The Best Dubs In The Past Thirty Years

[Kanashimi]

I started thinking the other night about a video project I wanted to do, but it required me to answer a very interesting question: What are the best English dubs released in the past thirty years?

This isn't an easy question in the slightest because you could reasonably say a dub was good, but what made it the best? I started to think subjectively and felt the first anime that pops into anyone's mind as the best dub would be something as iconic as Cowboy Bebop. It reached an untold popularity and its cast was recognized as the greatest of the great during the time. This is sort of a general consensus among anime fans, but does that boil down to just the dub itself?

So, in an effort to get a fair list. I want to ask everyone what they think the best dubs are from the past thirty years. This has nothing to do with the story of the anime itself, but the voice actors and how they clicked as well as how this cast helped the anime reach mainstream audiences. If all the gears in the clock tower work the way they're supposed to then everyone will hear the chime or something of that sort.

So, in short, what do you think properly classifies a dub as being the best and what anime fits in with those stipulations?

Current List


Cowboy Bebop

[EagleEyes]

Black Lagoon. Every character in that show sounds EXACTLY how they should. There is not one performance that can be faulted even on the most minor of characters. From Safron Henderson's broken english as Shenhua to Patricia Drake's cold delivery as Balalaika, every voice actor in my honest opinion blows their japanese counterpart out of the water.

[Cerulaine]

Original Full metal Alchemist dub was amazing (Same with Brotherhood) as well as the Inuyasha dub, the Japanese seiyuu make my ears bleed but the dub...all of the voices are perfect and distinct and fit their personalities.

[Amui]

I thoroughly enjoyed Samurai Champloo's english dub, Fuu had a hint of naïveté and innocence in her voice, Mugen was wild, crazy and just sounded like the arrogant jerk that we love, and Jin was well.....Jin! the wiser and more mild of the trio.
Everything just fit so well and i was honestly impressed by the time i had finished.

[Tyto]

Master Keaton was dubbed really well by Ocean Group. They got most of the characters' personalities down really well and given the overall feel of the show it helped that they didn't need to do the typically exaggerated and quirky voices in most shounen and shoujo.

[Elanora]

My favorite dub (aside from Bebop, of course) is for an anime almost no one has seen - Shinesman.

The series is a 2-episode "pilot" that was never finished in Japan. It was awesomely bad. The reason I love the dub is that the English screenwriting cast recognized how terrible and boring the series was, and so they did a fake dub - turning the overly dramatic series into comedy. It is infused with American pop culture references from the 90's (ex. It's only 10 cents a minute after 6:00!).

It's an older anime, and it was dubbed in the days when dub quality was not high. The voices are totally silly and reminiscent of Saturday morning cartoons. But the goofy voices totally work with the fact that the script is mocking the entire concept of the series.

It is a difficult DVD to find (even more so today than it was 10+ years ago) but I highly recommend it!

[zaburai]

I would have to add School Rumble's dub I really like it I have to say.

Big O has an awesome dub, lets face it, you watch Big O in its dubbed form.

I am dissapointed why has no-one mentioned Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex yet? It is actually better than the Japanese dub in pretty much everyway, and as the Black Lagoon dub they sound exactly how they should.

Final one....Trigun that is because the Japanese dub was....dull to say the least also Wolfwood ;_;

[ZshadowX]

FMA English dub is the BEST! my number one reason that I started to watch anime

~ plus Vic Mignogna has such a Sexy Voice

[Bonediddly]

Am I the only one who doesn't like the FMA dub? Ed sounds like he's 30 >.>;

Death Note had a very solid dub. Baccano's dub was just amazing. The accents made it feel so much more authentic.

[Zero Gravity]

Am I the only one who doesn't like the FMA dub? Ed sounds like he's 30 >.>;

Death Note had a very solid dub. Baccano's dub was just amazing. The accents made it feel so much more authentic.

Oh yeah

Alessandro Juliani and Brad Swaile where just perfect

But I liked the Zeta Gundam despite the lack of Brad Swaile and Micheal Kopsa

[Kate]

Original Full metal Alchemist dub was amazing (Same with Brotherhood) as well as the Inuyasha dub, the Japanese seiyuu make my ears bleed but the dub...all of the voices are perfect and distinct and fit their personalities.

You read my mind, Ceru! I liked the original Fullmetal Alchemist dub. Brotherhood is fine with some of the characters, others... meh. Inuyasha dub was great for me too. I also thought the Darker Than Black dub was amazing as well.

(But, Cowboy Bebop was the best. xD)

[twillÿ]

An overlooked anime, Best Student Council, had an outstanding dub, in my opinion. All the voices are very well done and fit the school girl vibe. You are also given a clear visualization of who are the more prominent and leader characters, as opposed to the more childish ones, not only by their obvious actions, but by their vocal tones as well. It really was a fantastic piece of work, especially in the vocal department. I give the dub my thumbs up, not quite Bebop status, but it is up there.

[Lunies]

I thought BECK was one of those anime that was better dubbed than it was in Japanese. All the engrish was gone when they rerecorded the songs.

[Jrockergirl]

for me Full Metal Alchemist first series (changing scar wasnt really a plus for me), Outlaw star and Ranma 1/2 are on the top

[toyNN]

I've got to side with Bonediddly - FMA (original) I like much better with the Japanese seiyuus.

English dubs I think that are superior beside Bebop and GITS,

- Full Metal Panic (All three seasons) - both Chris Patton as Sousuke and Hilary Haag as Teletha just crush their Japanese counterparts. The rest of the cast does a great job to.

- Gundam 00 - Brad Swaile knows how to deliver, "I am Gundam"

[TehScribbles]

I agree with EE, Black Lagoon was great. Revy was perfect and Dutch deep but not scary. Benny was nerdy yet sarcastic. Rock was okay, I kept waiting to hear him stating he's eating a potato chip. I also think Outlaw Star was good too. Although I thought the voice quality could be better. I loved Soul Eaters Japanese Cast, most of the English I can't really stand sadly.

[Rynn]

I'm going to re-mention a few that were already named: Baccano!, Beck: MCS, Black Lagoon, and obviously Bebop. But one of my favorites hasn't even been touched on, and that's Sgt. Frog. It wasn't only the voice acting that made it... it was the writing. Holy crow, the jokes, the references... everything was perfect. <3

[ZshadowX]

I'm going to re-mention a few that were already named: Baccano!, Beck: MCS, Black Lagoon, and obviously Bebop. But one of my favorites hasn't even been touched on, and that's Sgt. Frog. It wasn't only the voice acting that made it... it was the writing. Holy crow, the jokes, the references... everything was perfect. <3

I agree, everything was perfect... ( too perfect if you ask me)

[christmas4477]

Baccano was beautifully dubbed, I had no idea so many people at Funi could do a good Brooklyn accent. The thing about Sgt. Frog is that Funi actually ran a test episode on YouTube a while back to see what people thought of it, and a few things were changed. I know Vic was Keroro instead of Todd Haberkorn for one, and I think Sabat said he was doing Kululu instead of Giroro too.

[sasukeuzi]

Hmmm well i saw Neon Genesis first in English and am planning to watch the End of Evangelion in Japanese to compare the voice acting. Since i saw Evangelion in English first im pretty used to it and i kinda like it

[InfernoParadox]

FLCL had a good dub, the voices seem off at first but they all fit the characters perfectly.

[Shidohari]

i liked magic knight rayerth's dubb

[Rhetorical Gamer]

The original pokemon!!!! :D

[nerdwerld]

Baccano is my favorite dubbed of all time! Yu Yu Hakusho, Trigun, Dragon Ball Z, and Big 0 (though i'm not a fan) all had amazing dubbed as well.

[InfernoParadox]

Rurouni Kenshin had a very good dub too

[SoulArbiter]

I thought Desert Punk was a lot better in English.

I see many people have chosen Full Metal Alchemist, Baccano and Black Lagoon amongst others for exceptional dubbing and I have to agree. I suspect Baccano and Black Lagoon would translate well and be more fitting in English due to the whole Western pop culture references/influences included, in particular American history for Baccano.

Cowboy Bebop is a masterpiece in itself and the English dubbing made it all that more special.

"Bang." - Spike Spiegel.

[nerdwerld]

I forgot about Cowboy Bebop that is indeed a masterpiece and Rurouni Kenshin did as well.

[Gatx]

Like just about everyone else, I thought Fullmetal Alchemist and Cowboy Bebop had great dubs. Samurai Champloo is also a great dub. Then there's Eureka 7, 08th MS Team, and the new Gundam Unicorn dub is pretty too.

I also like the Beck dubs, but only for the songs. A big point in the series is there's a language barrier at some points, and you lose that when everything is translated into English. If there was only a way to replace the Engrish-y lines from the Japanese dub with the English dub, but keep everything else, since the characters sound more or less the same.

[deadlymustach50]

100% Agree with Gatx, also you can forget Afro Samurai!