Fandub

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A fandub is a fan-made dub or redub of a live-action or animated production. Dubbing is the act of re-recording of a live-action or animated production, typically in a language other than the original. Most productions are translated from different languages, but some fandubs are for productions originally in the fandubber's native language. The dialogue can range from being a close translation to a completely-altered version of the original script's story and plots, as well as the personalities of protagonists.

Contents

The reasons behind fandubbing can range from the production not receiving an official dub to the official dub being poorly received. [1] Fandubs are most commonly done with Japanese animation, but sometimes include live-action and animated series and movies in any language. Versions where the story line, character personalities, and content are dramatically altered, typically for humor, are called "Abridged Series" and "fundubs".

Fandubbing can also refer to a translated cover of a song in another language, frequently anime theme songs. Several English-language voice actors, such as Amanda Lee and Cristina Vee, have published fandub covers on YouTube.

History

Amateur voice acting began simultaneously and independently from each other in a small number of developed countries. One of the first recorded projects, dating from 1989, [2] was the anime fan-dub parody "Laputa II: The Sequel", an English redub of the first four episodes of Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water .

A Star Wars fandub of Dominik Kuhn (Dodokay), using a scene in the film for a viral marketing parody, gained fame with German mainstream media. [3] Another Star Wars fandub of Revenge of the Sith , using mistranslated subtitles from a bootleg Chinese version, became popular on YouTube as Star War The Third Gathers: Backstroke of the West. [4]

While fansubbing is a highly-popular means by which various Internet-downloaded visual media can be understood by other language markets, fandubbing as a practice has not gained similar momentum as a means of translation by lay Internet users. [5] The majority of fandub projects are arranged for short-form video clips and are often posted to video hosting services such as YouTube.

Most series are produced online with voice actors often auditioning via forums, but live dubbing sessions at anime cons often take place, for example the "Anime Dub Live" panels held in the UK.[ citation needed ]

Legality

Due to typically using copyrighted material, fandubs face the same copyright implications as fansubs, such as receiving copyright strike. [5] To avoid such issues, fandubs are sometimes made using web-based dubbing tools like Dubroo, which does not alter the original videos but just plays the dubbed audio along with the original muted video.[ citation needed ]

Another risk for voice actor working on legitimate dub is getting involved with fandub may get them fired from their roles. [6]

See also

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References

  1. Anderson, Sage (9 May 2019). "Voice actors overdubbed the worst 'Sonic' game to make it the best 'Sonic' game". Mashable . Retrieved 9 January 2025.
  2. "Laputa II: The Sequel - Tiny Liner Notes". Archived from the original on 2014-12-30.
  3. Graham, Dave (14 October 2010). "Star Wars dub sends jobbing ad man into orbit". Reuters .
  4. "Let Us Rejoice That Someone Dubbed The Entire Chinese Bootleg of Revenge of the Sith". io9.gizmodo.com. 7 January 2017. Archived from the original on 2021-11-15. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  5. 1 2 Reese, Lauren (28 December 2022). "Why These Anime Fan Activities Are Relics of a Bygone Era". Comic Book Resources . Retrieved 9 January 2025.
  6. Morrissy, Kim (13 August 2022). "French Dub Voice Actress on Classroom of the Elite Let Go Due to Fandub Connections". Anime News Network . Retrieved 10 January 2025.