Jaal Ama Darav (Official Thread)

No need to apologize! It's exactly as you said. English is my second language, but I'm currently doing my Master degree in English and American Studies, same with my boyfriend, so we both consume mostly English media. I have yet to see a movie/game/etc where I would not perceive the English VA performance as superior. It's not for lack of effort, but there's simply not such a huge market for talented voice actors in Germany. I have never played the German voice over version of any Dragon Age game, but I watched a few YouTube videos of the German DA:O out of curiosity... and was infinitely glad I didn't choose to play this version. So many iconic lines are lost in translation (i.e. swooping is bad ). I first played the original Mass Effect in German though, and at least the female Shepard was nice to listen to. Her voice was not as recognizable as Hale's, but a bit softer, which I actually appreciated. Oh and Joker! I love Joker's German VA (but also the English one). However, the overall disparity in quality, issues with the translation of jokes/pronouns/etc. and the wish to experience the game exactly the way it was intended by the developers (and be able to talk about it on global forums) made me switch to English VO for all non-German games (which means basically all games, or, does anyone still know Sacred or Drakensang?)

Edit: I just remembered, I caught a German episode of Game of Thrones on TV last week, and was curious about the translation and VA work, so I watched it for a bit, and when they actually translated Jon Snow's name into Jon Schnee, I almost fell from my chair and didn't know whether to laugh or to cry...

Haha...yeah..though I think they actually showed some rare consistency with Got? They used a lot of Germanised names for the families and places in the show? Often enough they failed in doing that on/in other shows/books, etc...however I can't really give an example now to prove my point

So yeah, it's like you said, experiencing the way it was intended beats adaptions by miles.
Since I consume a lot in English, games and the like, my problem is now that I actually recognize some of the voices...the one thing that made me start playing games in English in the first place....because it felt like the German voice over industry only had about 10~ish voice actors available - across the whole media platforms, including advertisement.

However, now when I walk past Krem in DA:I and he goes "Inquisitor" I always end up saying "Not now, Shepard..." because of Jennifer Hales very distinct voice. I couldn't play as a female trooper in Star Wars The Old Republic for the same reason, but on the other side I really enjoyed playing as a female Hawke in DA2 because of Jo Wyatt who voiced the Imperial Agent in TOR and her voice (and the class) I simply loved to bits.
I'm not playing anymore but I think it will always stay with me as a fond memory because of it.

But because of this habit of mine I sometimes think I'm considered as a little bit of a snob when talking about tv shows that I watch

I should give more credit to the German versions but sometimes I can't really understand why they would change some voices so very much from the original one. One example for this is "Fringe" where the main protagonist is a tough FBI agent played by Anna Torv and she has a very deep sounding voice that actually punctuates the toughness of her character...makes her really believable in her role but she cand sound so much softer and really fragile as well...depending on the situation. And in the German version they used a voice that was a lot higher pitched which made her instantly seem more like a woman that needed protection and was like a little, soft flower...or - and I'm sorry, this will sound very inappropriate - like your typical 'blonde' (I have dark hair so I'm probably very biased)...and it annoyed the hell out of me because she now seemed to fit into this 'she's just too beautiful and feminine for her job but she will still kick your ass because she's sexy like that'-trope...and well...yeah...I would always just change the channel when Fringe was on telly...

Whew...that was a little bit of a rant...I think I'll need an imaginary cigarette now.

Ah, and yes I know Drakensang but never played it to the end. I can't really tell you why...I think the transition from chapter 1 to 2 just throws me off...it seems like so much work to go out and bother having a look at one the two 'merchant-kings', though I guess when I get down to it I will probably enjoy it. But I guess my main issue there is that though I like the DSA setting in P&P, I don't like it enough. I have this one dream that I will one day find the time to actually finish all the games I own...and give Drakensang another go. Maybe when I'm really old and on pension or something

Ah...I wanted to mention that before, but somehow the 'right' place for it eluded me:

There is one show I actually rather enjoy with German voice overs. Firefly. I guess the English version is still better but I fell in love with the show the first time I watched it and the German voices just got stuck in my head. And the jokes are really good as well even though I might be missing half of them. One could argue that I prefer it because I watched it in German first but I don't think that's the case 'cause I watched Star Trek in German as well...and yes, I don't mind/ I do like the German version, yet I still think that the English one is better.

Okay...that is so much text now that I feel almost bad that I don't have anything to contribute to the real topic here (Jaal) at all..almost