The Silent Room

It was late at night and I was in my lodging room at Terengganu over the weekend. Still very much wide awake and feeling bored and disconnected, I switched on the little TV set that was in the room. I flipped over to watch the late night news on TV3, I was content for a while.

After the news, there was a splash screen and it instantly got me perked up. The screen said:

Coming up next: Fullmetal Alchemist

Hoho, I thought, this oughta be good. I was expecting a half-assed job of a Malay dub. But I decided to give them a bit more credit, to see if they’d just translate the damn subtitles instead bothering with voice over work.

Guess I wrong, as the whole show was totally dubbed in Malay – although not as crappy as I’d expected. I’ve seen worse dubs in Naruto. It’s annoying to see a retarded malay Naruto excitedly exclaiming “Cikgu Kakashii!!”. What a dork. However, FMA’s dub wasn’t so bad.

“Awak berani mencabar saya? Nampaknya awak masih belum kenal alkemis terkenal, Kolonel Roy Mustang, Alkemis Tangan Berapi!”

Alphonse’s tin-can voice was nicely recreated, and the translated honorifics suit nicely. A Tuan Fuhrer leads the Tentera Sentral and the brothers are on a quest in search of a Batu Filosofer. Alchemists battle using Ilmu Kimia Purba, and Edward is the Alkemis Fullmetal.

I guess they decided to do away with translating it into something like Al-kimia Besi Waja. Although that itself doesn’t sound too bad, I think. Still, it got me thinking, if we could go as far as translating Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles into Remaja Mutasi Ninja Penyu [gee, thanks, TGV!], it’s entirely possible to translate thousands of anime titles to Malay.

I’ve compiled a little bit, some sound utterly ridiculous, and some don’t sound too bad. Hey, if Kaio-sama can become Mahadewa Kaio, and One Piece can become Budak Getah, why not?

Appleseed – Biji Epal

Bakuretsu Tenshi [Burst Angel] – Malaikat Meletup

Black Lagoon – Teluk Hitam

Bleach – Peluntur

Blood: The Last Vampire – Darah: Pontianak Terakhir

Boys Be – Jadilah Budak-budak Lelaki

Fate/Stay Night – Takdir/Tinggal Malam

Death Note – Buku Nota Kematian

Ghost in the Shell – Hantu dalam Cengkerang [my personal favourite]

Honey and Clover – Madu dan Cengkih

Jigoku Shoujo – Gadis Neraka

Onegai Sensei – Tolonglah, Cikgu!

Read or Die – Baca Atau Mati

Saishuuheiki Kanojo – Kekasihku Senjata Mutlak

Soukyuu no Fafner – Fafner Biru Nilam

Tenjou Tenge – Langit dan Bumi

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya – Kesedihan Haruhi Suzumiya

The Twelve Kingdoms – Dua Belas Negara

Tsubasa Chronicles – Hikayat Sayap

Think you can come up with anything else?