A Pointed Discussion on Dubs

When I read discussions comparing voice acting in anime I occasionally encounter a statement to the effect, “The English voice sounds better than the Japanese voice.” I’d like to make a clarification about that perspective. Or, more specifically, a statement about a certain interpretation of that expression because the observation itself is a bit vague in its phrasing. It’s fine and reasonable to critique a voice acting performance, but the voice actor selection for the original language dialogue is less subject to second guessing.


I’ve long thought that Kanna’s voice in Sakura Taisen, provided by Mayumi Tanaka who may be best known as Dragon Ball’s Kuririn, sounds a bit unnatural. Likewise, I’ve long had difficulty in fully believing that Cowboy Bebop’s Faye Valentine actually has a vocal timbre that sounds like Megumi Hayashibara. However, the sound of these characters’ voices – the pitch and timbre especially – are the vocal tone that these characters’ original creators have envisioned them having. Anyone apart from the original creators suggesting that a voice is inappropriate is trying to suggest that the original creator’s personal vision of the character is wrong. Everyone makes mistakes, and I’m not trying to insist that every decision Japanese anime creators and directors make is always beyond reproach, but any attempt to contradict – not merely criticize – an artist’s personal creative vision should be undertaken with gravity.

One can argue that grass may be a sickly color, or that the sky may have an odd hue, but one doesn’t argue that grass should be red instead of green or that blue is the wrong color for the sky. An impression that an original Japanese vocal performance is uninspired or inexpressive is a legitimate critical observation. The argument that a secondary dub voice is more appropriate to the character – and I do mean the sound of the voice, not the language spoken – than the character’s original voice is an attempt to assert that your own mental image of the character is more authentic and authoritative than that of the character’s creator. At least outside of stunt casting, an anime character’s native voice is what the character is supposed to sound like, regardless of a viewer’s impressions based on observation of the character’s physique and actions, and comparison to an alternate voice selected by someone that was not involved in the character’s creation.

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