Poll: Anime - Dub or sub?

[thejboy88]

For as long as anime has been seen in countries outside of Japan, there is one question that always seems to be asked of it. Is it better in the original Japanese, or in whatever local language it's dubbed into?

So, I'd like your thoughts on the matter. Now obviously you'll have different views depending on what anime you watch, as each title will inevitably have different standards of voice acting in either Japanese or your local language, but if you had to pick just one, one way of generally experiencing it, which would it be?

And I apologise if this is a thread that's been done before.

 

[Hazy992]

Almost exclusively subbed for me. However, I do prefer to watch Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z dubbed.

INB4 Inferior Ocean Dub Peasants

 

[Vlado]

Subbed, though there are some exceptions. Now even moreso than before - I can practice my Japanese listening that way.

 

[Fox12]

I prefer dub, if its well done. Reading text tends to distract me from the visuals and art styles, which is half the show. This was particularly egregious during madoka. However, a sub is better then a bad dub. At this point Johny Yong Bosch is set to voice every character in every show(even the women) so I may be shifting more towards subs. Seriously, when Bosch is voicing the hero AND the villain of your show... It's become self parody.

 

[Dansen]

Why can't we have both? I prefer dub for characters that are supposed to speak english or where nationality isn't really important. Action oriented shows also get this treatment because I want to see the show not read the script. Other than that I go sub. HoweverI don't understand how people who probably never lived in Japan can gauge japanese performances and insist they are amazing. Sure you can tell the emotions they are emoting but I find it hard to believe that they can pick out the nuances of another language.

 

[Sleepy Sol]

Don't kill me, but I prefer dubbed for most things I watch or play. All the stuff I'm interested in tends to get at least decent dubs...most of the time.

 

[JoJo]

I prefer subbed, it feels more natural and I accept the overacting more with the Japanese language as it feels like part of the style. I'm a fast reader so no problem paying attention to both. That and as I'm British, listening to ostensibly Japanese characters speaking with American accents is really jarring, probably more so than if I was listening to a dub with voices from my own country which to me would sound less accented.

 

[Eclipse Dragon]

Is the dubbing good?
Some dubs give the characters really obnoxious voices, or just don't seem to fit at all. While it's very possible the Japanese voices also do this, it's harder for me personally to pick up on. In that case, I watch subbed. If the voices are decent though, I prefer dubbed.

 

[Bizzaro Stormy]

I usually prefer dubs with anime but can go either way with most foreign movies. Really it depends on the quality and the accuracy of the translation. I have a copy of Nikita where the dub more closely resembles the meaning of the original French than the subtitles do. In one instance my wife and I watched a movie she wanted to see where neither subtitles nor a dub was available. Both of us worked on long ago memories of French class to try and make it through!

Some subs are hilariously terrible, but when the laughter stops you still have to figure out what's going on. I've also found that the overacting in the original Japanese is pretty obnoxious. I'll take stilted and confused over something that reminds me of kids trying to be funny by being loud.

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

Dubs, honestly. It's just a better experience for me. I find subtitles themselves rather distracting. I watch them mainly when they're the only thing available, but when a dub is released I usually watch the anime a second time.

I have no problem reading them, but to me they can detract from a viewing experience, as you're not actually hearing the dialogue, you're reading it, while a language you barely (if at all) understand is in the background. A lot of people say that subtitles are the definitive, original experience, simply because it's the original audio, but what you're missing is that Japanese audiences can actually listen and understand the dialogue, so if you want a true original experience, go with the RAW versions. I actually enjoy some anime more watching it RAW rather than subbed, if it's an anime I know inside and out.

I tend to find scenes more impactful, or at least more understandable, when I hear the lines and emotions being delivered, and luckily most dubs nowadays I find perfectly serviceable at the least. Also, I like a lot of dub actors. I especially like hearing newer talent, but that's also true for Japanese VAs. Also, a bad dub can be more fun to listen to than bad, or even good, Japanese voice acting.

Now, live-action foreign films, on the other hand, subs all the way.

 

[Zontar]

Dubs, I have dyslexia so almost always the subs go way to fast for me. It also helps that dubing since the year 2000 in North America has pretty much caught with Japan in terms of quality, and there's a fair number of dubs that even the Japanese production staff feel are better (looking at you, Code Geass and Black Lagoon). The only real difference these days in terms of quality of dubbing in English and Japanese is stylistic rather then of quality itself, and given how a large part of that difference is men screaming that I can't really tell the difference between due to being partially tone deaf, it's just not for me. English or French, that's what the audio of a work needs to be for me.

Some subs are hilariously terrible, but when the laughter stops you still have to figure out what's going on. I've also found that the overacting in the original Japanese is pretty obnoxious. I'll take stilted and confused over something that reminds me of kids trying to be funny by being loud.

On a serious note though, I have to agree with you. It also doesn't help that subs also tend to be literal translations which make no grammatical sense in English, and that there's an annoying habit of some subs using German or Japanese intermixed, made worst for when its German since unlike when its Japanese the subbers rarely put a box telling you what THAT means.

On that note, why IS German being intermixed with English in some subs even a thing? I can understand Japanese, even if it's unjustified, but German?

 

[Casual Shinji]

I generally like to see things the way they were originally intended. So if something is spoken in a foreign language I prefer just hearing the original dialoge and reading the subtitles. Also, most anime dubs make me wanna tear my ears off. Japanese writing and the english language just don't mix very well when spoken out loud.

There are a few exceptions, like Street Fighter 2: The Movie and My Dear Marie.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Subs 100% of the time. I want to stick as close to the original thing as possible.

 

[Username Redacted]

Easy choice is easy. Going to go with the subtitle option as to me even the best dubbing still feels out of sync. This is mostly because I have yet to find more than one or two instances of dubbing that didn't sound like the studio had just gone out and brought in the nearest high school drama club to do the voice work for them. I also wouldn't restrict this to just anime as I'm going to prefer original language with subtitles for pretty much any media.

 

[Galletea]

Subs are closer to what was intended so as long as there is actually time to read them, then subs all the way. Forcing english words into japanese speaking mouths can lead to some incredible differences, changing the context entirely. Obviously sometimes an anime can be so very quickly paced and mental that if you read the subs you can't pay any attention to what is actually going on, but generally subs are better for any foreign language films or tv.

 

[Raven_Operative]

What ever sounds the best. I've watch anime subbed because the dub was horrible, and likewise have avoided subs because the Japanese voices sounded like nails on a chalk board.

In the event that they are both well done, I just go with what ever the video defaults to playing.

 

[TheSapphireKnight]

I don't have any issues watching subs, but a good dub is simply more comfortable to watch, I am better able to focus on the visuals when I don't have to spend my time watching the bottom portion of the screen.

That said I don't have any universal rules regarding whether I would prefer watching the sub or dub, it all depends on the show. If a show has no specific real world setting or has an otherwise international cast I don't particularly care what language the audio is in.

Meanwhile there are other shows that feel tied to the setting. I can't imagine watching Baccano! in japanese, conversely, there are plenty of anime that are so very Japanese I would rather have a sub if only to learn to have a little bit of cultural exchange even if it requires an extra note onscreen to explain a particular reference.

I don't really understand why people get so up in arms about the choice between sub or dub. Its baffles me when I am on a site like crunchyroll and see some people in the comments get up in arms about the fact that a dub option simply exists. No one is forcing you to watch it and its not as if subs are going to vanish.

 

[Scarim Coral]

No both? I mean sure I watched sub when it first come out but if I ever get them on dvd (I only buy the shows that I liked) I watched it on dub first to hear the differences.

 

[tilmoph]

Dubs for me. I like actually understanding what people I'm watching are saying. Plus, reading subs distarcts me from what's going on in the scene. The only thing I've preferred watching subbed was Neon Genesis Evangelion, because the dubbed voices annoyed me. Other than that, dubbed forever.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

A good dub beats subs for me. The prime example would be Dragon Ball Z.

Unfortunately most dubs are horrible making subs the better choice.