Banana Fish’s English dub was provided by a machine and fans were not having it. After a week of viral clips, mockery, backlash from anime fans, and intense criticism from voice actors across the industry, Amazon has officially removed its AI generated English dub for Banana Fish. The dub, which Amazon labeled as an AI Beta, became a lightning rod for frustration over the streaming giant’s attempt to quietly replace professional voice performers with synthetic text-to-speech automation.
The response was immediate and brutal. Fans called it monotone, lifeless, hilariously low effort, and outright disrespectful to the voice acting craft. Even emotionally explosive scenes a hallmark of Banana Fish’s dramatic intensity were reduced to dull, whisper-level droning reminiscent of a broken GPS assistant. The dub went viral not because it was impressive, but because of how shockingly bad it sounded. Check it out for yourself here:
@animedomainx This is Back ngl 🥀 Amazon has started using Al to dub shows, and the first anime to receive an English Al dub is Banana Fish. Many voice actors are speaking out against Amazon's decision, criticizing the use of Al and the fact that human voice actors were not compensated. Banana Fish is an action-packed crime thriller that follows a young, intelligent gang leader named Ash Lynx as he investigates a mysterious d_rug called "Banana Fish" while trying to protect a pure-hearted Japanese boy, Eiji Okumura, in the dangerous underworld of 1980s New York City Follow For Daily Anime News #BananaFish ♬ original sound - Anime DomainX | Anime News
After days of public ridicule, Amazon finally caved. The AI English dub is gone. While tech companies continue to insist that AI voice tools are the future, Amazon’s experiment showed just how far the technology still has to go especially in an industry where emotional performance defines the medium.
The AI dub featured:
- Monotone delivery with no emotional fluctuation
- Weird, uneven audio mixing
- Flat dialogue during high-intensity action sequences
- Pronunciation errors and awkward pacing
- No humanity, nuance, or dramatic timing
Critics immediately pointed out how insulting it was for Amazon a company worth over a trillion dollars to cut corners on one of the most performance driven aspects of anime production. With all of Jeff Bezos’ money, fans argued, hiring actors should’ve been the obvious choice.
Instead, Amazon tested the waters with a beta AI dub that played more like a parody than a professional track.
The anime community didn’t pull any punches as per usual. Memes, reaction videos, and quote tweets tore the dub to shreds within hours of its appearance. Many accused Amazon of devaluing creative labor during a time when voice actors are fighting harder than ever for fair wages, royalties, and job protection against AI displacement.
As one viral comment put it:
"Bullying works. Hire actors."
And the message landed. Amazon removed the AI English dub from Banana Fish entirely, though as of now, the Spanish AI generated dub is still up. Whether that track will also disappear remains to be seen.
Will Amazon Fix This With a Proper Dub?
The big question now is simple:
Will Amazon replace its failed AI track with a real English dub recorded by professional actors?
Fans hope so, but Amazon hasn’t issued any statements beyond quietly taking down the machine-generated version. Considering Banana Fish's popularity and emotional weight, a proper dub would not only be welcomed it would be expected. And with Amazon’s resources, it would barely register as a financial inconvenience.
Amazon’s fumble is part of a larger shift in entertainment. Other industries are experimenting with AI voices sometimes quietly, sometimes openly:
- Arc Raiders uses AI-generated voice performances
- Some studios quietly test AI for placeholder dialogue
- Tech companies pitch AI as a money-saving replacement for live actors
But the Banana Fish situation proves one thing clearly:
AI isn’t remotely good enough to replace human actors, especially in emotionally charged storytelling. Anime, in particular, thrives on dynamic, heartfelt voice work. Fans know when something feels off because voice acting is a cornerstone of the medium’s identity. And if this debacle is the best AI can do, the fight for real performers is far from over. Amazon tried to cut costs. The internet dragged them for it. And now their AI experiment has vanished from the platform.
Turns out the fans were right: there is no substitute for human performance, no matter how advanced the machine. Do you agree? Let us know what you thought of the AI English dub in the comments below. Stay tuned to Animemojo.com for more content!
Banana Fish Synopsis:
Banana Fish is set in the United States during the mid-1980s, primarily in New York City. Seventeen-year-old street gang leader Ash Lynx cares for his older brother Griffin, a Vietnam War veteran left in a vegetative state following a traumatic combat incident in which he fired on his own squadron and uttered the words "banana fish". One night, Ash witnesses two of his gang members kill a man who instructs Ash to "seek banana fish" before dying.