English dubs? Are they getting better or worse?

[gundam83]

I think they are getting better, I still love my subs but I realise that they are getting a little better!
For example code geass,gunxsword(I can't remember anymore right now) they were ok in english.
Your thoughts?

 

[wormraper]

about the same really. Pretty painful most of the time spliced in with a truly horrifying one every once in a while. Some are barely livable, but those are few and far between. The only Dub I've EVER thought was on par with it Japanese counterpart is Ranma 1/2

 

[Tony K.]

I think they are getting better, I still love my subs but I realise that they are getting a little better!
For example code geass,gunxsword(I can't remember anymore right now) they were ok in english.
Your thoughts?

I don't see any thoughts. You'll have to make a better opening statement than this. Talk about things like script, casting, delivery, etc. Why do you think Geass and GUNxSWORD sound "ok?" Any characters you think were particularly well-cast? You like Bosch as Lelouch? You like Michelle Ruff as Carmen99? How do these actors measure up to their Japanese counterparts? Why?

 

[penguintruth]

I think they've evened out over the years. It used to be you'd get a lot of bad dubs but a few really amazing ones. Now most dubs are at least decent, but you don't get a lot of amazing ones.

Funimation, for instance. I'm not a huge fan of their English dubs, but aside from Dragon Ball Z (which can partially be chalked up to being their first work), I can't think of a single really bad dub Funimation has put out. At the same time, I can only think of one or two dubs they've done that have been exceptional, Darker than Black and Baccano. Most of their stuff is just okay.

Animaze, who dubs things for Bandai Entertainment, is the only fairly consistently excellent dub studio that I can think of, and even they've had a couple of stinkers now and then (but mostly in the distant past).

I think on the whole everything is, as I've said, evened out. But that's good, because that means we aren't getting many really bad dubs.

 

[KanjiiZ]

They're pretty flat. I'm currently watching Bamboo Blade On Demand dubbed and it's like whatevers. It's not bad but it sounds extremely creepy to hear girls in an incredibly high pitched manner, or in Tama's case she sounds incredibly depressed instead of soft spoken. I was watching the dub for Law of Ueki last night and by god that is one of the most bored sounding dubs ever. It sounds like they told a person "sound like a big caveman" and they did it without prior knowledge of the situation.

Then you get dubs like Nana that aren't bad scriptwise, they're bad sound quality wise. It sounds like it was recorded in a tin can or a very empty room.

I used to be a huge dub watcher, but I eventually came to the conclusion that I prefer subs because I can't tell if the emotion is correct or not. It's not that they Japanese track is better, it's just that I get the emotion easier.

 

[wahr]

about the same really. Pretty painful most of the time spliced in with a truly horrifying one every once in a while. Some are barely livable, but those are few and far between. The only Dub I've EVER thought was on par with it Japanese counterpart is Ranma 1/2

I think the ghost in the shell franchise was the only one to have a tolerable dub.

I guess the debut US scene having a head explode in a gory mess finally drilled through the US staff's thick skull that anime is not disney, and should not be voiced that way. It stuck with the franchise since.

 

[ZakuAce]

I really think the truly good dubbing peaked as ADV was on it's last legs. They had some excellent dubs come out right before the were forced to restructure - well cast, well written, and well directed. However, after hearing some of their new dubs (Blue Drop and Legend of the Dark King) I can certainly tell they have lost some of their luster. I'm hoping that it's just the directors getting their footing after being dormant for so long.

I also agree that Animaze has a lot of great dubs - I can't think of any shows that they did where I didn't love the dub. But as far as I know, they haven't dubbed anything in a very long time. Are they even still around?

Funimation has always been alright, but nothing other than Baccano!, Bamboo Blade, and Fullmetal Alchemist ever struck me as really good.

All in all, I think English dubs have lost some of their former glory. With any luck, we'll see improvement after Section23/Sentai gets back in the groove. Or maybe we see Animaze show up again?

 

[dtm42]

I'd say that English dubs have gotten better over the years. But have they been getting better? No. Well, not in my opinion at least. As penguintruth mentioned, there just aren't that many truly horrible dubs anymore (although perhaps that could be chalked down to fewer Anime being dubbed?), but there also aren't that many fantastic dubs either. Dubbing is expensive, and with the Anime bubble well and truly burst the profits come before the quality. So Anime dubbing has reached a comfortable plateau.

 

[MisterEd]

Funimation, for instance. I'm not a huge fan of their English dubs, but aside from Dragon Ball Z (which can partially be chalked up to being their first work), I can't think of a single really bad dub Funimation has put out. At the same time, I can only think of one or two dubs they've done that have been exceptional, Darker than Black and Baccano. Most of their stuff is just okay.

I'm going to disagree with you there. Funimation doesn't always put together the best dub cast, but they have definitely put together more than two exceptional dubs. School Rumble, SGT. Frog, and especially BECK, which I consider the best dub of all time, are all excellent.

Since I generally never watch subbed shows (Aside from sub-only releases), I'm clearly going to be biased here. I really do think that dubs have improved over the years, and like everyone else has said, there really aren't as many horrible ones anymore.

 

[key]

Stay strictly on topic here, people. If I start seeing this thread turn into a hatefest on dubs (i.e. "all dubs suck" or "all dubs except xxxxxx suck") then it will be locked.

And really, if you haven't watched English dubs on a regular basis over a long period of time then you're probably not qualified to be commenting on the issue.

Speaking as someone who gives out annual awards for quality in English dubs, I have not noticed a significant change in dub quality over the past 3-4 years; as dtm42 put it, they have gotten better in the past, but the quality level has now topped out. Each year for the last few has seen roughly the same proportion of truly good, weak, and "good enough" dubs. This is, I think, partly due to market leader Funimation achieving a consistent level of dub casting and performances that's on the high end of average. They may play around with the wording of their dub scripts, but they rarely have performances that are completely off or casting decisions which sound completely wrong.

 

[wormraper]

about the same really. Pretty painful most of the time spliced in with a truly horrifying one every once in a while. Some are barely livable, but those are few and far between. The only Dub I've EVER thought was on par with it Japanese counterpart is Ranma 1/2

I think the ghost in the shell franchise was the only one to have a tolerable dub.

I guess the debut US scene having a head explode in a gory mess finally drilled through the US staff's thick skull that anime is not disney, and should not be voiced that way. It stuck with the franchise since.

hmm, yeah, I've heard GITS has a much better dub than most. I've not seen it yet so I'll give the dub a whirl when I watch the series to see how it is.

 

[gundam83]

I think they are getting better, I still love my subs but I realise that they are getting a little better!
For example code geass,gunxsword(I can't remember anymore right now) they were ok in english.
Your thoughts?

I don't see any thoughts. You'll have to make a better opening statement than this. Talk about things like script, casting, delivery, etc. Why do you think Geass and GUNxSWORD sound "ok?" Any characters you think were particularly well-cast? You like Bosch as Lelouch? You like Michelle Ruff as Carmen99? How do these actors measure up to their Japanese counterparts? Why?

I see your point, well for me I'm not really that interested in voice actors names and all that stuff and I'm even surprised by these very detailed answers lol.
I just have this thing where for me the characters voice must fit the look of the character and his/her personality. That's why I thought code geass and GunxSword were good english dubs!
I hope that's better.

 

[Divineking]

I believe most dubs are good nowadays. I watched my fair share of dubs and subs over the last few years and most dubs now are at the very least on par with their Japanese counterparts. The exceptions usually happen when the subs were particularly well casted or the dub wasn;t meant to be taken seriously from the get-go...or vice-versa.

Personally I try to watch the dub version to something forst, but that's normally so I don't have a bias against the dub right away.

 

[EricDent]

Personally I have never had any problems listening to any dub.
The only dub that I even consider "bad" is Lost Universe, and the only reason for it being "bad" is due to them adding a "Ohh Goody" type scream to the commercial bumpers.

I have been listening to dubs since the '80s, and yes they have been getting better.

Somebody mentioned Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad, which actually dubbed the songs (much like Tenchi Muyo did), and of course so did Nerima Daikon Brothers. Usually when they have a person singing in the show, they switch over to the Japanese version (such as Chance Pop Session for example).

People keep saying that they prefer the original language, I can appreciate that. However, I still can't really "tell" if they are doing a good job. Mostly due to the differences in the way they express emotions. With the English versions, you can tell right away if the actor/actress is doing them well enough.

As an avid DVD purchaser (no Fan-subs thanks very much). I can choose which version I want to see. I have watched pretty much everything I own in both versions. From my experiences the English dubs have come quite a ways.

 

[Vracer111]

Funimation, for instance. I'm not a huge fan of their English dubs, but aside from Dragon Ball Z (which can partially be chalked up to being their first work), I can't think of a single really bad dub Funimation has put out. At the same time, I can only think of one or two dubs they've done that have been exceptional, Darker than Black and Baccano. Most of their stuff is just okay.

Have you watched the Funimation Initial D dubs (3rd and 4th stages)? I did, for all of less than 30 seconds before I had to put my hands to my ears and go 'LA LA LA LA' while frantically trying to stop the sound... The weird over-enthusiastic acting and excessive explanation were just too much! It went from being Initial D to something entirely wrong...LOL! Then again, there has never, ever been a really decent Initial D dub; English subtitles with original Japanese language is still the only way to go for Initial D.

Overall there are some pretty good English Dubs, with Solty Rei, GITS (entire franchise), Full Metal Panic, Dai-Guard, Samurai Champloo, and Moribito being my favorites. It all depends on the series though as to what feels right for it, more often than not the Japanese audio still feels more correct for the characters than the English track.