Last year I did my Top Ten list on Worst dubbed anime performances, this sort of follows on from that but this time lets look at the character performances that really sucked. I'll also name the Voice Actor behind each character.
Please note that this list isn't a reflection of the Voice Actor themselves as most of them would have done better work.
Now lets begin.
Dishonorable Mentions
James from Pokemon voiced by Ted Lewis
Ted Lewis is better known for Giovanni and Tracey, however he didn't get a very good shot at James in the first few episodes of the original series as his acting range doesn't suit comic relief too well but seeing as the casting was replaced quickly he misses this list.
Hikaru Shidou from Magic Knight Rayearth voiced by Julie Maddalena
I just found the voice irritating, which thankfully was resolved in the OVA through change of casting. Saying that it's not a big enough criticism to go on the list.
Gourry Gabriev from Slayers voiced by Eric Stuart
Eric Stuart didn't start his portrayal of Gourry very well but because he improved over time he's escaped this list.
10. Italy from Hetalia voiced by Todd Haberkorn
Pulling off an accent is tough especially when you have to cover such a broad range of them and poor Todd Haberkorn cannot do Italian.
9. Tenma Tsukamoto from School Rumble voiced by Luci Christian
Luci Christian has done loads of voices really well, so what does she bring to Tenma from School Rumble, her Kaname Chidori voice. This does not suit Tenma seeing as her Japanese voice is much lighter in tone, I usually don't mind a change in tone between translations but Tenma's voice put me off the dub.
8. Kintaro Oe from Golden Boy voiced by Doug Smith
Another case of change for the worst, as Kintaro's voice became stupid for the dub, a poor direction to go for the character. I've already mentioned how bad the dub was anyway, I won't go through it anymore.
7. Ryoko from Tenchi Muyo OVA voiced by Mona Marshall
When Tenchi Muyo's cast returned, Ryoko's original dub voice didn't and instead they picked Mona Marshall, a voice better suited for tomboys and young boys rather than a sassy space pirate. That was not a smart choice, this led to Tenchi Muyo's downfall and since then the series has not been popular in the west.
6. Anthy Himemiya from Utena voiced by Sharon Becker
Utena is a notoriously bad dub to begin with but made worst when you come to an important character like Anthy. In short, she's too quiet and too flat sounding yet her design is meant to be striking enough to be backed up by an equally thought inspiring voice and yet it didn't happen and like the rest of the series, fell flat.
5. Angel Daisy from Wedding Peach voiced by Heather Kafka
Wedding Peach sadly was another train wreck of a dub and poor Angel Daisy suffered as a result, completely wrong voice casting was the blame for this one. If the dub is going to be bad anyway at least make the characters sound right.
4. Canal Volfield from Lost Universe voiced by Jessica Schwartz
Lost Universe is part of ADV Films forgotten dubs series, which remain forgotten for a reason but by virtue of Nozomi entertainment some of them came back. Sadly the old dub remained and Canal's voice is not only irritating but the entire performance is flat. Made even worst when you consider that Jessica Schwartz does have good range when putting on an accent.
3. Sai Nanohana from Jubei-Chan voiced by Byron Close
The Jubei-Chan dub lacked emotion which is something a lot of actors failed to accomplish in this series but nothing could top Sai Nanohana's voice, the performance was so bad that the series stopped being threatening and just became laughable.
2. Yuma Tsukumo from Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal voiced by Eli Jay
I've not known any performance to be the epiphany of failure like Yuma Tsukumo, this is the lowest Yu-Gi-Oh have ever sunk.
1. Miaka Yuuki from Fushigi Yugi voiced by Bridget Hoffman
Bridget Hoffman is a veteran actress and is really good at some roles but all it took to ruin Miaka Yuuki was the very first lines of dialogue, that took 40 seconds, it doesn't get any better from there. Just goes to show that there are just some roles you can't always get right.
