Watched a 2004 anime on a whim and the dub actually holds up

I threw on Texhnolyze last night because I wanted something darker than usual and figured a 20 year old show would be rough. The English voice acting surprised me though - it was actually really consistent and didn't sound dated at all. Has anyone else found an older series where the dub didn't feel like a time capsule?

2 comments

2 Comments

nina_jenkins27d ago

Texhnolyze is such a hidden gem and yeah the dub is way better than it has any right to be for something from that era. I had the exact same reaction when I finally watched Witch Hunter Robin from 2001. The voices just felt natural and not that stilted overly dramatic thing you get in a lot of early 2000s dubs. It's like some shows had really talented voice directors who knew how to pull a good performance out of the cast. I think the key is when they let the actors just talk like normal people instead of trying to sound like anime characters. Makes me want to dig up more older stuff now to see what else holds up.

lee7227d ago

Wait, is Witch Hunter Robin from 2001? I could have sworn it came out a couple years later, maybe 2003 or 2004. I remember watching it around that time anyway. But you're right about the quality of those dubs, especially Texhnolyze. A lot of the early 2000s dubs that hold up well seem to have one thing in common - they had directors who came from a theater or live action background, not just anime fandom. That made a big difference in how natural the performances sounded.