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Spirited Away

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Has anybody here seen Miyazaki's film Sen and Chihiro's Spiriting Away, or, as it was shortened for its American release, Spirited Away? It is such an awesome movie. I saw most of the dub on Turner Classic Movies back in January, I believe, and then on another station a few weeks ago... actually, I think it was July 4th. So then, yesterday, I finally bought the DVD and got to see the full thing in its original language. The artwork is so beautiful and the story so imaginative. It was the highest grossing film in the history of Japanese cinema and won the Oscar for Best Animated Film, so, hopefully, I'm not the only person here who's seen it...

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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It is a truly phomenal film, one of a string of masterpieces produced by Miyazaki. It's not for all tastes, to be sure, but if approched with an open mind, it is breathtaking. I still prefer Princess Mononoke though.

“What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.”

Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death

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Honestly, this is the only Miyazaki film I've seen so far, hence my fanboyish rush to the forums to post about it. But it's inspired me to want to see more of his films. I have heard of Mononoke-hime long before I knew who Miyazaki was. I'll have to pick it up some time.

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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It's a great movie, if you don't watch the dub, which is awful.

Miyazaki's movies I've seen:

Spirited Away
Princess Mononoke
Kiki's Delivery Service
Howl's Moving Castle

All excellent films, though Mononoke is by far the best. It's a very powerful film. And it's the only one of the four with a good dub. In fact, its the best dub I've ever heard. It's excellent, so you don't have to read subtitles on that one.
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I choose to read the subtitles. I don't like watching dubbed anime, or any dubbed foreign films. They're never completely accurate, and you always end up missing something due to cultural differences. So which dub did you say was bad? I thought you were talking about Princess Mononoke, but then you said it had a good dub, so I assume you're talking about Sen and Chihiro's Spiriting Away, which I thought had a really superb dub. The acting was very good, the voices fit the characters, the script was pretty accurate as far as I could tell. Like I said, though, I'm not a fan of dubs to begin with, and since I come from DBZ and *groan* FUNimation, I have pretty low expectations for dubs to begin with.

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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Originally posted by: Darth_Evil
It's a great movie, if you don't watch the dub, which is awful.

Miyazaki's movies I've seen:

Spirited Away
Princess Mononoke
Kiki's Delivery Service
Howl's Moving Castle

All excellent films, though Mononoke is by far the best. It's a very powerful film. And it's the only one of the four with a good dub. In fact, its the best dub I've ever heard. It's excellent, so you don't have to read subtitles on that one.


I enjoy Disney's dubs to an extent, but what really impresses me is their presentation on the DVDs. The alternate angles present the films not only in the original language, but even with the original text in Japanese on the opening and closing credits! Wow. Both version on a DVD in crisp anamorphic widescreen with superb booming sound interpolated from the original tracks in both languages. High quailty picture and sound on both versions. Take notes George. Miyazaki-san actually made Disney sign an agreement that they would not edit even a single frame.

“What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.”

Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death

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Originally posted by: Mike O
Miyazaki-san actually made Disney sign an agreement that they would not edit even a single frame.


And God bless him for it! The agreement with Disney has produced some truly great DVD releases of these awesome films. And let's not forget 'Naussica', one of my personal favorites!
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Nausicaa rocks. It's my favorite Miyazaki film. Princess Mononoke was pretty good, but all the Giant Talking ANimals were kind of weird. I never really could get into "Spirited Away".

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Howl's Moving Castle is my favorite of his films with Spirited Away as a close second. Come on guys, the dubs Disney has produced for these films aren't that bad. They are actually quite good. If you go in expecting to hate it, then you will. But next time watch them with an open mind. You may enjoy them!

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Spirited Away is great, but I prefer Laputa (Castle in the Sky). It's kinda creepy how close it is to Atlantis: The Lost Empire.

Princess Leia: I happen to like nice men.
Han Solo: I'm a nice man.

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Originally posted by: BrikHaus81
Howl's Moving Castle is my favorite of his films with Spirited Away as a close second. Come on guys, the dubs Disney has produced for these films aren't that bad. They are actually quite good. If you go in expecting to hate it, then you will. But next time watch them with an open mind. You may enjoy them!



Since we have a choice, it doesn't really matter. And the use of Neil Gaiman to write the English script for Princess Mononoke was a masterstroke.

“What Orwell feared were those who would ban books. What Huxley feared was that there would be no reason to ban a book, for there would be no one who wanted to read one.”

Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death

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Being used to dubbing techniques, when I saw the dub of Sen and Chihiro's Spiriting Away on TV, and it introduced the bath house, and Chihiro said off screen, "It's a bath house!" I guffawed, "I know they added that for the dub!" Turns out I was right, and I'm tickled pink that I was.

By the way, does it slightly bug anybody else that the title of his films are often altered to some extent? The fact that the American dub of the movie has an altered title doesn't bug me as much as the subtitle claiming that Spirited Away is the title of the movie when the text on the screen clearly says, "Sen to Chihiro No Kamikakushi". The way I see it, you should be able to trust the accuracy of the subtitles, and I find myself a bit insulted that it would lie to me. I remember encountering this on Pioneer's tape of DBZ movie 3, where the Japanese text reads, "The Ultimate, Decisive Battle for Earth" while the subtitle under it reads, "Tree of Might," which isn't even close to a translation!

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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Most people in the US can't even tell the difference.

Besides, "Tree of Might" is a lot less wordy (and ironically more informative) than "The Ultimate, Decisive Battle For Earth"...

Which brings up the point, that, if you're watching DBZ, you already KNOW there is going to be an Ultimate, Decisive Battle for Earth/Namek/The Galaxy/The Universe, etc. So why call it that?

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I agree with all that, but since a subtitle's job is to translate something from one language to another, it's not really doing its job if it takes such creative liberties. Especially for the majority who can't tell the difference and think that they're actually getting legitimate information.

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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Originally posted by: Gaffer Tape
I choose to read the subtitles. I don't like watching dubbed anime, or any dubbed foreign films. They're never completely accurate, and you always end up missing something due to cultural differences. So which dub did you say was bad? I thought you were talking about Princess Mononoke, but then you said it had a good dub, so I assume you're talking about Sen and Chihiro's Spiriting Away, which I thought had a really superb dub. The acting was very good, the voices fit the characters, the script was pretty accurate as far as I could tell. Like I said, though, I'm not a fan of dubs to begin with, and since I come from DBZ and *groan* FUNimation, I have pretty low expectations for dubs to begin with.


What I meant was that Mononoke had a superb dub. I tihnk Sen and Chihiro's Spiriting Away had a god awful dub. Like I said, the only movie I ever watch with dub on is Mononke. DBZ was a horrible dub. I'm trying to get one of the complete sets off of eBay that's all in Japanese. But anime has never been dubbed well. I think the people who run dubs should be taken out and shot, and be replaced with people who take pride in thier work.
Watch DarthEvil's Who Framed Darth Vader? video on YouTube!

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Many of the dubs for the Adult Swim shows are pretty good as well (Samurai Champloo, Cowboy Bebop, Big O, etc).

Though, if your a fan of one series its hard to realign yourself in regards to the voice actors' portrayal of a different character, seeing as they all share many voice actors in common.
"I don't mind if you don't like my manners. I don't like them myself. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them during the long winter evenings."
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Originally posted by: Darth_Evil
Originally posted by: Gaffer Tape
I choose to read the subtitles. I don't like watching dubbed anime, or any dubbed foreign films. They're never completely accurate, and you always end up missing something due to cultural differences. So which dub did you say was bad? I thought you were talking about Princess Mononoke, but then you said it had a good dub, so I assume you're talking about Sen and Chihiro's Spiriting Away, which I thought had a really superb dub. The acting was very good, the voices fit the characters, the script was pretty accurate as far as I could tell. Like I said, though, I'm not a fan of dubs to begin with, and since I come from DBZ and *groan* FUNimation, I have pretty low expectations for dubs to begin with.


What I meant was that Mononoke had a superb dub. I tihnk Sen and Chihiro's Spiriting Away had a god awful dub. Like I said, the only movie I ever watch with dub on is Mononke. DBZ was a horrible dub. I'm trying to get one of the complete sets off of eBay that's all in Japanese. But anime has never been dubbed well. I think the people who run dubs should be taken out and shot, and be replaced with people who take pride in thier work.


I agree. I don't like dubs in general. I am curious, though, as to what exactly you found awful about this movie's dub. Maybe you've noticed something I haven't.

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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It's mostly Chihiro and Haku's voices. They annoy the hell out of me, especially Haku, who seems to take himself way to seriously. I do like that they stayed very faithful to the script, I just think the casting was way off.
Watch DarthEvil's Who Framed Darth Vader? video on YouTube!

You can also access the entire Horriffic Violence Theater Series from my Channel Page.
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Eh, I liked their voices, personally. Maybe it's just because I'm a Jason Marsden fan. I have to admit, though, that his Haku sounds a lot like "generic dubbed anime angsty young male lead voice" that you hear all the time. The only thing I find weird is that, in the original version, Chihiro and Haku were both played by adolescents. In the dub, Chihiro is played by an adolescent, and Haku is played by a man who, at the time, was in his late 20s!

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.