Anime Dubs

A Little Dub Talk

Did you know they made a Toriko dub? They made a Toriko dub, and it is pretty awesome. Also there is a Card Fight Vanguard dub. That too is pretty awesome. Here are some of my thoughts on these dubs, and dubs in general. Enjoy.

I don’t have a lot of chances to watch dubbed anime. I mostly watch newer anime, stuff from the current season and the like, and shows that are lesser known by most, like Bartender and One Outs. But whenever I get a chance to see a new dub of a show I really like, I go for it. And unfortunately I usually end up regretting it. For example, what I’ve seen of the Baka to Test dub, I can’t really say I like it. The problem I found with the show is one that I always hate confronting because it always involves my personal bias. The problem was that the characters voices just didn’t fit the characters.

Most people automatically prefer whatever they hear first, either the dub or the sub. I know I much prefer the Yu Yu Hakusho dub to the original Japanese dub. But I prefer the Yu Yu Hakusho dub because I believe that the characters voices in English just better fit the characters. The same could be said of Baccano. The English voice cast just fit the American characters better then the Japanese dub cast. This is a bias that many people have, and I usually have to admit that it is one I have. Most of the time when I hear the character in another language, I just can’t agree with their choice of voice for the character. It’s like when you hear the voice of a character from a story you are reading in your head, and then you watch the movie version and everything is totally different. It feels wrong. And I kind of hate that idea, because I like to think that I am open to ideas outside my own, and someone else’s choices in voice selection is just as valid as my interpretation of the character. So whenever I find a show that breaks this bias of me, it is kind of like a breath of fresh air.

With Toriko, every character’s voice fits the character in both the original dub and the English dub. Every character is spot on. They do make some changes from the Japanese dub to the English though, but surprisingly they are all changes I really like. Toriko in the English dub is a bit more of a dudebro then he is presented in the Japanese, but he is still as intelligent and quick witted as he is in the Japanese dub, though a bit more sassy. I like this, they are adding to the character to better fit an English speaking sensibility, without undermining the core character. Also they do this really, really amusing thing, where they will have the characters curse, which is something they just don’t do in the Japanese dub, but instead of actually cursing they say food based stuff. At first it sounds like they are self-censoring themselves, but then you realize that this is a food based world. Whenever they say what the fork is going on or you son of a fish, or up shitake mushroom creek without a paddle, they mean the actual curse. And it is really funny.

On the other hand, I started watching the Cardfight Vangaurd dub first, and then caught up with the series that is going on with the Japanese dub, so my first exposure was to the English dub. And I liked it. The character voices fit very well, they explain the mechanics and rules of the card game perfectly, and it is really funny. The best though was Morikawa. He is the worst card game player in the entire series and idiot in the highest order, and the funniest character in the series. He has this strange self awareness to him , where he almost knows that he is an incredibly pathetic  loser, but at the same time he believes himself to be the greatest in the world. But then I watch the Japanese dub and he is just less funny. Now the series on a whole is great, the Japanese dub is on par to the English dub, or vice versa, but the original Morikawa is much more of a one note character.

Both English dubs are actually very good. They change things from the original Japanese dubs, but what they change does not hurt the series, and in fact makes them better. At the end of the day, the big question in anime fan circles is subs or dubs. And to be honest, I fall straight down the line. It depends on the strength of the dub cast in either language, or how well they can give the character a good voice. I can go either way depending on the show. But those are just my thoughts, and at the end of the day everyone is entitled to their own opinions. So until next time, have fun watching.