The English Dubs of ADV's Monster Island Studio
Anime
ADV Films, the former incarnation of Sentai Filmworks, produced most of their English dubs in Houston, Texas. However, from the late 1990s until 2005, ADV also employed a secondary studio in Austin, Texas, known as Monster Island.
Monster Island could be considered ADV's "2nd-string" studio, as many (though not all) shows they dubbed were lesser-known and perhaps lesser quality. Shipping them to MI may have been a cost-cutting move, as many of the dubs are marred by fast-and-loose scriptwriting, questionable name pronunciations, and a general sense of roughness and inexperience.
Still, a lot of them had their own sort of charm, and some are well-regarded. You can find some comments about the dubs from me on some individual entries. Some may be approaching "lost media" status, or are not commonly available online by legal or illegal means.
So if you've encountered an ADV dub from the early 2000s and wondered why the cast was full of names you hadn't heard of, or why it felt different from the average ADV dub, chances are it was a Monster Island show.
*Note: some related/sequel titles dubbed by MI are noted only in the comments, in order to stay under the 50-item limit.
Monster Island could be considered ADV's "2nd-string" studio, as many (though not all) shows they dubbed were lesser-known and perhaps lesser quality. Shipping them to MI may have been a cost-cutting move, as many of the dubs are marred by fast-and-loose scriptwriting, questionable name pronunciations, and a general sense of roughness and inexperience.
Still, a lot of them had their own sort of charm, and some are well-regarded. You can find some comments about the dubs from me on some individual entries. Some may be approaching "lost media" status, or are not commonly available online by legal or illegal means.
So if you've encountered an ADV dub from the early 2000s and wondered why the cast was full of names you hadn't heard of, or why it felt different from the average ADV dub, chances are it was a Monster Island show.
*Note: some related/sequel titles dubbed by MI are noted only in the comments, in order to stay under the 50-item limit.
ONA, 2001,
24 eps
Me:-
Author:4
Funny enough, but so much yelling... which is partially the show's fault. Maybe best not to marathon this one.
OVA, 1994,
7 eps
Me:-
Author:5
Okay in some places, but rough in others. Especially the voice of Yoko, who never acted in any other anime.
TV Special, 1997,
1 ep
Me:-
Author:-
MI also dubbed the other City Hunter movies/specials: .357 Magnum, Bay City Wars, Million Dollar Conspiracy, and Secret Service.
TV, 1999,
26 eps
Me:-
Author:7
One of MI's best. Hilarious script and performances for this corporate mecha comedy.
TV, 1999,
26 eps
Me:-
Author:5
This is one of my favorite MI dubs. It is kind of uneven, but then again so is the show itself. MI's script rewrites work well in the funny and heartfelt moments, and the name pronunciations aren't as much of an issue in the fantasy setting of Eden's Bowy.
TV, 2001,
25 eps
Me:-
Author:6
Again, like the show itself, not so great overall, but has its moments.
TV, 2002,
49 eps
Me:-
Author:-
One of the last MI dubs ever created. Production moved to ADV Studios in Houston after episode 20, with no change in cast.
TV, 2002,
13 eps
Me:-
Author:6
Features a pretty liberal script and often pronounces male MC Chitose's name like "Cheetos."
OVA, 2001,
5 eps
Me:-
Author:6
Only the first 3 episodes were ever licensed and dubbed.
TV, 2002,
13 eps
Me:-
Author:7
Actually a pretty good dub imo. The 7th Heaven sequel was dubbed in Houston with the same director and VAs for Jing and Kir.
OVA, 2003,
4 eps
Me:-
Author:6
The 2005 TV series was dubbed in Houston with the same director and some of the same cast.
TV, 1990,
39 eps
Me:-
Author:-
I haven't seen it, but this is considered one of MI's best dubs. Shout-outs to JTurner.
TV, 2002,
26 eps
Me:-
Author:8
One of MI's last dubs. Production moved to Houston after episode 10. Reasonably good dub, kind of nice to have fresh voices for the Princess candidates, instead of all the usual suspects.
OVA, 1999,
4 eps
Me:-
Author:10
While most of MI's dubs were for low-profile, less-popular shows, ADV's decision to send the Rurouni Kenshin spinoffs to MI is utterly inexplicable, and the dubs are probably best off avoided.
Movie, 1997,
1 ep
Me:-
Author:7
OVA, 1997,
12 eps
Me:-
Author:4
This title is in the unique situation of having an MI dub and a standard ADV dub. MI originally dubbed Sakura Diaries back in 2000, but ADV discovered that the masters they used were from a censored TV broadcast. ADV then re-released Sakura Diaries uncensored in 2001, but sub-only, since the MI dub didn't fit the uncensored version. Later, in 2005, ADV redubbed the series in Houston and released dual-language, uncensored DVDs.
I bought the old DVDs because the MI dub is not available online. It's got some funny/raunchy lines in the script, but the acting quality could be better. Overall, it likely isn't worth watching other than as a historical curiosity, since it's stuck with the censored version.
I bought the old DVDs because the MI dub is not available online. It's got some funny/raunchy lines in the script, but the acting quality could be better. Overall, it likely isn't worth watching other than as a historical curiosity, since it's stuck with the censored version.
TV, 2000,
25 eps
Me:-
Author:7
Other Sakura Wars entries were dubbed by Geneon or Funimation.
TV, 1995,
51 eps
Me:-
Author:7
This dub is pretty amusing, thanks to script rewrites that make the formulaic Magical Girl more interesting than it was in Japanese.
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