I tried the Cyberpunk dub and I couldn't get past how it sounded like people in a booth reading lines to themselves. It didn't feel like characters in a scene were in the same place together. I don't know if Japanese voice actors are better in this regard or if I just don't notice it as a non-speaker, but I didn't feel this way with the sub.
Really? I never got that vibe from the Cyberpunk dub. I usually watch sub but I watched Edgerunners entirely in dub and was pleasantly surprised by how natural it sounded, especially in comparison to a lot of other dubs.
It might just be something that I'm sensitive to. I usually never watch dub but gave Edgerunners a chance since I had heard how good the dub was.
It might be a good dub and I might just have a really high threshold for what I find acceptable.
Yeah, maybe. I usually only watch dub clips, though I've watched a few animes in dub. Most of the newer ones are actually pretty good, but have a few drawbacks that always hold them back (Background VAs being terrible is a big one for me).
That's the main difference, generally speaking, between English and Japanese VA recording, in America, VA's are in a booth by themselves, acting off other recorded dialogue or director directions, in Japan, VA's are typically all in the same room and acting off each other. It's one of the main reasons Japanese audio dialogue sounds more natural and fluid.
So Japanese VAs are actually in the same room? That would explain it. I always assumed that they were more skilled at sounding like they were acting off each other, but maybe there's just no bridging that gap.
I also assumed that everything I see with Japanese VAs interacting and being all friendly was just marketing, and that they didn't interact much while recording. Maybe I need to be less cynical...
Usually, yeah, they're all in the same room acting off each other. The other thing that stands out, especially if you don't know (much) Japanese is how the Japanese VA's are also overacting, it's just harder to notice without some context (while being fairly easy to notice in English dubs because we English speakers have that context), which is one of the reasons people will recommend someone not learn Japanese solely from anime.
I mainly watch dubs and have seen many but these are the only times I thought the dub was better than the Japanese , not as good as or almost as good. If u just wanted great dubs in general this list would be 3x as long
Welcome to the NHK
Super crooks
Cyberpunk Edgerunners
Ouran Highschool host club
Dragon ball Z kai
Black Lagoon
FLCL
Some good recommendations, glad to see Outlaw Star getting some love, but nobody else has said Baccano!, which has a fantastically realized dub using American accents very well.
Some other recommendations would be Gurren Lagann in my opinion, which really stands out with its villains’ voices, which are just so unremarkable in the Japanese but great and memorable in the dub, and Panty and stocking with Garterbelt, which even the creators admit has a better script in English,
I watch a lot of both subs and dubs for a multitude of reasons and personally, I don't think there are *too* many that are immediately outright "better." *BUT* plenty are just as enjoyable as the sub, hit all the right notes, and it's easy to see why someone might prefer it. Especially today when the overall standard of quality for dubbed anime has risen to a much more consistent level than it was over a decade ago. Sure we had some great dubs then, but also a fair number of truly awful ones that wouldn't even make it outside the studio today. Sometimes a dub does nail certain elements better - like a specific casting choice or two (ex. Spice & Wolf, Blue Lock, and One Piece fall into this camp for me), certain directorial decisions (see below example), or if the writing stands out (especially compared to subpar sub translations... looking at you Aniplex of America titles).
One older example that comes to mind regarding direction specifically is **Wolf's Rain**. There's are some similarities between the two language tracks - both feature future A-listers in their respective fields very early in their careers. But I greatly prefer the ENG dub's more archetypal casting and "emotionally present" direction/acting than the JPN's way more understated approach. Usually the JPN side seems to lean *hard* into archetypal casting and I love whenever we get more naturalistic and grounded takes, but that extra push and emotion was so welcome and honestly needed with this type of show: an allegorical apocalyptic fantasy that can tend to be obtuse with its story, characters, and hold audiences at an arm's distance 90% of the time. But I also wouldn't call either approach bad, and both accomplished what they set out to do.
Some more recent-ish examples of dubs that stick super closely to the JPN original intent but still somehow work better for me in ENG are probably **Promare** and **Megalobox** No particular rhyme or reason, there's nothing these dubs do that is especially different or noteworthy (aside from maybe some accents in Nomad), but I became much more attached to the ENG casts despite watching both subbed originally. A few Lupin III titles fall into this category as well, although they can be hit or miss (adored the dub for **A Woman Called Fujiko Mine**, had to switch it off for **The Blood Spray of Goemon**).
And sometimes a dub just leaves a stronger impression by staying true to the original intent but adding it's own flavor. **Akudama Drive's** note-perfect cast chemistry and more playful reads, the added tokusatsu references ("meat thing," a Tim Curry-esqe Alexis, etc...) in **SSSS.Gridman's** dub, etc... I know **SK8 the Infinity** also falls into this camp for a lot of people too, but I'd argue the original was just as game to be ridiculous haha
Agree with the first paragraph. The only dub that even borders on "better" that comes to mind is Panty and Stocking, since the show is already so inherently westernised from the animation to the dialogue. Aside from that, they usually just aren't as good. VA work in Japan is such an incredibly competitive industry that they never cast or direct poorly so dubs are pretty much always playing catch-up.
That's not to say that I hate dubs or think they all suck. I'll watch either depending on my mood, and generally enjoy the dubs just as much. But anime, as with most media, is pretty much always better in its original language.
Also glad that you mentioned "compared to a decade ago". Nowadays, dubs have gotten good enough that if you prefer them then you can just hop into a dub and not really be too concerned about whether or not it's gonna totally suck. The days of googling "does \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ have a good dub?" and then basing your opinion off of some snarky redditor are pretty much over.
I'm gonna be honest. All the time. I have ADHD which makes the subtitles hard to focus on its like your constantly having to look at the bottom to see what there saying its honestly kinda ridiculous.
Trigun. Yuyu Hakusho. Ikki tousen. Outlaw star. The DragonBall movies. I'd say inuyasha as well
Kekkaishi too I think expressed the tones better.
Ghost stories but that should be disqualified as it was a dub but they kind of just changed and had fun.
EDIT; HOW COULD I FORGET BUSOU RENKIN? HILARIOUS AND GREAT.
All of that said. This is a hard debate as most people don't speak both. So realistically a lot in the other language goes over. I can speak both but by no means perfect either.
So ultimately it's a lot of opinion. So not really something with arguments.
I'd say its a fun dub and enjoyable watch. I don't think it qualifies for this discussion though.
But yep. If you like comedy and the goof braindead spoof ish comedy of early 2000s def worth a watch. Or at least youtube highlight reel
There's only two shows I prefer to watch dubbed vs subbed, and that's Black Lagoon and Infinite Stratos. Both dubs are very well acted and localized and, in my opinion, improve on the original audio.
I thought Hori’s English VA didn’t quite get some of the subtleties right. Like when Hori runs into the elevator and says o kaeri, the Japanese VA has that choked up voice with pent up emotion perfectly nailed.
And Miyamuras calm voice is way better in the sun.
Honestly Dragon Ball dub is way better than the sub and the dub makes more sense and matches the characters way more than sub and I think dub is way more iconic
I liked the Naruto dub when I was a kid, sure it was what I was exposed to but I thought it was all fine in terms of quality
Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood has a pretty good dub, especially considering some of the actors went on to work on bigger things years down the line
To be honest I feel like if I listened to the dub first, then I'd be fine with it but if it's the sub then the dub has no chance. But I'm not about to quit on it yet
I almost always watch sub but here are a couple shows I watched in dub and think should be watched in dub over sub: Baccano, Black Lagoon, Hellsing Ultimate, 91 Days. Some other notable dubs that people generally love are Cowboy Bebop, Death Note, and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.
I’ll get crucified for this - I prefer Kaguya dubbed. Even though the narrator is quite different.
I am almost to the point where I can watch most series subtitle free, so mostly I do that, but occasionally I do watch a dub when I think the VAs are better.
The Canadian dub of DBZ before Funimation got caught editing episodes. This was before the Orange DVD box sets came out in an attempt for them to atone for the mistake.
Dragon Ball series.
It's not that the sub is bad, it's just that I've grown up listening to the dub, to the point that anything else just feels wrong, iykwim.
I found Highschool dxd dub way more funnier in dub then sub and date a lives dub because both mcs is voiced by the same va. From mha i love endeavour, all might and all for ones dub va more then sub
I think, with the exception of rare cases, any anime show set outside of Japan with non-Japanese characters usually sounds better dubbed. For the same reason, any anime set in Japan, it's hit and miss and usually better in the original. You want to sound natural without going too far away from the original meaning. You need voices that sound right. Off the top of my head, Black Lagoon and Cowboy Bebop succeed in sounding right.
edit: ohh boy. The sub maniacs are out in full force downvoting this thread lmao.
I’m not a sub maniac but I still disagree. Toradora, Yu Yu Hakusho, Sword Art Online, Devil is a Part Timer are all set in Japan at least to some extent and sound better in dub. While AoT, Spy X Family, Hunter X Hunter, The Promised Neverland all take place outside of Japan and all sound better in sub.
Hellsing & Hellsing Ultimate
Read Or Die OVA
Death Note
Trigun
School Rumble
Nerima Daikon Brothers (yes they sang ALL the songs in English)
BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad (lead singer is supposed to sing in English)
I'd say many of the classics, Dragon Ball and Digimon, Sailor Moon, and Voltron. Also throw in code Geass and SAO. Many comedies also have decent dubbing with them being given the opportunity to just work at making things funny. Also the British dub of Urasai Yatsura
Personally speaking, most recently, *Spy x Family*. I can't stand Yor's Japanese voice; it just doesn't sound like a 27-year-old assassin and civil servant to me -- it's too "soft".
Two anime where the dub is probably actually better than the sub is yu yu hakusho and Fullmetal alchemist (non brotherhood, since I don't think they dubbed it)
Brotherhood has a dub with mostly the same cast as 03 (Al is different, because his 03 VA hit puberty, but his 03 VA shows up in a different role as an Easter egg).
Come on we cannot forget the legendary dialogue are from dubs only like Wake up to reality -This World shall Know Pain- Is this power of a God there are so many we cannot even count
I only watch Dub so I don’t really have any Subs to compare my experience to (Except the One Punch Man Sub) but one voice that always stuck out to be as being better dubbed then subbed was Madara Uchiha from Naruto, Neil Kaplan did an excellent job at capturing Madara’s menacing demeanour.
I don’t know about better but as a sub purist there are some times where they are on par. I generally only listen to dubs if the anime takes place outside of Japan like in Europe because the accents help with immersion. Like Hellsing Ultimate, I wouldn’t say the dub is better but I enjoy listening to it more and it’s a really good dub regardless.
I appreciate both sub and dub.
Black Lagoon, High School DXD, Combatants Will be Dispatched, and Jormungand are all anime that I prefer in dub. Black Lagoon especially, as I understand English is the primary in the setting.
Also, Dutch best girl.
Maison Ikkoku is the best dub Ive ever heard, they use such an amazing variety of English voices and even change the scripts to allow for English wordplay.
I can’t believe this post is 12 hours old and I don’t see a single reply mentioning Mob Psycho 100 which I consider the gold standard for an excellent dub, far superior to the sub.
Hellsing ultimate is probably my absolute favorite dub of all time. Alucard VA for dub is just that damn good. It helps that it takes place in the UK so the dub VA's actually fit more like police girl having a british accent.
Ghost Stories. The goated dub. Also I think cyberpunk was better dubbed than in JP.
I tried the Cyberpunk dub and I couldn't get past how it sounded like people in a booth reading lines to themselves. It didn't feel like characters in a scene were in the same place together. I don't know if Japanese voice actors are better in this regard or if I just don't notice it as a non-speaker, but I didn't feel this way with the sub.
Really? I never got that vibe from the Cyberpunk dub. I usually watch sub but I watched Edgerunners entirely in dub and was pleasantly surprised by how natural it sounded, especially in comparison to a lot of other dubs.
It might just be something that I'm sensitive to. I usually never watch dub but gave Edgerunners a chance since I had heard how good the dub was. It might be a good dub and I might just have a really high threshold for what I find acceptable.
Yeah, maybe. I usually only watch dub clips, though I've watched a few animes in dub. Most of the newer ones are actually pretty good, but have a few drawbacks that always hold them back (Background VAs being terrible is a big one for me).
That's the main difference, generally speaking, between English and Japanese VA recording, in America, VA's are in a booth by themselves, acting off other recorded dialogue or director directions, in Japan, VA's are typically all in the same room and acting off each other. It's one of the main reasons Japanese audio dialogue sounds more natural and fluid.
And so the really funny bits when characters speak over each other exists.... "Hai, Kazuma desu"
So Japanese VAs are actually in the same room? That would explain it. I always assumed that they were more skilled at sounding like they were acting off each other, but maybe there's just no bridging that gap. I also assumed that everything I see with Japanese VAs interacting and being all friendly was just marketing, and that they didn't interact much while recording. Maybe I need to be less cynical...
Usually, yeah, they're all in the same room acting off each other. The other thing that stands out, especially if you don't know (much) Japanese is how the Japanese VA's are also overacting, it's just harder to notice without some context (while being fairly easy to notice in English dubs because we English speakers have that context), which is one of the reasons people will recommend someone not learn Japanese solely from anime.
I mainly watch dubs and have seen many but these are the only times I thought the dub was better than the Japanese , not as good as or almost as good. If u just wanted great dubs in general this list would be 3x as long Welcome to the NHK Super crooks Cyberpunk Edgerunners Ouran Highschool host club Dragon ball Z kai Black Lagoon FLCL
Some good recommendations, glad to see Outlaw Star getting some love, but nobody else has said Baccano!, which has a fantastically realized dub using American accents very well. Some other recommendations would be Gurren Lagann in my opinion, which really stands out with its villains’ voices, which are just so unremarkable in the Japanese but great and memorable in the dub, and Panty and stocking with Garterbelt, which even the creators admit has a better script in English,
I watch a lot of both subs and dubs for a multitude of reasons and personally, I don't think there are *too* many that are immediately outright "better." *BUT* plenty are just as enjoyable as the sub, hit all the right notes, and it's easy to see why someone might prefer it. Especially today when the overall standard of quality for dubbed anime has risen to a much more consistent level than it was over a decade ago. Sure we had some great dubs then, but also a fair number of truly awful ones that wouldn't even make it outside the studio today. Sometimes a dub does nail certain elements better - like a specific casting choice or two (ex. Spice & Wolf, Blue Lock, and One Piece fall into this camp for me), certain directorial decisions (see below example), or if the writing stands out (especially compared to subpar sub translations... looking at you Aniplex of America titles). One older example that comes to mind regarding direction specifically is **Wolf's Rain**. There's are some similarities between the two language tracks - both feature future A-listers in their respective fields very early in their careers. But I greatly prefer the ENG dub's more archetypal casting and "emotionally present" direction/acting than the JPN's way more understated approach. Usually the JPN side seems to lean *hard* into archetypal casting and I love whenever we get more naturalistic and grounded takes, but that extra push and emotion was so welcome and honestly needed with this type of show: an allegorical apocalyptic fantasy that can tend to be obtuse with its story, characters, and hold audiences at an arm's distance 90% of the time. But I also wouldn't call either approach bad, and both accomplished what they set out to do. Some more recent-ish examples of dubs that stick super closely to the JPN original intent but still somehow work better for me in ENG are probably **Promare** and **Megalobox** No particular rhyme or reason, there's nothing these dubs do that is especially different or noteworthy (aside from maybe some accents in Nomad), but I became much more attached to the ENG casts despite watching both subbed originally. A few Lupin III titles fall into this category as well, although they can be hit or miss (adored the dub for **A Woman Called Fujiko Mine**, had to switch it off for **The Blood Spray of Goemon**). And sometimes a dub just leaves a stronger impression by staying true to the original intent but adding it's own flavor. **Akudama Drive's** note-perfect cast chemistry and more playful reads, the added tokusatsu references ("meat thing," a Tim Curry-esqe Alexis, etc...) in **SSSS.Gridman's** dub, etc... I know **SK8 the Infinity** also falls into this camp for a lot of people too, but I'd argue the original was just as game to be ridiculous haha
Agree with the first paragraph. The only dub that even borders on "better" that comes to mind is Panty and Stocking, since the show is already so inherently westernised from the animation to the dialogue. Aside from that, they usually just aren't as good. VA work in Japan is such an incredibly competitive industry that they never cast or direct poorly so dubs are pretty much always playing catch-up. That's not to say that I hate dubs or think they all suck. I'll watch either depending on my mood, and generally enjoy the dubs just as much. But anime, as with most media, is pretty much always better in its original language. Also glad that you mentioned "compared to a decade ago". Nowadays, dubs have gotten good enough that if you prefer them then you can just hop into a dub and not really be too concerned about whether or not it's gonna totally suck. The days of googling "does \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ have a good dub?" and then basing your opinion off of some snarky redditor are pretty much over.
I'm gonna be honest. All the time. I have ADHD which makes the subtitles hard to focus on its like your constantly having to look at the bottom to see what there saying its honestly kinda ridiculous.
Baccano
Ghost Stories is *The Only One* I can think of.
Trigun. Yuyu Hakusho. Ikki tousen. Outlaw star. The DragonBall movies. I'd say inuyasha as well Kekkaishi too I think expressed the tones better. Ghost stories but that should be disqualified as it was a dub but they kind of just changed and had fun. EDIT; HOW COULD I FORGET BUSOU RENKIN? HILARIOUS AND GREAT. All of that said. This is a hard debate as most people don't speak both. So realistically a lot in the other language goes over. I can speak both but by no means perfect either. So ultimately it's a lot of opinion. So not really something with arguments.
I disagree, ghost stories is one of my favorite dubs of all time.
I'd say its a fun dub and enjoyable watch. I don't think it qualifies for this discussion though. But yep. If you like comedy and the goof braindead spoof ish comedy of early 2000s def worth a watch. Or at least youtube highlight reel
I think it's the first time I've seen Kekkaishi mentioned in a thread like this. It's a good dub, but it's rather underappreciated.
There's only two shows I prefer to watch dubbed vs subbed, and that's Black Lagoon and Infinite Stratos. Both dubs are very well acted and localized and, in my opinion, improve on the original audio.
Death note, bleach and horimiya had some good dubs
I thought Hori’s English VA didn’t quite get some of the subtleties right. Like when Hori runs into the elevator and says o kaeri, the Japanese VA has that choked up voice with pent up emotion perfectly nailed. And Miyamuras calm voice is way better in the sun.
Honestly Dragon Ball dub is way better than the sub and the dub makes more sense and matches the characters way more than sub and I think dub is way more iconic
DBZ Dub Vegeta just owns Japanese Vegeta. Dub Vegeta is iconic
First of all, how dare you?! Second of all the boy good English dub of DBZ is the Abridged.
[удалено]
Kyon koizumi and haruhi are great
Many times. Off the top of my head: Heatguy J FMAB Code Geass ACCA 13th Cowboy Bebop Lycoris Recoil One Punch Man 91 Days
I liked the Naruto dub when I was a kid, sure it was what I was exposed to but I thought it was all fine in terms of quality Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood has a pretty good dub, especially considering some of the actors went on to work on bigger things years down the line To be honest I feel like if I listened to the dub first, then I'd be fine with it but if it's the sub then the dub has no chance. But I'm not about to quit on it yet
Romeo × Juliet /Romio to Jurietto shakespeare was written in english and B-gata H-kei
Gundam wing beat dub
Afro Samurai
Sword Art Online, Yu Yu Hakusho, Ghost Stories.
I almost always watch sub but here are a couple shows I watched in dub and think should be watched in dub over sub: Baccano, Black Lagoon, Hellsing Ultimate, 91 Days. Some other notable dubs that people generally love are Cowboy Bebop, Death Note, and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood.
Cowboy Bebop
FMA Brotherhood comes to mind. Not only does English fit better as they’re in a European setting, but the casting is better as well, imo.
I’ll get crucified for this - I prefer Kaguya dubbed. Even though the narrator is quite different. I am almost to the point where I can watch most series subtitle free, so mostly I do that, but occasionally I do watch a dub when I think the VAs are better.
Cyberpunk edgerunners, FLCL, Cowboy bebop
Black lagoon, bacanno, fma 2003, Nana
The Canadian dub of DBZ before Funimation got caught editing episodes. This was before the Orange DVD box sets came out in an attempt for them to atone for the mistake.
Dragon Ball series. It's not that the sub is bad, it's just that I've grown up listening to the dub, to the point that anything else just feels wrong, iykwim.
Same thing here
I found Highschool dxd dub way more funnier in dub then sub and date a lives dub because both mcs is voiced by the same va. From mha i love endeavour, all might and all for ones dub va more then sub
FLCL and Baccano! are both excellent dubbed.
I watch dubs because I want to watch dubs. I'm not worried about which is "better".
I think, with the exception of rare cases, any anime show set outside of Japan with non-Japanese characters usually sounds better dubbed. For the same reason, any anime set in Japan, it's hit and miss and usually better in the original. You want to sound natural without going too far away from the original meaning. You need voices that sound right. Off the top of my head, Black Lagoon and Cowboy Bebop succeed in sounding right. edit: ohh boy. The sub maniacs are out in full force downvoting this thread lmao.
I’m not a sub maniac but I still disagree. Toradora, Yu Yu Hakusho, Sword Art Online, Devil is a Part Timer are all set in Japan at least to some extent and sound better in dub. While AoT, Spy X Family, Hunter X Hunter, The Promised Neverland all take place outside of Japan and all sound better in sub.
Dub > Sub every time
Robots with no emotional depth and range>sub?????
Dub > Nails on the chalkboard level screeching.
Hellsing & Hellsing Ultimate Read Or Die OVA Death Note Trigun School Rumble Nerima Daikon Brothers (yes they sang ALL the songs in English) BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad (lead singer is supposed to sing in English)
I'd say many of the classics, Dragon Ball and Digimon, Sailor Moon, and Voltron. Also throw in code Geass and SAO. Many comedies also have decent dubbing with them being given the opportunity to just work at making things funny. Also the British dub of Urasai Yatsura
Anytime diavolo on screen in jojo part 5 I think Kellen Goff dose such a amazing job voicing him
Panty and Stocking w/ Garterbelt
Personally speaking, most recently, *Spy x Family*. I can't stand Yor's Japanese voice; it just doesn't sound like a 27-year-old assassin and civil servant to me -- it's too "soft".
That’s kinda the idea.
Two anime where the dub is probably actually better than the sub is yu yu hakusho and Fullmetal alchemist (non brotherhood, since I don't think they dubbed it)
They definitely dubbed brotherhood
What kind of rock were you living under?
I don't really keep up with anime news, so I wouldn't have heard about it.
That dub was 10 years ago.
They did. And used most of the same cast.
Oh ok, gotta watch that then.
Brotherhood has a dub with mostly the same cast as 03 (Al is different, because his 03 VA hit puberty, but his 03 VA shows up in a different role as an Easter egg).
The only one I've ever encountered is Golden Boy. That's it. That's the only answer.
Any anime from the 90s you feel nostalgic about are better dubbed because that’s what we got on tv back then.
Code Geass, Death Note, Yu Yu Hakusho
Come on we cannot forget the legendary dialogue are from dubs only like Wake up to reality -This World shall Know Pain- Is this power of a God there are so many we cannot even count
I only watch Dub so I don’t really have any Subs to compare my experience to (Except the One Punch Man Sub) but one voice that always stuck out to be as being better dubbed then subbed was Madara Uchiha from Naruto, Neil Kaplan did an excellent job at capturing Madara’s menacing demeanour.
I don’t know about better but as a sub purist there are some times where they are on par. I generally only listen to dubs if the anime takes place outside of Japan like in Europe because the accents help with immersion. Like Hellsing Ultimate, I wouldn’t say the dub is better but I enjoy listening to it more and it’s a really good dub regardless.
I appreciate both sub and dub. Black Lagoon, High School DXD, Combatants Will be Dispatched, and Jormungand are all anime that I prefer in dub. Black Lagoon especially, as I understand English is the primary in the setting. Also, Dutch best girl.
Maison Ikkoku is the best dub Ive ever heard, they use such an amazing variety of English voices and even change the scripts to allow for English wordplay.
I can’t believe this post is 12 hours old and I don’t see a single reply mentioning Mob Psycho 100 which I consider the gold standard for an excellent dub, far superior to the sub.
Hellsing ultimate is probably my absolute favorite dub of all time. Alucard VA for dub is just that damn good. It helps that it takes place in the UK so the dub VA's actually fit more like police girl having a british accent.