Unpopular opinion: The English dub of Cowboy Bebop is better than the original Japanese

I was at an anime convention in Austin last weekend and sat in on a panel about dubbing versus subbing. The guy running it said most purists swear by the original audio for classics like Cowboy Bebop. But I watched both versions side by side about 2 years ago and the English cast just nails the characters better in my opinion. Spike's voice actor has this dry, sarcastic tone that fits the noir feel way more than the Japanese version. On the other hand, I get why folks say the original preserves the creator's intent better. So which side do you fall on when it comes to English dubs for older anime like this one?

3 comments

3 Comments

shane_wilson21d ago

That bit about "the creator's intent" always gets me thinking. I actually tried watching Cowboy Bebop for the first time back in like 2005 on a bootleg DVD a friend burned for me, and the audio was all messed up. Half the time the English track would cut out and switch to Japanese mid sentence. Ended up watching the whole series that way, my brain mashing both versions together. Now I can't hear Spike's voice without hearing a weird mashup of Steve Blum and the Japanese actor in my head. Weirdest thing is I actually grew to like it that way. Makes me wonder if most people's opinions on dubs are just whatever they heard first.

oliver71921d ago

Ngl, I gotta push back a little on that last bit about "whatever they heard first." I get what you're saying about the bootleg thing being a weird experience, but I don't think that's how most people land on dubs. I watched Dragon Ball Z on Toonami as a kid, so the English cast was my first exposure, and I still think the Japanese version is better for a lot of scenes. It ain't just about nostalgia or first impressions, it's about which performance actually fits the character better. I've seen people watch the same show twice, once subbed and once dubbed, and they'll have a strong preference either way based on the acting quality. There's a reason some dubs like Fullmetal Alchemist or Cowboy Bebop are generally praised but others like the old One Piece dub got a ton of hate. It's not random, it's about who's behind the mic and how much care went into it.

cameronb525d agoMost Upvoted

Man that bootleg DVD story is wild, like your brain just did a partial rewire on accident. Reminds me of those old fansubs where the translation was so bad it looped back around to being hilarious. But I gotta say, trying to argue that most people's dub opinions are just "whatever they heard first" is a huge oversimplification. Plenty of folks, like the guy above, watched DBZ in English first and still say the Japanese cast brings more heat. If that were the only factor, nobody would ever switch teams after childhood.