I Always Preferred Japanese Voice with English Subtitles - Same for 3!

M

mattazoso

Joined
Nov 19, 2019
Such a smoother and better performance!!! Same in 1 and 2! It makes sense being Yu's native language.

I AM SO HAPPY YOU GUYS!! :,D Hope you're enjoying it as well :)

Highly recommend changing the voice performance to Japanese at the opening screen main menu if you feel like it!! :)

My metacritic review:

It's perfect! There is a special charm of Shenmue / Dreamcast sensibility that cannot be faked!! The game exhibits an artfulness and an appreciation for subtly, atmosphere, technique and the small things in life that can feel lacking in modern gaming. What a breath of fresh air :)

The chunkiness around the edges is not enough to outweigh its triumphs. Also switching to Japanese Voice with English Subtitles is a far smoother and more authentic feeling experience with better voice performances being in Yu Suzuki's native language. Same goes for 1 and 2, worth a replay this way if you never have!!

I went straight from beating Shemue 1 and 2 into 3 and it is SEAMLESS.

Better that Yu Suzuki stick to his roots and build up methodically into next-gen, matches the Shenmue sensibility. For me I like running around the spaces, which are beautiful, doing a bit of this and that, talking to random people, new Lucky Hit is AMAZING!! I always enjoyed looking forward to unlocking the next space, new arcades and the next set of kung fu development. How much can I level up to defeat the mini-boss you're not supposed to be able to beat yet?? Was able to accomplish this just like in the originals at level 20!! :D

I'm doing horse stance with Ryo and my thighs are burning up! Lol

Now I'm dreaming if Yu Sazuki could take all of the feedback and experience from Shenmue 3 and blend it into Shenmue 4 with a proper budget!! O_O Now that Yu is caught up to speed and has captured these wonderful vibes as is, where he could go from here would be a league all its own!!
 
I certainly can't imagine playing it in English myself, despite playing 1 in English at the time I don't really have any love for any of the performances, well maybe Tom... Its just plain bad, and depreciates with time (2 was somehow worse). Now sure I can imagine its better in 3 compared to 1 and 2, but I just vastly prefer it in Japanese, voices at least don't grate on me like they would in English, especially the kids. Plus, I just vastly prefer Ryo's Japanese voice.
 
I'm with you. Japanese dub all the way.

I'm sure I'll check out the English Dub on second play through out of curiosity...but yeah, I've been Japanese dub all the way ever since I played my PAL Copy of SII on the Dreamcast way back when. It was hard to go back to English after hearing the Japanese dub.

Still is. I kind of wish they didn't even bother with the dub....maybe they should have just went the Yakuza 2 route and completely not bother with the dub. But then again, some people really like the English dub so who am I to judge?
 
I would like to play the game on Chinese dub if there was would make the game more authentic.
As well would not be weird since Ryo could had learn to as least speak Chinese from father?
His father seemed to be very skilled in Chinese languages and writing.
I do prefer Japanese voices even through some English voices were good like Nozomi and Gui Zhang.
In Shenmue II Shenhua was ok, Xiu Ying and Joy were great as well suited the character.
 
danielmann861 said:
I'm with you. Japanese dub all the way.

I'm sure I'll check out the English Dub on second play through out of curiosity...but yeah, I've been Japanese dub all the way ever since I played my PAL Copy of SII on the Dreamcast way back when. It was hard to go back to English after hearing the Japanese dub.

Still is. I kind of wish they didn't even bother with the dub....maybe they should have just went the Yakuza 2 route and completely not bother with the dub. But then again, some people really like the English dub so who am I to judge?
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Was 100% the same for me with Shenmue 2 on Dreamcast, I wasn't into Japanese dubs until that point, i was about 15/16 at the time. Once I completed Shenmue 2 I remember re-watching Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with the Japanese dub and loving that film even more. I did start Shenmue 3 in English but Coreys voice changes between sentences like they were recorded weeks apart then just put together, so quickly went back to the Japanese voices.
 
While the English dub is choppy and sometimes downright awkward, I still prefer it over having to read the entire game
 
I don't feel like it because my first experience of shenmue 2 was drastically biaised by its japanese dub and not in a good way at all, it's when I was able to play it with english that I found it great.

Wathever how good it might be from a standard point of view, I find the tone of most japanese dub too exagerate to take it serioulsy be it in games or mangas, also not understanding from listening and the need to read everything don't make me care as much as when I can.
 
My only issue with the Japanese dub isn’t even the dub, it’s reading the subtitles that are actually not a translation but a caption of the English dub. I know it isn’t realistic to expect a different sub track but it’s still kinda annoying when the Japanese VO and the subtitle are very different.
 
Elfshadowreaper said:
My only issue with the Japanese dub isn’t even the dub, it’s reading the subtitles that are actually not a translation but a caption of the English dub. I know it isn’t realistic to expect a different sub track but it’s still kinda annoying when the Japanese VO and the subtitle are very different.
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That I definitely noticed, some of the differences in translation got a chuckle out of me (likewise with how Shenmue 1 especially was translated). Some of the responses to the dialogue (in the English translation/dialogue) seem pretty exaggerated and weird though, where a simple "I see/I understand" to a point is translated into WOW! in English - aside from being out of character for Ryo to comment in such a way, it just made no sense in context to the sentence.
I can let it slide though, I didn't expect them to do a Sega and do two translations of the dialogue in that one, not with the budget they were working with.
 
Japanese dub is the only way to play. If you play with the English dub know you're giving yourself an inferior experience, full stop. My only complaint is that the translation takes liberties and we don't get proper subtitles, but that's all the more reason to NOT play the English dub knowing how many liberties it takes with the characters. Sure, if you don't speak any Japanese then you might not pick up on it, but you're still getting a false version of Ryo.

I really noticed this recently when playing through the Undub of Shenmue I on my modded Dreamcast and frankly it was shocking how much it changed the story and characters.

I mean if your excuse is you "don't want to read the game" then I guess enjoy the inferior version. Reading is good for the mind, experiencing other cultures is good for the mind. Try expanding your perspective some time.
 
shadowman16 said:
That I definitely noticed, some of the differences in translation got a chuckle out of me (likewise with how Shenmue 1 especially was translated). Some of the responses to the dialogue (in the English translation/dialogue) seem pretty exaggerated and weird though, where a simple "I see/I understand" to a point is translated into WOW! in English - aside from being out of character for Ryo to comment in such a way, it just made no sense in context to the sentence.
I can let it slide though, I didn't expect them to do a Sega and do two translations of the dialogue in that one, not with the budget they were working with.
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Yes! That’s exactly what I’m talking about. I’m not fluent in Japanese or anything but I know certain phrases and what they mean and what they don’t mean unless you’re exaggerating what was said. And no, it’s not a big deal. I’m just a purist no matter what we’re talking about, games, anime, books. I want to know the original meaning not so much a localized version. Petty, I know.
 
Elfshadowreaper said:
Yes! That’s exactly what I’m talking about. I’m not fluent in Japanese or anything but I know certain phrases and what they mean and what they don’t mean unless you’re exaggerating what was said. And no, it’s not a big deal. I’m just a purist no matter what we’re talking about, games, anime, books. I want to know the original meaning not so much a localized version. Petty, I know.
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Yeah, I'd rather get a more literal translation as well. I know some might disagree as it could come across as dryer in tone, but its just what I like - I feel Yakuza 0 and Kiwami had a similar issue with Kiwami feeling like a more literal translation than 0, which was weird to me as certain (translated) lines in 0 sounded like it'd stepped out of a 2010 message board, not 80s Japan. So yeah, in both series cases I really prefer a more accurate translation based on the voiced dialogue. But at the same time its not as if its hurting my enjoyment any, just chuckling at certain blatantly different lines of dialogue.
 
Ren said:
I would like to play the game on Chinese dub if there was would make the game more authentic.
As well would not be weird since Ryo could had learn to as least speak Chinese from father?
His father seemed to be very skilled in Chinese languages and writing.
I do prefer Japanese voices even through some English voices were good like Nozomi and Gui Zhang.
In Shenmue II Shenhua was ok, Xiu Ying and Joy were great as well suited the character.
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IMHO, the best english voice is Fukuhara.
Someone said the other day that Corey Marshall sounds in S3 like if a baby was sleeping nearby and he needs to talk softly. That's 100% english-Nozomi. I can't stand her overly affected voice. The character is just not great but at least in Japanese she sounds like a normal person.
 
I couldn’t imagine playing this with English voices. They’re bad. I don’t know if the Japanese ones are actually better, or if simply not being able to understand the tone of the language means I’m oblivious to it, but if nothing else, it’s more authentic.

Playing this in English would be setting yourself up for disappointment. I almost wonder if they shouldn’t have bothered dubbing it.
 
I tried to play with the English dub since it is what I’m used to, but I really don’t think I can stomach playing Shenmue like it’s a big joke anymore. Glad I switched to Japanese. I hope Ys Net makes the hard decision to stop wasting money on an English dub if they get the chance to make another game. It’ll disappoint Corey and his fans but it’s simply not worth the negativity it brings the game.
 
mjqjazzbar said:
I tried to play with the English dub since it is what I’m used to, but I really don’t think I can stomach playing Shenmue like it’s a big joke anymore. Glad I switched to Japanese. I hope Ys Net makes the hard decision to stop wasting money on an English dub if they get the chance to make another game. It’ll disappoint Corey and his fans but it’s simply not worth the negativity it brings the game.
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Lots of people love the dub including me. Its cheesy charm is part of the Shenmue package for me. They should never remove it. You enjoy the Japanese by all means but don’t insist on removing the dub as if it’s an objective fact that no one likes it. I love it and will always defend it.
 
Vasid said:
Japanese dub is the only way to play. If you play with the English dub know you're giving yourself an inferior experience, full stop. My only complaint is that the translation takes liberties and we don't get proper subtitles, but that's all the more reason to NOT play the English dub knowing how many liberties it takes with the characters. Sure, if you don't speak any Japanese then you might not pick up on it, but you're still getting a false version of Ryo.

I really noticed this recently when playing through the Undub of Shenmue I on my modded Dreamcast and frankly it was shocking how much it changed the story and characters.

I mean if your excuse is you "don't want to read the game" then I guess enjoy the inferior version. Reading is good for the mind, experiencing other cultures is good for the mind. Try expanding your perspective some time.
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How did they change the story in English? As well which characters were changed? I was not aware of this.
 
AltGr said:
IMHO, the best english voice is Fukuhara.
Someone said the other day that Corey Marshall sounds in S3 like if a baby was sleeping nearby and he needs to talk softly. That's 100% english-Nozomi. I can't stand her overly affected voice. The character is just not great but at least in Japanese she sounds like a normal person.
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Yes Fukuhara, voice was funny. Shenmue 1 had a silly charm too it.
I never thought Shenmue voice in dub aweful instead it was comedy.

I actually liked Nozomi voice in English, it suited the Character.
Unlike Nozomi in Shenmue 3 have you heard her? It's aweful......
I made a thread about this here
https://www.shenmuedojo.com/forum/index.php?threads/nozomi-aweful-voice-acting.2073/#post-72145
 
Ren said:
How did they change the story in English?
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It changes how the characters are portrayed, in the English dub characters will often act more over the top and silly than they do with the Japanese voice over which makes the whole thing feel a lot more grounded. The best example is how Ryo will literally say different things which sometimes drastically changes the dialogue. I didn't mean to imply it drastically changes the core story beats, just the characterization of the characters.
 
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