Can someone point me to these terrible dubs, like a Youtube clip? I really can't imagine this not being a simple case of overexaggeration. I've never encountered anything as bad as the OP describes.
I'm not sure I can help. I think dubs are an abomination.
Indeed, the characters should speak in their own voices, like in live-action movies.
The dubbing in 70s kung fu movies is half the fun. And those dubs are far more horrible than any anime.
There are only two dubs that I've seen that the complete miscasting of a character makes me not want to watch it that way, Love Hina and Escaflowne. In Love Hina they give one of the characters this super thick southern accent. Now I understand that in the original she has something of an accent, but man, the english accent they gave her is just offputting.
I never understood trying to translate an accent. Let alone translating it into a localized accent from another country.
Escaflowne was all well and good until you got to Dilandau. Dilandau is this manic, insane, pyro teenager that had a really disturbing voice when he would get going with his insanity. In the english dub he was voiced by a 12 year old boy that sounded like a 12 year old boy and it just didn't fit. Luckily in both instances I could just switch over and watch it subbed and not worry about it anymore.
Fun fact: The person who was Dilandau's Japanese voice actor also played Hitomi's best friend.
Dubbing has had a rough road of it, but it gets better and better and they do a great job of most shows these days. The two really high profile shows right now, Naruto and Bleach, both have pretty good dubs except for the occasional weird translation of something goofy that they say. One annoying voice does not ruin a dub. Another recent high profile show, Full Metal Alchemist, had a superb dub too.
There are only two dubs that I've seen that the complete miscasting of a character makes me not want to watch it that way, Love Hina and Escaflowne. In Love Hina they give one of the characters this super thick southern accent. Now I understand that in the original she has something of an accent, but man, the english accent they gave her is just offputting. Escaflowne was all well and good until you got to Dilandau. Dilandau is this manic, insane, pyro teenager that had a really disturbing voice when he would get going with his insanity. In the english dub he was voiced by a 12 year old boy that sounded like a 12 year old boy and it just didn't fit. Luckily in both instances I could just switch over and watch it subbed and not worry about it anymore.
So really guys, dubs today are just fine, if you find something you don't like in one, well switch over and don't worry about it. Remember, at one time we all watched and enjoyed dubs, few people get into this fandom starting with subtitles.
I pretty much agree with you -- dubs are getting better and better as anime attracts a larger audience in English-speaking countries, and a lot of recent shows have done a pretty good job of finding good voice actors and taking their shit seriously.
I take issue somewhat with Naruto, though, because as far as I know, they actually edit some of the material to make it more "kid-friendly," which is utter bullshit. But then again I don't watch the English version because the English Naruto's voice erodes my sanity. But, given the audience they're targeting in America, the voices fit fairly well and there's some decent acting. I just personally can't stand it because I'm no longer 12 years old. The same goes for plenty of American-made cartoons.
Still, there's plenty of shitty acting in Japanese versions, and voices that don't really fit the characters, and everything that happens in American voice acting. If you personally prefer one or the other, that's great, but I really don't see where nonsense like Drez's arguments come from, suggesting that subs are actually objectively superior to dubs. That's some silly shit right there.
Dubbing has had a rough road of it, but it gets better and better and they do a great job of most shows these days. The two really high profile shows right now, Naruto and Bleach, both have pretty good dubs except for the occasional weird translation of something goofy that they say. One annoying voice does not ruin a dub. Another recent high profile show, Full Metal Alchemist, had a superb dub too.
There are only two dubs that I've seen that the complete miscasting of a character makes me not want to watch it that way, Love Hina and Escaflowne. In Love Hina they give one of the characters this super thick southern accent. Now I understand that in the original she has something of an accent, but man, the english accent they gave her is just offputting. Escaflowne was all well and good until you got to Dilandau. Dilandau is this manic, insane, pyro teenager that had a really disturbing voice when he would get going with his insanity. In the english dub he was voiced by a 12 year old boy that sounded like a 12 year old boy and it just didn't fit. Luckily in both instances I could just switch over and watch it subbed and not worry about it anymore.
So really guys, dubs today are just fine, if you find something you don't like in one, well switch over and don't worry about it. Remember, at one time we all watched and enjoyed dubs, few people get into this fandom starting with subtitles.
I pretty much agree with you -- dubs are getting better and better as anime attracts a larger audience in English-speaking countries, and a lot of recent shows have done a pretty good job of finding good voice actors and taking their shit seriously.
I take issue somewhat with Naruto, though, because as far as I know, they actually edit some of the material to make it more "kid-friendly," which is utter bullshit. But then again I don't watch the English version because the English Naruto's voice erodes my sanity. But, given the audience they're targeting in America, the voices fit fairly well and there's some decent acting. I just personally can't stand it because I'm no longer 12 years old. The same goes for plenty of American-made cartoons.
Naruto is for 12 year olds, though. It just so happens that what's considered appropriate for 12 year olds in Japan isn't the same as in the US. It's a bit much to argue that a show should have to change its target demographic, in which it'd already had massive success in Japan, to another demo entirely based on some blood.
And Naruto US is basically the unrated Director's Cut compared to what happened to Card Captor Sakura. By the time the editors were done it wasn't even about Sakura anymore because "no one wants to watch a girl lead character."
4Kids shouldn't count. I mean seriously. It's like saying "Hey man, not all dogs are mean." "THAT ONE RIPPED THAT GUYS BALLS OFF!"
Well yeah, if you look at the bottom of the barrel(if said barrel had about 5 or 6 barrels inside, each one with it's own bottom) well of course it's bad.
Calling 4kids "Bad dubbing" is like calling water "wet".
4Kids shouldn't count. I mean seriously. It's like saying "Hey man, not all dogs are mean." "THAT ONE RIPPED THAT GUYS BALLS OFF!"
Well yeah, if you look at the bottom of the barrel(if said barrel had about 5 or 6 barrels inside, each one with it's own bottom) well of course it's bad.
Calling 4kids "Bad dubbing" is like calling water "wet".
Besides, Funimation (who now has the rights to One Piece) has said that they are going to erase the mistake that was the 4Kids offense against humanity, and redo all those episodes. Considering that they've done the same with their own fuckups, this seems to be their policy.
I also really like how Viz handles the Naruto DVD releases - a cheap no-frills dub only DVD for the kiddy market, and nice well done bilingual boxsets for the collectors.
4Kids shouldn't count. I mean seriously. It's like saying "Hey man, not all dogs are mean." "THAT ONE RIPPED THAT GUYS BALLS OFF!"
Well yeah, if you look at the bottom of the barrel(if said barrel had about 5 or 6 barrels inside, each one with it's own bottom) well of course it's bad.
Calling 4kids "Bad dubbing" is like calling water "wet".
Besides, Funimation (who now has the rights to One Piece) has said that they are going to erase the mistake that was the 4Kids offense against humanity, and redo all those episodes. Considering that they've done the same with their own fuckups, this seems to be their policy.
I also really like how Viz handles the Naruto DVD releases - a cheap no-frills dub only DVD for the kiddy market, and nice well done bilingual boxsets for the collectors.
FUNi is actually really good for dubs. DBZ made us all worried that they were crap. Then I guess the censors stopped busting their asses so hard and accepted that anime isn't ALWAYS for younger viewers(or that younger viewers in Japan are allowed to see different stuff) and we got good stuff like FMA.
TokyoPop tends to do horribly shitty and/or destructive localizations too. They like to change characters' names left and right and replace the music in Initial D with low-budget pop-hip-hop.
Honestly, I usually think that dubbing or subtitles are annoying. Of course, I can't speak Japanese, so I'm assuming the oddly stilted dialogue is due to localization, not just it being stilted.
Speaking as someone who understands a good deal of Japanese, it is complete horse shit when people automatically assume that a Japanese dub is better than an English one. There have been very, very few instances when I've found this to be true.
Naruto's english voice actors sort of annoy the hell out of me.
Also - ghost in the shell...my favorite series ever...they made the police chief sound pretty dumb.
But if you don't understand the Japanese acting, what do you have to compare it to?
Voice inflection within the context of my own language.
It actually sounds better.
I'm someone who listens to music not for lyrics, but for the tonal patterns. Color me weird, but maybe I get something out of watching the Japanese versions that are aurally lacking in the dubs.
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The dubbing in 70s kung fu movies is half the fun. And those dubs are far more horrible than any anime.
I never understood trying to translate an accent. Let alone translating it into a localized accent from another country.
Fun fact: The person who was Dilandau's Japanese voice actor also played Hitomi's best friend.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
I pretty much agree with you -- dubs are getting better and better as anime attracts a larger audience in English-speaking countries, and a lot of recent shows have done a pretty good job of finding good voice actors and taking their shit seriously.
I take issue somewhat with Naruto, though, because as far as I know, they actually edit some of the material to make it more "kid-friendly," which is utter bullshit. But then again I don't watch the English version because the English Naruto's voice erodes my sanity. But, given the audience they're targeting in America, the voices fit fairly well and there's some decent acting. I just personally can't stand it because I'm no longer 12 years old. The same goes for plenty of American-made cartoons.
Still, there's plenty of shitty acting in Japanese versions, and voices that don't really fit the characters, and everything that happens in American voice acting. If you personally prefer one or the other, that's great, but I really don't see where nonsense like Drez's arguments come from, suggesting that subs are actually objectively superior to dubs. That's some silly shit right there.
Naruto is for 12 year olds, though. It just so happens that what's considered appropriate for 12 year olds in Japan isn't the same as in the US. It's a bit much to argue that a show should have to change its target demographic, in which it'd already had massive success in Japan, to another demo entirely based on some blood.
And Naruto US is basically the unrated Director's Cut compared to what happened to Card Captor Sakura. By the time the editors were done it wasn't even about Sakura anymore because "no one wants to watch a girl lead character."
4Kids shouldn't count. I mean seriously. It's like saying "Hey man, not all dogs are mean." "THAT ONE RIPPED THAT GUYS BALLS OFF!"
Well yeah, if you look at the bottom of the barrel(if said barrel had about 5 or 6 barrels inside, each one with it's own bottom) well of course it's bad.
Calling 4kids "Bad dubbing" is like calling water "wet".
Besides, Funimation (who now has the rights to One Piece) has said that they are going to erase the mistake that was the 4Kids offense against humanity, and redo all those episodes. Considering that they've done the same with their own fuckups, this seems to be their policy.
I also really like how Viz handles the Naruto DVD releases - a cheap no-frills dub only DVD for the kiddy market, and nice well done bilingual boxsets for the collectors.
FUNi is actually really good for dubs. DBZ made us all worried that they were crap. Then I guess the censors stopped busting their asses so hard and accepted that anime isn't ALWAYS for younger viewers(or that younger viewers in Japan are allowed to see different stuff) and we got good stuff like FMA.
I'm glad Funi got the rights to One Piece finally and starting the DVDs at Jaya means i might actually buy them.
Have to watch em in japanese though i'm too used to those voices.
Voice inflection within the context of my own language.
It actually sounds better.
I'm someone who listens to music not for lyrics, but for the tonal patterns. Color me weird, but maybe I get something out of watching the Japanese versions that are aurally lacking in the dubs.