Why Shenmue’s Japanese Dub Is Hilarious

This video takes a look at a unique aspect of the Japanese dub of Shenmue.
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[@AshleysBallistics]

The mishmash of languages definitely has a unique flare to it 😁

[@toxicmanbaby1069]

I moved to Japan in 2007, I was already a big fan of Shenmue (in English), so I decided to pick up the JPN version to brush up on my Japanese. It actually did wonders at helping me improve very quickly. I was also really surprised and impressed by this cultural aspect of Yokosuka that was completely absent in the English version. As long as you play it in Japanese, if your Japanese is decent it's very difficult to go back to the English version. I don't think I'll ever do another English playthrough again, but in Japanese, I might.

[@aquapendulum]

Tom's Japanese has that "Seeyanara" and "Eatadakimasu" energy.

[@SlavKnightVlad]

5:57 "you got that BUSTER?!?"

[@hadiferlan3760]

Even now, most Japanese V.A. speak like Tom when they voicing their anime character that has foreign background. Example like voicing a British or Finnish anime girl. The Engrish and Japanglish accent is so bizarre to hear.

[@paperluigi6132]

Look at the US scene in Dragon Maid Season 2 where Kanna uses her magic to translate their speech to Japanese.

[@Retrofire-47]

Shenmue is legendary. i went into this game expecting a 10 min novelty cause of Dunkey's vids, i left feeling like i experienced an odyssey, and was deeply inspired by its game design

[@MagillanicaLouM]

Yeah as someone that played it first time only couple years ago, it was one of those cases where i could feel why it was so impactful for those that were there when it was new and why its so beloved the whole way through.

[@ivan4087]

played it in 2014 on sega emulator. one of the best games ever

[@Rickbane01]

Years ago I was Chinese.

[@FloofPuppy]

Now I am Vietnamese

[@oriongear2499]

Good for you.

[@chinesesparrows]

Glad you recovered

[@arcturionblade1077]

"That's rough, buddy."

[@EarthboundX]

That at least makes sense when I think about it more. Chinese is a nationality, not a race. So he immigrated to Japan and is Japanese now. Said awkwardly I suppose.

[@stevenwatson2927]

The Japanese dub of Shenmue is low key crazy compared to the western publication. Glad to see someone bringing up the topic.

[@Amon_Gus799]

I really like that they did this and it was a nice touch to help world building and the culture of the town

[@Cevanth]

Shenmue has that essence that video games don't have anymore. What a gem!

[@N1C0YA]

The original English voice actor for Tom is more nostalgic. It's definitely a trip to hear him speak Japanese lol

[@Tofujesaittous90]

Best immersive video game ever

[@deucemcallister13]

call me crazy, but this game still looks excellent. dripping with charm.

[@Aaronhouston33]

It’s the HD remake for ps4

[@largesmallworld]

In Persona 5 one of the Syujin students asks Ann 'you can speak English right?' & Ann replies 'basically yes'. The studen replies 'that's amazing'. This all sounds humorous when listening to the English voice track 😅

[@KingGrio]

What I actually want to know, is if they're all Japanese voice actors trying to imitate foreigners speaking poorly Japanese with an accent. I think this is what's going on and why the Japanese dub is so weird and funny.

[@urracojalpa4481]

7:05 He says: "Fiore pizza, fire" Fiore means flower in Italian. So, it's "Flower pizza, fire." It's a reference to Super Mario's flower powerup. 😄 P.S. Why do the subtitles say "Ai corumba" at 7:45? I don't know what it is, but it's not Italian.😅

[@Mephitinae]

It was Bart Simpson's catchphrase, quite famous at the time. Maybe someone at Sega thought it was Italian

[@SorcererLance]

​@@Mephitinaeit's more of a Spanish phrase, though considering how similar both languages are (both descended from Latin), I can understand the confusion... More surprising they didn't use the more stereotypical "mama mia" instead

[@gonickogogo]

@@SorcererLance It's also misspelled... in Spanish it should be "¡Ay, caramba!"

[@arcturionblade1077]

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's fiore!

[@pumpkinhill4570]

"Fiore pizza: the taste of fire amore" is actually the line.

[@astrea555]

love Shenmue! I don't care if tasteless people are clowning the game thinking it's just a meme forklift simulator, it's still a great game setting up the masterpiece that is Shenmue 2.

[@pumpkinhill4570]

"Ba-bo-su Pi-za!!" Bob's great, but I can't believe you left out the pool-playing sailors/base workers.

[@TheOneSymphony]

Dude in the purple sounds like Geese Howard lol

[@PhysicsGamer]

This is a really cool video! Coverage of locale-specific idiosyncrasies when they aren't tied to specific points in the English translation is pretty hard to find on KZbin.

[@BrianM_3rd]

5:26 Dawg you can practically HEAR him reading off the page lmao. 90s game dialogue was off the charts, you know they just grabbed any foreign dude who happened to be walking past that day lol

[@SorcererLance]

Oh wow, they had actual bilingual actors who do a decent job with their lines. That's a rarity to hear... It's a lot like hearing Spanglish with the mixing of words mid-sentence

[@silversoul2074]

Stuff like this is why I just prefer the original dub with subtitles. I think the mish-mash of languages is pretty fun

[@haydenbrewer787]

What I find funny about this is the fact that the actors for the dub are English speakers who are based in Japan.

[@JKSmith-qs2ii]

I played these two games last year for the first time before I strayed playing some of the yakuza games. They were excellent experiences, even now. Played in Japanese of course.

[@green929392]

weeb

[@Artzei]

Ah, i see that it's not just Sonic that does the Engrish thing on Japan dubs.

[@jpphilosopher]

This actually is hilarious😂! I got a chance to play it as a kid but now I want to play it.

[@Mohammed1000real]

Ryo's Japanese VA is still legendary!

[@Tall_Order]

I'm okay on this, because all my life I've heard people mix languages in real life and in movies. Take the Terminator, for example, with that famous phrase, "hasta la vista, baby". Being a Floridian, I've had Cubans say Hola to me, and then they speak English, because they can clearly tell I'm not one of them.

[@emmychansuper]

It's no wonder why I use the Japanese audio for the game

[@EatWave]

It is always going to be a challenge to accurately translate an intentional poor translation. The irate American sailors lose alot when their sloppily pronounced Japanese and contempt laden attempts at getting Ryo to understand the depths of their irritation with him is replaced with everyone speaking stilted English dialogue.

[@saxor96]

I really like this kinds of cultural details, even if they're impossible to translate. I wonder who's job is to make it similar but in a different language.

[@greatestytcommentator]

Did Ryo learn Chinese at school? I often wonder how he got in in China in the later games.

[@supermonk3y07]

If I could talk to Tom every day, my Japanese would get good

[@Aaronhouston33]

Because Tom is a foreigner it’s common in Japan for this they did his character perfect for the Japan

[@MagillanicaLouM]

Hi, Ryo! No way maaan

[@kooljokez]

damn i need to play this again

[@Thepapperman]

Where the f is shemmue 4 it's been like 7 years

[@Dragonfury3000]

I imagine it's a big project to wrap the story up if it exists.

[@Retrofire-47]

@@Dragonfury3000 i feel like game junta Suzuki is just burned out on the IP. but i don't think he'll ever admit it let's be real here the dude's been in Shenmue land for like multiple decades straight. I can't imagine he wants to revisit it again

[@Tofujesaittous90]

Y​u Suzuki said he wanted a prequel so maybe shenmue 0 on the way ? Who knows

[@specterRaven]

​@@Tofujesaittous90 Didn't shenmue 3 tank the IP with the reception it got?

[@Dragonfury3000]

@@specterRaven if that was the case the animation wouldn't exist

[@andrewwilson3365]

To be honest this actually sounds good to me. I still think the Japanese version is better than the English

[@ShenmueChannel]

Agree 100%. The English dub is completely ridiculous and inferior to the OG Japanese dub

[@HaitaniMasayuki]

150yen for a street food hot dog back then?! man, the economy is in shambles.

[@NeoStrayCat]

Yeah, but at least for $1.50 in the states, still to this day (unless otherwise) at a Costco (and I think slightly lower) at a Sam's Club get's you a hot dog and a medium sized drink.

[@pumpkinhill4570]

Takes place just after the Plaza Accords.

[@PeperonyChease]

​@NeoStrayCat those are deliberately underpriced to get people in the door I assume.

[@bananachild1936]

This is actually more realistic (which has always been the point of 'Shenmue' is it not?). I actually find myself more engaged and engrossed with the western characters and NPCs when they speak like this.

[@Agaettis]

誰にもSTOPできない！！

[@Totavier]

No matter what, Shenmue had an excellent dub in both versions (Japanese and English) since clearly it had tons of charm on it which sadly I don't see it so much nowdays. The last game that I played that had a hilarious mish-mash in language despite to be a little more serious was Sleeping Dogs.

[@trackerdark-heart3043]

The wrongest line . Kid : Hey mister ! Come play with me ! Ryo : Maybe Later...

[@kevchangu]

The accent is so funny to me! I love Shenmue! Sadly we probably won't ever see the ending of it. Wish I had Elon's money to fund it and finish it already lol

[@N1C0YA]

Landi sama!

[@igodreamer7096]

Hilarious? This Japanese dub is golden! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

[@theletterm1787]

"Very delicious, yo"

[@LuigiTheMetal64]

I am fine with Adan from Pokémon Emerald saying "You are winner" in the same way as him saying "ユー アー ウィナー" in the translated version.

[@oufukubinta]

Chinese people also have a thick accent even you speak with them especially in Shenmue 2

[@InflatableConan]

I don't care what people say, the English dub is like an old-school '70s/'80s kung fu flick and for that reason alone they totally nailed the vibe/aesthetic. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

[@NotOrdinaryInGames]

I never played it. Is the original dub, subtitled, on the remaster?

[@ShenmueChannel]

Yes. The remaster is the only way to experience the original Japanese dub with English subs. The PAL Dreamcast version of Shenmue II has Japanese voices and English subtitles, and the subtitles are mostly translated more accurately. The main thing is that Yuan who was originally a cross-dressing man's voice was redubbed by a Japanese woman, and any references to him being referred to as a man were changed for him to be referred to as a woman in the subtitles. The Japanese voice option in the remaster actually has Yuan as a man, and he is referred to as a man in the subtitles. Due to the first game only officially having Japanese voices with English subs in the remaster (fanmade mods have been made for the Dreamcast version to have this) and the Japanese dub for the second game is uncensored too, I highly recommend playing the remaster, unless you know Japanese, then the original Japanese Dreamcast versions would be the best options since there's other things that were changed in the localization that wasn't restored in the remaster.

[@the_prado]

Mario sounds more like an Italo-American rather than an actual Italian

[@jackthompson7125]

I thought it wasn't called a dub if it's the original voice work?

[@belstar1128]

these characters talk like Filipinos or people from Ghana.

[@Ghost_Of_SAS]

I've been meaning to replay the Shenmue games in japanese. Not 3 though. Never again 3.

[@ImmacHn]

Darn that's extremely funny.

[@sibel9272]

Hey it’s that game we’re Delin’s grunt was sampled in a Lisa song.

[@TheRetroGodfather.]

#LetsGetShenmue4

[@ShenmueChannel]

As long as they can make the game like Shenmue I & II, and not the complete shitfest that was III.

[@CalvinTheAliceSimp]

Do you know anything about The Mad Angels?

[@bluekewne]

Do you know where I can find some Chinese sailors around here?

[@kryzethx]

I love the Japanese version of Tom lmao

[@bobblueton]

I tried this game when my friend went to bed and was like wtf this is so confusing. Never played again:(

[@Retrofire-47]

You should try revisiting it. It's really quite intuitive, i was bewildered for like 1 hr. There is an enchanting, beautiful game once you make it past that. You basically use your journal in-game as a reference to move forward, it provides clues. Also, by just talking to any of the ppl in the 3 town areas you invariably make progress [record more notes in journal]

[@help_im_trapped_in_a_square]

Years ago... This video is getting yeeted off youtube

[@christineannclerino4008]

Wow long time no see there censored game of uploading the video due to your KZbin issues. Well the problem is the dubbing of old games in generation consoles from other regions of the official released since it happened for decades but in this modern days due to advance technology like AI they can input the translation through AI and minimize some voice actors in dubbing.

[@DrakoNotDraco]

No

[@BBHood217]

Sorry, nothing.

[@kamo7293]

that moment when you can stop being Chinese afeer some years have passed 😂😂😂

[@Just4Fun-Zocker]

I won't change my mind, Shenmue is just the prototype for the Yakuza franchise.

[@gc3k]

The JP audio for Shenmue 2 isn't nearly as interesting iirc

[@ShenmueChannel]

So not true. The English dub of II has some of the most ridiculous sounding voicds. You can't take them seriously at all! The Japanese dub feels more realistic and natural. The English dub also butchered Yuan by making him have a loud, obnoxious and annoying woman's voice and not nowhere near as cunning, sadistic, and cool as he was as a man originally.

[@belstar1128]

this is a good example why dubbing is bad

[@fireaza]

As a native English speaker living in Japan, the portrayal of non-Japanese speakers in this game is an outrage! While we do insert random English words, we use Japanese pronunciation for them! No one will have any clue what we're saying if we used the correct English pronunciation! You'd be shocked at the amount of times we're correct, that Japanese does indeed use an English loan word in this situation. I sometimes wonder why I bother learning Japanese if Japan is gonna use so many English words...

[@Peter_Hodge]

Lan di is funny in Japanese dub but English dub makes the character and world feel alive

[@ShenmueChannel]

What?? You're talking about the guy that murdered Ryo's father, Lan Di?? He sounded awesome in both the Japanese and English versions of Shenmue I and II. Most of the NPCs sound literally ridiculous in English compared to Japanese. In Japanese, they sound more realistic, natural and alive, while in English that sound weird, funny and not like real people. 😂

[@Peter_Hodge]

@ShenmueChannel yeah I know but tbe English dub feels more alive to me it might be because I'm British

[@dhanajon5528]

I'm frist

[@Vilonu]

sorting comments by newest and scrolling to the bottom proves otherwise