Anime Information

Forums

I hate the dub even though i love Wendee Lee and Crispin Freeman. It's just a lackluster dub! For one i cant stand Lee's voice for Haruhi, it is like nails on a chalkboard and the rest of the cast is just kinda bland.

Watch it subbed, it's the best that way! Aya Hirano and Sugita Tomokazu are fantastic!

Plus you know, there's singing and every time Japanese song gets dubbed in English, it's awful.

why is everyone so hell bent on the subbed version? i tried watching the first few episodes in subbed, and it damn near made my ears bleed... its not because i hate the voice acting or anything, but because ive developed a taste for american voice actors more than japanese... i have nothing against them, but to me, everyone sounds so much more whiny and grating on the ears in japan... Crispin Freeman gives Kyon not too deep of a voice, but low enough that all words are clear, precise, and brings a better feel to the inner monologues as well as his outward tone... same with pretty much everyone else... yes, singing has never been a strong point in any dubbed version of anything.. but how do you think youd sound trying to sing a song with words that dont translate well? not to mention i look at it in the perspective as just adding a bit more humor onto it because im sure most of you (me included) have done the epic face palm whenever a character does something royally embarrassing that you can relate to.. and through american voice acting, i get that great comedic feeling quite often, especially from this series, because i know people who actually sound like that or have done things like that... to me, it takes away the meaning when its subbed cause ive seen 7 different translations for just 1 anime before, so i feel stupid for not knowing which one is correct and since i cant understand what they are saying, i dont have anyone who sounds like that to relate it too which in turn pulls away my interest... lol im not trying to bash the subbed version, but reading how much people were bashing the dubbed version was a bit much, so i figured id level the playing field a bit.. dubbed all the way!

I agree with Hirano>Lee
However Freeman>>>>>>>>>Sugita
Besides, I never cared much for Haruhi. She had some funny moments but Kyon was what really made fall in love with the series. Crispin Freeman's natural monotone and quirky narration is what made the character for me. In comparison, Sugita makes him sound like a nerd who's trying too hard to deadpan. He's not a bad seiyuu but he's way too monotone and boring as Kyon. He lacks pretty much all of Freeman's charm.

Wendee Lee didn't capture Hirano's amazing pycho bitch Haruhi. But she still got the gist of her character. After all, as Johnny Yong Bosch said once, they're voice 'actors' not 'imitators'. Without the comparison to the sub, Wendee Lee did an amazing job. She's even a pretty good singer. Shame about the lyrics

I agree with Roar_said_Jesus.

Original jap voice of Haruhi is so damn cute, if not Kyon I would rewatch this serie just to listen her ;D

I personally believed the Japanese was much better. Haruhi is way worse in English. I am a fan of his work but Mr. Freeman was horribly miscast as Kyon, he sounds way too old. Mikuru isn't quite there either but she can be difficult to replicate. Nagato is okay. Itsuki's English dub is the only one I'd say is on par with his Japanese counterpart.