Japanese Acting

[kakomu]

Japanese acting sucks. There, I've said it! I can't stand it. The way they act in movies is wretched. They inflect everything way too much. No one ever seems to act according to reality. I've heard normal Japanese people speak, and not one actor in any of the movies sounds the least bit like any of the normal voiced people I've heard.

I'd have to say one of the more wretched examples would be the live action GTO show. My roommate has been playing many of those episodes recently (he seems to have taken a liking to watching each episode 3 times) and each person there is as bad an actor as the other.

[Ka-Talliya]

I have to agree with you!! I watched part of an episode and I couldn't watch any more. It was absolutely horrific!!

[Vicious]

Well, even when I watched a movie like 'So Close' that was originally recoded in Chinese??, I switched to the dubbed over English track and watched it that way. I will always take the Englsh track if at all available, so I wouldn't really know how horible he Japanese acting is. :p

[israfel]

the movie VS. isn't too bad, neither is battle royale. i think thier acting is bad to us because we compare it to the acting here which is way over budget and over glorified. I think the japanese realize that and thats why in a lot of anime the characters look westernized, but i could be wrong about that. it seems as though they are trying to follow a western mold. if you look at older japanese anime(100 to 200 years) it is very oriental in nature but that has changed over time. For a while big eyes was a big thing but that has been toned down as of late.

[kakomu]

Originally posted by israfel
the movie VS. isn't too bad, neither is battle royale. i think thier acting is bad to us because we compare it to the acting here which is way over budget and over glorified. I think the japanese realize that and thats why in a lot of anime the characters look westernized, but i could be wrong about that. it seems as though they are trying to follow a western mold. if you look at older japanese anime(100 to 200 years) it is very oriental in nature but that has changed over time. For a while big eyes was a big thing but that has been toned down as of late.

actually, the voice acting in current animes is anything but realistic. Older anime shows had much more realistic voice acting. VS and Battle Royale had the really annoying inflection and squeeky unrealistic voices as well. American movies typically have people acting normally (except for some of the more "dramatic" scenes or movies).

[DARK OSAMU]

Live action Sailor Moon....that is proof that there is a Hell.

All you do in Hell is watch live action Sailor Moon and play DDR!!!!:eek:

[ElVaquero]

Um, this thread is ignorant, stupid, and baseless.

Yes, there are some shows and movies with bad acting, but from the examples you all have given, they're just cash-in bits and rely more on the franchise than the quality. It's the same in America. If you think Tom Cruise or Uma Thurman can act their way out of a bag, you are wrong.

Try watching some actual japanese cinema. Go get a Miike, Takeshi, or Kurosawa film and actually watch it.

[kakomu]

sorry you feel that way, but considering my disgust just about every contempory live action Japanese film I've seen (and the growing distaste for over-enunciated Japanese Voice Acting) I think I have a right to an opinion without having it labeled "ignorant".

[evilomar]

Well let's put it this way, if I was from Japan and all the movies I saw were Brandon Frasier, The Rock, Kristin Dunst, and Keannu Reeve movies then I guess I could see your point as far as bad acting from other countries goes. However, I have seen some classic Japanese films and some do have great actors. You also have to remember that it is a different culture. To say all Japanese actors suck, well thats your own opinion, but its ridiculous to say American movies have people acting normal. Who the hell is YOU to say what normal is anyway? As far as proof of hell, well I think 9 seasons of Friends is already proof enough.

[kakoi_sugoi_yama]

I can agree with you a little bit about some of the more recent things, but to say that all Japanese acting sucks is definitely stretching it. Almost all of Kurosawa's films have quite believable characters and the acting is top notch. I've seen my share of the good and the bad, and like any country on the planet, the bad far outweighs the good.



It really seems that the more fantastic the story is (in a Japanese movie) the more unbelievable the acting becomes. They have a tendency to over act a scene, as if they were on the radio.

But, to think that American acting is any better is a very big mistake.

[DARK OSAMU]

Originally posted by evilomar
As far as proof of hell, well I think 9 seasons of Friends is already proof enough.

And all these "reality" shows too. EVERY show on WB and 99% of the shows on Fox and UPN are worthless. The acting in every show on UPN and WB are the worst ever on prime time tv. I don't want cable and don't have it anymore because of all the stupid crap on tv. The stuff I like I can buy on boxset now so there's no point for me to get cable again. Regular tv sux enough why should I pay for more crap? I've seen a handfull of live action Japanese shows and it's the same as over here. Good is outweighed by the bad.

Why oh why does Live action Sailor Moon exist?????

[tsunami]

Why does sailor moon live exist? I believe it is the same reason La Blue Girl live exists.:p

You need to take a look at the Akira Kurosawa films. His films have the best acting for live action samurai based action. Don't base your opinions on a few titles... that would a logical fallacy: Gross generalization.

[kkun]

just a thought, if u guys think the japanese voice acting is bad, wait until u checked out the english dub they did for love hina and many other R1 titles.

the bottom line is their voice acting are still miles ahead of what we have over here.

[kakomu]

Originally posted by kkun
just a thought, if u guys think the japanese voice acting is bad, wait until u checked out the english dub they did for love hina and many other R1 titles.

the bottom line is their voice acting are still miles ahead of what we have over here.

Miles ahead in over-acting, which can be rather annoying.

[Vicious]

Originally posted by kkun
just a thought, if u guys think the japanese voice acting is bad, wait until u checked out the english dub they did for love hina and many other R1 titles.

the bottom line is their voice acting are still miles ahead of what we have over here.

Why do all sub fans mention Love Hina. They always mention the worst one and leave out examples like Cowboy bebop which is by many considered to be better than the original Japanese dub. (YES, Wendee Lee outperformed the great Megumi Hayashibara. Get over it!!!!) Or something like You're Under Arrest where the Japanese director made his actors watch the English dubbed version because he thought it was that much better than the version they created.

And I have checked out English dubs. I enjoy the majority of the dubs. there is the occasional screw up, but most of them are very well done. And if you have to harp on Love Hina and Iniitial D, then you truly are misguided and it's pointless reasoning with you. Either that or you're of that ignorant school of thought that "well it was created in Japanese, so the Japanese version must be better".

also, sub fans always fail to mention the fact that the Japanese don't even try to match up the lip flaps alot of the time. the Engliush dubs try to convey the meaning across while trying to match up the lip flaps. Watch both versions and let me know which one matched up better. And then let me know which one you think was harder to create.