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HustleBun

Member
Nov 12, 2017
6,076
I finally caught up with the One Piece/One Pace anime and have turned to exclusively reading the manga (which is the superior method).

But I needed a new anime fix and remembered that I have a big blindspot when it comes to celebrated Shonen.

Yu Yu Hakusho

So doing some lazy Google research, I wanted to see what people prefer: subbed or dubbed.

I was surprised to learn that Yu Yu's dub is highly celebrated with the YYH sub answering this question almost unanimously "watch the dub". Some websites even included it with Cowboy Bebop and Steins;Gate as anime with a nearly superior dub.

But these early episodes are rough. Hoooooo boy.

I don't know if it's bad acting or just bad direction but these line readings are sometimes unbearable. Sometimes you get a flat reading or sleepy delivery that doesn't match the animation but the most frequent issue involves characters emphasizing the wrong word in a sentence.

I think if I was a kid and this was my first anime I might be more accepting of it but having watched over 50 dif dubbed anime in my life, this is so far near the bottom.

Is it nostalgia? Is this a Spider-man 3/SW prequel thing where people who were kids watching it now flood the internet with praise?

Or do the actors get better over time?

That first Funimation dub of Dragon Ball Z is really shaky, embarrassingly so during the Frieza saga. But the actors all improved over time and now the Super and Kai dubs are pretty fantastic.

These first five episodes are just so, so bad.

Sidenote:
The sexual abuse jokes, homophobia and transphobia is really frequent during the first batch of episodes. It's not Sanji-level awful yet but it's more frequent and weirdly grabby.

I know about Yusuke's awful rant from an upcoming tournament fight about how wrong it is to present yourself as a different gender from your assigned sex but I had no idea that this kind of commentary would be so abundant this early in the series. I hope it dies down.

Trying to remember that this was written in 1990 Japan and the creator would actually improve a lot of his views and treatment of gay/trans characters in HxH on but still...it's pretty bad.
 
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Platy

Member
Oct 25, 2017
27,735
Brazil
Yes, it is amazing


www.youtube.com

Yu Yu Hakusho - Frases brasileiras

Parte 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Csl_FbhHkhY Eu não tenho samba no pé, mas eu bato pra caramba! Não adianta me olhar com essa cara feia pra mim não, ...


oh i think you mean the english one ? =P
 

The Adder

Member
Oct 25, 2017
18,184
It is not and there's fairly recent precedent for that.

Dude on Youtube goes by Teeaboo does (far more thorough than average) reactions to anime. Started up YYH and did the sub to begin. Got suggestions to do the dub. Switched to the dub and didn't like it at first. Switched back to the sub. Went back and watched some of the dub over again in his own time. Now watches the dub.
 
Oct 29, 2017
13,552
I had never watched the show before until a few years ago, and liked the dub a lot. I was even making jokes mimicking the voices of the villains , it's really funny, but in a good way.

I had switched it to the English dub a few times at the start, but didn't stick with it until the tournament arc. Since I had little knowledge of American dubs, I was originally worried it may be censored, but the second I switched it to English for the last time, a demon showed up on screen flipping the bird, so that settled it.
 
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AnansiThePersona

Started a revolution but the mic was unplugged
Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,682
The dub is actually surprisingly good for its time. Like Justin Cook and the rest of the cast nail the characters so well it's surprising it came out in the early 2000s
 

Hogendaz85

Member
Dec 6, 2017
2,821
I finally caught up with the One Piece/One Pace anime and have turned to exclusively reading the manga (which is the superior method).

But I needed a new anime fix and remembered that I have a big blindspot when it comes to celebrated Shonen.

Yu Yu Hakusho

So doing some lazy Google research, I wanted to see what people prefer: subbed or dubbed.

I was surprised to learn that Yu Yu's dub is highly celebrated with the YYH sub answering this question almost unanimously "watch the dub". Some websites even included it with Cowboy Bebop and Steins;Gate as anime with a nearly superior dub.

But these early episodes are rough. Hoooooo boy.

I don't know if it's bad acting or just bad direction but these line readings are sometimes unbearable. Sometimes you get a flat reading or sleepy delivery that doesn't match the animation but the most frequent issue involves characters emphasizing the wrong word in a sentence.

I think if I was a kid and this was my first anime I might be more accepting of it but having watched over 50 dif dubbed anime in my life, this is so far near the bottom.

Is it nostalgia? Is this a Spider-man 3/SW prequel thing where people who were kids watching it now flood the internet with praise?

Or do the actors get better over time?

That first Funimation dub of Dragon Ball Z is really shaky, embarrassingly so during the Frieza saga. But the actors all improved over time and now the Super and Kai dubs are pretty fantastic.

These first five episodes are just so, so bad.

Sidenote:
The sexual abuse jokes, homophobia and transphobia is really frequent during the first batch of episodes. It's not Sanji-level awful yet but it's more frequent and weirdly grabby.

I know about Yusuke's awful rant from an upcoming tournament fight about how wrong it is to present yourself as a different gender from your assigned sex but I had no idea that this kind of commentary would be so abundant this early in the series. I hope it dies down.

Trying to remember that this was written in 1990 Japan and the creator would actually improve a lot of his views and treatment of gay/trans characters in HxH on but still...it's pretty bad.
No it's alright but the sub is far superior. A lot of folks here and everywhere do love the dub though.
 
Oct 29, 2017
5,319
Minnesota
I remember watching it back in the day and not enjoying the dub. I really like the sub voices. Kuwabara fucking owns.

My opinion is in the minority on Era though.
 

Waggles

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,152
after finally watching. hxH, i did the same recently.
I thought the dub was fine, but i was let down by everything else. It's held in such high regard that I expected more than I got. The dark tournament arc is the best the series is, and I didn't think crazy high of it like others do. I didn't care for the proceding arcs at all.
 
OP
OP
HustleBun

HustleBun

Member
Nov 12, 2017
6,076
Kuwabara is one of the only characters that doesn't have weird line readings. His voice is like a hilarious 80's saturday morning villain but his acting is actually pretty damn good.

The dub is getting better, I'm sticking with it but still getting some weird line delivery with Yusuke emphasizing the wrong word.

BTW, all the comments just saying "best dub ever" are why I came here- looking for some more information than that.
Like, that the acting improves over time?
 
OP
OP
HustleBun

HustleBun

Member
Nov 12, 2017
6,076
So I just finished the Dark Tournament arc.

You were right. The dub work gets way better, particularly with Justin Cook. He still misreads a line or two but it's very rare in comparison to the "Ghost Files" era. His performance during the Toguro fight is leaps and bounds better and his screaming is awesome.

The pacing of the show felt so uncomfortable in the beginning of the series. Storylines just "happen" and characters who we haven't met are in trouble, characters who have only known each other for 20 minutes get their relationships spotlighted as if they had developed a friendship for years or hated each other over a long term grudge. I imagine this is just growing pains of translating a manga to an anime in the early 90's.

The Dark Tournament arc feels like it gives the characters room to breathe and hang out. They start to know each other, they're able to make inside-jokes and poke fun at each other in a way that makes them feel like old friends. What's more impressive, I genuinely don't know who my favorite character is. Kuwabara, Hiei, Boton, Kurama all take turns being my favorite.

Finally, I've seen people say "drop Yu Yu Hakusho after the Dark Tournament. It will never get that good again". That initially made me sad to hear but then I think back to all the people that have said this about Naruto, Dragon Ball, One Piece- I would have been foolish to drop those series after the fan-favorite arcs. Even if post-Pain Naruto is messy, it still contains some of the strongest moments of the series. The Buu arc has some great moments and people who say that timeskip One Piece isn't worth reading/watching have been proven wrong 10x over. So I'm gonna stick it out and see what else the series has to offer.

Oh, I did watch three episodes after the Dark Tournament ended. Holy crap the animation leveled up massively! The art direction, the character movement. Did the show take a hiatus after the Dark Tournament? Did they change studios? It looks so fucking good now!!
 
OP
OP
HustleBun

HustleBun

Member
Nov 12, 2017
6,076
PS - Puu trying to bring Yusuke water, falling, then getting back up again almost made me burst into tears. Maybe because he reminds me of my bunny.

8470869_orig.png


bp.png
 

RuffMadman

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
2,265
USA
The later arcs won't reach the highs of the Dark Tournament but I still think it's worth watching anyways. I did rewatch a couple of years ago and the English dub still holds up.
 

Moara

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,905
Chapter Black is fantastic so anyone telling you to stop after Dark Tournament is foolish.
 

PeterVenkman

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,774
I'm glad op is noticing the dub improves cause I haven't watched it in years and was really hoping it picked up; I'm super fond of it, obviously kuwabara being the fuckin standout.

btw I do think Chapter Black is worth it. It's just the final arc that's a wet blanket if I remember correctly.
 
OP
OP
HustleBun

HustleBun

Member
Nov 12, 2017
6,076
One thing I noticed is that Boton loses her English accent after the first arc.
Boton's accent isn't really British, it's like a weird pho-European accent that quirky artist types use.

It actually reminds me of Moira Rose lol

I'm glad op is noticing the dub improves cause I haven't watched it in years and was really hoping it picked up; I'm super fond of it, obviously kuwabara being the fuckin standout.

btw I do think Chapter Black is worth it. It's just the final arc that's a wet blanket if I remember correctly.

Yeah the dub is pretty bad during the first arc, particularly Yusuke. It's baffling that people don't acknowledge this. His line readings are bizarre and he constantly emphasizes the wrong word in a sentence- it's a really unique problem for a dub to have.

But yeah it gets way better.

Sad to hear that the final arc sucks. I remember reading that Togashi was depressed and overworked. It's amazing that he was able to do Hunter x Hunter years later.
 

SpaceCrystal

Banned
Apr 1, 2019
7,714
During the first two arcs (the spirit detective saga & the dark tournament saga), the sub is more superior.

For one thing, the dub of the first two arcs goes nearly entirely off of the original script & some of the dub's script makes absolutely no sense, such as demons using spirit energy that human fighters use instead of demon energy, Musashi calling Kuwabara in Genkai's tournament "an evil creature," & Suzaku (from the four saint beasts) keeps referring to Yusuke a demon when the sub makes no suggestion of that.

And some of the dub's voice acting is absolutely atrocious, such as Suzaku, Chu, Botan, etc.

Thankfully, the dub had majorly improved during the last two sagas as well as the script of those last two sagas staying entirely faithful to the original (the chapter black saga & the three kings saga). But it's definitely sub all the way.
 
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Merc_

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 28, 2017
6,548
It's one of the few series where I prefer the dub over the sub.