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Amazon is facing sharp backlash from the voice acting community as well as fans after releasing AI-generated English and Spanish dubs for Banana Fish.
The automated dubs were widely condemned for their extremely poor quality, featuring robotic line delivery, mismatched timing, and spoken dialogue that didn’t even align with the on-screen subtitles.
The situation quickly gained traction as voice actors began publicly condemning the move. Daman Mills, known for voicing Frieza in Dragon Ball Super, criticized Amazon and Prime Video for using AI to replace human performers. He called the dub “AI generated garbage.”
Mills stated that fans had waited years for a proper English dub of Banana Fish, only for the company to hand the series “to a machine,” adding that he would refuse to work on any Amazon dub projects if the decision is not reversed. He said this is not “the future” but “erasure.”
“It’s disrespectful as hell. Was a queer trauma narrative handed to a machine because paying real actors is too hard?” he added.
In a subsequent tweet, Mills also noted that Amazon typically pays around $125–$150 per hour to English voice actors working under SAG-AFTRA union rates, with even lower compensation for dubbing production teams.
According to him, experienced actors could’ve done the job efficiently and “would finish a dubbing job in plenty of time,” taking a jab at the company by saying that “apparently the cost of hiring real performers is too much for a MULTI BILLION DOLLAR COMPANY.”
Mills also referenced his past work for Amazon on the Evangelion movie dubs, saying he was proud to voice Kaworu Nagisa, especially as a queer actor, and expressed disappointment that the company chose AI for Banana Fish.
He questioned the logic behind using AI for an eight-year-old series with no urgent timeline and said he hopes Amazon reverses the decision to give Banana Fish the “treatment it rightfully deserves.”
He added that anime is more globally popular than ever, with two major anime films this year becoming some of the highest-grossing animated movies to date, making Amazon’s cost-cutting decision even more baffling. To him, the issue highlights how AI threatens performers’ livelihoods across all languages, including Japanese voice actors, many of whom have also spoken out about AI’s encroachment into their field.
The backlash quickly widened as more voice actors joined the criticism. Nick Huber, who voices Red King in One Piece and Toma Hiragi in Wind Breaker, called the dub “so f*cking atrocious,” describing it as lifeless and poorly intonated. He said it was a slap in the face to artists, actors, and fans.
Belsheber Rusape, known for work in Horimiya, Dragon Ball DAIMA, and One Piece, expressed frustration that the beloved series lost the chance at a proper dub despite Amazon having “all the money and connections” needed. He stressed that Banana Fish, a story built on raw human emotion, deserved human performers.
Marisa Duran (Horimiya, Kaiju No. 8) also criticized Amazon’s use of AI in the dubbing process, calling it “atrocious and disrespectful.” Duran urged the company to let dedicated actors do their work instead of replacing them with bots.
The anime, produced by MAPPA and directed by Hiroko Utsumi, aired on Fuji TV’s Noitamina programming block and Amazon Prime Video from July 5 to Dec 20, 2018. The series was produced as a part of a commemoration project to mark the 40th anniversary of Yoshida’s debut as a manga artist.
Source: X
