Your favorite dubs and why

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matt0044

matt0044

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Title says it all. If by chance dubs aren't your cup of tea (for lack of better words), then my recommendation is to ignore this thread since... well, look at the title.

Anyways, be detailed, be fair, be mature and all that stuff.
 
My favorite dubs are
Fullmetal Alchemist because I believe all the actors did a fantastic job with this series.
Code Geass cus the lead in the dub sounds so powerful.
 
Cromartie High, I will say without hesitation that I think it is better than the sub.
 
Okay, here's what I feel are "best dubs", and granted, these are all older series, as I haven't watched a dub of pretty much anything in years. I also don't watch anime much anymore as a whole and haven't for years.

Noir: It's pretty close to its original and I like the original. For the most part, everything was left unchanged...just the language was changed for us to understand it. The accents for the dub are pretty goofy, but, it's more distinguishable in the dub, since this series took place in France anyway and had a lot of French and English characters.

Azumanga Daioh: A comedy series. Just as Noir, pretty much nothing was changed. The voices were okay too. Of course they had to change some things because some jokes wouldn't have translated over well (like the jokes about how Osakans are or the riddles that Ayumu [Osaka] would come up with), but they worked with what the writers came up with.

Gunsmith Cats: This is just an OVA, so it might not count entirely since it's so short. I didn't find much wrong with it. I like both its English version and its Japanese version. I just wish they'd given this series a full on series. The only thing that suited the characters for the dub, were the voices, since the characters are American and the series takes place in Chicago.

Ronin Warriors: Even though this is an earlier series, I felt that the adaptation from the original was well done. Hardly anything was cut from the series. Even most of the music was kept, not counting the opening and the endings. The voice acting was pretty good too. They even kept most of the main characters' names, minus Shin (Sai), Touma (Rowen), Nasuti (Mia), and Jun (Yuli). This is one series where I like both its original and its dub.

Samurai Pizza Cats: I know, surprising, but I only like this "dub" and feel it can fit for a "best" because it was pretty much all original. The show was just so comical and enjoyable for me. The voices were cool too. It wasn't annoying to listen to. I like the original too. The puns are what made the show, imo. If you treat this entirely as a stand alone type series and don't compare it to the original (Kyatto Ninden Teyandee), and like randomness, I'm sure most would enjoy it. Of course, for the original, some of the jokes used in there, wouldn't have translated over all that well so American references suit it better.

.hack//SIGN: Instead of getting all detailed, going to pretty much mention what I said before. VERY close to the original. No character changes, no story changes, the voices were even close.

Cowboy Bebop: This is a series that is good in both Japanese and English, imo. For the most part, hardly anything was changed or dropped when shown on television ('cept for one thing that comes to mind...but that was sex-oriented, iirc). The voices were also well done for the dub.

Gundam Wing: Odd choice, as this show did have cuts in it for its dub...like that disturbing scene with the doctors that Duo walked in on. o_O I just felt the voicing and stuff was good for it, original music, etc. Only thing that could've been a bit better was Heero's character. He was a bit too unemotional. He didn't lack that much emotion for the original, so to me, he was slightly mischaracterized for the dub.

That's all that's coming to mind for me at the moment. I guess, for me, a good dub usually doesn't have too many unnecessary changes of the characters or of actual plot points as well as keeping in original soundtracks. I guess the bottom line is the dub is best to me, if it's as close to its original as possible.
 
My favorite dub of any anime is the Fruits Basket dub. Fruits Basket is probably the only anime where I feel the dub is just good as the original, if not better. In fact I actually do prefer it to the original Japanese. All of the voice actors did a really fantastic job at portraying their characters (the only characters I thought were better in the original were Momiji and Kagura) and the script was also really good, taking what the original script said and making it even funnier and more enjoyable. I thought it was phenomenal and it's definitely my favorite anime dub of all time.

I thought the Puella Magi Madoka Magica dub was pretty good too. Though I prefer it in Japanese, I thought the dub did a really excellent job and most of the characters sounded great. I especially thought Kyoko, Sayaka and Homura were very well done.
 
Fruits Basket had a great dub, but Hetalia takes the cake if not for the accents alone.
 
I would say Code Geass. Especially Lelouch's voice actor who did an admirable job, not only it fits the character but he knew how to keep some big moments as powerful as in the japanese version (like the end of episode 21).
 
While I wouldn't consider myself much a fan of Hetalia I find the dub significantly more entertaining than the original. The accents are funny and the writing is great. I think it's a good example of when changing things from the original is a good idea (like Ghost Stories)

I also find myself rather attached to the original Pokemon dub, if only for nostalgia. I feel similar with the dub of D.N.Angel, though it isn't the best and the Japanese is technically better, I just like it again for nostalgia's sake and the fact that Greg Ayres is in it and plays my favorite character.

I've also always found myself fond of the dub for the Sonic OVA (Sonic the hedgehog the movie). A lot of people thought the voices were annoying but I feel they were the most fitting of all the various voice actor changes the series has gone through in English. I can quote that movie word for word and do a pretty good impression of Martin Burke's Sonic as well, I like it that much.
 
Insanish Danish said:
I thought the Puella Magi Madoka Magica dub was pretty good too. Though I prefer it in Japanese, I thought the dub did a really excellent job and most of the characters sounded great. I especially thought Kyoko, Sayaka and Homura were very well done.
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From what I can see, I think it's okay too. Not awful like detractors would make it out to be.

Despite it being a Macekre, I own Robotech for getting me into Space Opera and Mecha Anime as well as pique my interest in Sci-Fi. Plus, the voice work and combining of Macross, Southern Cross and Mospeada wasn't bad though I understand why it gets complaints.
 
Fullmetal Alchemist - the original anime, especially - is a very good dub, because you can tell all the actors really cared about it and there are some wonderful performances there. The one exception I would add is Vic Mignogna, because I just don't think his voice fits the character (he gives a very cartoonish, clearly-done-by-an-adult version of how teenage boys talk, which I particularly don't think fits a series like FMA). The 2003 anime also has a great script, especially since it was an era when dubs could take some liberties with that; the Brotherhood dub script suffers a bit from being too literal, to the point where the writing quality in English can be sloppy because things get lost in translation. (Here's a good example of what I mean.)

Cowboy Bebop is also another really good dub; I think it was one of the first anime dubs where that's really the case. I'm only five episodes in, though, so I might change my mind, but that's what I've heard from people who have seen the whole series as well.
 
Faye Valentine said:
(he gives a very cartoonish, clearly-done-by-an-adult version of how teenage boys talk, which I particularly don't think fits a series like FMA)
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I'm not sure if "cartoonish" is appropriate. Plus, I do feel like Vic actually nails Ed's character if not age (though I myself had an adult-ish voice growing up as many pointed out so...).
 
matt0044 said:
Faye Valentine said:
(he gives a very cartoonish, clearly-done-by-an-adult version of how teenage boys talk, which I particularly don't think fits a series like FMA)
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I'm not sure about "cartoonish."
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"Cartoonish" in that it sounds comical and over-the-top, rather than more natural.

And "natural" is something that's usually a hallmark of the Texas voice actors in particular, but Vic doesn't do it, at least not with Ed.

Anyway, to mention some FMA voice actors who I think really stand out as the best, Travis Willingham as Roy Mustang and Wendy Powell as Envy were my two favorites.
 
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Not sure if anyone knows of this Anime, but Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water has a good dub for its time (2001).
 
i haven't watched many dubs recently... HOWEVER

i watched the dub of Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt with my boyfriend since he prefers dubs. i watched this before i watched it subbed...and the dub was pretty good haha. the voices suit the characters and they maintain a lot of the humour. (after hearing the Japanese voices, i was impressed since i still think the English dub voices suit the characters)

also i'm watching the Maison Ikkoku dub simply because i have the series on VHS that a friend passed on to me and most of the tapes are the dub so that's what i'm stuck with and it's not bad. it's an ooooooold dub too, like 1990s. but they keep all the original music and the voices aren't too bad.

i generally don't like the Sailor Moon dub(s) BUT i want to get it out there that i love Stephanie Beard as Rini/Sailor Mini Moon (Chibiusa/Sailor Chibi Moon).. a lot of people hated her voice but i thought she was perfect for the character!!
 
Hetalia for one, I would say Fairy Tail, I think Funimation nailed it on the dot. The voice for Natsu and Gray seems so fitting I prefer it over the originals. Baccano would be another one (I'm a couple of episodes in so beware) Black Butler for the butler of course. In Code Geoss I think they nailed Lelouch and Kururugi but the rest were lack luster. FMA for Armstrong gotta love him.
 
Faye Valentine said:
Booster Gold said:
FMA for Armstrong gotta love him.
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Fun fact: Travis Willingham (who voiced Roy) originally auditioned for Armstrong.
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He is a pretty versatile VA so.. I think he would have been an interesting fit, to say the least. xD

Angel Beats would be another example. Even though half the jokes were lost due to dubbing, I still thought it was an amazing dub.
 
I love the Hetalia dub. The voice actors portray each of their characters exactly as they're interpreted, and each voice fits each character perfectly. Also, the fact that each of the county's accents are almost perfect and "stereotypically" correct is kind admirable, as it makes the dub more believable.
 
My favorite dubs are Code Geass and Fullmetal Alchemist (2003 and Brotherhood). I've watched both sub and dub of these two, but I've enjoyed the dubs more. The voice actors did an incredible job with capturing a lot of the raw emotions. I particularly like Lelouch's laughs and Ed's short rants. Oh, and Riza's performance in the Lust vs. Roy battle was phenomenal.
 
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