Nanbaka (Dub) First Impressions

Hi guys! So, if you have been living under a rock for the last few months, then you might not know that Funimation and Crunchyroll got married(in a sense), and so they are sharing a lot of their shows. Crunchyroll usually gets many anime’s rights to shows, and Funimation can also get those rights, along with the possibility of dubbing. This season shows that, as many of the new Fall 2016’s anime’s are getting dubbed by Funimation. The purpose of this review is, not to review the series, but to judge the performance of the English cast versus the Japanese cast. Of course, this is only my opinion, and may change as the dub continues, which is why it is only a first impressions. I will make a final review of the dub at the end of the season. With that said, let’s get started with voice acting:

Voice Acting:

Perfect Casting Choices:

First up, with a perfect voice for the character, would be Uno! He is played by Alejandro Saab, who also played Koyuki in Servamp and Drake in Fairy Tail. He is able to perfectly capture Uno’s personality, while still having his own take on the character, compared to Uno’s Japanese voice actor.

Next up is Seitarou. While it has yet to be revealed who plays him, the voice actor is this character. His voice sounds very similar to his Japanese counterpart, so fans of Nanbaka should find his voice easy to listen to.

Lastly, we have Yamato. Again, as of when I’m writing this, Yamato’s English voice actor has yet been revealed, but he also plays his character perfectly. His voice has the same carefree, jolly tone as Yamato’s  Japanese voice actor, which makes the character very likeable and funny.

Good, But Took Some Time to Get Used to:

First off, in this category, we have Jyugo. Jyugo is played by Daman Mills, who was also in Yuri on Ice!!’s dub as Yakov. His voice for the character is more raspier than the Japanese version, which is why it took me awhile to get used to it, but it actually fits the character, to an extent, and you can get used to it. Overall, not what I was expecting, but its not bad either.

Next up is Hajime. Hajime is played by Ian Sinclair, who has played Worick in Gangsta, Baldroy in Black Butler, and Ki-ja from Yona of the Dawn. The reason why his voice took awhile for me to get used to is because of his portrayal of the character. While his Hajime can still yell and get angry, it is not to the extent of the Japanese version. However, it actually works, and actually helps make Hajime funnier, in my opinion. Definitely listen to his voice throughout the whole first episode before you decide if its good or not.

Lastly, we have Rock. His voice is played by Jarrod Greene, who has played Yang in Gangsta, and Wataru in Cheer Boys!!. While he is able to play the big, tough prisoner, his voice just sounds a bit weird to me. You would think the voice would work for the character, but I don’t know, it sounds like he is trying too hard to do the voice. I’ll probably get used to it as the series progresses, but I have to say that I do prefer the Japanese voice.

Unsure:

Unfortunately, Nico’s voice has to go in this category. Nico is played by Justin Briner, who has played (young)Worick in Gangsta, and Izuku(also known as Deku) in My Hero Academia. While I feel like I could get used to his voice, as they are trying to make him sound like a young teenager, I would have to say that I miss Nico’s Japanese voice. I liked the feminine touch they put in the Japanese voice, and the English voice does not have that. It’s not horrible, but I’m unsure if I’ll get used to this take of the character. 

I will also have to include Warden and Gokuu(or Monkey), but I didn’t hear their voices all that much in the first episode, so I don’t want to judge them that much until I have heard them more.

This is my take on the dub as of the release of the episode 1. I’m not sure if I’ll update this post, or just wait until the all the dub comes out and review it then, but I will conclude my thoughts on the voices again, but later on. Now let me tell you guys what I thought was good about the dub.

Positive Thoughts: 

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of the positives, is that, I believe, the English dub is much funnier than the Japanese dub. The director and script writer for the show, Aaron Dismuke, did an amazing job, as the different portrayals of the characters, slight changes to the original script, and adding in some clever jokes here and there, makes this show seem really funny. It also feels less like the show is jumping from joke to joke, unlike the Japanese version.

Negative Thoughts: 

I don’t have much to say here, but if anything, depending on how you feel about each character, the different protrayals of the characters could make or break the show for you. It is a comedy show, so it was also depend on what your sense of humor is like as well. As well, I would have to say I still prefer the Japanese voices more the English cast, but I would still watch the dub.

In Conclusion:

I would have to say I do recommend the dub of Nanbaka, especially if you are a fan of the show. I really liked the changes they made, and it had me laughing more than the original Japanese version. Of course, that’s just my opinion, and so I ask that you go to Funimation’s website and check out the dub for yourself. As of this post, it is only available to subscribers. If you have seen the dub, please comment below on who you thought sounded good or bad, or if you think the sub is better.. If you haven’t, do you have any interest to watch it after reading my post? With that said, keep on smiling and hope to see you guys next time.