Best dubbing studio?
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I didn't wanna be totally left out while Gyt's VA tournament is going on so this little idea popped into my head. What studio do people consider to be the best out there? I say studios rather than the companies that license the anime since only FUNimation and Sentai have their own so they can handle things in-house. All the other licensing companies have their dub work handled by a multitude of other studios. And since the polling option only allows for 10 choices that's what I'll limit things to. There are many more studios out there but these came to mind for their significance and volume of work.
Animaze
One of the older studios and the only defunct one on the list. But given what they were involved in, they just had to be included. Toonami fans will most definitely be familiar with their work since they are responsible for classic anime dubs such as Big O, Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, and Trigun.ADV Studios/Seraphim Digital/Industrial Smoke & Mirrors/Monster Island
This was a bit harder to figure since this is all under basically the same company and generally the same voice actors (sometimes to their detriment). They are responsible collectively for pretty much every release made from the Former ADV Films and under their current name as Sentai Filmworks. Some of their many titles include Pani Poni Dash, Full Metal Panic, Dai-Guard, Slayers (OVAs and movies NOT the main TV series), and Chrono Crusade.Arvintel Media Productions
A lesser known company (and in some opinions should probably be lesser used) they primarily work with Media Blasters. Some of their dubbing work includes Ah! My Budda, Eiken, Kanokon, and Kashimashi.Bang Zoom Entertainment
Definitely one of the more well known names in anime dubbing (and video games as well). They are known for dubbing such titles as Ai Yori Aoshi, Chobits, Durarara!!, Gurren Lagann, K-ON!, and I can't forget Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.[Blue Water Studios](Blue Water Studios)
Based out of Vancouver Canada, we have Blue Water Studios. Not the most highly regarded, but they are responsible for titles like Angel Links. Deltora Quest, Law of Ueki, Mobile Fighter G Gundam, My-Otome, and Strawberry Marshmallow.FUNimation Studios/OkraTron 5000
The biggest company in the anime licensing business at the moment, they handle almost everything they have in-house so I couldn't leave them out. Too many titles to list so I'll just name off the biggest ones, Dragon Ball Z, Fairy Tail, Fullmetal Alchemist, One Piece, and Soul Eater.New Generation Pictures
Yet another studio out of California, but eh that's where most of the voice over work including stuff beyond anime is done. Anyways, some of their dubbing work includes Ergo Proxy, Girls Bravo, Gun X Sword, Hellsing Ultimate, and Strawberry Eggs.NYAV Post
Another fairly well known studio, and one that FUNimation comes to on the rare occasion that they don't dub a series in-house. Some of their credits include Ah! My Goddess, Berserk, Giant Robo, Kurokami, Midori Days, and Slayers Revolution/Evolution-R.Ocean Studios
One of the older studios and thankfully still around. Our Canadian brethren are responsible for Black Lagoon, Hamtaro, Inuyasha, Mobile Suit Gundam 00, and Ranma ½.Studiopolis
And last but not least, we have Studiopolis. Toonami and Adult Swim fans should know them well since they're responsible for Bleach, Blood+, Kekkashi, and of course Naruto/Naruto Shippuden.Now as I said before there are other studios, but I'd say these are the most significant ones around and again, it only allows a max of 10 options. So let your voice be heard and tell us which one you think is the best and why.
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Went with Funi & Ocean, because, why not!? And how can I not vote for the studio that did Black Lagoon!?
0 A WILD MONKEY ENTERS THE FRAY! TOONS N COMIC STUFF HERE!
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And stickied temporarily so that it won't get buried once the matches start a-coming again (might want to do the same to yours, Sound). :P
As for me, I hate to be obvious but…yeah, I gotta throw my first vote to FUNi. They've come a long way over the years, and since they have access to actors from pretty much every area as needed, they have the most varied casting pool IMO.
Secondly, I'll give a vote to Studiopolis, though more for their older stuff than newer dubs, where in some cases they've begun to use people a little too much in every show.
My third and final vote goes to NYAV Post, for being the only studio to consistently 'mix' the regions a bit. There's just something fun about hearing the LA cast mingle with the NY area actors, and besides - it gives the NY are actors something to be in that doesn't get as much flack as, say, 4Kids stuff.
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1. FUNi
2. Bang Zoom
3. Animaze
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1. Funimation. Yeah, big surprise. But more than anyone else, they seem to understand how to "adapt" anime instead of just "translating" it.
2. Animaze. I've heard Animaze turned in some stinkers. But their work on Cowboy Bebop and Wolf's Rain are superlative. Trigun's dub hasn't aged as well, but you can hear the passion and earnestness behind it and that adds a lot. And their work on Outlaw Star is perfectly fitting in that "quality" equals "how much fun we can have."
3. New Generation Pictures. I haven't heard much of their work, but it never dips below "fine" and sometimes rises to "fantastic." I am not a Hellsing fan, but the Major's "I Love War" speech is one of the most perfectly adapted scenes I've seen in an English dub.
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1. This is a tie - between Funi and Animaze. Animaze produced several well-received dubs, such as Gundam, GITS, Wolf's Rain, and The Big O. Funi produced many good dubs, but their recent stagnation in dubbing quality (Haganai and Future Diary being the worst offenders so far) let me put Animaze on par with them.
2. Ocean Studios. They produced several well-received dubs, such as Death Note, Black Lagoon, Mobile Suit Gundam 00 and SEED series, Zoids New Century, and (despite the extensive editing to abide with Kids W.B.) Megaman NT Warrior
3. New Generation Pictures: Despite their lack of work in the recent years, they brought out Hellsing series and Kamichu (with the dub directed by Patrick Seitz, and a huge improvement since his previous endeavor with the abysmal dub of Girls Bravo).
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Now that's something I've never heard before. Maybe because I don't quite keep up with everything out there. I don't believe I've ever heard someone call the dub for Girls Bravo terrible. Now without ever having watched in the original Japanese some stuff felt like it was altered, but otherwise it was fine to me.
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Definitely not Arvintel and not Blue Water (no matter how much I like G Gundam). Not a fan of most of ADV's Monster Island dubs either (AKA ADV's Austin studio responsible for Lost Universe, Dai-Guard, City Hunter, GetBackers, and Samurai X OVAs and movie) though I I'm a fan of several of those shows.
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Neither Blue Water nor Arvintel have any votes. This pleases me. ^_^
But yeah, hate to go with the flow, but I had to give it to FUNi. All things considered, pound-for-pound they are the best dubbing studio in the industry.
Honestly, I know a lot of people would put Ocean or one of the LA studios in their second place, but personally I think that NYAV does some of the best work for the money. I'm looking forward to seeing what they do with the Time of EVE movie.
Animaze did put out some stinkers, as well as a few older dubs which sadly haven't aged all that well, but their pedigree is simply too impressive not to mention. Bang/Zoom! has done some really great dubs as well, but their direction oftentimes comes across as stiff and "stage-actey", plus they use a few voice actors that I just straight up do not like.
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I guess its time for me to drop in here. I'll give my votes to Bang Zoom, FUNi, and Ocean Studios. While none of them are perfect they are pretty close.
Bang Zoom does excellent work as long as you give them a good budget. When they have to it quick and cheap like some of the stuff they did for Geneon right before that company shut down. It definitely has that feel of being exactly that, quick and cheap. But their bad work pales in comparison to their best stuff. For that they get a vote from me.
FUNi gets one because they are the biggest dogs in the room now. They have so many shows that they've gotten better through sheer volume of work. Makes me wonder what the problem is with those nice folks over in Houston who happen to use some of the same VAs.
Ocean Studios, well to anyone who saw Ranma ½ back in the day, they've been doing great work since the beginning. I honestly can't say that I've heard a bad dub from them.
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I don't know…I'm not fond of Ocean. I mean, I like them in western animation, so I know they've got good voice actors and directors. But for anime dubs, they're either "fantastic" or "bleeeeeh." There's no in-between.
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A tad bias aren't we? I don't know, most of the stuff that I like comes from Funimation but that's more of a bias in terms of shows. I don't know…
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A tad bias aren't we? I don't know, most of the stuff that I like comes from Funimation but that's more of a bias in terms of shows. I don't know…
If your worried that your taste in the shows themselves might be influencing your judgement, then work the issue in reverse. Think about all the shows you like/own/watched. Now, try to think about which ones you prefer to watch subtitled instead of dubbed. Which company dubbed that show? Is the reason you watch it subbed tied to the dub itself or is it tied to seeing subbed first or preferring a particular seiyuu?
Don't watch shows subbed if the dub is available? Then think about which ones you rewatch the least. What issues for that show have it on the back burner? Is it the English voices? Is it the translation or adaptation?
See if thinking in those terms helps you to evaluate different studios.
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Strange… I couldn't find 4Kids in the list.
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Well I have to go with FUNi because even though they share a talent pool with Sentai FUNimation's stuff tends to come out better.
I guess the ADR directors for FUNi are better at their jobs
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Animaze
Funi (Sheer amount)
Ocean
Outlaw Star is to this day one of the best dubs I have ever heard. Black Lagoon was awesome too so Ocean gets the nod there. Funi is like the SEGA of the 90's, hammers you with B grade dubs but you get a boat load of them.
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Funimation's def. staying on top of things imo.
Sad to see Media Blasters isn't on the poll (course, they're are barely staying afloat and have cut back on dubbing their titles over the yrs…)
Sigh, I sure do miss Central Park Media & ADV too...
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Actually, I don't think Media Blasters ever dubbed titles themselves.
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@the:
Funimation's def. staying on top of things imo.
Sad to see Media Blasters isn't on the poll…Well this is a poll for the actual studios that do the dub work, not the companies that license the anime.
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