Why is it always subs over dubs?

[Nouw]

Dubbing is usually a. wrong or bad translation and b. terrible quality.

I like subbing anyway.

 

[Nemu]

I prefer subs over dubs because often times there is something lost in the translation or outright censored.

I admit that over the years the quality of dubbing has improved, but it's still my preference to watch anime/movies/tv shows (where applicable) in subbed form versus dubbed.

 

[TheSeventhLoneWolf]

This does not apply for anything that involves the quote:

''ATTENTION DUELISTS! My hair is inviting you inside!''

I suppose subs are easier to apply. Dubs require translations and voice actors.

 

[Durxom]

From what I've been noticing from all of this, its basically most if not all Shonen type anime (Bleach, One Piece, Deathnote, etc), keep getting the crap end of the stick because they are the most popular, and get acquired by the larger western anime companies (like 4kids), while most of the Seinen anime (Hellsing, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, etc), get acquired by the other companies with less excutive meddling (Funimation, and Geneon *before they went under*), and turn out a lot better, or pretty damn close to the japanese.

 

[xXAsherahXx]

I much prefer Subs over Dubs in movies, but in TV shows I would rather Dubs. It is more authentic, although I don't like foreign movies because I have to look at subtitles and miss the action. It is lose lose when you don't know the language a movie is in.

...All your base are belong to us.

 

[Thaius]

Maybe its a Canadian thing because all of my friends have at least been called a dilly dally.

Well I have heard "dilly dally," but it always simply meant that one was getting distracted, screwing around instead of keeping focused; it doesn't at all involve dragging around a burden from the past, or even dragging a burden at all. And I've never heard the "shilly shally" on the end. So I guess it may just be a California thing. Unless the phrase is widely used and understood (including the shilly shally), I would still consider that a pretty epic fail on the parts of the translators and localizers. But if my area is the only one that doesn't get it, I guess I was just born in the wrong place.

Well, the Dilly Dally should be enough, think of it this way.

"but it always simply meant that one was getting distracted, screwing around instead of keeping focused" Cloud isn't focused on the true problems at hand and he is to distracted and brooding over Aeriths death. Tifa is trying to describe this to him in a condescending way. Shes telling him to stop thinking about the past and focus on the now in a way that's treating him like a child.

In the original Japanese Tifa is doing the exact same thing, using a line a mother would use on a distracted child. In neither the original nor the translated version is tifa saying anything about dragging along your past burdens. Like i said, Zurro Zurro is something a mother would say to a child screwing around. The translation you watched that just said 'drag' is wrong.

On a note, the 'shilly shally' is just something you say to the child to embarrass them so they respond quicker, it has no meaning. Dilly Dally is the phrase and shilly shally is just a way to embarrass the child into reacting properly.

It makes sense, I suppose, it's just not quite how the phrase was used around me. When I grew up, if we were working out in the yard or something and I got distracted by a shiny rock and bent down to play with it instead of working, that was dilly-dallying. The context in which it was always used when I was a child-OOH SHINY!!!

I get that Tifa's treating him like a child, and that's pretty good for the scene. It makes sense. But the phrase still doesn't have the connotation of what the nature of his distraction is, only that he's distracted. And everything I've read and heard from friends seems to say that the original Japanese words have the connotation of dragging; the most common phrase I've found online is that it's a "Japanese onomatopoeia for dragging."

Sorry, I'm not trying to be difficult, it's just weird that so much of this seems contrary to everything I've seen and read on the subject. It seems that the line is meant to be more specific than just saying he's distracted.

I know, and i am sure some people have probably analyzed it anally. I was told it means "pushing something heavy in circles" as a way of berating a child for doing something pointlessly. Ultimately I prefer Tifa calling him a child who needs to stop focusing on the past then a direct translation that removes the the emotion behind the words. Whether the line is about dragging or not the overall meaning is "Your dwelling on the past and acting childish. Stop it"

Either way to me the feeling came through perfectly. That's all. I prefer when my anime's captures the spirit of the dialouge rather then being a direct translation as it's impossible to keep the true emotion of the words from dialect to dialect. It doesn't really change the story in any way and it keeps the spirit of what Tifa is trying to say. So i feel it works splendidly.

Well I suppose a lot of my problem came from not quite understanding Cloud's conflict the first time around. Then when I watched Complete with the subs, the word "drag" made it click in my mind. So I guess it largely comes from that.

Very good movie. Especially Complete. Now if they would just give us that stupid VII remake they dangled like a carrot in front of us... I hate them sometimes...

 

[Adzma]

The only Anime that has marginally tolerable English voice acting is Cowboy Bebop. That's why I prefer all subs.

You must have a fairly narrow view of anime.
Outlaw Star: Either
Anything produced by 4kids: Subbed
FMA: Dubbed
FMP: Dubbed
Naruto: Either (Subbed if you want it)
Any Gundam Series Ever (DUBBED)

I'll watch Dubbed unless it's one of the above mentioned problems. Fucking 4kids giving every other dub a bad name...

No, I have a high standard of what some of us call quality.

Which animes are you referencing, if you don't mind me asking?

I'd rather not list everything because I'll be here for quite some time, but two good examples are Bleach and Code Geass. The english dubs are woeful. The fact is I can't stand any dubbed media whether it be games or anime or whatever where it sounds like the voice actor is forcing their lines.

 

[Billion Backs]

Dubs, while there are some of the very good ones out there, have their reputation ruined over the amount of really shitty ones. You do NOT absolutely fuck up the voices of the characters. And considering that anime is very popular among teens in the west, and most teens/20s probably had their first experience with anime on TV channels where it'd be horribly maimed and badly voiced "cough believe it cough", it's understandable why a lot of people would prefer subs.

4kids and FUNimation stuff, basically. Most of it is shit.

So, subs are seen as something better. And very often they are.

 

[RottingAwesome]

i'll usually watch a few episodes in dubbed and a few in subbed to decide which one i like better and continue with that.
ie. i watched death note in dubbed and bleach in subbed (didn't watch the whole series lolol)

like other people have said some fans just want it in its purest form.
another reason might be because subbed comes out waayyy faster than dubbed

 

[Enkidu88]

Subs are usually preferable because the Japanese voice actors are usually better than the cheap hacks they get to do the Dubs for the US versions. That said, there are a few series that I thought had really well done english dubs, such as Black Lagoon.

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

I personally never liked the way that the Japanese do their voice acting. The Japanese versions of Edward and Al in Full Metal Alchemist... I just can't do it... Ugh...

 

[JWW]

As Calvin for Calvin and Hobbes would say "Why do Japanese people keep moving their mouths when they've finished talking?

 

[Weaver]

Well... I still haven't seen a good dub.
Even if it's reasonable, the Japanese acting is probably just as good if not better.

Anyways, I guess it's just a way to generalize things. For instance, sure there are good dubs out there. However, I'm pretty much guaranteed my subbed anime will have great voice work so why even bother with the dubs?

Plus, with fan subs I can stay up to date with series that we get over hear 2-5 years after the show is finished.

 

[jeejvebe]

I just enjoy seeing anime in it's purest form, without edits/censorship, which you usually don't get with dubbed versions.

 

[twasdfzxcv]

It dulls the potentially horrible/cheesy dialogues by hiding behind a language barrier.

 

[slopeslider]

If you were to get equal english counterparts to the seiyuu, just the western dubbing process can take some of the synergy out.
The Japanese record their lines together,they are all next to each other hearing the lines being delivered and able to change their line to compensate. Example:
Dude a: Oh hey dude b. Late again to class huh?( said with an dissapointed downwards
inflection)
dude b might give his reasons slowly with a little shame in his voice, as they both know he's always late.

The english VO could be just as talented, but he's reading lines off paper by himself with no way to get the tone of voice or other subtleties in the script. He doesn't know if dude a was understanding yet dissapointed ( then dude b would follow the japanese seiyuu route) or if he was more condemning and strict, in which case he'd say the lines faster and more defensively.
Stuff like this.

And the fact you must match the sounds to the mouth flaps and you lose out on the slang and honorifics, like calling the teacher "Yukari-chan" instead of 'Yukari-sensei'.

An english version would have the character maybe say 'Yukari' instead of 'Ms Yukari' but that's not the same, as -chan is a suffix for mainly young children, also not saying any suffix can imply a close relation or disrespect. This is also lost.

Dubs ALMOST NEVER translate the damn kanji yet they show it on the screen like we're supposed to read the handwritten letter the main character is silently reading ourselves? Add to the fact if you know japanese some then it's VERY IRRITATING to say the least that the english accents mostly ruin the names.
Example. (from Clannad)NuhGEEsuh.
Did the character say: Negisa, Nagisa(it's this), nogisa?
the terrible Inuyasha dub: KuhGOOUmei
Kagoumei? Kagome(this)? KEgome? Kegoumei? Kogome? Really guys?
also the R sound in dubs is usually iffy at best and wrong mostly.
I still like dubs for trigun, bebop, and VO Luci Christian, Chris Patton, and Johnny Bosch to name a few.

 

[Daipire]

Bo Bo Bo Bo Bo Bo Bo is good.

But mind you, I can't shake the feeling that it might have made sense in japanese.

The logic and continuity, lost in translation

 

[Poofs]

i prefer dubs because im either watcing Full Metal Alchemist or Bleach and Adult Swim dubbed both of those and they did a hell of a good job

 

[crimson5pheonix]

Bo Bo Bo Bo Bo Bo Bo is good.

But mind you, I can't shake the feeling that it might have made sense in japanese.

The logic and continuity, lost in translation

Considering the animations, I don't think I want to know what kind of logic it follows...

 

[Grahwo]

I prefere subs, simply because im used to subtitles in any movies/tvseries etc.
Only anime ive enjoyed in english is actually Hellsing series (OVA) due to the fact that its set in england :3

And often the english voiceactors does not really.. fit. >_>