As most fans probably already know, a Rockman EXE anime series was running from 2002–2006, when the series was still in its prime. The anime was later brought stateside by Viz Media as MegaMan NT Warrior, with a heavily revised English script and dub. But did you know there was a second English dub for the Rockman EXE anime? An alternative version of the anime, simply titled Rockman EXE, was independently edited and dubbed into English by Voiceovers Unlimited for the South-East Asian market, and saw limited distribution in that region.
The SEA dub was thought to be lost for a while, but one of our writers MidniteW recently found a Malaysian VCD of the first 29 episodes! Unlike the Viz Media version, the Voiceovers Unlimited dub is far more faithful to the Japanese script, and retains the original Japanese soundtrack that got replaced in NT Warrior. It even uses the Japanese names of the characters, such as Netto instead of Lan!
Here’s a direct comparison between the two versions. The first video shows a scene from the Voiceovers Unlimited version; the second video shows the same scene from the Viz Media version (headphones warning!). The difference is… striking.
This alternate dub has a wonky English script, but it’s completely faithful to the original Japanese, even retaining the original music.
— Wira (@MidniteW) July 3, 2019
Here’s a direct comparison with a clip I posted some time ago, the difference in the script is night and day.https://t.co/mAmDtSaLpp pic.twitter.com/BfS25juOea
If you’re wondering what all the other main characters sound like, take a listen to some more videos.