Amazon removes AI-generated anime dubs after uproar

Amazon has quietly removed its AI-generated English dubs for several anime after days of vicious ridicule. Voice actors and anime fans alike slammed the Banana Fish, No Game No Life: Zero, and Vinland Saga AI dubs, calling them “soulless,” “disrespectful,” and “hilariously bad.” 

Clips of Amazon’s AI-generated anime dubs began circulating on social media after they were added to Prime Video last month. Labelled as “AI beta” under Prime Video’s audio language options, the laughably awful AI-generated voices gained significant attention and widespread mockery for their awkward, flat delivery. Numerous voice actors have lambasted Amazon’s AI dubs, with the National Association of Voice Actors (NAVA) issuing a statement calling them “AI slop.”

“I showed my 10 year old the AI clips of Banana Fish floating around online (no way are we ever watching Prime again),” wrote Kara Edwards, a prolific U.S. voice actor. “He cackled with laughter and is walking around unenthusiastically chanting ‘no skipper nooo’. It may become this generation’s The Room. It’s so embarrassing.”

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Though using AI to dub any anime would not be well received, some found the decision to do it to Banana Fish particularly distasteful. Originally released in 2018, Banana Fish is a widely lauded work considered influential in LGBTQ+ manga and anime. The 24-episode anime follows the relationship between teenage gang leader Ash Lynx and Japanese photographer’s assistant Eiji Okumura in New York, originally portrayed by prolific Japanese voice actors Yuma Uchida and Kenji Nojima respectively. 

Fans have long hoped Banana Fish would eventually receive an official English dub. Sadly, this isn’t quite what they envisaged.

“After years of fans hoping for an English dub of Banana Fish, you give it to us as AI generated garbage? It’s disrespectful as hell,” voice actor Daman Mills posted on X. Mills previously worked on Amazon’s English dubs of the Evangelion films. “Was a queer trauma narrative handed to a machine because paying real actors is too hard? Fix this, or I personally will not work with you as an actor EVER AGAIN on any of your dubs. This is not ‘the future.’ This is erasure.”

“Banana Fish is one of the most heart wrenching and romantic stories ever told in anime,” wrote voice actor Jacob Hopkins, sharing a screenshot of him cancelling his Prime membership. “For Amazon to implement AI for the English dub defeats the entire purpose. But of course they don’t care about the artistic meaning. Boycott Prime. Nuff said.”

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While Banana Fish was the most high profile victim of Amazon’s AI dubs, it unfortunately wasn’t the only anime impacted. No Game No Life: Zero and Vinland Saga also received English AI dubs, each just as terrible as the last. 

Notably, unlike Banana Fish, both titles already have official human-voiced English dubs. No Game No Life: Zero has an English dub by Sentai Filmworks, while Vinland Saga actually has two: one by Sentai Filmworks and another by Netflix.

“No Game, No Life is the first anime dub I was ever cast in and @amazon is making a mockery of it,” wrote voice actor Christina Kelly. “Please do not support AI.”

“What hope does any aspiring voice actor have now?” said Johnny Young Bosch, one of the most well-known anime voice actors in the U.S. “Amazon has deep resources and should do better. They’re also AI dubbing over titles that already have existing dubs.”

Other voice actors further expressed concerns regarding exactly how Amazon generated its AI dubs.

“Hey, what dubs were used to train this dubbing AI?” posted Briana White, best known for voicing Aerith in Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth. “Just curious if the talented actors who were fed into said AI without their knowledge or consent will be getting any credit for their work? Any money for their work? Just curious.”

“Human dubbing takes skill, emotion, nuance, understanding, and human experience to create a performance that audiences connect with and respect,” wrote NAVA. “These AI dubs show just how much skill and practice it really takes to connect through a voice performance and how hard it is to clone the human experience.”

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Amazon removed its English AI dubs amidst this uproar, leaving English-speaking fans to either read subtitles or seek out superior, human-made English dubs elsewhere. 

Even so, the issue is far from settled. Amazon also generated AI dubs for these series in Spanish, which are still available at time of writing. Voice actors and fans are calling for these Spanish AI dubs to be removed as well, criticising the removal of just the English ones as a half measure.

“[G][ive the Spanish-language one the same treatment, release a statement affirming your support for HUMAN artists and give these wonderful shows the adaptations they deserve,” wrote voice actor Landon McDonald.

“It needs to be every AI dub,” wrote Mills. “Not just the ones currently under fire.”

This isn’t the first time Amazon has dabbled in AI-generated dubs. The tech giant initially announced its pilot program for AI-generated dubs in March this year, starting with titles such as El Cid: La Leyenda and Mi Mamá Lora. The result was similarly underwhelming.

Amazon has been leaning heavily on generative AI this year. Last month it began beta testing AI-generated video recaps for some Prime Video original series, complete with AI-generated voiceover narration. In May, Amazon launched AI-generated audio summaries of products for sale on its online marketplace.