History Main / SubbingVersusDubbing

In addition, it's much less expensive than creating a new UsefulNotes/AutomatedDialogueRecording and dodging LipLock. Fans have been capable of producing serviceable {{Fansub}}s using home computers since the late '80s, and it's possible to subtitle a program with literally nothing more than a time-coded script. Hence, subtitled anime has a much wider potential reach simply because it is easier to produce and the licensor can turn a much larger profit on the smaller cost. Furthermore, in the early 21st century's severely-damaged anime market, more and more titles only come out subtitled because it's flat-out the only way to release them to a profit in the first place.­­

The opposite can happen, too. In some countries (such as UsefulNotes/TheNetherlands, the Nordics, former Yugoslavia, and UsefulNotes/{{Israel}}), dubbing is either done for works that are intended for children who are too young to read the subtitles fluently or animated works in general. Everything else is available with subtitles only. In these countries, people would get much more distracted by the dubbing because they are not used to it. This pattern is particularly common where a substantial chunk of the population in the country is fluent or at least proficient in English – which is incidentally true in the Netherlands as well as the Nordic countries and Israel.[[note]]This works the other way too - people are so used to subtitles that domestic productions feel wrong when aired without them, and the high English proficiency means many viewers in those countries even prefer the English closed captioning to their own native-language subtitles, because they carry sound effects and not just dialogue.[[/note]] A major problem are works that appeal to both the children and the parents, the parents would prefer to hear the original actors' performances, but can't get their hands on it because the only version in theaters is aimed at kids.[[note]]In Scandinavian countries (and a few others, such as Portugal), most kids' movies and animated movies are shown as both subbed and dubbed (in the evenings, the subtitled version is usually the only one shown). Sometimes, this applies even to movies based on TV shows that aren't dubbed (''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie'' being a notable example).[[/note]] Sometimes they can get lucky and the original audio track is included in the DVD release once (if ever) it happens.

On the other hand, dubbing a program means that the audience doesn't have to read the dialogue while watching the show. While this is frequently used as an insult to the intelligence of dub watchers, subtitlers will often trim dialogue to avoid a long sentence only being onscreen for a very short time, which would require the viewer to rewind to read what was said. Additionally, bored fansubbers will occasionally decide to [[SpiceUpTheSubtitles alter the script to make it more "adult"]], resulting in the common phenomenon of a series that is ridiculously, blatantly {{kodomomuke}} ([[YouAreTheTranslatedForeignWord i.e., "for kids"]]) containing jarringly out-of-place sex jokes and profanity in its fansubs. This becomes a problem when there are people who genuinely believe that this is the way the series is "supposed" to be, and go berserk when said series receives a more faithful official translation that doesn't have all the profanity.

On the other hand, dubbing a program means that the audience doesn't have to read the dialogue while watching the show. While this is frequently used as an insult to the intelligence of dub watchers, subtitlers will often trim dialogue due to subtitle line-length restrictions. Additionally, bored fansubbers will occasionally decide to [[SpiceUpTheSubtitles alter the script to make it more "adult"]], resulting in the common phenomenon of a series that is ridiculously, blatantly {{kodomomuke}} ([[YouAreTheTranslatedForeignWord i.e., "for kids"]]) containing jarringly out-of-place sex jokes and profanity in its fansubs. This becomes a problem when there are people who genuinely believe that this is the way the series is "supposed" to be, and go berserk when said series receives a more faithful official translation that doesn't have all the profanity.