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Amazon Streamed AI English Dubs on Banana Fish, 'No Game, No Life Zero,' Vinland Saga, Pet Anime
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
Amazon Prime Video's stream of the Banana Fish anime previously listed that its English dub and the Latin American Spanish dub are both "AI beta" dubs. Amazon Prime Video's stream of the No Game, No Life Zero anime film, the Pet anime, and the Vinland Saga anime also listed the English and Latin American Spanish dubs as "AI beta" dubs. Amazon Prime Video has since removed the English dubs for Banana Fish, No Game, No Life Zero, and Vinland Saga, and as of Wednesday, the English dub for Pet has been removed. The Latin American Spanish dubs has also been removed except for Vinland Saga, as of Wednesday.
Users on social media started noticing the AI English dubs and posting about them on Friday. Soon afterward, many voice actors started speaking out against the Banana Fish AI dubs, including the following (note: some of the linked social media posts contain adult language): Daman Mills, Kara Edwards, Nick Huber, Dawn M. Bennett, Martin Billany, Dave Wallace, and Abigail Blythe.
ANN has reached out to Aniplex regarding the Banana Fish English and Latin American Spanish dubs on Friday, and to Kadokawa and Sentai Filmworks about the No Game, No Life Zero English dub on Saturday. Kadokawa stated that it has not approved an AI dub "in any form." Sentai Filmworks stated that it was "not aware in advance" of the AI dub, and is "looking into it with Amazon." Aniplex did not issue a statement as of press time.
The 24-episode Banana Fish anime adapted Akimi Yoshida's manga and premiered in July 2018. The anime adapted the entire manga, but took place modern day New York, instead of in the 1980s when the original manga took place. Amazon Prime Video streamed the series as it aired with English subtitles.
The No Game, No Life Zero anime film opened in Japan in July 2017. Sentai Filmworks screened the film with both an English dub and with English subtitles in select U.S. theaters in September and October 2017, before releasing the film on home video in August 2018. HIDIVE started streaming the film on May 23, with the English dub. ANN can confirm the end credits on Amazon Prime Video still lists Sentai Filmworks' English dub cast and staff, despite the "AI beta" dub being completely different than Sentai Filmworks' dub.
Source: Amazon Prime Video (link 2) via @brainchild129 and @jgryph0n on Bluesky
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.
