When are the Japanese dubs considered "crappy"?

[Kadmos1]

I know there a number of "Japanese versions are better than the English dubs" threads. have seen lots of subbed and lots of dubbed shows. For fans out there, what shows/when would you consider the Japanese version to be "crappy" (I am talking about using this word in the same level of disgust that people use for a 4kids dub)?

For me, Rie Kugimiya's high-pitched girly character voice (especially for Happy on Fairy Tail) is, by far, the most annoying Japanese voice I've heard in subbed anime. She's actually the reason that I usually watched my subbed anime muted.

Also, for me, I have applied this to anime where women does the lead male character but the lead male has a girly voice. Just as there are bad dubs out there, there are a Japanese dubs that are bad but this isn't as often.

In my CrunchyRoll thread of the same name that I made in Jan. '09, DigitalDeviant said:

Japanese tonal inflections are very different from English. I find a lot of the time when people think an English dub somehow sounds 'wrong' they misunderstand the Japanese dialog. In the Japanese language a lot more is implied and left unstated, tonal inflection is more important and many non-Japanese don't understand that. Sometimes subtitles just can't convey this as italics only go so far. There are trade-offs and no 'perfect' translation solution.

and

Non-Japanese have a hard time learning to "read between the lines" so to speak. The Japanese language leaves a lot implied to those subtle tones. Structurally, it's also a lot more passive voice so non-Japanese sometimes miss where the emphasis in a line is actually supposed to be. I'm not a fluent speaker but I have Japanese relatives and have immersed myself in as much of the culture as I can for a couple decades and I still have to listen to somethings a few times before I'm comfortable with my understanding on a lot of stuff. Sometimes I look stupid but I'll have to ask "how do you mean that?"

Of course, bad acting is bad acting...

Note: This thread is about ignoring all this. This thread is about instances where you feel that a seiyuu was miscast and totally failed on a performance.


That is, take the idea of "Dubs suck! They ruined the show with the bad translation and the voices are horrible!" but apply it to the Japanese.

Finally, because dubbing is adding sound to a picture, all anime is technically dubbed.

 

[SQY]

Well there are two shows with explanations on both for me.

Death Note:
I don't know why, but the English Dub was so nice to hear and was really well done. They fitted the characters exactly, although I didn't really like the Japanese voices, but thats just me.

Shaman King:
I just can't get into older shows with Japanese voice actors, I simply had to watch this show in English dub/

 

[SonictheHedgehog]

It's not very just to judge a language you don't understand imo.

 

[FreakensteinAG]

Objectively, DragonBall and DragonballZ were better Dubbed than Subbed. This is only due to the fact that the English received the rights to DragonBall one and a half DECADES after the series took off in Japan. Knowing this, there are obviously some sound effects and ambiance/music quality that are obsolete later in the future. The Japanese, instead of a synth-supported symphony playing in epic fights that the English gets, got to listen to some furious Brass Band music action.

The issue that broke the camel's back is the voice acting and voice quality. They were blurred, weak, and were too overzealous with their fighting grunts. How would you like to hear Frieza going "KE-KE-KE-KE-KE-KE-KE-KE-KE" every time he fought and released ki blasts? It bled through most of the sound.

 

[Green Beast Of Konoha]

You must be registered for see images

 

[S A G E]

Some English dubs are better than Japanese dubs. Not saying in general but it really depends on the voice actors.

Besides it's so much easier to listen and focus on the animation, rather than read subs with the animation.

 

[Solo]

DBZ in Japanese... Goku is a grown man with the voice of a child... interesting.

People are able to tell English dub suck because they understand it.

How can you call something you don't understand crappy? Voicing isn't about how "cool" someone's voice sound. It's about matching that character and his personality. Naruto, for example, is a loud, annoying, and goofy boy. Maile Flanagan gives us just that.

With Japanese dub, I don't speak. I can't properly judge it. I can tell you if it sounds good or not.


I like the English dub and Japanese audio, but I don't shit dub anime just because.