Voice of Heroes

[dv8nation.livejournal.com]

I think I'm in a unique position to offer a little insight into some of the complaints people are having about the dub clips.

I work in Japanese junior high as an assistant English teacher. I am surrounded by kids Naruto's age for about eight hours a day. So I can tell you that Japanese kids speak, in tone and inflection, very differently than American kids do. This become very clear when you try and get a Japanese kid to say an English word. The reverse is true. I have to shift the way my voice sounds somewhat when I speak Japanese to the students or my co-workers. It is the nature of speaking another language.

It's also worth noting that, despite what they might think, there are a good many English-speaking Naruto fans who are not pronouncing things the right way either. Pronouncing Japanese correctly takes a little practice and, I hate to say it, but watching anime is *not* the best way to learn how. It can help make your Japanese sound more natural once you understand the basics, but for getting the basics down classroom teaching is still the best.

As per usual with dubs, the actors will get better once they've got a few episodes under their belts and get more comfortable with the characters. Maybe the way things are pronounced will sooth out and maybe it won't. But it's pretty much a given the people making the show are taking note of fan reaction to the clips that have come out so far.