Trigun Trigun Dub

Hi
I managed to obtain my R0 copy of Trigun for £45 (about $65 or something like that) from a man in Hong Kong. Of course this means (sometimes) dodgy subbing and no dub, but that's ok because normally Japanese voice actors are far superior to American ones. That and I didn't have the £150 ($185) needed to buy the official R1 version from my local importer (anime availability in the UK really sucks!).
I love the anime as it is, but I've heard that the American dubbing is actually really good for it, is this true?

 

well...

It is true that the Trigun Dub is better than most dubs, but it still has all the flaws we associate with a dub. such as: mistranslations, extending content to fit the lip sync (changing the flow and feel of the line) and characters with smooth cool voices, like wolfwood, getting laboured with strange "goofy" voices. Better than your average dub, but not quite better enough.

 

Thanks for letting me know regarding the dub. I heard a few seconds of the american Vash's voice on an AMV and was NOT impressed by it. The idea of Wolfwood having a 'goofy' voice deeply upsets me, he is by far the most interesting and complex (well complex in the context of that series!) character for me. I in general do prefer subtitles and Jap. Language over dubs most of the time, but felt that with a western setting, Trigun had scope for an excellent, maybe even superior Dub to the Japanese original (I mean we are talking about america, where the west is)
If this is not the case it's a missed opportunity. The only exception to the dubbing rule for is Evangelion, where some of the dubbing is more accurate than the subtitles (How often could you picture Kensuke, a 13 year old, saying 'This kind of a thing brings a tear to the heart of a real man'?) and dragon half (hilarious).

 

Lost oppurtunities and western confusion

Trigun is rather unique in the fact that it includes jokes that work better in english, such as Rai-Dei presenting Vash with the Shi-ai, and vash complaining that he can't read japanese. I've noticed in other anime that often you'll have characters telling jokes in english or learning english and these become lost in the dub, or they change 'english' to 'spanish', such as in Sailor Moon, and the whole point of the scene is lost.

 

I'm not sure I'd say Wolfwoods voice voice was "Goofy" per se but its sorta raspy and has a bit of a lisp. It doesn't suit. Most American actors simply dont have the capacity for Trigun. The American Vash sounds more whingy than hysterical, and his fake seriousness Vash voice is the same as his genuine seriousness Vash voice. He cant do the emotional progressive crying that Vash does and seems to substitute by screaming a lot.As Legato mentioned, the Yankees worry so much about perfect lip sync that many lines lose there punch. "yeah, your right it is heavy, its heavy because its so full of mercy" is not cool. And changing "Actually your a bad shot" to "just no skill" is a little confusing. And as far as the "until I find this Man your after.." thing is concerned, dont get me started. Midvalley and Legatos' voice actors are actually okay, but they still pale in comparisson.