Poll: Sub or Dub?

[JoJo]

Subs, mainly because I watch things with high pitched little girls, and high pitched little girls sound better when speaking Japanese then they do when speaking English.

That and I like subs for karaoke/the extra style they add to certain series.

Hah, this is true, maybe it's because I'm British but often American children's voices seem really grating (who usually end up being the English language voices).

OT: Mostly subs, but occaisonally dubs if it sounds acceptable and the sub is poorly written as they sadly sometimes are.

 

[Tulks]

Don't watch a great deal of anime, but for most foreign-language cinema I prefer subs.
The form of the language usually better fits the mood of the piece, and I can still access the content by, you know, reading.

 

[baconsarnie]

Dubbed if anime
Subbed if its a film

 

[A Shadows Age]

Maybe you can add a depends option? I like subs because I can better feel and understand the personality the voice actor is giving the character in the original version of the work. that said, I love a good dub. Watching Trigun in subs gave it an almost entirely different feel and sense of humor. I guess that's my answer, a dub and sub of the same anime is like peanutbutter and chocolate. And the ability either gives to you to eat them separate or combine them in your mind as opposed to just peanut butter or chocolate is why I say both are more delicious than one or the other on their own.

 

[snappydog]

In most cases I prefer subs 'cos a lot of stuff does seem to get lost in translation... but in some cases (L!!!!!!) the English voice is just so sexy.

 

[T.J. Wilcox]

Subs for me. Most of the dubs I've had experience with have had terrible voice acting and, even if I can't understand it, I prefer listening to Japanese than constantly wincing. (Also, subtitles sometimes have hilarious Engrish.)

I'll give dubs a chance if my friends recommend them, but as a rule if I have the option I go with subs.

 

[Roofstone]

Sub, but that is cause I speak (A very broken) japanese.. OR am atleast training my way there anyway..

 

[Not-here-anymore]

Depends on the show. If it's set in Japan, subbed.

If varying national accents are required, dubbed, because it's remarkably hard to convey accents in Japanese speech.

If it's Cowboy Bebop (or another show with a clearly non-Japanese cast, in a situation where everyone speaking Japanese is incredibly unlikely), dubbed.

That pretty much works out as Hellsing and Cowboy Bebop dubbed, everything else subbed.

 

[Vampire cat]

Dubbed if anime
Subbed if its a film

Very sensible...

Thing about anime is that it's... Well, a cartoon, no matter how you slice it. Lip-sync isn't a problem because mouth movements are always stiff and out-of-sync anyway! I want dubbed anime over subbed any day. Same goes for Disney movies and whatever else (though those are usually in English already). Some animated movies dubbed to Norwegian are actually better than their English counter-parts, somehow they make jokes work a billion times better, no idea why. Admittedly, some Norwegian voices are awful, and they never do good in "real" movies and TV series.

Now, if it's a movie or TV show with "real" actors, then I wouldn't want it dubbed. Lip-sync is so much more important, and just having it a little bit off makes it look and feel unnatural and strange. I can't even stream a youtube video of the lips are not in sync with the voices for whatever reason. Again, I rarely watch movies that are not in English or Norwegian anyway, and I prefer to have it in a language I understand so I won't need to look at the subtitles.

 

[PureChaos]

subbed, though some dubs have been good i've always watched the subbed wherever possible

 

[nukethetuna]

Subs on most series, though certain animes that have more realistic portrayals of emotions and expressions can work very well as dubs.

 

[redisforever]

I don't watch anime, so let's apply this for all foreign language film. I prefer subs, because it should be heard in it's original language. I've seen copies of, Che, for example, that are dubbed, and I just go with the subtitled version, in the original language, seems more 'pure' to me.

 

[Mr. Omega]

If it's a good dub, I'll watch it over the subs. That being said, if I have watched all the dub, and the only options to continue the series is wait for the dub or just watch the subs, I'll watch the subs. It's all a matter of convenience.

 

[hecticpicnic]

No inbetween?I used to prefer subs but now a days most of what i watch is dubbed on less its horrible.Dubs on show that come from manga's, are long running,are children's shows or are old(obviously) tend to be worse.Most of what i watch now are 20 episode highly rated shows,mostly dealing with adult subject matter(no not like that ..) and most are based on light novels.
So usually there is no need to watch subs.

 

[Laser Priest]

I prefer subbed in most cases, simply because there are very few English-speaking anime voice actors who don't annoy the hell out of me.

At least it's a lot harder to recognize terrible voice acting when it's in another language.

 

[TehAardvark]

Hard to tell. Subs can be better if the joke is central to a foreign culture, also if they get grating, high-pitched voice actors, but some are much better dubbed. FMA was good dubbed, as was Code Geass, and some voice actors in Bleach are decent. Overall I would go with Subs for the simple reason that if I don't like the voice actors I can mute the sound and still know what's going on.

 

[ZtH]

It really depends on the quality of the dubbing. I prefer Claymore dubbed because the voices are well done. On the other hand I prefer Azumanga Daioh subbed because Osaka having a southern accent bugs me. Also because the "Oh my gah" scene is far less funny in the English.

 

[Klitch]

It really depends on the anime. Watching Naruto dubbed is a headache, but watching Dragon Ball subbed is horrific (wth is with Goku's voice?). If I knew nothing about an anime and I were forced to choose subbed or dubbed, I'd go with subbed because the majority of subs are decent while the majority of dubs are not. Truth be told, however, you'd be best off watching a few minutes of both versions (if a dubbed version even exists) and deciding for yourself on a case-by-case basis.

This is relevant.