AgedVeteranofShow
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What are some of your favorite and least favorite English Anime Dubs? It can be completely subjective, and it doesn't have to be objectively "good" to qualify for the list, or can be the "Best or lesser of two evils or multiple evils in your opinion" as well.
I'll begin by listing my favorite by franchise, and then least favorite, respectively:
Favorite English Dubs
Pokémon: Original Series & Advanced Generation (4Kids/4KMedia with TAJ early on then alone-- now Konami, 1998-2006): Liked everything about it when compared to TPCi's current main Series dub, save the excessive localization/censorship, but that was commonplace for the Era it was produced in & it was one of the better made for TV dubs targeted at children of its time too. The VA work holds up so well for me, that nothing TPCi has done over decades now compares to it, the dub BGM was better than and never got as grating as Goldfarb's IMO, it kept more of the OST holistically than TPCi's dub did, and the script writing was (on its good days) pretty well done & entertaining especially with Team Rocket, though the script could be hit-or-miss sometimes and bad on its bad days (still found it more bearable than most of JCC's stuff alone).
Yu-Gi-Oh: Duel Monsters (4Kids/4KMedia, now Konami, 2001-2006): Much worse than the above in every way (it would've been LUCKY to get the dub above, it's far inferior and butchered things that were vital to the story unlike the above which at least kept the core plot intact throughout), but I think the VA work is passable & better than Odex/Singapore's dub, redeeming it-- despite being objectively awful, the cheesiness and corniness entertains me sometimes.
Dragonball (FUNimation/Crunchyroll LLC, 2001): The first time they produced a passable English Version of Dragonball in English, and I really liked Stephanie Nadolny's Kid Goku especially.
Dragonball Z Kai (FUNimation/Crunchyroll LLC Uncut, 2011-2017): How Dragonball Z should've been handled in English from the start, everything is pretty solid. The only drags it has are Schemmel's King Kai and Sabat's Recoome still being awful on it VA wise, but everything else was well done & a huge step up from their earlier efforts.
Rurouni Kenshin (MediaBlasters Dub, 2001-2003): A big improvement over the Sony dub from 1999, and Richard Cansino was a great Himura Kenshin and Lex Lang as Sanosuke Sagara was wonderful too.
Death Note (Ocean Group Dub, 2008-2009): Brad Swalie made for a solid Light, and Brian Drummond was great as Ryuk.
Pokemon: The Origin (TPCi via SDI Media/Iyuno Group, 2013): Bob Buchholz is probably the best VO director Pokémon received after Darren Dunstan, the script was well adapted before the File 4 edition where it took a dive, and a lot of the casting choices are at least serviceable (Jamieson Price's Giovanni is the best voice TPCi has ever cast in 17 years in anything IMO, even if I still prefer Ted Lewis like most a little).
Bleach (Viz Media Dub, 2005+): Johnny Yong Bosch is great as Ichigo Kurosaki, and everyone else fits their roles well.
Naruto (Viz Media Dub, 2005-2009): Maile Flanagan, Yuri Lowenthal, and Kate Higgins are all very solid as Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura respectively, and it's pretty well done.
One Piece (FUNimation Dub, 2007-Present): A massive upgrade from both the 4Kids and Odex dubs, the latter was awful and a parody of the original at best but Odex had even worse VA than either Version despite being Uncut- this dub does most things right, even if 4Kids had a handful of VA performances that were better like Kaya and Gol D. Roger at times.
Sailor Moon (Viz Media Dub, 2014-2016): A pretty faithful adaptation of the original, even if there are some VAs I did prefer from the censored DiC Era for certain characters, and overall well done (Kirbopher/Chris Niosi however is very dull and dry in his role, even the Cloverway VA was better and he's the only one I think did a better job).
Ace Attorney Anime (FUNimation/Crunchyroll LLC Dub, 2018-2019): Eric Vale makes for a much better Phoenix Wright/Naruhodo than he did Trunks in DBZ Kai, and most of the rest of the cast is fairly solid (Kent Williams is awful as the Judge, though, breathy and wheezy forced old man voice sadly).
Cowboy Bebop: Steve Blum as Spike alone makes it great, but Wendee Lee was also solid in her roles, too.
Inuyasha (Ocean Group): Richard Ian Cox is great as the titular role, etc.
Yu Yu Hakusho (FUNimation/Crunchyroll LLC Dub, 2003-2007 ???): Justin Cook makes for a good Yusuke, and the rest of the main cast is serviceable and it's an entertaining dub, even if they take a lot of liberties with the script writing that they shouldn't have in hindsight.
Ranma 1/2 (Ocean Group): Pretty good for its time, Ted Cole is especially funny here.
Shaman King (2021, VSI Los Angeles): Better than the 4Kids dub in 2001, combined the old NY talent with the new LA talent & it was a fantastic experience, with the OST retained and script writing was good (Michele Knotz is a better writer than James Cathcart, TPCi should've had her adapt the scripts after they canned 4Kids in Pokémon).
Least Favorite English Dubs
Pokémon: Diamond & Pearl & Pokemon: XY, Sun & Moon + Journeys (TPCi dub w/TAJ Productions, DuArt Film & Video & Iyuno Group, prior PUSA, 2007-2011; 2014-2023): Basically this dub possesses all the flaws of the 4Kids dub and commits its same sins at the end of the day, but it also very much lacked its bearable vocal direction hence some very bad line deliveries, acting, and stilted as well as miscast VAs often times are present in these Series' dubs, the latter replaced more of the OST overall in its last three Series than 4Kids ever did, XYZ onward brought back the censorship/editing practices on 4Kids tier by Season 19, and TPCi cut the length of the intros almost in half or even in half depending on the OP 4Kids made, from the old English version 4Kids produced, throughout its run.
Pokémon Generations (TPCi dub/Bang Zoom ???, 2017): Awful voice acting and casting choices, stilted deliveries, and such are synonymous with this English dub for the most part through its first 4 Generations, and it only picked up in Generation 5, but too little & too late to save it. The only performance that was any better than any performances in any Pokemon media to me was Bill Rogers' Bruno (still inferior to Maddie Blaustein's performance to me, but still better, than Greg Chun's in Masters in 2019).
Yu-Gi-Oh (Odex dub): Despite being more accurate to the original and more faithful by keeping the OST than 4Kids' dub, the VA choices are awful and the VO direction is unbearable, making it a chore to sit through (also, Chuck Powers' Yami "Dude" every other second, was annoying too).
Sonic X (4Kids dub): Worse voice acting than the Adventures LA-based cast preceding them, the VA work is subpar for most characters, and Jason Griffith had a decent start as Shadow but was forced as Sonic, etc.
One Piece (4Kids dub): Self-explanatory, no comment, everything wrong with 4Kids in one dub here. Its only saving grace is the Odex/Singapore dub has even more unbearable VA work (how?!).
One Piece (Odex dub): Self-explanatory, even worse VA work than the 4Kids dub somehow despite being uncut/uncensored (didn't think it was possible, but they did it).
Yu Yu Hakusho (Animax dub): See above, as Ghost Fighter. Dave Bridges is a better person than Chuck Huber apparently, though, go figure?
Dragonball Z (FUNi Edited dub, 1999; Season 3): Pretty hideous in hindsight, amateurish and flat even compared to the censored Ocean/Saban dub of Seasons 1-2. Goku's "Hammer time" and Frieza's "Whatever turns you on, big guy" alone speak for themselves.
What are some of yours?
I'll begin by listing my favorite by franchise, and then least favorite, respectively:
Favorite English Dubs
Pokémon: Original Series & Advanced Generation (4Kids/4KMedia with TAJ early on then alone-- now Konami, 1998-2006): Liked everything about it when compared to TPCi's current main Series dub, save the excessive localization/censorship, but that was commonplace for the Era it was produced in & it was one of the better made for TV dubs targeted at children of its time too. The VA work holds up so well for me, that nothing TPCi has done over decades now compares to it, the dub BGM was better than and never got as grating as Goldfarb's IMO, it kept more of the OST holistically than TPCi's dub did, and the script writing was (on its good days) pretty well done & entertaining especially with Team Rocket, though the script could be hit-or-miss sometimes and bad on its bad days (still found it more bearable than most of JCC's stuff alone).
Yu-Gi-Oh: Duel Monsters (4Kids/4KMedia, now Konami, 2001-2006): Much worse than the above in every way (it would've been LUCKY to get the dub above, it's far inferior and butchered things that were vital to the story unlike the above which at least kept the core plot intact throughout), but I think the VA work is passable & better than Odex/Singapore's dub, redeeming it-- despite being objectively awful, the cheesiness and corniness entertains me sometimes.
Dragonball (FUNimation/Crunchyroll LLC, 2001): The first time they produced a passable English Version of Dragonball in English, and I really liked Stephanie Nadolny's Kid Goku especially.
Dragonball Z Kai (FUNimation/Crunchyroll LLC Uncut, 2011-2017): How Dragonball Z should've been handled in English from the start, everything is pretty solid. The only drags it has are Schemmel's King Kai and Sabat's Recoome still being awful on it VA wise, but everything else was well done & a huge step up from their earlier efforts.
Rurouni Kenshin (MediaBlasters Dub, 2001-2003): A big improvement over the Sony dub from 1999, and Richard Cansino was a great Himura Kenshin and Lex Lang as Sanosuke Sagara was wonderful too.
Death Note (Ocean Group Dub, 2008-2009): Brad Swalie made for a solid Light, and Brian Drummond was great as Ryuk.
Pokemon: The Origin (TPCi via SDI Media/Iyuno Group, 2013): Bob Buchholz is probably the best VO director Pokémon received after Darren Dunstan, the script was well adapted before the File 4 edition where it took a dive, and a lot of the casting choices are at least serviceable (Jamieson Price's Giovanni is the best voice TPCi has ever cast in 17 years in anything IMO, even if I still prefer Ted Lewis like most a little).
Bleach (Viz Media Dub, 2005+): Johnny Yong Bosch is great as Ichigo Kurosaki, and everyone else fits their roles well.
Naruto (Viz Media Dub, 2005-2009): Maile Flanagan, Yuri Lowenthal, and Kate Higgins are all very solid as Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura respectively, and it's pretty well done.
One Piece (FUNimation Dub, 2007-Present): A massive upgrade from both the 4Kids and Odex dubs, the latter was awful and a parody of the original at best but Odex had even worse VA than either Version despite being Uncut- this dub does most things right, even if 4Kids had a handful of VA performances that were better like Kaya and Gol D. Roger at times.
Sailor Moon (Viz Media Dub, 2014-2016): A pretty faithful adaptation of the original, even if there are some VAs I did prefer from the censored DiC Era for certain characters, and overall well done (Kirbopher/Chris Niosi however is very dull and dry in his role, even the Cloverway VA was better and he's the only one I think did a better job).
Ace Attorney Anime (FUNimation/Crunchyroll LLC Dub, 2018-2019): Eric Vale makes for a much better Phoenix Wright/Naruhodo than he did Trunks in DBZ Kai, and most of the rest of the cast is fairly solid (Kent Williams is awful as the Judge, though, breathy and wheezy forced old man voice sadly).
Cowboy Bebop: Steve Blum as Spike alone makes it great, but Wendee Lee was also solid in her roles, too.
Inuyasha (Ocean Group): Richard Ian Cox is great as the titular role, etc.
Yu Yu Hakusho (FUNimation/Crunchyroll LLC Dub, 2003-2007 ???): Justin Cook makes for a good Yusuke, and the rest of the main cast is serviceable and it's an entertaining dub, even if they take a lot of liberties with the script writing that they shouldn't have in hindsight.
Ranma 1/2 (Ocean Group): Pretty good for its time, Ted Cole is especially funny here.
Shaman King (2021, VSI Los Angeles): Better than the 4Kids dub in 2001, combined the old NY talent with the new LA talent & it was a fantastic experience, with the OST retained and script writing was good (Michele Knotz is a better writer than James Cathcart, TPCi should've had her adapt the scripts after they canned 4Kids in Pokémon).
Least Favorite English Dubs
Pokémon: Diamond & Pearl & Pokemon: XY, Sun & Moon + Journeys (TPCi dub w/TAJ Productions, DuArt Film & Video & Iyuno Group, prior PUSA, 2007-2011; 2014-2023): Basically this dub possesses all the flaws of the 4Kids dub and commits its same sins at the end of the day, but it also very much lacked its bearable vocal direction hence some very bad line deliveries, acting, and stilted as well as miscast VAs often times are present in these Series' dubs, the latter replaced more of the OST overall in its last three Series than 4Kids ever did, XYZ onward brought back the censorship/editing practices on 4Kids tier by Season 19, and TPCi cut the length of the intros almost in half or even in half depending on the OP 4Kids made, from the old English version 4Kids produced, throughout its run.
Pokémon Generations (TPCi dub/Bang Zoom ???, 2017): Awful voice acting and casting choices, stilted deliveries, and such are synonymous with this English dub for the most part through its first 4 Generations, and it only picked up in Generation 5, but too little & too late to save it. The only performance that was any better than any performances in any Pokemon media to me was Bill Rogers' Bruno (still inferior to Maddie Blaustein's performance to me, but still better, than Greg Chun's in Masters in 2019).
Yu-Gi-Oh (Odex dub): Despite being more accurate to the original and more faithful by keeping the OST than 4Kids' dub, the VA choices are awful and the VO direction is unbearable, making it a chore to sit through (also, Chuck Powers' Yami "Dude" every other second, was annoying too).
Sonic X (4Kids dub): Worse voice acting than the Adventures LA-based cast preceding them, the VA work is subpar for most characters, and Jason Griffith had a decent start as Shadow but was forced as Sonic, etc.
One Piece (4Kids dub): Self-explanatory, no comment, everything wrong with 4Kids in one dub here. Its only saving grace is the Odex/Singapore dub has even more unbearable VA work (how?!).
One Piece (Odex dub): Self-explanatory, even worse VA work than the 4Kids dub somehow despite being uncut/uncensored (didn't think it was possible, but they did it).
Yu Yu Hakusho (Animax dub): See above, as Ghost Fighter. Dave Bridges is a better person than Chuck Huber apparently, though, go figure?
Dragonball Z (FUNi Edited dub, 1999; Season 3): Pretty hideous in hindsight, amateurish and flat even compared to the censored Ocean/Saban dub of Seasons 1-2. Goku's "Hammer time" and Frieza's "Whatever turns you on, big guy" alone speak for themselves.
What are some of yours?
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