I don't think I've watched the movie dub, but I'm with you about the series.  The series dub is, honestly, unlistenable for me.  Some characters are worse than others.  I think Rachael Lillis actually isn't that bad as Utena; her lines "merely" have the slowed-down and forced sound that is common in anime dubs, and don't quite get across the intensity of her character.  But Jimmy Zoppi's Miki leaves me wondering whether the person in charge of casting had actually watched the series.  The other characters are somewhere in between -- between "not that bad" and "incomprehensibly poor" -- and it's hard to watch that when the Japanese voice actors are all basically perfect.   So no, I don't think you're crazy!

Last edited by satyreyes (06-28-2014 01:47:44 PM)

my argument was not about being good or bad dub but why those reviewing an anime they review the dub and not the original

that's a very interesting point as well.

my country has a very small team of dubbers so no matter what they do is terrible in the end, also most stuff come with subs here so I'm used to it.
only kids programs and elderly programs are dubbed in the end.

When it comes to reviews though I believe that the reviewers has to at least WATCH the original version and decide if the anime is good or not.
Most of the reviewers couldn't even pronounce Utena correctly v_v

it is like going to buy banana's and you end up given papayas because both have 3 a's in them

English.   Sorry, I was being a little over-arch there.  I was making the point that all the American animation we watch -- Avatar, Adventure Time, The Simpsons -- is dubbed in English in the first place, so even fans of subs get exposed to dubbed animation regularly.

Oh I don't disagree on the availability of the subbed version. (besides the fact that I personally do not like dubs at all ever)
my argument is why those who are up to do a REVIEW of the show do not look harder, we all know there are multiple sites streaming anime, etc.
If someone wants to watch dub, that's their business whatever floats their boats, but when you do a review and especially in the case you criticize the series badly and lacking in understanding the characters because the dub takes that away (as I mention in my first post) then you have to look at the source first. (that's my opinion on reviews) or at the very least try to pronounce the names correctly

Well the reviewers I'm commenting on are those who take their you tube reviews as a job and they are supposed to be good at what they are doing or even making money out of it. When it comes to not pronouncing things right to me it seems that they do not take their "job" seriously when they can not even pronounce the name of the main character (which is also on the title of the series), it annoys me in a way, because it's there job to do and a google search away.

well it's maybe just me, I do have a thing for attention on details I'm weird that way

Karuka wrote:

Oh I don't disagree on the availability of the subbed version. (besides the fact that I personally do not like dubs at all ever)
my argument is why those who are up to do a REVIEW of the show do not look harder, we all know there are multiple sites streaming anime, etc.
If someone wants to watch dub, that's their business whatever floats their boats, but when you do a review and especially in the case you criticize the series badly and lacking in understanding the characters because the dub takes that away (as I mention in my first post) then you have to look at the source first. (that's my opinion on reviews) or at the very least try to pronounce the names correctly

The source doesn't have subtitles either, though. And, was TV broadcast.

But the version they're reviewing likely does have a dubbed English option, because the English language DVDs just have that option. If they're reviewing the dub, in fact, then watching the subbed version and pronouncing names differently than the dub is a disservice to the version they're reviewing., just like it'd be a disservice to say the individual DVD collections all come with a novelty ring, if only some full sets do, or reviewing the Japanese issued DVDs as if they have English or Spanish subs.

While I agree with you, my experience of certain characters in the dub actually enhanced the general idea of the characters, few as those may be. Not in a sense of being better than the original since that is just plain impossible. It was more like they rounded up the general feel of the character in my head, sort of like a different perspective.
For example, Hikaru Midorikawa's Mikage/Nemuro is deeply troubled and tormented, you can sense the frailty of the character and the depth of his delusions. Dan Green's take on the character, on the other hand, is dripping with confidence, seductive, self-assured. Both takes on the character somehow fit and make him more rounded in my head. This might also work for him specifically, since he's such a dual, split fella.
Shiori's original voice is the picture of innocence she is identified with, but the dub voice highlights her status as an everygirl, a normal kid who desperately wants to be approved of and respected. Anthy's original voice is more mature, her dub voice sugary-sweet - both are facets of her personality. And the performance of Utena's dub actress improved immensely over the course of the series, you could practically hear it getting better in each episode (and that sonovabitch when she slapped Mikage OH MY )

Then again, there were absolute misses: I especially disliked Saionji, Miki, and Mamiya in the dub. Akio was okayish. Note that I am probably biased, since the dub is the first thing I watched due to it being the only version available on YouTube at the time

The dub is something I hold close to my heart, because it's the version of Utena that I was introduced to the entire metaseries with. I love MOST of the voices, too. While Rachael Lillis' Utena, Lisa Ortiz's Shiori and Crispin Freeman's Touga all are interpretations of the characters I LOVE, I do have to agree that Mamiya's dub voice was a TOTAL miss. I honestly think it was a great dub for what it is (lol 90s dubs), and I really only have an issue with its mispronunciations/inability to stick with one pronunciation.

(I also have focus issues, so being able to look away from the screen for five seconds while still catching what's being said is a big plus too... and I've seen Utena enough times to not have to worry about, you know, missing too many symbolic visuals.)