Neon Genesis Evangelion's success, both critically and commercially, has allowed it to be elevated to a height few properties within anime are, and in turn, its acclaim has helped elevate the medium. But one thing that is less commonly agreed on is the quality of its English dubs, both for the original series and the Rebuilds.
Since Evangelion's release in 1995, there has been a multitude of English dubs for the franchise, typically determined by whichever company has licensed it at the time. When Netflix released their controversial dub, one big question was this: did people even like the original dub? The answers were varied but those that enjoyed it responded with a very resounding "YES" and the reasons aren't hard to understand. First and foremost, the main cast was iconic.
ADV Films: The Classic Dub
Spike Spencer's performance as Shinji, Tiffany Grant as Asuka, Allison Keith as Misato, and Amanda Winn Lee as Rei are most certainly the first voices that come to mind when thinking of Eva. Whether they were playing traumatized kids or dysfunctional adults, these actors gave their all and carried what was otherwise let down by the supporting cast.
The ADV dub is certainly the most storied, with the commentaries citing budgetary restrictions as a key roadblock in the production. The supporting cast, the most contentious aspect, was played by production staff rather than actors. Despite that, and likely because of the main characters, the dub was a hit.
By the time ADV needed to redub episodes 21 through 24 for the Director's cut, missing performers were replaced with an expanded list of talent. It was here that Jon Swasey debuted as Gendo Ikari, a role he would come to embody much in the same way as his cast mates. While not beloved by everyone, the dub's legacy was understood and went on to influence the next one.
Funimation: The Rebuild Dub
While Funimation never did acquire the rights to distribute the original TV series, they were at the forefront of bringing the new Rebuild movies to home video and even to theaters in the west. Spike Spencer, Tiffany Grant, Allison Keith, and Jon Swasey were all back to reprise their roles, but everyone else, including Amanda Winn Lee, was recast. And save for Lee's unfortunate re-casting, this decision turned out to be the smartest possible.
To put it bluntly, Funimation's dub of the Evangelion Rebuilds isn't just some of the best dubbing in Evangelion, but some of the company's best dubbing, period. With the classic cast maintained, the expanded talent of Funimation filled out the rest of the cast with star-studded flair, including Greg Ayres, J. Michael Tatum, Trina Nishimura, and more.
The Re-Dub of Eva 3.0
Funimation released every Evangelion Rebuild film on home video from 1.11 to 3.33. But not everyone was on board with their work, and this wasn't just some vocal criticism from fans either. It came from the creators themselves, Studio Khara. After the theatrical release of 3.33 in the west, it took 2 years before the film was released on Blu-ray.
Look at the trailer for the home video release of 3.33 and watch the official Funimation dub, and the dubs are not the same. This is because the trailer used by Funimation for the Blu-ray release is the same as the one for the theatrical release. In the time between the two, Khara exerted extra creative control over the dub and its script to ensure that it was in line with the original screenplay.
For the most part, these changes are nothing major, nor does the redubbing appear to be of a lesser quality than the first, of which only a few clips exist online. The directing by Mike McFarland was still giving it 100% and the cast, new or old, were thriving in their roles. But this marked a significant moment, as from then on, Khara would maintain creative control over every future dub.
Khara's Control & The Netflix Dub
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The epitome of Khara's oversight came in 2019 when Netflix released Neon Genesis Evangelion, Death and Rebirth, and End of Evangelion, all with a brand-new dub. Not a single trace of the original cast remained and everything was seemingly reconstructed to meet the original script more faithfully, with a more faithful cast.
In all honesty, Evangelion's Netflix dub, produced by VSI Group, gets far more hate than it deserves in the grand scheme of things. A lot of this hate has to do with the original cast's absence, but also some of the more egregious stipulations from Khara's translations, notably those penned by Dan Kanemitsu.
Things like the term "Third Children" used to describe Shinji rather than the grammatically correct "Third Child" were just the tip of the iceberg. The change from "I love you" to "I like you" between Shinji and Kaworu stirred many a hornet's nest. Nostalgia combined with perplexing creative choices stacked the odds against the dub early on.
And yet, in the time since it's become more appreciated for how improved the script is overall, how much more cohesive it is, and for how natural the performances are across the board. It's hard to beat the original cast, but Casey Mongillo as Shinji Ikari might be the most perfect casting of the character in history, even better than Spike Spencer (a bold claim, certainly).
Amazon's Final Impact
With so much time passed since 3.0's release, it was only natural that Funimation would eventually lose the rights to Evangelion and a bidding war would begin. Amazon, in one of their infrequent plays at anime licensing, nabbed Evangelion's final film, 3.0+1.0, as well as the first three. But they didn't just re-release the three dubs already made. They redubbed them again.
Shinji, Asuka, and Misato's voice actors were all back, but so was Amanda Winn Lee reprising her role as Rei. 3.0+1.0's dub has been met with mostly positive reception and brings things to a close nicely with all the actors giving it their all even with some occasional roughness on account of the dense script.
Unfortunately, the same can't be said for the first three films, the redubs of which often sap some life out of scenes that previously felt so much more intense in Funimation's dub. It's as if everyone gave their A-game for the final film and then begrudgingly retread old ground again so Amazon could release everything the same day.
Which Is The Best?
The trouble with judging the best dub is that one must consider both the series and the Rebuilds all at once. For the Rebuilds, Funimation's dubs are by far the superior version, even if they never got finished. The cast and the directing gave heartfelt performances that felt like the best of what Eva was capable of evoking emotionally, whereas the Amazon dubs felt at times tired and obligatory.
As for the series, the decision is far more controversial. ADV's dub is certainly iconic, but the Netflix dub's performances are so much better than the pitfalls of its strict translation. The act of translation is not a science, but an art form. Faithfulness is integral but cannot be brought to fruition without some creative liberties.
Perhaps more liberties could have been taken with Netflix's dubs, but a few oddities in the writing are nothing before the enormity of Evangelion's ambitions. In the end, thanks to its fresh-faced performers mixed with established talent, Netflix's dub stands as the best overall way to watch the original series in English.