Dubbing in anime is often downright awful, but certain old anime dubs have held up over the years by remaining iconic and well-made. Some anime series aren't quite as fortunate to have received such dedicated performances. However, many have stood the test of time as some of the most rewatchable series thanks to the excellent performances their English-language voice actors delivered.
Other anime dubs, such as Dragon Ball Z, rely more on nostalgia. While the series is a beloved classic and the core story is excellent, the English dub hasn't aged particularly well, making it difficult for new fans to get into. However, many of those same voice actors have returned for Dragon Ball Z Kai with sharper dialogue and improved performances, which has helped the franchise immensely.
10 Ghost Stories
Ghost Stories is an anime whose dub is better than the subtitles and is one of the most unusual English anime dubs made. Aniplex were given permission to change the original scripts almost entirely as long as they maintained the basic plot of each episode and kept the names of all the characters.
This turned Ghost Stories into one of the most iconic English dub series and is absolutely hilarious. The conversations were nothing like the original series, but many of them sounded far more realistic than in most anime. The voice actors goofed around a lot with Ghost Stories, but they managed to create one of the most memorable and best-aging English dubs that every anime fan should watch at least once.
9 Akira
important anime that had worldwide success and has stood as one of the best anime films for a long time with its great story and animation. There were two notable English dubs for Akira, one in 1991 and the other in 2001. The earlier one is quite cheesy, but the second one has held up remarkably well over time.
This dystopian anime has many well-known voice actors like Johnny Yong Bosch who voices the protagonist, Shōtarō Kaneda. He's highly regarded for giving some of the best voice acting work like Lelouch vi Britannia in Code Geass. He and other phenomenal actors like Wendee Lee and Joshua Seth provide excellently compelling lines that evoke real ion and help this classic feel better than ever.
8 Trigun
Trigun is one of the Trigun Stampede which will adapt the manga fully.
Vash the Stampede is also voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch in this thrilling space western. He embodies the character perfectly from his innocence to his plain goofiness. Voice actors Jeff Nimoy who plays Wolfwood and Joshua Seth who plays Miles Knives, Vash's brother, also add incredible talent to anime. The final episode itself is beautifully wrapped up with all three of these voice actors giving amazing performances.
7 Spirited Away
highest-grossing anime films of all time. It's a beautiful fantasy tale with some great animation as well as voice acting. The work put in by the actors like Suzanne Pleshette who plays Yubaba is clearly shown well.
Spirited Away is a perfect example of an anime film that needs to be watched in the viewer's own language. The anime is breathtaking to witness with its visuals, and it can be distracting to try and follow subtitles while watching it. Sometimes this can be an issue with anime, especially older dubs, but Spirited Away manages to completely capture its audience and there are no awkward lines that will make viewers cringe.
6 Berserk (1997)
The 1997 series of the darkest anime of all time and is arguably the best adaptation the manga series has received yet. It perfectly captures the dark and macabre vibes of the series alongside providing fans with excellent action.
Berserk has a melancholy vibe to it with its art style and music. Somehow, the voice actors were able to perfectly fit themselves into this and match their voices accordingly with some of the best voice acting of the time. Kevin T. Collins stood out by far as the best voice actor as he played Griffith and delivered the character's iconic lines. Both Marc Diraison (Guts) and Carrie Keranen (Casca), as well as the rest of the cast, also did perfect jobs at embodying their characters.
5 Neon Genesis Evangelion
Neon Genesis Evangelion is a depressing anime and one of the most iconic anime out there and is incredibly dark and thought-provoking. The anime series did receive a new English dub in 2019 with most of the same cast, but the original is still a great one.
While the voice acting isn't as refined there are still many iconic scenes portrayed perfectly in the original. New fans who prefer to watch English dubs should at least watch the original first if it's available because of voice actors like John Swasey who perfectly embodies Gendo Ikari better than anyone could. The anime is a wild ride and the cast does a fantastic job to portray their respective characters until the end.
4 Princess Mononoke
highest-rated anime movies on MyAnimeList and another Studio Ghibli classic and falls under the same rules as Spirited Away where fans should watch the film in their own language. Princess Mononoke has an even better dub than Spirited Away.
There are tons of characters introduced into the film and all of them have their own distinct voices. There are some characters like Jiko-bō that sometimes feel off. Not that the voice acting is bad, but the voice doesn't always fit the character. However, this is a rare case and most of the voices fit well. The best example in the film was Claire Danes who plays San.
3 Dragon Ball
While Dragon Ball Z's dub has its fair share of issues, this doesn't reflect upon the best martial arts anime ever, was made before Dragon Ball Z it was actually dubbed into English completely after Dragon Ball Z.
Many iconic voice actors returned to their roles like Christopher Sabat (Piccolo and Yamcha) and Sean Schemmel (Goku in the final season). The voice acting here is much better than in Dragon Ball Z and is arguably the best voice-acting work the cast has given. Christopher Sabat, who voices more characters than anyone else in the series, alone does an absolutely astounding job and his work on Piccolo and King Piccolo is literally bone-chilling.
2 Cowboy Bebop
Cowboy Bebop is one of the best nostalgic anime series from the '90s that has helped popularize the space western genre, and it never would've become as popular as it did without its astounding English dub. While the anime has great animation, action, and music, the talented cast really makes this much better.
Every voice actor puts in their effort and embodies the character. The series is full of iconic quotes that are performed perfectly. However, there isn't anyone that stands out more than Steve Blum who plays Spike Spiegel himself. Spike's character arc is a wild one and Steve Blum is there every step of the way delivering his lines even better than in the original Japanese dub. He makes the anime more than worth watching the story of one of the most popular anime antiheroes.
1 Yu Yu Hakusho
There are many shonen series that are far better in the manga than the anime. The same can be true about choosing whether to watch the Japanese dub or the English dub when looking at older anime. However, the best way to experience Yu Yu Hakusho is through its English dub anime series.
anime that fans want to see on Netflix and while it holds up well for an old anime dub series, it's easily one of the best anime dub series of all time. The Dark Tournament arc itself is a collection of some of the best voice-acting work ever.