In the last few days, K-ON fans! in Latin America they have rediscovered a curious and nostalgic “semi-official Latin dubbing” that once existed for the popular anime seriesalthough it never officially saw the light of day due to licensing complications. This rediscovery arose from a recent thread on Twitter, where it was discussed how a group of followers had downloaded the episode before it was removed from platforms such as YouTube, due to copyright claims.

The dubbing in question was done by Elocuencia Studio, an independent Chilean dubbing studio that emerged in the middle of the pandemic. The project was professionally recorded, with high-quality facilities and equipment, and featured an outstanding cast of voice actresses, setting it apart from a traditional “fandub.” Among the voices that participated are Lucía Suárez as Yui Hirasawa, Marlene Pérez as Ritsu Tainaka, Carolina Cortés as Mio Akiyama and Bárbara Bustamante as Tsumugi Kotobuki. These actresses are known in the Latin dubbing industry for their work in various series and films, which gave a touch of professionalism to this project, even though it was not officially authorized.

At the time, the K-ON! fan community in Latin America was excited and surprised to discover an episode dubbed into Latin Spanish, but the content was quickly removed for copyright violationsbecoming a “Lost Media”. Despite this, some fans managed to download the chapter before its removal, and it has since circulated like a rare lost gem in the deepest corners of the internet.

Elocuencia Studio, in a statement issued in March 2021, explained the situation behind this dubbing. In their message, they thanked the fans for their support and enthusiasm, clarifying that the episode had been produced in August 2020 as part of a pilot with the aim of attracting the interest of a distributor that wanted to work with them on an official dubbing. However, after not receiving a response from any distributor, the studio decided to share the episode with fans as a gesture of gratitude, although they knew that this could result in legal problems. In his words:

  • «We had put together this pilot in approximately August and it was ready since then, circulating it internally so that a distributor wanted to work with us requesting our professional dubbing services (…). Over time we made the decision to make it public as a gift to the fans. (…). So we tried to place it on other platforms without a good result. (…). At the moment the project is only in our private cloud as a reel and sample material for clients who may be interested in us.».

Despite the controversy, the story has once again captured the attention of fans on social networks, generating a new wave of conversations about the Latin dubbing of K-ON! and the wish that, one day, the series could have an official version dubbed into Spanish. The Latin American public has constantly expressed their frustration over the lack of official distribution of this anime in the region, since the distribution license belongs to Sentai Filmworks, a company that takes global licenses to end up distributing only in the United States.

K-ON!, a series that follows the lives of a group of girls who form a light music band at their high school, has remained a mainstay in anime culture since its debut in 2009. The series, based on the manga by Kakifly, is known for its combination of humor, tenderness and themes about friendship, as well as for its popular soundtrack, performed by the same Japanese voice actresses who bring the protagonists to life. In Japan, K-ON! has managed to maintain a loyal fan base, and its impact has been such that it even influenced the appearance of more anime series about music.

Fountain: Twitter

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