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i never said i dislike english dub i just said that whenever i heard of companies licensing it, it totally slipped my mind when i think about voice actors ... because mainly i think the voice actor ( Fukuyama Jin) fit the character really well , however i'm goin to be bias right now and say that english voice actors feel like they tend to be pick of random

When you buy the DVDs you do not have to use the English audio. So... what is the problem?

I've always been mystified about the disproportionately violent reaction to changing "Horo" to "Holo".

Why is "Horo" correct? Why is it superior? Certainly it doesn't sound as nice; the more gentle l sound seems to work with her appearance and nature when compared to the more harsh r sound. With that in mind, why does everyone hate it so much? I think it's an improvement, though admittedly not one I would have had the nerve to suggest.

I do watch dubs actually, I own a number of them, but to me they just seem so much more... lifeless, I suppose, than the Japanese counterpart, as if the voice actors are simply reading a script :/

There's never any guarantee though. The only reason licensing annoys me is because a lot of fansub groups bail on the series, which has the potential to leave only some crappy fansubs. For those who don't care about their fansub quality, this obviously isn't an issue, but I like watching well translated, decent quality anime.

I actually like a lot of dubs, so that side of it doesn't bother me. It's merely when things get legal with fansubbers that creates annoyances.

Oh, and when I say all this I'm referring to the possibility that the second season will be licensed before it airs, or as its airing.


You mustn't be picking the best dubs to watch then. I've seen plenty of dubs that are brilliant, and in some cases out-do the original.

This is an interesting little exert I found when I was reading a Crispin Freeman interview. I've been saying for a long time that anime fans think much too highly of the acting in Japanese audio considering none of us understand a damn thing they're saying except a word or two. We, well most of us, claim to know what great acting is in another language, but in reality none of use actually know and since bashing dubs has been "cool" since VHS days *cough*even though they sold better*cough* they just keep it going.

As someone previously said, you are well within your rights to dislike dubs, I too have found myself switching audio because some are bad (Geneon dubs) and I'm an avid dub follower with a high tolerance towards them, but don't ever compare them to the Japanese actors. You can't say they have more emotion when all you pick up on is the pitch of the voice and don't understand a lick of what's being said, let alone know how it's being said, without the subtitles guiding you along.

I should have known it would come to this when I submitted the story *facepalm*

Qft. I agree wholeheartedly.

And like Anomalous said, there are actually some pretty good dubs out there; don't just automatically assume that they're all horrible.

Personally I'm quite happy that I get to buy Spice and Wolf on DVD.

it's C&D time, bitches!

Yeah, it's regrettably unavoidable.

Also, this forever. If you knew Japanese, you'd be able to hear the often-bad voice acting, and by no means is it always perfect even to American ears--you'd have to be biased at best to believe otherwise.

Did you guys know that Japanese audiences preferred Johnny Yong Bosch's Lelouch because Fukuyama Jun's often felt forced and draining?

I have to disagree with the sentiment because I detest Johnny Yong Douche's voice. I'm quite partial to Jun, though I admit Lulu wasn't one of his better roles.

I speak Japanese. I watch anime in Japanese and I tend to check out the dubs of at least one episode when I buy stuff on DVD (or what little makes it on TV) and I will acknowledge when voicework is poor, even in native audio. It's just that American dubs for the mostpart tend to be far poorer than the native dubs. As some people have said here and in countless other dub vs. sub arguments, a lot of American voiceacting is flat and lifeless, as if they're just reading a script, not putting any effort in to being the character at all.

Of course it happens in Japanese too, and I'll acknowledge a lot of fans are blind (deaf?) to it, but as somebody who speaks both languages rather fluently and has experience listening to both extensively, the Japanese voice work is far less often terrible. Though as I've said in past threads, a lot of my bias against American dubs is the American accents which imo destroys characters in some circumstances (especially combined with dull lifeless reading).

Want to hear some of the worst Japanese voicework ever? Watch Star Ocean EX. Even with some skilled seiyuu in the casting, the voicework was horrific. Absolutely shocking voice direction, among countless other flaws the show has. Also most hentai titles tend to have very poor voices. While hentai is typically where new seiyuu break in to the industry, the voice direction itself is almost always dreadful. The thing is, that level of voice direction tends to be the standard in American dubs. Bottom of the barrel Japanese = standard American.

But anyway, I don't care about Funi's dubs. I just don't want them calling her Holo.

As long as Funi doesn't send C&D to fansubbers before a month after anime finishes, or at the very least re-discoveres Europe like they did in FMA, I'm fine with it. Heck, I'd even want to have Spice and Wolf DVDs on my shelves.

Stopped reading here. "Johnny Yong Douche"? You're more mature than that.

You greatly overestimate me, Kuyuchi!

Well, I admit it is a petty swipe. But I really do dislike him. Never liked any roles I've heard him in; Vash was horrid, Ichigo was laughable, Lulu was facepalm inducing, Maiku was disappointing (thought maybe dub would pull it off) and Kiba was, along with Wolf's Rain as a whole, pretty crap.

I completely fail to understand his appeal and why so many dubfags have a huge hardon for him. Cuz he was Vash? Trigun dub was a cherrypopper for a lot of people. That tends to create a bias.

Yeah, I probably do. I went ahead and read it anyway and I'm pretty damn shocked at the obvious incredible bias with which you watch anime.



I don't really care about JYB myself. He's a good actor, but there are many I prefer over him. I just found it incredibly dumb that you'd resort to using his name like that. That's something people do in first grade.

Funimation does not have licenses in all of Europe. The reason FMA was available there is due to other services located in Europe. It has nothing to do with them forgetting it exists, again they don't have licenses outside of the US and Canada.

Also, this is for the first season of Spice and Wolf, not the unaired Spice and Wolf II. They probably won't license Spice and Wolf II until they see how well it sells and that probably won't be until 2010.

I readily admit I have a bias against dubs. American accents irk me, and I dislike the voicework in a lot of cases for reasons already stated in many similar threads and with you personally.

However I don't bash all dubs, and watch almost everything I get on DVD in dub (at least one episode; enough to hear the main cast) to evaluate whether it's worth recommending the dub to people who prefer watching it that way. I've praised numerous American dubs over the years, and tend to only bash specific voice actors, not companies or series as a whole over their American dub work.

I have nothing against Funi. I don't care about their dub on this series one way or the other as it's not a series I'd ever recommend anybody watch dubbed under any circumstances because Horo is Ami's best ever role and Lawrence is one of Jun's finest (though I still think Watanuki is his best). Also it's fairly likely they're going to call her Holo. In Japanese the L/R thing isn't as noticeable, hearing Americans pronounce the hard L will be heartbreaking.

Thing that got me was "bottom-of-the-barrel Japanese = standard American", which isn't true in the slightest except for 90s dubs and earlier. It's kinda funny when you realize "standard" (or what you and most dubhaters call standard) is getting pretty rare.

Referring to those of us who like dubs as "dubfags" is a petty and really unneeded swipe as well. You said you dislike American accents in general so I would assume that you dislike most American voice actors. What you hear is obviously going to be different from what some of us hear and personally I don't mind his voice. I think in comparison to a lot of voice actors he is one of the better and more experienced voice actors.

I guess I'm a dubfag for thinking that way though :/

I disagree. It -has- certainly improved dramatically in the past decade, however there's still plenty out there that has flat lifeless readings and not enough real acting. This tends to come down to specific people, as I said, which is where I lay my blame. Not companies as a whole. eg. whoever voices Naruto. Absolutely shocking work DISPLAYING EMOTION BY SHOUTING A LOT. Though Kakashi and Jiraiya impressed me and most of the other casting was perfectly fine.

Also in Death Note, Light's voice was pretty mis-cast, imo. In the original he was an intelligent, arrogant cunt from an upper middle class family and it showed. In the American dub he just sounded like some punk kid. (Rest of the casting was good, though; DN gets a thumbs up from me if you can get over Light).

And Black Lagoon. Excellent really. I wasn't terribly fond of Revy to begin with (mostly cuz I missed her awesome Engrish) but Dutch and Benny were awesome, and the show as a whole was very well handled. They're three relatively recent titles I can praise as a whole, though gripe over one specific person (who just tends to be the main char >.<).



Kuyuchi calls himself a dubfag. I started using it after I heard him refer to himself as one.

Yeah sorry about that Capellabun >> It was a side-joke that turned into that. If it's any consolation I also refer to dubhaters as subfags >>;