To our Japan residents, did you watch Avatar in Japan? Was it dubbed? If so, how was the translation/voice-acting? (Well, I suppose you can't speak as to the accuracy of the translation yet if it was dubbed.) I'm also wondering how the constructed Na'vi language might've been handled. It was well spoken in the film with the original cast.

From what I heard and read, Na'vi has some similarities to Japanese, re: the l/r.

Bonus details on Na'vi:

http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1977
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagel...04113.html

They use the 'tsu' sound a lot in the Na'vi language, too. I noticed it over and over when watching it in English.

Many films released in a foreign language in Japan (mostly English) are usually released with subtitles on the side. Dubbed versions are only preferred on DVDs (back in the VHS days, you could buy a "dubbed" version of a movie) or when aired on TV.

....so I'm going to guess that アバター has no dubbing version as of now. (it won't be made until it is released on DVD/Bluray. Even then, it won't be the default setting.)

So they invented another fictional language for that movie? Cool, but I'll just stick to Klingon.

ocircle Wrote:Many films released in a foreign language in Japan (mostly English) are usually released with subtitles on the side. Dubbed versions are only preferred on DVDs (back in the VHS days, you could buy a "dubbed" version of a movie) or when aired on TV.

....so I'm going to guess that アバター has no dubbing version as of now. (it won't be made until it is released on DVD/Bluray. Even then, it won't be the default setting.)

A bit off

Foreign films that attract a younger audience (think Avatar, Harry Potter, Twilight, Disney films, etc) are released in Japanese theaters in both dubbed and subtitled versions.

The reason is the primary audience for these types of films cannot read the subtitles.

The nearest theater near me has Avatar playing 6 times a day. 4 are dubbed. It was actually pretty rough finding a theater playing 2012 that wasn't a dubbed version.

ocircle Wrote:Many films released in a foreign language in Japan (mostly English) are usually released with subtitles on the side. Dubbed versions are only preferred on DVDs (back in the VHS days, you could buy a "dubbed" version of a movie) or when aired on TV.

....so I'm going to guess that アバター has no dubbing version as of now. (it won't be made until it is released on DVD/Bluray. Even then, it won't be the default setting.)

I think it's already been dubbed.
When I had a look at the cinema there were 2 versions, labeled (字) and (吹).

The first is obviously from 字幕 (じまく - subtitles).
I hadn't seen the second, but assumed it was dubbed. After a search I found one cinema that listed it as 吹替 (ふきがえ), and one of the meanings listed in dic.yahoo.co.jp is
4 外国映画などのせりふを自国語で吹き込むこと

It's cool that they dubbed it already, but makes the choice to see the movie harder - I don't think my Japanese is quite up to it (at the risk of wasting Y2000), but I'd hate to see my first movie in Japan in English.

Yes, 吹 is an abbreviation of 吹き替え and I can verify that there is a dubbed version because a friend of mine was complaining about his nearby cinema only offering the dubbed version.

Typically mostly children's movies are dubbed here, but I guess this one is because it has blue people in it or something.

avparker Wrote:It's cool that they dubbed it already, but makes the choice to see the movie harder - I don't think my Japanese is quite up to it (at the risk of wasting Y2000), but I'd hate to see my first movie in Japan in English.

It's an English movie, I'd say watch it in English. Just make sure your first Japanese movie in Japan is in Japanese

That said, I've only watched three movies in Japanese theaters (20th Century Boys 1 and 2, and subbed Harry Potter 6). Way too expensive to make it a habit. One of the benefits of being in the US military in Japan is getting fairly current movies at the base theaters at the cost of only three dollars. Down side is I can't really invite my wife's friends unless their English is up to snuff since it's not subbed in Japanese.

So, any experience with the quality of the voice-acting/how the Na'vi was handled? Not sure why I'm so curious, it's just something I thought about while watching the film.

I would imagine the dubbing quality is superb. I've yet to encounter a dub I didn't like. I recently got Independence Day and Batman (Dark Knight) on Blu-ray and the dubs on those are wonderful. The voices are perfect. Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean also has great voice acting, as does Shrek.

Since Avatar is the most expensive movie ever made, I'd imagine it'd have great quality, as well.

Also, go to the 日本語吹替版... it's worth the money just for the look on the faces of the people working there. They actually asked me if I meant the 字幕版.

nest0r Wrote:I'm also wondering how the constructed Na'vi language might've been handled.

of more practical importance, do the navi sections have english subs?

cangy Wrote:

nest0r Wrote:I'm also wondering how the constructed Na'vi language might've been handled.

of more practical importance, do the navi sections have english subs?

I saw the 3d version of this in Kyoto in English with Japanese subs. As for the na'vi parts they only had the Japanese subs but if remember right it wasn't anything too difficult to read. As for the Japanese dub version I am going to guess that the na'vi parts were just left as is and nothing was changed and they used the subtitles from the English version.

When a foreign language, even an artificial language, is present, it really depends on how sound tracks created during post production.

With this film, the Na'vi is a seperate track from the original, and if the voice match of the dubbing actor is very close, then the OV is used, in other parts where we differ, the Na'vi would be re-voiced. It also depends on the the capability of the dubbing actor to perform the foreign lines. So basically, you go after what gets you the best results, and clean it up in the mix to have a natural overall performance for the audience.

The Na'vi is subtitled in all dubbed versions. Even English versions which were completely subtitled - i.e. for Denmark - although in many such cases they lost the stylized subtitles for the Na'vi.

Often other onscreen text is also voiced. Either as part of a character's line or as an additional "narrator" - i.e. - "Fire Exit" "Push for emergency" - newspaper clippings, letters, computer screens, etc (any other written material in English which is not voiced by a character). It is rare that all of this text would be replaced. I.e. - Wally had a great deal of replaced onscreen text.

ew8049 Wrote:When a foreign language, even an artificial language, is present, it really depends on how sound tracks created during post production.

With this film, the Na'vi is a seperate track from the original, and if the voice match of the dubbing actor is very close, then the OV is used, in other parts where we differ, the Na'vi would be re-voiced. It also depends on the the capability of the dubbing actor to perform the foreign lines. So basically, you go after what gets you the best results, and clean it up in the mix to have a natural overall performance for the audience.

The Na'vi is subtitled in all dubbed versions. Even English versions which were completely subtitled - i.e. for Denmark - although in many such cases they lost the stylized subtitles for the Na'vi.

Often other onscreen text is also voiced. Either as part of a character's line or as an additional "narrator" - i.e. - "Fire Exit" "Push for emergency" - newspaper clippings, letters, computer screens, etc (any other written material in English which is not voiced by a character). It is rare that all of this text would be replaced. I.e. - Wally had a great deal of replaced onscreen text.

Really interesting and very much along the lines I was wondering about, thank you.