Judgment’s English Dub Meant to Make Japan More Accessible, Not “Westernize It,” Says Producer

Earlier today we reported on the English dub coming to the worldwide release of Sega’s Yakuza spinoff, Judgment. The game’s English voice acting is coming along nicely, with mostly solid acting that matches well with the motion captured figures in-game. Interestingly, the video in question also showed that the game retains Japanese honorifics during speech, as opposed to the usual act of molding it to an English counterpoint. Sega Localization Producer Scott Strichart revealed on Twitter that it was a deliberate choice made in hopes of conveying a bit about Japanese culture to players unfamiliar with it.

As you can see from the Twitter video below that Strichart is highlighting, Japanese honorifics are carried over to the English dub. The specific examples in the video are “-san” and “-sensei.” The former is a casual identifier used between those who are peers in a public setting (a slightly more casual version of Mr/Ms in English), whereas sensei is used for those who in a more respected position, or at least in a position of authority, such as teachers. Japan has several identifiers like this that are dictated by things like age, familiarity, and situation. Strichart says he hopes the dub can help to bring that across for those not familiar with Japanese culture and language.

Judgment will release June 25^th worldwide exclusively for PlayStation 4.

"Good to see you, Mr. Kaito. And you must be Mr. Yagami. Or would Mr. Yagami, Esquire be more appropriate?"

^ We chose not to do that. The English dub's goal was never to Westernize the game, but to make Japan more accessible. No matter the language, the setting doesn't change. https://t.co/KZUu9nDBIE

— Scott Strichart (@TriggerRedd) April 30, 2019