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Subtitled Anime vs Dubbed Anime,which do you prefer?

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Ultimatum Disasturbator from The Wiggle Room (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#1: Sep 24th 2020 at 9:50:39 AM

The age old question,subs vs dubs

I'm genuinely curious to responses to this question, I prefer dubbed anime if your interested.

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
MajorTom Since: Dec, 2009
#2: Sep 24th 2020 at 9:52:41 AM

I've seen the dubbed version of Gundam Wing and the subbed one. I honestly feel the subbed one is better but the dubbed one is good too.

So plus one for Subs.

Mara999 International Man of Mystery from Grim Up North Since: Sep, 2020 Relationship Status: Crazy Cat Lady
International Man of Mystery
#3: Sep 24th 2020 at 11:54:21 AM

I'm going with subs, partly because I'm used to reading subtitles. Back when I was a kid, most animation wasn't ever dubbed. That's how I learned English at four, thanks to Scrooge Mc Duck's lessons. With anime I feel that it has helped me grasp some Japanese, so that I can understand quicker what is said from the context. The one exception to me is Princess Mononoke, which is the only anime I've seen where I prefer the dub over the original voice-track.

MagmaTeaMerry My Head Is On Fire from A forest somewhere Since: Sep, 2020
My Head Is On Fire
#4: Sep 24th 2020 at 12:04:43 PM

Hm, that depends on which language it's dubbed in, I guess?

I'm Swedish, so the dubs I saw of anime growing up were... not very good. Seriously, our voice actors rarely feel like they're voice acting, or they at least use the same voices for all of the characters they voice.

But English dubs? Well, I've mostly watched subbed anime, to be fair, but if the voice fits, the language they use shouldn't matter much to me, I feel.

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Zanreo Gizmondo from Glitch City (Ten years in the joint) Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
Gizmondo
#5: Sep 24th 2020 at 1:55:23 PM

Generally prefer subs myself, I just tend to prefer watching stuff in their original languages

(The main exception would be certain "QUALITY" dubs)

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Demetrios Lucky Seven from Des Plaines, Illinois (unfortunately) Since: Oct, 2009 Relationship Status: And they all lived happily ever after <3
ArgoTheBlank from Colony 9 Since: Jun, 2020 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
#7: Sep 24th 2020 at 2:26:23 PM

I don't consider one to be automatically better than the other and see it as a case-by-case basis, although whichever version I watch first tends to be the one I get used to. Admittedly, though, I tend to watch the sub first just to play it safe.

An example where I watched the sub was JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, although in that instance my specific reason was that I thought that the Japanese voices would fit better with the over-the-top nature of the series.

On the other hand, I watched both series of Fullmetal Alchemist in the dub after a friend showed me the first episode of Brotherhood and I thought that the voice acting in that episode was quite good. Now that I've finished both series, I've ended up growing so attached to the dubbed voices that the subbed versions would probably sound weird to me if I went back and watched them, just as the dub of JoJo would probably sound weird.

EDIT: I've watched the Japanese version of Brotherhood. I still like the English dub better.

Edited by ArgoTheBlank on Mar 6th 2021 at 1:37:59 PM

Superjohn Muscle witch from Tokyo Empire Since: Jul, 2015 Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
Muscle witch
#8: Sep 24th 2020 at 6:20:57 PM

I generally prefer Dubbed, I use to try to watch subs but it usually left me unable to focus on the action.

"Give our Captain back, you jerks!"
AgentKirin creature Since: Aug, 2017 Relationship Status: Having tea with Cthulhu
creature
#9: Sep 24th 2020 at 8:10:15 PM

I don't have a strong preference, but I do find that I fall into a pattern: If I'm watching it for the story, I typically watch it subbed, to hear the original voices. If I'm mostly just watching for one specific element, I tend towards dubs.

So hit 'em with a whole tidal wave ~ We're killing it the entire way
ChicoTheParakeet Since: Oct, 2019 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#10: Sep 24th 2020 at 8:48:54 PM

IT all comes down to quality, some of the original delivery can come off as forced. Most 3D anime are animated after the voices are recorded so I prefer sticking with the original audio with those shows.

GlennMagusHarvey Since: Jan, 2001
#11: Oct 1st 2020 at 2:07:43 AM

(For reference, I'm a native speaker of American English.)

If there's a choice of an English dub, I'll generally try it first.

In general, I find that it is satisfactory.

I rarely get around to watching both versions (English and Japanese voicework) of a show, since that does take twice as long. But, occasionally I have. I've found that Japanese voicework is generally serviceable, but not necessarily particularly interesting, as for me it functions de facto as nonsense syllables from which I pull the voice timbre and tone and imagine it reading the script as subtitled on the bottom of the screen. Meanwhile, English voicework can bring a story's characters to life more effectively, because I'm not listening to a rough tone and superimposing my own imagination of the words; rather, I'm actually hearing the words themselves.

PurpleEyedGuma Since: Apr, 2020
#12: Oct 1st 2020 at 6:31:33 AM

I’ll watch the English dub if an authentic one exists; i.e. uncensored and with at least most of the original music.

(Seriously, Pokemon, why do you not have the original music? It’s not hard!)

Ultimatum Disasturbator from The Wiggle Room (Old as dirt) Relationship Status: Who needs love when you have waffles?
Disasturbator
#13: Oct 1st 2020 at 6:33:24 AM

> (Seriously, Pokemon, why do you not have the original music? It’s not hard!)

Licencing deals are complex and expensive that's why!

have a listen and have a link to my discord server
Reymma RJ Savoy from Edinburgh Since: Feb, 2015 Relationship Status: Wanna dance with somebody
RJ Savoy
#14: Oct 1st 2020 at 2:07:14 PM

As a lifelong polyglot, I have a strong tendency to see original language as more authentic and I know translations always have their limits. But then subtitles are themselves translations, and I have found that not only do they distract my eyes from the main image, but they tire me out after a few minutes; I much prefer when I can rest my eyes and simply listen during non-action dialogue scenes. So I came to regularly watch dubs simply so I could watch episodes without pausing.

There are three factors for me that determine whether to watch a dub. The obvious one is the dub's own quality. Older dubs can be lacking, but as long as the translation is faithful and the voices are not gratingly bad, I can take them. Today the standard of dubbing is little short of that for the home cast, but sometimes I don't like their style choices, like Funimation's dub of Mirai Nikki (Yuki sounds confident, and Yuno can't get the crazy right). I am willing to watch Italian and French releases as much as English ones.

(Fun fact, I watched The Nanny back in Italy, it was one of the better Italian dubs of the time, and now I can't stand Fran Drescher's voice.)

A subtler one is whether the show lends itself to some degree of localisation. I would not want a dub of Golden Kamuy because it is set in Japan and draws on Japan's history and culture. Whereas fantasy, science fiction, and stuff so far removed from reality that it might as well be fantasy (a lot of high-school light comedies fall under this) loses little from translation. Even if they always have lingering cultural tropes.

Then there's the question of whether the show makes me want to do the effort of reading. There are dozens of shows and films I have gladly watched subtitled. But stuff like A Certain Scientific Railgun makes me go "if I wanted to read I would read something better". So I don't care how much for how good the dub is, it is my go-to.

Stories don't tell us monsters exist; we knew that already. They show us that monsters can be trademarked and milked for years.
PurpleEyedGuma Since: Apr, 2020
#15: Oct 4th 2020 at 9:24:24 AM

@Ultimatum TPCI owns the license, though!

PurpleEyedGuma Since: Apr, 2020
#16: Oct 4th 2020 at 9:24:37 AM

And they kept the original music for most of the movies!

moefoxes Since: Apr, 2020 Relationship Status: Chat, is this real?
#17: Nov 23rd 2020 at 5:55:59 PM

I prefer subbed. The only exception to that is the Danganronpa games, in which I prefer the English voices.

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PhysicalStamina ain't nothin' but a party y'all (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Coming soon to theaters
ain't nothin' but a party y'all
#18: Nov 23rd 2020 at 7:08:16 PM

Dubbed. And no one better get on my ass about it, either.

Do not spare the feelings of those who would not spare yours.
ChicoTheParakeet Since: Oct, 2019 Relationship Status: [TOP SECRET]
#19: Nov 23rd 2020 at 7:19:01 PM

I have given up more anime due to shenanigans in the dub industry. That said, I don't know what's going on what's going on over in Japan.

ReikoKazama Kersplat! from Tasmania, Australia Since: Jun, 2010 Relationship Status: Married to the music
Kersplat!
#20: Nov 23rd 2020 at 7:52:48 PM

If a dub exists and it is good, I will watch it. If there is no dub or the dub is terrible, I'll watch the sub. That's really all there is to it in my eyes.

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Weirdguy149 Former King from Lumiose City Since: Jul, 2014 Relationship Status: I'd jump in front of a train for ya!
Former King
#21: Nov 24th 2020 at 5:37:53 AM

I like to go for dubs more often than not with two glaring exceptions: Jojo's and Yakuza. They're over the top to the point that only the original language can do them justice.

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always_angry Always Angry from Cartagena de Indias Since: Apr, 2019 Relationship Status: I'd need a PowerPoint presentation
Always Angry
#22: Nov 24th 2020 at 5:48:26 AM

Well it depends. I love old dubs because they usually feature voice actors that were ubiquitous in television when I was a child. Since I'm talking about Latin American Spanish dubs so most of what I watched as a kid was a dub, they're repeated everywhere. For this reason I always look for the dub first if it's an old anime, and that's what I mostly watch so I guess I prefer dubs. These remind me of my childhood; it's like artificial nostalgia or... something. And new dubs I just don't like them. They sound weird to me. Though there are exceptions like with Rurouni Kenshin, because I love Kenshin's original voice, and Kamisama Kiss is only available dubbed on Prime Video in Latin America, so I didn't have a choice, but I ended up loving it even though is a new dub.

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Tre could be worse from the front to the back, that's where I was at (Unlucky Thirteen) Relationship Status: Singularity
could be worse
#23: Nov 24th 2020 at 7:25:40 AM

Show-by-show basis. If it doesn’t have a dub yet, that answers the question for me; if it does, usually I switch between one or the other midway through the first episode or two and then determine which one I like better.

I always keep the subs on regardless of whether or not I’m listening to the show in English or Japanese, though. Comparing them to each other and seeing the little differences when I’m watching in English is part of the experience for me.

oh, that's why I need this binary mind //
Segal991 A loyal animal lover from Somewhere Beyond the Sea Since: Mar, 2015 Relationship Status: Yes, we're lovers, and that is that
A loyal animal lover
#24: Jun 28th 2023 at 12:15:37 AM

Dunno if this counts, but I prefer Smile PreCure!'s Japanese version with subtitles over the English dub, Glitter Force, since it has more emotional moments.

Oh, I believe in yesterday
Hqami from the catacombs full of catazombs Since: Feb, 2019 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#25: Aug 17th 2023 at 1:47:06 AM

Subs because I like hearing the original voices. I like watching the original version of everything first in general.

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