Brad said:
Starlights are easy. They're just using a transformation pen like power like Serena uses to disguise herself. In fact I think Serena even disguised herself as a man once or twice (or was that Mina in the manga?). The starlights are just doing the same. Just have one of them tak about how they dislike/like the disguises they're using. Easy.
That seemed to have been the case in the anime anyway. It was implied, though not stated outright, that they were actually female, and the male thing was part of her disguise. It did seem to me that they were just using a more advanced and semi-permanent equivalent of the disguise pen.
Ummm.... Also attacks. Don't change them too much. The DiC attacks weren't that different from the Japanese attack names. Don't go overboard like some fandubs do. An ideal dubbing would be "Star Serious Lazer Zap!" or something. Original Japanese attack with an extra word on the end. Don't do anything like "Super Supreme Turnaround Feather Blast!" or something.
But surely, in order to emulate the full DiC experience, the attack names should change every week! Ho ho! Or was that Cloverway? Hmm, my sniping would work better if I know which company was which...
fighter4luv said:
Amara and Michelle will stay as "cousins" and nothing more will be said, I'm sure I can get around a lot of what they say anyway.
You seem to have basically made your mind up about this, but if I could suggest one change to your plan, it would be in this area. Things have moved on a little since the mid-nineties, and we do see the occasional gay character on Cartoon Network and the like now. Specifically, I want to point the character of "Him" from the Powerpuff Girls: it might go over the heads of little kiddies, but he's screamingly gay. On at least one occasion, he has licked the Professor's face. If CN could get away with this - in a show with much the same target audience as Sailor Moon - then I don't see why Amara and Michelle's relationship couldn't be, at the very least, open to question. I think the suggestion that "cousins" was a euphemism and Serena was just too dense to figure it out is an excellent one. Just translate the dialogue as it is: Hell, at no point do they actually say "We're lesbians. We have sex." It's never stated outright; it's all in their behaviour. Kids who aren't old enough to get it will just think "Those two girls are very good friends" and kids who
are old enough to get it... will get it, and no harm done. After all, you have to already know what a lesbian is in order to recognise one.
This is your project, and you can treat it how you wish - you don't owe us fans anything. But you have to appreciate why the "cousins" thing in particular is a big deal for some people. The total removal of homosexuality from the series sends the message that gay people are not suitable for children, and I can only assume that's a fairly insulting message to anyone who is gay (and plenty of Sailor Moon fans are). Now, DiC and Cloverway edited the series out of financial concerns: they wanted to put the series on the air, and if it had been left as it was, it would have lost advertising and probably attracted a ton of complaints. Their line of thinking was more likely to have been "this will lose us money" than "this will scar/alienate/confuse children". You don't have to worry about such constraints, so unless you yourself consider implied homosexuality to be an unfit subject for children, you don't have any reason to cut it.
As someone who only discovered the dub after the series, I find myself veering more towards KnM's point of view. I realise a lot of people view the dub with some nostalgia: and I can appreciate that view, but since I wasn't there at the time, I can't pretend to share it. Let me make one thing clear: I am a
huge fan of dubs, and I feel that most anime, comedic anime in particular, can be better appreciated with a (high quality) dub than with subtitles: a view that has got me many flamings over the years. I would dearly love to see a complete re-dub of Sailor Moon, but this time in the spirit of the original. Which is why I'm usually frustrated by these fandub projects, which seem intent on emulating the North American version instead. I see that you are planning an uncut dub, and that's great, although it's a little disappointing that it's been given less priority than the edited dub (which would surely be a lot more time consuming).
Please be aware that these are just my personal feelings on the matter; I wish you luck with your project, and it is certainly heartening to see such dedication still exists in the fandom.
. Poor quality I might add. (stupid adv).
