Dubbed verse Subbed

[Gnoekeos]

Usually so long as I haven't already seen the Japanese version I don't mind the English voices unless they just aren't very good actors but when you have heard the Japanese voice of a character and its a soft gentle voice of a boy you're pretty disturbed when the english version gives him a deep powerful man voice.

 

[DoPo]

I don't care if it's in Japanese or German or, I don't know, Fulani; whatever. I still prefer subtitles, because I can read and watch the picture at the same time, and original is always the original.

Dubbed animation can be alright, but dubbed live action is just something that shouldn't be done.

Besides, there's a lot of people whose first language isn't English (like me), so if they're going to watch something in a foreign language, it might as well be the original.

This man speaks my mind. I almost always prefer subs. ot only in anime - if I watch something German, I'd prefer to listen to German and read English (because there are usually English subtitles easy to find), if I watch something French, I'd want to hear them in French, if I watch something in Italian, I'd prefer to hear them in Italian. Even though I personally find Italian slightly annoying, I'd still prefer it to dubbing, unless I am sure that the dubs are really well done. So, in this line of thoughts, if I watch something Japanese, I'd want to hear Japanese.

I have nothing agains dubs, personally, though. Well, with the exception of some really really awful voice acting but I don't hold that against dubbing in general.

 

[Tiger Sora]

Dubbed anime for me. If you never watch subbed you'll never have to know what the original was like.

And really, it's a show, you watch and listen. I don't want to have to fucking read. I'm not anti reading but it takes away from the whole point of it. I want to watch whats going on and not miss subtle stuff.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

Well some dubbed is good(Hellsing OVA)but those are rare and hard to come by. Unfortunately, dubs are often done bad and throw out original names or parts of the work due to localisation(bad localisation not changing of jokes to suit audience that is fine) and censorship(Rave Master, Yu-Gi-Oh). In fact, just take pretty much everything by 4kids push it somewhere else, burn that place with fire, nuke it, use Exterminatus then collapse it into a black hole.

Also after having watched the Mummy Returns dubbed in French it made me realise how much dubs can just get voice and emotions of the situation so wrong. Dubbing Live action is the greatest sin one can commit ever in my eyes.

That and to go back the Yu-Gi-Oh movie Bonds Beyond Time was so awful in dubbed I just started laughing at it. I am more than willing to watch a good dub. Although, I can understand the arguments against some Japanese female/male voice acting when the girls sound like they are on helium when they are meant to be mature and the boys who are immature sound like a 40 year old man. I am exaggerating but you know what I'm referring to.

 

[Tomany2]

I usually go subs unless the dub is done well, I.E. D.Gray-Man / BECK : Mongolian Chop Squad, Versus some bad dubs like Ah! My Goddess!

 

[Lucky Chainsaw]

I used to be a hardcore sub watcher but now I prefer dubs, even the bad ones. Although these days it's usually a pretty safe bet that the dub will be at least as good as the Japanese version.

 

[Suncatcher]

I prefer subs under most circumstances for a variety of reasons:

A lot of things have never been officially imported, so you need to rely on fan translations; a lot of fans know both languages well so they get the translation right, but very few will even attempt dubbing and those who do typically aren't voice actors.

A lot of the things that have been imported were translated by some huge company that doesn't give a damn and doesn't understand anime anyway, so their translations tend to be crap even if they don't bowlderize the whole thing or cut it to shreds, so I end up going back to the fan translations; see above.

A lot of the voice actors for dubbing just aren't very good at it, leading to annoyance, distraction, etc.

If I'm just listening without anything else to follow on, I occasionally hear the wrong words, miss part of a line, whatever, especially if there are other people talking nearby or other distractions (or the voice actor is bad at their job), so even in english shows I tend to keep the subtitles on if I have the option. But most of the time a sub and a dub will use slightly different translations, and the disconnect between what I see and what I hear screws things up further.

A lot of jokes, dramatic lines, etc. sound great in the japanese, still work in printed words, but just fall flat when you say them out loud in english. So even a good dub, unless they went so far as to come up with something similarly dramatic/funny in english with a similar meaning (which typically goes horribly wrong), will just sound dumb at times.


That said, there are some great dubs out there, and I don't really mind watching the dub if it's decent, but as a general rule I'll look for a sub first.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Dubbed > Subbed.

1: They all sound the same to me. Add to that that they can convey only about 3-4 emotions in their voices.
2: If I want to read dialogue I read a play.
3: I can't speak this language. I can't understand this language. For all I care they could be talking rather passionate about sandwiches.
4: The last time I tried to watch an anime subbed (Panty and Stocking) I stopped after the second episode because of GODAWFUL voice acting.

Pretty much this, except for #4. I've never paid much attention to Japanese voice actors, but it did seem to me that they all sound the same/similar. My biggest problem with subs is that the f*ing subtitles always go by to damn fast so I always end up missing half the dialogue anyway. Either that or I miss most of the action because my eyes are glued to the bottom of the screen while I try to read the subtitles.

 

[Craorach]

I don't understand why anyone would watch subtitled anything, other than someone deaf... or someone so desperate to watch something they can't be bothered to wait for a proper release in their language.

Most of all, I don't understand why anyone would PAY for such a thing, or for the usual terribly acted dubbed stuff. When you release something in a country for wide consumption, it is simply the morally right thing to do to ensure it is properly translated by skilled voice actors.

Unfortunately, in my experience, anime especially suffers from the fact that the people producing it couldn't care less about customers other than their primary customer base. Their disrespect is clearly shown by the fact they do not ensure proper and accurate translations when selling things.

 

[Suncatcher]

My biggest problem with subs is that the f*ing subtitles always go by to damn fast so I always end up missing half the dialogue anyway. Either that or I miss most of the action because my eyes are glued to the bottom of the screen while I try to read the subtitles.

I had that problem when I first got into anime, and that was why I tried for dubs at first (before discovering the problems with that). But with practice you'll read faster and be able to watch multiple things simultaneously. It takes a while, and actual effort on your part to learn at first, but you can diminish or remove all the problems with the subs. The problems with dubs are never going away, no matter how hard you try.

Basically dubs have the fewest problems for a newbie, but they can never be fixed. The raw anime is impossible for a newbie, and takes a huge amount of effort (learning japanese), but then it's perfect. Subs are somewhere in the middle if you're new, and they'll never be perfect, but it doesn't take much effort to fix almost all the problems, so it's the best effort:reward ratio for most of us.

 

[Smiley Face]

I personally favour subbed, because I can follow them just fine, because I usually find that the Japanese voices are expressive enough for me to glean what I need to know outside the subtitles, and that quality manages to exceed what I would get out of an English dub. Also, it's nice to listen to different languages, I hear enough variations on English as it is.

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

My rule is this: I sample both, and I watch whichever one I enjoyed more. Easy. I watch equal amount dubs and subs, some dubs make me want to rip my eardrums out of my very skull through my eye sockets, others add more flavour to a show than even the Japanese voices (Trigun, Cowboy Bebop come to mind). As for what other people watch - whatever the fuck you want. If you prefer dubs then so be it. If you prefer subs, so be it. It's not a competition. Whatever the hell you enjoy more. Some people don't watch anime at all. I'm not gonna start a "anime vs non-anime" thread though...

It really annoys me when people try to not only dub, but also localize shows.

How would you like a jelly donut? OH NO! OUR SANDWICH IS ROLL DOWN HILL! D:

 

[Canadamus Prime]

My biggest problem with subs is that the f*ing subtitles always go by to damn fast so I always end up missing half the dialogue anyway. Either that or I miss most of the action because my eyes are glued to the bottom of the screen while I try to read the subtitles.

I had that problem when I first got into anime, and that was why I tried for dubs at first (before discovering the problems with that). But with practice you'll read faster and be able to watch multiple things simultaneously. It takes a while, and actual effort on your part to learn at first, but you can diminish or remove all the problems with the subs. The problems with dubs are never going away, no matter how hard you try.

Basically dubs have the fewest problems for a newbie, but they can never be fixed. The raw anime is impossible for a newbie, and takes a huge amount of effort (learning japanese), but then it's perfect. Subs are somewhere in the middle if you're new, and they'll never be perfect, but it doesn't take much effort to fix almost all the problems, so it's the best effort:reward ratio for most of us.

The thing is, a lot of the "problems" with dubs are purely academic, stick-up-the-ass 'problems.' After all I'm sure they have just as many miscast or just plain out bad voice actors in Japan as they do here. I also fail to see how reading the dialogue as opposed to hearing is going to fix any of the cross culture issues. The Japanese jokes aren't going to make any more sense to a westerner whether he has to hear them or read them. So if these issues haven't already turned a person of the medium in the first place, then the subbed vs dubbed thing is pretty much a non-issue if those are the only "problems" you can come up with.

 

[Jonluw]

It really annoys me when people try to not only dub, but also localize shows.

How would you like a jelly donut?

Say what?

 

[RyoScar]

I normally prefer subbed, but some dubs I prefer, mainly Death Note, Berserk, FMA.

 

[Andy of Comix Inc]

It really annoys me when people try to not only dub, but also localize shows.

How would you like a jelly donut?

Say what?

 

[zehydra]

I have never ever heard a good (enough) Japanese English voice acting job.

I think the only exception to this is some of Miyazaki's movies (Totoro), which still doesn't have the best english voice acting in the world.

 

[Pirakahunter788]

It's all about what suits the animation best. If the original actors do a great job of delivering dialogue, sub it. Not point in trying to fix what isn't broken.

If the original actors do suck however, or the animation/film would do better with localized voice actors, then dub it.

Personally, I prefer subs.

 

[Jonluw]

It really annoys me when people try to not only dub, but also localize shows.

How would you like a jelly donut?

Say what?

Ah, yeah that.
And this shit. Although it isn't localization.

I would find the scene from Azumanga daioh where otou-san flies in the window and scares Osaka, but it's tiresome.