As a seasoned voice actor with decades of experience across thousands of projects that touch a lot of edges of the industry, I find myself examining TV and film through the lens of voice over. After sitting on a panel last summer with fellow voice over artist Stephanie Sheh (Sailor Moon, Naruto, Bleach, K-On, and Eureka 7), I got to thinking about the not-so-subtle nuances between Anime and its English dubbing. Why do some people love English anime dub voice over, and why do others outright hate them? It’s a decades-old topic that has inspired countless debates, subreddits, and fandoms – it’s even torn some fan bases asunder.
They can be quirky and memorable, missing the mark entirely, or even inspire their offshoot fan bases because they’re better than the originals. Hate or love them, most fans agree that the English dubbing for Anime is usually a hit or miss, but the heart that goes into making them deserves a second look.
Here are five reasons to give English Anime dubs just a little bit more love (from a voice artist’s perspective).
- English dub voice over actors are notoriously underpaid
- English anime dubs are a labor of love
- A lot of voice over actors work on multiple animes
- More work goes into English anime dubs than you might think
- There’s usually more than one English dub to an anime
English Dub Voice Over Actors are Notoriously Underpaid
English dub voice over actors is notoriously underpaid. Most anime voice actors are freelance and earn some of the lowest industry standard rates. Despite starring in series with massive cult followings, the average English dub voice over actor only makes about $70 an hour with less than a few hours of actual recording work per week. If you look at the English dub cast of Jujutsu Kaisen, the highest salary paid out to any voice artist on the payroll was $600 – for the entire series.
Some were even less fortunate and earned a total of $150 without royalties. Jujutsu Kaisen has already made more than $172.2 million US and is considered one of the most lucrative Japanese franchises.
English Anime Dubs Are a Labor of Love
Despite being the industry’s worst-paid voice-over jobs, English dubs for anime are a labor of love. Most voice-over actors who perform dub work are either fans or new to the industry and eager to work. Anime fandom is infamously relentless in their criticisms of English dubs and is one of the toughest crowds to please.
Voice Over Actors Work on Multiple Animes at Once
Because it’s not the most competitive market, most anime series are produced by a small handful of studios. Many voice-over actors are prolific and work on multiple projects at one or portray various characters in the same series. Examples include Kyle Hebert, who voices both adult Gohan and the narrator for Dragon Ball Z, and Christopher Sabat. He plays multiple fan-favorite roles like Vegeta and All-Might over two.
More Work Goes Into English Anime Dub Voice Over Than You Might Think
When you think of voice over for anime, what comes to mind? Is it sitting in a cozy booth all day drinking bubble tea or dedicated character craft and attention to the finer details?
Whether you realize it or not, there’s more work that goes into English anime dubs than you might think. Like any other kind of acting, voice acting is an art form, and each voice over artist has a unique style, sound, and method. One of the voice actors who plays Goku in Dragon Ball GT’s Funimation dubs fainted while voicing a transformation scene.
There’s Usually More Than One English Dub To an Anime
Most anime is dubbed for different populations, languages, and regions – so if you don’t like how a dub sounds, there’s a solid chance there’s usually more than one English dub to a series.
The professional voice over term for this is localization, and it’s the practice of keeping voice over region-specific based on subtle (or overt) language differences. Long-running series like Dragon Ball (in all its iterations) is filtered through different production companies between Canada and the United States and offer anime fans more than one option for English dubs.
Man, I haven’t wanted to get into anime or dubbing even a little bit. 🙁 I feel like I am in violation for even reading the sacred texts enclosed herein! Ah well. It’s eye-opening, nonetheless, and I’ll just need to stare longingly from the sidelines at all the thriving Voiceover Anime Dubbers (VAD’s) out there, and wistfully wonder “Maybe me someday…”, hoping to be part of the club. Time will tell! But I’ve glad you got to be part of that panel and really come to see what’s going on in this genre of the industry. If there’s one nugget of gold in here (and there are many, as usual), it’s that “Like any other kind of acting, voice acting is an art form, and each voice over artist has a unique style, sound, and method.”. GOSPEL! BOOM! I’ve put on my art form hat and am ready to go this week. Much success to you this and every week, Kim!
Thanks for you comment Josh (deep bow)
While this isn’t a genre I’ve worked in, I appreciate how it’s another form of this craft and art form, another passion for people to express themselves, and another example of the work we all put into it. Great blog!
Thanks JD!
Fascinating, Kim! I didn’t know much about anime and what goes into it. Thanks for the eye-opening insights. And yes, I have total respect for anyone taking on the challenge, especially in light of all the criticism that comes with the territory, often for low pay.
Thanks so much for taking the time to stop by Laura 🙂
I think the need to fit whatever lines need to be said into a given space of animation sounds like a high-stakes kind of voiceover! No pressure, right?? Oh yeah and make it sound natural. It seems like its own beast. But a good show is hard to argue with – those artists have my respect!
Right on Michael – the amount of concentration and the artistry involved is epic – it’s sad the pay is not commensurate with the work…but there are a few places in our industry that fall into that category…audiobooks, for one – often abysmal pay for the work involved.
Thank you for this eye-opener. I follow a few Anime Dubbing Artists on Twitter and I really admire the difficult and passionate work they do. Dubbing rates are bad in most countries. The rates in Spain for dubbing broadcast TV are atrocious. I get paid more for dubbing short corporate European tutorial and testimonial videos than these artists do. It’s not fair.
Agreed Lance – like you said it’s a passion project for the anime VOs – they’re not making enough money for their work but someone is…
I am with some of the others here Kim. I have no real knowledge of Anime. Many years ago I just thought it was what the kids called animation these days for short. God, I’m getting old. But thanks for the great insight. I am going to have to check it out – while telling people to get off my lawn. LOL
Craig ROTFL!