MeinMMO demon Cortyn needs to apologize, specifically to the German dubbing of Anime. Because they can actually be really good.
Anime is one of my great passions. As a child, I was influenced by the series on RTL2, having watched Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, and Digimon (which was definitely way cooler than Pokemon) virtually every day.
I got into the Japanese original of anime through MMORPGs. My first MMORPG back then was Silkroad Online in its original version. Since there were only international servers, I was more or less forced to write in English. In hindsight, that really benefited me, because otherwise, I would probably never have gotten beyond “school English”.
Japanese anime, because I had to converse in English
In Silkroad Online, I had an anime nerd in the guild who raved to me about new anime from Japan. These were series that were still airing live on TV, which back then meant: if it gets dubbed at all, it will take years. Years that I didn’t want to wait for because my fellow player had got me really excited about “Bleach”, which was currently airing.
So, I only had one choice: to watch the series with Japanese voice acting and subtitles. Back then, there were “fan dubs”, which were subtitles created by fan sites so that one could understand everything, often also in English (please don’t ask how we got access to anime episodes back then).
At first, I found the Japanese voice acting tiring, but I fell more and more in love with it. I liked how much feeling the Japanese voices put into their performances, how emotional and dramatic everything was. No wonder, anime often resembles a theatrical play more than a “real” conversation in terms of storytelling and speaking style.
Therefore, my stance for years has been: If I have the choice, I always watch anime with the Japanese voices.
New series are often really strong, even in German
But I just have to acknowledge: The German dubbing landscape for anime has gotten better. Much better. After a friend pointed it out to me a few days ago, I watched Oshi no Ko on Crunchyroll again in the last few days to give the German dubbing a chance.
I was positively surprised, genuinely thrilled. Even one of the songs by the band had been translated into German, and it sounded really solid. Additionally, the localization was appropriate, incorporating some youth slang here and there, giving the impression that someone really thought about the translation so that the overall work functions in German.
And yes, I know: There are bad German dubs. Whether someone now has the prime example of “Sasuuuuke” on their lips, remembers some of the terrible Pokemon movies, or the often inappropriate adult voice actors who had to voice child roles and sounded as motivated as if they were reconsidering and regretting all their life choices.
But much of that is also one thing: simply old. Anime as an art form has become far more widespread, and the landscape of German voice actors working in this field has improved significantly.
Similar to Oshi no Ko, I also found the German dubbing of Love is War to be great, even though it only starts with the second season.
I think I will revisit a few of my absolute favorite series in the coming weeks and months and watch them in German to see if they are just as good.
But until then: I’m sorry, German anime dubbings and everyone involved. I have always chuckled at this in the past and have now been enlightened.
If you, like me, experienced a time when you fled from terrible German dubbings that didn’t even attempt to be true to the original: Give the newer dubs a chance.
Yes, I still prefer the Japanese original and that will probably not change anytime soon. On the one hand, because I now have quite a few favorites among the Japanese voice actors, and on the other, because I can convince myself that I’m still learning a bit of Japanese after many years.
But I have now seen (and heard) some really great examples where the German dubbing, which I have quietly ridiculed for several decades, has convinced me: It has changed. There are now really good, great German dubs, often with very entertaining localization.
If you want to check out a few series with really good German dubbing yourself: Here are 5 anime that are really good in German.
Your opinion is important to us!
Do you like the article? Then let us know!