An Open Letter to Sentai Filmworks on Aura Battler Dunbine (UPDATE: They listened!)
7/27 Update: Over the past few months since originally posting our open letter, we’ve been in correspondence with representatives at Sentai Filmworks to have input on Dunbine’s subtitles based on what was up on HiDive. The type of feedback we gave was typically on naming inconsistencies or recommendations. While these changes were not always immediately implemented for the posted episodes, with each passing week there was less and less to flag, until there was almost nothing to point out at all. And now, the Blu-ray of Aura Battler Dunbine is actually available. Sentai Filmworks sent us copies (thanks for that!), and it looks to be exactly what we asked for when we first posted our letter:
- All Aura Battler names are now the more typical standard names as seen on merchandise. No more Doramuro/Doromuro/Doromura, now it’s consistently Drumlo!
- Ships and other minor craft have more standard names as well. The “Pigushi” is now the Pigsy, and the “Barou” is now the Barau. The ship previously renamed the Will o’ Wisp to hew closer to its likely folkloric origins is now more faithfully rendered as Will Wipps.
- While many of the character names were already settled on due to the licensor, they have been made consistent throughout. A notable change, however, is the character Silky Mau. In the old subtitles, she was almost always referred to as “the silkie” or “the silkie, Mau.” Now this is simply treated as her name.
- Many spelling errors have been corrected as well. No more “soliders”, only soldiers! That patriotic English sailor is a John Bull, not a “John Blue”!
These changes look to have been made on HiDive as well. Now, go ahead and add Aura Battler Dunbine to your collection with confidence!
4/30 Update: We’ve gotten in touch with Sentai Filmworks, who responded very positively to the letter. Several of our recommendations have already been implemented on HiDive! Thank you to everyone who shared.
Original letter:
This is presented in anticipation of the HD rerelease of the 1983 Sunrise anime Aura Battler Dunbine by Sentai Filmworks, and its current streaming release on HiDive, by a group of passionate, longtime fans.
After many years of Dunbine being out of print, we’re glad to see Sentai bringing it back. Many of us purchased Aura Battler Dunbine the first time around when it was released on DVD starting in 2003, with some of us even managing to collect the whole series (those last two volumes sure got rare though). However, anyone who chose to watch the series subtitled saw that these subtitles were of highly inconsistent quality, with many typos (a frequent one being soldier misspelled as “solider”) and grammatical errors, among other issues. These subtitle scripts were also the ones used while the series was briefly streaming on the now defunct Daisuki.net. These same scripts appear to be the ones the current subtitles on HiDive are based on, and that’s raised some eyebrows. We want newcomers and future fans to have the best version possible!
HiDive has already demonstrated that some QC is being done, with spelling errors and some grammatical flubs having been fixed in the currently streaming episodes. This is already a big improvement on the old subtitles. This letter is meant in good faith to bring attention to the more particular issues with these subtitles that we hope are addressed in some way.
Aura Battler Names
While a little over half of the Aura Battler names are consistent with how they have long appeared on official merchandise (Dunbine, Gedo, Leprechaun, Vierres, Wryneck, Zwarth, Billbine), many break from this. Those names tend to be written out in phonetic Japanese and are often inconsistent even with how they are said in the dub, which is frequently closer to the typical name. Occasionally this extends even to names normally written in their typical romanization: for example, in episode 30, Wryneck is written out phonetically as “Rainekku.”
As Dunbine is a mecha show, we will give particular focus to these. Unlike character names, the Aura Battler names have generally had consistent romanizations since Dunbine’s original release in 1983. So far the HiDive subtitles are using the same names the original DVD release had. The following is a list of Aura Battlers in order of appearance with their names given as typically written on merchandise, along with their original Japanese name and the name used in the DVD subtitles for comparison. Dub pronunciations are approximated.
Drumlo
Japanese: ドラムロ (Doramuro)
English Subtitles: Doramuro
English Dub: Drumlo
Dana-O’Shee
Japanese: ダーナ・オシー (Daana Oshii)
English Subtitles: Dannae Oshii
English Dub: Danny O’Shea
Virunvee
Japanese: ビランビー (Biranbii)
English Subtitles: Biranbii
English Dub: Billunbee
Bozune
Japanese: ボゾン (Bozon)
English Subtitles: Bozon
English Dub: Bazone
Bastole
Japanese: バストール (Basutooru)
English Subtitles: Basutoru
English Dub: Bastole
Botune
Japanese: ボチューン (Bochuun)
English Subtitles: Bochuun
English Dub: Botone
Inconsistent Character Names
This largely applies to Shou Zama and Cham Fau. This is presented less as a recommendation for any particular writing, but more for as an appeal for consistency.
The protagonist’s name appears as “Shou” on all HiDive copy but as “Show” in the actual subtitles that are currently streaming (Episodes 1–3 at the time of writing). On the original ADV Films release, his name was written “Show” (in subtitles and box copy) but would also sporadically appear as “Shou.”
For the first 15 episodes of the DVD release, Cham Fau’s name is written as “Cham Fau” in subtitles. From episode 16 on, it is written instead almost exclusively as “Chum Huau.” It appears in credits as “Chum Huau” for the duration of the show, despite the dub actors pronouncing it closer to “Cham Fau.” So far it has appeared on HiDive consistently as “Cham Huau,” so it seems like this may be already being addressed.
Folkloric/Changed Names
A number of names were changed in Carl Macek’s localization to be closer to the Irish and Scottish folklore that originally inspired them rather than as a direct translation. Most notably, the fairy race of the Ferario are referred to as the Feeorin in the dub. In all other instances however, these changes are not limited to the dub but extend to the subtitles as well.
Examples of this include the character Silkie Mau’s (シルキー・マウ) name frequently occurring as “the silkie, Mau,” and even appears in box copy once as the alternate spelling “selkie.” In another case, the aura ship Will Wips (ウィル・ウィプス) is changed to “Will o’ Wisp.”
Apart from the folkloric names, there were other names changed for the dub that were then extended to the subtitles. The most prominent of these are the change from Nie Given (ニー・ギブン) to Neal Given, and Rimul Luft (リムル・ルフト) to Elmelie Luft.
Subtitle Script Writing Quality
The early volumes of the Dunbine DVD release were typically well-written in a style that both felt natural and evoked a medieval fantasy feel depending on the speaker. After a certain point (largely in the latter half), the writing becomes very stilted, more typical of an overly literal translation of Japanese. This also leads to simple errors, such as when an English navy officer refers to himself as a “John Bull” (ジョン・ブル) in Japanese but it is translated as “John Blue” (episode 41). This stilted writing is overall not reflected in the dub script, which stays at a consistent quality. Expanding on the John Bull example, the dub opts for the officer to refer to himself as “a patriot,” demonstrating an understanding of the intent in the Japanese dialogue.
Conclusion
As fans we are very appreciative that Sentai Filmworks, Maiden Japan, and HiDive are even releasing classic mecha anime. We simply want Aura Battler Dunbine to receive the same quality that has been given to the other currently streaming Yoshiyuki Tomino mecha classics Ideon and Xabungle, and to the rerelease of the Patlabor franchise before them.
If there is an overall message to the points brought up here, it’s that the existing subtitles for Dunbine, more than anything else, need consistency. Please take our observations and recommendations with the spirit with which they are intended: to give Aura Battler Dunbine a release that fans new and old can embrace without qualification.
Signers:
TomAznable, Mach_Dent, nigoki, PatzPrime, RenzoAdler, feezy_feez, DkunDX, TheFlameCrow, miss_sazabi, ab_silvera
