What is Anime?

The term anime derives from the Japanese word animēshon which means animation. Much like people in the United States call animation “cartoons,” in Japan the term anime covers all forms of animation. Anime has many genres ranging from fantasy, sci-fi, horror, thriller, and many more. One unique subgenre genre of anime is Isekai, which translates to “otherworld,” in which the main character or characters are transported to another world whether by being summoned into that different world, dying and reincarnating into that new world, a magical portal opening up, being kidnapped by people or creatures that can travel between worlds or any other way the author can think to transport them to that new world. One example of Isekai is the anime “That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime”:

When used outside of Japan, the term anime is seen as Japanese-produced animation that comes from Japan only and animations from different nations are not seen as anime. However, back in 2013, an American studio based in Austin, Texas began a web series called RWBY and in little time it was considered anime. The creator of RWBY, the late Monty Oum, said, “Some believe just like Scotch needs to be made in Scotland, an American company can't make anime. I think that's a narrow way of seeing it. Anime is an art form, and to say only one country can make this art is wrong.” (Rush).

Popular Anime

The anime community sometimes defines the popularity of an anime by the sales number of the show and manga. However, now many in the community use the website MyAnimeList to rate anime and curate the list of the best anime by user ratings.

In the early 2000s, in Shonen Jump, a magazine that publishes various manga, three series were so popular that they earned the name the “Big Three”: Bleach, which ended in the early 2010s but has come back a decade later to finish the animation of its manga, Naruto to Naruto Shippuden, which ended in the late 2010s, and One Piece, which started at the end of 1999 and is still currently running. What made them the Big Three was due to their manga sales. According to Emedo Ashibeze Destiny, a journalist at Gamerant.com, “The One Piece franchise has sold over 500 million copies and is still ongoing, while the Naruto franchise has sold over 250 million copies. On the other hand, Bleach, despite being on several hiatuses, managed to secure sales of 120 million copies. These figures are not what any franchise can pull off anytime soon.” (Destiny).

Common Translation Issues

During our interview with Mr. Kenneth Williams, we asked what are the common issues that occur when it comes to the subtitling and dubbing of anime. Mr. Williams explained that when subtitling episodes of anime, they sometimes get materials late resulting in it bringing some challenges in getting the show ready in time for airing for their audience. This issue affects Crunchyroll as they try to get episodes subtitled and released to their territories so that their users can watch the episodes within an hour after the show airs in Japan. He explained that the current best way to combat piracy of their episodes was to air the episode as close to when it aired in Japan to encourage consumers who want to watch right away to subscribe to Crunchyroll’s services. Williams also explained that for the English dub of a show, they are trying to shorten the dub time but that getting the dubs done in time is a challenge even with that challenge for some shows they are now able to shorten it to weeks after the subtitled episodes have aired.

Before when dubs were being produced for anime consumers it used to be a much longer process and with the growth of studios like Crunchyroll and Funimation that time from sub to dub has been drastically lowered. According to Funimation, “In the beginning, English-dubbed anime would take close to 12-months to complete. Now, we have an integrated studio running 18 hours a day throughout the year working to create the best English dubs in the world.” (Anime simulcast schedule - Spring, Summer, fall, Winter).

What are Subbing and Dubbing?

Subbing is derived from the word “subtitle”. Subbed anime is when the voiceover remains in Japanese, but the anime has been given subtitles in the consumer’s native language. Currently, the most common way anime is watched internationally is through subbing. It is much easier to translate and overlay text for what the characters are saying rather than creating a new voice-over to replace the original voices. One of the benefits of subbed anime is that the translation is much more accurate than dubbed anime as they don't have to change words to fit the lip-sync of the character’s mouth movements. An example of the script being changed from sub to dub can be found in this fight scene from the anime My Hero Academia – the subtitled version on the left, and the dubbed version on the right:

Subtitled Version

In the anime community dubs are where the voice recording for characters are replaced by different voice recordings in different languages to fit the consumer's preference. One of the methods of dubbing used is Automated dialogue replacement (ADR). ADR is the replacement of vocal audio either by the same voice actor or a replacement actor. Crunchyroll provides this alternative for subtitles so that consumers can watch anime in the language they prefer. Japanese voice actors however are seen as the original voice for these characters and projects as their voices are part of the creation of the original work where the dub changes the original work, so if a company like Crunchyroll wants to create derivative work by subtitling or dubbing over the episodes, they need licenses from the licensors.

Different Dubs, Same Show

Some animes throughout the years have had to go through multiple dubs. One example is the anime One Piece. In the early 2000s one piece was dubbed by a studio called 4kids. Eventually, 4Kids ended up going bankrupt and the license to dub One Piece was acquired by Funimation who proceeded to dub the show. This is an example where two versions of the dub existed at the same time though the ability to watch the 4Kids dub is much harder now. Another example that is currently being done is Vinland Saga’s second season as that anime is being dubbed by both Crunchyroll and Netflix at the same time. According to Mr. Williams, this happened because “It was licensed non-exclusively and each company had the right to dub it and we didn't coordinate.”

Translation Licenses

The anime licenses obtained by Crunchyroll often will specify whether Crunchyroll can add subtitles, create dub versions, in what languages those subtitled and dubbed versions can be, and in what territories Crunchyroll can show those versions. We asked Mr. Williams if Crunchyroll ends up retaining the translation IP of the show. He indicated that, “most of the time the ownership will end up with the licensor.” An additional limiting factor for Crunchyroll is the territories provided to them by the licensors. Only in the assigned domains is Crunchyroll allowed to provide subtitled and dubbed animes resulting in territory exclusive.

References

Kriman, Alfred M. SBF Glossary: AD to Adzy, http://www.plexoft.com/SBF/A03.html#AccidDR.

Rush, Amanda. “Feature: Inside Rooster Teeth's ‘RWBY.’” Crunchyroll, Crunchyroll, 12 July 2013, https://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-news/2013/07/12/feature-inside-rooster-teeths-rwby.

“Deep Dive: Why Shonen Jump’s Dark Trio Is Anime's New Big 3.” DEEP DIVE: Why Shonen Jump’s Dark Trio Is Anime's New Big 3 , 28 Apr. 2023, https://www.crunchyroll.com/ar/anime-feature/2023/04/28/deep-dive-why-shonen-jumps-dark-trio-is-animes-new-big-3.

“Anime.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anime.

Destiny, Emedo Ashibeze. “Why the Big Three of Shonen Anime Won't Be Dethroned Anytime Soon.” Game Rant, 2 July 2022, https://gamerant.com/shonen-big-three-wont-be-replaced/#:~:text=One%20of%20the%20core%20reasons,sold%20over%20250%20million%20copies.

“Dubbing.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 5 May 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dubbing#cite_note-3.

Lefler, Racheal. "Big 3" Shounen: Does It Still Mean Anything? - Reelrundown. 5 Apr. 2023, https://reelrundown.com/animation/Big-Three-Shounen-The-Phrase-That-Has-Lost-Its-Meaning.

“Anime Simulcast Schedule - Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter.” Funimation, https://www.funimation.com/simulcast/#:~:text=A%20New%20Voice%20for%20Classic%20Characters&text=In%20the%20beginning%2C%20English%2Ddubbed,English%20dubs%20in%20the%20world.

https://myanimelist.net/topanime.php

17th Province. (2019, February 23). He got stabbed and had been reincarnated as a slime -( anime moments) [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/RKZzFWHwanQ.

The Art Of Animation. (2018, July 5). All Might vs Noumu Full Fight (60fps). [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/5YmJj0onPkI

ToonamiOPED2. (2016, July 26). My Hero Academia English Dub - All-Might vs. Noumu (Plus Ultra!). [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/8TFAGAyLzcg