10 Best Anime Dub Performances By Men

While discussions of anime tend to focus on shows in their original Japanese, anime dubs still have plenty of merit. Voice actors in other languages can provide performances with just as much heart as the original Japanese performances, and in some cases, there have been times when a dub performance is seen as so great that people prefer it over the original Japanese.

Anime dubs have shown a lot of incredible performances from their voice actors, and there are a few that stand out as among the best. Some of the best anime dub performances are great because of how well they emulate the original Japanese, but others stand out for how much originality they added to both the character and their respective anime.

Related: 10 Best Voice Acting Moments in Anime History

10 Mark Gatha As Domon Kasshu

Mobile Fighter G Gundam

Mark Gatha’s performance as Domon Kasshu in Mobile Fighter G Gundam is truly incredible. Mobile Fighter G Gundam was an anime that thrived on the hamminess of its story, and Gatha’s Domon went along with that perfectly by delivering a performance that was always over-the-top, yet still managed to be endearing thanks to how seriously both he and the anime took things. The voice acting in Mobile Fighter G Gundam might not be great on a technical level, but the nature of its story more than makes up for that, and Gatha’s performance perfectly shows why that is.

9 Justin Cook As Yusuke Urameshi

YuYu Hakusho

Another anime dub performance that’s great for how over-the-top it is is Justin Cook as Yusuke Urameshi in YuYu Hakusho. Cook’s performance always did a great job of capturing how much of a punk Yusuke is supposed to be, and the sarcastic nature of his delivery lent itself perfectly to the English dub’s tendency to inject more comedy and profanity into the script, as well. YuYu Hakusho is a rare example of an anime where the English dub is constantly cited as being the best way to watch it, and Cook’s performance as Yusuke played a big part in that.

8 Crispin Freeman As Kyon

The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya

On the opposite end of the spectrum, an anime dub performance that stands out because of its grounded nature is Crispin Freeman as Kyon in The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Kyon’s role in Haruhi Suzumiya is to be the straight man to the crazy antics of Haruhi and the SOS Brigade, and Freeman did a great job of bringing that to life with how easily his dry performance was able to sell Kyon’s retorts and sarcasm in every scene. The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya helped make both its English and Japanese casts household names in anime, and with Freeman’s stellar performance, it’s easy to see why.

7 Ian Sinclair As Dandy

Space Dandy

The anime of Cowboy Bebop creator Shinichiro Watanabe are known for their stellar English dubs, and a great performance to come out of that is Ian Sinclair as Dandy in Space Dandy. Dandy’s schtick was being a goofy guy who bounced back and forth between being cool and only thinking he was cool, and Sinclair’s performance did a great job of capturing that idea with how easily it could convey both suaveness and stupidity. A big selling point of Space Dandy was how the English dub would air before the Japanese, and Sinclair’s Dandy proves how great a decision that was for promoting the series.

6 Steve Blum As Spike Spiegel

Cowboy Bebop

Regarding dubs of Shinichiro Watanabe anime, it’s impossible not to mention Steve Blum’s star-making performance as Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop. Spike is a character designed to be the coolest person in the room, whether that’s in bravado or from being levelheaded, and Blum’s silky delivery always succeeded in conveying that, in addition to the moments of comedy and genuine sadness from Spike, as well. Like YuYu Hakusho, Cowboy Bebop is an anime where the English dub is often seen as the definitive version, and that never would have happened were it not for Blum’s incredible performance as Spike Spiegel.

Related: 10 Old Anime Dubs That Still Hold Up

5 Spike Spencer As Shinji Ikari

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Another anime that’s often defined by its English dub is Neon Genesis Evangelion, and a performance that greatly stands out there is Spike Spencer as Shinji Ikari. Spencer did an amazing job of selling Shinji as a sullen boy having to deal with the struggles of life, and it was through him that every emotional moment Shinji went through was able to be sold with incredible gravitas and believability. Spencer’s Shinji especially shines throughout the Rebuild of Evangelion tetralogy as Shinji is finally able to get a happy ending there, and if it weren’t for Spencer’s delivery, that would have been so much harder to sell.

Related: Evangelion: Why You Won’t Find Evangelion’s Original on Streaming

4 J. Michael Tatum As Rintaro Okabe

Steins;Gate

Many English dub performances are great for how well they match the original Japanese, and a great example of that is J. Michael Tatum as Rintaro Okabe in Steins;Gate. Mamoru Miyano perfectly sold Okabe as an over-the-top wannabee mad scientist in the original Japanese, and Tatum does an excellent job of replicating that with his hammy performance in the English dub, especially when the script uses original jokes to replace the ones that only worked in Japanese. Befitting his role as the protagonist, Okabe is the character that sells Steins;Gate as a series, and Tatum’s delivery did a lot to make that work in the English dub.

3 Mike Pollock As Doctor Eggman

Sonic X

While 4Kids Entertainment is infamous for its terrible English dubs, they still got great performances out of their actors now and then, and one of their best is Mike Pollock as Doctor Eggman in Sonic X. While Sonic X’s quality might be divisive, Pollock’s performance as Eggman always managed to sell him as a villain who, despite how goofy he was, knew how to be menacing when the time called for it, and his scenes were often the best in the entire series. It says a lot that Pollock has successfully retained his role for 20 years, and with how perfectly he embodies Eggman, that’s unlikely to change anytime soon.

2 Eric Stuart As Seto Kaiba

Yu-Gi-Oh!

Another great English dub performance to come out of a 4Kids Entertainment dub is Eric Stuart as Seto Kaiba in Yu-Gi-Oh! Stuart did an incredible job of selling Kaiba as a charismatic, egotistical narcissist, and even though he should be someone the audience hates, it’s impossible to do so with how hammy Stuart’s delivery always is. The English dub’s version of Kaiba is written very differently from the original Japanese, the Japanese version not being nearly as jokey and self-absorbed, but Stuart still sold him as an incredible character, and his version has essentially become the definitive version of Kaiba.

1 Christopher Ayres As Frieza

Dragon Ball Z Kai

The best anime dub performance by a man is undeniably Christopher Ayres as Frieza in Dragon Ball Z Kai. While there was initially some contention over Kai replacing many of the pre-established English voices, Ayres proved to be more than a worthy replacement for Linda Young for his cold and despicable delivery that perfectly lent itself to the more accurate script. Ayres’ continued work with the character helped to redefine Frieza for English fans in the best of ways, and even with his untimely passing in 2021, his work as Frieza will always stand out as some of the best in the entire franchise.

English anime dubs have a reputation for always falling short of the original Japanese, but that’s hardly universal. While there are certainly a lot of bad dubs, as this list shows, there are plenty that feature great performances out of their voice actors for how much life they add to the anime, whether it’s through mimicking the original Japanese or by trying and succeeding at adding an original flair to the dub. These examples and others show that English anime dubs have plenty of merit to them, and it would be wrong of someone to so easily write any of them off.