Joe Furaya, the top shot lone wolf lead detective of Neo Otaku City's Anime Crimes Division, is partnered with rookie Diesel as they try and stop a gang war between the Subs and Dubs gangs.
"Subs vs. Dubs" provides examples of:
- Adaptation Displacement: Discussed In-Universe when the mastermind behind the events of "Subs vs. Dubs" laments how many anime fans (subber or dubber) don't bother to read the original manga.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Bob Dugnut, CEO of the M4E Manga Company, tried to start a gang war between the Subbers and Dubbers because they were focused more on the anime instead of the original manga.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: Pocky are treated like cigarettes. The police chief remarks that Joe had "quit" Pocky, something he goes back to doing at the end.
- Establishing Series Moment: The episode starts with police officer Joe chasing down a perp at the docks. The perp threatens to explode the cargo container full of hostages. Instead of a regular gun, Joe holds up a Psycho-Pass merchandise toy gun, spouting trivia as he does, and manages to beat the perp anyway. Then it is revealed that the "hostages" were all just a bunch of body pillow merchandise. This establishes that the setting and characters treat the anime fandom like its Serious Business (which itself is done for comedy) while also playing to traditional anime and cop-show tropes.
- Evil Is Hammy: One sign that he's going to be a one-episode character is that Bob Dugnut - later revealed to be the culprit - spends all of his screen-time mugging.
- False Flag Operation: Bob Dugnut tries convincing both the Subber and Dubber gangs that they each violated their unsteady peace by vandalizing each other's property, hoping that both sides would kill each other.
- Fun with Subtitles: The Subber Gang speaks entirely in Japanese which is translated into subtitles. It is revealed that the subtitles are an In-Universe mechanic when Diesel asks what an anego* is and Joe point to an explanation above them. Later, when Bob Dugnut was revealed to be the culprit, she gives a long and wordy sentence that translates to "No...!"
- Mob War: Invoked in "Subs vs. Dubs" with a war between the subber and dubber gangs.
- Ninja Run: Twice. First when the "perp" tries to flee the crime scene in Subber Territory, and the second time by Joe and Diesel at the very of the episode.
- Serious Business:
- Smuggling waifu body pillow brides are treated the same as human trafficking.
- The "Subbing Versus Dubbing" debate exists as a pair of competing street gangs.
- Starter Villain: The episode starts with Joe chasing down Senzaki, a career criminal smuggling waifu body pillow brides.
- Subbing Versus Dubbing: Exaggerated, invoked, and parodied. "Subs vs. Dubs" features a gang war between subbers and dubbers that was started by the CEO of a manga distribution company.
- There Are Two Kinds of People in the World: The Opening Narration in "Subs vs. Dubs" states that "In Neo Otaku City, there are two kinds of people. The kind that can recite the Sailor Moon theme song from memory in the original Japanese, and the kind who don't belong here."
