Hey even the anime fan...

Dubs vs. Subs

There is a great divide within the anime community, a divide in which I find myself smack dab in the middle. While not attempting to sound anti-patriotic, American animation by and large is sub par. Quality is often sacrificed for production deadlines. As a result most of the quality animation/anime is of course home-grown in Japan. Naturally Japanese voice actors are used and thus the import process leads to the need for dubbing. Sadly, mostly dubbing is also sub-par. The majority of voice actors for Anime in the states are done in Canadian studios (hums O'Canada). A friend of mine once put it to me this way.

Dubbing in anime can fall into the following categories

(RARE) The dubbed actor provides a good match up with the original
The dubbing doesn't match that character at all
The dubbing doesn't match the entire cast at all
The dubbing works for MOST of the characters EXCEPT the key character(s)
The dubbing works, BUT the voice work is SO annoying no one cares about the character

Given these insurmountable odds I've been fortunate. I don't speak a lick of Japanese and therefore any titles I view are often first viewed in Subbed form or Dubbed. Some titles (despite the protesting of my friends) have had adequate voice work. Titles such as Robotech, Tenchi Muyo, and maybe even Nadesico come to mind. On the other hand, some franchises have audio that even I can't let slide. Golden Boy, a title which I am loath to admit I actually rented, was by far one of the WORST dubbings I have ever heard. Hand Maid May (a title recommended by a friend) fell into the category of having some characters with such horrid dubbed voices that you just can't stand to watch a scene with certain individuals (Nambara comes to mind).

A less discussed but I feel equally important debate is Celebrity vs. Unknown voice actors. Having a famous or recognizable voice doesn't help matters. Take for instance the cast of Final Fantasy the movie. HORRIBLE idea to begin with, but compounded by the fact that they opted to have well established actors voicing characters that looked nothing like them. The attempts of FF the Movie to be as photorealistic as possible only added to the disparity. Hearing a Baldwin's voice coming out of a figure that just doesn't look at all right made the movie even less bearable than that convoluted plot. And while I'm sure I'll be bombarded with flame bait, I didn't particularly find the cast of Princess Mononoke all that awe inspiring. Though at least that title had a plot.

In the end the final decision as to which you prefer is all a matter of opinion. Though I suppose it's a strong impetus to learn japanese...

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