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Dragon Ball anime
Funimation became a household name in English dubbing thanks to Dragon Ball.
- Their English dub of the original Dragon Ball has often been singled out as being very good. The script was colorful, but still captured the spirit of the show. The voice acting was done after the voice actors had had experience in Dragon Ball Z, and voiced their characters as great as they possibly could. Brice Armstrong's narrator voice was particularly praised for having a unique storybook quality to it. This was also the very first Dragon Ball series to hit the airwaves in the U.S. with the original background music, and featured covers of the original Japanese theme songs.
- Dragon Ball Z Kai. After their Saban and 1999 Freeza saga dubs, which divided the fanbase, and the uncut redub, Funimation nails it with this one, which finally won over many of their detractors. Since series composer Kenji Yamamoto (山本健司)note was fired when his plagiarism finally caught up to him,note all but the commercial bumpers, opening themes, and closing themes have been replaced with the original DBZ score by Shunsuke Kikuchi. The FUNimation dub also followed suit. The original sound is left untouched (except for the kickass dubbed opening and ending), the scripts are accurate and well-translated, and the voice actors give sensational performances. Special mentions for actors:
- Many recasts (like Bulma (Monica Rial) and Gohan (Colleen Clinkenbeard)) are well-received.
- Christopher Sabat gives his best voicework as Piccolo and Vegeta (the latter sounding much more awesome and appropriate than how he sounded like in the Z redub).
- Sonny Strait owns the role of Krillin.
- Sean Schemmel is Son Goku, here more than ever.
- Chris Ayres' delightfully wicked portrayal of Frieza.
- Dameon Clarke as Cell, who's now even more delightfully hammy and trollish than ever before. No, seriously!
- Also of note, Kaio-ken is finally pronounced correctly even in the TV airings. The uncut DVDs have the untranslated attack names, like Makkankosappo instead of Special Beam Cannon and Kienzan instead of Destructo Discnote . Names and terms ingrained in the English dubs, such as Saiyan and its pronunciation "sayin'"note , Tiennote , and Master Roshinote , remain unchanged, however. Finally, we get to hear Son Goku's full name dubbed in an English Dragon Ballnote .
- For the movies Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods and Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F', we have Jason Douglas and Ian Sinclair as Beerus and Whis, respectively. Beerus in particular is a delight; his childish demeanor is better emphasized by some great lines on his part, yet when the time comes for Beerus to be serious, you still get the air that he's a god of destruction that should not be messed with. Whis is also portrayed quite nicely; his gentle, eccentric, yet still deadpan personality is just as great in English as it is in Japanese.
- Dragon Ball Super unfortunately started getting dubbed about a year and a half after it came out in Japan, leading to it falling far behind, but the dub itself is considered excellent - the vocal performances are as good as they were in Kai, the translation takes entertaining liberties that don't detract from the overall show, and it benefits from getting the Enhanced on DVD versions of the episodes, which remove some of the show's infamous Off-Model moments. Of particular note is Sean Schemmel's chilling performance as Goku Black and James Marsters's portrayal as Zamasu.
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- The Ace Attorney (2016) anime has Funimation really knock it out of the park with its English dubbing efforts. It keeps the pun-based names of the games, amps up the effort to localize the Japanese-oriented references, and the voice actors chosen to play the characters have been highly praised by fans of both the games and anime. Eric Vale and Lindsay Seidel do a fine job as Phoenix Wright and Maya Fey, portraying both as green and eager young defenders of justice. Christopher Wehkamp does fantastic at capturing Miles Edgeworth's uptight, arrogant, and obliviously comical demeanor, while Colleen Clinkenbeard is a natural as the firm yet good-hearted Mia Fey. Kent Williams is almost unrecognizable as the gruff yet loveable Judge, and Josh Martin and Bryan Massey are absolute scene-stealers as Larry Butz and Dick Gumshoe respectively. In fact, many outright prefer the English voice track because of how well the dub flows with the action on-screen; the only loss being Redd White's Engrish. Even Sam Riegel returns as Furio Tigre as a Casting Gag in Series 2!
- Remote recording has paved the way for a lot of great English dubs for various anime from 2020 to early 2022, with companies going absolutely crazy with pulling off all kinds of casting decisions that never would have been possible in the decades beforehand, with the apex of this being Akudama Drive. The dub for this anime is absolutely fantastic, with stellar performances from not only the main cast—Macy Anne Johnson, Jonah Scott, Brittany Lauda, Matt Shipman, Zeno Robinson, Kellen Goff, Y. Chang, and so on—but the secondary characters as well. Veronica Taylor is especially chilling as the absolutely vile Executioner Boss, and even Dan Green gets a cameo at one point! A mix of both brand new faces and seasoned veterans from all across North America were brought together to bring this dub to life, and it's received praise from the get-go. Even the Japanese character designer for the show, Cindy Yamauchi, said that she liked the dub! Approval from one of the crew of the original Japanese version goes a long way to show how good the English dub is.
- Assassination Classroom's Funimation English dub has received quite a lot of praise from various people. And it starts with the main character, Koro-sensei. Sonny Strait is an absolutely perfect fit for the role, with him proving to be able to nail both the character's silly and serious moments without missing a beat. And even ignoring this, Lindsay Seidel's Nagisa, Austin Tindle's Karma, Martha Harms' Ms. Jelavic and so many others clearly put their all into each performance, and each voice is an ideal fit. Even some of the script gets tweaked to work better for an English-speaking audience, and yet everything still works very well.
- While Attack on Titan's English dub of Seasons 1 and 2 has its issues, such as the dialogue changes and the resulting character personality changes, it is still a well-received dub. The voices are well cast (with contention for Eren and Armin as kids) and the acting is spot-on. The passion of both the cast and crew on the English dub shows well. The English dub is cited to have realistic and guttural screaming, such as Armin's scream courtesy of Jessie James Grelle, whose performance as Armin in the first two seasons is singled out as excellent. Included in the cast are veteran voice actors Bryce Papenbrook as Eren Jaeger, Matthew Mercer as Levi Ackermann, and Patrick Seitz as Keith Shadis.
- Come Seasons 3 and 4, the highly divisive character personality and script changes from the first two seasons are dropped entirely. Most characters, especially the main Shiganshina trio, are portrayed in a dark, solemn manner consistent with the original Japanese version. Most especially, Bryce Papenbrook's portrayal of Eren in this point of the story shines, going against the characters the voice actor usually portrays.
- The lighthearted Affectionate Parody Attack on Titan: Junior High features most of English voice actors for the characters of the original dub. Keep in mind that these are the same voice actors who gave the characters dark and serious portrayals in the original Attack on Titan and portrayed these same characters as off-the-wall, wacky, comedic, with downright exaggerated character traits, in this High School AU Slice of Life comedy.
- Baccano! has a masterful English dub that is considered by many as one of the best dubs ever made. Part of the reasoning is the fact that it mostly takes place in America during the Depression-era which is why many prefer the dub over the original as it adds in appropriate accents that would be more suited for the characters instead of speaking in Japanese. On the other hand, the dub is still amazing itself in which the rather large cast have each of their voices stand out on their own. While they may sound a tad bit deeper than their Japanese counterparts, J. Michael Tatum and Caitlin Glass still retains the cheery and outgoing charm of Isaac and Miria. Bryan Massey plays the rather sadistic Ladd Russo with a performance filled with pure ham. Jerry Jewell gives Claire Stanfield a rather haunting and manipulative personality (albeit with a bit of charm at times). Hell, even Joel McDonald, who pulls off a high pitched voice perfectly fitting for the timid Jacuzzi Splot sounds great with Colleen Clinkenbeard playing his love interest, Nice, filled with sass to balance out their chemistry. And while he only appears in the OVAs, Chris Patton still stands out as Graham Specter by being as upbeat and charged with energy as much as the rest of the cast. Due to its huge cast, there's a lot to say about this dub, but we can definitely see why many consider it as one of the best.
- BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad has a great dub. For one thing, the English voice actors can actually sing. Perhaps more importantly, it's incredibly well-written. The English scriptwriters found a good way to deal with the original's in-universe language barrier (some characters are bilingual, some only speak Japanese, some only speak English), by adapting it into cultural or class differences instead, something that extends all the way down to how characters' names get pronounced. Few better examples of Woolseyism exist in anime.
- The English dub of Birdy the Mighty Decode is vastly improved compared to that of the original OVA. Then again, the OVA had one of the most infamous dubs ever done in anime.
- The dub of Black Clover has been praised because of Dallas Reid's performance as Asta, whose scream in the original Japanese turned lots of people off to watching the show.
- Another Toonami revival show, Casshern Sins, has a really good English dub with powerful, and sometimes haunting performances by its guest cast. Extra props goes to Eric Vale, Brina Palencia, and Monica Rial for their main roles, and carrying the show.
- Deadman Wonderland's English dub is quite well-done, and was very well-received when it was shown on Toonami with great performances from Greg Ayres, Monica Rial, Eric Vale, Jamie Marchi, Jason Douglas, David Trosko, and Aaron Dismuke. It was enough for the show to be a breakout hit in America and become a fan favorite.
- The Funimation dub of The Devil is a Part-Timer! is excellent. The jokes are localized in such a way that they work better for a Western audience but don't lose the spirit of the original series. Every character's voice fits them perfectly, all of them having the exact right amount of dramatic flair. Special shout out to Jessie James Grelle, who manages to sound awesome in both Maou's fairly average young adult's voice and his baritone true form's voice. Many people recommend the dub, even if you've already watched it in its original Japanese - the jokes are so good that it almost feels like a completely new show, but in the best possible way. It's clear that the anime was adapted to English with a lot of love from both the producers and cast, never losing the spirit of the original while giving it their own unique spin.
- The FUNimation dub of Fairy Tail is excellent. The main cast does a superb job at capturing the spirit of the characters: Todd Haberkorn plays Natsu like the happy-go-lucky, goofy, super-passionate guy he's supposed to be; Cherami Leigh's "everygirl" take on Lucy leaves viewers eagerly anticipating every witty remark and priceless reaction she makes to the madness that is her life; and Colleen Clinkenbeard totally is the tough yet sweet Erza. The last two took a couple of episodes to work out the kinks in their performances, but after a handful of episodes, they really hit the nail on the head. Of course, that's not to say of the supporting cast, and while it does have its kinks, there are simply too many awesome performances to list. Of course, good dubs aren't limited to just good voice acting; the transition from Japanese to English is a virtually flawless one. The whole script is very faithful to its source material, and when they can't make a joke work, they ad-lib it.
- Fruits Basket: While the dub for the 2001 series may have several tweaks, the 2019 reboot's dub has little to none. The 2019 series had seen several of the voice actors from the original dub to perform improved versions of their characters. And they improved it perfectly. From Eric Vale still being calm and charming as the princely Yuki, to the familiar raging fits of Jerry Jewell as Kyo. They even brought back the likes of Laura Bailey (who hasn't been voice acting in anime for a while) who is still as sweet as she was back in the original dub with Tohru. The rest of the cast, both old and new, also did an amazing job as their characters. There are even cast replacements that are seemingly better than the dub of the first series such as Elizabeth Maxwell as Uotani, Jad Saxton as Hanajima and Tia Ballard as Kagura. Heck, even Momiji, voiced by Mikaela Krantz, sounds better (his accent may turn off some, but no doubt he's much more expressive than he was in the original dub). A special mention goes the zodiac members who weren't in the original anime: Rin and Kureno, in which both Brina Palencia and Ian Sinclair deliver possibly one of, if not, their most emotionally driven performances yet. Not to mention Colleen Clinkenbeard and her absolutely haunting performance as Akito making us fear for her as we should.
- The dubs for Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood is widely regarded as one of the best English anime dubs in history, often compared to the likes of Cowboy Bebop. Special mention goes to Vic Mignogna as Edward Elric and Travis Willingham as Col. Roy Mustang.
- Future Diary had a masterful dub. Jessie James Grelle does a splendid job on playing Yukiteru Amano. Brina Palencia nailed Yuno Gasai's innocence and her insanity, and Emily Neves knocked it out of the park with Minene Uryuu. And the script was at the top of the class.
- Guilty Crown may be a bit of a stretch, but the trailer, and a lot of commenters on there feel that the very tiny piece of dubbing they heard is superior to the original Japanese, if not better.
- When Funimation rescued Hellsing Ultimate after Geneon USA shut down, fans demanded FUNimation continue to use New Generation Pictures for the remaining undubbed episodes—a project they finally finished in 2014, twelve years after NGP first dubbed the TV series. Fans waited very (im)patiently for the episodes to come out dubbed; many refused to watch them until they were all available in English. In addition, the hype was enough for FUNimation's release to include extensive documentaries, interviews, and commentaries on the making of the English-language dub. The wait paid off several-fold, especially with the inclusion of Liam O'Brien as an important character in the ninth episode, in addition to all of the original voice actors reprising their roles for the OVA's finale.
- Many Neptunia fans prefer the Hyperdimension Neptunia the Animation dub over the sub due to most of the original voice actors from the games reprising their roles here note . Special Mention goes to Noire's scream and "Oh my how lewd".
- Hyouka has an excellent dub thanks to the main quartet of Adam Gibbs, Madeleine Morris, Dallas Reid, and Jill Harris all of which brought their A-game.
- Jormungand had excellent dubbing. Anastasia Muñoz was perfect as Koko Hekmatyar and the script was top notch.
- The English dub of Kaguya-sama: Love Is War is superb in both translation and acting. Despite replacing or altering many jokes due to them only working in the original Japanese, the dub still manages to keep the spirit of the original joke and make it funny. The use of modern English slang would usually come off as a bit awkward, but the dub uses them tactfully, only being used in conversations or dialogue where it would make sense (the fact that the setting is a modern high school also helps). Additionally, the actors are excellent with Alexis Tipton managing to pull off Kaguya's mood swings seamlessly, Aaron Dismuke (as well as Clifford Chapin in Season 3) conveying Miyuki's kindness and hidden insecurities, and Austin Tindle managing to encapsulate Ishigami's combination of bluntness, self-loathing, and loneliness. And while Ian Sinclair's version of the Narrator isn't quite the serious, straight-laced announcer who treats Kaguya and Miyuki's kind games like life-or-death battle that the Japanese Narrator is, he still pulls off a hilarious performance.
- Their dub for My Hero Academia is commonly regarded as one of the best dubs even by some sub purists, and for good reason. The main leads were perfect casting choices, With veteran voice actor Christopher Sabat as All Might and Justin Briner in one of his first lead roles as Izuku "Deku" Midoriya. Sabat hit All Might's character from every corner, from his hammy hero side to his tired and ragged true self, while Briner found the right balance in his voice to exemplify both Midoriya's nervous disposition and his intelligence and courage. Clifford Chapin had a chance to really show off his range as Katsuki Bakugou; Chapin's performance as Bakugou is considered one of his best as Bakugou's aggressive way of talking is very much present, but Chapin understands his character enough to not blow it out of proportion. The three remaining leads are J. Michael Tatum as Tenya Iida, Luci Christian as Ochako Uraraka, and David Matranga as Shouto Todoroki, all who perfectly portray the characters. And that's not getting into the well-placed voices of the rest of the rather large cast. Solid cast, faithful script adaptation, and a whole lot of love the staff have for the series definitely makes this one of Funimation's best dubs.
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- The Nabari no Ou English dub. Everything about it is perfect. The script, the line timing, the occasional little Woolseyisms they threw in, and the voices for each character. Special kudos goes to Kate Oxley for a rockin' Raimei!
- After 4Kids's questionable and heavily-edited version, Funimation's redub of One Piece is brilliant. It's well-written, well-acted, and well worth your time to listen to. For the first 206 episodes, when they redubbed the episodes 4Kids had done (including the episodes that they skipped), and the next 100, the acting and production work was largely good, but not great since they had to rush them out, but at 207 where they picked the series back up a few years later and the show went full HD, the acting got phenomenal. Everyone feels comfy in their roles, the scripts were really well done, and everything is just superb all around.
- What can be said about Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt that hasn't been already? The key to its fantastic dubbing lies in the English script—namely, its being way more explicit than the original (which admittedly better fits the extremely raunchy visuals), thus leading to pretty much all the characters requiring aggressive, bitchy voices. Jamie Marchi and Monica Rial could not have nailed Panty and Stocking any more perfectly as rude, crass, action heroines with attitude. Joel McDonald gives a stellar performance as Brief, with a meek, nerdy voice perfectly fitting to his geeky character. Colleen Clinkenbeard and Cherami Leigh hit the mark as Scanty and Kneesocks, the two classy daemon sisters who pile on the Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness as much as they can. Even Christopher Sabat, a white guy, does an incredible job providing the voice of Garterbelt.
- Funimation did a fantastic job dubbing selector infected WIXOSS. The translation sticks to an accurate interpretation of the dialogue with enough room to make very natural smalltalk and usage of modern slang where appropriate, making for a accurate script with sharp lines. Lindsay Seidel provides Ruko with a soft but energetic tone, able to balance her slightly cold outlook with her impassioned speeches to her friends. Apphia Yu made some dislike her casting as Yuzuki, fearing her huskier voice would limit the character's range. Thankfully this proved to be unfounded, as her voice captures a distinct tomboy edge while being both warm and friendly, and lovesick and bitter over the love for her brother, which is made all the better/worse as Kazuki himself is played by Micah Solusod, who has a relationship in real life with the aforementioned Apphia Yu. Tia Ballard is unsurprisingly capable of Hitoe's cuter responses as the most Moe of the cast. Which makes her descent into Break the Cutie territory all the sadder as she's a bit too good at sounding hollow and broken. Monica Rial may be overly cutesy for some ears as Tama, but definitely makes up for it later on when she begins to develop a more complex personality. Anastasia Muñoz nails Iona's cold pragmatism and patience, while her LRIG voiced by Bryn Apprill is an unnerving case of Playing Against Type as Ulith, who's nothing short of sadistic behind a thin exterior of cuteness. And let's not forget Jamie Marchi, who gives a wonderfully hammy and obnoxious performance as Akira. Lastly is Juli Erickson playing resident Cool Old Lady and grandma Hatsu, who brings chemistry and genuinely warm feelings to Ruko, as any loving grandmother might.
- The Funimation dub of Sengoku Basara was fantastically executed. All of the characters were full of life and energy. Most of them were screaming their lungs out for half the series and still managed to keep sounding badass. One must wonder how their voices survived that show. Robert McCollum pulled off Date Masamune's coolly sarcastic and hot blooded sides, and Johnny Yong Bosch nailed the lovable Hot-Blooded Idiot Hero that is Yukimura Sanada.
- Sgt. Frog. Nearly all of the voices are a perfect fit for a Gag Dub. Todd Haberkorn portrays the Idiot Hero lead Keroro makes him a lot more idiotic than the original, but it make his character a lot more entertaining to watch. Christopher Sabat brings out a boastful performance as Giroro; Cherami Leigh gives a spunky, tsundere-ish attitude with Natsumi; Brina Palencia plays Tamama with a cute and charming personality (albeit with a dark side); and even J. Michael Tatum, who plays against type as the cool yet wimpy Dororo sounds great. And a special mention goes to the narrator voiced by R. Bruce Elliott bringing out some of the best and most hilarious narrations in an English dub.
- The English dub of Show by Rock!! is absolutely incredible. It does have a couple miscasts, but other than that, every role is perfectly cast, and not only that, all the cast members put their all into bringing the cast to life, resulting in plenty of hilarious comedy and convincing drama. Special kudos goes to Shingancrimsonz's English cast, Mike McFarland, Ian Sinclair, Christopher Sabat, and Jerry Jewell for making them the lovable, adorkable punk rock band we all know and love, even more so than the Japanese version! The script is very colorful, with Chuchu's countryisms, Uwasanopetals' thick rural accents signifying their country origins, Strawberry Heart's wonderful Elvis impersonation, hilarious dialogue, Woolseyisms by the hundreds, and funny dialogue that's sure to get a laugh out of you. It also deserves major bonus points for one thing: They dub some of the songs, and the actors can actually SING!! And for once, NONE of it sounds awkward, unlike how most dubbed anime songs usually sound! It really makes you wonder why none of the English cast took on singing careers, because they all sound great!
- The Funimation dub of Soul Eater, particularly commendable for Laura Bailey as a Badass Adorable Maka Albarn, Micah Solusod as an edgy yet laid-back Soul, and Todd Haberkorn as a stiffly neurotic Death the Kid.
- Funimation's English dub of Space☆Dandy is a very excellent one. Not only are the jokes translated very well, but the acting is superb. Ian Sinclair, Joel McDonald, and Alison Viktorin are clearly having fun with the material the show throws at them, and by the time Season 2 came around it feels like they have wholeheartedly embraced their roles. And the enthusiasm doesn't just stop with them, as the guest voice actors brought in for one-episode characters are also putting their best effort into their roles, and having as much fun with them as the show allows them to. The most notable episode that stands as the best example for how well they dubbed this anime is the musical episode, where all the songs sung by the characters have been well translated, and wonderfully performed.
- It's actually surprising how well Funimation's dub of Steins;Gate went. J. Michael Tatum did a great job with Rintaro Okabe, a.k.a HOUOUIN KYOUMA even if he wasn't as hammy as Mamoru Miyano at times. Trina Nishimura did a great job with Makise Kurisu, and the rest of the cast also did a great job. The script was well done as well, especially with additional cultural references to Doctor Who and Kurisu, at one point in episode 3 calling Okabe "Hououin carcinoma."
- Summer Wars quite simply has one of the best English dubs ever heard. There's barely a single moment of awkwardness and all the performances are full of life.
- Funimation managed to outdo the original Japanese version of YuYu Hakusho by actually having edgier dialogue, making Yusuke a wisecracker, and using the "Freeza voice" from DBZ as Genkai. Also, Koenma sounds believable more like Really 700 Years Old. Byakko is definitely more menacing as well. The added Dub Text also put more emotion into the exchange between Genkai and Toguro. Many people also find the English version of "Smile Bomb" flows much better than the Japanese version.
