Dubs or Subs?

[Abaddon]

What's your preference for watching anime?

[BlackCanaryOfDeath]

lol, I thought you were going to ask whether we liked subwoofers or dubs. I thought it was an odd comparison...

[Ash1ey]

Japanese Soundtrack with English Subs


i really hate in dubs when they change the background music, alot of dubs are bad.. but some good, but overall i would rather watch subs, but ill watch a dub if i haveta

[Ziggy-san]

I hate to choose...

Obviously all "TV" anime is dubbed...and 98% of the time it is just HORRIBLE.

Get the DVDs of animes you really really like. That way, you get the choice of watching a dub or sub at the push of a button. I've found that, in terms of content, subs is always better.

[Kent]

For me, it depends on the quality of the voice acting and sound effects.

For example, in Outlaw Star, when Suzuka hits someone with her sword, a completely different sound effect is used in the English soundtrack, and a much better one, IMO (in the Japanese soundtrack, they use a low "thud" in one of the episodes, where a sharp "crack" is used in the English soundtrack).

I prefer to listen to the English voices, unless the English voice acting is exceptionally crappy, then I won't mind at all when I switch to Japanese voice and English subtitles.

[BlackRose]

On 2002-11-03 09:09, BlackCanaryOfDeath wrote:
lol, I thought you were going to ask whether we liked subwoofers or dubs. I thought it was an odd comparison...

Here I was thinking about 20 inch rims and subway sandwiches... o_O

But on topic.... it depends where I'm seeing it. If it's on tape (where I can see it more than once) I prefer JP soundtrack with english subtitles. If I only get one shot at it (like a show or something) then I prefer dubbed, just because it's easier to understand.

[KodiaX987]

I usually dislike English dubs. The voices don't really come out convincing. French dubs somehow end up good though; Evangelion had been great to watch in French.

At least in Japanese you get the context as well. Example, in Akira, Kanena exclaims "Hey that's not fair!" during the final battle. Sound kiddie, huh? Methinks in Japanese he used a much harsher version of words to say the same thing. Hey, he's fighting for his life here, come on!!

[Alielle]

Japanese dubbing isn't really convincing either. "Anime" Japanese sounds really weird and melodramatic compared to just regular "speaking" Japanese.

I don't really have a preference... sometimes I find Japanese voice acting annoying, and vice versa. When I'm watching DVDs on my computer, I switch it to the dub since the subtitles are really hard to read on my puny monitor.

[BlackRose]

On 2002-11-04 10:30, Alielle wrote:
I don't really have a preference... sometimes I find Japanese voice acting annoying, and vice versa.

I have to agree with you; Goku's japanese voice in Dragonball Z was just.... ugh...

[CajunSamurai]

Subs, all the way. There are times when the dub is right up there with the sub however; Cowboy Bebop is pretty legendary, although I GREATLY prefer Faye as Ayumi Hamasaki rather than... whoever. And Princess Mononoke was incredible, although I can't compare it to the Japanese voices since I've never heard them.

There's NO excuse for bad dubbing, but 98% of the time, it's audio HELL. And the funny thing? These horrible discount actors actually have fanclubs and followings, such as the NOTORIOUSLY awful Amanda Winn Lee.

But at the same time, there's NO excuse for bad subbing. Yeah, I'm talkin' to YOU craptastic fansubbers. Most of the time it's a labor of love for these groups, but sometimes I just gotta wonder why the hell they didn't ask someone with reading/writing skills at least SLIGHTLY superior to a retarded monkey to type-set or at least edit the constant bad grammar and E-bonics. Yes, I've actually seen fansubs where characters refer to eachother as "U". Shoot me.

Anyway, when done well, sub is the only way to go.
Although I gotta agree that sometimes, a few Japanese voices in anime will get to me. However... about 80% of ALL voices in dubs get to me.