.

That wonderous, magical Monday I actually was pretty hyped about the new show. Dubbed or not, it was anime, and I had been curious about it before it was released. Well, I checked every time slot just to be safe. I noticed an odd thing glowing behind the Sailor Moon intro logo, kanji seeming to spell Sailor Moon! That almost prompted me to watch the dub of SM, but I decided against it. Then I bid farewell to ReBoot, I am a long-running fan. Canadian or not, I think it is better than Japanese Ronin Warriors. DBZ held it's 5:00 spot, as I knew it would. Season 3 voices in the opening, so it goes. Then it hit. Gundam Wing. Silence. Then the narrator became the only sound on Cartoon Network. A capsule decended from a space station. No new music interrupted it. I fell in love. I continued to watch, and I couldn't belive that this is actually in English. I felt as if I was watching a fansub. This show appeared completely pure, untampered with. As I understand it this is the original soundtrack. Then I got caught up in the fantasy and imagined the show identifying itself as it would in Japan. Well, well, well, the smallest original element of the show actually did appear, it was not cut. Professional voice actors I seem to recognize wield the language (Brian Drummond, hurrah!). Even the "next time" and the title in kanji stays put. When I thought it couldn't get any better, it did. In episode 3 the actual original Japanese theme played in the background. It wasn't cut or translated. Now if only FUNimation could follow this example for Gohan's ssj2 transformation. As expected, the show has been edited. But then I saw a new commercial, uncut Gundam Wing at midnight. Uncut. On a cable channel, not your VCR. Amazingly, this isn't a lame version of "uncut" where they can casually say "kill", they actually swear. It is followed by DBZ. Cartoon Network belives that this dub is far better already.

Gundam Wing has done what anime fans have wanted all along, simply translated it. They have laid down a path that hopefully every dub can follow. They left all the original elements intact, even controversial ones (a couple of lines about women as enemies come to mind). They didn't dumb it down, they will even swear for you at midnight. If Gundam Wing is the success it deserves to be, future dubs will have no justification for changing the show. No more new music, no more outdated refrences to "two wild and crazy guys", just a lovely translation. A dub that captures the ideas and beauty of the original. Wasn't that the idea all along?

Contact: frieccolo@aol.com