The Dub Track English Dubs, not Inferior

[Sephiroth]

As somone whos trying working on breaking into voice acting. Dubbing is hard to say the least, imagine having to time out every single sentence you say and while doing that come off as completely believable and enthralling, add in a low budget so you can't take your time with your lines and even a well trained actor is going to have a hard time.

Recently hada class under Mr Freeman otherwise known as Alucard to some of you. And the metaphor he applied to dubbing was imagine convincingly playing catch with someone who isn't there.

[guardiansoulblade]

I watch dubs because I like to understand what's being said and I don't like haven't to read all the time. I will watch the Japanese subs if I like the voice actors. FMA Brotherhood is one that I like because they don't sound like they're trying so hard to act, which bugs me about Japanese dubs is that the actors over do their acting, at least on the ones I've watched.

[Knowname]

what's ironic is all I DO is read lol...

[Azure Vermillion]

The Holy Grail of Dubs where all dubs try to live up to but inexplicably fail.

Ah, the Holy Grail. it reminds of the infamous English edit of Fate/Stay Night Archer's Unlimited Blade Works Chant.
While the Dub was done nicely, some things I feel just shouldn't be edited/changed when translating over: like Archer's chant, as it was in Engrish after all.

Some Dubs I love FMA, DBZ,
Some Dubs I dislike, Death Note, D.Gray-man.
in others I would have just casted a few people differently

[mokulen22]

I love all the shout outs to subbed Hentai..like you boys are watching it for the story lines..

[yuppa]

Without a doubt in my mind, the show with the greatest dub ever is Bible Black.

Man i would have to disagree. Wordsworth was better dubbed especially with the professional pornstars doin it LOL!!

[Force-Attuned_Krogoth]

I take each series as a separate case. And while generally the VAs trend better over time, there are some old shows that I absolutely adore in their dubbed form. For example, the South Carolina crew from AnimEigo had phenomenal chemistry in You're Under Arrest, Ah! My Goddess, and Shinesmen. These can be a target of the old anti-dub arguments because they do change the dialogue. However, I feel the performances, particularly in YUA, greatly strengthen the characters in a way that the original seiyuu don't. Or perhaps they're both good and I just understand the cultural cues better in English. Either way, it's a more fulfilling experience to me in English.

Another classic dub that I believe outclasses its original track is Golden Boy. Stellar performance by Doug Smith as an over-the-top Kintaro. And as the only persistent character, Kintaro drives the whole OVA. Far, far less amusing in Japanese.

And thirdly, undoubtedly most controversially, I have to tip my hat to the dub of Those Who Hunt Elves. They managed to turn a show that was a semi-serious attempt at a rediculous plot into a simple yet satisfying barrel of laughs. I maintain it was never meant to be taken seriously, and the massive rewriting reveals its true form. Okay, maybe it didn't have to be so vulgar, but we still watch South Park, don't we?

[OmniStrata]

Interesting note: Black Lagoon's character's actually speak english and the japanese is only done for the japanese audience's sake.

All the more reason why the English dub kicks the original's mother-loving ass.
Same situation with Hellsing and Baccano! Some anime were just meant to be done in English.

Baccano is all white people. Euro setting? And everyone's speaking Japanese? [hint hint]
FMP, everyone [almost] is also Caucasian
Black Lagoon actually had Rock's English VA talking as Japanese translator in 2nd season's final eps [not good ]
Reby still sounds awesome. Her bitchy voice is great and if you hear her VA in the interview, you won't believe it...
Hellsing is freakin' German... meant to be done? you bet. It'd probably sound best in German lol

Can't we all just you know, watch both?

Dubs have gotten to the point where you really shouldn't care too much. [actually, if you watch Those who Hunt Elves in Japanese, it's boring. *you won't get the jokes duh*... but in English, it's teh sex for laughter]

Love Hina is a shining [eww] example of acting so bad it's just... ugh.
Virtua Fighter TV is an unusually GREAT dub considering the series quality as a whole lol...

Watch both, and ya know, if you like subs, is there a reason to 'convince' people who don't to watch it subbed?
and vice versa.
I'll show anime in the format that my peers will enjoy. And I hate to break it to you dub haters, but if you're gonna get people who don't know anime to watch it, it's ENGLISH that'll help your friends sit through it :p

[Castor Troy]

Without a doubt in my mind, the show with the greatest dub ever is Bible Black.

Man i would have to disagree. Wordsworth was better dubbed especially with the professional pornstars doin it LOL!!

I took some pictures with them back at AX2002

[Pinkjacketaddict]

Hellsing is freakin' German... meant to be done? you bet. It'd probably sound best in German lol

There are some Germans but most of the characters are English. Hellsing does sound good in German, though.

I've watched subs, but it wasn't a good experience because of spelling errors and bad English in the subtitles. I would rather watch an anime raw, since that means you're getting the official product. True, then it's just looking at the footage and understanding little to nothing, but at least the right people are getting paid for it.

It's amazing how little credit dubs still get. There will always be the purists and elitists that will jump on every little difference in the performance and say that it's bad. And then you wonder, well could you do a better job? I'm glad that this thread exists because dubs have been getting stomped on for a long time, which doesn't make much sense because the dubbing companies have made the anime available here. They feed the hungry anime fans here, and for less, too. $30 as opposed to importing it for $60 at least? And going to your local Best Buy instead of having to deal with shipping? It's a no-brainer in terms of convenience.

There's also the spark that good writing for the dub that burns some life into what might be an awkward translation. The dub makes the dialogue more accessible, and adds colloquialisms that make the world depicted in the anime more believable. The dub may also come out with a different nuance in the lines that might not have been there in the original, which may create a different, not necessarily better or worse meaning. I'm thinking specifically of Fullmetal Alchemist, where in the original version, Mustang is more noble for planning to take out King Bradley. In the dub, it might not be a popular move and Mustang is taking a greater risk in his plan.

More specifically, about the dub track on a bi-lingual domestic DVD as opposed to a subs of un-licensed anime and subs in general, I almost exclusively watch the dub, and haven't heard the Lupin TV series in Japanese in a while. ^^; The Geneon dub is funny, witty, defiantly anachronistic, edgy, and makes the show more addicting than it already is. I know that a lot of people complained about Phuuz' translation, but watching the subbed version of the Funimation Lupin, the subs were equally awkward. Not to mention you're so busy reading the subs that you're not getting absorbed into the story. Or maybe you are---some people have mastered that technique. ^^

I don't like how sub-only people think that you're not as hardcore a fan if you like the dub. Considering how little recognition that dub actors get in the field of media, always getting ignored in favor of film stars in the live action adaptions, you would think that they would get more appreciation from the fans who hear the performances. But not everyone is appreciative, and it's sad.