It’s worth noting right off the bat that I watched the entirety of One Punch Man -- well, the first season of its anime, anyway -- in its official subtitled form on Viz’s website. I’m at peace with that. I don’t regret it. With that said, I have seen clips of the dubbed version. As someone who’s always had an appreciation of dubs, I’m glad that One Punch Man got the treatment it did. I know that it’s easy and common to hate dubs, and there are legitimate reasons for it. But they aren’t bad by default. And when they’re done well, they bring something special to the table.
Doing that post the other day on Mumen Rider (the best hero) got me thinking about subs versus dubs. Obviously you want to stay true to the source material/creator’s vision, so taking the anime in as “pure” a form as possible is 100% understandable. But seeing the cyclist for justice take on the Deep Sea King in both the original Japanese and the alternative English highlighted the potential both have -- namely, that they’re two different yet valid interpretations of the same moments. In the Japanese version, Mumen Rider sounds like a professional hero -- someone who knows what he’s getting into, but ultimately starts letting the cracks show and his emotions spill out when things get desperate. In the English version? He starts by sounding impassioned, desperate, and even scared -- but the end result is that the emotions that come out hit with the force of a tsunami. One scene, two interpretations, both valid and enjoyable in their own way. That’s rad.
…This is a weird way to start a post on One Punch Man. Maybe that’s because I’m tempted to write about Mumen Rider again. So let’s start again -- and start off right.
