The Best English Dub?
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- Опубліковано 7 вер 2024
- To celebrate Bebop making its return to #toonami, we thought it’d be a good idea to make a video celebrating one of its most memorable features: the dub. Anime dubbing is always a topic that’s going to carry its own unique brand of controversy and I can’t even imagine how the comments are going to look here. But whether you love or hate them, anime dubs and the industry that produces them deserve to be talked about just as much as other facets of anime production. No one said covering this stuff was going to be easy, but that’s not why we wanna do it. We wanna do it because we want to celebrate the things that we love and hopefully this video will be the first in a long line of others that do the same.
Don’t forget to support the shows official release:
www.funimation...
Research links:
www.voiceacting...
www.animenewsne...
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Intro Music:
Sentarou Drum Solo (performed by Taishi Nakagawa)
Music by Yoko Kanno & The Seatbelts:
Rush
Digging My Potato
Felt Tip Pen
Slipper Sleaze
Cats on Mars
Autumn in Ganymede
Waltz for Zizi
Road to the West
Memory
The Egg and You
Time to Know - Be Waltz
Black Coffee
Is it real
ELM
Space Lion
Gotta Knock a Little Harder
Co-Written & Narrated by Eric
Co-Written & Edited by Abhi
Follow us on Twitter:
Eric: @MrAJCosplay
Abhi: @RBKapoor1
#CowboyBebop #Toonami
inb4 "omfg u used the dub lol my ears r bleeding"
Supply was low so the pay was low...? How does that work. Did you mean demand?
Quim Last yeah sorry about that haha. Granted compared to nowadays the supply was relatively low.
Lmao dw about it.
The Cartoon Cipher LMFAO keep up the good work guys
The Cartoon Cipher WAS THAT VOICE ACTING MASTERY CLASS WITH CRISPIN FREEMAN??!!?
To be a voice actor in Japan is to be a celebrity
To be a voice actor in Mexico is to be a 2nd class celebrity
To be a Voice actor in the U.S. is just a part time job
To be a voice actor in Spain means that you have to dub in 3 languages and underpaid
So funny yet so true haha
Also being a Mexican VA is to be a part time theater guy who happens to have a nice voice.
Why 3 in Spain? Spanish, Catalan and?
pieck experience😫😫
@@pedr0_m198 Basque, I think
There are two dubs that are, in my opinion, mandatory watches: Cowboy Bepop and Ghost Stories.
Trigun is also a very good dub.
Black Lagoon too.
Baccano
outlaw star that is all
Umm what about school rumble and code geass and bleach?
I could never imagine Spike as anyone but Steve Blum. Perfect casting if I've ever seen it
I agree. He'll always be Spike. :)
Plus Dante basco as zuko
Dude the ‘spike’ feeling in charachter I think just comes with the voice actor. In another anime (samurai champloo), a main character ‘mugen’ is so close to spike in design and demeanor it’s scary ah-
@@axeinrose the two series are by the same director so that may be why
For real!
I used to be neighbors with steve blum. Through some string of events, my voicemail message is him insulting you.
Yeah your neighbors 20 blocks away
Can you explain those events lol
What's your number then? Lol
I am now requesting your phone number. ;)
I would have believed you but that last part makes it very fishy indeed, yes, fishy. Fishy indeed.
My rule for dub or subs comes down to setting... Most of the time when an Anime is set in a Western Setting or has a Western Aesthetic, the dubbing tends to be really good.
I love when people tell me they think that japanese voices fit the universes of shows like Fullmetal and Attack on Titan because those are heavily based on the germanic and british empires so english is actually much closer to representing the language they would speak there.
ElricBro
pretty good personal 'dub/sub rule' tbh my man/sis/other. It's one of mine too.
@@quinnmarchese6313 yeah, but the mannerisms and actions of the characters are all Japanese..so, go figure. You can throw a english voice on those series it still doesn't mean it'll fit properly because the show was still designed with typical anime styles of communicating which are all very Japanese.
@@eureka0521 neither show i mentioned is particularly Japanese or overly tropey. Others maybe, but but those shows read just fine in english. btw, what exactly is a "Japanese style of communicating' anyway?
@@quinnmarchese6313 I mean how country's have different social habits, and those Japanese habits are always present in Anime. It's one of the reasons we separate anime and cartoons. Anime has a certain flare and style that cartoon's don't. As for the communicating part I just meant the way characters interact, in my opinion, is very Japanese.
I don't think its physically possible to end a Cowboy Bebop video on any other frame than the "See you space cowboy" one :P
simongreve its possible, you just gotta end it on "your gonna carry that weight" :p
Or Spike saying "Bang."
*_Q_Q_*
"See you space samurai"
Oh, THAT'S where Big Band gets that battle ending quote comes from.
Steve Blum will always be Spike
He even sounds like Spike when speaking normally.
And Mugen.
I can't say I agree. The rest of the cast sounds fine, Jet especially, but Spike sounds way off in the english dub. Comparing the low points, I find that english Spike comes off too melodramatic, whereas japanese Spike still retains his manliness.
#nope
Until Keneu Reeves plays him...
Honestly don't see why people hate dubs so much, Bebop, Space Dandy, My hero academia and even death note have some of the best voice acting I've heard in anime.
Lol you gotta check out one of our My Hero Academia vids, we used clips from the dub and literally half the comments on them are "OMG THE DUB IS SO BAD MY EARS ARE BLEEDING"
It's not about the dub being GOOD, it's about it being BETTER than the sub, which it isn't in most cases.
I don't understand how anyone can say the sub is better unless they actually understand Japanese (whch they don't in most cases).
That also means that they don't get to hear the really good acting. It's just "meh". Passable. It's a means through which they can understand what the character is saying, and not a means through which they can understand the character.
Thus, they don't get to hear Crispin Freeman as Alucard, or Steve Blum as Spike. They don't get to hear the phenomenal acting that brings the character to life, or the emotion underpinning what the character is saying. A lot of the time it's not what you say, it's how you say it (although admittedly, stories are usually less subtle than that).
Uhh... No, I actually haven't gotten around to that yet. Did Netflix get really Crispin Freeman for it or are you just assuming based off my comment?
I was actually talking about the Hellsing anime.
steve blum had the right voice. he didnt need training. he is naturally talented. so did everyone involved in the dub for bebop
Yeah it’s essentially just…..his voice lmao same way archer is just John Benjamins voice lol
Your voice sounds like Heavy Metal Queen.
Exactly what I was thinking.
VT
Lemme guess, VT. Your name is...
That's what I was thinking
Met Mary Elizabeth and Steve Blum at a comic convention. They talked a lot about Bebop and how they just did what they wanted to with the characters. Bebop wasn't that popular in Japan and there was no indication as to how it was going to do over in the States.
It's amazing how Ghost Stories has a similar background, and the dub cast and writers just went as crazy as they could with it.
I believe Bebop didn't even aire all it's episodes the first time. Japan was going through a rough time and the show with it's broken-society did not do anything to help.
Like Firefly sometimes a perfect storm of actors all meet at a crossroads
Bacanno, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, FMA 2003, Black Lagoon, Nana and Jormungand has the best English dubs in my opinion
You need to watch golden boy
Christina Dizon what about code geass?
Leone Kaiser not my favorite but definitely a solid dub!
GITS as well for me.
Christina Dizon Gurren Lagann
Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood are flawless dubs
Don't forget death note
Code Geass
@@leolee8445 code geass makes since dub an english speaking empire conquers Japan and forces their language on them
Prefer the first FMA dub/story tbh
@@softnoobgirl73 literally one of the cringiest dubs lol
I'm just going to chime in along with the rest, this is some fantastic editing. Your use of music, the sounds of the show, the match cuts, the tasteful use of cross fades, your shot selection... All perfect. You're putting bigger channels to shame. Fantastic stuff.
Special shout out to the cut at 2:21. While I think perhaps the most impressive editing was in your sound design (there's seriously brilliant stuff there that I know full well is easy to ignore as an audience member, cheers for going the extra mile) cuts like that help a lot in making a video like this enjoyable throughout, and they're easy to screw up, so nice work there.
"I don't consider this advertising". Reconsider.
If you're copy pasting a comment intended to appeal to a pewdiepie fan in a completely unrelated video made in a completely different style it's not just advertising, it's *lazy* advertising. I don't actually mind advertising a channel, it's hard to get views at the beginning, I get it, but I will never watch your content if you can't even put effort into your advertising. On top of that what's your actual pitch? That you chose a terrible name for your channel that's guaranteed to drive people away? That your previous attempts at starting a channel failed? That you like pewdiepie? That you "love pussy" (Jesus Christ dude)?
I'm not going to criticise your content, but if you're going to advertise your channel at least be honest and tailor it to the comment you're replying to. If you said "hey guys, I love Cowboy Bebop, this video was amazing and I hope I can reach that sort of level one day" it'd give people a reason to actually click; it tells them something about you, your last video and why you're commenting here. At the least it'd sound better than "I like pewdiepie, my last 2 channels failed and although I've called myself Dr. Faggot I love pussy" which is just a little embarrassing.
VARIOUS had to go to your timestamp to recall the exact scene. Wow, that is great.
Rewatching the entire thing over again. Not listening to content, this time. Thanks for the comment.
Sum Arber :) Glad to hear it! It's not always obvious unless you've done a bit of video editing just how much work goes into simple things, and a video like this is a great example of what I consider to be the very best editing out there on UA-cam, because it is largely invisible, not at all the obvious or aggressive text heavy style that sadly dominates a lot of the UA-cam ecosystem.
VARIOUS have you ever watched Wisecrack's channel?
I have a hard time trying to explain why I like things... I just do.
Then someone points out metaphor, cuts, and other stuff. Other people have the vocabulary to articulate what I think. I like that. :)
I have indeed! I love Thug Notes and 8-Bit philosophy, although I am a little disappointed that Earthling Cinema has slowly become more and more of a typical light analysis series than the somewhat bizarre idea it started as originally. Over all though they make great stuff :)
Explaining why you like something is a lot harder than many people think - there are a lot of weaker reviews out there that don't really justify their opinion because doing so isn't always as simple as people think, that's part of the reason I love this video so much - it's discussing an opinion that's really hard to justify, and then it actually manages to do so while being really entertaining to boot.
Properly explaining and justifying why I like something is something I've been trying to work on in my own work, so when I see a particularly great example of a creator having done so, like with this video, I always try to bring attention to it :)
Watched this over a year ago when it came out.
Realized I was re-watching at like one min in.
Didn't stop.
Good Vid Brother.
gh hg
Same
Great editing here brother. You got match cuts on lock
man i miss the late 90's early 2000's anime. They felt so adult, and not embarrassing to admit you watch.
You know that old and timey isn't always "great".
Viper4everX right!?? Anime feels so... childish? Now
It's cause you're looking in the wrong places and at the wrong anime. I can assure you that there are tons of good and mature anime. It's just that the popular ones are usually the childish ones, since Shounen is the most popular anime genre.
Check out Megalo Box. It's a new anime that started this season and has a vibe very similar to Bebop.
Viper4everX yeah the current state of anime is a bit laughable. With over dramatic shows, were characters yell every line. And not to mention the over the top acting. Bebop was layed back when it need to, funny and action packed and sad when it needed to. Yeah we've had gems like mob psycho and one punch man.
Bro. Wolf's rain, champloo, bebop, arjuna earth maiden, escaflowne, argentosoma, infinite ryvius, karau phantom memory, king gainer overman, paranoia agent, boogiepop phantom, now and then here and there, .hack, trigun, noir, rahxephon and probably many more i can't recall atm. Back then anime in general had this certain kind of appeal visible in all levels of presentation. It was much easier to separate the childish non-sense from potentially interesting and mature narratives. Sure there are some standouts, but the amount of shows that make you want to watch based on art direction or synopsis alone has dwindled greatly. The moe artstyle sensibilities and shitty shounen tropeyness have bled far beyond their original target audience into every subgroup of anime now, it feels like. Anime's lost it's appeal to adult, atleast in the states imo. I mostly just go back and watch early 00's and late 90's gems nowadays, and since the broadcast tv neglected many of the series I mentioned earlier, I haven't been short on things to watch at all. Crest/banner of the stars is one im looking forward to.
Edit: also the general lack of compelling scifi and mech anime is hurting my soul. We need old Sunrise back 😢.
IMO, Cowboy Bebop is one of the greatest anime of all time. Fond memories of watching it.
@Obi Wan Kenobi Cowboy Bebop marathon tonight on Toonami!!
@@colleen4ever toonami? someone record that somewhere?
@Obi Wan Kenobi I saw what you did there lol
@@Skiddla found the zoomer lol
Not just an amazing dub its just one of the greatest Animes of all time. Great effort on both dub and the creation side of things
The entire show is so fucking good
Why does no one talk about the Death Note dub? Is amazing!
MangOwO i would agree death note dub voice actors are well suited.
We all watched it subbed like civilized human beings.
I watched it subbed so I wouldn't know
I'd take a Potato Chip, and Eat It
I agree. Death Note english dub is top notch quality and the jokes they made is way funnier than Japanese one.
One other point that's worth bringing up, is that Cowboy Bebop's more grounded feel and developed, human characters lends itself naturally to the type of training that most American actors receive, rather than the exaggerated, heightened methods that are taught in Japan. If you applied this same style of performance to, say, a shonen action show or a Cute Girls thing, where the characters are more shallow and based on archetype, then it would seem flat and strange. I think that's why the script of a dub is so important, the language itself should speak to feeling and character, perhaps even more than it should to translation. But that contrast in method and approach is why so many dubs seem off, and also why subbed anime is so unappealing to dub enthusiasts.
Right. It's not easy to voice act in dubs, for characters that are written in a very different culture in a very different way than most Westerners would grasp. Even the most hardcore weebs are still not Japanese, and so many points of emphasis or perspective in these Anime are very foreign to us.
I think of Sgt Frog for example. The dub is fantastic, the voices and personalities are so good. Right on the money. Which is amazing considering the show very wacky, with a machine-gun approach to jokes-per-minute, many of which are very decidedly Japanese in personality. So it can be easily lost on Westerners. But the voice acting is phenomenal and really gets you in on the jokes, even if they aren't literal translations. Keeping the spirit of the show and not letting it fall flat.
I understand why some hardcore weebs might not like the dubs, especially when you see a terrible disconnect between the dubbed and actual version of a show. It feels terrible to have that happen, and cause the show to be less than the sum of it's parts.
That's a good point. Another way to look at it is that Cowboy Bebop was created to be a love letter to Americana. It makes sense that it naturally lends itself very well to being interpreted by Americans in general, and American actors in particular.
I think that dubs are better if the show is seinen and dubs that are shoujo/shonen shows are bad.
@@Hey-Its-Sarayou’re absolutely correct
You are like one of the few youtubers who do these kinds of video essays who ACTUALY know how to edit. I salute you
Black Lagoon and Cowboy Bebop are the only 2 anime i would seriously recommend someone watch the dub over sub just because of how good they are.
The baccano and flcl dub are also really good
Don’t forget about Ghost Stories
Trigun
I'd suggest Inuyasha too I legit can't watch the Japanese version of that cause it's weird to me hearing someone else's voice come from those characters which I find were played perfectly in the dub.
Black lagoon dub is honestly so fun to watch, especially with all the swearing 😂
Don’t forget code Geass and death note.
Anyone realized at the final episode when Vicious said the poison of a snake bite doesn’t kill immediately, then in the final fight he slices spike but it takes a while until he dies.
WuzNab bro he was talking about his crow
lmao good try but its still the type of ending where it doesn't matter.
Spike did NOT die! He got hit in the leg, you can't kick from that. He just passed out and Jet found him and took him to the hospital. My story and I stick to it.
@@colleen4ever lmao
@@colleen4ever well that's really up to interpretation, it was never decided by the creator whether he died or lived, so that's the case if you want it to be
"I'll pay you when 'im rich".
Someone should say that in Court.
Well written, well researched, well argued, and very insightful. A billion stars out of 5.
Thank you for this video. Sub elitism is the worst and I appreciate you calling it out.
BlueScarabGuy So true man. I'm so sick of people saying subs are usually superior
You're right, no need to say such an obvious thing.
There's nothing wrong about not wanting to lose a piece of a work of art and respecting foreign languages.
Languages should be celebrated, not treated as an inconvenience.
ThePreciseClimber Hey, I never said there was anything inherently WRONG with subs. But elitists who are like WHY CAN'T THE DUB PEOPLE BE AS GOOD AS THESE ACTORS WHOSE LANGUAGE I DON'T SPEAK are ridiculous. And so are people who say dubs have gotten worse since the early 2000s. They haven't. A lot of that is tainted by nostalgia, not to mention that Bebop was still an extreme outlier at the time (and I say that as someone who's usually pretty forgiving of the quality of early dubs). Perhaps a lot of dubs aren't as MEMORABLE as those older ones, but memorable doesn't necessarily mean good.
THELAW 34 wait, your argument is "you don't need to know Japanese to know that the Japanese audio is better...I know because I speak Japanese?"
I just watched a 20 minute video on a specific aspect of the production on a show I have never seen...and I loved every minute of it!
Daniella Sullivan Have you seen the show yet? If not, what are you waiting for?!? It's amazing!
the show got its reputation for a reason, you should give it a try
Daniella Sullivan please tell me you have watched it by now
ua-cam.com/video/mOmJyyavDTE/v-deo.html
Another show that I think had perfect dub casting is Black Lagoon.
lmao just mentioned this show in another thread. Very underappreciated, not to mention half the characters are supposed to be American.
@@quinnmarchese6313 and canonically by the author are all speaking english
The sub is arse for that show. Revy's voice actor doesn't fit her character at all.
Bro black lagoon is soooooo underrated
The Ghost in the Shell series had amazing dubs as well. Damn, the more I think the more that keep popping up
I've never had any loyalty to subs or dubs. if i felt like reading i'll watch subs, if i want to watch it ill watch it dubbed..
but fucking hell man, Steve Blum has one of the coolest sounding voices
Damn, I wanna congratulate you. Cowboy Bebop is a show I've personally analyzed so much that most videos which come out about it mean nothing to me. This is a pretty fresh take on it though. Thank you.
19mins... talking about CB...
Kinda makes me wish a dvd box set had this video as an extra episode recap/analysis
God bless my dude you have a truly beautiful video (have watched it literally every 4 months and still to this day feel how powerful this show is)🙏🏼
Your music editing here is perfect. Ending the video with "Gotta Knock A Little Harder" got me a little on the misty-eyed side.
I just wanted to tell you I enjoyed the video and had a good laugh about people complaining that 'Modern dubs aren't as good as they used to be'. As someone who has been watching Dubs since the early 90's, the quality of voice acting has improved exponencially. Subbed and looking forward to seeing more work!
Michelle Hodgson yeah, I was like, "Compared to what???"
Damn, I remember how bad it was back in the day. There's just so much more depth and variety now. People sound more like real people and not weird characters.
Michelle Hodgson damn true, dubs are way better now than the 90's. Dbz Kai is the best example, almost same voice actors but far superior voice acting than the original.
It's crazy how much better the voice acting in Kai is!
daAmazin FatB0y nah dawg early funimation was "Mondo cool"
Besides bebop and some gundam series Trigun is easily my favorite dub.
I know JYB is often over casted but he perfectly fits trigun. Nimoy as Wolfwood too.
Can we talk about how much better the english dubs for Full Metal Alchemist and FMAB are then the sub? Cause its on the same scale as cowboy bebop in terms of the dub being very high quality and being better than the sub
I personally found that a lot of voice acting in the Brotherhood Dub to be decent ,but the female characters could be painful to listen to at times
TheGerthax the FMA2003 dub is't a good translation, they removed things such as the references to christianity in the world of FMA2003 to better fit a western audience
Lord Blue Balls I still think fma 2003 can still be watch with its dub.
crzyboy190 I love the actual dub, it's the translation I don't like, it's great for a casual viewing but it's un reliable for anything above that
Lord Blue Balls Fair enough. What about the Cowboy Bebop dub?lol
This felt just as good as watching an episode of Bebop. Great thoughts and insight into what went on with how the dub was made.
This is an amazing video and analysis on dubbing, behind the scenes work, and Bebop in general. Phenomenal work!
Glad you enjoyed it!
@@TheCartoonCipher can you review the magic knight rayearth dubs.
I love this. You guys really delved into a territory that is never really explored or examined critically, and ultimately gave a fantastically objective critique of the *whys* and *hows* of the differences of production systems between East and West.
I imagine that most Westerners - that watch anime - watch the subbed versions, but don't really understand the language enough to be able to really criticize or celebrate specific performances with much grounded reasoning. Granted, seiyuu nowadays are generally brought up being schooled specifically for the medium: many are essentially now required to both be able to sing - at least reasonably well - while also being able to produce varied voices, and as such will come across as more "seasoned" or "talented" than what one would consider their Western counterparts.
I think it's also important to distinguish the sheer number of seiyuu versus Western voice actors; you can easily tell that almost all the characters in the Japanese versions are voiced by separate individuals, whereas in English the VAs are expected to perform multiple roles in the same show mainly due to budget and production concerns. And even with anime becoming less and less niche in the West, that's still generally the standard that's been carried over from Western cartoon voice recording (i.e. The Simpsons, Family Guy, etc.).
Personally, I watch subs simply because I just happened to be required to take a minor in a foreign language and my Portuguese class was canceled after two weeks, leaving only Japanese or Russian for me to take due to class size. Due to that, watching raws then watching subs has just become something I've done to keep up with my fluency. However, I still greatly enjoy hearing a really solid dubbed work, as the people involved are usually very passionate about what it is they are doing compared to the original seiyuu whom sometimes seem to just be doing it as their usual gig with their usual voice.
That said, anything that has Sugita Tomokazu in it is something I just can't watch in English. He's just too damn good.
This was well done. Thank you for taking the time to create it. I can easily count Bebop as one of my favorite series of all time.
When I think of “the perfect dub” only one other show comes to mind: Konosuba.
I have to agree here. I liked that they took their time to put that one together, rather than make it simultaneously. Konosuba seemed like one of those shows that couldn't be dubbed, but they did it, and did a damn good job.
I think Monster has a perfect dub as it fits the atmosphere more
Heel nah jk
Ghost Stories**
Nah, Erica Mendez sounds old for Megumin. Although Faye Mata is perfect for Aqua, she has enough range to make an excellent Megumin.
Cowboy Bebop's dub work is in a class of its own.
The crew of the Bebop is more like a family than anything else
One person. Steve Blum.
Amen
He did the voice acting for Shishio Makoto from Samurai X/ Rurouni Kenshin too but people tend to forget that!
mugen in samurai champloo
gotta say, your editing was flawless. You make it look so easy.
Literally the best anime dub of all time. This show was released in 2001 in the US and it’s STILL the benchmark for suns to this very day. It’s incredible and even the director said it’s arguably better than the original sub version
imagine if archer had a Japanese sub
"the japanese dub is sooooo much better! English dub archer has a stupid deep monotone voice compared to Keiji Yokomura!!! DUBS R GARBAGE"
Happened with RWBY, you got weebs watching an american made cartoon dubbed into Japanese with English subtitles and saying its better. Its dumbfounding.
@@MoreMallards I can never understand weebs and what they are saying. I love this shit but fat edge lords like you might not
@@qharemswagbola7159 There's just something monotone about the general anime dub. Ever tought of that?
@@bennogb5069 the fuck that japaneese sub can't event spell English words right and makes it cringey compared to dub, like when archer chanted the bone sword thing, cringe st it's finest, just don't speak English when you have a a japaneese accent please
As an actor (with plans to work in anime voice over), I really appreciate this video, and how you got into the acting behind it. Especially that it's impossible to figure out how an actor would sound from a simple voice clip. Thank you.
Weird that people say that modern dubs aren't that good, because dubs have gotten pretty damn great on a number of occasions (see the Dragon Ball series, My Hero Academia, Black Lagoon, Death Note, & Space Dandy as prime examples).
But yeah, Cowboy Bebop's dub is fantastic. I'm not surprised that the ADR gets Disney work, now.
That's something that irks me too. Funimation has gotten incredibly good at dubbing anime, and while they're still a bit hit or miss, the overall level of quality and number or standout performances has only gone up. It used to be that one in every 30 dubs was really really good, and MAYBE 10 were decent. Now, I would say the majority of dubs are at least decent, and in the last 5 years, we've seen a bunch of really good ones! Especially from Studio BONES, for one reason or another.
ChaosPhoenix11 it is kinda hard to say sometimes what a general consensus is. One big thing that's affected how dubs get perceived is the seasonal anime cycle, although that's a big enough topic for another video altogether.
Yeah, that's definitely a big part of it, and it's hard to say what, if anything, can change the way people percieve that kind of thing. I don't know. it's interesting nonetheless.
Neoxon I think my issue for a while was the reuse of the same actors over and over again, because of the shortage of English voice actors in the West. For example, Vic Mignogna or Todd Haberkorn were overused for some time to the point I had couldn't differentiate between the characters they were playing, it was very annoying. But recently they've gotten some fresh faces so that's a pretty nice change of pace.
Dubs outside of Bebop and maybe a few other anime (typically the ones with distinctly Western settings) are a very polarizing topic in the anime community specifically because everyone wants something different. Some hate it when a dub deviates from the source for the sake of translating something culturally incompatible. Others hate it when a dub just directly translates the Japanese.
Some anime have come close to having a perfect dub, notable examples being Samurai Champloo, Panty and Stocking and Baccano, but Cowboy Bebop's dub is so impressively natural and well-done that the original has become objectively inferior in the face of it.
IMO, sub vs dub is better fought show to show. I think most comedy and action anime should be watched dubbed, for the purpose of comedic timing for the former and allowing the art to flow naturally in the latter. Dramas, I feel, should generally be viewed in their original language, as long as you have a decent grasp of that language's inflections and emotional tones.
Blackwing I actually agree that's how I usaully do it XD
Blackwing I just kinda hear both versions (if there is both) to see which one I like best.
That's mostly how I do it, but I also somewhat base my choice off the setting of the show. Japanese (Feudal or otherwise) setting? I'll usually go with japanese. Same if it's a fantasy world styled like Japan. The inverse is true for anime based in england, america, or fantasy worlds based on european mythology or land.
Blackwing you're assuming Dramas can't have good dubbing ?
Not at all. I just prefer to guarantee that what I'm watching was the as close to the original work as possible in those circumstances.
As someone who is studying and struggling to become a voice actor thank you. This sort of light shed on a topic that is widely overlooked in animation and video games makes me so so happy!
I love it when such weird happenstances just work out. And boy, as one of my favorite animes, Cowboy Beebop is just so damn good. From the dub voice actors to the artists to the writers to the amazing Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts. I love every frame and every nanosecond of sound. What a great show and what a great movie as well.
Holy Shit dude!!! Clifford Chapin just tweeted out your video. Get ready for a lot more subs!!
I loved how you associated the story behind this dub to the themes of the show.
Steve Blum has a golden natural voice like H Jon Benjamin. It's really that simple.
I still love watching Cowboy Bebop when the dub was first aired to this day. It is a definition of a classic series. A good cast of voice actors, interesting story & one of the best soundtracks an anime series ever had. Everybody can argue between the dub & sub while I go & watch Cowboy Bebop again
This is one of the best edited video essays that I have ever seen on UA-cam! That cut at 2:21 is genius! Love the ending too
This video was... so beautiful. The ending had me feeling all the feels.
Even just for the editing this channel worth 10 times subscribers.
30 seconds into this and I fucking love your editing! Fucking subbed.
Seriously, I think only Cowboy Bebop has English dub that’s actually good. It fits the style of the anime perfectly especially with the western style and music of Jazz
Samurai champloo is just as good.
Chainsaw Man is pretty great as well
Yu Yu Hakusho is a pretty legendary dub, many fans saying they enjoy it more than the original. Kuwabara is voiced by Vegeta's VA and he, hands down, has my favorite voice for any anime sub OR dub!
Cowboy Bebop is a masterpiece I can't believe I didn't discover it until 2013. The music the voices there in perfect harmony, every scene is done good and every episode has a story someone in this world can relate. People with mental problems and Personal issues this is perfect Therapy. In my opinion. Well worth a Watch for anyone who hasn't watched it.
I think Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop are those kinds of anime that i can't see if it's not dub... It just doesn't feel right...
The brilliance of the dub ties in to the brilliance of the show's characters and stories. Brilliant.
FMA and Brotherhood also had great dubs.
Pustulio Skytaco vic mognana absolutely kills it. Fantastic performance
steins gate has a good dub too
Cowboy Bebop, Space Dandy, Death Note, Gurren Lagann, Konosuba. All great Dubs
Beautiful editing and insights into the show. I re-caught so many feels, chills, and smiles. Thank you.
Great video as always man. I love the way you present your work its doesn't come off as pandering or patronising. They are just very well thought out and clearly show your love for what you talk about. I hope this year is a big year on UA-cam for you :)
This video was almost as beautiful itself as cowboy bebop. Jesus, this is such a good video and you have such a good brain.
Every year, I find myself rewatching Cowboy Bebop and rewatching this analysis.
I have to always carry that weight annually. Not for entertainment, not for nostalgia but because I can’t let go of this show. The same way Spike, Jet and Faye can’t let go of their past.
I guess I’ll have to move on, eventually.
Fuck it, I’m watching it all over again.
Well, Cowboy Bebop marathon tonight on Toonami.
god i love when someone just gushes over an old show like this, great video - i subbed for sure
I watched the english dub version of Cowboy Bebop several years ago, when it was first aired on Adult Swim. Recently, I've begun to watch the orignal Japanese dub, and now I stumbled upon this great video of yours. I've learned a lot of new things about the english dub production of Cowboy Bebop, and have a deeper appreciation for the people that made anime magic happen through difficult obstacles. Keep up the good work!
Rayn Dooma I know this is old but... My friend, "several years ago" when it originally aired on AS was actually over a decade and a half ago. Lol, sorry to knit pick but the way you typed that makes it seem like you didn't watch it when it originally aired.
8:31 ...Wait a minute. Are you telling me that Spike is voiced by Wolverine?
More the other way around, Wolverine voiced by Spike if we're going chronological lol
When someone tells me Cowboy Bebop is overrated, i remember a quote from a wise man: "Yeah no shit when you're an 11 (out of ten)!". And I'll admit i'm a sub guy, i wanna watch and judge a show or movie in the language it's intended to be viewed. That's based on my experiences with anime, i.e. my introduction to anime was 4kids, cause Toonami came on too late in my region and is the reason i got into anime late. But i don't judge anyone for watching dubs, more power to you both sides.
Guts got off the boat, and demo got on
Vaginal arthritis these days, most anime is intended to reach a global audience.
+Vaginal arthritis If _you_ enjoy subs over dubs, that's your choice. The conflict manifests when someone states subs > dubs, objectively. Personally, I don't believe shows or movies are ever "meant" to be enjoyed in a limited fashion. How many abstract painters will tell you that you're _supposed_ to see X or Y in their piece? What musician will explain how you _should_ interpret their songs? How many film makers would argue that anyone watching _should_ watch their film in the language it was filmed in, even if those watching don't understand the spoken language? Don't you think that, if anything, that would tarnish the experience? I am familiar with the nuances of the English language. I can tell how someone feels based on the tone of their voice and the words they choose. There are tons of verbal cues in spoken discourse that I've heard all my life. All of that experience disappears when introduced to Spanish, German, Russian, or Japanese voice acting. Nearly all subtlety of language evaporates. Can you think of any artist who would prefer the nuance of their work to go right over the heads of their viewers?
True no artist would wish for all the nuances of their work to go over the heads of their consumer, but i feel there's a contradiction with what you said. I want to view a piece of media in it's original language, with all the nuances the ppl who made it intended, e.g. anime in Japanese. VAs in Japan put more effort into their work cause it's a high paying job over there, the anime they work in has a lot of money and they get yrs of training with finding the range of their voice, timing, chemistry with other voices etc. If you can't pick up on the verbal cues of another language then i don't blame you, watch it in any language u can if it's available. I'll chose the hard way and infer from the story, characterization, animation or voices, the nuances the creators are trying to convey.
And there's the elitism, just dripping from everything you say. You think you're better, more refined because you choose the "hard way," because you can't tell bad Japanese voice acting from bad English voice acting, because you refuse to believe that English voice actors can, in fact, be _more_ talented than their Japanese counterparts. You say you don't judge people for watching dubs, which, in of itself suggests that you still look down upon dubs and the people who watch them, you just tell yourself otherwise. You said your first exposure to anime was from 4kids. 4kids censored cultural differences in anime, they censored blood, they censored anything deemed "child unfriendly," they dramatically _altered_ content. 4kids dubs were bad, I don't know anyone who disputes that, but where is 4kids now? In tatters, both in business and reputation. I advise you to realize that studios other than 4kids do dubs, studios with talented voice actors that breath just as much life and nuance into the characters they portray as their Japanese counterparts.
But by all means, subs > dubs amirite? Past experiences should dictate the future and you should ignore the quality of the present and focus on the bad quality of the past. All dubs have to be as bad as 4kids edits. No one has ever learned from past mistakes. That's how it works, right? English voice actors are just bad, Nihon ichiban.
3:50
Can we talk about how good it is that this anime was released before 2001?
This was fantastic. Even after watching and listening to most of the special features on my DVDs, you still presented some information here that I had not known or heard before, and to top it off you went into the whys of how things turned out the way they did, instead of just speculation or basic rundowns. I loved it.
Awesome breakdown. Excellent insight to a behind the scenes most people never get to see or get the chance to understand with voice acting and Japanese animation in the States.
I usually decide wether I watch sub or dub on how japanese the anime is. If it plays in a japan like setting with culutural references and stuff I always watch sub since its more immersive. If it's not japanese, like cowboy bebop and the dub is well made, i'll happily watch dub.
I think I unconsciously have been doing this myself when deciding to continue a new series in sub or dub.
BenBit
I take this approach as well at times.
im a simple man. If im stoned, i dont wanna read that subtitle shit so i'll watch dub--ill also do this if i need to do something else at the same time. And frankly, have never encountered a time where the dub made me actively want to switch back. So i mean in general these days, i watch dub until it isn't caught up to the sub
to add a comment that actually is a comment on your comment though, this is a great strategy, but a favorite dub of mine, Steins;gate didn't change any of the japanese-y elements so you get j michael tatum talking about maid cafes n shit
Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Trigun and Yu Yu Hakusho all have great dub
Finally. Someone else who is familiar Urameshi.
Yu Yu Hakusho is underrated
What about the hellsing ultimate?
Throw some Full Metal Alchemist in there and it's a wrap
Yu Yu Hakusho 🤘🏻🔥
Whenever someone says all dub is bad I send them Space Dandy
Partially due to the sub and dub being made simultaneously
YES. The Space Dandy dub is FANTASTIC.
Master Class
One of the best of the past 20 years, HANDS DOWN!.
that was nice! loveley and master class editing! the end was so much like “awwwww” all those years have pased but the show imprinted so much that you just cant smile when you see those last words
Your editing is on point my friend. Especially your transitions
2:21 Dude that transition was so good!
This video was fucking great, super entertaining and informative. Well done!
I'd love to see this format done with other dubs too.
for instance, Yu Yu's eng dub is really fucking good too.
Though to be fair, Bebop is probably the best subject for this topic
The problem with most dubs is that they just use the original translation, trying to change it as little as possible, which makes all the characters sound awkward and flat. All dubs should be taking lessons from Yu Yu, where the dub is what makes the anime truly great and adds depth to the characters.
FMA, FMA: Brotherhood, Rurouni Kenshin, and Ouran Host Club are some other great ones.
@@kevinthefabulous1118 but even so most bad dubs are shonen/shoujo anime.
I'll always love my dub for Cowboy Bebop (brazillian), but i watched the 2001 movie english dubbed and the voices fits like a glove.
Steve Blum needs to be respected for these amazing characters he's made it come to life. And i'm not even gonna talk about the others because this will become a book.
Shed a couple tears bro. Im not even that big into anime but bebop is one of best ShowS of all time, and this video gave alot of badass insight. thanks man
holy shit, all of my yes. i always talk about this topic and always have a hard time picking words for friends to understand, but this video took all the words from my mind. thanks a lot man, subbed !
It always infuriates me when sub elitists hold up English VAs from the rare dubs they don't despise on principal as being the few who can actually do as well as their Japanese counterparts, but then don't realise that it's the same VA in other shows that they're hating on. For instance, Faye Valentine's VA also does Haruhi, but I've seen so many people complain about how Haruhi's VA is terrible and shouldn't be allowed near a dub again ever.
RonnocFroop man Haruhi was the shit back in my day, that dub easily did number of things that I wouldn't expect from dubs in the stereotypical highschool setting, but then, I was too busy to get intrigued by Crispin Freeman's performance as Kyon to even realize the flaws in the dub casting
If you're want the crowning example of that, Chuunibiyou English dub was easily that example of turning such cutesy of that eyepatched girl Rikka into some policewoman that ready to kick your nuts at any point
It's all about directing, all the major characters in the star wars prequels are world class actors who have delivered amazing oscar worthy performances yet they're all shit in these movies, that's because George Lucas is an awful director who can't squeeze out a good performance even when given amazing actors. Same thing goes for voice acting, it doesn't matter how good the actor is if the director is doing a shit job.
It doesn't bother me at all though since I only watch subs and I don't live in an english speaking country so the dubs aren't in english ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Yes, yes it is. The voice acting in this anime is top notch and smooth af.
So wait Cowboy Bepop is back on Toonami again?
This was one of the best fan-documentaries I've seen. Well done!
I f*cking love your analysis of Cowboy Bebop. I've been a fan since day 1 and even got my kids hooked like prized fish. Your breakdown gave me a whole new insight to the art of the Bebop universe. I just loved it because it was a mind blowing story. Serious life issues that I could relate to (even though it takes place long in the future) and the beautiful blend of lighthearted goofiness that balances it all out, all wrapped in amazing animation. Bonus points: it didn't suck, even the soundtrack by Tank is really groovy man :) and fits with Bebop like a glove. No Tank, no Bebop... Thank you for your vid. Keep up the great work
I think you just get attached to whatever you hear first.
The voice becomes as much of the character as the design and traits. I couldn't listen to the Japanese version of Hellsing because I saw the dub first, and to me Crispin Freeman was Alucard. By the same token, I heard to sub for One Punch wayyyy before I caught wind of the dub. And Both Saitama and Genos sounded so off in the dub I couldn't stomach listening past about 2 episodes.
Every single Watanabe show has had a stellar dub in my opinion though. The FMA's seem to be a bit of a gold standard too.
On the other end of the spectrum, the original OVA dub for Devilman was legitimately the reason I got into anime back in the day. It's so bad it's good, that has value in of itself.
Even things like 3x3 eyes, I was watching these on VHS back in the day, the Manga Entertainment days. And I can't listen to the original Japanese version or the newer dub which people say was much improved. Because I originally heard the Steamline Dub and the characters voices really just stuck in my head. So hearing them any other way seems wrong. Same with the Original Guyver series. The crazy synthesised voice effects for the transformed characters really stuck with me, to the point that I was deeply disappointed that they didn't do something similar when they made the updated series in the mis 2000's.
I think a lot of sub purists just hear the sub first and get attached to it. So everything else just sounds wrong. They don't really know why it sounds better to them, so they just make a song and dance about it and carve themselves out as a nieche of purists.
The truth is, if you're not a native Japanese speaker. You're really not going to be able to appreciate a lot of the vocal nuance a lot of the purists claim is in the original voice work. Because if you don't understand the importance of the inflection or the stressing of certain syllables, then you're not really understanding the nuance of a performance. Things like tone and cadence are important, for sure. But that isn't the full scope of an acting performance.
Especially with what little I understand of the Japanese language. For instance, a lot of metaphor is derived from breaking down the Kanji that make up words or concepts. So when a character is saying something, but they're stressing the part of the word which is made up of a certain Kanji, it's sort of like revealing the hidden subtext beneath the words. If you're not a native speaker, you're not going to understand that unless someone spells it out for you. Which completely ruins the magic. That's what's always stood out to me as the major bugbear with sub purists. They require a sub, which means they're not fluent enough with the language to understand the subtext and nuance that they claim enriches the experience. It's incongruous.
Like what you like, but don't make up some ridiculous rationale for liking it.
I decide what’s a good dub depending on if it’s, well a good dub. I started anime with dubs, Gurren Lagan, Drath Note, FLCL, and Bebop all in dubs as a kid.
Then I started watching new seasonal anime that didn’t have dubs, and I just thought how much more natural it sounded.
I went back and rewatched a lot of older shows with subs, and I was blown away by how much better the Japanese voices just sounded. The dubs were often overacted, with either completely exaggerated or stale delivery.
The only show I found out this wasn’t the case was with Cowboy Bebop. That shit sounds way better dubbed. I bet even the Japanese watch the show in English with Japanese subtitles. Space Dandy, the Persona series, and Konosuba are some other series with some great dubs. Konosuba is another show that I first watched subbed, but I watched it again dubbed because it’s a really damn good dub.
That’s it for me: I think people don’t like most dubs because most dubs are bad, and I think that’s mostly what it comes down to. It’s really not that deep.
Completely disagree. If you are easily persuaded or lazy, maybe, but most people who don't have some kind of reason or excuse will admit something is better than their favorite - "I saw/heard [X] first" is just a common excuse, very simply put.
Animated characters are their voices. ~HotDiggityDemon
Definitely not this chief.
I remember when I watched Attack on Titan for the first time. Initially, I watched the first season dubbed, but during my rewatch of the series, I watched it subbed. Honestly, I can't go back to the dub now, which pales in comparison to the sub.
@@SassyRiolu Congrats, you have a brain
Ok your closing statement is not only something to learn from the dub but something really similar to the whole theme of Cowboy Bebop (or one of the many themes).
On our anime review show we watch subs and dubs. Depends on what is available at the time and what we feel like watching. It's amazing how many people, many younger than some of the older anime we grew up with, will get in your face, even IRL, about how dubs are supposedly terrible.
It's so pretentious and pervasive that we've seen people crapping on the Netflix Castlevania "dub," despite that show not being an anime and having amazing voices and direction.
beshj you would've do yourself a favor to not shit on Haruhi or Charlotte dub, besides...
*STOP SPOUTING STUPID SHIT THAT ARE SO..... OBVIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*
Grip Runner 420 cant handle the truth?
beshj
Do you mean English voice acting in general or only in anime shows?
If the former, then you are way too delusional.
Also, stop insulting people on the internet. Just because your identity is concealed doesn't mean you can be a 10-year-old idiot.
Because it's not about that. It's about preteding to have a big dick on the internet
@singular on1
"is such a wizard he thinks he can argue why english dubs are generally lazy."
Wha???
I am arguing against that idea.
I don't think English dubbing or US voice-acting itself is lazy at all.
I have no idea what you are talking about...
Steve Blum, Wendy Lee, John Bilingslea and Melissa Charles all did a fantastic job with the characters they were given. I love their performances because they just feel like they ar3 these charcters and not just actors in a anime.
I love the aspect ratio transition at around the start of the video. Nice transition.