Poll: Subs or dubs?

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PureIrony

Slightly Sarcastic At All Times
Aug 12, 2010
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Depends on the quality of the dubs.

If its good, then yes, but I don't have a huge problem with subs, if its appropriate.
 

yman15

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Jul 11, 2011
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Live action subs every time. Anime depends but I'm more likely to watch subbed but I'll usually give the dub a shot or sometimes I'll watch both like with Bleach & Fma brotherhood because they're on Adult swim and I've already watched them subbed.
 

thePyro_13

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Sep 6, 2008
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By rule of thumb, I go subs. Dubs are usually done cheaply, or don't have a good range of voice actors. This is even worse when it comes to anime.

Oddly enough I love the voices in Kung Fu Hustle. The voices being out of sync with the visuals just adds to the movies quirkiness.
 

Hiken no Ace

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Jul 12, 2010
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Subs. Reason being, while there are some good English Voice overs, like Steve Blum, Jim Cummings, and Crispin Freeman, there are WAYYYYYY more awesome Japanese voice overs. But what do you expect from the country that produces 60% of the worlds cartoons?
 

Dense_Electric

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Jul 29, 2009
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Dubs, all the way. Television/film is both a visual and audible medium, and I prefer to experience it as it was intended rather than having to read a text crawl at the bottom of the screen.

To clarify: I'm talking specifically about anime being dubbed over into English. I generally don't watch live-action films in different languages, but if I did I imagine I'd go with subs (you can get away with the lips being out of sync in animation, not so much in live-action).
 

Scars Unseen

^ ^ v v < > < > B A
May 7, 2009
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Don Savik said:
Dubs on anime, subs on foreign movies. Watch an anime, the mouths move up and down, they don't form different characters, so technically any language could fit. Just a matter of getting a good voice actor.
Not really. It's not just a matter matching up the mouth with a sound (which, as you said is rarely necessary in animation); Japanese and English have completely different cadences. It is impossible to have an accurate translation fit the lips in a way that is comfortable to hear in English, so you always get one of two situations: either the dub flows unnaturally and grates on the ears, or the actual dialogue is changed so that the dub is comfortable to hear, but the original meaning of the script is lost in places. Here's something fun to do for amusement. Try watching the dub with subtitles and make note of the dub's inaccuracies. They vary from anime to anime, but the tendency is for better sounding dubs to have some rather jarring translation problems.

There are downsides to sub and dubs, but at least the disadvantages of subtitles can be adapted to (i.e. learn to read faster). I don't even notice the subs anymore; my eyes just quickly scan them as a reflex.
 

Shadowstar38

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Jul 20, 2011
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Usually dubs. I like having the ability to look away from the screen in all dialog scenes and multitask some shit.

I've heard people say the voice actors in the original are always better but if its not in the same language as my own its inconsiquental. ( Why the heck does the Riddler have a country acsent in Young Justice?)

The one rare exception is Sonic X. Watch the japanese version. 4Kids destroyed that show.
 

Rems

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May 29, 2011
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For anime i prefer dubs as often i can't stand the Japanese voices. That and you can get away with a bit on non in sync mouth movement that you can't in life action film. For any other form of media i prefer subtitles.
 

quantumsoul

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Jun 10, 2010
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A really good dub can be great but a bad one can ruin what you're watching very easily. Sometimes it make a movie or whatever unintentionally hilarious.

Learning the actually language, while impractical, is the best option.

I don't mind reading subs and I actually try to learn a word here and there. If I'm really tired or the dub is really good I tend to go for dubbing.
 

Tiamattt

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Jul 15, 2011
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For animes(and some videogames actually) subs. Voices usually sound a lot better and more natural, especially in the emotions department. There are exceptions to this of course but most of the time subs > dubs for me.

As for the whole reading thing, I dunno I never found it a problem or missed anything because I'm reading it, guess I just got used to it over the years.
 

Extra-Ordinary

Elite Member
Mar 17, 2010
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I like my animes dubbed, my live-action subbed. When I watched Troll Hunter, I turned on the english dubbing for the first time in a long while, then *quickly* turned it off and brought back the subs; that was absolute s**t.
 

Project_Xii

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Jul 5, 2009
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Where's the "either" option? Cause I find some of it to be media dependant. Some time I find the foreign voice actors/actors voices or accents to be off putting, so I actually prefer the English dub. Other times the English voice over is so terrible I can only watch it with subs. Other times the subject is so involved or heavy, I don't fully understand it unless I watch it in English.

Honestly I'm happy with either. Whichever makes the viewing experience the best.
 

RaffB

Senior Member
Jul 22, 2008
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Depends entirely on what i'm watching

Dubs ( all good ones )

Ghost in the shell ( both movies and stand alone complex )
Cowboy Bebop
Samurai Champloo
Most studio Ghibli films

Everything else ive watched has been subs.
 

Swny Nerdgasm

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Jul 31, 2010
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The very few times I can actually bring myself to watch an anime I will only choose a dub, probably because hearing people speak in japanese makes set my teeth on edge, movies from any other place though I'll watch subtitled
 

Death God

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Jul 6, 2010
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Subs because it is always more violent and closer to the intended ideas of the anime. The dubs always sound weird to me.
 

Azure Sky

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Dec 17, 2009
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Ryokai said:
Subs.

Especially in anime, where the beauty of the Japanese spoken language is part of the enjoyment.

Two exceptions are Death Note and Outlaw Star, where the voice acting in English was superb.
Add Evangelion and anything Ghibli to that list and I agree. =3

Subs normally, I have noticed that the general audio suffers when something is redubbed, not sure why, maybe filtering?

I am also probably a little biased due to how log I have been watching subbed anime. Being able to speed-read as well as being able to read without looking at the bottom of the screen, etc. =3