Even if the Japanese script makes more sense in some areas, I still prefer FMA's English Dub.
As someone who's a big Фан of anime, I can certainly understand where both sides are coming from.
The Фаны who prefer Subbed Аниме are usually Фаны who prefer to hear it in its original language because they think its еще natural and thus, can feel the emotions the characters are going though, much better. или that it sounds better.
The Фаны who prefer English Dubbed anime, like me, are people who either want to hear what the Аниме sounds like in a language they can understand and speak, the original Japanese voices don't do it for them, или the story makes еще sense in English. или just like the first one, they think it sounds better. I personally prefer watching Аниме that's dubbed in English, for several reasons:
1. I'm used to watching Аниме in dubbed languages, so it feels еще close to home.
If Ты read my Назад articles, then Ты know that I'm actually Hungarian and not native speaker of English. However, I much prefer watching shows/movies in their native language (English), than in Hungarian because it just sounds off. Which is kind of weird because Аниме can also be dubbed but it doesn't sound off to me. Maybe it's because the people working on it do their best to make a great script and cast the best actors to play the characters. Because of that, both sides can sound great in their own way, hence why people have preferences.
For instance, an Аниме that I think works better in English is Berserk (1996). Not only do I think the voices suit them better, but the actors deliver their very best for these roles and give them all they have. Making the performance feel еще genuine and powerful. Plus, the lines are just so much еще interesting in English and the actor deliver them perfectly. Plus, Berserk virtually has zero things you'd see in an anime/manga, или anything Japanese in it. Hence why I think it works better in English. Plus, I don't speak Japanese and thus I'm able to distinguish the actors much better from one-another.
Out of the three languages I know, English is my personal Избранное and it's the one I like using the most. I'm the best student in my class when it comes to English. I even want to put it to good use when I finish collage and Переместить to the U.S.A.
Plus, I always prefer to watch a version that doesn't force me to pause the video every few moments, and read the text at the bottom. The Dub helps Ты to both understand what's going on, and avoid missing the action
2. Sometimes, the dubbing makes sense for the location, nationality, personality of the characters and thus it feels еще natural.
While it's true that most animes take place in Япония with characters that are supposed to be Japanese, there's no doubt that there are a handful of Аниме that are set in a different country with characters of different ethnicities.
I think it's time to ask the question: Why is it in an Аниме that no matter what a character's nationality is, they can always speak perfect and fluent Japanese/English?
Yes, hiring a voice actor that can speak еще than one language would be very difficult, and yes, suspension of disbelief is required, not matter what you're watching, but this is a discussion that needs to be had. Especially in regards to world-building.
If Ты want a good example, let's take a look at Shenhua from Black Lagoon. She's a Taiwanese character with an awful English accent. However, in Shenhua's case, the accent is purposefully bad. She's proud of her heritage, and hates the fact that she has to speak English, thus she makes no attempt to refine it. Yes! A racist portrayal is defended and exonerated by the character's jingoism. But what happens when Ты look at her exact, same dialog in Japanese. Well, it's the exact same conversation, безопасно, сейф for less colorful language from Revi. But the point is that Shenhua explains that her English is bad, even if she wasn't speaking English. So according to their universe, they're speaking English, but you're hearing Japanese, all for the benefit for the Japanese audience.
My point here, is that this scene and many еще like it, make much еще sense in English, than it does in Japanese.
A еще Последнее example is the English Dub of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders. In the very first episode, Jotaro Kujo's mother goes to retrieve her son from prison. The officers are asking Вопросы about her, and even compliment the fact that she speaks excellent Japanese, even though you're hearing English. The thing is that Holy is part British, but she married a Japanese man and spent the majority of her life in Japan, so she had to learn a new language. In that context, it makes sense. Not so much in English, since they're speaking Japanese, but Ты hear English for the benefit of the English speaking audience.
This can happen even outside of anime. For example, I grew up watching the 2007 Трансформеры movie, but there was a part that always confused me. I'm Hungarian and speak Hungarian, however, at the time I didn't speak English and watched Hungarian dubs instead. In the movie, there's a Hispanic soldier that prefers to speak his native language. The other kept on telling him to speak English because they couldn't understand him, even though they spoke Hungarian.
My point? If you're going to have your character speak a language, other than what the audience is hearing, don't draw attention to it.
3. I can recognize and differentiate the voices of the actors much better than the ones in Japanese.
This one is self-explanatory. Many of us in the Аниме community don't speak Japanese and can't understand what the characters are saying. That's why subtitles exist. We either watch the Subbed version because the dub isn't out yet, или we think it's superior. I fall into both categories. When an Аниме I want to watch isn't dubbed yet, I watch it in the subbed version. For example, I watched the Subbed version of Attack on Titan Season 2 when that first aired because I've been waiting for that season for months and I didn't really care how I watch it. I'll also watch the Sub version if the English Dub is inferior или horrible compared to the original Japanese one. For example, Digimon Xros Wars is far superior to its English counterpart, Digimon Fusion whose dub was absolutely dreadful.
An Аниме I enjoy watching in both Japanese and English is JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. In both the sub and dubs, they do an amazing job. The scripts are competently written and the actors give it their all. I Любовь hearing Takehito Koyasu shout "MUDA" and "ZA WARUDO", but I also Любовь Patrick Seitz's powerful and boastful performance. Both sides have their strengths and weaknesses. Like I said, it's еще up to preference.
That doesn't mean Ты can't distinguish the voice actors или who that voice actor is, because it's a voice and Ты can still recognize it, even if he/she speaks in a different language. For instance, despite the fact that I don't understand или speak Japanese, I'm able to recognize Takehito Koyasu's voice when I watch an Аниме Subbed because I watched Subbed JoJo so much that Dio's voice was etched into my brain.
Plus, the voiced дана to the characters don't always fit in the Japanese one. In original Japanese Yu-Gi-Oh!, Dartz had a female voice, but 4Kids' version fixed this problem by giving him a voice that actually fits perfectly. или how in Japanese, they always give high-pitched voices to the characters, which irritates the crap out of me! For example, in FMA I can't stand Edward's Japanese voice and I think Vic Mignona's performace is far superior. Same for Alfonse Elric and his voice actor, Aaron Dismuke, who in the 2003 version actually sounds like a boy and not a grown woman trying to play a boy.
4.The English Dub can have fun with it and add changes to it.
While I'm not really a purist, I do prefer to hear what the characters say no matter what language it is. But I do like it when something is dubbed, they change the script to improve upon it, или make some funny changes.
A good example is the Аниме "Ghost Stories". It's a pretty bad and forgettable anime, but what saves it is the dub. The official dub sounds like a professional abridged series. They break the 4th wall, crack all sorts of insane jokes and one-liners, and even changed many of the characters personality. For instance, they turned one of the supporting character from a meek, generic eye-candy girl, to a meek but obsessive Christian who keeps on praising Иисус every time she speaks.
One of the character even says this: "Monsters only get evil people like republicans" I swear that was from the official dub! (And if you're wondering, I'm n reither republican или democrat.)
Another example of an Аниме that changes lines in the dub is again JoJo. many of the changes they make are actually improvement to the original Japanese ones. Made even better by the incredible delivery of the actors. Some of my избранное include:
" On your feet, insect!"
"My very blood is a symphony within me!"
"The Spark of thought within him went dim, and then silent."
"I think I'll pull a Polnareff..."
"You're hand was sh*t! Absolute sh*t!"
"Listen to me, Ты punk band reject!"
There are other examples. Much as I hate 4Kids, I admit that they also did a lot of good, and some of the changes they made were great. For instance, in the Yu-Gi-Oh!, they made Kaiba in a snarky but arrogant badass who doesn't give a crap.
Here are some of my favorites:
"Anyone who’s late to registration will be disqualified. Mokuba, make sure Wheeler’s late."
"Makuba, what do I always tell you? If at first if Ты don't succeed, blast them with your Blue-Eyes again!"
"Stop saving the world and get a hobby!"
"If I had a dime every time Ты used the word "destiny", I'd be even richer."
"GET OUT OF MY LIFE AND TAKE YOUR BAD HAIR WITH YOU!"
"Are Ты saying we're cousins?"
I could go on and on because there are just too many to count! But my point is that I Любовь it when a dub, whether is English или Hungarian, changes the script and improves upon it. It makes it feel еще unique and interesting.
As someone who respects the profession of voice acting, I know that it's an incredible hard job. In fact, it's the hardest form of Актёрское искусство because you're only using our voice. When you're voice acting, the room you're in is completely sealed, making it еще like a sweat room. And Ты have to do several other takes if your other ones weren't what the director wanted.
Voice Актёрское искусство has always fascinated me, because it's fun to Поиск and find out that characters from completely different movies, cartoons, Аниме или Фильмы are voiced by the same person, или who that actor is.
My dream is to Переместить to the United States, become a citizen and an animator. I want to create my own Мультики and stories. But if that fails, I could become a voice actor for cartoons. When I'm alone, I like to talk to myself so I can improve the way I speak. As well use different tones and ranges so I can be versatile. Because of that, I respect the art of voice acting. Whether it be English или Japanese.
As always, Smell ya' Later!
Another anime that I consider to be better in English.
