Well, it’s been a long time hasn’t it? I have been busy as of late but never too busy to tell you guys about how fun it is to watch Gintama on our local TV!
I think I’ve been dreaming for years to hear Gintama in our language Tagalog. We have the same strong accents and when we start talking dirty we really talk dirty. So to finally see Gintama on a local TV station, ABS-CBN was like a dream come true. Well… sort of. Like with everything, it takes a while to get used to things.
Sure, the voice is not entirely perfect. Fans of the series are so used to how perfect Sugita Tomokazu’s voice that it’s possibly difficult to hear how his voice is not as low or as lazy or lethargic. I’ve seen the first few episodes of the series and sure, it was a love hate relationship with Gintoki. Gintoki’s local voice actor seems to hit or miss Gintoki’s punchlines but by the third episode his voice sounded just fine. Well, at least, he can carry the lethargy just fine and can already curse under his breath with such strength and brashness. It’s hilarious really how he says “unggoy” (monkey)Â and “baliw” (crazy) the same way that Gintoki would curse someone with “baka” or “teme” It ain’t Sugita, but it does its wonders. I’m just hoping that this keeps up along the way.
On the other hand, I feel that the star of the show’s Shinpachi. Shinpachi’s local VA really got his flailing to a perfection that I could not ask for anyone better to do it. Kagura sounds perky but not as perky as her original. And strangely, the goons carry off their roles quite as well. As I was saying to friends, “Man, these goons are better actors than Gintoki.”
If there’s a peeve that I have with the local Gintama it’s probably the local translation. I feel the translation’s rather half-baked and not done well in order to carry the wit of the puns which could be translated locally. I couldn’t understand how a comic like Jump was suddenly turned into a book while they kept titles like Fukuchou and nori when it was easy to translate it into vice captain or they could have translated nori into something else that people put into their rice here like “toyo” (soy sauce) or “tuyo” (dried sardines). Again, it’s that whole debate of bringing it down to a local cultural understanding to that of something that the vehement fans would appreciate. Sure, Gintama is one hard series to translate but people are not laughing because of its puns. People love the gag series because it’s funny. And if the funny doesn’t translate well… Now, that’s bloody difficult.
I must say that since trying to roleplay Gintoki in games, I understand how it’s hard to actually keep the funny going. I believe it was Matt Thorn who said that in the end, a translator shouldn’t just translate but he should also understand the literary constructs involved in the translation. I understand this a lot more now that I actually try to translate once in a while by roleplaying some of my favorite characters but at the same time, I wish other translators manage to capture the soul of what they’re translating as well.
For those living in the Philippines, you can catch Gintama on ABS-CBN everyday at 9:15 a.m.
