Songs at Work – The Case of “Hataraku Saibō”’S English Dub

Abstract

A case study of a Japanese anime opening, the following article analyses the choices made by the translator of the English dub. In order to assess the quality of the target product, three main frameworks are employed, namely the pentathlon of criteria by Low pertaining to songs, the synchronisation types defined by Chaume in regards to dubbing, as well as the general translation techniques suggested by Vinay and Darbelnet. By identifying specific translation difficulties and the solutions employed in this case study, a better understanding of the Japanese-English audiovisual translation field may be gained, aiding potential translators.

Keywords

• anime translation
• audiovisual translation
• japanese-english dub
• lyrics translation
• song dubbing
• translation difficulties