Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Jul 17, 2022 7:14:52 GMT -5
Cowboy Bebop is a show with a tremendous soundtrack, what I consider to be a good dub albeit with some weak spots in minor characters, and is gorgeous in terms of visuals, like the detailed living spaces, etc, of characters. It also admittedly really shows its flaws in some of the story. Vicious is not a very compelling villain, to say the least, and that drags it down a bit.
On the greater topic of dub versus sub, depends on it is, really. I often favor subs, but not exclusively.
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Post by aka Cthulhu on Jul 17, 2022 7:20:18 GMT -5
Regarding dub vs. sub, I suppose it's a case by case basis for me. Had my fair share of crap from both.
Dub-wise, back then we had enough errors in dubbing. Yu Yu Hakusho was the main offender here. Renamed Ghost Fighter. Most glaring mistake was back then Kurama was assumed to be female in the dub. On introduction, he got the dubbed name Denise. When the dub figured out he wasn't a she, it was changed into Dennis. Can't remember how they handwaved that off. Still, that anime was the main thing that led me into more. Also they also thought Genkai was a guy as well at first.
Sub-wise, at the time I got it, piracy was pretty widespread. Bought the entire GTO series... and the translation was pretty much google translate level at a time before google translate. His first name became Yanki. Half the time conversations flew past my head because of how confusing the wording became.
Both can be good, both can be bad. It just becomes a matter of looking at an anime and deciding which would seem better.
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Dr. T is an alien
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Post by Dr. T is an alien on Jul 18, 2022 15:49:23 GMT -5
I also prefer dubs, as long as they’re decent. I don’t mind subs but sometimes getting the moment can be off if you don’t know the language (and my Japanese is pretty poor, if I’m being honest). It’s sort of like how sarcasm is hard to pick up over text on the internet. Sometimes you need to hear an inflection of the words to get the meaning.
That, and some original Japanese VA just get on my nerves.
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Post by Cyno on Jul 18, 2022 18:07:48 GMT -5
I watched anime dubbed by ADV Films and Funimation when I was younger. Could that be why I think the dub for Cowboy Bebop is overrated? Depends on what you were watching. A lot of earlier ADV and Funimation stuff was... inconsistent. Not 4Kids bad, but still not great. They both stepped their game up in the 00's in terms of budget, direction, and the quality of voice actors in their stables (which they often shared as both were pretty close to each other in Texas).
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Post by Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!! on Jul 19, 2022 6:42:18 GMT -5
It is an ok dub. But I have never liked watching Dubbed anime. Back when I first got into anime in hte late 80s no one wanted dubs. Notice how since Toonami started dubs are preferred. Not really people still prefer Subs I can go either way. Dub voice acting has become really good so if it stands out I will go that route. Tho that only applies to Anime, if it is a foreign movie and they dubbed it, I am not watching it IMO comparing dubbing now to dubbing in the 80s really isn't fair. It's so much better as a practice now that it's practically apples and oranges. I'll watch the dub every time if given the option, my neurodivergent brain goes into overload trying to read subtitles and follow the action at the same time. But I think if that weren't the case I'd still prefer dubbing. And the Cowboy Bebop dub is a sacred cow because it really is as good as people say it is.
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Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-]
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Post by Xxcjb01xX [PIECE OF: SH-] on Jul 19, 2022 6:48:31 GMT -5
I feel like Cowboy Bebop, especially for its time, has one of the more solid dubs of classic anime you can find...
A lot of Dubs around that time could be really rough, I think Bebops stands the test of time, and even the side characters they got good VA's for as well, which is where Dubs could definitely lack, or sink completely in that era
Steve Blum is also just an amazing VA, and I really think Spike is just an iconic dub voice, and one of the most recognizable Dub voices ever, I'd argue a lot of the Bebop dub voices reach this level, I think if Radical Edward started speaking most people would immediately know who it was off audio alone, which I think is a testament to making the voice stand out and pair it with a standout character.
Opinions will vary on Dubs, some Subs just outclass Dubs, it depends on how much is translated within context for me especially if I rewatch a Dub second with a friend, but most Dubs hold strong for me, you either have to really half-ass it, not fit the character's motif at all from the sub, or well... be an older anime where it's way more Russian Roulette and some dubs are so bad they're memes.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2022 6:59:06 GMT -5
Something that should be mentioned that Cowboy Bebop was the first anime to aired on Adult Swim instead of Toonami at time where alot of anime were being edited and marketing toward children instead of adult so for alot of people, the Cowboy Bebop dub was their induction to the more matured anime out there.
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schma
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Post by schma on Jul 19, 2022 9:16:26 GMT -5
Not really people still prefer Subs I can go either way. Dub voice acting has become really good so if it stands out I will go that route. Tho that only applies to Anime, if it is a foreign movie and they dubbed it, I am not watching it IMO comparing dubbing now to dubbing in the 80s really isn't fair. It's so much better as a practice now that it's practically apples and oranges. I'll watch the dub every time if given the option, my neurodivergent brain goes into overload trying to read subtitles and follow the action at the same time. But I think if that weren't the case I'd still prefer dubbing. And the Cowboy Bebop dub is a sacred cow because it really is as good as people say it is. The voiced in the 80s comparison reminds me of voice acting when they first started putting it in games. I remember playing the original Resident Evil and the voice acting in that was so wooden even a high school drama club would be cringing and saying they could do better. I'm not even talking about the better drama clubs. I mean the really bad ones.
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lucas_lee
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Post by lucas_lee on Jul 19, 2022 14:37:40 GMT -5
It is an ok dub. But I have never liked watching Dubbed anime. Back when I first got into anime in hte late 80s no one wanted dubs. Notice how since Toonami started dubs are preferred. Dubs have gotten better now especially with the voice acting quality jumping higher too. So thankfully they're not as horrendous to listen to
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Post by Cyno on Jul 19, 2022 14:46:05 GMT -5
IMO comparing dubbing now to dubbing in the 80s really isn't fair. It's so much better as a practice now that it's practically apples and oranges. I'll watch the dub every time if given the option, my neurodivergent brain goes into overload trying to read subtitles and follow the action at the same time. But I think if that weren't the case I'd still prefer dubbing. And the Cowboy Bebop dub is a sacred cow because it really is as good as people say it is. The voiced in the 80s comparison reminds me of voice acting when they first started putting it in games. I remember playing the original Resident Evil and the voice acting in that was so wooden even a high school drama club would be cringing and saying they could do better. I'm not even talking about the better drama clubs. I mean the really bad ones. The quality of your average localization of Japanese games is at least competent to good these days. Nothing like the original Resident Evil lol.
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Jul 19, 2022 14:50:57 GMT -5
It is an ok dub. But I have never liked watching Dubbed anime. Back when I first got into anime in hte late 80s no one wanted dubs. Notice how since Toonami started dubs are preferred. Dubs have gotten better now especially with the voice acting quality jumping higher too. So thankfully they're not as horrendous to listen to Yeah, as it's gotten more popular there's been a demand for better dubs... I don't have a major preference one way or the other usually unless it's something much older with a terrible dub track. That said I might take a terrible dub track over most fan subs... since fan subs tend to decide not to translate random things (with a note ONLY the first time it appears... that lasts like half a second) or just add a bunch of random swearing for some reason.
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Post by Cyno on Jul 19, 2022 14:57:52 GMT -5
Dubs have gotten better now especially with the voice acting quality jumping higher too. So thankfully they're not as horrendous to listen to Yeah, as it's gotten more popular there's been a demand for better dubs... I don't have a major preference one way or the other usually unless it's something much older with a terrible dub track. That said I might take a terrible dub track over most fan subs... since fan subs tend to decide not to translate random things (with a note ONLY the first time it appears... that lasts like half a second) or just add a bunch of random swearing for some reason. Fabsubs have become a lot more of a mixed bag lately. Granted the quality of localization was always inconsistent because they tend to make one of the most common sins of being too literal with translation (which both loses the flavor and intent of the original language while being way too robotic in the translated language). But fansubs feel way too self indulgent lately.
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Post by castletonsnob on Jul 19, 2022 16:32:19 GMT -5
I watched anime dubbed by ADV Films and Funimation when I was younger. Could that be why I think the dub for Cowboy Bebop is overrated? Depends on what you were watching. A lot of earlier ADV and Funimation stuff was... inconsistent. Not 4Kids bad, but still not great. They both stepped their game up in the 00's in terms of budget, direction, and the quality of voice actors in their stables (which they often shared as both were pretty close to each other in Texas). I remember watching the Ghost Stories dub on The Anime Network. I also watched Pani Poni Dash, Fruits Basket, and Negima.
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schma
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Post by schma on Jul 20, 2022 2:24:53 GMT -5
The voiced in the 80s comparison reminds me of voice acting when they first started putting it in games. I remember playing the original Resident Evil and the voice acting in that was so wooden even a high school drama club would be cringing and saying they could do better. I'm not even talking about the better drama clubs. I mean the really bad ones. The quality of your average localization of Japanese games is at least competent to good these days. Nothing like the original Resident Evil lol. Oh I know. I think what made it more jarring was the fact that I had just watched the opening cinematic which was actually quite well done and then it was followed up with *most wooden voice ever* "here Jill, the master of unlocking...take this lockpick.
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Post by castletonsnob on Jul 20, 2022 5:34:42 GMT -5
As bad as 4Kids' dubs were, they were a LOT of people's first exposure to anime, with Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh.
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Post by Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!! on Jul 20, 2022 6:14:24 GMT -5
As bad as 4Kids' dubs were, they were a LOT of people's first exposure to anime, with Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh. It was nice that the new Shaman King series brought back as many of the original cast as they could to show what they can do in a show that's not being re-dubbed for 6 year olds
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CMWaters
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Post by CMWaters on Jul 20, 2022 6:28:53 GMT -5
It is very possible that the Cowboy Bebop dub praise is because of being a product of its time compared to other dubs. Though I have heard people that usually prefer subs say that Bebop's English Dub is better than the Japanese original.
I think the biggest problem in the past with dubs, besides trying to over-correct for Western audiences whether by localizer choice or original studio choice to make it more worldwide appealing (which is what I heard what happened originally with the 4Kids Pokémon dub) was experimenting with trying to make the dubbed dialogue match with the mouth movements, hence that fast-talk style that you would see on something like the Speed Racer dub. They have gotten better with that over the years.
But there are still weird localization choices...I don't remember the anime, but apparently Funimation dubbed one that added a reference to Gamergate that wasn't in there in the original language (kinda like how the original Sailor Moon dub added a Joey Lawrence reference in one of their episodes).
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Post by HMARK Center on Jul 20, 2022 14:05:55 GMT -5
Man, we've got people on the "Cowboy Bebop was overrated, actually" train? For shame!
All seriousness, Bebop was a show that grabbed me back when it debuted in the States with its style, atmosphere, environments, and of course the music, but as I've gotten older I've only come to appreciate it even more as the meditation on adulthood and the postmodern era that it is.
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