The drama revolves around Woo YoungWoo, who is on the autism spectrum, and her journey as she starts working for the Hanbada Law Office as a licensed lawyer. “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” shows her challenges as she she works in a competitive environment among other brillant lawyers, and making ethical decisions when handling her cases at the law firm. Fans thought that the drama became even more meaningful as it also tackled a number of issues faced by the Korean society at the present day. The main character, Woo YoungWoo, was played by the experienced actress Park EunBin. The long-time actress has started her career way back in 1996 as a child actress. She started gaining recognition for her roles in her previous dramas such as “Age of Youth”, “Father I’ll Take Care Of You”, “Do You Like Brahms?” and “The King’s Affection”. Other main cast members are Kang TaeOh, and Kang KiYoung, whose popularity also rose due to the attention received by the drama. To make the drama available to English speakers, the translation team had to work hard to make the deliver the sentiment made through the lines in Korean, by avoiding literal translation of some lines. The English subtitles used for the drama has interested a lot of viewers and also confused some. In particular, the way the protagonist Woo YoungWoo (Park EunBin) introduces herself, and how the English of her self-introduction was done. This has been the center of a lot of questions. “똑바로 읽어도 거꾸로 읽어도 우영우. 기러기 토마토 스위스 인도인 별똥별 우영우” (ttokbaro ilkeodo geokkuro ilkeodo Woo YoungWoo. Gireogi tomato seuwiseu indoin byeolttongbyeol Woo YoungWoo) is literally translated “My name is Woo YoungWoo, whether it is read straight or flipped. Goose, tomato, Swiss, Indian, shooting star”. But Netflix’s English subtitles went: “My name is Woo YoungWoo, whether it is read straight or flipped. Kayak, deed, rotator, noon, racecar, Woo YoungWoo.” In the drama, Woo YoungWoo makes use of palindromes, or words that are read the same forward and backwards. The palindromes she used was in Korean, so to translate it literally would not have made sense to viewers reading the English subtitles, but the subtitles used by the platform was creatively written, making use of English palindromes like kayak, deed, and others, instead. Following the drama’s popularity, Netflix is currently producing the English dubbing for the drama! On a report made by Yonhap News, it was said that streaming platform announced to Korean media that the dubbing process is ongoing in Burbank, California, the center of Hollywood film industry. It was reported that they are halfway done with the production of the English dubs of the drama, and that it is scheduled to be released next month. Min KyungSeo, a Korean culture and language specialist who was consulted for the dubbing of the drama, also praised the translator who wrote the translation of the lines of the drama, mentioning that the Woo YoungWoo’s self-introduction lines were translated culturally and linguistically well. Another thing that is always put into consideration when dubbing a Korean drama to another language, according to Min KyungSeo, is how to reflect the respectful level of speech and the casual level of speech, which is one of the characteristics of Korean language that is different from English. Important details like the level of speech used, context, and even terms of endearment, like “Oppa” are some points that the consultant had to discuss with the dubbing team. “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” rose to popularity due to its storyline about a lawyer who is on the autism spectrum and has a photographic memory. Considering the protagonist’s character, Netflix hired Sue Ann Pien, a Taiwanese-American actress also is on the autism spectrum, as the voice actress for Woo YoungWoo’s character, aiming to reflect the feeling from the original work. In the video shared by Yonhap News, Sue Ann Pien can be seen imitating Woo YoungWoo’s gestures and facial expressions on her demonstration. The actress said that she is able to empathize with Woo YoungWoo’s character, as the factors that affected Woo YoungWoo are the same ones that affect her too. She also cited having Asian parents and Korean friends as helpful to her in her voice portrayal of the drama character. Check out the video shared by Yonhap News here. On the other hand, the Korean-American actor Nick Martineau will be dubbing for the role of Jung MyungSeok. The actor also said that he focused on the conveying the peculiarities of the Korean language even while acting in English. The dubbing director of “Extraordinary Attorney Woo”, Ezra Weisz cited that as much as possible, they are trying to sustain all the nuances from the original actors’ acting, in respect of the original work. He further said that they will try to make the dubbed version sound natural while communicating. Who else is curious about the English dubs of “Extraordinary Attorney Woo”? Let us know your thoughts through the comment section below.
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