Poll: Anime - Dub or sub?

[Euryalus]

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?

I don't have to pick one though. My answer is and will continue to be "either, both, and depends."

That's how I decide, and I see no reason to apply a sort of pseudo law to it? I reject your false dichotomy!

*walks away into the sunset like a rebel*

 

[Vendor-Lazarus]

Subs all the way (with one exception).

I accidentally voted dubs though.
I was confused due to the shortness of the choices and only being one difference in the letter.

 

[jayjaykoolaid]

I have to say dubs. I like being immersed in what I'm watching or playing, and I find it really hard to be immersed when I'm constantly having to read whats going on, rather than hear and see it.

That said, I really wish more shows ended up dubbed. Like the Persona animations and movies. I'm getting to the point where I may need to just cave and watch them subbed.

 

[madwarper]

Dubs or subs? The correct answer is Manga. I'd rather read something at my own pace, than to be forced to spend the 20+ minutes watching the same amount of content.

Though, lacking a Manga, if the dub is good, then dub. If the dub is crap (which is usually the case) or if there simply isn't a dub (since a lot of great anime never gets translated), then sub is the only choice.

 

[sageoftruth]

I start with dubbed. If I don't like it, I change to subbed.

 

[Wakey87]

If i had to pick one way and one way only to watch anime it would be subbed. But I'd much prefere a well done dub.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

A well done dub, like Ghost in the Shell or Teknoman is always good but there are some where I prefer the original voices; Azumanga Daioh and Bleach are much more natural sounding in their native Japanese.

 

[ZiggyE]

Neither. Learn Japanese and ascend to the realm of the enlightened.

 

[Elfgore]

Lotta bakas in this thread... Yeah, it's subs all the way. It seems a majority of dub VAs are terrible at their jobs and don't know what acting is. I feel the original Japanese VA can do a lot better.

 

[anthony87]

Fools!

The Big Green dub shall forever reign supreme!

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

Subtitles for serious anime (Fate\Zero, FMA:B, Eureka 7, ect.), dub for anime I watch drunk (Pokemon, Digimon, ect.)

 

[happyninja42]

It depends on the material honestly. Some of them I will always hear in the dubbed version, like Cowboy Bebop. Others, like Attack on Titan, feel more appropriate in the original language.

 

[Secondhand Revenant]

Usually dubs if possible, but if its new then dubs tend not to be available. I prefer to just listen while watching. Takes a bit more concentration when its subs and requires enough attention multitasking is less feasible.

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

Typically, I prefer to watch animé subbed. Not because of any love of all things Japanese, just a rational fear of bad dubs.
Like the dubs for Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.
At least the people making the animé seem to take the voice acting seriously in most cases.

 

[Chaos Isaac]

Dubs.

Say whatever you want about the quality, as i'm actually kinda tone death on all of that and only care about the content. (I can take bad dubbing to a extent and actually appreciate the story on context then performance, though I am not immune. Just highly resilient.)

Also, I cannot take Japanese Voice Actors seriously. I just, I just can't. It's hilarious how samey they all sound when it comes to the girl character, the big bad, and the sidekick. But even then, I find their choice of voices often bad for the characters, and it annoys me to no end.

Iunno, there's a difference there where I just glaze over it, like mediocre dubs, but subbed anime just grates on my patience where two characters can speak and I cant tell them apart because they sound the same, because they chose to homogenize the voices or something.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

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

I always felt that was the problem with subs. You get literal translations, which end up being grammatically wrong and often incomplete gibberish. And I hate watching anime in Engrish. At least when it comes to dubs, you know someone proof read the script before hitting enter.

 

[COMaestro]

I tend to prefer subs, as long as they are somewhat professionally done and not someone just pulling out a Japanese to English dictionary and doing a literal translation, which just doesn't work. While things have gotten much better over the years, a lot of dubs still just sound horrible, with the occasional exception. What really hurts is when a couple of the voices are great in the dub, but the rest are horrible, and conversely the original Japanese voices have a few good ones and a few bad ones and you just wish you could mix the two together.

If I'm just putting the anime on as something in the background while I do something else, I'll choose dub. Otherwise, I prefer sub.

 

[Vykrel]

i dont watch a whole lot of anime, but i definitely prefer dubbed. i know there are some bad dubs out there, but thankfully they are for shows i dont care for.

my favorites are Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Yu Yu Hakusho, DBZ, and Samurai Champloo. all dubbed incredibly well.

one thing that just stands out to me when i hear the original versions of any of these is that the voice acting is often just so extreme to the point that it becomes irritating to me. every young character has an unbelievably high-pitched and annoying voice and every cool character has an unrealistically deep voice that doesnt match their look at all. it just sounds so bizarre.

 

[Michael Tabbut]

With some exceptions I prefer to watch anime dubbed. I grew up on them and it's difficult for me to adjust.

 

[2012 Wont Happen]

Typically, I prefer to watch animé subbed. Not because of any love of all things Japanese, just a rational fear of bad dubs.
Like the dubs for Higurashi no Naku Koro ni.
At least the people making the animé seem to take the voice acting seriously in most cases.

It's because Japan has the most competitive market for voice actors in the world. If you aren't excellent, you won't be getting any voice acting work there.