озвучка (azvuchka)

Озвучка (pronounced "azvuchka") is a Russian term generally referring to the practice of voice-over dubbing (where new voices are recorded over the original dialogue, rather than mixed with a clean audio-track).

While this is sometimes used by officially licensed dubbing studios, in Russia, the term has become emblematic of lower-budget, pirate fan-dubbing groups. These "команды озвучки" (azvuchka teams) are so numerous and ubiquitous, that they have their own fanbases and entire wikis dedicated to documenting them.

Different groups specialise in different media; while most are known for dubbing Japanese anime, there are also ones dedicated to cartoons, films, TV shows and YouTube web-series or short films. Despite this, there is still a lot of overlap between groups; a piece of media is typically available with anywhere between 2 and 10 different azvuchkas, depending on its popularity.

There are also Ukrainian teams (the term "озвучка" applies in both languages), but they are much fewer in number.