Anime Subs (Japanese voices with subtitles) or Dubs (English voices)?

[Bloodseeker]

How do you generally prefer to watch your anime? With the original Japanese voices, or with the English dub overs?

I perfer to watch mine in English, unless the dub is downright abysmal. (i.e. Crest of the Stars and Record of Lodoss War) I like to focus on the action, and that's not always easy to do with subs when there's fast talking and/or fighting and talking going on at the same time.

Sub-snobs (people that refuse to watch dubs or think that the dub's voices should identical the sub's) don't give modern English dubs enough credit. Sure most early dubs sucked to the point where I had to cringe at at least one line every few episodes, but a good 90% of the dubs that I've seen that were from the past 5 years or so have been convincingly done, and about 10% of them have been nothing short of great.

[QuincyArcher]

I'm a complete Sub-snob. i've gotten to the point where i completely refuse to watch anything with the english dub, i wont even give the dub a chance unless i catch the series on TV and don't have a choice (and in most of those instances i get sickened and turn it off). Personally the only decent quality dub i've come across is for Neon Genesis Evangelion, but i still prefer the original Japanese with subs. I really don't know why i hate the dubs so much, but i think it just sounds much more natural in the original japanese and i have yet to find an english voice actor who can portray emotions as well as the original japanese voice actors/actresses. I also can't stand how they pronounce names in the english dubs.

[Dagger]

I don't see why I should have to choose between them, personally. :)

I enjoy both dubs and subs. If I like a show enough, I'll re-watch it subbed or dubbed--whichever version I didn't manage to hit the first time around. If one of my favorite seiyuu has a big role, I'll start off by listening to the Japanese track... and vice versa for the reverse situation (hm, does that compute?). It's pretty simple.

~Dagger~

[Dhampir Nyoko]

Now, I am sure that at least one of you all have heard of the sikiningly adorable, but still prety good anime, 'Card Captor Sakura', right? Well, i am almost completly turned off to dubs after witnessing the horror that is 'Cardcaptors'. They changed the personalities of the characters, and also tried to change the show! The only dub i will watch now is 'Slayers', and that is only when I am too lazy to read the subs.

[Dagger]

[quote name='Dhampir Nyoko']Now, I am sure that at least one of you all have heard of the sikiningly adorable, but still prety good anime, 'Card Captor Sakura', right? Well, i am almost completly turned off to dubs after witnessing the horror that is 'Cardcaptors'. They changed the personalities of the characters, and also tried to change the show! The only dub i will watch now is 'Slayers', and that is only when I am too lazy to read the subs.[/quote]
It's kind of unfair to judge all dubs on the basis of one of the worst dubs ever made. And the dub itself (that is, the actual acting) wasn't even really the main issue, in the case of Cardcaptors--it was the localization and editing that made it reek. For every chopped-up English version of a particular show (like Cardcaptors and One Piece) there are at least a hundred other anime being released fully uncut, with faithfully adapted scripts. And given the sheer number of anime DVDs coming out nowadays, that probably isn't much of an exaggeration. Heh.

~Dagger~

[Bloodseeker]

I agree. That's like judging anime itself on a few Pokemon episodes that you saw. You're looking at the bottom of the barrel. Go watch the Cowboy Bebop or Berserk dubs. (The Berserk dub completely destroys the original track!) That might change your view.

[r2vq]

Wow, at first I thought this thread was the same as all the other sub vs dub threads, but I like the poll. ^^

[quote name='QuincyArcher']I'm a complete Sub-snob. i've gotten to the point where i completely refuse to watch anything with the english dub, i wont even give the dub a chance unless i catch the series on TV and don't have a choice (and in most of those instances i get sickened and turn it off).[/quote]

You're just like my girlfriend. To be honest, I find that attitude kind of annoying. English actors are getting better, and some of them are particularly talented.

[quote name='QuincyArcher']I really don't know why i hate the dubs so much, but i think it just sounds much more natural in the original japanese and i have yet to find an english voice actor who can portray emotions as well as the original japanese voice actors/actresses.[/quote]

Could it be that since you're not a natural speaker of the language it's harder for you to identify bad acting?
In English is particularly easy to find a bad actor since your ears are trained to spot somebody lying to you. In Japanese, though, you don't understand the language or intonations that are unique to a culture. This might impede your identification of a poor Japanese actor. Therefore, you may be enjoying the series more because you don't understand it, rather than the reason being the acting.

[quote name='Dhampir Nyoko']Now, I am sure that at least one of you all have heard of the sikiningly adorable, but still prety good anime, 'Card Captor Sakura', right? Well, i am almost completly turned off to dubs after witnessing the horror that is 'Cardcaptors'. They changed the personalities of the characters, and also tried to change the show![/quote]
Like Dagger-dono said, the issue here isn't the acting itself, but the censorship. Unfortunately with a different set of morals and target audience, a lot of dubs are modified. This is a big turn off for subbies and has created a lot of sub-snobs. There are, though, uncut versions of Anime available if you know where to look. I don't have Carton Network myself but I hear Adult Swim is a place to look. You can also get the DVDs of a show. Those are usually uncut and unedited.

---===---

I voted for "prefer subs" because I watch more on my computer than I do on TV. I don't mind dubs as long as the acting is good and the story is acceptable. Unlike many Narutards out there, I'm actually looking forward to the Naruto dub. ^^

edit: I think, though, there should've been a selection that was neutral. I would've picked that.

-ArV

[QuincyArcher]

[QUOTE=r2vq]
Could it be that since you're not a natural speaker of the language it's harder for you to identify bad acting?
In English is particularly easy to find a bad actor since your ears are trained to spot somebody lying to you. In Japanese, though, you don't understand the language or intonations that are unique to a culture. This might impede your identification of a poor Japanese actor. Therefore, you may be enjoying the series more because you don't understand it, rather than the reason being the acting.
[/QUOTE]

True, English is my native language. But one thing that goes beyond language is emotion. And when there is a lack thereof in someone's voice it tends to stick out. And yes, since English is my native language i can tell very well when there isn't any emotion in the voice to back up the lines and the character being read. I also have a very high comprehension with japanese and i find that anime sounds much better to me in it's natural form. In the same way i would find it ridiculous to watch my favorite american-made movies in any other language than english. I'm not ruling out that every single english dub in anime is bad nor am i saying that every single japanese seiyuu is good. But from my experience a good majority of them are, a lot of it really depends on the quality and experience of the voice actors themselves.

[Lady Maiya]

I prefer watching subs more than dubs, but if the English dubs are okay, like the ones in Rurouni Kenshin or Slayers, I'd watch it. To me, nothing beats the original.

[Momiji Love]

[SIZE=1]I prefer dubs.One because I like to hear the stuff in my own language.Its easier to keep up that way.Also because my little sister and I started watching Fruits Basket in Japanese with subs and I had to read them to my sister because she is 8 and couldn't read fast enough.I was hoarse before the episode was over.

I also get a little bit of a headache listening to some of the voices.I don't know why,but I do.

Also because sometimes I just listen to an episode while I am doing something else,and its convienent to have it in a language I know.[/SIZE]

[NashvilleDream]

I like both. When I get a chance to get a DVD I'll watch it once in english and once in japanese to see which I like better, but when it's on TV, you kinda don't have a choice... XD I'd guess I mostly prefer subs, but sometimes I like the dub better, it depends ^_^

[Fyxe]

[size=1][color=slategray]Yeah, I like both. The problem is, I am much more used to dubs than subs, because I mainly watch what is on t.v. I don't have a lot of spending money to go buy the DVDs, so whatever is on t.v. is mainly what I get at the time. When I do have the DVD though, I tend to watch the dubbed and subbed version. Sometimes I'm just to lazy to read the subtitles, though.

I think American actors that are doing the dub voices are getting much better at it. I've seen shows were they totally destroy it, but then again, you see shows were they do a wonderful job. It all depends on what they are doing, it's a shame that not all dubs can live up to the others and their quality. But that's just how things go.[/color][/size]

[Citrus]

[SIZE=1]Hmm, since I am Japanese I watch 100% authentic anime. Which means it's straight from Japan.

But I voted for subs, I really like to hear the uniqueness of the Japanese language. How it can be so cute, and then be so strong and honorific. The same thing goes for every other show I watch. I love to hear their native language, not some guy taking that persons voice away and replacing it with their own.[/SIZE]

[kyotohru4eva]

[B]both i guess bcuz they are both cool...i think i would prefer english better..n_n... :animeswea

[Midboss]

I prefer Japanese with subs most of the time unless the dubs are actually good, i.e. Gungrave, then I will watch it in English.

[celestialcharm]

For me it all depends on how good the voice acting is. Most of the anime I watch are dubs except Furuba. I just can't stand the english voice acting for it :mad: !!

[Lolita Izumi]

[COLOR=Blue][FONT=Arial]Subs. I love listening to the Japanese voices. I hate dubbing so much. i will watch anime in English but i enjoy them spaeking in Japanese better ^_^[/FONT][/COLOR]

[Meggido]

ABout half a year ago I would have said dubbed. Since then it has changed and I will say subbed. My anime club watches a lot of anime in subs so I've got use to it and come to prefer it. I also went back and watched .hack//sign in subs and I have to say Sora is no where near as annoying. I also watched FMA and Full Metal Panic: Fumoffu in subs and currently watching Bleach the same way.

[Guest juzzam]

I definitely choose subs, always (with 2 exceptions) I watch anime with the japanese track. The only exceptions are Cowboy Bebop, because the dubbing is actually good and One Piece because I watch it on TV.
I warn everyone off ever seeing Love Hina dubbed, it was so bad I think it gave me cancer.

[Roxie Faye]

[color=#9933ff]I'm really pleased to see that most of you have completely rational minds, and weigh things and an individial anime, case-by-case basis, rather than put a complete blanket over all subs or dubs. There are a bunch of sub-snobs at my school who drive me completely up the wall; one of them won't even watch Adult swim because according to him, they butcher EVERYTHING. (WTF is what I was thinking). The worst part about them is that they download everything illegally (they're really big into Naruto, they brag about seeing most of the episodes, and yet they download illegally). After they do that, they walk around like sub-snobs and otaku-elitists, which drives me up a wall. I realize that this is a complete n00b-ish tangent, but I really had to say that because they DRRRRRRRRIVE ME INSAAAAAAAANE. V______V

To be honest, I'm like Lix - I usually watch mostly dubs because I don't really have a lot of money to go out and buy DVDs to see the subs (I refuse to illegally download!!!), but I absolutely have nothing against subs.

I think some people also wrongly get angry at voice actors when they SHOULD be getting upset at companies instead. I recently joined the forums at FM-A.com (that's abbreviated, BTW), and as a newbie, chastised some of the other members for the ridiculousness of what they were saying. They were basically saying they hated Vic Mignogna because he works for funimation. Isn't that rather absurd? Voice actors are just trying to make a living; they don't translate and don't know whether what they're saying is butchered or not or whatever, they're just paid to [i]say[/i] it. By the way, most get paid half of what any other cartoon voice actor would because they dub things over, they're not the original voice actors. (And as a side note, I would rather listen to Vic play Edward than Paku Romi. ~_~)

There are some animes where I would rather watch a sub (Yu-Gi-Oh comes to mind) because the English voices are just insane, as well as the stories being chopped up into pieces and glued back in the wrong way.

So yeah. I've basically said everything that everyone else has said - it depends![/color]

[Solo Tremaine]

[COLOR=#503F86]I very much agree with what Roxie says.

Almost every anime I watch is in English, with a few rare exceptions. To be honest, even if the voices do annoy me to an extent, I still prefer hearing what it sounds like in English because even though I might not agree with how the actor is playing the part, I can dentify more readily with an English voice and I feel I can gain a better emotional interpretation of the series as a result. Even if it's the English dub with Japanese-language subtitles, I can still understand it and see the differences between the two.

The only anime I've watched all the way through in Japanese was Final Fantasy: Unlimited, and that was only because I didn't like the children's dub voices and they were a major part. I'm guessing kids are hard to cast- invariably they'll almost always sound like girls (as women are better at achieving high, quiet voices at a natural level) or poorly-acted because a lot of children actors aren't able to provide the subtleties that many animes require. Momiji (from Fruits Basket)'s English voice annoys me occasionally, but most of the time I enjoy it because it's a [i]decent show[/i], not necessarily a word for word translation.

So I vote dubs, generally.[/COLOR]

[Naotasvespa]

I wish there was really one that said either one....but I picked the English dub

[zaphod]

i like dubbed versions more than subtitles with the exception of shows that are really complex and have tiny details that get lost in translation.

I know a lot of people hate it when dialog is drastically changed, but if youve ever compared a fansubbed version of lupin the 3rd with one seen on adult swim the one on adult swim is HILARIOUS and WAY BETTER than the japanese one, which seems a bit too serious for my tastes

[MeianHakasawa]

I can watch both and either. But I prefer subs b/c it lets me learn how to sya their names with a japanese accent. haha ^_^ I'm a dork. lol

but in the end i like to watch subs more than dubs.

but i also like to compare their voices and stuff. its all in the fun!

[Goodbye, Face]

You guys keep saying there's people at your school who watch anime... how your friends watch anime... I just keep getting really jealous when I visit this forum.

If I buy an anime, I watch both versions. I perfer dubs simply because I don't want to have to read while there's heavy action that I'm missing by looking at the words. I do think that the Japanese acting is usually better than the American voice acting, but I don't have a preference either way.