Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-37117761-20190430170317/@comment-5469588-20190511215616

I don't know if this relates to anything around here, but I thought it'd be worth mentioning another foreign adaption of another Japanese show that (I'm sure) is doing a lot better than GF is currently.

Idol x Warrior Miracle Tunes is a Japanese live action show that aired 2017-2018, and the original version has been dubbed for South Korea and China (And I think Thailand too?). In 2018 a European version was produced in Italy, with that version currently airing in Italy and Spain. Future airings will be in Portugal, Russia, France and the UK.

Also fun fact: the Italian version was actually filmed in English, THEN dubbed into Italian.

Despite remaking the show, it seems the European version (granted I have not seen it yet, so anybody who has should speak up) keeps the original title and the plot, even fi they rename a few minor things (Lord Maou being Lord Demon for ex.) The show is also set outside of Japan, yet the transformation phases are the same and I think the attacks, too. Also the Sound Jewels are kept intact, the only change being the Enka Jewel (replaced with Flamenco?)

How does this relate to GF? Even though Miracle Tunes was also heavily localized, there are some important things to note between these shows:


 * Miracle Tunes was remade in Europe, which I can understand more because otherwise they may have had to dub the original Japanese version, which (to me) would have been cringy for Western dubbers. So remaking the show is understandable, but even then they keep the same episode count and the TITLE OF THE SHOW, even though some believe for some reason that Euro's version came before Japan.


 * GF is an animated show that while localized, would have bee a lot harder to localize because there would have been a lot of things they wouldn't have been able to remove; text is one thing, but what about the Japanese architecture? And Miracle Tunes is actually bothering to create 51 episodes (like the original) whereas GF would reduced episodes, which the Smile dub skipping episodes because 'they're too Japanese'.


 * Miracle Tunes has a toy line, and the characters even make live appearances. The products also seem to be quite popular on YouTube among Italian fans, too. GF had no products, and the only toys available were for Pretty Cure, confusing some people who would ask why these toys didn't have any English modes. And how much attention did these dubs get outside of Netflix? Did Saban ever promote them at an anime convention?

Any who, I just thought of sharing these things. Personally I can see why a live action show has to be localized (I'm somebody who does not like watching dubbed live action content) but an animated show, to me at least, should try to stay true to the original setting.