Anime...Sub or Dub?

[edczxcvbnm]

I am not making this a poll because I don't want people to reply and just say what they voted for with out reading the rest of this thread. I want you to explain why you prefer one over the other and why you don't understand what the other side sees in what they choose.

I shall now start it all off by saying I prefer Dubbed to Subbed(every now and then Subbed is better).

I prefer dubbed because I can better identify the character's personalities. Its just not the emotion they express in their voice but they pitch of the voice and 'gruff' among other things. Not too mention accents that are more identifiable to me.

I don't see why people like the original voice acting in Japanese most of the time. Its all very very very generic. Bad guy has a deep voice even if it is a female. Innocent good guy has a high pitched voice even if it is a male. There are barely any accents due to Japan being a pretty xenocentric society(either that or I just can't ever tell the difference).

I just don't see likeing the original Jap when the voices sound the same for the most part...ALL THE TIME!

One last reason I like Dubs are because they put dialog that fits our culture in there instead of the culture of Japan. None of those wierd food related jokes. I am sorry but I just don't get it.

[TheAbominatrix]

I almost always prefer the sub. Most dubbed voices are just so terrible, and I like the way the voices down better. When they scream in dubs they dont sound at all afraid. It sounds so forced.

One anime I prefer dubbed is Evangelion... the voices are just as good, and there's simply too much to read (the text in the show along with the voice translations) to watch subbed.

[Jebus]

I also prefer sub. Although one or two come by where the dub is just as good or better than the original. Cowboy Bebop for instance.

[crono_logical]

Sub all the way for me :p Unlike ed, I find the japanese seiyuu do a better job of getting emotions through, and doing so more realistically/convincingly, and most english dubs can get bad enough they want to make you cringe :p I think Karekano (His and Her Circumstances) and Princess Mononoke are the only ones I've heard where the dub counterpart is performed well enough for me to not mind listening to.

As for accents, I couldn't pick them up at all for the first few animes I watched, yes they did sound all the same, but after a while, I can spot the differences and varying styles of speech quite easily now :p

Actually, I'm starting to dislike even subs now and would prefer raw at times, since I'm getting to the point where I'm starting to spot some of the errors some fansub groups make in their scripts, which gets offputting when you read one thing and they say something with a different meaning :p

[Germ Hamee]

This is a no brainer for me. America has an extremely long way to go when it comes to voice acting, and the japanese seem to have it nailed. As someone mentioned above... when a charactor screams in a sub... they scream. When they scream in a dub, it sounds like some poor, confused, frat boy that has had too much to drink. The emotions are just so much more believable in japanese than english for me. Dubs are done by low-class actors, most of which focus on making funny voices that turn out sounding annoying and out of synch with the series.

Dubbing really doesn't seem right to me anyway. It's anime. These people are japanese. Why the hell would they be speaking english? How is an english voice actor supposed to emulate an osakan accent? How are we supposed to mimic the hyperactive way those crazy japs like to talk?

I think the reason for the japanese tending to be better at voice acting is because their gestures and body motions are so suppressed... they express their emotions entirely out their voice, which works wonderfully for animation. Americans are more expressive physically... which is also probably why american live action ends up being so much better than japanese. (Aside from lower budgets)

Occasionally they get the dub right, but rarely does it ever satisfy me. The closest to satisfaction I've come with a dub was Haibane Renmei.

[edczxcvbnm]

So far the dubs you people have mentioned that you like are a few of the animes I have actually watched. Maybe you guys just watch too much crap and I don't watch enough?

As for picking up on the accents. I will never be able to that or a lot of the emotion they exibit when they talk. When I watch something in english I can tell if the person has an uncaring attitude by the way they talk. I would never pick up on that in Japanese by the way they talk. I would have to have the text there and it would probably end up giving me the impression that they are pissed off.

[Rainecloud]

Watching dubbed anime is hilarious.

That's the only reason I can think of. It makes me laugh, so I'll have it dubbed, please.

[TheAbominatrix]

Yes, I've watched tons of crap. Dubs are even worse when they have the audacity to dub the theme song... like in Magic Knight Rayearth. Though, in that series even the subbing is bad... they sub '-chan' as '-ster'. Like 'Umi-ster' and 'Fuu-ster'. HORRID.

Neon Genesis Evangelion and Cowboy Bebop are the only really good dubs I've watched. And I've seen a whole lotta anime.

Worst dubs? Probably Speed Racer, Sailormoon, and Battle of the Planets (Gatchaman).

I totally agree with Reyn about the emotion. Japanese voice actors just put such passion into their work.

[Caltrap]

I choose Subbed for a few reasons. Other than the ones said here, is that when the animes are subbed, its usually a pretty close translation. For dubs, they try to make it fit in with the amount of time the people are speaking so it cuts a lot of speech off.
Also, some subs I've watched had likkle helpful comments at the top for things I don't understand. (Such as Houshi and Mika)
I usually watch subbed and keep the japenese voices so I can get what kind of stress people are putting on words
I also like to see how much of the language I can pick up

[BatChao]

I usually like subbed, though some dubs are pretty good. Usually when it's a movie or something released in theaters, the dubs are pretty good quality, but I find dubs for TV shows kinda annoying. I can't quite place my finger on it, but sometimes it just doesn't sound right. I think the reason I like the original tracks more is probably because I can't understand them that well. Are they acting well? I dunno, but it seems like it! In English I can tell when someone is overacting or underacting or sounding like a complete moron. In Japanese, it's a lot harder since I'm not fluent with the language.
Another reason I like the original tracks more is because the annoyingly high pitched 'cute girl' voice actually sounds really stupid in English, but I like it in Japanese. This probably goes along with the 'I don't understand what they're saying' thing.
I also like those wierd sounds that animals make while they talk (ex: the puchigusos go: 'puchi!' or something at the end of the sentences). They sound kinda cute in Japanese, but most of the time there's no real translation into English for these things.

[Peegee]

You want a good example? I don't know for sure if this is true, but if you can find 'Excel Saga' dubbed, I'd like to hear what you have to say about it. In the subs she literally speaks 200 wpm or something sometimes (it's REALLY fast). That's amazing to say the least. The dubs could never get that good because no american voice actor could do it without it costing too much to dub (imo).

Regardless, I prefer subs because I like the authenticity. Yes there are dubs that do not mistranslate/rewrite the entire plot (like pokemon does sometimes), and there is the problem with lip synching causing me a great deal of strife.

Another great example is dubbed h-anime. *sigh* such a travesty.

[Bahamut2000X]

I like dub over subs. More so because I get to see what's going on rather then sitting there reading EVERYTHING that is being said. And of course imagine doing this sometimes for 4 hours straight in a dark dark room reading tiny text.

The only time I like sub over dub is Initial D where the people that dubbed it changed it completly, although with the way the disc is set up you also gotta go by the japanese audio track if you want to hear the good music and not the american rap filled version.

[MecaKane]

I usually go for subs, because that's what I'm used to. When I used to rent vhs tapes at this one place they mostly had subs, except for Dragon Ball Z and crap. But sometimes they made mistakes, like getting the second tape of Eva dubbed, I don't know how anyone can like that either, Shinji sounds like a complete moron, makes me want to cut off my ears and/or beat the crap out of him.

The only times I ever watch the dub where I had a choise was with Cowboy Bebop, cause I watched the fansub so many times I wanted to see what it was like dubbed, and Sprited Away, cause the subtitles were showing up all weird on my TV. Oh, and InuYasha, even though it comes on TV if I miss any episodes I like to go find ogms with the dub on them, too.

[SomethingBig]

Originally posted by Pureghetto
Another great example is dubbed h-anime. *sigh* such a travesty.
Hahaha, nice.

I always prefer watching animes subbed. More than half the time the english voice actors are horrible to the point where I want to go to each and every one of their houses and hang them... Or at least rip their larynges out. Also, the english versions add in the most unnecessary and most unfunny jokes. The voices sometimes don't even fit the character. When the characters scream, it doesn't pierce you. You just think, "Dag, they're mad." When they scream in japanese, you feel for the character. You don't just think, "Dag, they're mad." You also think, "RAH! That guy's such a jerk! I can't believe he did that to that guy!" The japanese voices are true and are full of emotion. It's as if the happenings are actually happening to the characters.

Example: In one of the Dragonball Z episodes, the characters are fighting on the Kai planet. In the background, Evil Buu and Majin Buu are fighting. Elsewhere, Goku, Vegita, and Mr. Satan are doing whatever. Vegita comes up with the idea of destroying Buu with an Energy Ball(no, not spirit bomb) that has power from every creature in the universe. So, Vegita asks everyone on Earth to lend their power. When people refuse to lend their power, Vegita becomes enraged to the point where he's actually crying and begging. The japanese voice actor did a superb job of doing this part. The english voice actor, however, did such a horrible job that it would've made me laugh, only after seeing the Japanese version, I was enraged because the english voice actor didn't even compare.

The english versions also tend to butcher the plot and not to mention the music. Dear lord have any of you ever heard the english music for Dragonball Z and GT?! Have you heard the narrators?! My friends and I were watching it during a sleep-over and we made fun of the narrator and the music the entire time.

By the way, not all good guys' voices are high and not all bad guys' voices are low. In the Japanese version of Yu-Gi-Oh!, most, if not all, of the male heroes' voices are low. In the Japanese version of Trigun, Wolfwood's voice is low and Vash's is also low when he's serious. In the Japanese version of Tekkaman, D-Boy(bah, I forget his name)'s voice is low.

EDIT: Not all dubbed animes are bad. The english Trigun voice actors did great jobs. The english and Japanese scripts were almost the same. The Rurouni Kenshin, Inu-Yasha, and Cowboy Bebop voices were also done well.

[Bulldog]

Anything is better in it's original language. Especially books.

[Shlup]

I prefer whichever is better for the particular anime. Like the dub of Spirited Away was great, so I prefer it. The dub of Sailormoon was so bad it hurts me, so I prefer the sub.

[Agent Proto]

Some dubs are actually pretty good, and that I can understand it easier too, but I prefer subbed anime. *nods*

Only when I'm actually bothered to read. :p

[twobitmage]

Originally posted by jebusabsolute
I also prefer sub. Although one or two come by where the dub is just as good or better than the original. Cowboy Bebop for instance.

I agree totally

[Gene Ohm]

generally i prefer dubbed, though for a real laugh put it on dubbed with subs and play spot the difference :p

I just find that its easier to understand the emotions and personality behind the spoken word, it makes the dialogue easier to follow and sometimes thats a very good thing

227

[DeBlayde]

well, I prefer subbed. because I hate the whole words comin out and the mouth ain't movin thing.

and true, the japanese entertainment industry has many stereotypes and characterizations, but so does American entertainment. Japanese stuff is more obvious because it's different to what we're used to here since it's a different culture.

[Peegee]

Here's an odd instance where dubbing is terrible:

I bought the Bruce Lee cantonese audio series on dvd. Since like most of Bruce Lee's flicks involve him speaking chinese, it makes sense to. However 'Enter the Dragon' was an American film (right? Or some sort of english country film), so when they dubbed it in cantonese, it made absolutely no sense! I'm sitting there watching Roper speaking in cantonese and I can't stand a word of it. The only time it made a little sense was in the first two minutes where only Chinese people spoke -_-

Dubs are never, ever good unless you just happen to speak the language, and even then it's really a preference thing...a preference I lack. /dry wit

[Sephex]

My rules:

Dub mainly because I am lazy. Sub if the english voices are HORRIBLE! ("Let's have a BBQ! Huah Huah Huah!" )

And for the record, yeah, Eva's english voices kick a$s.

[Erdrick Holmes]

Sub, because sometimes the crappy english translation never lipsynchs properly or at times gives it a lamer sound to it, also Japanese character voices sound a million times cooler then the english translations.

[one_winged_angel]

Sub is better, I can't stand some of the English dubs. Like Excel from Excel Saga, I spent three weeks recovering from her high pitched screaming. Or Kitsune from Love Hina, why is she from Texas!?

[TheAbominatrix]

Originally posted by one_winged_angel
Sub is better, I can't stand some of the English dubs. Like Excel from Excel Saga, I spent three weeks recovering from her high pitched screaming. Or Kitsune from Love Hina, why is she from Texas!?

They use American Southern accents for the equivilant to the dialect... I believe it's from Osaka. They have a certain accent, it's hard to pick up unless you're exposed to it a lot.

[Peegee]

I really want to see a clip of excel saga dubbed -- preferably during the scenes where she's "supposed" to say five to six words per second :)

[escobert]

I liek dubded better. Theres a lot less work. All that reading...God I'd kill someone.

[Evelia]

I prefer subbed, usually. I think that some shows are very well-dubbed, like Cowboy Bebop. But more often than not, the English voices get on my nerves. :\ Especially in Slayers...

[edczxcvbnm]

Alright people....I am starting to come to the conclusion that I just don't watch crappy anime(with the exception of Dragonball Z....Dragonball was the !). Could you all make a list of anime that you have hear the dubs for and say if they were good or if they sucked. I have a feeling about something for those who say something sucked compared to those who say the other way but I don't want to say it yet. I want to see if it holds true.

I am going to watch some more .hack//sign. Its a pretty good show.

[TheAbominatrix]

Bad dubs:
Magic Knight Rayearth
Sailormoon
Yoroiden Samurai Troopers (aka Ronin Warriors)
Tenchi (in all it's incarnations)
Gatchaman (aka G-Force, aka Battle of the Planets, aka Eagle Riders)

Good dubs:
Cowboy Bebop
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Tonari no Totoro (aka My Neighbor Totoro)
Spirited Away
Ranma 1/2

I really don't watch that many dubs.

[Erdrick Holmes]

Ok remember the Anime cutscenes in Xenogears? Remember how crappy the dubbing was when the characters spoke? Henceforth subbing all the way.

[crono_logical]

For the ones I've seen and can remember, in no particular order (bits of in some cases, I'm not watching all of digimon :p ):

Good dubs:
Princess Mononoke
Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou (His and Her Circumstances)
Pokemon :p Yes, despite the lameness of it especially as it drags on, this was dubbed pretty well :p The guy that does Brock's English voice is one of the best dub voice actors I've heard.

Bad dubs:
Love Hina
Card Captor Sakura
Digimon
Angelic Layer
Sailor Moon
Slayers (Lina's dub VA really makes the show boring)
Strange Dawn

This is just comparing on the voice acting, and not any other scene cutting/censoring/episode reordering/storyline changing/character changing/soundtrack screwing up they did in the process :p

Voice acting in games originally from Japan dubbed into English also generally suck, more so for PSX games than PS2, but there's still bad spots in PS2 games too.

[eternalshiva]

I like subs... cause I don't really watch liscenced anime anyways so its not available in English. BUT the ones that are dubbed, I still watch them subbed. Inuyasha is just 100% better subbed.

[edczxcvbnm]

Every single one of those animes that have 'bad dubs' suck to begin with. I don't think it is so much a matter of a good dub and a bad dub but a matter of the show being any good to begin with.

By the way.... .hack//sign is awesome. It probably isn't for everyone though. Its a slow paced show with little action.

[crono_logical]

Maybe they suck to you, but like .hack//sign, not every anime is for everyone :p

[Germ Hamee]

Ehh? What does a bad show have to do with an actor's ability to act? Pokémon certainly wasn't an anime worth winning awards, but I do agree that they did a good job with the dub. Escaflowne was an awesome show, but I can't sit through an english dub without cringing and wanting to rip my ears out.

You may not appreciate Cardcaptor Sakura, or Sailor Moon, but they were both shows intended for children, and from that point of view both of those shows were spectacular... both of which were completely hacked apart in the english dub and emerged on american television has completely different shows. But we all know that, so there's no need to get into it.

Anyway... yeah. I really don't see how a show's quality has anything to do with an actor's ability to act.

[TheAbominatrix]

Those anime do not suck. Bet 20 bucks you havent even heard of Gatchaman.

[The Man]

Dubs are lame.

[edczxcvbnm]

I would like to comment on the kids show aspect of things...I don't think many kids shows have very good voice acting to begin with.

Also a show's quality usually reflects upon everything. A show that looks high quality will probably have all aspects in high quality and a show like dragonball, sailor moon or gatchaman will have low quality everything.

Also I have heard of gatchaman. I how ever have never heard of strange dawn.

Guu there is a difference between liking a show and a show just being good. I do it with games as well. I love state of emergency but there is no way that I would say it is a good game. It has way too many flaws to every be good.

[Germ Hamee]

Originally posted by edczxcvbnm
I would like to comment on the kids show aspect of things...I don't think many kids shows have very good voice acting to begin with.

Heh. Sometimes, though not all the time. Cardcaptor Sakura had some really amazing voice actors, almost every single one of them being celebrities in japan (as far as anime voice actors go). Sailor Moon also had a great cast... one of which, Kotono Mitsuishi (Usagi/Sailor Moon) also did the voice of Excel in Excel Saga, and Misato in Evangelion, both of which I'm sure you're familiar with. The only thing low quality about SM was the animation, which is easily forgiven considering how ancient it is. So, again. In the end, something being a kid's show doesn't reflect on jap dub quality at all.

[Peegee]

Bad dubs: hentai

Good dubs: um....Pokemon, Macross Plus...Ninja Scroll maybe, Fist of the North Star (a little bit of 'creative' 'confusing' 'odd' lines, but it's pretty good)....

I don't know. There aren't many good dubs. Akira maybe. Pretty much all the movies I've seen that I could never secure a subbed copy of is 'good dubbing', because I have nothing to compare it to.

Macross Plus is just good because the story is amazing and the animation is superb. You stop caring about that people speak in dubs.

Oh, and any cantonese film that is dubbed into english automatically sucks, and vince versa.

[TheAbominatrix]

Have you watched Gatchaman though? It's a good show, and so is Sailormoon really. Both are kids shows (though Gatchaman was extremely violent even for a kids shows) and both had extremely talented voice acting in Japan. Most 'kids' shows are worked on just as much as adult shows.