I've watched the entire SUB series of Index and Railgun and all the little extras and OVAs. The dub is decent, not perfect, but decent. I can live with the "bug-zapper" and other terms they've decided to use. BUT "SISSY" is f*ing retarded!! Why can't they just use Onee-sama? It really is difficult to translate the meaning of titles and honorifics. Even "sis" or "sister" would be better. "Sissy" sounds so degrading. Onee-sama is a term of respect. If I were to translate "sissy" into Japanese it would be "nee-chan".
Kuroko is my favorite character and her English voice is decent, but I cringe each and every time she says that horrible "sissy" word.
Gotta agree, Sissy is NOT the word to use, it is made more annoying due to the nature that Touma sets up the long running joke when introduced to Kuruko by makeing a shout out "this isn't like some sort of Shoujo Manga... where fangirls call you Onee Sama?" (que Kuruko showing up)
I REALLY hope this is fixed before Railgun and Index 2 comes, and if the final product isn't Onee Sama at the very least change it away from Sissy as in the english language it is still widely considered a derogatory term in place of one of endearment/respect, (Dear Sister would undoubetetly be preffered over Sissy)
I agree whole-heartedly.
Plenty of quality dubs leave Japanese honorifics in place. They're a cultural touch that add an unique flavor to anime.
And honorific can tell you a good deal about the relationship between the speaker and the person being addressed in a way that is highly unique to the Japanese culture.
And to translate a term like "Oneesama", which conveys a great deal of respect and admiration from the speaker to the the person they are speaking to/about, to a term as banal and juvenile as "Sissy" is laughable at best, and from a company from whom we've come to expect so much, utterly unforgivable.
I will not be purchasing A Certain Scientific Railgun if this glaring insult is not corrected.
This is defiently one time they should has stuck with the original "Onee-sama" .
I reject your reality and replace it with my own.
Eyeofpain wrote:
And "Sissy" isn't? Sorry for having any kind of personal opinion on this
I reject your reality and replace it with my own.
I know your pain.
"Mikoto finds"?
Mikoto is a fictional character.
We are a real, and hopefully all of us, paying, audience.
Aside from which, the term "Onee-sama" reflects the character Kuroko's feelings, not Mikoto's. And the honorific tells the audience the context of that relationship. For example, we are quite aware due to the fact that Mikoto DOESN'T use honorifics with Kuroko that she has a close, albeit somewhat irritating, relationship with her.
"Sissy", on the other hand would either be a derogatory term in English, or something you would expect to hear a child under 8 years old using.
The thing of it is "name something better", sissy honestly is unacceptable in the manner it is used, and if Funimation is going to roll on with its :"no Japanese dialogue, ever" policy it would be greatly appreciated if you could come up with an alternative instead of only shooting down others ideas.
And if you are going to defend the use of Sissy, y0u are going to have to explain that as well because for the life of me I couldn't think of a real world person useing Sissy in the manner that Funimation intends Kuruko to use the word as such.
Since Funimation likes to do liberal, Westernized translations, you really couldn't have Kuruko calling her "Onee-sama". As a poster points out, it helps us(the audience who likely doesn't know about honorifics) understand the relationship between the teleporter and the electromaster. I will admit that "sissy" isn't a great translation for "Onee-sama". But it would be difficult to find an English word that fits and matches the mouth movements(which Funi also tries to do). I mean, you don't actually want the audience to think that they are sisters. Not sure that a slang word like "cuz" or "sista" would work either.
I agree with you on everything except one thing:
Leaving stuff like this as-is in their Japanese form is the worst thing you can do in a dub -- spoken English, for crying out loud! This "unique flavor" only makes voices sound awkward no matter how good the acting because the actors will butcher something that no English speaker says in a normal conversation, thus reducing the quality of the dub.
As for my choice of names, look at what they did in Baka and Test. Exact same relationship, but the Kuroko carbon copy (forgot her name) calls her love "Honey," if I recall correctly. Certainly better than Sissy.