I remembered watching Maskman as a child. I can't forget the Tagalized opening and here's the lyrics of the TV opening:
Humanda na kayo
Kampon ng kadiliman
Oras na ng pagtotoos
Kasamaaan niyo’y dapat matapos
Narito na sila
Bayaning tagapangtanggol
Sa masama’y lilipol
Maskman
Kayo lang ang pagasa
Iligtas kami sa marahas na kadiliman
Kami’y inyong ipaglaban
Kayo lang ang pagasa
Iligtas kami sa marahas na kadiliman
Kami’y inyong ipaglaban
Sigi sigi laban Maskman
Ipagtangggol ang kapayapaan
Sugod sugod laban Maskman ipagsanggalang ninyo ang katarungan
Buong mundo’y magpupuri’t magpupugay mabuhay
Laser Squadron Mas…ku…man
Lives are burning in the golden aura,
The people unveil their mysterious powers.
Someone's voice is whispering in the hearts,
Then right to their ears.
Ah! (x2) It is in your body,
It's the mysterious fountain that descended on the grounds,
It's the star where the gods dwell.
Chi! (x2) Aura Power
We're in training our Aura Power.
Chi! (x2) Aura Power
We'll show you our Aura Power.
You battle so beautifully,
Ah! Light Squadron Maskman!
Ipagtangggol ang kapayapaan
Sugod sugod laban Maskman ipagsanggalang ninyo ang katarungan
Buong mundo’y magpupuri’t magpupugay mabuhay
Laser Squadron Mas…ku…man
If we are to translate it into English, it would say:
Now prepare all of you
Minions of darkness
Minions of darkness
It's time for reckoning
They're already here
The heroes who will save
From the forces of darknes
From the forces of darknes
Maskman
You are the only hope
Save us from the aggressive darkness
Protect us
Go fight Maskman
Defend the peace
Go go fight Maskman uphold justice
The whole world praises and rejoices
Laser Squadron Maskman
On the contrary, here's what the real version says based on the Japanese translation:
Lives are burning in the golden aura,
The people unveil their mysterious powers.
Someone's voice is whispering in the hearts,
Then right to their ears.
Ah! (x2) It is in your body,
It's the mysterious fountain that descended on the grounds,
It's the star where the gods dwell.
Chi! (x2) Aura Power
We're in training our Aura Power.
Chi! (x2) Aura Power
We'll show you our Aura Power.
You battle so beautifully,
Ah! Light Squadron Maskman!
Let's take a look at how the Tagalog version killed the spirit of the Japanese version. The Tagalog version is asking the Maskmen to save the people. It's almost like the people are relying too much on the Maskmen. But what is the original version trying to say? You can see that people are encouraged to exert effort to be better than you are now. The original lyrics is encouraging people to emulate the example of the Maskmen.
On the other hand, the Tagalog version's ending actually gets a message to fight up and stand up. It may not have the same meaning as the original but it still gets a good message. It's a stark contrast to the the opening in Tagalog which somehow weakens the message that should have been given. It's almost close to telling people to rely too much on the Maskmen especially in saying that they're the only hope and protect us from darkness. Nothing about asking the Maskmen to defend us.
If we're to actually write a better version of the song, shouldn't we actually make a few modifications like replacing "Kayo lang ang pag-asa", "Iligtas kami sa marahas na kadiliman" and "Kami’y inyong ipaglaban" which the following words. That would be "Nagbigay kayo ng pag-asa", "Sugpuin natin ang marahas na kadiliman" and "Tayo'y mag-iisa sa laban." which we would get this lyrics:
Now prepare all of you
Minions of darkness
Minions of darkness
It's time for reckoning
They're already here
The heroes who will save
From the forces of darkness
From the forces of darkness
Maskman
You give us hope
Let's stop the violent darkness
Let's fight together
Go fight Maskman
Defend the peace
Go go fight Maskman uphold justice
The whole world praises and rejoices
Laser Squadron Maskman
Wouldn't that be more satisfying and wouldn't that fit with the Maskman lyrics in the end? This is what the Tagalog lyrics say and fortunately it doesn't encourage the victim card mentality in any way:
Here comes the brave heroes
They have no fear
Against the fiercest of foes
Against the fiercest of foes
They are brave defenders of the weak
They are examples of doing one's duty
They are ready to give up their lives
Maskman!
Champions of peace
Maskman!
You can count on them
We should follow their examples
They are the brave
Laser squadron Maskman Maskman
From what I can remember, an anime whose opening song fell victim to the same bastardization Maskman had (namely not only having their opening themes changed to the point that their original meaning is already lost but even encouraging over-reliance on heroes to solve all their s***) is Magic Knight Rayearth, whose Tagalog opening goes like:
ReplyDelete"Kami'y narito
Asahan niyong magtatanggol
Makikipaglaban
Para sa kapayapaan"
(rough English translation)
"We are here
You can count on us to defend you
And we will fight for peace."
Whereas the original opening goes like:
"tomaranai
mirai wo mezashite
yuzurenai negai wo dakishimete"
(English translation)
"Aim for the unstoppable future
and embrace the unyielding wish"
(Lyrics above taken from Anime Lyrics dot Com)
As we can see, like Maskman, Rayearth's opening was bastardized to make it sound like it's good to be over-reliant on heroes; as opposed to its original meaning where its a motivational song where it gives you the feeling to keep on pursuing for your dreams no matter what and that you can overcome anything in pursuit of them (on another note, I think such feeling is a common thing amongst every anime and tokusatsu song that I know so far; something which, again, telebasura media lacks).
And should I mention that this over-reliance on heroes, in turn, is then converted to over-reliance on someone else to solve all their s*** in life such as their OFW relatives and family members and politicians (worst, they fall victim to these same politicians who then manipulate the all they want. Neat trick, if I may say so......)
Any other foreign media you know whose songs were bastardized in the same manner as Maskman and Rayearth?