For all we know, in Japanese culture, the voices used for the characters are bad according to how they perceive their own language. Our dubs could be the equivalent of the Japanese voices for the characters. IMHO, saying "I like subs, dubs suck balls" is more of a 'I'm cool because I watch my anime while listening to voices I can't understand at all, and I read the words instead *thumbs up*' rather than the person actually liking the Japanese way, considering they can't even undertsand the words and don't know what emotion the pitch of voice is conveying since I'm sure the Japanese culture is different. Ok, huge sentence there. I'm basically saying that it's hard for a non-Japanese speaker to appreciate the voice acting of someone speaking in a foreign language. Then again this is ALL MY OPINION.

insight, thank you. *Joins forces with insight*

To compliment on insight's post:

That's the problem I see with people always claiming that the Japanese originals are *always* the say in the deal in sub vs. dub. Are the people making these claims, on this board at least, even conversational in Japanese? When they watch the series in Japanese, do they need to have the subtitles on?

If so, they just may be in just as much trouble at understanding the show as we pro-dubbers are. There is a whole lot more to a language than just understanding what the words mean. There are also differences(for all we know) in the cultures as to how certain phrases are voiced and the meaning(s) intended.
Subbed or Dubbed, unless you know Japanese and are familiar with the culture beyond what is presented to you in anime, it is lost in translation to you.

....i kinda like the eva dub..... forget i said that....

insight wrote:For all we know, in Japanese culture, the voices used for the characters are bad according to how they perceive their own language. Our dubs could be the equivalent of the Japanese voices for the characters. IMHO, saying "I like subs, dubs suck balls" is more of a 'I'm cool because I watch my anime while listening to voices I can't understand at all, and I read the words instead *thumbs up*' rather than the person actually liking the Japanese way, considering they can't even undertsand the words and don't know what emotion the pitch of voice is conveying since I'm sure the Japanese culture is different. Ok, huge sentence there. I'm basically saying that it's hard for a non-Japanese speaker to appreciate the voice acting of someone speaking in a foreign language. Then again this is ALL MY OPINION.

That's all true, however an inability to appreciate the subtleties of a Japanese performance (which is itself debatable on an individual basis) doesn't extinguish the ability to recognize a performance, English or otherwise, that just doesn't cut it. To my ears, dubs usually suck regardless of the original execution. If I'm given two rotten pices of fruit, one of them being less harsh on my tongue than the other, I'ma choose the one that doesn't make my eyes bleed with sorrow.

All I can say is that Japanese voices don't hurt my ears as much as some of the USAn ones do.

I predominantly watch dubbed shows rather than subbed, despite "growing up" watching subtitled shows. I consider it "the newbie elitist phase", where you assume something sucks and justify it because it's the "right" way to look at it. Listening to Japanese is like Charlie Brown's teacher squawking at me while high on speed.

Being at heart a die-hard fan of Transformers, I'd like to hear someone with some degree of proficiency give the Japanese Transformers series (Headmasters, Masterforce, and Victory...maybe even the sole Zone episode) a decent English dub and localization script. Those old Star TV English dubs from Singapore (or Hong Kong or wherever they were from) were absolutely horrific (not that the shows were stellar samples of the art form, but anyway)...the names were screwed up, the voices were garbage, and there's no telling what liberties were taken with the scripts themselves.

Hexon.Arq wrote:

insight wrote:For all we know, in Japanese culture, the voices used for the characters are bad according to how they perceive their own language. Our dubs could be the equivalent of the Japanese voices for the characters. IMHO, saying "I like subs, dubs suck balls" is more of a 'I'm cool because I watch my anime while listening to voices I can't understand at all, and I read the words instead *thumbs up*' rather than the person actually liking the Japanese way, considering they can't even undertsand the words and don't know what emotion the pitch of voice is conveying since I'm sure the Japanese culture is different. Ok, huge sentence there. I'm basically saying that it's hard for a non-Japanese speaker to appreciate the voice acting of someone speaking in a foreign language. Then again this is ALL MY OPINION.

That's all true, however an inability to appreciate the subtleties of a Japanese performance (which is itself debatable on an individual basis) doesn't extinguish the ability to recognize a performance, English or otherwise, that just doesn't cut it. To my ears, dubs usually suck regardless of the original execution. If I'm given two rotten pices of fruit, one of them being less harsh on my tongue than the other, I'ma choose the one that doesn't make my eyes bleed with sorrow.

Voices make your eyes bleed? Anyways...if listening to another language and reading subtitles is your cup of tea, go for it, I'm not trying to convert you. I just don't think someone illiterate in the language/cultural trends of another culture should be able to argue for it.

I would definitely redub Konjiki no Gasshu!!. It could really use some decent acting and uncensored six-year-old dongs.

Utena.

And normally i'm pretty neutral about dubs, so this want of mine doesn't stem from any "Gaijin = inferior, Nihonjin = superior" philosophies regarding audio tracks. To put it bluntly, the Utena dub is so face meltingly terrible that having a bunch of capable people redo it would feel like righting some universal wrong. Watching a few minutes of a dubbed episode of Utena was the aural equivalent of clicking on a link to "Two Girls One Cup" in an email. The shock!

Noir, Evangelion, Berserk, Utena, Gurren Lagann, just to start. They all have horrible dubs.

I think Evangelion, Ranma 1/2 and the original Ghost in the Shell stand to gain quite a bit from being redubbed with (mostly) the same cast. They were among the first dubs to really try, and with some degree of success (particularly in Eva's case) but they were constrained by the inexperience of those involved and the technology of their time. It'd be nice to see them revisited with the recording, directing and scripting quality afforded to the best modern dubs, and their casts older, wiser and more intimately familiar with their characters. In Evangelion's case, the three constant cast members, especially Spike Spencer, have audibly evolved over time, going from decent to good to excellent. Hearing their more mature, refined performances in the movie and Rebuild dubs offers a tantalizing hint of what revisiting the entire series could yield.

Also, if I may knock down a couple of sacred cows: FLCL and Trigun deserved better dubs than they got. Ugh.

Also: I like how even in 2005, it was impossible to have a discussion of ANYTHING dub-related without instigating all-out war.

Shaman King. I would keep some of the 4Kids music and some of their script choices, but make it closer to the Japanese version and change the voice actors.

Desired Voice Actors:
Yoh Asakura - Roger Craig Smith
Mortimer "Morty" Oyamada - Spike Spencer
Amidamaru - R. Bruce Elliot
Tao Len - Vic Mignogna
Bason - Bob Carter
Anna Koyama - Kate Higgins
Hao Asakura - Jerry Jewell
Silva - Travis Willingham
Wooden Sword "Ryu" - Crispin Freeman

Although, overall, I don't hate dubs. I actually am pro-dub! The only time I would change the dubbing is if it's done by 4Kids, or if the company sounds like they really couldn't give a damn about acting (I'm looking at you, Mangle!).

The only correct answer -- every single dub ever made. All redubbed with the cast and director of the Garzey's Wing dub.

BrikHaus wrote:Gurren Lagann

B-b-but... it's Gurren Lagann!! And the english dub is really good, I promise!! Well, to each their own...
On Topic: If I were to redub a anime, it would be Sailor Moon, hands down. Love the show to death, but hate what DiC did to it.

If I were to redub an Anime, it would be Eva.

Oh wait...


Just kidding. I don't really care about the dubs, unless they're noticeably shit. Eva isn't.

Stryker wrote:Oh wait...

I have no expectations that our fan dub will be anything but horrible and make the original Eva dub look Oscar worthy in comparison.

That could also be why we did it.

Spanish dub for Evangelion, Shinji sounds like he is 40 and smokes a pack a day XD

Obstermaxmaster wrote: B-b-but... it's Gurren Lagann!! And the english dub is really good, I promise!! Well, to each their own...

I agree. I'm in the middle of the series, and I love the dub.

Evangelion. Clean slate. Nobody from any of the previous dubs returns. Fish for totally fresh talent.

And dub Pocket Monsters properly. (Sub it properly, for that matter.)