Good Dubs: Trigun and Cowboy Bebop are the defaults. Trigun has some off episodes though.
Chobits, which I can only watch dubbed. Alot of the humor is lost in the sub simply because the actors take themselves TOO seriously, namely Hideki's Seiyuu.
Rurouni Kenshin has a great dub (Look at my bad dub list for an interesting paralell)
Dragonball Z AND Yuyu Hakusho are equal, and I like both. I prefer the sub though.
Fatal Fury from Viz is absolutely perfect. They even got the accents for all the foreign characters EXACTLY right.
VHD:Bloodlust was pretty good. Course there are no subs on the US DVD...
Bad dubs:
Most things by ADV This includes Samurai X (There's that paralell), but is not limited too Kimagure Orange Road: Summer's Beginning, Excel Saga (Sorry to the guy who said it was good, but Excel's voice is just WAY too raspy and annoying), Azumanga Daioh... I could go on. In their Defense, Noir and Zaion weren't that bad.
Rave Master: I'm absolutely in love with the Manga. I thought bringing the Anime was a great idea. But oh my God, what has TokyoPop done? "Raveolution?" What the Hell kind of a name is that, and how do you get it from "Explosion"? And they call the main enemy "Shadowguard" instead of "Demoncard", which is important to the story. Maybe I shouldn't list this though, because I hear that's how they also translated the Subs. What?? >_<
the Good and the Bad, Bad, BAAAAAAD Dubbing
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EBwiz
- Joined: Wed May 29, 2002 3:05 pm
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Founder of Digital Relay and <A HREF="http://digitalrelay.8m.com/arcadia.html">Arcadia Studios</a>
Anime Music Video Advice AKA: Stuff I learned as a Newbie:
- NEVER use Windows Movie Maker
- NEVER Ask dumb questions
Anime Music Video Advice AKA: Stuff I learned as a Newbie:
- NEVER use Windows Movie Maker
- NEVER Ask dumb questions
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cao cao of wu
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ArmoredGriffon
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Zero1
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Ooh dubs... don't even get me started...
I'm not particularly fussy about dubs, I mean I won't just watch subs because "Dubs suck as a rule of thumb". I'll generally watch the dub, which is something I can understand without reading it missing the action.
Nor do I have one of these "hardcore otaku" complexes where I will watch subs just to be a "true anime fan".
I agree it's good to watch it in it's original unbutchered form, since watching Gundam Seed as it was airing in Japan, and having the misfortune to see the dub, this is one series that I will whole heartedly say. The dub plain sucks, watch the original.
Enough already, I don't want to create flamewars with the hardcore otakus that frequent here
The Good:
Ah My Goddess:
Some really awesomely funny stuff, and it fits the characters great. Gotta love the commentary between Belldany and Keichi.
Keichi: "So your contracts don't mean anything in cartoons either?!"
Belldandy: "ANIME, Anime... This is NOT, a cartoon, this is... ANIME!"
Dragonball Z:
A lotta people knock DBZ, I dunno if it's genuine or some sort of elitest complex about DBZ being too popular, oh well
Looking back on it, the voices were put on a bit too much, but the fight scenes and other such amounts of shouting, grunting and powering up sounded good and "realistic" if you like. (Didn't sound like they were afraid to make a noise in the studio)
I've also heard that (Sean Schemel?) Goku's VA passed out during a recording.
One of the first things you notice about DBZ if you know anything about anime or music, is that the music was replaced. Some people prefer the Japanese music, I've heard some of the original DBZ score, and I have to admit, I prefer the American OST. There was some nice atmospheric music in the Ginyu/Frieza saga. I also remember one episode where the music was almost constant, like a mix. It was good, it wasn't like something I've heard before in anime, continous music despite scene changes and such.
Consistency wise, DBZ loses. I think they had 3 voice actors for Goku, some changes seemed like a natural progression. The art would change slightly (Goku would look older, anyone noticed that the characters seem to continously age, as opposed to looking the same in one series, and older in another series?)
Gundam Wing:
Not particularly outstanding, but not bad enough to make it into the other categories. The "It's A GUNDAM" line got a bit overused, but in general the dub was good. Heero came across as the demented psycho he is, but Duo... A happy God of Death? I think Duo should have been made to sound depressed and suicidal like Heero
As always, Zechs the cool sounding smooth talking badguy, I believe (Brian Drummond is it?) has been used for a number of similar roles as the bad guy.
Rurouni Kenshin:
One of my favourite dubs, in fact a job well done in my opinion. The voices sound natural and not too characterised. It also keeps in with the more mature theme as seen in the Trust, Betrayal and Reflection OAVs
Dirty Pair Flash:
Was a bit hit and miss I thought, certainly improved through the series, but a lady who was consistantly good and fitting for the role of Yuri was Kim Sevier. She's got a naturally sexy voice, and she really gives Yuri the "whinging teen school girl" effect. I wasn't too fond of Kei's VA, souded a bit too butch (though it fitted the role just fine)
Cowboy Bebop:
Simply awesome. Again, like Kenshin, the voice actors kept a serious sound rather than giving them annoying "cartoony" voices (I suppose we owe that mostly to the art and story) Not a lot to comment on, but they came across as believeable characters.
Tenchi Muyo:
One of my favourite series and an all time classic. The voice acting is right on. I don't think there is one odd or out of place voice in Tenchi Muyo. The songs were dubbed in English, and for once I have to say it was very well done. My only semi-gripe is that Aeka's voice is shrill and a bit OTT at times. Here's hoping the other Tenchi series are dubbed to this quality.
The Bad:
Love Hina:
I suppose it wasn't totally bad, but it was all a bit too hyper for me. Also Mitsune sounding like a hillbilly or something got right on my nerves. It just didn't fit the anime or character in any way, shape or form as far as I was concerned.
The Plain Ugly:
Gundam Seed. Awesome series shamefully rushed dub. This made baby Jesus cry, and it made me
So what exactly are my dislikes? Well this series of Gundam is based around 15 year old characters, but the dub is over pitched, dumbed down and hyper like some sort of magical girl dub.
And I'm going to steal a quote from Gundam Seed now:
Wordfit "Makes the Impossible, possible!"
I kid you not. Wordfit is basically a system (not sure 100% how it works, but here goes) that analyses sounds, and the gaps between them. Ever wondered how a character says something so quickly, but clearly? That's wordfit in action, it reduces the space between sounds (so the dub will have sound playing at the same point as the Japanese would be being spoken) this as you can see, means that the lipsync should be nearly as good as the original.
There was a problem. In Gundam Seed, there are some points where it would be impossible (or near on) to repeat a phrase just said with that clarity and speed. Physically impossible since your mouth closes between syllables, word fit effectively takes out the closing of the mouth, making it sound really quick and impossibly clear.
It's very disturbing, watch the episode where Kira hands Lacus to Asuran in space (I believe its ep 5 - 9, can't narrow it down) and listen to the speech. It's fubar. I hate it.
I had hopes that with this being dubbed on Gundams 25th anniversary, it being an awesome series and the fact that they got a release out in good time, that it would be a halfway decent dub.
Oh yeah I forgot to mention.. The voice actors don't suit the chatacters at all. Anyone who's seen Gundam Wing will know Relena's voice actor (forget her name) but she comes across as the goody goody pacifist types. Well she plays the captain of a batltle ship in Seed, talk about turning the tables.
Scott Mc Neil plays as Mwa La Fllaga... wtf is all that about (someone like Treize's VA would have worked)? Scott it the happy God of Death!
And one of my bigger dissapointments is that Brian "Mr Bad Guy" Drummond doesnt voice Raww Le Klueze. Brian is just perfect for the role.
Oh well, I've went on long enough </DUB_RAGE>
I'm not particularly fussy about dubs, I mean I won't just watch subs because "Dubs suck as a rule of thumb". I'll generally watch the dub, which is something I can understand without reading it missing the action.
Nor do I have one of these "hardcore otaku" complexes where I will watch subs just to be a "true anime fan".
I agree it's good to watch it in it's original unbutchered form, since watching Gundam Seed as it was airing in Japan, and having the misfortune to see the dub, this is one series that I will whole heartedly say. The dub plain sucks, watch the original.
Enough already, I don't want to create flamewars with the hardcore otakus that frequent here
The Good:
Ah My Goddess:
Some really awesomely funny stuff, and it fits the characters great. Gotta love the commentary between Belldany and Keichi.
Keichi: "So your contracts don't mean anything in cartoons either?!"
Belldandy: "ANIME, Anime... This is NOT, a cartoon, this is... ANIME!"
Dragonball Z:
A lotta people knock DBZ, I dunno if it's genuine or some sort of elitest complex about DBZ being too popular, oh well
Looking back on it, the voices were put on a bit too much, but the fight scenes and other such amounts of shouting, grunting and powering up sounded good and "realistic" if you like. (Didn't sound like they were afraid to make a noise in the studio)
I've also heard that (Sean Schemel?) Goku's VA passed out during a recording.
One of the first things you notice about DBZ if you know anything about anime or music, is that the music was replaced. Some people prefer the Japanese music, I've heard some of the original DBZ score, and I have to admit, I prefer the American OST. There was some nice atmospheric music in the Ginyu/Frieza saga. I also remember one episode where the music was almost constant, like a mix. It was good, it wasn't like something I've heard before in anime, continous music despite scene changes and such.
Consistency wise, DBZ loses. I think they had 3 voice actors for Goku, some changes seemed like a natural progression. The art would change slightly (Goku would look older, anyone noticed that the characters seem to continously age, as opposed to looking the same in one series, and older in another series?)
Gundam Wing:
Not particularly outstanding, but not bad enough to make it into the other categories. The "It's A GUNDAM" line got a bit overused, but in general the dub was good. Heero came across as the demented psycho he is, but Duo... A happy God of Death? I think Duo should have been made to sound depressed and suicidal like Heero
As always, Zechs the cool sounding smooth talking badguy, I believe (Brian Drummond is it?) has been used for a number of similar roles as the bad guy.
Rurouni Kenshin:
One of my favourite dubs, in fact a job well done in my opinion. The voices sound natural and not too characterised. It also keeps in with the more mature theme as seen in the Trust, Betrayal and Reflection OAVs
Dirty Pair Flash:
Was a bit hit and miss I thought, certainly improved through the series, but a lady who was consistantly good and fitting for the role of Yuri was Kim Sevier. She's got a naturally sexy voice, and she really gives Yuri the "whinging teen school girl" effect. I wasn't too fond of Kei's VA, souded a bit too butch (though it fitted the role just fine)
Cowboy Bebop:
Simply awesome. Again, like Kenshin, the voice actors kept a serious sound rather than giving them annoying "cartoony" voices (I suppose we owe that mostly to the art and story) Not a lot to comment on, but they came across as believeable characters.
Tenchi Muyo:
One of my favourite series and an all time classic. The voice acting is right on. I don't think there is one odd or out of place voice in Tenchi Muyo. The songs were dubbed in English, and for once I have to say it was very well done. My only semi-gripe is that Aeka's voice is shrill and a bit OTT at times. Here's hoping the other Tenchi series are dubbed to this quality.
The Bad:
Love Hina:
I suppose it wasn't totally bad, but it was all a bit too hyper for me. Also Mitsune sounding like a hillbilly or something got right on my nerves. It just didn't fit the anime or character in any way, shape or form as far as I was concerned.
The Plain Ugly:
Gundam Seed. Awesome series shamefully rushed dub. This made baby Jesus cry, and it made me
So what exactly are my dislikes? Well this series of Gundam is based around 15 year old characters, but the dub is over pitched, dumbed down and hyper like some sort of magical girl dub.
And I'm going to steal a quote from Gundam Seed now:
Wordfit "Makes the Impossible, possible!"
I kid you not. Wordfit is basically a system (not sure 100% how it works, but here goes) that analyses sounds, and the gaps between them. Ever wondered how a character says something so quickly, but clearly? That's wordfit in action, it reduces the space between sounds (so the dub will have sound playing at the same point as the Japanese would be being spoken) this as you can see, means that the lipsync should be nearly as good as the original.
There was a problem. In Gundam Seed, there are some points where it would be impossible (or near on) to repeat a phrase just said with that clarity and speed. Physically impossible since your mouth closes between syllables, word fit effectively takes out the closing of the mouth, making it sound really quick and impossibly clear.
It's very disturbing, watch the episode where Kira hands Lacus to Asuran in space (I believe its ep 5 - 9, can't narrow it down) and listen to the speech. It's fubar. I hate it.
I had hopes that with this being dubbed on Gundams 25th anniversary, it being an awesome series and the fact that they got a release out in good time, that it would be a halfway decent dub.
Oh yeah I forgot to mention.. The voice actors don't suit the chatacters at all. Anyone who's seen Gundam Wing will know Relena's voice actor (forget her name) but she comes across as the goody goody pacifist types. Well she plays the captain of a batltle ship in Seed, talk about turning the tables.
Scott Mc Neil plays as Mwa La Fllaga... wtf is all that about (someone like Treize's VA would have worked)? Scott it the happy God of Death!
And one of my bigger dissapointments is that Brian "Mr Bad Guy" Drummond doesnt voice Raww Le Klueze. Brian is just perfect for the role.
Oh well, I've went on long enough </DUB_RAGE>
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someperson
- Joined: Sun Apr 04, 2004 10:59 pm
- Location: Need to think of a new witty location
Good:
RahXephon
Hellsing
Cowboy Bebop
Wolf's rain
Princess Mononoke
Noir
Decent:
Evangelion
Saiyuki
YYH
Fruits Basket
Samurai X
Boogiepop
Now and Then, Here and There
Full Metal Panic
WHR
Bad:
DBZ I apologize, but to those of you who think DBZ is a good dub, is there a type of medication that you've forgotten to take?
Rurouni Kenshin
Inuyasha
Scryed
RahXephon
Hellsing
Cowboy Bebop
Wolf's rain
Princess Mononoke
Noir
Decent:
Evangelion
Saiyuki
YYH
Fruits Basket
Samurai X
Boogiepop
Now and Then, Here and There
Full Metal Panic
WHR
Bad:
DBZ I apologize, but to those of you who think DBZ is a good dub, is there a type of medication that you've forgotten to take?
Rurouni Kenshin
Inuyasha
Scryed
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*inverse*
- Joined: Wed Aug 20, 2003 10:30 pm
- Location: BC, Canada
- Contact:
Seeing as how I'm bored, I might as well throw in a couple of opinions, even though they've probably already been mentioned:
There are a few dubs out there that I truely prefer over the original. Slayers and Ranma 1/2 (up until season 4) are my personal favorites. I thought Escaflowne and FLCL were also "perfect" dubs.
I have mixed feelings about the Yu Yu Hakusho dub - I love Yusuke's voice, for one, and I also felt that they kept most of the characters true to their original selves. But, I suppose my devotion Megumi Ogata got in the way of my making an attempt to accept Kurama's english voice. I don't mind Hiei's voice, but i found that he sounded a little too "cartoon-villian-ish". (I actually feel the same way about Fruits Basket - Haru & Kyo were great, but Tohru, Shigure and Yuki...well, you know where I'm going with this,)
To avoid further ranting, I'll just list a few dubs that I feel unworthy:
- Excel Saga
- Ayashi no Ceres
- Cardcaptors
- Samurai Deeper Kyo
- Rurouni Kenshin (without "oro" and "de gozaru yo" - it's not really Kenshin...even though I've only seen a few clips in english. It's a rather biased opinion ^^; )
Hmm, and now that I think about it, I have the first 2 volumes of Kaleido Star and I havn't watched the dub yet O.o *starts digging through DVDs*
Oh, and Angelx03, if this hasn't been stated before, Magic Knight Rayearth is a very cute dub. You might like it ^__^
There are a few dubs out there that I truely prefer over the original. Slayers and Ranma 1/2 (up until season 4) are my personal favorites. I thought Escaflowne and FLCL were also "perfect" dubs.
I have mixed feelings about the Yu Yu Hakusho dub - I love Yusuke's voice, for one, and I also felt that they kept most of the characters true to their original selves. But, I suppose my devotion Megumi Ogata got in the way of my making an attempt to accept Kurama's english voice. I don't mind Hiei's voice, but i found that he sounded a little too "cartoon-villian-ish". (I actually feel the same way about Fruits Basket - Haru & Kyo were great, but Tohru, Shigure and Yuki...well, you know where I'm going with this,)
To avoid further ranting, I'll just list a few dubs that I feel unworthy:
- Excel Saga
- Ayashi no Ceres
- Cardcaptors
- Samurai Deeper Kyo
- Rurouni Kenshin (without "oro" and "de gozaru yo" - it's not really Kenshin...even though I've only seen a few clips in english. It's a rather biased opinion ^^; )
Hmm, and now that I think about it, I have the first 2 volumes of Kaleido Star and I havn't watched the dub yet O.o *starts digging through DVDs*
Oh, and Angelx03, if this hasn't been stated before, Magic Knight Rayearth is a very cute dub. You might like it ^__^
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Oh My
- Joined: Sun Jun 13, 2004 2:06 pm
ack, I will agree completely with that! Kitsune's hick voice and Su's almost British voice!Z3r01 wrote:\The Bad:
Love Hina:
I suppose it wasn't totally bad, but it was all a bit too hyper for me. Also Mitsune sounding like a hillbilly or something got right on my nerves. It just didn't fit the anime or character in any way, shape or form as far as I was concerned.
uck, it makes me feel yucky *cringe*-
Mroni
- Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2001 5:08 pm
- Location: Heading for the 90s living in the 80s sitting in a back room waiting for the big boom
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bubblehead
- Joined: Fri Oct 31, 2003 7:29 pm
- Contact:
A little of both, I think. I just don't like it. But that's another matter.Z3r01 wrote: Dragonball Z:
A lotta people knock DBZ, I dunno if it's genuine or some sort of elitest complex about DBZ being too popular, oh well
Great:
Spirited Away - very good voice acting, very similar to the original.
Good:
Chobits - for some reason I like this one. The first episode, in particular, is alot better in English. It just doesn't work if you're reading. Well, mostly I like Hideki, but I still prefer the Japanese, because: 1) the lady who dubbed Miaka (Fushigi Yuugi) doing the voice for anyone BUT Miaka freaks me out somehow, and 2) both Chii and the reading of those books sounds better in the sub. Had I not seen the sub, though, I would still be *happily* watching the dub, and I still like to watch the first episode dubbed.
Lupin III TV series - it's funny, that's all I have to know.
Cowboy Bebop - I really like some of the voices, and none of them are bad per se.
Trigun - again, it was pretty funny, and I didn't find anything to dislike.
Bad:
Angelic Layer - Misaki is SOOO high-pitched that I can't stand to listen to her.
Risky Safety - Safety hurts my ears. T_T
Crest of the Stars - never seen the Japanese but this is SO boring. I sat through it but I kinda regret it.
Excel Saga - initially I could stand it, but then it started to hurt my ears more and more and now I don't like it anymore.
Slayers - only saw one ep, and that was after seeing most of the series subbed, but I found it really boring.
Shaman King - what is up with Ren/Len's voice? He sounds sort of British, but no one else in his family does. And "Morty" (Manta) is just too dislikeable, and Yoh's not exactly *likeable* to me.
Other:
Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro - I don't really LIKE the dubbing on this one, and again Miaka freaks me out, but I can't seem to get any enjoyment out of the sub, whereas I actually enjoy the dub, which definitely counts for something. Still can't bring myself to call it good, though.
But all told, there are probably more decent dubs than good or bad ones, and many of the dubs people dislike, probably have to do with them having heard the better voicing in the original.
My DVDs
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President of the Sequoia High School anime club!
I have a forum now. O.o Rabid Catgirl
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President of the Sequoia High School anime club!
I have a forum now. O.o Rabid Catgirl
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Shun
- Joined: Fri Dec 20, 2002 8:04 pm
- Location: Decatur, IL
Re: the Good and the Bad, Bad, BAAAAAAD Dubbing
I would have to disagree there.Oh My wrote:what animes make you cringe when you hear the horrible dubbing? which ones make you giggle with delight for how well they fit the characters?
my list....
lame
Love Hina(most anyways)
Yu Yu Hakusho(don't ask me why, i just don't like it)
Gundum Seed (mainly just the singing parts *cringe*)
Sailor Moon (not all the time, but alot)
perfect
Cowboy Bebop
Trigun
Sorcerer Hunters
Inuyasha
DBZ
Case Closed
Trigun imho had quite crappy dubs, a completely new cast would have been nice there.
Inuyasha, not so bad but the fact that i had watched the subs first and had seen a few eps of zoids (same voice as bit cloud) kind of ruined this one for me.
The only one i could probably fully agree with on your list is Cowboy Bebop, very nice cast and script.
As for my opinions on other anime... Subs are usually the way to go, I havn't come across an anime yet where i liked the dub more.