Carl Macek

by Steve "Yanez" Whitcher

Mention the name Carl Macek and what does the average anime fan think of? Robotech or some other butchered anime series? 'Mash it' Macek, Killer of Anime Plots?

I must admit that I too had a negative image of Mr. Macek, so when I bumped into him at HTC World earlier this year I took the chance to have a chat with him. After hearing so many negative comments about Macek it is very difficult not to be prejudiced against him. But, after meeting the guy, you can't help feeling that he has been seriously misjudged by the American fans. This will sound very strange to the UK anime fans but I have met him and I can only say what I thought of him.

The first thing that strikes you about Macek is that he is a nice guy. Having heard that he is hated so much by the US fans that he has had death threats, it is all a bit confusing. He is prepared to listen to fans, and spent time with them, which is important to me. Carl is very passionate about his films, and he is very proud of what he has done. But I don't see anything wrong with him being proud of what he has done. If I were a producer, I would be proud about my products, and would murder anyone who would say otherwise.

Putting my own opinions on dubbing to one side, Carl's defence of dubbing is logical. He believes that dubbing brings anime to the widest possible audience. It is very easy for us fans to say that we prefer subtitling, but the general public are lazy and can't be bothered with subtitled films. So I think that he is right, only through dubbing will anime be brought to a wide audience.

When Macek adapts a title, he starts with the original scripts. He points out that the script is not the same thing as what the voice actors actually say. The voice actors apparently ad- lib some speech. So, having translated the script literally into English, Carl then turns it into Real English. Finally the text is changed to obtain a decent lip sync. Macek points out that fan subtitled tapes are normally literal translations of what the voice actors said, rather than a meaningful translation of what the actors should have said. And this explains the difference between what we see in a fan sub, and what we hear in a dubbed version.

He will just be talking about a title and he will break into funny voices, and start pointing out the finer points of his adaptation and why he adapted it the way he did. Macek is certainly knowledgeable about anime, and he is obviously a fan. I was impressed that he knows what he is talking about because from what I had heard I would have expected that he would have been only into anime for commercial reasons.

So many UK anime publishers are obviously releasing anime for the money, rather than because they love anime. Whatever Macek has done, at least he is a fan of the genre. Don't just believe me? If you do happen to come across him at a convention, go over and have a chat with him. Make up your own mind about him, but leave your prejudices at home, and you will find out for yourself what Macek is really about.