CAA: Christian Anime Alliance

With all the 'dub hating' that goes on in the otaku nation, I thought it might be nice to get a list of really good dubs. I mean ones where you can really tell the actors really felt the performance and the dialogue was well written. There's a couple rules for this thread:

1. Don't list Cowboy Bebop! I think most if not all of us can agree that Bebop was an excellent dub effort, so there's no need to have this thread list that one a hundred times.

2. This thread isn't about why dubs are good or bad, so to those who feel the need to slam dubs all the time don't even bother posting.

3. This thread also isn't about how the US anime distributers change the translated Japanese a little (or a lot) when writing the English scripts. So you can mention that a script was well written, but don't just say it stunk simply because "they changed things". This one kind of coincides with rule #2.

Alright, send those list in! Best list gets a dancing one of these :dance::dance::dance: or at least my utmost respect

I'll start it off with my favorite dub so far: Now and Then, Here and There

Well, duh! The best dub ever is obviously...

RANMA 1/2!

The best dubbing job I've ever seen! Bravo, Viz! Ranma rocks on so many levels, in fact it's the only anime I CAN'T watch subtitled!

Noir is done very well.

Grave of the Fireflies, outlaw star , and i personally think Great Teacher Onizuka (GTO) had good dubs (though some would say otherwise).
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Rurouni Kenshin and voices Voices of a Distant star. I have to agree to Noir, though I've only seen the preview from ADV films. I'd problably have more listed, but I just haven't seen that much.

yeah, Rurouni kenshin was a pretty good dub!

Outlaw Star, Trigun, Fooly Cooly, and Rurouni Kenshin.

Trigun, Outlaw Star, Tenchi Muyo, Tenchi Muyo GXP (I think. I've only seen one scene.), the trailer for Chrno Crusade, Full Metal Panic. All of these are good in my opinion.

I haven't seen many dubs and I know most that I have seen were TERRIBLE. But I'll mentioned the ones I know:

Princess Mononoke: a couple changes were made in the diologue which I have no idea why. I thought Maro's JPN voice was... .... but it is quite good dub.

Spirited Away: whether you watch the sub or good, either are great

Escaflowne the Movie: pretty much the same diologue as well... and the dub voices are pretty good, actually

Rayearth OVA: not too bad a dub either... voices were fitting from what I remember

Chobits: only seen one dub ep, but it wasn't bad either.

Sonic X! Just kidding of course!
I like the dub on Lupin III and Case Closed.

Trigun, Rurouni Kenshin, Wolf's Rain, Witch Hunter Robin, and the Ah my goddess the movie ^^

Noir, Akira was pretty good, um...

that's it

Lupin III has the single best dub I have ever heard/seen. Awesome...just wonderful. I can't imagine the Lupin-tachi with any other voices.

yeah I like noir and case closed. both those have already been mentioned but I still think they did a good job.

I'd have to say that I actually preferred Noir dubbed. The English voices seemed truer to the intent of the characters. Although, on one of the final episodes they placed this creepy, and badly done, Scottish accent that I cringed at. Anybody else remember the "Scotty" (thinks of Star Trek)?

Other than that possibly Steel Angel Kurumi.

Also, if I picked which American anime production group does the best job with dubbing, I'd say ADV. They have Chris Patton, Greg Ayres, Monica Rial and Hillary Haag.

Trigun is definitely at the top of my list. Johnny Yong Bosch totally connected me to Vash. He was Vash, he wasn't just playing a character.

EDIT: I would personally take the Trigun dub over the Cowboy Bebop dub.

Rurouni Kenshin also had a very good dub. A lot of people complain about the guy that voiced Sanosuke-- not that he was a bad VA just that he didn't fit the role well. Personally, I think that's nonsense, but I haven't seen RK in the original Japanese.

I forgot about Rurouni Kenshin - the show isn't so hot, but the OVAs (Trust & Betrayal) are very well done, both in translation and acting. Kenshin's "I will... I will... murder" is such a well-performed line that I can remember the inflection, tone, everything perfectly. What a great movie.

^ Interesting... I liked the show better than both of those. And I thought the voice-acting was supremely better for the show than the movies.

The voice-acting for Samurai X: Reflections was definitely bad. Who wants to hear an Udo Jin-Eh with a british accent? Listen to how he pronounces "battousai", it's hilarious.

Just my thoughts...

Falco53 wrote:Trigun is definitely at the top of my list. Johnny Yong Bosch totally connected me to Vash. He was Vash, he wasn't just playing a character.

I feel the exact same way. And I'd say almost all of the Trigun characters have good voice actors.

Falco53 wrote:
The voice-acting for Samurai X: Reflections was definitely bad. Who wants to hear an Udo Jin-Eh with a british accent? Listen to how he pronounces "battousai", it's hilarious.

Just my thoughts...

well, ah, I never saw Reflections...

but that sounds pretty bad.

Wow, I can't believe that no one has mentioned Fruits Basket! It is definitely the best dub I've seen.

Otherwise, I'm a solid sub fan (after having "converted" from being a dub-only fan).

true_noir_chloe wrote:Also, if I picked which American anime production group does the best job with dubbing, I'd say ADV. They have Chris Patton, Greg Ayres, Monica Rial and Hillary Haag.

Yes, those 4 people at ADV are very good VA's - very professional work. Hillary Haag's voice in particular is so unique.

Also, I agree with everyone who is mentioning Trigun, J.Y.B. is da bomb in that one. Also I thought Vandread and Martian Successor Nadesico were both well done. Both had great comic timing, which I think is actually tougher to pull off than a great dramatic performance.

panegryst wrote:well, ah, I never saw Reflections...

but that sounds pretty bad.

It's still worth owning, if you're a Kenshin fan. (Like me.) Just watch it subbed. Believe me, I'm one of the biggest enthusiasts for dubs, but Samurai X: Reflections has a bad dub. Kenshin's voice is the same as for the other movie, but he's older now, he shouldn't sound so much like a young teenager, in my opinion.

Actually, I didn't think that Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal had that great of a dub either. Good, but not great.

Falco53 wrote:
The voice-acting for Samurai X: Reflections was definitely bad. Who wants to hear an Udo Jin-Eh with a british accent? Listen to how he pronounces "battousai", it's hilarious.

Definately an excellent movie, but I'll second Jin-E.
His "Mahstah of Murdah" line sounds like it came out of one of those old macabre horror movies.


*cues dramatic organ music*

METROPOLIS !!!!!

It rocked because it did have obvious American accents, and there was even a British one in there aswell. I think all non-american english anime fans appricaited it.

[SPOILER]P.S. I dont think Bebop was a good dub, the voices were off in my pov, Spike was way too american[/SPOILER]

I would like to throw the Big O into the pool. I think the dubbing was quite well done in that.

My vote goes with Hamtaro (of the anime I've seen, anyway). Honestly, when you watch their mouths move sometimes it almost looks as though they were designed to be speaking in English. This one just doesn't get enough credit. Incidentally, the company in charge of the dubbing, ShoPro Entertainment, is basically the North American version of Shogakuken Productions in Japan which made the thing in the first place; so it's no wonder that they did such a good job. ^_^

^ Doh! How could I forget Big O? The dubbing for that show is excellent. Perhaps perfect.

gak! I forgot too! how could I... oh man...

you're exactly right, the Big O dubbing is stellar in every way. even the extras were well-done. and Dan Dastun's voice is unstoppable.

obscure anime trivia: R. Dorothy Wayneright's fine voice actor also did the voice of a bit part in Cowboy Bebop's "Speak Like A Child" episode (the one where Faye gets the tape of her childhood). She plays the dry, dull girl in the drama that the '20th century nerd' (whom Spike and Jet visit in an attempt to sell Faye's tape) was watching.

She did a great job.

People have already mentioned Ranma 1/2 and Fruits Basket. I'll also throw in You're Under Arrest! (though I have only so far seen the OAVs) and the OAVs for Oh! My Goddess since those were both done by the same agency.