Poll: Anime: Original Japanese or English Dub?

[Cid Silverwing]

Original with English subs all the way.

Every single goddamn anime, without exception, have horrible English dubs. Well ok, Devil May Cry at least reprised the English actors from the game.

 

[Fragged_Templar]

more or less this

Subs, always. Dubs are pretty much content rape.

Dubs are nice for small children, the visually or the cognitively impaired. If you're above 8 years old and don't suffer a serious visual of mental handicap, there's no reason to watch dubs.

This, off course, is only relevant to people who are appreciating a good series. Naruto fillers are bad in any language, and if you're only watching for "the pretty drawrings!" then you could be watching with no sound for all it matters.

 

[Daniel Laeben-Rosen]

It depends, sometimes I just want to have something going in the background while I draw or what-not, and honestly... then I prefer dubs, because I don't have to break my concentration to read the subtitles every half-minute.
And some movies just work alot better in the english dub than the original japanese.
So it's a case-by-case.

 

[Chrislt]

This is sort of what I do. It usually depends on whether the anime has a majority of characters with non-Japanese names. Hearing someone named "Edward" speaking Japanese to someone named "Roy" makes me wonder if their world has been conquered by Japan. On the other hand, a seres where most people are Japanese, shouldn't be in English.

 

[paragon1]

If I have a choice, I still usually end up going with the sub. Although that's only because the majority of dubs I've heard are godawful.

 

[Skinny Razor]

Dubbing is the work of Satan, especially with some of the low-rent voice talent these shows get.

 

[Kachiporra]

Japanese always. Duns are kinda unnatural

 

[Trivun]

I don't mind subs myself, but I prefer dubs. Why, you ask? It just sounds nicer to me. I don't tend to notice if a particular anime has good dubbing or bad, because I don't focus on how things are said, but rather, on what's being said. I watched the entire first season of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni with the English dubs, and people have said that series has really crap dubbing, but I honestly didn't notice it and I liked the series just fine.

That being said, I did watch the second series (Higurashi Kai) and the OVA, along with Umineko no Naku Koro ni, with English subtitles instead. Purely by dint of the fact that these particular seasons haven't been dubbed, and I tend to not trust or like fandubs if the original or the proper dubs are on offer. And to be fair as well, I find Japanese to be an exceptionally elegant language (the only thing that makes it more elegant is when you add Italian to the mix ):

 

[Roperius]

If the dubs were actually implemented well, maybe. They just seem, normally, to be such a half-arsed effort.

 

[CarpathianMuffin]

I prefer watching it subbed, though if the dub's decent I'll tolerate it.
I seem to be one of the only people who prefers the Eva dub over the sub though, so I don't know what that says about me.

 

[Seneschal]

I prefer subs. In most anime, the mouth movement and demeanor are tailored for Japanese, and putting foreign audio over it usually demands some content alterations. Subs are only a problem in particularly talky anime where there's a lot of text and explanations of cultural references and expressions, so you have to pause every so often. But I've been watching subbed media since I could read, so it's not a problem.

I usually dislike English dubs because they tend to be awful, and other countries have been doing it for much longer. Italy has been showing (and dubbing) almost exclusively anime on their TV channels for 30 years now, as is Mexico, and their dubs are much more pleasing to listen to.

 

[Au Naturel.]

I watch them in Japanese with subtitles, because the way I see it, when they were making the anime, they chose the most appropriate voice actors to fit their characters. In English dubs, I don't believe the people who originally worked on the anime chose the English voice actors. So I feel when I hear the Japanese track, this is what the creators intended for me to hear.

 

[drisky]

Usually Dubs, unless the original is considerable better. Dub anime is no longer on children's television any more so censorship isn't a concern as a lot of people complain about. Honestly the quality of dubs is a lot better then 10 years ago and with just about any anime i've watched in both languages, its a give and take between individual characters.

 

[Ghengis John]

Subs, always. Dubs are pretty much content rape.

Dubs are nice for small children, the visually or the cognitively impaired. If you're above 8 years old and don't suffer a serious visual of mental handicap, there's no reason to watch dubs.

This, off course, is only relevant to people who are appreciating a good series. Naruto fillers are bad in any language, and if you're only watching for "the pretty drawrings!" then you could be watching with no sound for all it matters.

There are good dubs and there are bad dubs. Sometimes I prefer the Dub of an anime to it's original language and sometimes I'll stick to the subtitles. As a for instance, in Dragon Ball Z, original Japanese Goku sounds like an old lady. English Dub gets my vote there. However the Japanese original cast of bleach stomps the dub cast, so Sub gets my vote there. Things differ from series to series and sometimes, like in the Case of "The Big O", even the Japanese prefer the English dub, so you can't say universally they're for the slow witted or that they're "content rape".

Should I even be trying to reason with you? You sound pretty hostile.

 

[Koroviev]

As many other have already said, it really depends on the series. The Eflen Lied dub has voice acting I find comparable to nails on a chock board, but the dub for Monster is quite good, in my opinion. I also really liked the dub for Death Note, a notable exception being Misa <__<

 

[Death God]

Original Japanese with sub titles because they are so much more violent and perverted which makes for funnier or better animes.

 

[emeraldrafael]

Just watched some clips from Bleach and other animes and was wondering what you guys prefer, the original japanese or english translation.

Personally, i prefer the english dub. Especially when its done really well (Dragonball Z is an example. Vegetas original voice was off the scale for badassness).

I also find it easier to follow rather than relying on subtitles to watch it.

I find the Original japanese with Subtitles. The characters sound more like they should and you can read the sub title. Besides, I've found that most every english dubbing of a series was crap and it never seems to match up. I think its mostly the originality of the voices in comparison to the country its from. It sounds better in Japanese because its more emotionally gripping and just carries better. At least in my opinion.

 

[Ghengis John]

As many other have already said, it really depends on the series. The Eflen Lied dub has voice acting I find comparable to nails on a chock board, but the dub for Monster is quite good, in my opinion. I also really liked the dub for Death Note, a notable exception being Misa <__<

Oh yeah, there will even be cases were individual actors from either recording are strong or weak making it really hard to pick one cast or the other. In BlazBlue for instance, Tony Oliver does great work as Bang Shishigami. Japanese Bang has no subtlety. Then we compare that to the strong job you get in the Japanese cast out of Asami Imai as Tsubaki and there's no way her English voice actress could match her pipes. I couldn't advocate one or the other.

As for the quality of english VA's look at the Hellsing dubs, obviously people were incredibly pleased with that first TV cast, they brought them all back for the OVA's.

 

[mikecoulter]

I prefer the English dubbed over it. Just because I can't speak Japanese and don't fancy reading everything they say. May learn Japanese.

 

[Troublesome Lagomorph]

Usually Japanese. I love the language and it often sounds better than the English dub.
However, if the English dub is extremely good, I will watch that instead.