Shout Factory's random name changes

Discussion in 'Transformers General Discussion' started by Brodimus Prime, Jan 6, 2012.

  1. Brodimus Prime

    Brodimus Prime Matrix Templar

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    So Shout Factory decides to change Fortress to Cerebros in their Headmasters DVD. Ok, I can live with that. But the changes didn't stop there.

    In Masterforce it seems Shout Factory just put names in a hat and randomly decided who would keep their Japanese names and who would be changed (even though, mind you, the western counterparts are very different from the Masterforce versions). For those curious:

    *All the Pretenders' names are translated to their western versions.
    *The Autobot Headmaster Juniors retain their Japanese names, but the Decepticon Headmaster Juniors are inexplicably given their western names.
    *Grand Maximus is called by the right name, but Grand is oddly called Maximus (that's the name of the ship, not the Autobot).
    *The Decepticon Godmasters retain their Japanese names, as do Ginrai and Ranger, but Lightfoot and Road King are both randomly called Getaway and Slapdash.
    *All of the Seacons are called by their western names.


    But wait, there's more! So far in Victory:

    *Blacker is called Gripper, while the other Brainmasters keep their Japanese names.
    *The members of the Autobot Rescue Team are given their western names (Holi=Stakeout).
    *The Breastforce is now called the Chestforce. Yeah, you read that right.
    *Deszaras is given his (now official) western name of Deathsaurus.




    If you're like me, this is a big pet peeve. I can forgive the lack of special features because we're finally getting the Japanese trilogy on DVD in North America. But there seems to be a real lack of knowledge of the characters on the part of Shout Factory's sub team. Either that or they decided it'd be fun to randomly assign some western names but keep other Japanese ones.

    Also, each DVD set has the Headmasters logo at the bottom. Yep, even Masterforce and Victory. I have to say, after the bang up job done by Metrodome, I expected better out of Shout Factory. Anyway, if you were wondering whose names got changed, now ya know...
     
  2. dj_convoy II

    dj_convoy II Remix!

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    I think this might be better classified as HASBRO'S random name changes. :) 
     
  3. SouthtownKid

    SouthtownKid Headmaster

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    That is odd. Maybe they somehow couldn't figure out what it said and assumed it was the Transformers logo? Either way, that is kind of incompetent.
     
  4. Sol Fury

    Sol Fury The British Butcher Veteran

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    Some of that stuff does make sense, other stuff, not so much. My personal preference is to make the names the same as in the dialogue as it's the kind of thing only a fan would really buy, but some changes I guess are inevitable. Still, the random mix-matching is... well, random. Especially Chestforce, Gripper, and calling half of the Godmasters by the US names (in the process mucking up the pun on Lightfoot and his relative Leftfoot)
     
  5. Brodimus Prime

    Brodimus Prime Matrix Templar

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    You'd figure that some of the names may be Hasbro's doing. But the use of the Headmasters logo is just plain lazy (like the Omni Productions dub that used the Victory opening for all three series). My guess is that they just used Metrodome's subs, fixed the cursing, and randomly assigned Hasbro names. But Chestforce?! Really?!

    Also, if you read the back of the sets for Masterforce and Victory, it's clear Shout Factory had no idea what those shows were about.
     
  6. Dr Kain

    Dr Kain Well-Known Member

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    This is one time I applaud name changes. Have you ever tried watching Street Fighter anime series subbed? They never gave the characters their American names, so every time I read Balrog, I'm trying to figure out what he has to do with the scene until I realized Balrog was Vega's Japanese name. M Bison being the boxer's name in Japan is annoying as hell too.
     
  7. Brodimus Prime

    Brodimus Prime Matrix Templar

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    True, but when there is a BIG difference between Squeezeplay (western Decepticon Headmaster) and Cancer (Japanese Headmaster Junior). Also, I'd just like it if they picked names and stuck with them. So if you wanna call everyone by their western name do it, but don't randomly assign them haphazardly. Otherwise, just stick with the names in the dialog.
     
  8. AirjitzuRonin

    AirjitzuRonin Member of the Bee Team

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    Why didn't they translate the Trainbots names?
     
  9. Smitty.1981

    Smitty.1981 Well-Known Member

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    Sounds like the names were changed for marketing reasons. Blood, Cancer, and King Posiden may not go out over so well for some patents.
     
  10. Bass X0

    Bass X0 Captain Commando

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    Breastforce should have been called Beast Force outside of Japan, IMO.
     
  11. Fenrys

    Fenrys Formerly Tigatron2002

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    On my victory set in some episodes blacker is blacker and in others he is gripper. Weird thing I noticed on my first run through
     
  12. Smitty.1981

    Smitty.1981 Well-Known Member

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    Just like Armada Leader-1.
     
  13. WheelWave140

    WheelWave140 Hate's not cool, dudes!

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    Honestly, the name changes are pretty understandable from a certain point of view. American Chromedome and Japanese Chromedome are completely different characters, but they have the same toy and the same name. There's no difference between Blood and Bomb-Burst, but they have different names, so bringing them in line with the previous series' format and also making it easier for American fans seems logical.
     
  14. grimlock1972

    grimlock1972 Optimus, serving up the primest of ribs since 1984

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    I suspect the name changes have more to do with Hasbro than Shout. I always have figured Hasbro gave them a list of names to use for the Japanese characters that had names that either did not translate well into english or would have potentially caused some people to get offended.
     
  15. AkibaSilver

    AkibaSilver Time Traveller

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    According to Shout, Hasbro gave them the names to use as they were overseeing the subtitling process.
     
  16. Lovecraft

    Lovecraft Banned

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    So what we're all agreeing on here, is that Hasbro and/or Shout! believes that naming a villain "Cancer" might be alarming to parents (on its own understandable) but naming that same villain "Squeezeplay" couldnt possibly be misconstrued by even the millionest mom?

    Nice call Hasbro.
     
  17. SouthtownKid

    SouthtownKid Headmaster

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    As pointed out earlier, Squeezeplay is a baseball term. a COMMON baseball term. No one in the US is going to have a problem with Squeezeplay.
     
  18. D-Unit

    D-Unit #1 Heel

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    You think that's bad? I have the Omni Productions DVD of the Japanese series, the name changes on that are notoriously bad (humorous)
     
  19. Smitty.1981

    Smitty.1981 Well-Known Member

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    Do you mean the one with Billy, and Wally?
     
  20. G1Prowl

    G1Prowl Prick, apparently

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    Having read the original subtitles to Headmasters episodes and then seeing the Shout versions, I'd say it suffers more from a fanboy translating than it does name swaps. Seriously, there are some rather severe references to things that didn't exist until later series in the Shout translations, and I think it loses a little because of it.