sub vs dub

[indyrocker]

so i was just wondering what the amount of sub vs dub fans there are out there!

[Nate]

Depends on the quality. For example:

Dubbed - Ranma, El-Hazard, Those Who Hunt Elves, Mahoromatic, Ai Yori Aoshi, Maison Ikokku, Fruits Basket

Subbed ONLY - Sailor Moon, Fushigi Yugi, Slayers, Saber Marionette J, Love Hina, Cardcaptor Sakura

[Debitt]

I stick with subtitles as a general rule. There are some quality dubs, but having turned on the English soundtrack and finding blood spouting out of my ears one too many times, I just don't want to chance it anymore.

[crossalchemist]

I feel the same as Kokoro, I just have seen too many bad dubs to trust 'em anymore. Plus I just like watching them in the original Japanese. I always liked the sound of Japanese as opposed to english anyway.

[Kenshin17]

I prefer dubs. Its easier to watch an anime the first time at least without having to read it. I will sometimes go back and watch parts or all of an episode subbed. I still want to go back and watch a couple shows all the way through subbed. Dubbed its just easier to get the story and all the first time through. Then with subs you know basiclly, at least, whats goin on and don't have to worry to much about missing a word or line and lossing the story.

[Elric_kun]

I stick with subtitles as a general rule. There are some quality dubs, but having turned on the English soundtrack and finding blood spouting out of my ears one too many times, I just don't want to chance it anymore.

ditto

[Aka-chan]

My default mode is sub, but if someone reliable has recommended the dub, I'll give it a chance. *nodnod*

[SpikeSpiegel306]

Well, since I speak Japanese and all I dont really need either but if I had to pick I'd say sub...as long as it is accurate. I hate sub's that arent even close to what is actually being said...::takes out gun and shoots Cowboy Bebop Subber:: Take that...loser

[indyrocker]

Agreed some dubs just make me want to go on a rampage others are ok but however inacaret like i was just waching Cowboy bebop the movie in genral bebop is one of the better dubs but the subed was soo much better in this case and most in fact. On some tho such as Some days dreamers it makes sence for one of the caritures to have a sothern acsent because of the prefecture that they origanate from, so that being said i still prefer subed over dubed.

[Kisa]

Dubbed to begin with, unless quality is bad....
I tend to watch both on the DVDs that allow it so I can get a good view of both ways..... ^^''

[Hitokiri]

Thier's some good dubbed and thiers others that suck

Good Dubbed: Cowboy Bebop, Trigun, Outlaw Star, FLCL, ad RahXephon.
Bad Dubbed: Love, DBZ, Grave of the Fireflies, and Hellsing (cause of the swearing )

I will usually watch it dubbed and than subbed

[John316]

Subbed all the way. Dubs are an unnecessary risk.

[Mr. SmartyPants]

I stick with subtitles as a general rule. There are some quality dubs

Ditto

[Mr_Anderson]

usually sub, but if it has a good dubbing eg. Trigun, the i'll watch the dub. sometimes i'll see how the dub is in the begining, and usually switch 2 sub after like, 30 seconds.

[Yojimbo]

I usually watch them dubbed unless it's utterly atrocious.

[oro!]

I like both, though some voices you can't stand or it's wrong. Whenever I'm watching Rurouni Kenshin, I like to switch periodicallly, unless it totally bothers someone I'm with.

[indyrocker]

I know what you mean in cowbow bebop i love th dubed voice of ed and not so much the japanese one.

[Hitokiri]

Something just doesnt seem right when I don't hear Steve Blum doing Spike's voice (thats the guy right).

That and I would miss my favroite line from Outlaw Star "Up yours!" from Gene.

[Arnobius]

I've always preferred my foreign films subtitled over the dub and this carried over to anime. I think the only time I ever preferred a dub was with "Kiki's Delivery Service" where Phil Hartman seemed better as Jiji than the JP seiyuu (who sounded like a Luna ripoff). Generally though, I see the Japanese as better because there, the Seiyuu are *acting* while the dubbers are *re-enacting.* They focus too much (IMO) on trying to sound similar to the JP instead of making it sound natural in English

In my experience, dubs seem to go to two extremes: 1) Tame everything down if they're trying for a TV slot [Hence, Haruka and Michiru are "cousins"] and 2) Make things as crass as possible if it can't get on mainstream TV [4-letter words in Excel Saga]. Also, sometimes the dubbers miss the point, or give a line connotations that it wasn't supposed to have. With subs, one can see subtleties in humor that dubs completely miss and possibly the translator didn't get. Unfortunately, the examples I discovered are probably too crude to post without my getting banned, so I'll pass.

Finally, the dubbers have a BAD tendency to try to match the mouthflaps (which the Japanese don't try to do) which means a lot of extra words are added to a line if the Japanese words take longer to say than the English words.

Anyway, these are my reasons for my preferences and I'm not trying to start a sub vs. dub war. I have no problem with people who like dubs so long as I have access to subs.

[Spazztik]

I like Dubs better, but recently I have started to watch some anime with subs and its not that bad either.

[agasfas]

Dubs all the way! *ducks from the thrown objects.*
I mean, to me it really doesn't matter as long as I get to see the series. I could care less about the name changes etc... as long as they don't edit out any content it's all good. I mean after a long day of work and stress I just want to relax. Why strain my eyes trying to read subs? Just pop in the dvd, sit back and enjoy.
Plus, it really seems that everyone is so critical of dubs. Like people say, "oh they sound so fake", "I hate how they butchered the series with the voices," or "it was made in japanese, keep it that way." Like I said, as long as the content is there I could care less

So if I had a choice, I would choose dubbed over subs. Though, if it were only offered in subs that would still be alright... As long as I get to see the series.

[Jeikobu]

Subbed is easily tops for me. I used to prefer dubbed, but now I've come to see how bad most dubs are in comparison, besides I want to learn Japanese very badly and need practice, and I just love Japan and the language and like to hear it. Also, it's the original language, the way it should be. And it isn't too hard to read the subtitles and still pay attention to the visuals. The only dubs I can really tolerate that I've seen are Trigun, Lupin the 3rd, Cowboy Bebop and maybe one or two more.

[shooraijin]

I think we had a thread on this before, but anyway -- I usually much prefer dubs *if they're good*. Subs require a lot more concentration on my part. For example, the Ranma and Azumanga dubs are great (with minor quibbles), and I usually always watch those series dubbed.

On the other hand, I can't stand awful dub jobs. If the dub is terrible (Urusei Yatsura movie #2 ... gurgle), I will always put the sub on, every time.

Often I watch a series with the dub audio track, but with the sub on at the same time. That way if there's some subtle change in the dialogue from the Japanese to the English, I'll notice (and sometimes rewind and listen to the Japanese to see which one I think captures it better).

[indyrocker]

Ya would think so but i couldent find one so i decided to make one.

[AngelSakura]

I'm a subbie, but my mom's a dubbie, and it drives me insane. The only anime she really likes is Wolf's Rain, and I can stand the dub, but sometimes it's just so flat...

The first chance I had to watch an anime subbed without ever hearing the dub was for the Tenchi Muyo! OVA. But then, out of curiousity, I put on the dub track and it was absolutely...not good. Not terrible, teeth-hurtingly bad like Inuyasha's dub, just uncharacteristic and flat. Ryoko sounded like a smoker for some reason, and Tenchi was overly wimpy. I didn't stick around for the rest of the characters.

[uc pseudonym]

There has definitely been a thread on this exact issue before, but ah well; it has been some time.

Looking at it from a theoretical perspective, I much prefer dubs. The original version of the show had voices understood to the audiance without words at the bottom. To watch it in a different format seems untrue to the medium of anime, in my mind. Of course, if a dubbed anime is untrue enough to the series to matter, I will use subs. I have my tastes as to Japanese or English voice actors, but I don't think it is worth whining just because a voice is different (within reason).

[Arnobius]

Most forums have to have a sub/dub debate every six months minimum. At least this one is civil and not a full blown flame war like most.

Personally I do find enough issues with dialogue changing the connotations of what was said to dislike dubs in general. Either extra crass or bowdlerized tends to be the norm. Cowboy Bebop was good, and I could tolerate The Ping Pong Club dub (though it was even worse than the sub crudity wise).

My ideal is that with the japanese language track and the subs turned off, there should be no way to differentiate between the JP and English releases.

I guess each individuql is different with how they best respond. SOme do better with listening and others do better with reading text.

[Debitt]

I think the main problem I have with dubs, aside from their common failure to have voices match the characters and their emotions properly (well, only in my opinion. Not taking a stab at dubs here), is their tendency to "spice up" the dialogue. I remember one instance where I had a good friend over, and we had turned on the Saiyuki dub (partially because we were in the kitchen and couldn't read the subtitles from where we were sitting, and partially because she was completely unfamiliar with Japanese). I had told her that the language in the series wasn't too too over the top, but when the dub track started playing, we both cringed. ><; They had added in so much swearing, it wasn't even funny!

[agasfas]

It seems like the main factor why people hate dubs, so I have picked up is that they just hate the voice choice. I mean, each culture has a certain voice tone and pitch including english. Of course we wont be able to match the original voice tones because they are dubbing it in english--it's a totally different culture. I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but the japanese and chinese voice tone tends to be higher pitched in general and americans tend to have lower tone and pitch. For example, I've noticed in original japanese language many male characters have a voice tone much like a woman. Goku from DBZ is a perfect example. I mean, they have gotten better, and of course this isn't true of all. But the english dubs, in my opinion do a good job making clear distinctions between the voice tones of a female and male. Even if there is a female talking for male, it sounds like a male. Though there are exceptions where you can't tell... but overall, the distinction tends to be clear.

Though, in my opinion most dubs I've seen have done a good job in catching the emotions of the character.

Though like I said, it's all about personal perference.

[shooraijin]

It's funny you mention that, Kokoro. While (ADV is particularly bad on this point) there are shows that make the dub a little "spicy" as you mention, there are shows that go the *other* way -- You're Under Arrest! has a *cleaner* dub than the subtitles, mostly as far as cleaning up potty humour (confirmed when I listened to the Japanese audio). In fact, if you listen to the recording sessions, the director actually tells them to tone down some of their improvisations!