It does (thejew is the only one I've ever heard other than the obnoxious "absolutely no dub" otaku's criticize that dubbing). On DeathNote I've yet to watch it in sub largely because I saw it dubbed originally when it aired and so am used to the voices but I actually disagree on L's voice. I think it fits the character perfectly well. My problem is the subsidiary characters where there is some fucking HORRIBLE voice acting.

I don't see how one can prefer dubbed L. His voice is all harsh and deep and sounds like Tom Waits or something. How does that fit with a 17 year old eccentric genius teenager with no friends. Just hearing that gristly voiced L say the line "You're the first friend I've ever had" to Light is enough to make me cringe. Not to mention that Light just doesn't sound that good either.

I'm not certain if it was the funimation dub I saw FMAB on. I'll verify that later. The one I heard is certainly not very good though. And I never go by the "I saw it dubbed/subbed first so that's my favorite". I vastly prefer Code Geass subbed, even though I saw it dubbed the first time (the dubbing isn't bad though. it's at least tolerable).

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that the original voice actors always do it right.

Wow, you were not listening to the right dub then.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7GjwmSolA8[/youtube]

Okay my mistake. Didn't see the right dub. At least L's voice fits pretty well in that one. Can't say I prefer it, although this one seems to be a somewhat acceptable alternative.

Light has one of the best voices in all of dubbed anime.

I think it's a case of what you're used to, but after flicking through that episode the voices all seem wrong. Leaving that aside, I generally prefer subs over dubs because as a non-Japanese speaker it's that much harder to tell if a voice actor is crap. Plus it's weird watching obviously Japanese characters speaking with thick American accents. This is partially why the listed Berserk earlier. The English dub isn't better acted than the Japanese, but it sounds more natural for characters in a European-Medieval Fantasy to speak English. Similarly it bugs the crap out of me when an anime includes an English (or other non-Japanese speaker) character but opts to have a Japanese voice actor with very little familiarity with the language speak that language.

The English dub for the first Zoids series (Chaotic Century/Guardian Force) is better than it has any right to be as, effectively, a toy vehicle. The original Japanese track just simply wasn't very good. The same voice cast did the dub for "G Gundam". Lightning didn't strike twice (although it is beautifully hammy).

Similarly, the English dub for Deadman Wonderland is much better than the original Japanese. In the original, everyone sounds fucking bored and doesn't seem to get the tone of the story. I have a feeling that it might be the reason why it failed in Japan the way it did. The fact that Johnny Yong Bosch and Stephanie Sheh were the English cast leads meant that I was interested in the dub right off the bat for potentially being an improvement, and boy did it deliver.



So you'd probably think the same of "Baccano!", with its primarily American characters? The original Japanese track is very good, but the English track is both fantastic and it fits the actual setting better.

Totally with you there.

Bleach is a great example, I don't know how "good" the Japanese dub is but everyone just sounds perfect for the character, in the English dub a couple of the main characters like Ichigo and Rukia sound good but damn near everyone else just sounds wrong.

Edward Elric as Ikkaku (the crazy bald guy with eyeliner) being the best example.

I can't imagine even a troupe of classically trained actors being able to make that piece of shit watchable. The main character is the whiniest bitch I've seen in an anime since Reki from Claymore. What is it with this trope. It doesn't make for compelling viewing if the protagonist is crying like a toddler throughout proceedings.



Indeed. Though IIRC I watched it shortly after it aired so the only format it was available to me was the excellent Eclipse Fansub, If/when I rewatch it I will probably go for the dub, yeah. I was sorely tempted to watch Gunslinger Girls in Italian too. The only reason I didn't was because you had to select language options for each episode and I'm incredibly lazy when it comes to little things like that.



It doesn't help that the translators are more limited by the required lip syncing, creating some really bizarre lines in many of the dubs I've seen. Then there's the localisation issue, with dubs tending to be directed at an audience that wants pretty much everything translating, which takes a lot of the appeal out of watching Anime. Giving Osaka and Texan accent in the Azumanga Daioh dub for instance was totally silly. I get why they did it, Osaka having a completely different accent to her Tokyo peers, but it affected the way her character came across massively. Then again, when dubs retain some of the cultural nuances of the Japanese language it still comes across as wrong. Particularly when they keep the honorifics. Okazaki-kun or whatever sounds completely wrong when spoken in an American accent.

Basically I'd rather Western companies just stuck with the original dub unless the show/film is set in a Western-like world. Doing so has the added advantage of keeping costs down on R1 and R2 releases, meaning I don't have to fork out £40+ for one show.

It's kind of interesting that most of the dubs that anime fans really enjoy - Eureka Seven, Last Exile, Fullmetal Alchemist - all take place in either firmly in a Western setting or semi-Western inspired futures where English would make sense.



The whininess of the main character at the beginning goes away after a while thanks to character development. Unfortunately, the anime didn't last long enough to get to the chapters of the manga where a good majority of that development happens.

In DW's defence, it makes absolutely perfect sense in context (story wise and tone wise) for the main character to sound the way he does most of the time.

I've heard this argument and made similar arguments many times, but there's a limit. I don't expect a highschool boy to instantly become a badass when he's confronted with horrifying shit, but there's a limit to the whiny faggotry I can tolerate.

One anime that almost got the cowardly crybaby character right was Chaos; Head. The first few episodes were absolutely hilarious as he was presented as a complete coward and acts accordingly. God damn that show could have been good.

Oh my god Light's Japanese voice actor is perfect. So is L's.

You guys have no taste.

Dead Leaves has a great dub, however.

Paranoia Agent had one of the best English dubs I've heard from an Anime. Miyazaki dubs while not perfect are usually pretty good as well.

But Cowboy Bebop is probably the gold standard.