Why read boring old poetry when you can just listen to all of your emotions with a tasteful indie music soundtrack? Anime is no different. Sure, the Japanese sub is closer to what the creator intended, but what if you don’t want to work for art?
Sometimes I just wanna sit back, relax, and do things that aren’t reading. Like listening! Listening is just reading with your ears! But you don’t even have to supply the voice in your head! It’s already there! Someone is doing all that work for you! Listening to things is the ultimate life hack. Why read about celebrities’ opinions when you can inject them directly into your ear holes via podcast?
What if you want art to work for you? That’s why Crunchyroll, in its infinite wisdom, included a plethora, nay, a multitude of anime dubs for your listening pleasure!
And these dubs are the best of all!
11. Cowboy Bebop
Cowboy Bebop is the greatest anime dub ever made, full stop. While sometimes watching the dub of a series can take away the original intent of the series, I think that Bebop’s languid, slang-laden English dub delivery augments the themes of the series. Bebop is about many things: stoic philosophy, the inability to escape one’s past, the search for meaning in an inherently meaningless universe … but above all else, it’s about being cool. And NOTHING is more stone cold cool than the velvety vocal tones of Spike Speigel’s voice actor, Steve Blum. Nada. Zilch.
10. Trigun
Trigun is anime’s greatest western, but is also in space! But is also an action shonen romp! And a sci-fi epic! And a screwball comedy! And a dark human drama! It’s a multi-layered cake of genre! And somehow, the English voice actors nail it. The characters defeat categorization, as well! The gold-hearted outlaw Vash the Stampede oscillates from the dorkiest dude in the galaxy to stone cold killer in the blink of a desert sand-filled eye. The voice actors follow the myriad changes marvelously. Like a jazz band!
9. Kill La Kill
Kill La Kill might just be the most over-the-top anime ever conceived. Set in a totalitarian high school that exercises political control over a slice of Japan, the status quo is disrupted by a scissor blade-wielding young woman who wants to assassinate the class president as revenge for killing her father. And it only gets wackier from there. Kill La Kill’s lightning-fast pace makes the brilliant sub somewhat difficult to watch; there’s just so many words! But the brilliant English language voice actors make sure you can hear every glorious word.
8. My Hero Academia
My Hero Academia has become the prestige shonen anime of a new generation. Set in a world where most of the human population has superpowers, the best of the best are called to go to super hero school in order to protect the world from supervillainy! Just as the young protagonist Midoriya shoulders the weight of the world on his, well … shoulders, so too does his fabulous voice actor, Justin Briner!
7. The Devil Is a Part Timer
While I generally watch subs only, I make an exception when it comes to comedy anime. I feel that comedy needs to be understood quickly to really land, and the extra task of having to read the joke makes it a little bit less funny than if you hear that joke. The Devil Is a Part Timer—an anime where the devil himself lays low in a part-time McDonalds job to escape divine justice—is one of the funniest anime ever made. And it’s made even better by the hilarious cast.
6. Space Dandy
Space Dandy was created by Shinichiro Watanabe, the man behind Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. It’s a departure from his generally serious-toned works and is a testament to the creator’s understanding of comedy as well as drama. Space Dandy is an intergalactic Elvis-haired wannabe ladies’ man who Johnny Bravos his way through the galaxy and finds himself in all sorts of misadventures. Anime voice acting comedy gold.
5. Samurai Champloo
Samurai Champloo is my personal favorite anime of all time. From the mind of the man who created Cowboy Bebop comes a series that combines Edo-period Japan swordfighting shenanigans with the dulcet tones of lo-fi hip hop. Stylish, poignant, and beautifully violent, Samurai Champloo is a must watch. Many of Cowboy Bebop’s English voice cast star in the series, with Spike Spiegel’s voice actor Steve Blum starring as the breakdance-fighting samurai Mugen.
4. Monster
Monster is perhaps the greatest drama anime ever told. Rooted firmly in reality, the series is about an accomplished Japanese neurosurgeon whose life is left in shambles after defying his superior’s orders and saving the life of a German child. Sounds like he made the right call, right? Wrong. The kid grew up to become one of Europe’s most prolific serial killers, and now the good doctor has to hunt his former patient down and clear his name. It’s a thriller to end all thrillers, and the dub cast delivers.
3. Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood
Brotherhood is seen by many as the Breaking Bad of anime, five perfectly paced seasons culminating in one of the greatest stories ever told on television. The series revolves around two brothers who lose their limbs in an attempt to revive their dead mother with a forbidden alchemical ritual. Now the elder of the pair serves as a State Alchemist, working for his nation’s government. While working on government business, the brothers soon uncover an ancient conspiracy that will quite literally change the face of their kingdom.
2. Death Note
Death Note is the Hot Topic shopper’s go-to anime choice, and for good reason. Dark, cerebral, and drenched in alternative fashion, Death Note is one of the most gloriously spooky anime around. The plot revolves around a brilliant but bored Japanese student who finds a book that will allow him to kill anyone whose name is written in its pages. The boy decides to use the book’s power to become the god of a new world without sin, unless a police task force led by another kid-genius can stop him. The voice acting is gloriously over the top, and Light Yagami’s infamous “chip” monologue has spawned many a meme.
1. Mob Psycho 100
Before there was One Punch Man, there was Mob Psycho 100. While the series features a similarly overpowered protagonist, Mob Psycho 100 is made famous by the Crown Prince of the Tumblr Sexymen: Reigen Arataka. Reigen serves as a “spiritual guide” to the psychic protagonist Mob, except he has zero psychic ability whatsoever. His scenery-chewing delivery, along with the comedy skill of the rest of the cast, make Mob Psycho 100 one of the funniest anime dubs ever created.
(featured image: Madhouse)
