ANSWERS: 12
  • I gather your from a non english speaking country. If not I do not understand your question since Americans speak english too.
  • I am from an English speaking country. But I watch anime in Japanese with English subtitles instead of the dubbed version you see on TV. I am saying that american cartoons - like Family Guy, Rugrats, whatever, have good voice talent. But the actors that do the voices in dubbed anime are terrible - they always have voices that are wrong for the character or are just plain annoying.
  • While badly-dubbed anime is the rule rather than the exception, you may want to check around for an anime show called "Ranma 1/2" for an example of a time when they hit the nail on the head with the actor voices in the English dubbing. All the "Ranma 1/2" characters you see onscreen have completely appropriate voices. Well, "Mr. Tendo" had a really good voice actor to start with, and then they swapped him out for a rotten one later, but the rest of the English voice dubbing was superb.
  • Well, I hope I don't offend people here, but at least Naruto's voice is terrible in both, English and Japanese versions. Actually, I don't care if I offend people in that category, because people who fight over which sounds better need to get their ears cleaned. And I've seen dubbing that wasn't in English. It was sad because you could imagine the old man voicing over the child. And here's something not totally anime-related. They didn't even try to voice them over and had their own real voices. Final Fantasy X's Auron, to me, sounds better in English. The Japanese version just wasn't cool and sounded like some guy trying to make his voice deeper. There will always be a few acceptions to the rule of English dubbers sucking. Just remember to look at the credits: most dubbed anime have the same voice actors/actresses for different shows now. If you don't like it then pursue voice acting as a career and change the system!
  • Well, here's a good example of why. The Naruto anime was dubbed almost spot-on, but it still sounds retarded by comparison to the Japanese version. The reason is that what sounds cool in Japanese is corny in English. Imagine how they yell out the names of techniques in anime's. It sounds awesome in Japanese, but stupid in English. It's just a difference in cultures.
  • American cartoons are going to always have the edge in terms of voice quality over dubbed anime. There are more options open for the way they are made. Dubbing, you only have one option...put an actor in a studio, pray they came up with a good voice and that they can match the "flaps." And honestly, I don't have a problem with most dubbing. If it's truly bad, i.e. 4Kid's version of One Piece, then I won't be able to watch it (though One Piece is now one of my favorites now that I can find subbed versions). But there are some shows that are actually, not only half bad, but I would go so far as to say great dubs. Though, I will give you that the Japanese versions will always have the edge.
  • The reason why the dubbed versions are not as good as the original Japanese version is because when you create an animation; it is the voice actors that come first and they draw the pictures. So the actors are free to act in accordance to what they believe the character is feeling. But when you import an animation and dub it, you're working in reverse where the actors have to take on someone else's personality. But i think the dub version of Inuyasha was well done! - Death note as well, but they don't have a very hard job; they're personality is very monotone.
  • It really depends on which version I see first, sub or dub. A while ago all the males in anime subs sounded like 40 year old men, but after a while, it kind of gets better. I'm a middle man, I like both subs and dubs. I like Sonic games and...stuff people generally hate..also, the rating in dubs is toned down and many things are censored...it isn't the dubbers fault, they're being forced to stay limited. Johnny Young Basch,Michelle Ruff, Vic Momogna are a few of the really good VAs that are getting alot better. Dubs are improving...
  • I don't understand why people think all dubbed animes have bad voice actors...it's just the main character that has a crap voice. eg.Naruto,Inuyasha, most of the other characters usually ok.
  • Most of the animes I've watched had decent voice actors except for Love Hina. Southerners and british people shouldn't be voice actors. Honestly though I'd rather watch an anime instead of reading it.
  • You're not entirely correct. Japanese and others languages dubbed from English films/cartoons tend to be terrible/average as well. Translating voice and character is difficult as that "cultural nuance" is lost. Americans trying to put on a Japanese front is a terrible insult to begin with. But it's not the voice actor that is the issue, as it's the director's decision who gets the part.
  • In most cartoons the voices are recorded first; then the toon is drawn to match the voice. Most voice actors in America are picked because their voices sound like they'd go with the basic image they'll be voicing for. When the cartoon is then taken into another language the art is already done. This means the voice people have to try to approximate to the drawing that was made for a specific other language. That's much harder and in some cases not fully possible. The reverse is when Japanese toons are redubbed into American English. Fortunately we have very talented voiceover artists who get it close but even they can't completely match what was drawn for another language

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