Why do people detest English dubs?
Ok, I'm a casual anime fan. In fact, with the exception of Dragon Ball, there isn't a single anime franchise I've seen every episode in. So, maybe I "just don't get it." But this is still baffling enough that I can't fathom why people are so defensive about it.
Now don't get me wrong; I'm not trying to act like some sort of a-hole patriotic "You either love it or you leave it! Ameeeeeeeericaaaaaaaaaa! PHUGYEAH!" kind of guy. To the contrary, it seems like the hardcore anime fans are that way, not me.
It seems that, for some of the most hardcore anime fans out there, their pasttime has no business being in anything other than Japanese. If it's dubbed over with English voice actors, that's almost like painting a mustache over the Mona Lisa; it just tarnishes what the artwork is supposed to be. Heaven forbid they actually make the shows accessible to those who don't speak Japanese! And that if you don't take the time to learn Japanese, you have no business being an anime fan.
For examples, there's 3:21 - 3:37 of this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ_VfizNaJQ
Then there's this comment I saw on a "Dragon Ball Retrospective" video uploaded by some British guy named KHFMcAwesome:
http://www.animeforum.com/image/png;...AASUVORK5CYII=
And then there's 6:22 - 7:42 of this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB1Xz7Hm6jo
When describing the soundtrack, he actually felt the need to take time out of his review to explain that he doesn't like the Japanese soundtrack "on principle because it's the original." So maybe it's just the fact that I'm just a casual fan, but this seems to me like there are enough hardcore fans who insist on it being the "original" that he feared being lumped into that category if he didn't nip it in the bud when he had the chance.
Jesus Christ, people! What crawled up your asses to the point where anything related to Japanese anime absolutely has to stay 100% pristine, otherwise it's just wrong wrong wrong?! What the hell has made you all act like "Japania! PHUGYEAH!"
Re: Why do people detest English dubs?
It is partly a matter of taste. But with the original Japanese dub, from the voice tone you get a better idea of the mood the creators originally intended. But then again there is a problem with bad sub-titles if you do not understand Japanese. It becomes obvious when the sub-titles are incomplete. You get the feeling there is something you are missing because details are left out. Also, if the sub-titles go too quickly to be read it can be a problem.
For most anime, it really makes no difference. Usually, I start out watching both the original Japanese dub with sub-titles, and then re-watch with the English dub. After 2-3 episodes, I will decide between the two. For a complex anime, such as Boogeypop Phantom, I will watch both because both dubs contain nuances the other does not helping me to better understand what is going on.
One thing to remember is that the English dub is someone else's interpretation of the original material. It may not be the same as your interpretation.
For foreign films, I always go with the original with sub-titles so I can understand the emotions of the original actors.
Re: Why do people detest English dubs?
We all have our preferences and you are completely unaware of the anime medium. Not because you're a "casual", but because you obviously barely care about the medium anyway. Anybody who has only seen one anime completely certainly wouldn't get things like tone changes from language changes and that some people just want to watch the way it was meant to be watched.
Re: Why do people detest English dubs?
I think it all depends on who's watching. I, myself, don't prefer dubs. I don't hate them, but some of them start off very "cringey." I'm looking at you, Free! dub. I usually watch subtitles, so it's more of the case of me just not being used to the English voices. I just don't think that their voice actors/actresses delivery of the character they are playing are entirely correct. ^^ As AF puts it, it's just a different interpretation of the original content. There's nothing wrong with that at all.
Now that's not to say dubs are terrible, quite the opposite actually. With years of experience, I think that certain voice actors/actresses are better fit for certain kinds of characters. Like Patrick Seitz: with a powerful and booming voice, his style seems to fit very tough and masculine men.
I think it's just which version I hear first. Usually it just happens to be the original Japanese voices that I watch, only because it's more readily available to me.
In fact, I do enjoy some dubs out there. For example, I enjoy the Black Butler dub. Attack on Titan is pretty good as well.
But yeah, I'm cool with dubs but I just don't prefer to watch them.
Re: Why do people detest English dubs?
I tend to watch English dub because I find it easier to get into an anime. I find it easier to understand what's going on even if it's slightly different than the sub. I generally watch English dub then carry on in sub if it's not fully released. :P
Re: Why do people detest English dubs?
Personally I usually despise dubs in anime. I feel like the Japanese are very subtle in many ways which westerners mostly fail to grasp. I find American voices just sound too loud, too over the top and just completely un-natural. Also a lot can get lost in translation. Funny bits are usually less funny in the dub, and intense emotions seem less realistic and kind of 'forced' when dubbed.
I usually have nothing against people that watch dubs as I find most fans will watch a bit both. However, I work in a place that sells anime and I have had people refuse to buy or even return really good anime because it didn't have a dub. That makes pretty damn angry...
Re: Why do people detest English dubs?
I like dubs personally. I'm not the fastest reader out there, and it gets really annoying when you're watching subtitles and have to pause the screen every few moments to read a large caption. Honestly when I watch subtitles I barely remember what characters look like and I have trouble keeping up with the plot when I'm reading everything. If I'm sitting down to watch something I want to be able to watch it. Not read it, if I wanted to read(reading is one of my favourite things to do.) I'd pick up a book...
Re: Why do people detest English dubs?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Sulkin
I like dubs personally. I'm not the fastest reader out there, and it gets really annoying when you're watching subtitles and have to pause the screen every few moments to read a large caption. Honestly when I watch subtitles I barely remember what characters look like and I have trouble keeping up with the plot when I'm reading everything. If I'm sitting down to watch something I want to be able to watch it. Not read it, if I wanted to read(reading is one of my favourite things to do.) I'd pick up a book...
Reading subtitles is an acquired skill which comes in practice. I don't mind them since I watch a lot of foreign movies. But even so, there are times when there are subtitles for the main speaker and then subtitles for background speakers. I'm supposed to read both? And yes, sometimes you do get an entire dissertation to read in a matter of five seconds.
But I find subtitles easier to read in a theater than at home. In a theater I can sit towards the rear and have a better look at both the subtitles and the picture on the screen. That is not so easy at home watching on TV or your computer.
Re: Why do people detest English dubs?
*Sitting around a camp fire*
The answer to your question goes back many years to something called 4kids TV.
You see when anime were first brought to the Americas, ti was heavily edited int he dub. They'd remove blood, bad words, entire episodes... did you know most people today have no idea how Ash Ketchum caugth a herd of Tauros because some old man pointed a gun at his head? That Sakura's mom appears in several episodes of Card Captors? That there was an entire season of Yugioh before Kaiba showed up and tore up the Blue Eyes dragon card?
And it got worse. Characters they couldn't edit out had whole relationships changed.
And even when they weren't edited like that, entire dialogue got changed because people couldn't take the time and effort to translate japanese.
http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/...20080201170130
Spot the difference
http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/...20150503031304
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-upluVI81jA/hqdefault.jpg
Re: Why do people detest English dubs?
It's true. Very hard to understand what's going on when you have five people talking at once and subtitles for all of them. Not only that reading on screens hurts my head after awhile, so it's easier to watch the dubs, at least for myself.
Re: Why do people detest English dubs?
There once was a common misconception that all cartoons were for kids. This was before shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy. So I imagine when anime started showing up in the 1960's, networks couldn't figure out what they were dealing with, so they just cut away.
Re: Why do people detest English dubs?
There is one thing I don't really like about dubs and that's the fact that they recycle the same voice actors/actresses. Mostly an actress in particular or two bother me. They are literally in most dubs that exist. It's really annoying and that's really the only reason I tend to watch subs over dubs most times. If the dub has a nice cast of voices I am fine with watching the dub. I was just watching the Ranma 1/2 dub and thinking, this is really well done for the time it was made.
Re: Why do people detest English dubs?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
TheKingofHorror
There is one thing I don't really like about dubs and that's the fact that they recycle the same voice actors/actresses. Mostly an actress in particular or two bother me. They are literally in most dubs that exist. It's really annoying and that's really the only reason I tend to watch subs over dubs most times. If the dub has a nice cast of voices I am fine with watching the dub. I was just watching the Ranma 1/2 dub and thinking, this is really well done for the time it was made.
Voice acting is not that easy. Any actor who is good at is will get a lot of work.
Re: Why do people detest English dubs?
I agree voice acting is not easy (have cousin whose job is voice dub anime to my language country). if they pick wrong voice actor/actress, the anime dubbing will likely fail for people who already watched japan version. however, I mostly watch japan version anime than other language ones for the sake of enriching my japan vocabulary (JLPT!!)
