Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

Once upon a time, when the Anime industry was still non-existant and the only way fans of this new form of art could have any access to it was through importing fan-subtitled videotapes, it was a common, although very controversial, practice for American companies to take Japanese produced movies, or series, and cobble the "footage" into something "marketable" for mainstream audiences.  Needless to say, this was a practice that many fans didn't take very kindly to, least of all one particular director named Hayao Miyazaki.  Around this era of cut-and-paste compilations, Miyazaki's 1984 animated epic, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, despite achieving cult status with both the Japanese public and overseas fans, suffered from a heavily edited American release.  Chopped down from its two-hour running time into a 90-minute edit, and altering much of the plot and characters, the resulting disaster was infamously known as "Warriors of the Wind".  Needless to say, Miyazaki was appalled by this treatment; so much so, in fact, that he declared that any future adaptation of his work should be done under his terms.  As such, the public was denied of Miyazaki's work for more than twenty years.

Flash forward about twenty years later.  Having successfully produced English versions of six Ghibli features under their agreement with the Japanese studio, Disney commissioned a brand-new dub for what many fans consider one of Miyazaki's most important films ever.  Unlike "Warriors", however, this version would not omit even one second, nor even change even one aspect of its storyline or characters.  In fact, the only thing that would count as an alteration of any kind is the inclusion of the celebrity and voice actors and English dialogue.  (As well as a few minor terminology tweaks.)  So how did Disney's new version of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind turn out?  Well, as usual, reaction ranged from genuinely favorable to harshly critical.  (The owner of the Ghibli Blog, for instance, once declared on a now deleted post on IMDB that the redub of Nausicaa is actually worse than "Warriors of the Wind" "if I was really rotten.")  Whether it was derided or praised, a good majority of viewers agreed that, after what New World Video had done to Nausicaa, anything else had to be a considerable improvement.

As "Warriors of the Wind" shouldn't even be counted as a proper dub at all, I will not even cover it in my mentioning of my review, except that I did manage to see a brief clip of it.  Needless to say, it's below the standards of the current version, even if it does feature respected actors like Jack Angel, Hal Smith, and Ginny Tyler, and it doesn't help that it was heavily edited.  The performances in Disney's dub, meanwhile, are an entirely different matter.  Produced by the now expected team of ADR director Rick Dempsey and scriptwriters Donald and Cindy Hewitt, the new dub of Nausicaa is a fresh, competently produced effort that easily outclasses its predecessor.

NAUSICAA (Alison Lohman) -- The titular character of Miyazaki's epic tale is a very demanding and essentially challenging one.  Nausicaa is a strong-willed but sometimes vulnerable teenage girl with a compassionate, caring nature and a strong stand on solving problems without using violence.  Simultaneously, she is wrestling with her own inner demons of anger (as evidenced in the scene where she flies into a murderous rage at her father's killers) and has some very poignant moments of fragility.  All of this makes for a daunting task for any actress; initially it seemed as though Natalie Portman (yes, Queen Amidala) would be speaking for this character, but in the end, the role went to Alison Lohman.  Her performance as this character has divided many viewers--an atmosphere not much different from other lead characters in Ghibli/Disney dubs.  Most reviewers greeted her performance very favorably, but others found her lacking in every way.  (The cruelest critic of all was the owner of the Ghibli Blog, who declared that Lohman "sounds more like the typical teenage girl on a Disney Channel sitcom. Good glayvin, she can't even yell properly.")  In fact, there are a few places where her delivery isn't always strong, mostly in some of the more quiet scenes (such as her exploration of the gloomy area beneath the quicksand pit).  But to castigate her overall performance based on a few minor setbacks would seem unfair, because overall, Lohman does a very commendable job.  Vocally, she has a genuinely calm, pleasant tone which never ventures into saccharine territory, and while there are a few moments where her shouting or screaming scenes falter, other such moments are very strong... particularly at the climax where she struggles against a baby Ohmu.  In this latter sequence, she gives her all.  Not the strongest performance in the dub, but better than average overall.

LORD YUPA (Patrick Stewart) -- The first person to speak in the dub is this elderly but charismatic swordsman, who serves as something of a mentor to Nausicaa and aids her plight to keep the piece.  Stewart's deeply rich baritone is instantly recognizable, bringing a dramatic gravitas to this character and adds a powerful presence to the cast.  Unsurprisingly, too, he adds himself to the tradition of the usual "show-stealer" that these dubs often have.  Whether he is talking with Nausicaa or addressing the Tolmekians in a stern tone, Stewart shows why he is a true pro when it comes to both acting and in voicing a character.  Another quirk about his performance is that he is not really "lip-synching", since all that is seen of the character when he talks is his moving moustache.  Patrick jokes in the voice talent featurette that he is "moustache-synching", and he does that with style.  (Interestingly, some time after this, he would show up in another Anime, Katsuhiro Otomo's Steamboy, alongside another Ghibli alumni, Castle in the Sky's lead actress Anna Paquin, but that's another topic altogether.)

MITO (Edward James Olmos) -- There are several male characters in Nausicaa's kingdom who serve as her trusted servants/allies, and Mito is one such person.  In addition to being fiercely loyal, he is very concerned for his charge.  He also has a bit of a "rough and ready" edge, as evidenced when he tries to shoot down a Tolmekian craft carrying a badly damaged Ohmu baby.  Olmos has a considerably scratchy-sounding voice which is fairly appropriate for the character, although there are moments in his performance where he comes across as though he's reading.  Otherwise, however, it's a decent role all around.

KUSHANA (Uma Thurman) -- Like Lady Eboshi in Princess Mononoke, this character is a very fierce, strong-willed figure of authority (in this case, the Princess of the Tolmekian Army) who insists on destroying a natural resource (the Toxic Jungle) for the sake of saving her people.  Unlike Eboshi, however, Kushana is a much more ruthless and less sympathetic character--even after Nausicaa, Yupa, and the elders from the valley combined pardon her, she is still deeply committed to awaken the most deadly creature in the world (the Giant Warrior) to carry out her cruel vengeance.  Thurman conveys these bitter aspects of the character aptly; although unlike Minnie Driver, she does not use an accent.  Nonetheless, she does have a steel, harsh quality to her voice which works in favor of her declarations of war and threats.  Yet as Kushana is not really an "evil" person, Thurman wisely steers her performance around cliche territory.

KUROTOWA (Chris Sarandon) -- One thing I've always found amusing in the Ghibli dubs is the casting of actors best known for their roles in the cult-classic The Princess Bride.  In Castle in the Sky, we have Mandy "Inigo Montoya" Patinkin as one of Dola's goofy but loveable sons, Cary "Westley" Elwes speaks for both Donald Curtis in Porco Rosso as well as the Baron in both Whisper of the Heart and The Cat Returns, while Prince Humperdinck gets to play this sneaky swordsman who serves as Kushana's ally.  Actually, Sarandon is no stranger to voice acting, as animation fans remember him best as Jack Skellington from The Nightmare Before Christmas.  Nonetheless, the snide, somewhat smarmy tone he provides to Kurotowa brings him somewhat more in line with the role he's famous for in Rob Reiner's film.  He makes the most of his scenes, and, if it weren't for Stewart, would probably tie as one of the best in the dub.  Either way, though, it is gratifying to hear Humperdinck -- sorry, Sarandon -- participate in a Ghibli production.  One wonders if he'll participate in another.

ASBEL (Shia LaBeouf) -- If there is a weak link in the dub of Nausicaa, it may be for LaBeouf's performance as Asbel, the aggressive prince from Pejite who eventually becomes Nausicaa's friend and ally.  Vocally, LaBeouf does have the right tone for the character, but his actual acting is another matter.  His initial readings come across as rather stiff and monotonous.  It's not drastic enough to bring down the dub, but it is definitely not one of the strongest performances in a Ghibli dub.  (Even James van der Beek's Pazu, while -- perhaps unfairly -- criticized for sounding more mature than his character, was a lot more, well, animated in his actual acting than here.)  That said, he does grow more into his role (although considering that he has a considerably small part in the film it's really hard to say how Asbel could be better fleshed out vocally), and moments where he is thrust into action (threatening the guards to release Nausicaa, or helping the latter escape when his carrier is attacked) are definitely all uphill from his first appearance.

PEJITE MAYOR (Mark Hamill) -- This marks the second time that the multi-talented voice actor formerly known as Luke Skywalker participates in a Disney/Ghibli production.  His first, an impeccable turn as the deviously treacherous Muska, has always been hailed as one of Castle in the Sky's greatest strengths.  Compared to that role, however, the Mayor of Pejite is a considerably smaller part, and as such, Hamill's voice work here isn't as outstanding.  That said, it is gratifying to hear him in another film by Miyazaki, even as a cameo.  A note about the character:  the Mayor of Pejite is not a villainous character, but rather, a misguided man dedicated to protecting his tribe regardless of whether his ruthless decision to send a stampede of raging Ohmu toward Nausicaa's home kingdom causes any harm.  Hamill plays him as such; while his harsh, gritty tone is somewhat similar to Muska, he wisely steers around making the Mayor another "evil" character.

KING JIHL (Mark Silverman) -- The father of Nausicaa, the bedridden ruler of the Valley of the Wind, has a considerably scanty but noteworthy part.  Silverman has the sort of aged voice that works very well for this character and he sounds very solid throughout.

OBABA (Tress MacNeille) -- Adding yet another role to her rather impressive list of credits in a Ghibli dub, Miss MacNeille plays this blind old woman who serves as something of a fortune-teller.  Her voice is considerably raspy and very ancient in tone; this is not an easy trick to pull off, but Tress manages it well.

The rest of the vocal cast consist of Disney's standard use of traditional voice actors for other roles, all of who blend seamlessly into the cast.  The late Tony Jay (better known to Disney fans as Frollo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame) provides a brief opening narration (ala Keith David in Princess Mononoke); James Arnold Taylor, Frank Welker, and Jeff Bennett voice three "elderly" characters who are both warriors and loyal servants to Nausicaa; and other voices such as Bridget Hoffman, Edie Mirman, Peter Renaday, and Robert Clotworthy can all be heard among the incidental cast.  Hey, even Jodi Benson (yes, Ariel herself) makes a brief but noteworthy cameo as a woman who serves as an important plot point to the character of Asbel.  One thing that is also noteworthy about the Nausicaa dub is that the children of the valley are voiced by actual children.  I like this, as it adds an authenticity to an already compelling epic drama.  Not that you can't cast adults to voice children provided they do it convincingly, but ADR director Rick Dempsey nonetheless deserves to be commended on his part for striving for that touch of realism.

Scriptwriters Cindy Davis Hewitt and Donald H. Hewitt again rise to the task of adapting Miyazaki's own screenplay into a smooth, natural-sounding ADR script, and they do so seamlessly.  Any changes to the dialogue are not out of spirit with the original; what may be controversial to some fans, though, is the minor tweaking of some terminology.  Readers who have grown accustomed to the comic book series of the same title will notice that Nausicaa's glider, Mehve, is simply called a "glider"; all the insects are referred to as simply insects or giant dragonflies, and the deadly area that our protagonists venture into is called the "Toxic Jungle".  This latter change was included in the "Warriors of the Wind" dub, but before anybody criticizes Disney for supposedly stealing this term, keep in mind that the Hewitts never even saw the edit, and that the decision to use this term was made due to careful consultations with Ghibli.

All in all, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind ranks as yet another noteworthy entry to the cannon of the Disney-Ghibli dubs, effectively erasing dreaded memories of the travesty that New World Video was responsible for.  Although not without its occasional stiff moments and sync issues (there is one moment where Obaba is talking where the mouth doesn't seem to match her words), this new Disney edition is still very much welcome overall.  I tip my hat to the folks at the Mouse House.

Spice and Wolf

Spice and Wolf is a tricky show to dub; the main thrust of the show is, surprisingly, economics, and many of the long conversations in the show are the equivalent of verbal warfare as one character tries to convince another to agree to some sort of business dealing. Add in the fact that Holo has a very formal, archaic accent and style of speaking in the original Japanese version, and you have some quite large potential headaches. Thankfully, Funimation has met the challenge head-on and produced a fantastic dub for the show. In fact, I would actually recommend watching the show in English prior to watching the Japanese since the conversations are much easier to follow without having to read the subtitles. Onto the cast!

CRAFT LAWRENCE (J. Michael Tatum)-Tatum has quickly become one of Funimation's stock actor, and he's shown to have both massive reserves of talent and range. Lawrence is probably his most down-to-earth role yet, and Tatum is unsurprisingly excellent in the role. He brings an amiable, "horribly good-natured" (to quote Holo for a moment) charm as well as a much lighter voice than we're used to hearing from him to the role (most of Tatum's characters tend to have very deep voices), and he sounds completely natural in the role. He also handles Lawrence's moments of anger, sadness or embarrassment beautifully, never overacting any of them. It's another great notch to add to Tatum's belt.

HOLO (Brina Palencia)-As good as Tatum is, Brina Palencia completely steals the dub with her magnificent star turn as Holo. It helps that Holo is one of the best-written, most fascinating female anime leads in recent memory, and Ami Koshimizu's performance was admittedly quite memorable to begin with (I say "admittedly" because I tend to not be much of a sub fan). I called Palencia's work here a "star turn" because it may be her best performance yet, as she gets to run the whole gamut of emotions, sometimes in a single episode! The difficulty of playing a character like Holo is that her moods are quite fickle; by turns she can be playful, vain, arrogant, furious or even unintentionally insensitive, such as when she goes too far in teasing Lawrence about wolves possibly eating him early on. Thankfully, Palencia matches Holo beat-for-beat with a formal, almost regal tone that often has an air of arrogance or haughtiness about it, though that certainly doesn't negate Holo's likability. One of her most memorable moments comes early on when Holo eats a potato that is too hot and she grumbles "Stupid potato!" in a way that is simply hilarious that print cannot accurately convey; you have to see it for yourself. Palencia also plays off of Tatum so wonderfully that it almost seems like they're actually recording in the same room. In short, Palencia's performance alone makes this dub worth watching.

CHLOE (Jamie Marchi)-While Holo and Lawrence carry the lion's share of the show between him, the supporting cast has some equally memorable players. The first is Marchi's Chloe, who seems nice at first but turns out to have an incredibly nasty streak later on, and Marchi sells it all, with her best scene being her cruel taunting of Holo when the latter has been captured. Marchi makes it her mission to make the audience completely hate Chloe by the end of this scene, and she succeeds so well that her comeuppance is even more satisfying than it already was.

ZHEREN (John Burgmeier)-Burgmeier's always had a certain sleazy quality in his performances, and Zheren is perhaps his sleaziest, a young man who attempts to con Lawrence and Holo in the first half of the series and nearly succeeds. Burgmeier is great here, and he made me suspicious of Zheren long before Lawrence did, which was almost certainly intentional.

NORA (Leah Clark)-Clark uses a very light, soft voice to the young shepherd who falls in with Lawrence and Holo in the second half of the series, and it works quite well. Clark also brings a great air of mystery as we're not quite sure of Nora's motives until almost the end. Is she really as nice as she seems, or is she hiding something and can't be trusted? Clark is perfect in this area as well as Nora's genuine kindness.

The rest of the cast consists of one-to-three shot characters, such as Chris Sabat's ultimately helpful Marlheit, Kent Williams' nervous Lemerio, Chuck Huber's distrustful Liebert or Eric Vale's womanizing Weiz. All the above actors perform perfectly, as do the many other one-shot or minor performers. Overall, Spice and Wolf is a great dub that I give my full seal of approval.

Porco Rosso (Disney and JAL Versions)

Despite creating four genuinely well-received (if not critically) English tracks for Ghibli's works, it wasn't until the acquisition of Spirited Away's Oscar for Best Animated Feature that Disney decided to proceed with more English adaptations of Ghibli features.  Their next project was Porco Rosso, which is arguably one of the oddest entries in director Hayao Miyazaki's output.  It also happens to be one of this writer's least favorite of his, but that's another topic.  The dub, hailed by Ghibli insiders as their finest yet, premiered at the Austin Film Festival in 2003 before debuting on DVD on 2005.  That said, reception to it, like all the other Ghibli dubs, have been divided.  There were reviews that sang praises (at places like DVDTimes, UltimateDisney, and DVDTalk), but others were negative for whatever reason (The Ghibli Blog, who dubbed this as "the most frustrating" of the Ghibli-Disney dubs, decrying it as a case of "Disney treating Ghibli's movies like their syrupy cartoon features", as well as Australia's DVDNet, calling it one of the "worst" Disney dubs yet, saying that the actors show no enthusiasm for their roles).  Needless to say, even with a man as respected as John Lasseter at the helm for these dubs since Spirited Away (or even a skillful ADR director like Jack Fletcher), detractors will probably decry these Disney versions as blasphemy either way, and there are some who actively dislike this dub even after its release.  In spite of what the naysayers say, however, any of the Disney Ghibli dubs have done nothing but introduce newcomers to Miyazaki's works, and there are plenty who get a kick of them, including this writer.

As someone who wasn't all that thrilled with Porco Rosso to begin with and as a genuine fan of all the Disney-Ghibli dub tracks, Disney's version is yet another winner, with top-notch performances and writing all around.  Scripted by Spirited Away's Cindy Davis Hewitt and Donald H. Hewitt, who helmed all the other dubs after Spirited, painstakingly and directed by Tony Bancroft, Disney's dub of Porco Rosso features the usual star-studded cast of actors and smooth, natural writing that one would come to expect from any of their dubs.

Even so, it is important to note that, like Castle in the Sky (Laputa) Kiki's Delivery Service, and My Neighbor Totoro, there was an early dub prior to Disney's release briefly distributed, but not produced, by Streamline Pictures.  The pre-Disney dubs of Ghibli have been a mixed bag for this viewer.  Macek's own dubs for Kiki and Totoro were better than average and quite good for their day, but Laputa's, produced by an unknown company and distributed by Streamline, was a complete disaster, paling miserably compared to Disney's version (controversial though it may be with fans, the current dub surpasses the '80s version by far).  The same is true of Japan Airlines' Porco Rosso.  While Disney's version of this oddball Miyazaki classic is skillfully done, the JAL version (not done by Streamline, as some fans will say), is just the opposite.  It's as embarrassing as the aforementioned JAL Laputa dub, distractingly cartoonish, and downright laughable.  It's a wonder how anyone can prefer this to the current Disney version.  (It should be noted, too, that this older dub of Porco, like Laputa's, was produced very quickly by an unknown company and saw a limited release, which explains why it isn't very well remembered.)

The cast of Porco Rosso is a considerably small one, so only the principal roles will be fully covered in my review.

PORCO ROSSO (Michael Keaton, Disney dub; Patrick Harlan, JAL dub) -- Even as someone who doesn't really mind some of the more controversial casting choices of Disney's other dubs (e.g. Phil Hartman in Kiki, the leads in Castle, and San and Jigo in Mononoke), I was a little unsure about Keaton portraying the titular character, a (literally) pig-headed pilot who makes a living as a bounty hunter while also earning himself a reputation as a rebel and a womanizer.  Not that I have any sort of loyalty to the original Japanese version or even the supposedly superb French version featuring Jean Reno, but having seen the film at least one time in its native language track, I had an idea of how Porco should sound, and Keaton wasn't it.  After seeing the dub for myself, however, I laid my case to rest:  Keaton is an excellent Porco.  He tends to be deadpan most of the time, and yet somehow this works in favor of his world-weary nature.  When the moments arise for him to shout or be energetic, Keaton does that with pinanche.  Some may have trouble with the occasional pig-grunts he makes, but I personally found it very fitting and added to the role.
By comparison, his JAL dub counterpart (assumed to be Patrick Harlan) misfires from the start as the title character.  Although I could sort of see the character with the deep voice he provides, his Porco sounds even more detached than Keaton.  Particularly embarrassing is a slow, drawn-out, "the dirty rotten scu-u-um."  His laugh also sounds very phoned in, forced, and frankly, not very convincing.  He's guilty of overacting as well.  Even the scenes where Porco supposed to raise his voice never once ring true.  Most cringeworthy example: "Shut u-u-u-u-up.  Just get out of here and leave us alo-o-o-o-one."  Not only is it laughable, it doesn't match the visuals on screen at all.  (It also is strangely reminiscent of Cam Clarke's equally cringeworthy turn as Kaneda from the older Akira dub.)  Opinions may be divided on Keaton, but one listen to Patrick's take, and I have to state that Michael has the upper advantage here.  It's at least not as hokey-sounding or lifeless.

DONALD CURTIS (Cary Elwes, Disney dub; Greg Dale, JAL dub) -- Aside from Porco, the other major character in the film is his rival, a dashing, boastful pilot who falls for every pretty woman he comes across.  Based on this description, he ought to be a villain, but Miyazaki doesn't characterize him as such.  Neither does Elwes, although he does manage to put across his aggressive swagger and arrogance in a way that would make Curtis teeter toward that area.  Even so, it is a very peculiar casting choice, as Elwes, like Jada Pinkett-Smith's Toki in Princess Mononoke, is clearly playing against type.  Curtis is a Southerner (or at least that's what Disney's dub chracterizes him as), and it feels very strange to hear the very British Elwes trying to sound like he's from Texas!  Yet he clearly is enjoying himself, whether he is making proposals to Gina or Fio or taunting Porco in mid-air fights.  A note about the character's origin:  in the Japanese version, Curtis is from Alabama, but due to lipflap purposes, it was decided to make him come from Texas.  Whether that is a distraction or not depends on the viewer.
JAL's Greg Dale's voicing for Curtis itself isn't bad, per say, but his actual acting is another matter.  The normal moments are mediocre at best, and his boastful scenes lack both swagger and smugness.  He's also saddled with laughable dialogue such as "the damn thing's stu-u-uck!" and "Shut up sausage face!"  His most groan worthy moment is when he's pursuing Porco in the clouds, not even yelling forcefully enough, "Don't be a chicken, pig.  Fight me now."  Oddly, he even seems to overact in the wrong moments, particularly in the scene where he attempts to court Gina.  While Elwes plays it smoothly and subtly, Greg sounds like he's not really taking it seriously at all.  He doesn't use a Southern accent of any kind, but in exchange, it's not a particularly good performance, nor frankly, anything remarkable at all.  Elwes puts a lot more life into the part from the start, and easily aces Greg.

GINA (Susan Egan, Disney dub; Faith Bach, JAL dub) -- Having shown her skill in as Lin in Spirited Away, it isn't totally surprising that Miss Egan (better known as Belle from Broadway's Beauty and the Beast) gets to play another role in a Ghibli dub, this time as a sultry, thrice(!)-widowed woman who spends most of her time singing at taverns (and yes, Egan does manage to flex her vocal skills with her impeccable reindition of "Les Temps des Cerises") and secretly longing for her childhood friend, Porco, to return her affections.  Egan has the sort of husky, sensual quality that works brilliantly for this character, and she even adds a touch of sarcasm and humor to her performance, particularly in the scene where she fends off Curtis' advance.  She also doesn't hesitate to let out her emotional edge in moments like the scene where Porco telephones the lady at the Hotel Adriano to inform her that he's making an illegal visit to Italy.  Aside from at least one flat line toward the end, "Marco, get up!", Egan's Gina is a solid performance all around.
The major difference between Egan's turn and Faith Bach's is that her Japanese voice actress' vocal performance of the aforementioned song is retained.  However, Faith's Gina is lacking in every way.  She doesn't have enough sultriness to provide her singing moments, and there is practically no emotion in her lines (and whatever moments of emotion she does manage either results with emphasis on the wrong syllables or ill-fitting with the visuals onscreen).  Again, it's very detached from the part.  The phone conversation between her and Porco, in particular, falls flat because her voice actress comes across like she's simply reading from the script with no genuine feeling, and speed-reading at that.  It's the very definition of "phoning it in."  Egan is much more passionate and emotional by comparison.  The same is true of her laughing scene.  All in all, Egan's performance is easily superior to Faith, who is, at best, miscast.

MAMMA AIUTTO BOSS (Brad Garrett, Disney dub) -- The Mamma Aiutto pirates could very well be seen as a distant cousin of the Dola Gang from Castle in the Sky, as they are, after all, aerial pirates who aren't as evil as they appear to be.  For this film, however, the leader of these rogues is a burly, bearded man who is clearly referred to as their "boss".  No stranger to playing "heavy" characters of this type, it's unsurprising that Brad manages to fit himself into the character, employing a little bit of "Bluto" into the performance.  He is as gravelly as you'd expect, and he tends to spend a lot of time shouting his lines.  That's not really a criticism, though; for characters of this type, giving a more flat, deadpan kind of voice would work against the character.  Garrett obviously relishes his role from the start, and, even though less memorable compared to Cloris Leachman's Dola, his performance is undeniably funny and a riot.
His JAL counterpart is similarly funny… for all the wrong reasons.  Aside from sounding like a goofy cartoon character with a dopey-sounding voice, he delivers his lines exactly like a stock goofy role.  It's the sort of voice you would expect to hear from Rocky and Bullwinkle.  Ironically, the humor to be gained is the kind that is "so bad it's laughable", not because it's actually funny.  It's just hard to take seriously.

MR. PICCOLO (David Ogden Stiers, Disney dub; Clay Lowrey, JAL dub) -- Also making a return appearance in a Ghibli dub is Disney's own good luck charm, who previously spoke for Kamaji in Spirited Away.  While one wouldn't recognize his voice in that role, here it's hard not to think of him as a cousin of Cogsworth from Beauty and the Beast, for the tone he uses for this cheeky engineer is somewhat similar to that role.  Where he manages to make it stand out is by providing him with an appropriately Italian accent.  It's an interesting choice, but it's effective nonetheless.  He also gets to have several opportunities to call Porco out on his disapproving views of women by proclaiming "don't be such a pig."  (This is one of the many opportunities that the English script provides for adding in pork-based humor into the dialogue.)
Like Stiers, JAL's counterpart, Clay Lowrey, also provides an Italian accent.  On the flip side, however, his voice is both devoid of character and charm.  He's nowhere nearly as fun to listen to, again, coming across as hokey and cartoony-sounding.  Stiers is the more entertaining of the two by far.

FIO PICCOLO (Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Disney dub; Lynn Harris, JAL dub) -- Fitting nicely into the usual formula of the show-stealer in any of the Ghibli dubs, Kimberly takes the prize for the Best Performance in the dub as the film's appealing and intriguing young female lead, a sprightly mechanic who is much tougher than she appears and is not afraid to show it in any way.  From the start, Kimberly makes Fio an instantly likeable character to root for, and she especially relishes herself in scenes where she chews the Mamma Aiutto gang out for not playing fair with Porco (one of the funniest scenes in the film).  What ultimately makes her performance a real delight, however, is the chemistry between her and Keaton:  it is a joy to listen to, and what ultimately sells Porco Rosso's dub as a whole.
Fio is also the only halfway decent voice in the JAL dub.  Lynn Harris doesn't come across as miscast or cartoonish, for one.  One the flip side, however, her acting is a serious step down from Kimberly, with a lot of lines sounding very awkward, "Great li-i-ines."  She is also guilty of some clumsily delivered bits like, "Greeeeat!  I've already talked to the factory.  I'll order them right away!  You're great, Marco!"  There are a few moments when she comes across as somewhat decent, like her talk with Porco on the beach in the latter half of the movie; even so, such bits are hampered by some unnatural-sounding pauses in-between her lines.  Other scenes where she's supposed to express energy, such as the one where she's scolding the pirates for confronting Porco are also distressingly wooden.  Kimberly was clearly enjoying herself from the start, and for that her performance is easily superior to Lynn.  Lynn COULD have given a good performance, but sadly it's handicapped by the other problems of the JAL dub.

Naturally, Disney uses their usual stable of actors for the supporting characters.  Goofy himself, Bill Farmer, gets to have a brief role as a photographer for the scene where Fio and the (newly cleaned up) pirates pose for a picture; the ubiquitous Tress MacNeille gets to be a newscaster on a boat as well as several of Piccolo's elderly relatives; and others such as Jeff Bennett, Michael Bell, Debi Deriberry, Corey Burton, Sherry Lynn, Rob Paulsen, and Frank Welker are among the incidental voices.
The JAL supporting cast comes across as brashly loud and like Saturday morning cartoon voices from one of those old school 1960's cartoons by comparison.  There's no soul or life to them.

The Disney script adaptation by the Hewitts is pretty much on the same level as their work on Spirited Away and any of the other dubs they've done:  their ADR script is not word for word with the literal translation (as well as it shouldn't be, as such an approach would only result in stale and awkward-sounding dialogue), but is instead constructed to sound both natural and convey the essence of Miyazaki's unusual tale.  While some purists may make noise about the decision to replace lines like "otherwise I'll kill you" with "I'd hate to put you jerks out of business", personally I applaud the decision, as the latter line sounds more fluent and provides more character as a result.  There are also places where the Hewitts get to work in some extra humor ala Kiki's Delivery Service and Castle in the Sky, only not to the sometimes extraneous level as those two dubs, while still enjoyable, occasionally stumbled into.  The JAL dub script, in addition to being guilty of omitting a final line from the original, flows nowhere nearly as smoothly.  It also borders on cheesy and laughable, particularly the following exchange between Porco and Curtis in the air:

JAL Curtis:  One on one!  Fight me, pig!
JAL Porco:  Buzz off, sausage breath!
JAL Curtis:  Don't be a chicken, pig.  Fight me now!
JAL Porco:  Take your fightin' stuff off, I'm on vacatio-o-on!

Disney's version goes like this in comparison:

Disney Curtis:  Fight me, pig!  One on one!
Disney Porco:  No thanks, Tex.  Kinda busy.
Disney Curtis:  If you run away, I'll tell everyone you're chicken!
Disney Porco:  Chicken, pig, what's the difference?

More complimentary to the Disney version is that the exchange is better acted and nowhere nearly as embarrassingly cartoonish as the JAL dub.  It should also be noted that the JAL dub does not include the last line of Gina's speech from the end.  Fans will argue that it at least doesn't alter Porco's line "A pig who doesn't fly is just a pig" as opposed to the slightly Disneyfied (to the mouth movements) "Sorry baby, gotta fly."  But accuracy alone does not a better dub make, especially if it's a sloppily written one.  The lip-sync is atrocious as well, with a lot of lines failing to match the mouth movements and obvious gaps.  It gives more of a bad Hong Kong dub vibe.  Again, Disney's dub gets the advantage here.

All in all, while Porco Rosso may not be my favorite Disney-Ghibli dub, it still surprises me to see that it has its share of detractors.  On its own, it is a well-produced, carefully written, entertaining dub that deserves to stand alongside the other English tracks Disney has done.  Not only did it help me to appreciate Porco Rosso as a movie, it entertained me, just as well as a good dub should.  If that doesn't make it a worthwhile dub, I don't know what does.  The JAL dub (only available on the Japanese DVD) is, at best, forgotten.

Azumanga Daioh

Ah, Azumanga Daioh. This, along with Fruits Basket, was one of the first "non-mainstream" anime/dubs I ever watched, and for that I will always be grateful. It's kind of like an animated version of Seinfeld, where conversations can drag on or go off on weird tangents, and not much of consequence really happens aside from the girls building their friendship and graduating school. Still, it's easily one of the better anime comedies out there, and it remains a favorite. The dub's flaws are more apparent than they were when I first watched it, but so are its virtues, thankfully. So, onto the dub:

CHIYO MIHAMA (Jessica Boone) -- I'm still sad that Boone appears to have permanently retired from voice acting, because she's such an excellent performer. That said, her performance here has some occasional flaws; while Chiyo-chan is indeed supposed to be high-pitched and cutesy, occasionally Boone gets a little *too* cutesy and veers into "annoying" territory. Thankfully, it's not that often, and Boone is otherwise wonderfully endearing and funny in the role.

SAKAKI (Christine Auten) -- Weirdly enough, this is one of my favorite performances in the dub, despite the fact that Sakaki doesn't have nearly as much dialogue as some of the other characters. Still, she gets more and more dialogue as the show goes on, and Auten nails it all, from Sakaki's default deadpan mode to her joy as she rolls around on the floor with Maaya near the end of the series. Granted, I'm a huge Auten fanboy anyway thanks to her performance as Izumi Curtis in Fullmetal Alchemist, but her work here is just as good.

TOMO TAKINO (Mandy Clark) -- This is another performance that hasn't aged quite as well, but it's still pretty solid. Like Boone, Clark certainly nails the energy and annoyance factor of Tomo, but that works a little too well sometimes, so she occasionally grates on the eardrums. Still, she definitely gets across that "sugar high" energy of Tomo, as well as her jerkiness, quite well.

KOYOMI "YOMI" MIZUHARA (Nancy Novotny) -- Like Auten, Novotny completely nails her character and sounds totally natural in the part. As a result, Novotny gets some of the funniest moments in the show, such as whenever she scolds Tomo (which is often) or complains about her weight.

AYUMU "OSAKA" KASUGA (Kira Vincent-Davis) -- For the dub, Davis decides to adopt a soft Southern accent for the Osakan native, and using accents to adapt characters from different regions of Japan is not an uncommon practice in dubbing. It's a choice that works for the most part, and Davis backs it up with some great acting. Osaka is terminally clueless, providing many of the aimless conversations in the show, and Davis brings a nice floating, dreamy quality to her voice in addition to the accent that suits Osaka perfectly.

KAGURA (Allison Sumrall) -- Kagura doesn't join the main cast until about halfway through, but Sumrall's likeable, energetic performance makes an instantly winning impression. She also gets a great, purely character-driven conversation with Chiyo-chan later in the show, and Sumrall nails it.

KAORIN (Tiffany Grant) -- Tiffany Grant really makes this character shine; what could have been (and admittedly still kind of is) a stereotypical "schoolgirl lesbian" instead becomes hilarious, and I especially love Grant's performance when Kaorin goes into hyperactive, panicky mode.

YUKARI TANIZAKI (Luci Christian) -- And now we come to the star of the show, ladies and gentlemen. Luci Christian is perfect as the spectacularly unqualified schoolteacher, and I dare you to stop yourself from laughing or at least giggling whenever she opens her mouth. Nearly every moment of Christian's performance is comedy gold, and I daresay it's both one of her shining roles and one of the best dub performances in history. Her performance alone merits the dub a listen.

KIMURA (Andy McAvin) -- McAvin is probably the second funniest actor in the dub, with his perverted deliveries hitting the mark every time. A particular favorite is his legendary delivery of "CAUSE I LIKE HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS, THAT'S WHY!"

MINAMO "NYAMO" KUROSAWA (Monica Rial) -- Miss Rial is sweet, likeable and down-to-earth as the similarly level-headed gym teacher, although she gets plenty of funny, hyper moments as well.

CHIYO-FATHER (Jason Douglas) -- Douglas' deep-voiced performance is just as weird and memorable as the dream cat himself.

Overall, Azumanga Daioh is both an excellent show and a fairly excellent dub. If you haven't seen it, check it out.

Grave of the Fireflies (Central Park Media Version)

Much has been made over the Disney-produced dubs for Ghibli's works, but there are other existing English tracks for Ghibli films which don't get much recognition and/or are often given the shaft. One such dub is Grave of the Fireflies, Isao Takahata's heartbreaking masterpiece about two children in post-World War II.  The company who released the dub (produced by Skypilot Entertainment) is the now defunct Central Park Media, whose track record for dubs had been mixed. Although I have a soft spot for several of their dubs (Record of Lodoss War OVA, Slayers, The World of Narue, Now and Then Here and There, Night on Galactic Railroad, and Animation Runner Kuromi, to name a few), the company has also released a lot of others which (according to some) were pretty much sub-par.

If you're expecting Central Park Media's dub of Grave of the Fireflies to rival any of the better Ghibli dubs or even Carl Macek's earlier dubs of My Neighbor Totoro and Kiki's Delivery Service, you'll probably be disappointed, for, while it is a competent enough production, it does not reach the high standards of its peers.  It also unfortunately is a minor misfire for Central Park Media.

As with most CPM dubs, the ADR script adheres closely to the literal subtitle script; while that may be ideal for purists, this also results in some lines that come across as stilted and stale-sounding. I was more forgiving with the abovementioned dubs since the performances in most of them were good enough to overcome the sometimes awkward dialogue. The problem is that this is a Ghibli movie, where the standards for ADR scripting are much higher, and unfortunately the literal sounding script is a bit of a detriment to the overall production.

The cast of Grave of the Fireflies is a very small one, so in evaluating the voices, I shall be focusing on the three principal characters--the ones who have the most lines.

SEITA (J. Robert Spencer): Probably the best voice in the entire dub, and arguably the best performance. Spencer has the sort of teenage boy tone that is more than appropriate for Seita, and for the most part he handles himself fairly well. His chemistry with the younger sister who co-stars with him is largely attributed to the believability he provides the character, whether he is speaking quietly to her out of comfort, chasing her playfully across the beach, or breaking into tears as his sister's condition continually worsens. There are a couple of places, though, where he doesn't always nail his lines, but that's more toward the end, and even then, it isn't that detrimental to the overall performance.

SETSUKO (Corrine Orr): By contrast, Chrosite's Setsuko is the weak link of the dub. The Japanese version cast an actual 4-year-old to play this sweet, innocent little girl, but the dub does just the opposite in casting an adult actress who raises her pitch as high as possible to sound young. In doing so, however, it comes across as very strained and unnatural sounding — this works against the character.  Normally I'd be more excusing of this problem if this movie was a fantasy, but since this is based on a true story, the lack of authenticity in the performance and casting is detrimental.  Her crying scenes are especially weak, coming across more like a Siamese cat yowling. Only toward the end of the film where Setsuko gets more and more frail does Corrine find the right tone for the character, but even by then, it's too little to plate.  It really is a shame that the dubbing staff couldn't find an actual child to do the role for the dub.

AUNTIE (Amy Jones):  The last major part in the movie is Seita and Setsuko's aunt, a self-serving woman who treats the children with coldness and contempt during their (brief) stay with her. Given her harsh attitude toward the children (and kindness toward her own daughter), one would almost feel tempted to call her the villain of the piece. However, this is not the case; she is merely a bitter, frustrated character who is overburdened with both her responsibility and the war situation. Jones plays the character exactly as you'd expect, with a low-key understatedness during her "normal scenes" while being snappish during others.

Competent though two of these actors are, the major point of interest to the Fireflies dub are the cameo roles voiced by popular NYC Anime actors/actresses. These include Veronica Taylor, who is apparently credited for Seita and Setsuko's mother at the beginning of the film, but her voice is deeper than one would expect from her... so much so, in fact that one would assume she didn't actually play her. Her sprightly "young woman" voice is much more noticeable for the sympathetic neighbor who briefly speaks with Seita at the beginning of the film. Nonetheless, she does a fine job. Another recognizable name is Crispin Freeman, a longtime Ghibli fanboy. Believe it or not, this was his first appearance in a Ghibli dub (he would later appear in a brief cameo toward the end of Howl's Moving Castle as Prince Turnip). He uses his "natural" speaking voice for several doctors; while it may not seem like anything special, his enthusiasm for Ghibli and consistently excellent voice work make him a name that should not be doubted. Finally, Dan Green has a lot of miscellaneous speaking roles, most notablyl that of a sympathetic police officer who pardons Seita for stealing food from a farmer (suggesting that the latter has abused the poor kid too harshly). Like Freeman and Taylor, he does a solid job and is enjoyable to listen to.

I didn't recognize most of the other actors in the dub, but they seemed pretty solid as well... although the foley/crowd scenes are somewhat lacking, sounding as though only a small group of people were brought into the studio, creating an unconvincing result. Again, this "problem" is less of a grating issue in other CPM dubs, but it's more so for this film, as there are several major sequences involving thousands of people screaming in terror as the American bombers unleash their explosive artillery on the town. Consequently, these moments don't come across as dramatic as they should.

If Grave of the Fireflies' dub was produced for a different animation studio, I would do nothing less than recommend it.  In the context of Studio Ghibli's currently existing dubs, however, Fireflies' dub unfortunately is at the short end of the stick. The cameos by the NYC actors are the real point of interest here.

UPDATE:  As you are reading the above, Sentai has recently redubbed the movie for their BluRay release.  It's actually better than this, although not quite Disney-quality.  But more on that in a future review.

Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage

Warning: spoilers ahead! Do not read this full article if you haven't seen Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage.

To quote reviewer Ed Liu at ToonZone, "If Cowboy Bebop is the anime equivalent of a sly, sexy come-on from the coolest human being you have ever seen, Black Lagoon is the equivalent of a punch in the face from a brash, abrasive biker." That seems to be the most apt description I can think of when preparing to talk about this awesome, awesome show, especially the second season. Like the first season, Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage is perhaps one of the finest efforts ever by Ocean Group, the Canadian voiceover/dubbing company behind Beast Wars, Death Note, Gundam Wing, Ranma 1/2, Escaflowne, Inuyasha and many others. While they occasionally lack the consistency of some of the best LA or Texas dubs, their stronger efforts are frequently incredible. This is certainly true for both the first and second seasons of Black Lagoon, but they still manage to outdo themselves on The Second Barrage.

This review will be divided into two main sections: a discussion of the regular characters and their dub performances and then reviews of the three Season 2 arcs which will cover all the new/returning guest characters introduced in those arcs. Yes, this will be long.

The Regulars

ROKURO "ROCK" OKAJIMA (Brad Swaile)-Swaile tends to play most of his roles in a pretty similar vocal range, and that's true here as well. What he varies is his acting choices; for example, in the equally superb Death Note dub, he plays the lead Villain Protagonist Light Yagami, who goes from a well-intentioned, freakishly intelligent young man to a complete psychopath over the course of the series, and Swaile plays it all beautifully. Contrast that to his role as Rock, where he stays in roughly the same vocal range but offers a completely different performance. Rock is simultaneously not fit and perfectly suited for living in Roanapur, and Swaile's performance reflects that. Yes, Rock is often kind, caring and optimistic, but every so often he displays a surprising ruthlessness or profane streak, which always feels like both a shock and yet completely right (i.e. we're shocked but we still totally buy it) thanks to Swaile's acting. Two of his best moments come in the "Fujiyama Gangster's Paradise": his meeting with Balalaika where he manages to talk his way out of getting shot with chilling ease, and his note-perfect "(Bleep) you!" after bashing the vile Chaka in the head with a bowling pin.

REVY (Maryke Hendrikse)-Miss Hendrikse was not an actress I was familiar with prior to watching Lagoon, so I'm perhaps even more impressed by her work even though I eventually learned that she was no newcomer to the business. Hendrikse, much like Revy herself, completely dominates her scenes, swearing up a storm in a semi-gravelly tone that works beautifully for the emotionally conflicted gunslinger, and she manages the balance between Revy's brash exuberance and her darker, moodier moments. She also seems legitimately angry almost all of the time, with none of it feeling forced (well, from an acting standpoint; I have my doubts about the legitimacy of some of Revy's outbursts), and an especially good moment is when she threatens to kill Gretel after the latter.... disturbs Rock. Full marks for Miss Hendrikse.

DUTCH (Dean Redman)-Would you believe that this was Dean Redman's first anime dub? Yeah, me neither. Redman simply is Dutch, completely at ease and natural in the role. His performance helps Dutch transcend the "giant, cool black man" stereotype and into a legitimate character. Redman doesn't get as much to do this season, but each moment he does have is absolutely perfect.

BENNY (Brian Drummond)-As in the first season, Drummond's performance is a nice blend of easygoing charm and general geekiness, which suits Benny perfectly. No complaints.

EDA (Lisa Ann Beley)-Beley's spirited, enthusiastic performance fits this unorthodox nun perfectly, although she does do quite well with Eda's rare serious moments.

BALALAIKA (Patricia Drake)-While she doesn't really sound Russian (sounds more like a British accent to me), Drake is otherwise superb as the frightening-but-beautiful crime boss Balalaika. She nails every aspect of Balalaika: her dark sense of humor, her sense of duty to her men, and her seeming utter lack of morals, especially in the final arc where we see just how far she's willing to go to gain power.

"THE VAMPIRE TWINS COMEN"

HANSEL (Ashleigh Ball) and GRETEL (Jocelyne Loewen)-"Creepy" is hard to play: it can often be either too much or too little, and this applies to voice acting as well. Thankfully, Ball and Lowen manage to avoid the various pitfalls of "playing it creepy" as the main antagonists of Lagoon's most purely unsettling story. Part of the challenge is that Hansel and Gretel, while deeply disturbed and depraved (alliteration is fun) thanks to their horrible "upbringing", are still children, and thus have a different outlook on life than the adult characters. Ball and Loewen are both excellent at portraying both sides of their characters, and on occasion even manage to make you feel some sympathy for these little monsters (Ball's pathetic whimpering as Hansel slowly bleeds to death is a great example). Loewen also shows off her lovely singing voice in the final episode of the arc, and I'm glad they let her do it.

VERROCHIO (Scott McNeil)-Verrochio doesn't last long, but what little time he does have is massively entertaining thanks to McNeil's hilariously over-the-top Italian accent.

BORIS (Mark Acheson)-Acheson continues to be rock-solid as Balalaika's utterly loyal lieutenant, and he has a nice moment near the end of the arc where even he's shocked at her ruthless nature.


"GREENBACK JANE"

JANET BHAI (Kelly Sheridan)-Admittedly, the titular Jane is kind of annoying, but Sheridan does a good job of making her not too annoying, as well as portraying her smug braininess.



"GROOVY GUY" RUSSELL (Brian Dobson)-Dobson is a lot of fun here as the increasingly frustrated cowboy, with funny moments coming from both his frustration at essentially being ignored and his exaggerated Southern accent/mannerisms. He also gets a great hyperbolic statement near the end of the arc that is, alas, too naughty to post here (well, probably) that involves what he's going to do after this mess is over.

SHENHUA (Saffron Henderson)-A lot of the fun of this arc comes from the various colorful bounty hunters who show up to catch Greenback Jane, and one we've met before is Shenhua, the beautiful but deadly knife-wielding Taiwanese woman who speaks broken English that is probably very offensive but still hilarious. Henderson continues to be a hoot in this role, and her gusto manages to make me overlook the stereotype factor.

FREDERICA SAWYER "THE CLEANER" (Venus Terzo)-Aided by an electronic filter of some sort since Sawyer speaks with a voicebox, Terzo is nicely creepy but fun as the chainsaw-wielding goth.

LAWTON "THE WIZARD" (Sam Vincent)-Vincent doesn't have many lines as the overdramatic-but-benevolent gunslinger, but he nails all of them, especially Lawton's hilarious speech interrupted by Revy's bullet.

CLAUDE "TORCH WEAVER (Jason Simpson)-Simpson makes the corpulent pyromaniac into a threatening figure thanks to the sheer disconnect between his light, calm voice and his divorced-from-reality attitude and lines.

"FUJIYAMA GANGSTER'S PARADISE"

YUKIO WASHIMINE (Lalainia Lindbjerg)-Miss Lindbjerg has a difficult role to play here: she has to seem convincing as both a book-loving high school student and a budding crime lord. Thankfully, she meets that challenge head-on, with the highlight of her performance being the speech she makes to Rock that deconstructs his motivations after the bowling alley confrontation.

GINJI MATSUZAKI (Michael Adamthwaite)-Adamthwaite manages to make the tall, imposing swordsman into a compelling figure with his authoritative performance, and he manages Ginji's quieter moments equally well.

CHAKA (Jonathan Holmes)-Chaka is a truly despicable creature even by Lagoon's fairly lax standards, and Holmes goes all-out in both sleaze and arrogant machismo, matched only by his glorious panicking and empty threats as he dies in a truly pathetic way.

The other Washimine gangsters are voiced excellently, and Ashleigh Ball does a good job as Yukio's friend Maki.

In conclusion, The Second Barrage is a great show and a great dub. Check it out.

Sites Which Are AGAINST Dubs

Finding sites which review dubs in a very fair light is a rarity, especially on the internet.  There, people can post all kinds of opinions, no matter how ridiculous they may be.  Here are some sites which I find totally offensive and a slapping insult to dub fans.  Be forewarned!

http://www.fuzakenna.com/ -- "There are no good Anime English dubs"?  Seriously?  How can you expect me to believe that?  Seeing this entire post made me angry; OK, so he DOES acknowledge Vic Mignogna's performance as Edward Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist, but everything else about this site?  Don't even bother wasting your time.

http://ghiblicon.blogspot.com/ -- I really, really dislike this website.  The owner of this place practically hates every dub Disney has done except for Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, and Ponyo.  To say that they're consistently horrible and that Ghibli should only be in Japanese is both a very unfortunate, one-sided argument and a slapping insult both to fans of these movies in English as well as Miyazaki--he personally had NO PROBLEMS WITH ANY OF THEM.  Yes, this guy does make recommendations to obscure movies, but dub fans, AVOID AT ALL COSTS.  And as a sidenote to a certain comment I received recently about how this site makes "excellent" reasons why the dubs are "bad"—to me, a person who makes comments such as "I am firmly against ever dubbing a foreign movie" is NOT someone whose reasons I would consider valid for any reason.  Especially since so much of his "arguments" are over such trivial issues.

Dub Haters at MyAnimeList -- They even dare to put a cross on Crispin Freeman, one of the best voice actors of all time.  He was terrific as Spark in Lodoss TV, Tylor, Zelgadis in Slayers, Regal in Tales of Symphonia, and just about anything else I've heard his voice in.  That should tell you something about this place.  Luckily, this place DOES have a Dub fan section.

And there are lot of others that I won't even dare to mention.

I'll be honest.  I confess to hearing some truly hideous English tracks such as Demon City Shinjuku, M.D. Geist, Love Hina, Roujin Z, and the Streamline distributed dubs of Akira and Laputa -- both of which are thankfully available in newer and more improved versions courtesy of Geneon and Disney, respectively.  But a good majority of the dubs I've heard (which may not be as many as other "anime experts" declare) are at least passable to great.  This is why sites such as these only compel me to stand behind my position as a dub fan.

At the same time, though, it is unfortunate to see how narrow-minded a lot of internet Anime fans have shown themselves to be when regarding dubs; a good many of these so-called "unlistenable" dubs have performances that naysayers are truly missing out on.  (Seriously, half the time I listen to said "horrible" dubs makes me wonder if the "reviewers" in question saw the same English version.)

Ultimately, I shall say this:  whether a dub is good or bad is dependent on the viewer.  It's totally subjective.  There is no "only way" to watch Anime; nor are there any rules for dissing English dub actors and fawning over the Japanese actors, talented though they may be.  Dubs, and translations, for that matter, are a form of art.  They are here to stay, no matter what purists may feel about them.  Fans who watch dubs are just as much Anime fans as sub-fans are; there's no superiority contest.  It's just a preference.