The Dubbing of Death Note

[White Manju Bun]

This thread is for the discussion of English Voice Actors in the R1 release of Death Note

Please remember these simple rules when critiquing a VA's performance or reading another forum member's critique:
Don't take it personally.
In other words, you’re free to disagree with another person’s opinion, but don’t flame them if they offer a well written and well thought out analysis that differs from your own opinion. Keep it civil.
Voice Actors are humans.
Yes, it’s true. They’re human. Therefore, don’t just indiscriminately rip them and their work apart as if they’re inorganic objects. You don’t have to flame praise them non-stop, but be thoughtful in your criticism.Thanks

[siya]

Well, I for one am not a big fan of the dubbing. Light's voice is weird. He sounds like he's 15..but he does have that insane laugh down though...Ryuk's voice is probably the best, though when he laughs he sounds like someone who has been smoking for like 30 years. I feel L's voice is the worst...It's so deep! Not like Arnold Swartinegger deep, just deep....It's just weird....and I hate it...

Overall, I'd give the dub a 5/10

[Clawn]

I agree with siya for the most part, L sounds way too deep and Light's voice sounds too young, but they both have their good qualities. For instance, both of them have many long monologues, and they usually pull them off with just the right amount of "oomph." I, overall, think they did a pretty good job with the English dubs.

[CJL13]

Light and Ryuk are fine, L sounds too generic though, he's supposed to be different.

[DesoNoto]

I just hate English dubs. I used to love them until I heard the Japanese voices and I thought they sounded way cooler. I would say Ryuk sounds the best out of Light, Ryuk, and L but I really don't like English dubs.

[Super Ska Master]

I actually dont mind the dub. I think light's could be better, but it kind of grew on me.

[coreyzard]

I actually kind of like L's, it's Lights that drives me crazy. >.<;;

Raye Penbar's was kind of bad too.

The one thing that drives me insane though, is everyone pronouncing Yagami, yah-guh-me. Isn't it Yuh-gam-ee?

I could be wrong, but I thought it was.

Ryuks I think is pretty good, and in fact had they got his messed up, I had sworn to my friends I wouldn't watch the dubbed episodes XD

So luckily I like his. ^_^

I just can't wait to hear Misa's though :D

[Junnina]

I like the english dub! L'voice is cute, Light's one too (even if it's too young, I agree with you ç__ç; ). But I'm Italian, so don't mind; I simply love the english language, so Death Note dubbed in english is a lovely thing. *___*;

I hope the show will be dubbed in Italian too... even if there are voices that speaks about changes of name: Light -> Luce, L -> Elle, Near -> Nino, Mello -> Melina (and he will became a girl..), Rem -> Remigilda, etc. xD

In the english dub, they didn't change the names, did they?

(Anyway... the original dub is better xD)

[CJL13]

I like the english dub! L'voice is cute, Light's one too (even if it's too young, I agree with you ç__ç; ). But I'm Italian, so don't mind; I simply love the english language, so Death Note dubbed in english is a lovely thing. *___*;

I hope the show will be dubbed in Italian too... even if there are voices that speaks about changes of name: Light -> Luce, L -> Elle, Near -> Nino, Mello -> Melina (and he will became a girl..), Rem -> Remigilda, etc. xD

In the english dub, they didn't change the names, did they?

(Anyway... the original dub is better xD)

Unless you count Raito being Light, it's the same names.

Speaking of the dub yesterday...
L telling Light he was L was kinda bad IMO, then again they couldn't just say I am L like in the Japanese version because of all the syllables.

[coreyzard]

Unless you count Raito being Light, it's the same names.

Speaking of the dub yesterday...
L telling Light he was L was kinda bad IMO, then again they couldn't just say I am L like in the Japanese version because of all the syllables.

Actually I thought they did that kinda well, better than some of the things they've done before. *shrug*

[Hypervalor]

The Ray Penber part where is go out of the train station, the dub make a mistake.

If I remember well, Ray Penber said something like "damn kira..." in japanese
In the english version, he said something like "Kira, where are you"

[Holy Knight]

Light and Ryuk are fine, L sounds too generic though, he's supposed to be different.

I agree, it should have been much more unique.

Overall it's alright. My expectations is always low, so it evens out.

[HashiriyaR32]

I just watched the dub of EPIC CHIP EATING and the original back-to-back. The dialogue seems to be consistent AFAIK (I didn't have an eng sub of the JPN version to use as a reference, so I had to use an spanish sub).

[Kalimah]

i kinda like L's voice too...i like the subtle english hint to it
Light's voice is kinda weird...but who i am waiting to hear is misa

[Twisted Reality]

I personally love the unintentional comedy you can get from the overdramatization from the English voice actors.

"With my right hand, I will write names, and with the other. . .<dramatic pause>. . .I WILL EAT A POTATO CHIP!"

And you can hear Light's voice practically gloating at the fact that he's eating a potato chip. It is hilarious.

"And maybe, a in a few seconds. . .<dramatic pause>. . .I WILL EAT ANOTHER POTATO CHIP! You can't stop me L! Just watch as I eat these sinfully delicious slices of spud!"

[HashiriyaR32]

EP9 just finished airing. Only thing I didn't like was the part where L reveals himself. In the JPN version, he says "私はLです". In the dub, I couldn't make out what he said since I was expecting L to say something similar to the original script.

[kyledouglas521]

Ok, so here's my views

Light- I don't mind it necessarily...but as a drama geek, i have to say this. The guy who does his voice doesn't really make the scene believable. He takes each line individually and just says it how it seems like it should be said, instead of looking at the whole scene itself. I don't know... maybe i'm overthinking it

also "i'll take a potato chip.... ... ...AND EAT IT!!!!!!!!" speaks for itself

L- a tad too deep, but you have to remember that L's voice was sort of deep in the Japanese version too. One thing that bugged me is that the voice acting seems...inconsistent... at some points it seems like the actor will make an effort to deepen his voice, and then a sentence later it sounds sort of different, and then goes back to normal.


Ryuuk- i think it fits him perfectly, i love it

on a final note Seeing Light/Matsuda's meltdowns in the last episode will be...interesting

[CJL13]

EP9 just finished airing. Only thing I didn't like was the part where L reveals himself. In the JPN version, he says "私はLです". In the dub, I couldn't make out what he said since I was expecting L to say something similar to the original script.

"I wanted to tell you that I am L."

[Kiyoraka]

"I wanted to tell you that I am L."

The way he said it amused me. "I just wanted to tell you... ThatI'mL." That little speed up at the end of the sentence made me laugh, I'm weird.

Anyway, the dub seems fine to me, when I compare them to the subs, I see no real significant change in dialogue. The voices themselves aren't bad either, though Light and Ryuk leave voices to be desired, I think L's is just fine.

[lelek]

I'm generally not a dub fan, for a number of reasons that go into the subtleties of language and how details of characterisation and plot are lost in translation (if anyone ever wants me to go into this in detail, give me a shout ^^). That said, the Death Note dub really isn't bad. I've only seen three episodes of it, but from what I've seen it's pretty high quality. The voices seem a bit off to me, because I'm so accustomed to the original seiyuu, but I actually have a weird fondness for dub!L. No, I don't really understand why, I just do.

It's obviously not perfect, dubs never are, but the dialogue is fairly true to the original and the delivery, if occasionally inconsistent, is pretty good overall. I'm not keeping up with the dub release, because I've seen the entire series in Japanese, but I'd give it 7/10.

[Keruri]

To me, Rem is the best voice thus far, closely followed by Ryuk. Misa was better than I'd expected. I had imagined her voice to be slightly higher in pitch than it is, just very slightly, but she has the jovial attitude down as far as I can tell.

I'm not diasppointed. However, I still quite dislike L's voice. Even still, I do understand that topping Kappei Yamaguchi is quite impossibe by any standards.

[CJL13]

Rem is practically identical to the Japanese version, but since the Japanese Rem was so good, that's a good thing. Misa is even better, not annoying high-pitched, and she has that child like innocence to her.

[Bornsatin]

I personally think they've done a decent job, alot better than some of the other dubs I've tried o.O

[D-KLAC]

well the dub of death note is ok

& by the the dub company of death note is also the same grouo that did animes like GS & others that is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ocean_Group

[Hypervalor]

Misa's voice is "less dumb" than the original japanese voice :D

[Teh2ndrunner]

I think they have succeeded greatly in picking the perfect voices to the chars. I even think they sound better than the subbed version ( esp Ryuk whos voice is spot on). Misa Misa's voice - well it's already been said thats gd. Personally this has to be one of the best dubs out there - and so it shud given the awesomeness of the series

[siya]

Well...Misa's voice is like werid....It's not high enough and sounds mature...Misa's voice should be high and sound like an innocent child

[Kalimah]

well i kind of agree that misa's voice sounded weird at first...it doesnt fit her so well...and Rem's wasnt too great either...but i'm still going to watch the dub...i think it's up there with FMA on quality of dubbing...

[Kiyoru]

Personally, after watching the Japanese version, I find it hard to accept the dub. I really don't like it, L just sounds.. ugh. Light, nuh. Just, not my thing. I can't say I like very many dubs for animes.

[siya]

Personally, after watching the Japanese version, I find it hard to accept the dub. I really don't like it, L just sounds.. ugh. Light, nuh. Just, not my thing. I can't say I like very many dubs for animes.

Oh yea...That's because if you watch the Japanese dub the English dub is hard to accept because your used to the voice from the Japanese dub..so the new voice for English just isn't right...It's like when the replace an actor for another actor on a show...It just takes some getting used to because it's a different person....

[Screwjack]

Personally, after watching the Japanese version, I find it hard to accept the dub. I really don't like it, L just sounds.. ugh. Light, nuh. Just, not my thing. I can't say I like very many dubs for animes.


I agree, but L's voice is one of the dubs that I do like. In my opinion he sounds almost exactly like he looks, if you know what I mean. His dub voice sounds almost like an android or robot when he pronounces certain syllables, the voice actor is very talented.

[Spectacular_Insanity]

Frankly, this is one of the very few shows where I liked the english dub better than the japanese audio w/ subs. I found Light's and L's voices to be too high pitched in the japanese audio. Double goes for Amane Misa. God her voice was awful in the japanese audio. It was to me what a dog whistle is to animals.

I REALLY liked Light's voice and L's voice in the english dub. Even though some people might have found it bland/boring, I liked his kind of slovenly genius (he talked softly, kind of mumbled, and yet pulled off sounding like a genius 24/7, always thinking, and sounds how he looks). Even though I didn't like his character, Light's voice actor pulled off crazy-genius-god-complex-madman very well, I thought. I actually haven't finished it yet in English, since I watched it first in japanese, but I like both.

[Shinigami_Gamer]

In general I have to say that the dub is decent some characters are better then others. Ryuk, Rem, Misa, and Light had good voices, though certain characters such as L just sound off, but that is probably because of how use I am to hearing the Japanese voices.

[GuidoHunter_Toki]

I found that some of the voices I liked even more than the subbed version. Like Ryuk and Misa.

[Ame no Uta]

I think they did a pretty good job. I like Light's and Ryuuk's voices, and Misa's is OK. Though, I do NOT like L's. I dont particulary hate it though. I just think its too deep. It just doesnt sound very Lish...y'know?

[CJL13]

Funny thing they did for the second OP, at the end they had the subtitles show something about a hymn to humanity and omitted the f word, yet they didn't bleep out anything! :heh:

[Kikio]

Light's english voice sounds familiar to me, idk though. Ryuk's voice is awesome :). L's voice sounds.....o_oa bit like a stalker and I hate it. Misa just sounds more annoying >_<

[CJL13]

Light's english voice sounds familiar to me, idk though. Ryuk's voice is awesome :). L's voice sounds.....o_oa bit like a stalker and I hate it. Misa just sounds more annoying >_<

Light is best known as Amuro Ray from Mobile Suit Gundam, he's also Lan from Megaman NT.

[Fome]

Light is best known as Amuro Ray from Mobile Suit Gundam, he's also Lan from Megaman NT.

Also Quattro in Gundam Wing. The thing that makes it wierd is that he always plays brave, nice, good guys. Although I don't think he does poorly in Death Note. I just have to reenvision the character, which I am always happy to do.

L's English voice actor is amazing. Wow, the inflection quirks are perfect. And when he calls Matsuda/Matsui pretending to be some vapid chum, I thought that was extremely well done.

[Kikio]

Light is best known as Amuro Ray from Mobile Suit Gundam, he's also Lan from Megaman NT.

Thats it..but i still hate L's voice makes me wanna cry T.T

[Bellecat]

Ew, he said "Exactly as planned". Zetsubou shita D:
... I also noticed that during the regain-memory sequence, Light hears L say "I am L."

L said that when he met the task force. LIGHT WASN'T IN THE ROOM. xD

[zetsubou#13]

Personaly, I hate dubs...period Lights voice is amazing in the Japanese

[Sovereign]

The dubs absolutely horrified me.

[Girl_who_cried_gnome]

ahhh i am just so curious and worried about what near's, Matt's, and Mello's voices are going to sound...:uhoh:

not that matt has much to say anyways:heh:.... although i really dont care; just keep on standing there looking pretty matty :innocent:

anways... i really liked L's, Rem's, Matsuda's, and Ryuk's voice actors... although Rem's had me slightly confused on the topic of gender:heh:

Light's voice actor is... okay but it will really be put to the test in episode 37.... i mean Mamoru Miyano was absolutely amazing in my opinion o.O .....when it came to that final emotional climax for Light's character; i thought he captured it perfectly.....

yeah, for some reason i can see the dub actor for hitsugaya doing the voice for near....:heh:

[Royal_Devil]

yeah, for some reason i can see the dub actor for hitsugaya doing the voice for near....:heh:

Unlikely though. DN is dubbed by Ocean Studios in Canada. Bleach's dub is in LA.

[CJL13]

Unlikely though. DN is dubbed by Ocean Studios in Canada. Bleach's dub is in LA.

But the actors are from both Viz and Ocean.

[Royal_Devil]

But the actors are from both Viz and Ocean.

Who in the DN dub has been from LA and vic versa. I know Vic left Texas for a spell for the Bleach dub but not for DN's

[Girl_who_cried_gnome]

Unlikely though. DN is dubbed by Ocean Studios in Canada. Bleach's dub is in LA.

well i wasnt exactly saying that he would or anything... i was just saying that his dub va would fit near in my opinion :rolleyes:

[x happy ending]

Light's voice ended up being pretty good. Mature at times, young, and can crack and still sound right when he's having one of his insane moments. he sounds a little too sensitive though.

L's voice, it wasn't bad, wasn't good. I didnt really care for it, but it didn't bother me deeply.

Misa.. although she's supposed to be girly and cute, she's still a grown woman. She sounds like a hyper active 5 year old sometimes

[ultimatekai]

I actually really like the English voice actors.
I went to see the Death Note movie when it was in American theaters, and I was pleasantly surprised when I found out it was being dubbed by the same English VA's as the anime. <3

The only voice I don't like so far is Mello's. It fits him... sort of. But he still sounds too young and obnoxious.


I have to admit, as well, that Ocean Studios seems to do the best dubs ever. I mean, I always thought Inuyasha was an amazing dub, and now Death Note is good, too. So yeah. Go Ocean Studios!

[rpgman1]

Kirby Morrow seems to fit the bill as Teru Mikami, but I wondered about deleting people. Makes me wonder if Light screwed up in his selection and he gets an old flame back because Misa isn't too bright.

[SammiChan]

Well, I for one am not a big fan of the dubbing. Light's voice is weird. He sounds like he's 15..but he does have that insane laugh down though...Ryuk's voice is probably the best, though when he laughs he sounds like someone who has been smoking for like 30 years. I feel L's voice is the worst...It's so deep! Not like Arnold Swartinegger deep, just deep....It's just weird....and I hate it...

Overall, I'd give the dub a 5/10


I personally dissagree with your comment on L's voice. I think the english voice fits the charachter a bit better the japanese voice sounds a bit too soft to me...however i do agree that light's english voice other than his insane laugh doesn't quite cut it.

[SammiChan]

I actually really like the English voice actors.
I went to see the Death Note movie when it was in American theaters, and I was pleasantly surprised when I found out it was being dubbed by the same English VA's as the anime. <3

The only voice I don't like so far is Mello's. It fits him... sort of. But he still sounds too young and obnoxious.


I have to admit, as well, that Ocean Studios seems to do the best dubs ever. I mean, I always thought Inuyasha was an amazing dub, and now Death Note is good, too. So yeah. Go Ocean Studios!

lol i tottally agree with you. =)

[Jeevas1330]

I really do not like most of the voice actors. But, for most people, it is because they have gotten used to the Japanese voices, and want to hear the same voices in the English version. Though, I do have some criticism. Mello and Raito should not sound alike. Never. Also, Raito seems to be way to energetic. He needs to be calm, and his voice should lower a partial octave when he is thinking, or as some people say, 'in Kira Mode.'

Eru-senpai should have a higher-pitched voice as well. The voice actors are good, but he just has the wrong voice. I really think that the voice actors deserve credit for trying, and a few of the characters were chosen well, like Matsuda and Soichiro, yet the voices do need to sound more like the Japanese voice actors that brought these characters to life for us.

[saku-san]

well i didnt read much of wat was said here but i say that over all it was the best voice over tha canada has done so far -nothing eganst canada but they did kill tokyo mew mew- n i liked most of wat they did ^_^
-i just hated the anime itself-

[Mello]

Well, i really don't like the english version really much... I think that Light and Mello sounded kinda weird. I like the japanese version better, actually i love it!!! I like Nears voice on english version, but that's all...

[Jessi]

I was never one of those anti-dub people, but I do appreciate a decent dub when I hear one. L's voice actor has a huge history of acting/singing/voicing so he's a notch above most of the voice actors.
And I think Brad Swaile was perfect for Light, if you consider that a majority of his characters are psychotic in some way, so he does a very good psychotic character. And yes, psychotic laughter I'm sure is supposed to sound awkward and strange. Remember Quatre from Gundam Wing? Nutjoobbbbbb... >_>;

**Edit: I forgot to rant about how INCREDIBLE Matsuda's voice actor is! I didn't notice until the "Matsuda" episode. But holy shite, is he amazing. I hope I'm not the only one who thinks so.

[rile]

The death note anime dub really isn't that bad.I mean all the voice actors are'nt good and all but for the most part. all of the main characters have some pritty good voice actors if you ask me.:confused:

[Patcoola]

i found the voice acting ok, but it took me sometime to get use to lights voice.

[CollectDust]

I hate Near's eng dub voice. It doesn't suit him~ NOES!

[Dark Lord]

I hate Near's eng dub voice. It doesn't suit him~ NOES!
I actually loved Near's voice! The ones that didn't seem to fit well to me were Light and L, but I got used to them pretty quickly. Light's voice didn't sound as confident to me as the character goes. L's voice sounded to mature to me - and I think L has some immaturity to him like not wanting to lose, eating sweets all the time, and the way he sits.

[Marth]

Generally i would say that the dub in deathnote is exceptional the only one that annoyed me and meesed up the whole serious tone was misa.

[Gaawa-chan]

The only voice actors that bugged me at all in the series were... Light's and Aizawa's- I'm not really sure why Aizawa's bothered me. And Light's grew on me after awhile because he did the 'evilness' so very well...

But Alessandro Juliani's performance blew me away. DAMN. It's the only thing I've heard him in and he's now one of my favorite voice actors along with Liam O'Brien.

Not to mention that Misa's voice came as a severe relief because her Japanese voice was like nails on a chalkboard.

[White Lady]

There are very few dubs I can easily tolerate.This being one that I can't.It just sounds too wierd.Over acting

[Hide273]

I can't stand the dub haha. I Bought the whole series in Manga form. The Japanese version has voices closer to the characters (erm... the voices they had in my head while reading). The English dub on the other hand... - _ - I think Light's voice actor needs to go back to piloting Sandrock Gundam.

[brand_182]

The dub really ruins the series for me. I have to watch it in Japanese, but since I watched it in Japanese first I can't really say whether this is because the English voices are actually bad or because I just like what I hear first. Usually I prefer dubs when they're available.

But in Death Note's case, Light, L, and Misa all sound so different that their personalities are even changed. Really dislike L the most. He is NOT an older authoritative-sounding British guy. He is a weird, anti-social guy that is in college.

[Big Daddy]

Loved the dub :/. I never saw the sub...but the dub felt right IMO, all the voices were perfect IMO except Lights little sister which sounded kind of overdone IMO

Honestly...the best dub i have ever seen...

[AnimeFanficQueen]

Personally, the English Dub is so much better than the English Sub, because they talk so fast and I could not read the subs fast enough. Plus, I like the voices (including L's.) :twitch: Beyond Birthday!!!

[AnimeFanficQueen]

Actually, I think it did suit him well. I mean, imagine if he was played by a GUY! That would have been horrible...!

[Arina-desu]

The dub was pretty great in my opinion! :D They had very decent voice actors (even though I've never heard of any of them) and they matched teh characters well!

[Tenken's Smile]

Light's English voice actor just couldn't pull it! All the important scenes didn't get enough voice emotions that they should have.

L's English voice is better than Light's, but is a bit too faint.

The Japanese voices are perfect!

[LXwillXlive]

i loved the dubbing for death note. a lot of times people base the voices off of the japanese version, but you have to base it off of the character rather than the other VA.

i thought they had amazing VAs
it was definitely my favorite dub of any anime