DISCUSSION - Subbed or Dubbed anime?

[ACBlackJ0ck]

I've always prefered subs. Heck whenever I watch a foreign TV Show or film I always watch it subbed. Not just anime.

[Seifuku-kun]

Never ever dubbed! The art of voice acting is so much further ahead in Japan than elsewhere, besides the language is awesome!

[Screwby]

I prefer to watch it in the language it was made for, this includes movies as well.
Though I wouldn't mind dubs in parts where the characters are required to speak another language. The engrish parts in Chrome Shelled Regios killed me. As much as Japanese voice actors are better (in my opinion) to the English voice actors, that only applies when they speak Japanese.

[Loxaerion]

subbed! i just love japanese voice no matter how silly they sound and also the japanese voice actors. and to think that some of the male characters have female voice actors makes me love them even more

[Kazetori]

I prefer subbed only because I'm a language nerd and feel like I'm studying Japanese for my class while watching subs. Also it doesn't feel as wierd if you're in a room with non-anime fans and a character says something embarrassing in Japanese and no one knows wtf they just said. I also prefer the Japanese seiyuu's, unless I'm watching Inuyasha, or FMA... or FLCL... or Cowboy Bebop.... okay so I can deal with dubs I'm just a language nerd. *caught*

edit: I also appreciate the Japanese culture and language jokes. If I don't get it right away I'll research it then watch the scene again. I had to re-watch a lot of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.....

[johnbryantwong]

Japanese CVs are very professional and I believe that only they can represent the characters to the most extend.

[S o l o]

I prefer my anime subbed.

[CaptainFloyd]

There are certain examples of dubs that really do seem to be even, or much better than the subbed versions (examples include FLCL, Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, and Slayers). But at times i do feel that english actors aren't able to do certain themes of anime. One being Moe. I'm not saying that I am a huge fan of Moe, but that I believe that when english actors try to read the same lines, they don't seem to really achieve the whole "cute" factor that the Japanese actors were able to portray. I remember watching Clannad and thinking "Wow, the actors totally understood the roles they were given and did everything right". Then I watched the english dub, And although the male actors did a good job, the females I thought just didn't know how connect with their characters as well as the Japanese actors did. Also, with comedy animes I understand the humor is a lot of the time supposed to be over the top, but the english actors a fair amount of the time come off either really dry or to much over the top to the point that they ruin the joke. I think both dubbed and subbed are fine either way, it just comes down to what your opinion is. Would you rather watch the sub so that you get the feel of the originality of the series, or would you rather watch the dub so that you can watch everything that is going on in the show and not miss any of it because you had to read the subtitles the whole way through.

[.:neuko:.]

Short answer: I prefer my anime subbed.

Long answer: in an ideal world, all anime outside Japan would be dubbed perfectly; soundtracks would never be "westernised"; and because they'd be no need for subs (well, other than for the hard of hearing), one would never miss a crucial piece of action (as can be one potential drawback with subbed anime). If such a world existed, I'd be only too happy to watch all my anime dubbed. Sadly however, this is the real world in which many anime exports (and usually the most commercial) are dubbed poorly, resulting in badly interpreted and/or (sometimes) unconvincingly portrayed characters, especially in terms of timing and emotional conviction. Consequently and therefore, one cannot always rely on dubbed anime to be faithful to their original versions, and for such reasons I tend to go for subbed anime.

Ultimately, the best solution would be for me to learn Japanese - then I can have my cake and eat it! >=3

[CaptainFloyd]

Ultimately, the best solution would be for me to learn Japanese - then I can have my cake and eat it! >=3

True,true lol. I do feel as well that in a perfect world dubs would be the way for me to go. But I have come to the understanding that no we do not live in such a world. Though I do need to give credit to one series that i forgot to mention, Spice and Wolf. The sub for this show is great, but the dub made the show in my opinion even better. John Michael Tatum (voices Lawerence) and Brina Michelle Palencia (voices Holo) are now a couple of my favorite english voice actors now because of how much their voices fit the roles they were in

[Joker34z]

Subbed is perfectly fine I prefer subbed but some animes like Cowboy Bebop and Trigun the Dub is exceptionally well done and it gives the viewer much more intensity and feeling to the series in general

[katlover]

subbed because those are the real voices and sotimes the english voices are really stupid and irritat me

[~*Red*~]

I love listening to subbed anime, since I can get a grasp on the language and slowly learn it.

[Red&Stiletto]

Unlike what I hear from most people, I just like dubbed more because of the fact that I can't read fast enough to both understand what's going on and enjoy the show. I actually really like japanese voices, I just can't keep up with it. :/

[Light Buster]

Depends on the series. Some series sound better in Japanese (Gurren Lagann, Darker Than Black, One Piece, Naruto, etc.), some sound better in English (FLCL, Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell:SAC, Full Metal Alchemist, Casshern SINS, etc.), while some are pretty much equal (Bleach, Kekkaishi, Yu Yu Hakusho, etc.)

As @Gjallarhorn said. It's just a matter of personal preference.

[Volta]

My preference is dubbed, but its a slight preference. I really appreciate both.

[TheWired]

I don't care how well lips match or what the caliber of the actors are that are chosen for dub, it is an insult to the original creation and inaccurate to the original intent & feeling of the dialog. In Japan voice actors are held on a higher plane than on screen performers and so the emotional intent & delivery is calculated and professional. When doing an English dub they change the dialog to simplify content for Americans who won't "understand," strip it of any cultural nuances or meaning and finally alter words just to fit lip movement. What you are left with is like 60% accuracy from the original content.

Also it seems that for some reason American or other English-speaking audiences need to have every silent moment FILLED, as if minimal pauses are an ERROR. One of the most disappointing examples for me was when they added a voice to the cat in Miyazaki's Kiki's Delivery Service to add a whole new element of comic relief.

Ughhh... *gets off pedestal*.... sorry but I'm obviously a fan of subs, if that wasn't clear :P

[Yurika]

It really depends on the anime. Most of the time I watch with subtitles, sometimes I like the dubs. There a couple shows I'm used to watching (and liking) one way.

[TheWired]

What I DON'T understand, however, is why poorly translated subs exist... even if it's a bootleg from Taiwan or maybe some 3rd party translating that doesn't normally speak English, how hard is it to have just ONE English-speaking person REVIEW their translation?

I'm currently watching Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series that I got from Ebay a long time ago (4-DVD set for the complete series) and there's a scene where WRITTEN on a wall in plain English it reads:

I thought what I'd do was I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes or should I?

The translation subtitles (which surprisingly didn't bother just copying what was on the screen) reads:

I thought I'd just become a deaf, blind and mute person.

Talk about a completely different meaning! o.o

[Kagome]

What I DON'T understand, however, is why poorly translated subs exist... even if it's a bootleg from Taiwan or maybe some 3rd party translating that doesn't normally speak English, how hard is it to have just ONE English-speaking person REVIEW their translation?

I'm currently watching Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex series that I got from Ebay a long time ago (4-DVD set for the complete series) and there's a scene where WRITTEN on a wall in plain English it reads:

I thought what I'd do was I'd pretend I was one of those deaf-mutes or should I?

The translation subtitles (which surprisingly didn't bother just copying what was on the screen) reads:

I thought I'd just become a deaf, blind and mute person.

Talk about a completely different meaning! o.o

::Grins:: Contrary to that...I *LOVE* the bootleg translations. Not only are they often humorous, wierd and sometimes incorrect, but they also can show you how the Japanese sentance would be hooked together if you did a straight word-for-word translation.

Bootlegs is part of what got me interested in learning Japanese. It wasn't just to understand the language while watching anime-but to get a closer look into how they put thier words together-what they use-their grammar system. It's interesting! =)

[TheWired]

That's a fascinating angle Higurashi Kagome - I certainly never looked at it that way, even though I have found myself laughing at it occasionally... there was actually a chase scene I saw recently in the GITS series and the guy is supposed to yell out something like "what on Earth is happening here?" and the text ends up reading "what happened to the Earth?" lol.

Either way I guess I can't complain considering I sometimes pay 1/3rd or 1/4th the price for an entire series. I think the worst I've EVER dealt with was a copy of Cowboy Bebop I had once. The text was so messed up & confusing I just ordered the Bandai set instead lol.

[Amorok]

Ehhh. I can go for either one -- it depends on the production company. The higher profile, the better quality the dubs tend to be, so I don't mind. Inuyasha, for example, has some pretty good dubbing, so I'll watch the one in English. But Slayers, I HAVE to watch in Japanese, just because I can't STAND the voice actor they chose to play Xelloss x.x

[SakuraKiss13]

I go for DUB cause I'm not very fond of reading each subtitle. I always wanted to hear things ALTHOUGH some dubbed anime sucks (Maid Sama! particularly, Lucky Star)
The only anime I really adored the dub is Ouran High School Host Club :3

If I know how to understand Japanese. I could settle with subbed. But for now, dubbed.

[renfort]

It varies from show to show. Sometimes I'll watch dubs and never watch subs, sometimes one version then another on a rewatch. I tend to go more towards dubs because I don't like reading the bottom.

[kyoshiro20]

Subbed ftw!!!!

Why? Well, I kind of want to learn Japanese, plus the voices in Japanese, with very few exceptions, sound better than their english counterparts, at least thats what I think.