Ocean Group vs. Funimation vs. Pioneer... Three way war!

Ok, here's another essay I've been meaning to write. The essay of the dub. Sure, most people dismiss dubs as lame compared to the original. (And horrific) And I agree with that...to a certain extent. First of all, you have to understand the work that goes into dubbing an anime. The hours devoted to VAs, music, etc... But the result can't be pleasing all the time. A quality dub company though, I think, would be Ocean Group. Their first success story came with Gundam W, and I thought it was excellent compared to other dubs, such as Dic's Salior Moon and Funi's Dragonball Z. Ocean group clearly made a dub masterpiece of Gundam W, and clearly intends to do so with the rest of the Gundam universe. Mobile Suit Gundam is due to air on CN next week, and I'm looking foward to it. So what's so good about Ocean Group? First of all, they have nice VAs with good voices, and translated the Japanese scripts almost to perfection. Second, they kept all of the original background music and other sounds in the dub, which made it A LOT better. Last but not least, they knew what fans expected and wanted. All three of these elements played a key role in the success of the Gundam W dub.

On the other hand, Funimation has been slow to accept change, and most of the time the fans are irritated. And for some budget problems, moved to Texas, losing all of it's Vancouver talent. Also Pioneer has shown the dub world that it too can do something good. Tenchi, in my opinion, was an excellent dub. "What about those colored in swimsuits?", you ask. Hey, do you think they are allowed to show nudity on national television with millions of little kids watching with their big brothers or sisters? I think not. So Pioneer has done a great job also. But overall, I would still rate Ocean Group as the best dubbing company that I've ever seen. Sorry Pioneer.

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