Many anime fans have heard about the debate between dubs and subs and for a good reason. Those who support subtitled anime argue that it lets fans watch an anime in its purest form. They claim dubbing anime into another language can lose much of its intent, emotion, and context. In the worst-case scenario, dubs could ruin an anime for its Western audience.
While anime dubs have improved over the years, they haven't been without their hurdles. Over the years, anime has had dubs so bad it outright turned some people away from the medium. Some of the worst dubs live in infamy long after they end, adding even more fuel to the fire.
10 Sailor Moon Had Anything LGBTQ+ Censored
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The most famous magical girl anime, Sailor Moon is to shojo what Dragon Ball is to the shonen genre. Yet the franchise has had a very rocky history in the West. As was the case with many anime of the time, Sailor Moon was subjected to heavy censorship when it made its way West.
In addition to giving its characters Western names, the Sailor Moon dub of the 90s saw the removal of any LGTBQ+ content, which was deemed too controversial for Western audiences. As a result, two Sailor Scouts who were dating became cousins, yet the flirting remained.
9 The Astro Boy Dub Frustrated Its Creator
Known as The Mighty Atom in his native Japan, much of the world knows Astro Boy as the progenitor of shonen heroes. In the 1960s, 40% of Japan watched the original anime at its height. Yet when brought overseas, Astro Boy would suffer from many problems.
The subpar voice acting and outdated caricatures were bad enough. However, NBC removed an entire episode depicting a dog getting operated on, calling it grotesque. As creator Osamu Tezuka explained in Astro Boy Volume 1, he found this hypocritical. Thankfully, anime has improved since then.
8 JoJo: Stardust Crusaders Ova Didn't Capture Spirit Of The Manga.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is considered one of the greatest shonen series, with "Stardust Crusaders" being the most famous arc. However, there was a time when fans thought JoJo was impossible to adapt into an anime. A prime example comes from the lesser-known OVAs from the 1990s and 2000s
While the animation and poor pacing did little favors, the dub worsened things. Comparing the dubbed OVA with the dubbed anime, fans understood why. The flat delivery and low emotion failed to capture the larger-than-life characters who make the series so beloved. This dub was one best forgotten.
7 Speed Racer Couldn't Slow Down For The Lines.
Like Astro Boy, Speed Racer was another early attempt to bring anime overseas. However, this attempt became infamous due to the poor quality of the dub. While much of the original translation remained, the problem was with the actors themselves.
The voice actor's proved unable to sync their lines with the characters they were playing. Combined with rushed deadlines, this led to a very flat and fast delivery that ran out of sync with what happened on-screen. This was one time when it would have been good for the show to slow down and take its time.
6 Sonic X Got Censored Out By 4kids.
In the early 2000s, Sonic the Hedgehog got the anime treatment in the form of Sonic X. Given the Blue Blur's popularity overseas, bringing the anime to the West seemed a natural choice. While the anime already had some inherent problems, the 4Kids dub did it very little favor.
Sonic X suffered from many of the issues anime dubbed by 4Kids faced. The voice actors weren't always the best fit, and some scenes and storylines were altered or removed outright. A noteworthy example was the climax to the adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2. Whereas the original Japanese version had the song "Live and Learn," 4Kids decided to remove it.
5 Yu-Gi-Oh! Lost Much Of Its Drama
For better or worse, fans of Yu-Gi-Oh! grew up watching it on Kids WB. As children, Yu-Gi-Oh! seemed pretty cool. However, as fans grew up, they realized how much the 4Kids dub had changed, much to the show's detriment.
First, there's the voice acting. While some characters sounded as cool as they were meant to be, some, like Joey Wheeler, sounded like nails grating on a chalkboard. More importantly, much of the high-stakes life-and-death drama was removed to get it past censors. 4Kids swapped out any mention of death in favor of "the Shadow Realm," regardless of whether the context made sense.
4 Dragon Ball Z Suffered Under The Bland Big Green Dub
Dragon Ball Z is no stranger to terrible dubs, as many of the earliest attempts to bring it over from Japan were laughable at best and cringe-worthy at worst. However, the worst dub for the shonen series came from one already dubbed for another country.
In the 1990s and 2000s, French Company AB Groupe dubbed the anime for its native France before re-dubbing it for the rest of Europe. This subsequent dub became infamous for its unenthusiastic performances by voice actors, making for a jarring watching experience. The dub earned the nickname "Big Green" due to the decision to rename Piccolo to Big Green, and the rest was anime infamy.
3 Pokémon Tried Too Hard To Westernize Itself.
The 4Kids dub of Pokémon was the company's greatest success, and it helped launch the franchise into international superstardom. This success, in turn, enabled anime to join mainstream pop culture. However, not even 4Kids greatest achievement proved immune to bad dubbing.
4Kids altered scenes and imagery into things American kids could recognize to appeal to Western audiences. Thus, Brock's rice balls became jelly-filled donuts. Perhaps more significant, however, was the removal of episodes from the western lineup. Besides the one with Porygon, another early episode was removed involving James from Team Rocket cross-dressing in a bikini. Despite its faults, fans fondly remembered the 4Kids dub of Pokémon and its killer theme song.
2 Cardcaptor Sakura Got Cut In Half
Like Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura is a magical girl and shojo genre staple. Initially airing on Kids WB in the early 2000s, the series was drastically reduced in length. While more than 70 episodes were made, the dub only saw 38 of them.
This drastic cut was to better re-orient the series to appeal to young boys, who were Kids WB's target demographic. This ignored the fact Cardcaptor Sakura was targeted toward young girls, and cut out many important plot elements. As a result, the story became impossible to follow.
1 One Piece Lost What Made it Good Thanks To 4kids.
There's bad dubbing, and then there's what happened to One Piece. In the early 2000s, 4Kids got the rights to dub the popular anime overseas, only to struggle with how violent it was. Since they were under contract, they had no choice, and their response was to censor One Piece like never before.
What resulted was an anime that barely resembled One Piece. 4Kids toned down the violence to a ridiculous degree, with blood and firearms removed or replaced. Worse was choosing to omit arcs such as the Laboon and Little Garden arcs. Had 4Kids decided not to drop their license, this would've led to massive plot holes in the future.