Friday, December 9, 2011

Subtitles and You: Reading the Action

I know I am in the minority on watching anime with dubs instead of subs. Hell, I know some anime fans won't even want to associate with me because I ignore the subs! That's a topic we've discussed many times in the past, and I'm sure it'll be revisited. For now, let's put aside those differences and look at subtitles in general.

The anime scene is full of people that prefer subs to dubs. Outside of anime, it's hard to find an average movie-goer that doesn't mind having to read subtitles. I actually saw people walk out of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon because they didn't realize it had subs. Yes, some people are that unwilling to compromise.

With that said, there are definitely some downsides to watching a movie or TV show with subtitles. Without a doubt, you're going to miss some of the action. Obviously any type of entertainment on a movie or TV screen is going to be heavily visual. When you're focused on reading through lines and understanding story, you're bound to miss some of the eye candy.

Do you find it hard to focus in on both text and visuals? Have you had issues with text scrolling through too fast? I'm sure that the more you watch subbed content, the easier it is to focus on the whole picture. Still, I'd love to hear your opinions on the constantly battling imagery and text.

9 comments:

  1. I watch 99% of my anime in dub format. I really dislike watching it in sub format. It's way too hard for me focus on the actual show when I'm spending all my time trying to keep up with reading the subtitles. I find myself having to frequently pause it even to keep up. And when I do keep up with it, I'm missing the actual animation, which is kind of the point in watching anime in the first place. That's not what I call enjoyable. When I want to read anime, I'll just read a manga.

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  2. Well, I prefer to watch dub, so I'm with you there, but I don't mind watching with subs that much, dubs are just easier on the brain!

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  3. I prefer subs but sometimes I'll check out a few episodes of a dub for fun. Ive been watching anime/toku with subs so long now that Ive gotten used to it and won't even realize I'm reading. I guess I'm a very fast reader or something because Ive never had a problem missing anything on screen.

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  4. i watch both i may like the dub over the sub.

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  5. I prefer dub overall and for longer running anime series like full metal, but if it's only a small series like FlCl I don't mind subs.

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  6. Once you get used to sub., it isn't that bad as people make it out to be. It's just something you have to get used to. At first I didn't read very fast, but I've become accustomed to the fast past and now it's like second nature.

    And with the missing the action part. For the most part if they is heavy action... Well... Not much is being said :P

    But I agree that dub. is definitely easier on the brain. Less work and concentration is being put into it.

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  7. If you're used to reading subs, you forget that you're reading them at all.

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  8. It depends on what company does the voice acting. Every single dubs by Funimation and 4Kids suck as far as I have seen, so I wouldn't watch their animes with dubs. A few animes does have good voice acting, and I watch some of those with dubs. In the case of Dragon Ball Z, I thought the Spanish dub was superior to both the American and Japanese dubs, so I would rather watch that in Spanish. Mostly though, I prefer subs, mainly because it allows me to understand every single dialogue. Usually, I miss some dialogues if I use my ears, either because the characters talk to soft or too slurred.

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  9. @ibyea

    Funimation does some of the best dubs out there. You must be thinking of the Funimation from 10+ years ago. Fruits Basket was the first title that they took seriously, and they've never looked back since. Pretty much all excellent dubs from them from that point on.

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