Subs or Dubs?

Do you all prefer to watch anime subtitled or dubbed? What are your overall thoughts?

When I was a kid I pretty much watched all of my anime dubbed but the older I got, the more the dubs started to bother me. Acting felt awkward, especially during emotional outbursts, people in Japan spoke in Irish/Brooklyn/Southern accents for no reason, and sometimes people added in attempts at humor that were not in the subtitled translation (Yu Yu Hakusho especially).

After listening to Billy Crudup deliver two lines as Ashitaka in Princes Mononoke, I switched to subtitled and have stayed with it ever since. Since the switch, the overall dialogue felt less awkward. I generally liked most of the voices for a change, especially when it came to the supporting cast. When I rent or buy an anime, I don't even try the dub anymore; I go straight to the subtitled version. I'm not going to say that the Japanese acting is better, however, because I wouldn't be fit to judge that.

As a small example, I've listened to bits and pieces of the Berserk dub and I don't think it's even watchable let alone good. Casca's English voice in particular is painful and Goku doesn't belong in the Band of the Hawk.
 
Hey there,
I try to stick as close to the original as possible (concerning books, movies, Anime etc.). Therefore, I prefer subbed Anime over dubbed Anime. The downside is, obviously, that you have to concentrate on an extra thing. In addition, it just "feels" like the Japanese/original voice-acting is better, or maybe just more "like the author intended" (at least for me).
 

Walter

Administrator
Staff member
Dubs are garbage.

The only dub I ever enjoyed was Goldenboy, which was a comedy, so the overbearing voice actors benefited the context rather than detracted.
 

nomad

"Bring the light of day"
Walter said:
The only dub I ever enjoyed was Goldenboy, which was a comedy, so the overbearing voice actors benefited the context rather than detracted.
Finally! I have found a fellow Goldenboy fan!

Favorite scene! (This one is saddly edited :judo:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZC5OO18V6M

And yes... I think there's been 2 dubs in my lifetime that I can say it was good. Goldenboy and Macross Plus. Subs are my choice.
 
This might be heresy, but I actually thought the Berserk dub was pretty good. Minus Goku of course, Guts, Casca, and Griffith were really well done.
On the subject of overall Dubs v.s. Subs, its hit and miss honestly. Sometimes you have excellent dubs like Cowboy Bebop or most of the Gundam series. Then there's crap like Inuyasha.
 
Subs all the way. Japanese voice actors are best in general, I think. It's really popular and respected job in Japan, so naturally standarts and the quality bar is set higher. There's even special article on wiki called "Voice acting in Japan".
 
Samurai Pizza Cats was the greatest dub of all time, bar none. The fact that they rewrote the entire script because Bandai was too cheap to pay for a Japanese translator, and consequently created a parody, is hilarious in its own right. The original Hellsing series dub was good, also.
 
Definitely subs. I like Japan, Japanese language and Japanese people a lot, and I definitely like subs better, despite my preferences they're still done way better anyway. The only dub I liked almost as much as the original was DBZ by Funimation. I'm a total weeabo, not that there's anything wrong with that, since liking quality is a good thing.
 

Gobolatula

praise be to grail!
It varies to me. I used to be hardcore Sub man. Then I switched over to dubs. I always thought that the Berserk TV dub was awful. They also weren't careful enough. Little tiny mistakes like Griffith saying, "Guts, my friend." Never happened. And they probably thought, "OH WHY NOT LET'S JUST ADD 2 MORE WORDS SO THE LIP FLAPS MATCH." But it was a crappy mistake. I did absolutely love the outtakes, though.

The dub that made me give dubs a chance was Cowboy Bebop. Though, for a lot of series that I love, I'll end up watching it in both languages.
 
JoeZeon said:
This might be heresy, but I actually thought the Berserk dub was pretty good. Minus Goku of course, Guts, Casca, and Griffith were really well done.

If you watch it again subtitled, it will feel like a completely different and better show.

smogass said:
Subs all the way. Japanese voice actors are best in general, I think. It's really popular and respected job in Japan, so naturally standarts and the quality bar is set higher. There's even special article on wiki called "Voice acting in Japan".

I wouldn't say the whole voice acting industry in America is bad. Take a look at the voice acting for Mass Effect, the Boondocks, and Up, for example.
 

Grail

Feel the funk blast
I'm pretty lazy, so as long as the translation sounds right and the voice acting is decent, I'll probably just watch the dub. On the other hand, if it's a series I particularly enjoy, I might just switch between both to see the differences. And sometimes, as some folks have already said, a bad dub can provide its very own brand of entertainment! :guts:
 
Groovy Metal Fist said:
I wouldn't say the whole voice acting industry in America is bad. Take a look at the voice acting for Mass Effect, the Boondocks, and Up, for example.

I didn't say that it's bad. I just said something like if you take all the Americas(or other country) voice acting involving products and then take Japan ones and count average quality mark. I think Japan would be a winner, but then again it's only my opinion. I didn't see all the products nor I am some quality judge to state it as a fact that Japan is better. I am just basing it on what I have seen(heard?).
 

Saephon

Die young and save yourself
As you become accustomed to Japanese culture and hearing the language, you begin to a realize a lot of anime has bad voice acting even in its original language. It might be of higher quality on average than that of North American work, but I still think it's overrated due to a bunch of American "otaku" who don't speak Japanese and thus can't really form an opinion on Japanese intonation, inflection, emphasis, etc. Don't get me wrong, most English dubs are atrocious. But a lot of people who prefer Japanese voice acting because it's "better" can't really back that up.


That being said, I generally prefer anything to be in its original language, just so the subtitles are a decent translation as opposed to paraphrasing. Also Cowboy Bebop is better in English, so there. :iva:
 

Dar_Klink

Last Guardian when? - CyberKlink 20XX before dying
I mostly like subs, but I'll try out both for any new series I watch that has an English dub track. I tend to like dubs from the early 2000's best, at least on slightly more obscure stuff such as Master Keaton. I also have stuff I can't watched subbed due to nostalgia, such as Kenshin, Yu Yu Hakusho, and Cowboy Bebop. Golden Boy has the greatest dub of all time though, nothing beats it. :ganishka:

On a slightly different topic, do you guys have any seiyu that you're particularly fond of? I love Wakamoto(of course) who played Gambino, Oskar von Reuenthal, Chiyo's dad, and just about every OH GOD SO MANLY character. I also love Maaya Sakamoto, she has a nicer kinda deep voice compared to the generic cutesy female seiyu out there, she's also a pretty damn good singer.
 
Loved Ryûzaburô ÔTOMO (crocodile from one piece) and Yutaka AOYAMA (sasori from naruto (when hes in his puppet)) deep low voices. They sound really sinister :femto:( <--- he's sinister, right? :troll:)
Too bad no one fits their voice in Berserk.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
I'm glad I wasn't indoctrinated with the dub of Cowboy Bebop before watching the authentic version so I can hear just how clarly mediocre the dub is. :iva:

I agree with Saephon's general sentiment though; I've always thought the superiority of subs had at least something to do with not understanding the language and it's nuances so you can project as much of that quality as you like. Of course, illusion or not, that's much better than knowing just how bad it really is.
 

NightCrawler

Aeons gone, vast, mad and deathless
Every movie/show is subbed in Portugal, so for me dubs are an abortion (GTO being the only exception i can think of).
 

nomad

"Bring the light of day"
NightCrawler said:
Every movie/show is subbed in Portugal, so for me dubs are an abortion (GTO being the only exception i can think of).
:ganishka: Same here. Living in Puerto Rico, I was forced to watch dubs in all formats. I'm still marked by the fact that the TV show "Different Strokes" was translated to "Black and White" in spanish. In short? I feel your pain.
 
H

hellrasinbrasin

Guest
I like watching Film and TV Series in their native language. But on topic.
I prefer subtitles 1st and for most. As far as the dub track is concerned
that's dependent on the right people having been cast to do the voices.
 
I am a rather large fan of the Trigun English dub. I think it is very good.

I've heard three different versions of the scene in Trigun when
Wolfwood's death and killing Legato slowly catch up to Vash in the morning.

The performance given by Johnny Yong Bosch is by far the most superior in my opinion. Vash slowly starts to scream louder and louder like there is a torrent of emotions flooding over him.

Here is the same scene from a French dub, I believe? It is not so bad, I think. I place it in second out of the three, behind Johnny's performance in the English dub: http://youtu.be/Uj3cjRXaKzY?t=3m58s starting @ 3:58

Here is the original Japanese audio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU1eac3xcVk&feature=youtu.be&t=4m17s (starting at 4:17) which I find to be the weakest of the performances, but that may just be because I heard Johnny's first. It may also be that is the type of emotion that I can see best, as opposed to a quieter/stranger mourning that could be just as powerful depending on how you look at it. But it is still very good in its own right.
 

Griffith

With the streak of a tear, Like morning dew
Handmade_lion said:
Here is the original Japanese audio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU1eac3xcVk&feature=youtu.be&t=4m17s (starting at 4:17) which I find to be the weakest of the performances, but that may just be because I heard Johnny's first. It may also be that is the type of emotion that I can see best, as opposed to a quieter/stranger mourning that could be just as powerful depending on how you look at it. But it is still very good in its own right.

Yeah, I heard the Japanese version first and am of the opposite opinion. I don't think it's bias from first exposure (you describe its objective merits nicely), but probably. The others just sound awful to me now, like over the top bad.
 
Depends really, I don't mind watching subs from time to time but I mostly watch alot of my Anime dubbed. As long as the dub works well and as long as the English speaking actors work well in some of the characters they are playing in and if what they are saying makes just about much sense then that's fine, however usually I am very picky about my dubs I listen to.

I almost never usually listen to any Funimation dubs as I'm not the biggest fan of them, I often listen to dubs from either the glory days of Streamline or even the ups and downs of the Manga UK dubs. For example the dub of Dominion Tank Police, I really liked that dub because I felt like the actors were well casted for some of the characters they played and even though there were a few ups and downs it was a good dub to listen to. Dubs like Cowboy Bebop on the other hand are almost near perfect because of how the characters sound in English and when you find out who is playing each character and how they contribute to them in some way, I'm aware the dub of Bebop has its likers and haters but the dub I think was just about as perfect as English dubs were back then.
 
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