Forum - View topicWhen the dub makes the anime
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Exaar
 Posts: 279 Location: Delaware |
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Obviously in anime circles there is always a lot of debate over what's better, dubbed anime or subbed anime. Normally, I'm the kind of guy who doesn't really put much stock in it: I acknowledge that some dubs are plain awful, but generally speaking I will watch either without complaint, so long as the dub is decent, and feel that either version are valid and quality interpretations of the show.
That said, I have run across a few series (mostly comedies) in which the English dub completely makes the series for me. These are shows where the portrayal of the characters, the delivery of the lines, and the phrasing of the jokes literally make the show good. When I watch these shows subbed, they barely get a chuckle, but when I watch them dubbed, I am rolling on the floor in hysterics. I bring this up because I just purchased a few DVDs of such a show this weekend: The Wallflower: This show is hysterical, and 99% of it comes from the voice acting. Hannah Alcorn does a great job as the creepy-sounding Sunako, but what really makes the /entire/ show is the performance of the four male leads. Chris Patton, Greg Ayers, and Vic Mignogna are all well-known and talented VAs to begin with, but they all do a tremendous job with this show. The one who really outdoes himself though is Josh Grelle as Kyohei. The way he freakin' screams and shrieks is so funny I end up cracking up at 90% of his lines. The Japanese dub of this show just cannot compare to the way the lines are read in English, in my opinion. A similar show with the same effect on me is Nerima Daikon Brothers. In this case, I think it is largely due to the fact that it's a musical, and the funny songs work much better when you are hearing them than when you are reading them, but once again Greg Ayers and Chris Patton deliver awesome comic performances, joined this time by Luci Christian who also does a great job. (They all sing their own parts too, and do an awesome job at it). The final one I'll mention is Goldenboy. My god, Goldenboy. A show that would probably seem juvenile and crass (well, even more so) is made into a comic masterpiece purely by the performance of Doug Smith as Kintaro Oe. His voice literally makes the entire show good. "THE WILD BEAST INSIDE OF YOU HAS AWOKEN THE WILD BEAST INSIDE OF MEEEEEE" Hahahaa. Anyway, anyone else got any shows like that? Where the english dub completely makes the show? |
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GhstDreamer
 Posts: 134 |
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Black Lagoon I think was much much much better in English Dubbed than the original Japanese voice actors. The English script packed a lot more punch and the voice actors were more believable in their roles.
Hare+Guu was just funnier in English than in Japanese. Sometimes reading the subtitles isn't the same as actually listening to the jokes and understanding it. I absolutely love the rewriting of the script for Gakkou no Kaiden (Ghost Stories) - the original script took itself too seriously for a show that no one could really take it seriously. Anyways the dub was hilarious, so I just kept on watching the series. One I totally wish would include an English dub would Emma...It seems a bit odd not to include the English language in a story set in England. |
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xia83
 Posts: 137 |
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Cowboy Bebop
The one anime which I think the dub surpasses the japanese. When I watch the show it's always dubbed which is a rarity as I prefer subs. I cant really recall alot of dubs, because as i've said I watch subs. But dubs I have liked were Samurai Champloo, Death Note, and Gankutsuou. Last edited by xia83 on Sun May 11, 2008 10:53 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Veoryn87
 Posts: 808 |
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Usually when I liked a series dubbed more than subbed, it's not necessarily because I think the acting is better, it's because I like the voices better. Full Metal Panic is a series that I love more in English thanks to some of the voices, like Kurtz Weber and Tessa. Hilary Haag still makes Tessa sound cute, but she has a bit of authority in her voice that I think is important for a freaking submarine captain to have. In Japanese her voice was more high-pitched (which equals annoying to me) and sounded too innocent. Vic Mignogna gives Kurtz that American coolness that I like. Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu had some lines that were funnier in the dub script than the sub script, like the "You loser biatch" line. Another example would be Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. I think Mary Elizabeth Mclynn (sp?) gives Motoko more authority and also makes her sound more mature.
Last edited by Veoryn87 on Sun May 11, 2008 2:37 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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lesterf1020
 Subscriber Posts: 301 Location: Trinidad and Tobago |
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I would like to agree to what was mentioned Hare+Guu, Samurai Champloo, Full Metal Panic! and add a few Moon Phase (a lot funnier and livelier in English), Negima! (just as fun but easier to tell the girls apart) and xxxholic (funnier and Coleen Clinkenbeard as Yuko rules!)
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sanosuke32
Posts: 454 |
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Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, and Scrapped Princess all had perfect dubs. Some animes like Haruhi would be fine in either dub or sub, because its an easy going show, when a show like Champloo focuses more on the action and a character like Mugen deserves a great voice like Steve Blum. In Scrapped Princess, Shannon Cassull is a very angry character at times, and I find Crispin Freeman does quite an excellent job at this. (he agrees) Hellsing Ultimate I find has quite well done dubs, and it makes more sense since its set in London. Again, Freeman does an exceptional job as Alucard, and the others all sound British which makes the show much more believable. There are more shows around which have better dubs but I can't think of anymore at the moment except maybe Full Metal Alchemist.
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DPX
 Posts: 118 |
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Berserk= Berserk Dub>>>Sub in every possible manner. One thing I like about it is that there is more vocal distinction between the character, so it's easier to tell who is who, especially during big battles (good luck trying to point out Griffith from generic soldier x). I also find that all of the Japanese voices just sounded very generic, it bored me. Also, let's not forget that Berserk also has the greatest dub outtakes ever! If you can find funnier outtakes, please let me know!
Gankutsuou= Dubbing perfection, plain and simple. I can't really describe how good this is, you just have to watch it and hear for yourself. Nerima Daikon Brothers~ Reading a song just isn't the same as hearing it, and the singing, along with the rest of the dialogue, is really well done! I also didn't know that Luci Christian was a singer, I was pleasantly surprised! Hellsing- British accents and Crispin freeman, 'nuff said. I have some more, but this will be all for today. |
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Zin5ki
 Posts: 6680 Location: London, UK |
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Ceras and Alucard's voice actors could have done much better with the accents. Sometimes it sounded as if they weren't even trying. |
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Veoryn87
Posts: 808 |
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I don't think Crispin Freeman was even trying. I was under the impression that Alucard didn't have a British accent anyway, which would make sense in some ways. I found nothing wrong with Seras. |
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Bluebeard
 Posts: 267 Location: Massachusetts |
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I'll admit to this only if my name is changed, my face isn't shown, and my voice is altered for my own protection.
As a staunch sub-supporter, I honestly think I enjoy the english dub of Haruhi Suzumiya more than the sub. It particularly makes Kyon's character a little more interesting to listen to, although some may argue that he isn't meant to be interesting. There are also portions of dialogue, particularly Yuki's, that go by extremely fast and it's hard to catch it all without pausing. When I get the chance I'm going to go back and watch the entire show in broadcast order in the english dub. I'll have to constantly change disks to do that, but it'll be worth it. |
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skyesage
 Posts: 97 |
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Seconding all the Samurai Champloo love here. I watched that entire show dubbed and I loved every minute of it.
I also think that the Disney dubs of the Miyazaki movies are fantastic (especially Princess Mononoke and Laputa) I also don't think that s-CRY-ed would have had near as much entertainment value if it wasn't dubbed... 
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Exaar
Posts: 279 Location: Delaware |
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While I agree with most of what you guys are saying, many of you are missing the point of my post! It isn't "which shows have better dubs than subs", it's "which shows owe their awesomeness to their dubs"?
The shows I listed are shows which are, in my opinion, not very interesting in Japanese, but awesome in English because of the VA's performances. Or at least, the English VA's work amplifies the awesomeness to an entirely different level. In other words, the dub makes the anime awesome when it otherwise may not be. Shows like Haruhi and Champloo, and FMA may have great dubs, but they were awesome in Japanese too, right? Not that I disagree with what anyone has said, I just wanted to clarify the intent of my post which seems to have been slightly mis-interpreted! Last edited by Exaar on Sun May 11, 2008 8:10 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Top Gun
 Posts: 5308 |
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Oh, most definitely. I love many dubs dearly, but it's a very rare situation when I feel that a series would have absolutely no entertainment value whatsoever without the benefit of its dub, and s-CRY-ed is at the very top of that list. 
In a different sense, I agree with an earlier poster in saying that Cowboy Bebop is a series I have no desire to watch subbed; there's a good reason that Watanabe himself preferred the English cast to the Japanese. Other shows I'd probably lump in this category are Big O, Ghost in the Shell: Stand-Alone Complex, and FLCL. |
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JacobC
ANN Past Staff
 Posts: 3728 Location: SoCal |
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Oh yeah, I'd have to agree that Miyazaki movies are, in general, fantastic in English with the professional treatment they are given. I remember Nausicaa being a little disappointing, though...
Cowboy Bebop is a big, hairy, painful DUUUUUH. See it in English, it'll knock your socks off. People are divisive on this because BOTH versions are good. (That's true of most dubs) but I love the dub of Fullmetal Alchemist. Um...you know, a lot of cases are either/or. I prefer dubs solely because I enjoy art more when I don't have to read it, and both cases are equal.
Also, if I may be so bold, as I am rewatching the series right now, so I know my opinion is groundedly recent...I watched OUTLAW STAR and DBZ in English and never criticized them, corny as they were. But already TWO people have called Gankutsuou an outstanding dub and...just my opinion, but I can't hold back because I love that show... Why? That dub is tragic. It is so flat and emotionless it makes my ears bleed. Note I didn't say bad as in poorly acted or annoying, I said "tragic." "Flat." "Emotionless." "Faked and undercut melodrama in a really dramatic show." But the best word to sum it up is "uninspired," a word used in the ANN review, which I thought had to be harsh until I actually saw the show. All the actors who were cast have these great, rich qualities to their voices, but play their parts SO robotically that it's painful. Just because these people are aristocrats doesn't mean they speak any differently from normal people, you know...must be a matter of opinion, but I think the people who loved that dub loved the rich timbre of the classical character's voices and were somehow not able to notice the wooden acting that plagued me throughout that show. Now, there are some exceptions: Monsieur and Madame Villefort, Monsieur and Madame Danglars, Andrea Cavalcanti, Caderousse, and Haidee are all just fine. They play their parts very well. Kudos. Everyone else is passably and tragically wooden...with the exception of Albert, who does great, then wooden, then great, then wooden. He's at his best when he's REALLY emotional, a staple of Johnny Yong Bosch's. Mercedes, Maximilien, and Lucien Debray are downright bad. Don't flame me, but they are... |
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walw6pK4Alo
 Posts: 9322 |
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In my experience, any anime that involves Japan, Japanese customs, Japanese people, Japanese names, Japanese in any connection, is better in Japanese simply for pronunciations of names or any other proper nouns that may or may not have an English equivalent. While I'm usually all for the Japanese audio first without even giving the English a consideration, there are a few which sound damn good in English.
First up is Berserk. Guts sounds more rough and manly, befitting his character well. Griffith too fits perfectly. The voice is noble and uplifting, it's elegant as well as grandiose. Berserk is in a Medieval Europe type of environment, so English could work easily there. Same for Claymore, if it's done well. |
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