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Don't Ever Watch These Anime Dubbed Rating Comment
Crying Freeman (OAV) Bad (dub), Good (sub) I saw the original streamline dub of this. Avoid it. It's so vulgar I wanted to rip my ears off. And the voices were so uninspired it just killed any redeeming factors about this dub.
Dragon Ball GT (TV) Bad (dub & sub) Another of Funimation's dubs with the "Dragon Ball Z"/"4kids" hackjob treatment. This dub was the suck. The original Japanese version wasn't all that good to begin with, but the dub makes the Japanese version seem like Shakespearean Theatre. They replaced all the BGM and vocal songs with terrible music. And re-wrote the script, like always, to incoherent babble. And they made an English dubbed OP that's got to be in the top 5 of worst English dubbed OPs in the history of English dubbed OPs. The GT rap. It's the worst ever. This series was already considered an avoid before Funimation dubbed it but Funimation made it even more avoidable by destroying any integrity that was in this series with their dub.
Dragon Ball Z (TV) Bad (dub), So-so (edit.dub), Excellent (sub & Spa.dub) If you know me you know I love this series in Japanese but Funimation seriously loves to screw over fans of this show by making a terrible dub twice. Once initially and twice in a re-dub, which I'll go into later. There are two english dubs One by the Ocean Group and another by Funimation, which is the worse one btw. I've come to the conclusion that the Ocean dub was, overall, decent in terms of presentation and voices it was the EDITING that killed it. I've thought to myself many times that if Ocean's Dragonball dub was either unedited or lightly edited it would not be as bad as it turned out to be. A fine example is DBZ movies 1-3 dubbed by them. They didn't replace the BGM with generic crap, the scripts were accurate, and it was completely uncut, and it was overall a good experience. They did change some sfx here and there but it was still pretty good. Now the TV series was edited badly with entire episode cuts, violence edits, and other stuff that's typical of edited 4kids-esque anime for lack of better words. That was the problem not the voices or anything. It was the editing Funi-dub-loving-fanboys. The next dub was done by Funimation's "in-house" actors who had no prior VA acting experience. It pretty ovious too because they really sucked. They improve but they're still bad for pros. Now Funimation's dub is not good, decent, or even tolerable it's just bad so bad that it's got to be the third worse dub I have ever heard. Not "OMG, this is hilarious", more like "OMG that sucked", "That wasn't what he was supposed to say", "Why did he say that?". It sounds like a fandub rather than a professional dub and I've heard better fandubs than this. the acting is horrendous and there is terrible overacting. Everytime a character moves they make some sort of retarded grunt come out of it and it's very annoying and fake sounding. Everything I said about the sub version in my "seen" section(great voices, script, music, etc.) you can throw out the window. This dub just plain sucks to listen to. One, the bgm is gone and replaced with crappy techno bgm that is made with little to no artistic integrity and, on top of that, it doesn't stop at all. So once the episode starts the music starts, once the episode ends the music ends. It would be great if the music was good or "white noise" music but it's not it's actually a soundtrack with tunes and themes. All I can say is that it completely alters the entire feel of the series from a "martial arts/adventure" anime to a sucky clichéd "Saturday morning superhero cartoon from the 1970's". I can't find the words to comment on how much this replacement music sucks but it just does. Not because the original was replaced, but because this music is just not good music, and that it's not right for this type of show. The music pieces in some cases are literally 5 seconds long and looped for however long the damn producers thought it should be. Seriously I really don't care about what anybody says but if you think this music is good then that's I really can't help you. Recently Funimation has "added" the original bgm to their dub but it's way too late for that since this show was first dubbed by them between the years of 1999 and 2003, and just in 2007, 4 and 1/2 years after the last episode was dubbed, they decide that it needs to be there. It was a terrible move to replace the BGM in the first place and it this is the biggest factor that makes me not like this dub. Second, the voice acting. I swear to my God in Heaven, that every character was miscast and misinterpreted from the original character. Even when they got the characterization correct they screwed it up. Majin Boo, a character in the latter part of the series, is a great example. He's basically a jolly man that has fun fighting, and killing, his opponents. Well, Funimation got this right, but multiplied it times 20 and made it worse for him. The only way that I can explain this is that he sounds like a retarded 4 year old that inhaled an endless amount of helium, and everytime he talks you'd want to punch him. And Goku is misinterpreted worse than he was in the original Dragon Ball where the VA was told to make him sound like a "cool kid" rather than "naive". Now, in DBZ he sounds and acts like a wanna be superhero with his speeches and how he delivers his lines. This is absolutely the most altered character change in the entire series. Because Goku is not a superhero. He's got a naive and child-like like personality and he vocabulary isn't vast. He's more or less like how he was in the original Dragonball. But Funimation says, "he's a superhero so make him sound like Superman". That and I don't care what anybody says about Goku's seiyuu but he should sound like a youthful person full of energy regardless of the gender of the VA. Masako Nozawa captures that. Sean Schemmel, the Funi dub VA barely scratches the surface on this matter, which is why I don't like his voice for Goku. Now the thing is most of the people that think Goku should sound like a superhero are the people that started with 'Z' rather than starting where it should start (Where's That? I dunno uh...Dragon Ball) then they'd realize that Goku's Funimation dub VA is a bad choice. Again Goku is just seriously the most misinterpreted character out of all of the characters throughout this dub marking another reason why I don't like it, also every character, yes every character, falls in this same line with misinterpretations and miscasts, it's horrible. The voice acting isn't good and hasn't been good either. Vegeta sounds like a chain smoker and an 80's pro wrestler, teenage Gohan sounds like a 40 year old child predator rather than a teenager, Yamucha sounds like a surfer, and Bulma sounds like a valley girl. The only improvement here was that Chi-Chi and Goku talked like they were "educated"(which really isn't an improvement because they are uneducated hicks :P) That was in 1999-2003 and they've done a redub(since it's common for companies to re-dub *sarcasm*). Since they've had more experience and in the 2007 anime dubbing world you'd think they'd be better than when they started out right, right? Wrong. They still suck as voice actors almost every one of them. Chris Sabat voices 12 characters and most of them are main characters. WHY the Hell is somebody with 10% acting experience 1. the ADR director and 2. Voicing 12 characters? I don't know all I do know is that he makes all of the characters he voices sound the same so it's easy to hear that it's him talking to 4 other people throughout the entire series. Lastly the script is 70% unnecessarily re-written to fit the "superhero show" cliché I was talking about earlier. I swear again that if you watch an episode subbed first then watch the dubbed, it's like you're watching two entirely different shows outside of the animation. Entire meanings are changed, plot-points are taken away, not one word from the dub version is even from the Japanese version, most if not all the time. Every episode that Funimation dubs from this show is comparative to a glorified fan-fiction reading and not even close to a loose meaning of what the original dialogue was either, it's just different. And everything is pretty much dumbed down to a ridiculous, almost insulting, level. Like for kids under 7 insulting. Now I know the original DB/Z was a shonen series which means it was for boys and preteens in Japan but c'mon. The original seems like it was make for teenagers and adults compared to the dub. Not to mention, the dub is filled with horrible jokes or senseless rabbling that does not happen in the original version that undeniably kills any integrity of this series. What's worse than this dub are the fans. You know the ones that don't watch anime but watch DBZ dubbed only and skip over Dragonball completely because they had some sort of outrageou claim saying that it was boring or stupid thing like that. I don't like how they praise this dub like it's the best thing ever because Goku's VA in the English dub is male and his original seiyuu is female. That's just plain ignorant especially since his dub VA does not capture Goku whatsoever. I could voice Goku would it capture Goku? No but damn it I have a male voice and they'll like it. See? Retarded Funi-dub-fanboys. Really though, any "claim" that somebody has about Goku's voice ends up eating what they said and then not admitted so I'd classify them as just plain stupid more than ignorant. And they can't come up with a single reason to why the Dub is good(which it never was or will be). I think you'd think the movies would be better dubbed but they aren't either. They're like watching a longer version of the TV series dubbed, which is crap. So in the end if people actually thought about what they were saying instead of just opening their mouths then they see that Funi's dub is terrible do they? No. The majority of the people that watch the dub are either below 6 or have the mentality of a six year old so I can't help them. 6 year olds are always stubborn just like these Funi dub lovers. This dub gives Dragonball a bad name to the general public and I can say that this is Funimation's worst dub in their entire library of anime and you should avoid it like how nearly everybody avoids 4kids' dubbed One Piece, because it's on the exact some line as a 4kids dub that's just "uncut". And I swear to God that this show just cannot be dubbed into any language, except Spanish, properly. Every other foreign language dub I've heard is still off from the original but is still better than Funimation's. If you are going to watch DBZ watch Dragonball first then watch DBZ in Japanese to actually understand everything. Avoid this dub as long as you live. Never ever make contact with it.
Dragon Ball Z: Bojack Unbound (movie 9) Not really good (dub), Very good (sub) I don't know what Funimation was thinking when they dubbed this movie. First off the BGM sounds like rejected Fist of the North Star dubbed music pieces(if you've heard those you know they suck). Second the script writers completely re-wrote everything in this movie even the climax. And in essence, they changed the entire point of the climax into something else to make the character badass. Did it work? No. In fact, it failed miserably. So miserably that I'm filling with rage thinking about it. It's so pointless that this had to be re-written that it changes nearly the entire point of why I sat there for 40+ minutes to have fake fan-fiction dialogue so the main character an be badass for the kiddies. And finally the voices still suck. Just don't watch this dubbed like every DBZ production.
Mobile Suit Gundam - The Movie Trilogy Weak (dub), Masterpiece (sub) Ugh, this dub just sucked. This dub effectively destroys this Classic Movie Trilogy. They don't use "gundam" terminology, and every voice is bad. Even a good voice actor like Steve Blum, who is in this movie, can't save this movie's dub. If you're going to watch this watch it subtitled.
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed (TV) Decent (dub & sub) This isn't the worst anime dub I've heard. It's more like the worst Gundam dub I've heard. Nobodies voice fits them. The only thing good about this dub is that they swear and that it's close to the Japanese version. But just watch the subbed version of this.
Naruto (TV) Awful (dub), Bad (sub) This is another terrible dub. It seriously turns off people to this series. Naruto's voice is one of the most annoying voices I've ever heard and gives him a completely different personality to his Japanese counterpart. Nobodies voice fits them at all. I avoid this series subbed too, but if you really want to watch Naruto, then watch it subbed.
One Piece (TV 1999) Worst ever (edit.dub), Good (dub), Excellent (sub) But wait the One Piece dub is good. I know the Funimation One Piece dub is pretty good I'm talking about the 4kids version of One Piece. It's so bad that it has to be the worst in the history of English dubbing. One, it's edited on a level of Battle of the Planets compared to Gatchaman. Two, the English dubbed voices are worse than the the dubbed voices in Rurouni Kenshin: The Motion Picture and every dubbed Sailor Moon series. Three the entire essence of One Piece is pissed on chewed up and spat out by these anime butcherers. This has got to be the reason why everybody started hating 4kids because they were doing fine with Pokemon t Avoid this dub like a plague.
Rurouni Kenshin: Reflection (OAV) Awful (dub), Not really good (sub) (refer to Samurai X: The Motion Picture)
Rurouni Kenshin: The Motion Picture Awful (dub), Good (sub) If you've seen this then you know the dub cast sucks. THE END
Rurouni Kenshin: Trust & Betrayal (OAV) So-so (dub), Excellent (sub) (refer to Samurai X: The Motion Picture)
Sailor Moon (TV) Bad (edit.dub), Excellent (sub) This is the 1st of four Sailor Moon series to be dubbed and was dubbed by DiC. Honestly, it's a piece of crap. This series' dub is so far removed from the original Japanese version that it's like a different show. First off everybodies name, that is not English, is changed into a Western name. So even though the anime is in Japan, the main characters have American and English names. The BGM is replaced with bad music. There's no need to comment on how bad it is. If you have any sense of good and bad music you "bad" music sense would be all over the dubbed BGM. This dubbed is edited on a level of what an average 4kids production is like. So I can wholeheartedly say that your unknowing preschoolers would love this dub. However if you're older than an 8 yr old, or an anime fan, you'll hate this dub. So, like with any kiddified anime, serious moments will be(not could be, will be), convoluted into utter nonsense and everything that comes out of the characters mouths is worthless, stupid and would only appeal to little kids. Mostly they try to make this into a crappy girl's show too. I know Sailor Moon is in the "Magical Girl" franchise but, the Japanese version has an appeal that captures an audience male or female. The Dub just tries to capture the little girl audience by having the characters say things like, "Boys are stupid", "Girl Power Girlfriends" and other retarded, 90's, teen girl, stereotypical, slang There are 6 episodes that are skipped in this dub too because DiC just plain felt like skipping them. And the final two episodes are mashed into one. That's just retarded. There's way too much unnecessary censorship too. On average all the episodes lost about 7-10 minutes worth of content. I've seen all of this show in Japanese and barely anything had to be cut let alone 7-10 minutes worth of footage per episode. All the girls sound like Valley girls, one of my favorite main characters talks and sounds like a butch bimbo bitch when in the original she sounds very nice. And the main heroine sounds like a 30 yr old opera singer. That would be good, if she wasn't a 14 yr old girl! This dub is 1/1000000000th of the original Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon and should be avoided if you want to watch Sailor Moon Classic. BTW: There are 5 Sailor Moon series but the English dubbers did not dub the final season. Just saying about my /four series.
Sailor Moon R (TV) Weak (edit.dub), Very good (sub) This is the 2nd out of four Sailor Moon series to be dubbed. Since DiC dubbed this series too, everything that was wrong with Sailor Moon Classic's dub is still present in this dub(terrible BGM, voices, dialogue, unnecessary editing). The only thing that they "improved" on is that they skipped one episode (which is still retarded but whatever). Again avoid this dub and watch the Japanese version.
Sailor Moon R: The Movie So-so (dub), Very good (sub) This dub screwed up a plot point that was critical to the movie. I don't know why either. If you watch this movie subbed and then watch it dubbed it make no sense whatsoever too. Just don't watch it dubbed.
Sailor Moon S (TV) Awful (dub), Masterpiece (sub) This is the 3rd of four Sailor Moon series to be dubbed into English and was dubbed by Cloverway/Optimum productions. What's funny and ironic is that Sailor Moon S is my favorite Sailor Moon series in Japanese. On the dub side, I remember this series being very well dubbed, but now after hearing it again(before watching the subbed version mind you) I can say that this is the worst of the 4 Sailor Moon series that were dubbed. Some people always ask me why I like this series the least dubbed. They say,"It's uncut, there are no skipped episodes, the dub uses the most awesome anime BGM ever. How could you not like it?". Yes, you read it right, this dub was the beginning of unedited dubbed Sailor Moon, but this dub is no different from when DiC dubbed the first two series. This dub still has bad dialogue, changes to episode meanings are still there, and it's inconsistent as hell. Nearly all the VA's change. While that would be good in a usual situation, it's not here because everybody sucks worse than the two series previously dubbed by DiC. So all I can say is that if you thought the DiC cast was bad wait until you hear the Cloverway cast. The lovable lesbian couple got turned into cousins(why!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??!!?!?!?!?) and the footage still shows them doing acts that only lovers would do rather than cousins(which is incest BTW but I guess Cloverway doesn't think that way). And the butch, dominate female of the relationship sounded very manly in the original now she sounds like a girly girl. And the feminine one in the relationship got changed into a having a template of a 40 yr. old mom. In the original she wasn't an average teenager but she was still very much of a kid just very sophisticated. This dub just sucks, the only redeeming value is that the original BGM is used rather than the DiC crap so the music is awesome like always. But that can't save this dub. If you want a masterpiece series watch this in Japanese if you want to commit suicide over an anime then watch this dubbed.
Sailor Moon S: The Movie Worst ever (dub), Very good (sub) This has got to be the worst Sailor Moon dub ever. The other Sailor Moon dubs, as bad as they are, are completely better than this. Absolutely avoid this movie's dub as if your life depended on it.
Sailor Moon SuperS (TV) Weak (dub), Good (sub) This is the 4th and final Sailor Moon series to be dubbed(since Sailor Stars was never dubbed*thank God*) and was dubbed by Cloverway/Optimum productions. This series I consider the weakest of all 5 Sailor Moon series in Japanese however, it was still a good series throughout. Now the dub I consider its strongest here. Its strongest is still very bad though. Two characters have their gender's changed(I don't know why, one was completely unnecessary and it ruined a major plot point), and the dialogue still sucks. Everything that was wrong with the Sailor Moon S dub still applies here too. This dub made it even harder for me to continue with this series, since I already said I don't like it very much. All I can say is to avoid this series dubbed(like all 4 dubbed Sailor Moon series), unless you really want to rip your ears off and have your brain explode.
Sonic X (TV) Weak (edit.dub), Very good (sub) It was bad enough that 4kids' decided not to use the Sonic Adventure series video game english cast and decided to replace them with terrible voices. But the bad thing is that this dub just all around sucks. There's nothing good about it and it makes the Sonic franchise look bad. Avoid this one.
Violence Jack (OAV) I've seen some of this OVA series and, the dub is just like Crying Freeman's. It's ultra vulgar for no apparent reason and voices are uninspired. I won't watch this again until I find the Japanese audio of this which is pretty good.