It was during a golden age of dubbed anime, it was exploding in popularity in the west and they got a bunch of really talented voice actors and great translators that all worked on a handful of highly acclaimed series at the time to show western audiences the best possible english language dubs for these masterpieces like Bebop and Ghost in the Shell etc.
I agree that in the case of Bebop the dub is superior and I can't readily think of any other series off the top of my head where that was the consensus.
I remember the Excel Saga dubbers put in a huge effort translating the humour, which had a ton of wordplay that wouldn't make sense to western viewers. And just voicing Excel's very rapid nonsense ranting is a feat.
Though that doesn't mean it's better, per se. Just that they did far more work than is normally required.
I have a special fondness for the Japanese VAs because Spike is voiced by Akiyama from Yakuza, Jet is Professor Oak, and Faye is Ranma. It's weirdly cozy hearing all those voices together.
But you're right, the English dubbing is so smooth and good. Lightning in a bottle
One of the few rare cases the EN VAs just fits better even though both are excellent imo.
It was during a golden age of dubbed anime, it was exploding in popularity in the west and they got a bunch of really talented voice actors and great translators that all worked on a handful of highly acclaimed series at the time to show western audiences the best possible english language dubs for these masterpieces like Bebop and Ghost in the Shell etc.
I agree that in the case of Bebop the dub is superior and I can't readily think of any other series off the top of my head where that was the consensus.
Fullmetal Alchemist.
I remember the Excel Saga dubbers put in a huge effort translating the humour, which had a ton of wordplay that wouldn't make sense to western viewers. And just voicing Excel's very rapid nonsense ranting is a feat.
Though that doesn't mean it's better, per se. Just that they did far more work than is normally required.
I have a special fondness for the Japanese VAs because Spike is voiced by Akiyama from Yakuza, Jet is Professor Oak, and Faye is Ranma. It's weirdly cozy hearing all those voices together.
But you're right, the English dubbing is so smooth and good. Lightning in a bottle