Initial Thoughts and a Question

I'd not read much about Trigun, but what little I saw made me think this was similar to Cowboy Bebop. Boy was I ever wrong. The humor slapped me in the face and so the series got a pretty big boost. Not 'Azumanga Daioh' funny though... ;-D

The English dub doesn't seem bad. It was almost shocking hearing Lia Sargent as the voice of Milly Thompson. Lia was the English voice of May from 'Hand Maid May' and that's one of the few series I really enjoy hearing in both English and Japanese. For those of you who've seen the Japanese version, how does the dub hold up?

Yep, Trigun's a million laughs for a while, until it gets serious. Then it's still a great series, but in an entirely different way.

The dub of Trigun...I quite like. I'm particularly surprised at how well Vash is portrayed by his dub actor, Johnny Yong Bosch, who at one time was a Mighty Morphin' Power Ranger.

I think the dub is really good. Johnny 'Mighty Morphin Power Black Ranger II' Yong Bosch really is versatile in performing the mutli-layers of Vash's personality (although I also dig the Japanese Vash, who can do one REALLY Tortured scream). The dubs for Meryl, Milly (though the japanese Vash is a better weeper), Wolfwood, and Legato are also good.

Just a general thought - I don't mind dubs when the main cast isn't supposed to be Japanese, or it's set far enough in the future that English could conceivably have become the universal lingua franca. Hearing the cast of Love Hina speaking English just ties my brain in knots; hearing the cast of Trigun or Bebop speaking English almost sounds more natural than the sub. (Assuming the dub is decent, of course.)

- 5parrow

I agree. I've been trying to listen to the English dub of 'Tenchi Muyo!' but after episode 2, I just couldn't do it any more. 'Love Hina' is mostly bad, especially Kitsune. I've watched 'Cowboy Bebop' in Japanese and while I like it, I do like the English dub best. 'Inuyasha' I could go either way though I have a preference to the Japanese. Same thing for 'Hand Maid May' and 'Oh My Goddess'. I enjoy the English dub and do listen to the English version nearly half the time.

Here's hoping for more GOOD English dubs!

I do like the Japanese voices in the OAVs (what I think you're talking about) except that I really love Washuu-chan's English VA. I think she may well have a better voice for the character than the Japanese seiyuu.

Yup. Regardless how you feel about 'em (I tend to prefer subs), that's the best way to show non-fen anime.

Agreed. He gets his screams and wails and Vashnoises really well. Meryl's voice, however, is painful. And I just don't like hearing Milly call Meryl by her name. x.x; I'm too used to 'senpai' to get used to first-name-basis stuff.

And I doubt anyone could beat Toshihiko Seki as Legato. o.-

And Midvalley. Midvalley has a GREAT Japanese voice. The whole 'These are the Gung-Ho Guns names' scene was really fun. Just listening to him talk was fun. *nods*

I would as soon not watch an anime

And the thing you realize about Trigun is that it is set in a period when a sort of English is a lingua franca. Look at how distances are measured as well as the site locations shown on screen and the various old-west style signs in English.

So the characters are suppose to be speaking English in the first place but are using Japanese because that is the language the audience understand.

That's what it seems like. The lettering is all in a kind of devolved English that would seem to result from a combination of the world's history (trying to avoid spoilers) and the effect of non-native speakers on the language.