Current Favorites (again)

[ThirdWizard]

But then you talk to the Inuyasha fans (the non-rabid fan girls anyway...), they say (until recently but not all), Richard Cox was "destroying Inuyasha!" *shrugs* To each their own...

Yeah, your ears are supposed to bleed when Inu Yasha talks! (Appologies to the non-rabid fangirls).

 

[Pants]

I personally though the Mediaworks dub of Berserk was awesome, not just because the voices meshed well with the characters, but that the dialogue was well written.

Hm, yes, the Berserk dub was made even better by the inclusion of some pretty damn funny outtakes. It was also well written (something I never thought about). Too many dubbed anime shows have dialogue that comes across as being really hammy in English. Subs handle it kinda better, since there's no one speaking the hammy dialogue in English and thus ruining the mood, even if it does kind of read poorly (and it usually does).

For the record, I'd much rather watch Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, and Hellsing dubbed than subbed.

 

[Nightfall]

Yeah, your ears are supposed to bleed when Inu Yasha talks! (Appologies to the non-rabid fangirls).

If you say so. I'm just glad Richard has gotten better. So has Moneca too.

Horace,

Yeah well good and bad dubs do come along but as Pants pointed out, the dubs of CB and Trigun are truly great. FMA though still ranks very high in my mind, especially with the casting of Aaron Dismuke as Alphonse.

 

[horacethegrey]

Hm, yes, the Berserk dub was made even better by the inclusion of some pretty damn funny outtakes. It was also well written (something I never thought about). Too many dubbed anime shows have dialogue that comes across as being really hammy in English. Subs handle it kinda better, since there's no one speaking the hammy dialogue in English and thus ruining the mood, even if it does kind of read poorly (and it usually does).

True that. As I said, a lot of times dialogue in anime can come across as very cheesy and heavy handed. I'm sorry to say this, but there are a lot of anime (and manga as well) out there that have all the subtlety of a brick when dealing with themes of war, love, friendship, loneliness, etc, etc... you get my drift. I can bet you 9 times out of ten that there's usually one character in every anime who feels the need to hammer his personal philosophy on such topics such as non violence or the meaning of life(*cough*Kenshin*cough*). Rather than let the story itself relay such messages, most shows seem to take this route.

But on occasion, there are exceptions that prove there are anime out there can be well written. The aforementioned Berserk is one, so is Cowboy Bebop, the Ghibli films, Azumanga Daioh, and many others that I can't name right now.

For the record, I'd much rather watch Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, and Hellsing dubbed than subbed.

Horace,

Yeah well good and bad dubs do come along but as Pants pointed out, the dubs of CB and Trigun are truly great. FMA though still ranks very high in my mind, especially with the casting of Aaron Dismuke as Alphonse.

Meh. I didn't like Trigun all that much, although I do agree the dubbing was great. And I do agree Aaron Dismuke is awesome as Alphonse, the best part in the show.

As for Cowboy Bebop, I have to come out and say that the dub of that is ovverrated. Don't get me wrong, it's still decent to my ears, but it messes up badly in some places. Particularly with the two leads. Beau Billingslea just doesn't sound gruff or commanding as Jet. And Steven Blum, whom I find terribly overrated as a voice actor, just doesn't cut it as Spike. He tries too hard to sound suave and devil may care that I feel it didn't fit Spike's character.

 

[Dog Moon]

Wait, wait, wait. How old is Trigun and Cowboy Bebop? I don't think I'd consider those as 'current'.

Speaking of which, anyone catch episode 7 of Black Lagoon yet? Rock is da man!

 

[horacethegrey]

Wait, wait, wait. How old is Trigun and Cowboy Bebop? I don't think I'd consider those as 'current'.

They're not of course. We just mentioned them because of this lengthy discussion on dubbing.

Speaking of which, anyone catch episode 7 of Black Lagoon yet? Rock is da man!

Been hearing nothing but good things about this show. I'll probably check it out on Youtube later on.

 

[Arnwyn]

With Japanese voice acting, you can always be sure that a standard is maintained,

This is untrue. North Americans only say this because they can't speak Japanese and don't know any better.

In many cases, and throughout the history of anime, the Japanese voice-acting is rather dreadful - though this is indeed decreasing dramatically due to the high quality content that's been coming out in the last few years. But before 2000? Fugedaboutit.

 

[horacethegrey]

This is untrue. North Americans only say this because they can't speak Japanese and don't know any better.

In many cases, and throughout the history of anime, the Japanese voice-acting is rather dreadful - though this is indeed decreasing dramatically due to the high quality content that's been coming out in the last few years. But before 2000? Fugedaboutit.

Well I'm not American, but I'm not Japanese either. However, I have taken some lessons in Nihongo, so I wouldn't make such a statement if I didn't know what I was talking about.

To be fair though, what you said is true. There are cases of bad Japanese voice acting in anime that I can mention. I can name a few hentai out there, as well as some early anime from the 70's and 80's. However, I still think the Japanese have it over the Americans in terms of voice acting, and have had more time develop it into an art that it is today.

 

[JEL]

This is untrue. North Americans only say this because they can't speak Japanese and don't know any better.

In many cases, and throughout the history of anime, the Japanese voice-acting is rather dreadful - though this is indeed decreasing dramatically due to the high quality content that's been coming out in the last few years. But before 2000? Fugedaboutit.

Nah. The whole "people say Japanese voice acting is better because they don't understand Japanese" is a BS line that people who prefer dubs use without any real basis. The fact of the matter is that voice acting in Japan (and a lot of other places outside the US for that matter) is much more highly regarded and something people actually go to school to study. And it's not just because of the animation industry. Much of it has to do with the huge number of Hollywood films that get dubbed into Japanese every year by the same voice actors. Plus, being able to judge how believable someone sounds and how well they emote isn't dependent on the language barrier anyway.

Now, if you like dubs, that's fine. To each their own (it's a non-issue these days with DVDs that let you pick what you want to hear).

 

[ThirdWizard]

If you say so. I'm just glad Richard has gotten better. So has Moneca too.

I'm speaking of the Japanese voice cast. Inu Yasha's voice is fairly high pitched, much like Goku's JP seiyuu.