Headmasters discussion

[Gomess]

Er, more like five years ago. Anyway, they're still officially lincensed product, so I doubt it's as simple as the higher-ups not caring about the outer ephemera of their product just because it's not at the top of it's game. That's a very narrow view of Evil Corporations. More likely someone at Hasbro US- a fan as well as an employee- took a liking to the IDW continuity and just used their position to influence the subtitles to their liking, and naturally this individual had little to no influence over a Hasbro UK product.

I'm sure we'll never know, but there we go. Long as I don't have to watch the darn things. At least the Omni dub was funny!

[Dominic]

What is the problem with Hasbro editing a 20+ year old cartoon to make it more consistent with the property as it is now?

I am not going to say that "tapes = Minicons" is really that good. But, it hardly ruins the cartoon.

And, Sixshot's original title could use some polish.


Dom
-kinda likes "tapes = deployers" actually.

[Gomess]

What is the problem with Hasbro editing a 20+ year old cartoon to make it more consistent with the property as it is now?

Because no one actually gives a crap if it is. People buying a subtitled TF show from 80s Japan shouldn't expect it to be consistent with the IDW comics. It's aimed at a niche audience; even moreso than any other TF cartoon. But it is likely they'll want to know what the characters are actually saying, and that's what's been obscured here.

And you're giving Hasbro too much credit. Where's the consistency anywhere else in TF? It's just one fanployee throwing their weight around, that's all.

[Dominic]

Over the last few years, Hasbro has been making an effort, (albeit halting), to make the property over-all more consistent. If nothing else, the probably do not want a Balkanized fandom.

And, even if it is a fanployee, these are minor edits to something that has never been legitimately released to western audiences before. There are far worse incidents of fanployees abusing their position to swing the property one way or another. (The Fan Club is a good example here.)


Dom
-would be happy to see Unicron tossed, but ain't planning on it.

[andersonh1]

What is the problem with Hasbro editing a 20+ year old cartoon to make it more consistent with the property as it is now?

Because no one actually gives a crap if it is. People buying a subtitled TF show from 80s Japan shouldn't expect it to be consistent with the IDW comics. It's aimed at a niche audience; even moreso than any other TF cartoon. But it is likely they'll want to know what the characters are actually saying, and that's what's been obscured here.

I like the current approach, though the only real (possible) consistency with IDW is Sixshot as a "phase six" robot. Other than that, it's pretty much Transformers in general. So it's the right approach for me. I doubt the translations are so far from the original language that the plot and dialogue aren't being conveyed properly.

I do get your point of view. You prefer fidelity to the original. It's probably the same attitude I have when watching "The Lord of the Rings" and have to grit my teeth when the movies depart from the books for no good reason. But I"m enjoying Headmasters as it's been presented by Hasbro and Shout Factory, and that's not something that's been true before. Despite the series being around for 25 years now, I've never felt motivated to watch it in any form until it was available on DVD. That was novel enough for me to pick up the set and watch it.

And as I've mentioned once or twice, my older daughter keeps asking to watch the show. A 25 year old Japanese language cartoon with subtitles is appealing to a seven year old. Someone somewhere did something right!

[Shockwave]

Having seen the whole thing, I can tell you that the instances of them changing terminology like that is minimal and can be counted on one hand. The only problem I've seen with translating so far comes from the difference of translating word for word rather than translating for intent which has been a problem since day one. Good example was a Japanese Tech Spec for Bumblebee which, when literally translated word for word says that he is "the most clear thinking of all the Autobots" when what they really mean to convey is that he has the highest memory capacity.

[andersonh1]

Having seen the whole thing, I can tell you that the instances of them changing terminology like that is minimal and can be counted on one hand. The only problem I've seen with translating so far comes from the difference of translating word for word rather than translating for intent which has been a problem since day one. Good example was a Japanese Tech Spec for Bumblebee which, when literally translated word for word says that he is "the most clear thinking of all the Autobots" when what they really mean to convey is that he has the highest memory capacity.

That sounds good to me.

[andersonh1]

Interesting note on the tfwiki about the DVD release:

http://tfwiki.net/wiki/Shout!_Factory

Four-disc set comprising the first North American release of the Japanese The Headmasters cartoon. All thirty-five episodes are included in the same slightly edited format previously evidenced on Metrodome and Madman Entertainment's earlier releases of the series; unlike those two companies' versions, the Omni Productions dub is absent, its inclusion vetoed by Hasbro, who Brian Ward has noted appeared resistant to the idea of releasing the series at all. Hasbro did, however, oversee the new English subtitles produced for the set—and it shows, with some very anachronistic Transformers-specific terminology being substituted in where appropriate, such as Sixshot being referred to as a "phase six officer" instead of a "ninja staff officer", or the Autobot and Decepticon Mini-Cassettes being called "Deployers"

So Hasbro is probably responsible for the names and terms associated with Transformers in North America. But I wonder why they didn't want to release the series at all? I"d be interested in knowing that.

[Gomess]

I can imagine someone saying "because there's no profit in it", but honestly, I think a company like Hasbro could manage to recupe the losses from printing DVDs of a never-before-seen TF cartoon.

[Onslaught Six]

Here's the problem I have with it--although it doesn't bother me 'too' much as the differences are at least noted out there--and I assume that G has with it as well. It's 'revisionist history.'

You wouldn't edit old movies to take out cigarettes because they're now considered taboo. You wouldn't take the shotguns out of ET and replace them with walkie talkies. You wouldn't change Boba Fett's voice actor to Jango's. Because then you're 'altering the original intent.' You're, in effect, replacing the original thing and substituting it for a revised version that's more to your liking.

And, to me, that'd be fine if this were a dubbed show. That's the job of a dub. But when you're watching with subtitles, it's because you want the most accurate experience possible without actually going out and learning Japanese. (Of course, there are ways to screw this up too.)