The "weeaboo" argument

[LobsterFeng]

I recently started watching DBZ Kai, and I'm surprised that the Dub Work is actually pretty awesome. They seem more self aware of the goofiness this time around, so they all sound like hilarious large hams.

I think it's because they could probably voice those characters in their sleep at this point. I was playing Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Tencaichi, which features animated cutscenes, and you could just tell that all the voice actors were just sick of DBZ.

OT: The only anime I've watched dubbed all the way through was Fullmetal Alechemist: Brotherhood. Because that was genuinely good voice acting there.

 

[kazriko]

I'm going to be in the minority here, but I'm just fine with Dubs. Mainly because I never get the time to watch Subtitled things. Dubs I can turn on and watch with my peripheral vision while working on other things. Subtitled things require my full, undivided attention... I just don't have a lot of full, undivided attention time to give to anything.

I have about 4 discs worth of shows sitting on my desk that have been there for months because they are only available subtitled...

 

[Edd4224]

There are certain anime that are pretty good dubbed. Gundam Wing has a great English dub and the DBZ English dub is good. Oddly I thought the Pokemon Dutch dub was better than the English, same for Yu-Gi-Oh (with Yugi as a child, I haven't watched any of the recent ones).

It basically comes down to personal choice. If there is anyone trying to tell you otherwise then you could try telling them that they are un-American.

 

[Ultress]

I like to watch the dub on occasion(usually for comedies or if I have the DVDs), Do some dubs suck,oh hell yes they do.Magic girl shows tend to have horrid dubs of the few I've seen. However sometimes both can be equally bad,Excel from Excel Saga is annoying in all languages. I do give the dub a chance especially If I'm doing a re watch. 9 times out of 10 I'll watch subbed for the same reason my friend does, quite a bit of what we watch is unlicensed. Plus for me I'm usually not aware it has a dub.

 

[Liquid Ocelot]

This.. this question has nothing to do with being a weeaboo. A weeaboo is someone who thinks the Japanese are the master race, and desire above all else to be one of them, even though they are some nerdy, pasty, white teenager.

 

[Toriver]

Dude, you're not even close to a weeaboo for liking subbed anime. A weeaboo is someone who obsesses over Japan to a ridiculous point, perhaps even deluding one's self into thinking all the Japanese would fawn over them and they'd be king (or queen) of the place if they were to come over here. If you just happen to like anime, I wouldn't call you a weeaboo at all.

As for subbed vs dubbed, do whatever you want. I have no real preference, myself. I tend to watch subbed more because it's easier to find and it helps me practice listening to Japanese conversation, even if much of the vocabulary in anime isn't everyday stuff. But I also know that there's some really good dub work. I watched the original Fullmetal Alchemist, Outlaw Star and Cowboy Bebop dubbed, and I thought they each did a really good job. But I'm certainly not going to look down on anyone for watching one or the other, that's just silly.

 

[Jitters Caffeine]

I have NEVER been bothered by labels like that. Personally, I say if you ARE bothered by something someone calls you, you're either ashamed of what you're doing or hold some kind of embarrassment about it. I've been called LOTS of things and it's NEVER hurt my feelings or anything of the sort because I'm not embarrassed of my hobbies.

 

[Daveman]

It's okay everyone, I speak weeaboo.

Chan chan desu, chan neko neko.

 

[The Funslinger]

What you've described doesn't really sound like a weeaboo to me.

A weeaboo is more like this.

What... the... fuck? I never really believed the stereotype all that much, but... this!?

God, people make the incredibly racist and ill-informed argument that through anime, asian people worship white people, and here's a shining example of that being the other way around. At least, I think he's white, he's that pasty, but his hair's dark and the camera quality makes it hard to figure if he's just squinting a little from being a shut in. Anyway, this is probably the strangest thing I've seen today.

Anyway, *raises flame shield* if an anime doesn't have a good english dub (don't generalize, those do exist) I don't watch it.

 

[Fishyash]

I don't watch anime much anymore, but was a fan. Not to the point of obsessing over japanese culture in general (although I do find it interesting), but I didn't really consider watching a subtitled piece of work obsessive at all. Why is it so bad with japan compared to spain or norway?

Anyways in regards to dub vs sub, I think both have their flaws...

As in, there is bad subbing AND bad dubbing. I can't really judge voice acting because I don't understand japanese intonation and language. I can't tell what they say is actually convincing to a japanese person. Obviously the more intense emotions they portray you can, but for more idle conversations I can't tell if it's supposed to be good or bad, hammy or underacted etc.

Anyways... bad subbing, like romanized japanese words within the subtitles, translator notes of visual or explanations of subbing (If I have to pause the video because you want to explain a japanese pun with more than 5 words then that's not a good thing), superimposing translations of signs (again, why?) and distracting animated text that flashes in the openings or when someone does a special move.

And then there's annoying voice acting on dubs, or edits that were unnecessary. I know I say less, but TBH I find these problems generally more annoying than the ones with subbing.

Most of the time I prefer watching a subtitled work than a dubbed work.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

I don't even know what that means(except for kawaii, I took latin not japanese in school, ok?)

Sure, man. Relax, I wasn't attacking you or anything. I also didn't take Japanese, but I grew up with one Otaku and I know one borderline Weeaboo, so I picked up a few terms. "Desu ne?" is basically Japanese for "isn't it?"

As far as Dub VS Sub goes, it really depends on the Anime. Personally, I'll settle with dubs for things that totally stand in the realm of fantasy like HellSing, Vampire Hunter D, Neon Genesis Evangelion, etc. Subs are useful when you don't have any other choice, or when you're saddled with an oldie. I remember watching Kurosawa's "The Bad Sleep Well" (1960) with a friend once, and we naturally stuck to subs because we obviously didn't have any other choice.

I'd recommend it, overall, and not because it's classic Japanese cinema, but because of its overall artistic flair. If you're interested in movies as a medium, you owe it to yourself to watch at least ONE Kurosawa in your life. Mostly everyone's going to suggest "The Seven Samurai", but it's also fun to see Hamlet and Macbeth transposed into Medieval Japanese settings.

 

[CrystalShadow]

Never heard of that accusation being made solely for wanting to watch the Japanese dub.

In fact, as someone who has lived a substantial portion of their life in a non-english speaking country, subtitles are frequently preferable, as even if there is a dub, it can be really weird.

Yeah... Doesn't really make sense.

 

[Arina Love]

yes, i watch anime ALWAYS with original sound and eng subs and that's how i like my JRPGs too. it's my choice. i don't care about how people call me i like what i like and if they don't like it they can't just f**k right off.

 

[Doctor Glocktor]

You are not a weaboo for watching subbed anime.

You are a weaboo if your are a goddamned weaboo.

 

[Emperor Nat]

I usually watch dubbed, because I only have access to Anime through the internet or on DVDs. In either case, I'm almost always doing something else besides watching (I think Claymore, FMA and Code Geass, all of which have decent non-brain-melting dubs, are the only shows I've watched exclusively and not done anything else).

In terms of DVDs, I usually draw or write while watching. In terms of the internet, I usually play games while listening. So not speaking Japanese, I like to be able to understand what on earth is actually going on.

There are some dubs which are awful though. Lucky Star was fine, apart from THAT DAMNED AMERICAN GIRL. I thought my speakers had gone funny first time she spoke. Do people actually have voices that high!?

 

[Indeterminacy]

TL;DR version: Do you guys think it's okay to watch anime in the original Japanese with English-or-whatever subtitles if you don't speak the language, even if it's already been dubbed into the language you speak?

I'm not so sure about this with Anime.

The problem at hand is one of authenticity. Undoubtedly, live-action films should never be dubbed over under any (non-parody; Kung Pow is awesome) circumstances, and this is where my more recent non-English watching has been focused. It would be a crack in the experience of the movie to create an image-sound disparity.


But the more obvious problem this causes isn't so bad with Anime and animation, since the suspension of disbelief between the visuals and the sound is required to actually experience it in the first place.


Of course, that's not to say that every dub is equally good. Not only are there issues of execution and the quality of the translation, but also of delivery.


However, translation quality is still an issue in subtitling, (Awesome One Piece Examples [http://saber.kawaii-shoujo.net/Various/]). And the key point is that the subtitles become an integral part of delivery to the translating viewer. It's important to recognise that the need to focus on the written part of the screen is a weakening of delivery, even if the voice acting is pretty good.

It's not a trivial point to suggest that this weakening might be too much during scenes heavy in both dialogue and visual action. Fortunately, I don't think this is the case in most Anime, which splits action and dialogue quite deliberately.

To conclude, therefore, a great action scene:

 

[Asuka Soryu]

Oh, god. Anyone who tells you to listen to the dubs only should be shot. Why... why does Sanji sound so stupid? Why is he sucking a lollypop...

Smoker is now Chaser? What?

Oh, oh god... what have they done to YGO. Pink Smoke? Pink smoke stopped Carly from dieing from 60 foot drop?!


Damn you, 4Kids!


Anyways, if a dub's decent I'll watch it and the sub. But if it's 4Kids level... then scew the dub, I have subtitles!

Not to mention the censoring.

Also, people who use the word 'weeaboo' should be laughed at. It's a word invented by some sexless nerds on some dumb site. They really have the highground here. ~.~

 

[Trivea]

I have NEVER been bothered by labels like that. Personally, I say if you ARE bothered by something someone calls you, you're either ashamed of what you're doing or hold some kind of embarrassment about it. I've been called LOTS of things and it's NEVER hurt my feelings or anything of the sort because I'm not embarrassed of my hobbies.

If I was embarrassed by it, I wouldn't tell complete strangers that I did it. What bothers me isn't that I've been called that, it's that there are people who think that other people's harmless hobbies and the way they participate in them are worthy of being insulted. I'm just asking if this is the norm or not.

 

[Demonicdan]

What you've described doesn't really sound like a weeaboo to me.

A weeaboo is more like this.

I am both confused and frightened, to some people really act like that?

 

[Asuka Soryu]

What you've described doesn't really sound like a weeaboo to me.

A weeaboo is more like this.

I am both confused and frightened, to some people really act like that?

You think that's bad, you should listen to Japanese people trying to speak English without knowing the language but some words and phrases. It's like that, but instead of being annoying it's like they don't realise how bad it is. xD Then again, it's kinda the so bad it's good. I swear I saw a McDonald's add in are Japanese text book and the slogan was in English and it sounded more like it was advertising masturbation then hamburger's.