#german dub

Today I learned that in the german dub of the Owl House, Hooty is called “Holzi” (which would translate to “Woody” I guess? But also reminds me of “Ich und mein Holz” which. no.).

Also Owlbert is “Heulbert” (lit. “crybert”) and of course they gendered Raine as male, which is disappointing but not exactly surprising.

Also also, King’s voice is giving me nightmares.

So, while randomly going through the Crunchyroll Dubs youtube channel, I stumbled across this debate over whether you should watch “Spy x Family” in dub or sub. The dub is great, but there was the usual band of assholes saying “sUb oNLy!!111!”. However, one user actually wrote that people should only watch the sub because the “right” way to watch anime is to watch in the “culturally accurate” way. 

That argument is hilarious to me because, if you REALLY want to watch a culturally accurate “Spy x Family”, you’d watch it in the German dub. The show is based on Cold War-era East and West Germany and the capital city is literally called Berlint. Also, even without the German background, the English dub would be more culturally accurate since all the characters and setting are obviously European-based.

So in the pointless war of subs versus dubs, this is one instance where the dub side wins. 

I finally got around to watching the German dub of “Spy x Family”. All I have to say is that it makes a HUGE difference. It actually feels more appropriate for the setting since the series is based on Cold War-era Germany. Like, this is the version of “Spy x Family” that plays in my head when I’m reading the manga. It also helps that the German cast manages to match the energy of the Japanese cast.

So, yeah, I might just stick to the German dub from now on.

Also, this might be a hot take, but German Yor (Daniela Molina) sounds…better? Not to take away from Saori Hayami’s performance, but her Yor sounds a little too timid. Daniela Molina’s Yor sounds like she could be a loving mom/wife AND a stone cold killer.

Figured out I could provide some quick translations for the newly released German Magia Record clips for better understanding. So here you go! Videos and translations below the cut!

Scene 1)

Iroha: „Hey Kyubey, tell me. What kind of wish was it that you granted me when I became a magical girl?“

Kyubey: „Huh, this topic again? How many times do I have to tell you that I don´t know anything in particular about it. All I know is that you made your wish for someone else´s sake. I don´t know for whom or what you wished for. This lies beyond my abilities.“

Iroha: „Seriously? Are you sure you can´t remember anything?“

Kyubey: „Under normal circumstances I would not forgot about it. Perhaps the reason lies with you? Perhaps you wished for your wish to remain secret.“

Iroha: „You mean I wanted no one to remember my wish from the start? Not even myself? That does not make any sense. I mean, why would I do that?“

Kyubey: „Well, who knows. But is it really so important for you to know what you wished for?“

Iroha: „Yes of course it is! I am putting my life on the line after all and I don´t even know what I do it for. Do you have any idea how frustrating this is? [Sighs] Why don´t I remember anymore?“

Scene 2)

Kuroe: „Have you never regretted your decision? Not even once? „

[Iroha tries to answer but can´t]

Kuroe: „May I ask you something? What did you wish for when you became a magical girl? You know, I wanted to be together with someone I used to love very dearly. But people change and now we are no longer together. It might sound insignificant but back then it was my greatest wish. I was in love after all and willing to do anything just so we could get together. „

Kuroe: „But one thing is for certain. Had I known what would await me I would have never become a magical girl in the first place. If only this silly wish had never come true. Our fate is sealed and one day it will cost us our life. „

[Iroha lets out a surprised gasp]

Kuroe: „Shouldn´t your stop be coming up soon?“

Iroha: „We unfortunately just passed it. Say, where are you going Kuroe-San?“

Kuroe: „To Kamihama.“

Scene 3)

Momoko: „Leave them alone!“

[Momoko saves Iroha and Kaede]

Momoko: „You really have the audacity to attack my teammate just like that. For that you will have to pay!“

Kaede: „Momoko-Chan!“

Rena: „Unbelievable. You always end up dragging us down.“ [More literally speaking she says Kaede is always a millstone around their necks.]

Momoko: „Lets go take them down Rena!“

Rena: „Okay!“

In about two weeks the first few episodes of Magia Record will be released alongside the German dub! As a native German speaker I took a look at the preview clips and just wanted to give a quick review. Mind you, the German language is not really known for good anime dubs (although not terrible).

My favorite voices this far are definetly Iroha and Rena. Iroha sounds different from the German Madoka voice so that helps her stand out. Whereas Madoka is rather squeaky and pitchy with a soft spoken tone, Iroha is more collected while still friendly.

Rena manages to come off a bit bratty/tsundere without sounding over the top (German is actually a very pretty language when it´s spoken in a rather calm/collected way so over the top voice acting is something that´s not done too often.)

Momoko sounds good, although she could be a bit more tomboyish. Still a good choice. Kaede is okay, her voice is rather sweet and a bit squeaky which fits her character but comes of weird when using German. If you are into that I´m sure you would like her. Funnily Kuroe doesn´t sound very remarkable and doesn´t stand out which is really in character for her. She could be a bit more mellow and a tad less confident but she´s fine.

But Kyubey is a walking trainwreck. While I was not a big fan of Kyubey´s voice for the original Madoka Magica Dub, this one is just painful. Kyubey is supposed to be a genderless presenting being and while most voices tend to be a more feminine leaning, this one straight up goes for pitchy girl. No thanks.

If you are curios check out the samples below!

Clip 1
Clip 2
Clip 3