Transitioning from Dubs to Subs

[beau99]

The only problems I have with dubs, usually, are the very bad attempts at matching the high-pitched Japanese voices and the way some characters' names are pronounced. I twitch every time I hear the stress on the wrong part of the name.

If the Japanese actors WEREN'T so high-pitched, I might watch the originals more. Really, they grate my ears.

And the reason many Japanese names are pronounced wrong is the same reason the Japanese pronounce English names wrong. It's not really that big of a deal to me.

[Sheenar]

But The Cat Returns? Gotta watch that in English. Cary Elwes FTW.

YES!!!!!!! He is an amazing actor! (And The Cat Returns is my favorite anime movie...)

As to subs vs. dubs, it depends on the series. I prefer the dub of DN Angel (even though the American girl --can't remember her name--has a super annoying Valley Girl voice) but the sub of Death Note.

FMA and Case Closed are good in either sub or dub.

[ShiroiHikari]

Well, to each his own.

[uc pseudonym]

Actually, I think Spanish dub with English sub works just fine.

Bah, English subtitles. It completely ruins the creator's intent, unlike the Chinese subs.

Seriously, though... I'm not a native Spanish speaker, so perhaps I shouldn't question the dubbers' decisions, but I think some of their translation choices are pretty funny.

[minakichan]

Bah, English subtitles. It completely ruins the creator's intent, unlike the Chinese subs.

I dunno, I think "How dare you tamper with my jewelry, villainous cur" probably reflects the creator's intent even more than the original Japanese dialogue XDDD

FMA and Case Closed are good in either sub or dub.

Case Closed is a good dub when "B-letter ball-hitting skill" is a good translation of Drive B in Prince of Tennis (true story, in those HK English subs). Seriously, the names they come up with in that dub are worse than Pokemon's, particularly because they lose all of the character name meaning, which is OFTEN CRUCIAL TO THE PLOT (Shinichi's name including "ichi," for example; Aoyama names all of the major characters very deliberately, with tons of allusions). At least "Misty" and "Brock" make SENSE in context.

[Nate]

Hong Kong subs are fantastic. I've seen a few for One Piece. "Turn around like letter U!"

And I hope this doesn't get deemed inappropriate, but there's the infamous scene from the G8 arc when they're trying to break down a massive iron gate and Usopp's sub says "What shall we do? We can't break through the hymen this way!"

[ShiroiHikari]

Yeah, with HKs you get awesome lines like "When you don't afraid any sunshine, come on baby!"

[Sailor Kenshin]

I'm kind of confused as to whether those HK subs are illegal.

[inuyasha89]

It doesn't necessarily matter to me, just depends on the situation. For instance, if I am watching an anime and doing something else at the same time(like browsing the internet, playing wow/another game, or stuff like that then i prefer dub since I can't speak japanese. If I am just watching the anime though, I prefer sub(with a few exceptions)

This actually brings me to another point: I went to see the live action Death Note movie when it premiered in theaters on tuesday. I went in expecting it to be subbed for some reason, but much to my dismay it was dubbed. Now, I will admit that the dub was not bad, and that the voice actor choices were good(they used the same ones from the anime to keep things from being mismatched) but still. Dubbing is fine for animated movies because the mouths aren't as easy to mismatch, but with live action mismatching voices for mouth movements is too easy. Still it wasn't as bad as I was afraid it was going to be.

[Sakaki Onsei]

In my case, the desire to learn the language and to actually be able to be competent in regards to what was being said and the proper context drove me to subs (then to Raw).

Of course, I'm just a freaky freak freak, so that's nothing new.

[GeneD]

I mostly prefer subs, but I must say the Miyazaki dubs are some of my favourites. Sometimes the subs just have something extra, for example somehow the Cowboy Bebop movie sub is funnier than the dub.

One thing I appreciate about subs: I have a friend who is hearing impaired, but the subs won't bother anyone watching with her because nobody can understand the Japanese anyway. It's great at anime screenings.

[ADXC]

Sorry for sorta(Because it's still on the first page of threads.) gravedigging this. I was just bored so I thought Id give my opinion.

Im not into subbed that much. I mean it's okay because it's the original version(With the original voice cast), but I prefer not look at the bottom part of the screen for the majority of the anime. I don't get much enjoyment that way. I could care less what the voice(Well there is a limit, I will say that. Like some super, high pitched voice or a very mono-tone voice.) sounds like as long as I can understand what they are saying. I give you guys(For those that do.) props for watching the original version(Because I know how happy Japanese VAs may get from hearing that some Americans love the subbed versions even though that's not their primary language.), but Im just not built that way(Yeah, Im lazy.). Because I would rather enjoy the music and graphic's of the anime then the words at the bottom of the screen. But occasionally if an anime that I really want to see, but there's no dub yet then I will watch the sub.

Now say if I were to learn the Japanese language then I may(Well actually will.) watch anime subbed.

Yikes! I feel that I am outnumbered by those who watch subbed over those who watch dubbed.

But here's a question. Does it make me any less(Or not at all.) of an anime fan to prefer dubbed anime over subbed?

[ShiroiHikari]

But here's a question. Does it make me any less(Or not at all.) of an anime fan to prefer dubbed anime over subbed?

Eh, not really. I'm a bit of a hardliner when it comes to watching it subbed, but if other people would rather watch the dub, then that's their thing. (I think think subs are better though lolololololol *gets shot*)

[Radical Dreamer]

But here's a question. Does it make me any less(Or not at all.) of an anime fan to prefer dubbed anime over subbed?

Absolutely not. I hate when people say "watching dubbed anime makes you a lesser fan" because it totally doesn't. XD I watch both subbed and dubbed series depending on my mood or the acting job, and there are some series where I prefer the dub to the sub (Cowboy Bebop? Cowboy Bebop). There's nothing wrong with wanting to hear something in your own language. XD

[RobinSena]

But here's a question. Does it make me any less(Or not at all.) of an anime fan to prefer dubbed anime over subbed?

It's completely impossible to be an anime fan and prefer dubs. It'd be better for you to despise anime than to watch it with dubs.







I kid.

While I greatly prefer subs, I say whatever floats your boat is fine. I watch A Little Snow Fairy Sugar with dubs so my little sisters don't have to read subtitles the whole time, and the dubs for Miyazaki movies aren't bad. So no, preferring dubs doesn't alter your status as an anime fan at all.

[Scarecrow]

Everything I've seen for the most part, the dubs sounds way better. I would try to watch the subs early on but they always seem to have a character or two with the most annoying voice and went back to dubs. I don't even bother with subs anymore. And another thing, I started watching anime for the art and stylization. Most of the stuff I buy, I pick up cause it looks visually amazing and usually know little about the actual story (of course I research it out well to make sure its actually any good before just blind buying)... you cannot pay attention to the art and keep up with the story while reading. With dubs you can

[RobinSena]

you cannot pay attention to the art and keep up with the story while reading. With dubs you can

Actually, you can. I guess maybe it just depends on the person.

[Lilac#18]

But here's a question. Does it make me any less(Or not at all.) of an anime fan to prefer dubbed anime over subbed?

No, it doesn't make you less of a fan or not a fan to watch anime in the dubbed version.

Me, when I see an anime for the first time, I watch it in english first then I watch it in japanese with subs. I prefer the subs over dubs, but I would switch the audio track back and forth. If the dub is screwy, like if it's too americanized and/or if the dialogue doesn't go with the original japanese version (like sm or dbz for example) then I would watch it in japanese.

[Sailor Kenshin]

It doesn't make you less of a fan, but only a true ultra-otaku will watch the sub and THEN immediately following, the dub.