And this week we have another question from Naru. Reminder, you can use the link in the sidebar or click here to go to the survey if you have a question for Karandi.
Question: What are some of your favourite English dubs? from Naru
This one was actually a really easy question to answer because there aren’t many anime where I would actually say I like the English dub (of course I don’t watch a lot of dubbed anime so that limits the options). Of the anime I do watch dubbed my favourite is probably Steins;Gate. This isn’t just because the characters talk so often and quickly that the subs can sometimes take up a fair chunk of the screen, but they’ve just done a great job of really injecting personality into each and every performance and the English cast are absolutely great to listen to.
Another anime I really like the dubbed version of is Ghost Hunt. That’s probably because the dubbed was the only version I had access to originally and by the time I saw it subbed I was already used to the voices and translations in the dubbed version and I ended up kind of disliking the subs.
Though one anime where I just enjoy the English because I do, is Darker Than Black. This makes it an anime I regularly introduce non-anime fans to because I’ll happily watch it in English. I think it is Kate Oxley who does the English voice of Kirihara and she does an absolutely amazing job.
Those are my picks for dubbed anime that I quite like but I’d love to know what some of your favourite English dubs are so please share in the comments below. And remember, if you have a question for me click here.
Thanks for reading.
Karandi James
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I switch regularly between dub, and sub anime so I’ve seen a fair amount of both. Favorite English dubs are easily Death Note, and both versions of Fullmetal Alchemist. Once I’ve seen them in English it makes it impossible for me to want to go to the English subs.
English dubs I like in a ironic way is Brain Powerd because it’s so bad it’s good, and Dark Cat. The later has some of the voice acting I’ve heard in any English dub. It’s so unintentionally hilarious it brings me nothing, buy joy.
I thoroughly enjoyed the Infinite Stratos dub. I thought it actually improved on the sub, and that’s unusual in my experience!
None!
I would elaborate but that would incur another flame war over the old dubs vs subs argument that will never die so I’ll leave there and go crawl back into my hole. :-/
Safer there. The sub vs dub war gets pretty fierce for no reason that I’ve ever understood. Watch what you like, how you like, leave everyone else alone.
I’m mostly a dub person myself but the ones you’ve listed here (aside from Ghost Hunt which I haven’t seen yet) I agree with. Of course there are the classic easy answers like Cowboy Bebop but I’m glad you listed some more unique ones 🙂
I only watch something dubbed when I’m doing something else so I dont miss anything
I watch both Japanese and English tracks, and since I think there’s talent on both sides of the pond, it tends to come down to what kinds of voices I think suit the characters better. Also, my Japanese is passable but English is my native language so I think that usually means I can appreciate the acting better in an English performance than in Japanese, for better or worse – so poor or mediocre English acting is extra grating, but fantastic English acting is unbeatable because it hits me harder. Some of my favorite dubs that come to mind are Cowboy Bebop (no competition there), the original Fullmetal Alchemist (didn’t care for the Japanese voices, where both Ed and Al were voiced by women instead of guys), Yuri on Ice (loved the accents!) and Death Note (I liked the Japanese Light better, even though Brad Swaile was great, but Alessandro Juliani killed it as L!). The Studio Ghibli films have always gotten really great dubs, too.
I never could get into the Death Note dub. There wasn’t anything wrong with it other than the fact that I was already used to hearing the characters sound different. I still haven’t seen Yuri on Ice dubbed. I’m not sure how I’d handle Yuri and Victor not sounding the way I’m used to at this point. I should try it at some point.
There’s probably something to be said about preferring the version you hear first! I’m usually just fine with either, unless there’s a particular voice I just can’t stand in one version. I know there’s a lot of fans that prefer Yuri on Ice in Japanese, but I personally felt the English version fit the international vibe of the story a bit better. I loved Yuri Katsuki’s Japanese voice a lot, though.
I watch anime both ways, in part because I have some family and friends who can’t watch subs for various reasons, so if I ever wanted to share anime with them it had to be through dubs. I tend to default to subs most of the time when I’m alone, but whenever I buy a series that has a dub I’ll usually try to watch the dub at least once, just to see how I like it and if it’s good enough to share with my friends. There are three shows in particular that I only watch in dub, though. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya and Gunslinger Girl I tried both ways, and in both cases the dubs actually brought those shows to life for me when I was kinda getting bored with them in sub. Flipping on the dubs was like suddenly going from monochrome to full 4k color. Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex I’ve always watched in dub, going back to when I first saw it on Adult Swim, and the dub is so good that I’ve never tried the sub version or even been curious about it. In fact, Mary Elizabeth McGlynn is so much the Major for me that when I tried to watch the original movie again a few years ago I discovered she’d indirectly ruined the movie’s dub for me. It felt so wrong hearing someone else play that character in English that I had to finish it in sub.
One other unique case is Kanon, where I like the sub and dub absolutely equally. When I’m watching it on my own I’ll flip back and forth between them from episode to episode, and sometimes even from scene to scene if there’s something coming up that I really want to hear in the other language. That’s the only series I’ve ever done that with, or even know both versions well enough that I really could.
I completely forgot about Ghost in the Shell. Top notch stuff. I also like that McGlynn has a hand in the Silent Hill games and absolutely OWNS the Major’s character.
Oh, have to agree about the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. The first time I watched it I did drop it during the first episode and then I found the English version and watched it. I think because the dialogue is so fast you just feel like you are reading screen after screen of text the first time. I really love the subbed now, but I probably would never have finished the series without the dub bringing it to life for me. Nice pick.
Nice. The Ghost Hunt dub is one of those that made me a fan of Cherami Leigh. 🙂
If I had to pick one, I’d say Shiki has an absolutely phenomenal English dub.
I never ended up much of a fan of the Shiki dub. I’ve watched it a couple of times dubbed when I’ve watched with friends who won’t read subs, and it isn’t bad, but I guess I just got used to the characters speaking Japanese so it always seems a bit off.
Yeah, I know what you mean there. And it’s not just the different language, it’s the entirely-different VOICE. Like, “This person is supposed to sound like THAT, not like THIS!”
Cowboy Bebop. Samurai Champloo. Full Metal Alchemist. Full Metal Panic and Fumoffu. Excel Saga. Louie the Rune Soldier, Those Who Hunt Elves. Heavy Object. Martian Successor Nadesico. Rah Xephon and Neon Genesis Evangelion. These are the very best English dubs. Many of these have the same voice actors from ADV Films in Texas. A big part of what makes a good dub is doing more than one take, and having a sound engineer to vary the voices volume and including background noises and sound effects. The voice actress in Excel saga had to be replaced after ep 3 because the role was so tough she blew out her vocal courts. That’s dedication.
Chords, not courts. Coffee now. Need coffee. Quarter of 6 here.
I do like the Evangelion dub. Again, probably because I watched it dubbed the first time through.
Its an amazing dub. One of the best. And did you know that the guy who voices Shinji got hired for Nadesico, same as the Japanese voice actor. They both dubbed Nadesico for the same character, for the SAME REASON (to unwind, and a paycheck). Its really hilarious. Its also one of the reason I encourage anime fans to see Martian Successor Nadesico because its a wonderful parody, and in anime context, extra funny for the hidden in plain sight jokes. “Are they using voice activated weapons?” Nadesico mocks about 20 different giant robot anime series, including Voltron and Giant Robo and the endless Gundam series. Most won’t watch it because its “old” from the 90’s, and 4:3 not 16:9. Its long, has good character development, memorable and interesting characters and hilarious dialogue: “This says your name is Joe Imitsubami.” “But Gai Dogoji is the name of my SOUL!”. ADV nearly bankrupted making it. It took more than year, with huge wages built up and a massive budget. No anime has ever taken so much money to produce a dub, and it SHOWS. The voice acting is some of the best in the entire industry, as far as America is concerned. The Japanese voice acting is still better, but this is up there with Cowboy Bebop quality, which is an industry standard for good reason. Bebop has full range for comedy, romance, drama, menace. Its magnificent voice acting. Nadesico also does this, though it is played more for comedy than drama, most of the time.
I love the dub for Space Dandy because it really captured the show’s eccentricities. The voice actors were having sooo much fun and I love that😆
On the other end of the spectrum, I think the dub for Jin Roh, the Wolf Brigade was beautiful. The voices were so soothing and elegant. Moneca Stori was especially wonderful as Kei.
Oh ghost hunt! I remember watching this when I was in college! I didn’t know there was an English version. Still a good anime and i remember the last episode or so was the scariest part with the funny house and man who drank blood? Hopefully I’m remembering the right anime 🤣 I think I will need to rewatch!
The English version I probably only like because it was all I had access to for many of my first watches of this anime. I will point out the Priest that they make Australian has one of the worst Australian accents I’ve heard in a long time in the dub and every time he spoke I would fall over laughing. I honestly thought he was supposed to be a joke character until I heard the original. I can’t remember where he’s from in the original or why he has an accent because I’ve only watched it once, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t find his character so hilarious.
Spice and Wolf, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Mushi-Shi, Space Dandy, Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, Full Metal Panic, Dragon Ball Z, Berserk, any Ghibli film, and Afro Samurai immediately pop out to me as being ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC dubs. I basically refuse to watch those shows unless they’re dubbed.
Gotta get to Steins Gate one of these days…
Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood and Full Metal Panic I totally agree with. I’ve watched them subbed and dubbed and both ways are pretty excellent.
When I first started watching anime in Holland, I only had access to English dubs. The one that I remember is Orguss 02, a 6 part OVA series and I thought the voices in that one were very good. These days though I only watch anime subbed, so I could not name any new ones that I like now 😊
Yeah, I can’t actually remember the last dub I watched all the way through. I watched part of Saiki K dubbed because I was visiting a friend and that’s how their Netflix is set up, but that’s probably the last one I’ve listened to the English for in a long time.
Yeah, it’s the same with me too. I literally for the life of me can’t even remember the last time I watched an English dubbed anime. It might even be more than 10-15 years ago 😊😊