Neon Genesis Evangelion -dub- Review

Furthermore, the secondary characters suffer. Gendo sounds less like a master manipulator and more like a low-rent Batman villain. And the children (Toji, Kensuke, Hikari) sound like they wandered in from a Pokémon dub.

Let’s not pretend it’s perfect. The ADV dub is loose . Localizers in the 90s took wild liberties. Kaworu’s famous “I love you” to Shinji becomes “I like you,” subtly changing the romantic subtext to platonic ambiguity. The translators also consistently missed the nuance of “Ikari” (anger/fury) as a surname. Neon Genesis Evangelion -Dub-

If you want precision and fidelity , watch the Japanese with subtitles or the newer VSI/Netflix dub (which is cleaner but sterile). Furthermore, the secondary characters suffer

You cannot discuss the original dub without mentioning the ending. Every episode of the ADV release closed with Claire Littley’s ethereal cover of “Fly Me to the Moon.” It provided a melancholic, jazzy comedown after the psychological horror. Netflix stripped this (due to licensing), and the absence is felt. The original dub lives and dies by that 60-second outro. Let’s not pretend it’s perfect

Spike Spencer’s Shinji isn't the "correct" Shinji. Tiffany Grant’s Asuka isn't the "correct" Asuka. But they are my Shinji and Asuka. In a series about the subjective nature of human connection (the Hedgehog’s Dilemma), maybe that’s the point.

But if you want personality ? If you want a dub that feels like a group of talented Texas theater kids throwing everything at the wall to make sense of the apocalypse? The ADV dub is essential viewing.