This is the one, big debate that anime fans, and it never seems to die down. Do you prefer to watch your localized anime in its dubbed form, or would you rather read through the subtitles? I think the reason this is so hotly debated directly relates to the companies that handle the dubs in the first place.
The more I think about it, the more I start to believe that bad dubbing is one of the reasons why some people have been turned off by anime. Just like the early days of voice acting in anime, the first wave of dubbed anime had some horrendous voice actors. A bad voice actor can completely ruin a scene or a series. I've experienced that a handful of times, but luckily that was years ago.
Since then, anime dubbing has really moved up in presentation. There now seem to be a set group of voice actors that go between anime projects, and they really do a great job with their delivery. Sure, some lines have to be cut/chopped along the way, but the final product is pretty great quality. Anything you see out there in the American market today usually comes with a decent to great dub.
For the purposes of getting new people into anime, it seems that dubbing is the only way to go. Thankfully, any of the content I plan to share with family/friends to get them interested ends up having a good dub. For those reasons alone, I almost always prefer choosing a dub over sub.
I've staked my claim, but what about you? Do you prefer subs or dubs, and why?
I prefer dubs so long as the quality is good.
ReplyDeleteThis may sound stupid, but it's because sometimes glancing down at the subtitles every time someone speaks takes my eyes away from what's happening.
I like both but I prefer an English dub. I will not buy a Subtitled only DVD/Blu-ray it has got to have an English dub to go with it..
ReplyDeleteGood Dubs always. If the dub is bad I'll go for subs.
ReplyDeleteSubs subs for the love of God subs!
ReplyDelete..ahem, but of course everyone is entitled to their own opinion.
I like both but I'd be more inclined to watch it dubbed if I could. I usually still put on captions so I guess I'm in a new category.
ReplyDeleteI really don't mind subs but I usually go for dubs if I can, unless they are really bad, which I find they usually aren't.
ReplyDeleteI like both on a show by show basis. If I first saw it dubbed then I prefer dubbed (DBZ), and likewise for subbed (Bleach).
ReplyDeleteI take subs whenever I can, and dubs have to be bearable for me to watch.
ReplyDeleteI would rather watch it in sub but if it only comes in dub it has to have really good English VO. There is a few anime I can't even stand to watch because of a bad dub job, Trigun and One Piece come to mind right now. I can't stand the VO.
ReplyDeleteBut one of my favorite dub is Cowboy Bebop, they did an amazing job on it. But I like the Japanese voice work on it as well. Gantz was good as well
@Zaakro
ReplyDeleteI completely agree. Cowboy Bebop's voice actors are PERFECT. Of all the animes I've seen, I've never thought the voice actors were bad. I did watch a few Cowboy Bebop episodes with the Japanese actors just to see if I enjoyed it. They were good but I was so used to the voices of the English actors that I quickly reverted back.
Yeah I like both.
ReplyDeleteShows like Code Geass, Naruto, and Bleach to name a few work good with dub. imo.
Though, there can be times where the dub. can be inappropriate like K-On! or Lucky Star where it can make you cringe hearing them trying to replicate some of the cute sounds.
The only downside to dub. is it can take a year or two for it to happen after the sub. originally comes out.
But yeah, I think some people don't like either or because they haven't heard either or. Like if you watch FLCL with dub. it will sound weird in sub. if you watch it like that straight after.
I mainly prefer dubs but if I see a show in Japanese first then that's the only way I'll be able to watch it. There's not that many in that category though just Kuroshitsuji, Ouran High School Host Club, One Piece and FMA:Brotherhood.
ReplyDeleteI find that when I'm watching subs I really miss out on the action because I'm reading and not watching.
I prefer subs generally, but well done dubs are just fine. I think enjoying subs requires a fast reading speed or else it becomes distracting for some people.
ReplyDeleteGenerally, I got subs. I can tell bad voice acting when it's English. Can't tell in Japanese. Although, while I didn't like it at first, I did grow to like the dubbed version of School Rumble cause it added in new bits of humor to the series. Sure, that's not 100% faithful to the original, but they blend it in seamlessly as if it was part of the show already.
ReplyDeleteSubs, most of the time.
ReplyDeleteFLCL has the best dub I have ever heard and I prefer it to the Japanese track.
I am pretty much a dub-only person except when I am forced to buy subtitled-only shows (Still bitter about Hayate not getting dubbed). Some dubs have turned me off to the show, but even American cartoon shows have horrible voice acting in them sometimes. It just comes with the territory.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I watch the dubbed version, if it's not bad. If the english dub is really bad, than I watch the subtitled version. I prefer the subtitled version of naruto, and don't really like the english dub. With Bleach I like both the subtitled and english dub versions. Both Full Metal Alchemist anime series are examples of great english dubbing. I prefer to watch both of them in english than in japanese. :P
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