This Thursday the Jujutsu film Kaisen 0 finally premieres in Latin America, the adaptation of the popular work of the same name by Gege Akutami, the film that has already achieved great success in the rest of the world arrives both in its original language, Japanese, and dubbed into Latin Spanish, in this line is that we had the opportunity to speak with some of the people in charge of dubbing the film, such as Patricia Acevedo, dubbing director, and Diego Ramora, in charge of giving the voice to the film’s protagonist, Yuta Okkotsu.
Patricia Acevedo, is a renowned voice actress, who has a career of more than 40 years, with a resume full of important characters that marked the childhood of many such as Lisa Simpson, Serena from Sailor Moon or Milk from Dragon Ball. On the other hand, Diego Ramora has been linked to the world of dubbing for ten years, and this is his first leading role, right in one of the most popular series today.
About what the world of dubbing is like, how it has changed over the years, even the pressure of dubbing a series or movies, both voice actors told us.
Patricia Acevedo: I think the most difficult thing is to understand why the actor who is on the screen, the drawing, is doing what he is doing, why he said it aggressively, why he said it happy, why he said it sad, that I think it’s the most difficult, and at the same time trying to match the work that person did.
Diego Ramora: I completely agree with Mrs. Pati, I think that the difficult thing is to find the point where you match the interpretation of the character, without imitating it, or without wanting to give a proposal that is out of context. Entering that place where both the original language and Spanish come together in the character.
PA: We can’t make it so local, we have to do a dubbing that is understood throughout Latin America, that’s what we’re trying to do. Because if we include local things, then people, for example, from South America don’t understand, and maybe it’s funny for us, but not for people from South America, because they didn’t understand what we were saying. Mexico especially we have many words that in many parts of South America are not understood.
DR: The main objective of dubbing is always to give a good interpretation of what the product is asking for, be it an actor, be it anime, be it a character, I think that’s the main thing. There are times that what clients ask for is that, and you get into this little debate of what I do, I don’t do it, most of the time we focus on that, that everyone can enjoy.
AP: As it has always been, sometimes it is difficult, sometimes it is not. It depends on the company, it depends on the director, we always try, as director, to give the opportunity to new people who arrive and report, above all to listen to them and see if we can really give them an important role or as long as they help us by making environments or other things to listen to.
DR: I think that in dubbing the difficult thing is not to enter, but to stay, it has a lot to do with the work that one does, how much one studies or works hard for this, and I am not referring to an academy that teaches, yes not the self-discipline you may have. In dubbing I have seen a lot of people with virtue but due to lack of work they did not manage to stay, I think that is what is difficult, perseverance.
PA: I think there is always pressure in whatever it is, the truth is that we try to do the job as best as possible whatever it is, a saga, a movie, a feature film, whatever we do we have to give our best and try to make the client satisfied with our work and the way we direct their film.
DR: Not only when making the protagonist, in everything there is an interesting pressure, because there are characters that turn out to be secondary, tertiary, and for something that resulted from a chapter and that due to the good work of the dubbing turn out to be successful. I think that with each character you maintain that pressure, since you don’t know what you’re getting into, you have to give yourself totally to them, and the same with Yuta, you feel the pressure, but it’s a pressure that as time goes by you get used to it .
DR: Unconsciously it happened to me, since I am an otaku at heart, I had already seen Jujutsu Kaisen and was reading it, since I get into anime a lot, I read the prequel, I had barely read the first chapter when the call came to me , I’m going the next day… I remember that Mrs. Pati told me you’ve seen Jujutsu Kaisen and I, yes, I think, was very mixed up in everything… But in dubbing that’s the great thing, there is no preview, at that moment I believe it and at that moment I do it, it is the magic of being a dubbing interpreter.
PA: For me it was wonderful, really since I directed the series I loved it, so what did they tell me now there is a movie, when I saw it I said “how wonderful”, I loved having directed it, I was very happy and I hope that everyone likes it.
DR: What can I say… There is something that Mrs. Pati doesn’t know, I first met her at a convention, a month before the first call. And the following month Mrs. Pati gives me the opportunity to have my second call, so for me that the first protagonist I have in cinema, be with the first director who directed me in dubbing… for me this film influences not only that I am a fan of Jujutsu, personally it is something very beautiful.
PA: I think there is a greater interest, people want to hear everything Latin dubbed, and that is very good, because we know that there are visually impaired, people who cannot read the labels, so it is much easier for them , there are also some that put descriptive audio on them, and then that helps a lot, because people say that it’s good that they’re already putting this on too.
PA: It has changed a lot, when I started 40 years ago, we all worked together, and now everyone has their channel and each one does their own interpretation, and maybe it’s a little faster for some. Before if you had a star you had to stay all day and sometimes until the next day, and now you can do a star in one morning.
Yes, it has become depersonalized, before the person you were talking to was next to you and he kind of pulled you, it was your tone and he answered you, and you told him, and he answered you, it was warmer, now it is colder .
PA: I arrived because my father was a chef, and he had a restaurant concession within a dubbing company, and then I was in high school and I told him what they do where you work and there he explained to me and I arrived at the company and I am fascinated by that. I obviously took a course, 40 years ago there were no dubbing schools, I took the course inside the company and then I stayed there working.
DR: What brought me to the world of dubbing is one of the women I adore the most in this life, my mom. My mom starts dubbing late, at 40 years old, and she was taking a course and then she tells me “hey, I think they’re going to open a summer course”, I was 12 years old, starting high school and I, well, let’s go Let’s see. Since I was given the opportunity and I fell in love, I think that if we all have something in common, it is that no one can work here if they don’t love it.
PA: It’s wonderful, when I go to a convention, when people ask me, hug me, and some cried… and you say that I have such a great commitment to the love that people have for me, that every day I have to be better , and every day I have to do my job better, for them, because only for my voice they love me.
PA: I would like to have been a princess, but I’m too far gone, so even if I’m the mother of a princess or a witch.
DR: I think that I still have this curiosity about antagonism, I think my voice doesn’t give much for an antagonist, they don’t take my truculent voice very seriously but I hope that one day that will be achieved.