Dubbed Or Subbed

[Guest SilverFox-chan]

What was the matter with the voices in Gun Grave? I didn't get to watch much of it. But what I do remember the dubbed voices were ok.

[HimeRose]

What was the matter with the voices in Gun Grave? I didn't get to watch much of it. But what I do remember the dubbed voices were ok.

No offense to anyone here, but seriously, if you can get a black guy to do the voice of a black male character. Then why persay can't you get a black chick to voice act black female character? Harry's wife sounded like buffy from the valley. It was just damn retarded. There are VERY few animated characters of color. There are even fewer female animated characters of color. And I've only see one be a leading love interest in the 15 yrs I've been an anime fan. I don't think I'm asking for much that when the females do come along and open their mouths they don't sound like blonde dummies. (you know Susan Summers from Threes Companyish) Or at worse Micky Mouse on crack

[foeofthelance]

I went subbed. I remember watching Gundam SEED on CN, before my friends gave me the fansubs. Bad translations aside (I don't know japanese besides a few key phrases, and it really shouldn't be that hard to translate 'I'm going to kill you!') there is a major difference between the two Kiras. S-Kira sounds depressed or wistful at times. D-Kira sounds forcefully cheerful. Then S-Kira becomes sort of Pattonish at the end of th series, giving speeches and what not, and doing so with tone. D-Kira sounds...forcefully cheerful.

[Guest SilverFox-chan]

No offense to anyone here, but seriously, if you can get a black guy to do the voice of a black male character. Then why persay can't you get a black chick to voice act black female character? Harry's wife sounded like buffy from the valley. It was just damn retarded. There are VERY few animated characters of color. There are even fewer female animated characters of color. And I've only see one be a leading love interest in the 15 yrs I've been an anime fan. I don't think I'm asking for much that when the females do come along and open their mouths they don't sound like blonde dummies. (you know Susan Summers from Threes Companyish) Or at worse Micky Mouse on crack

That's true, I have forgotten about that. I really need to rewatch what I have of Gun Grave. *feels a bit foolish now *

[Strawberry]

generally, i HATE dubs, they piss me off real bad. american voice acting is generaly shockingly bad.

The only series i liked the dub of better than the original voices was neon genesis.

I watched a few episodes of inuyasha dubbed, which was enjoyable because the voices were hilariously bad. especialy when saying things like 'iron-reaver-soul-stealer'!!! lol

[Guest Yhitzak]

Yeah, I agree with a lot of ya'll: it depends on the anime. Above and beyond that, though, I'd also say that it has a lot to do with the company that releases said anime. I've found that Viz tends to massacre series from one language to another, and that the subbed versions tend to be more accurate to the series than the dubbed verisons (watch Inuyasha or Ranma 1/2 and you will likely notice subtle differences that eventually make or break the story). Pioneer was a flipping great company before Geneon bought them out, and most of the Pioneer animes were dubbed and subbed very well (Black Heaven and the original Hellsing series are on my mind at the moment). About the only Geneon anime I can even stand is Advent Children, and *only* in Japanese. (I think I'm the only FFVII fanboy on the planet who hated the English voice-cast.) I also tend to think that a series' fan-base ultimately determines how much time/effort/money is spent on any given anime.

[Guest Serenanna]

Generally, in the old days, when we had the choices of subbed or dubbed tapes, I went with subbed. I still check any anime DVD's I get for subtitles and language. But, alas, with the advent of free anime on demand and Cartoon Network, I've learned to tolerate dubs. I am no longer as much of a purist as I once was. Yes, Viz dubs do suck, especially in the first episodes, but Bleach ain't so bad. On par, dubs by Funimation, like the FMA dub, are pretty darn good! Good enough that I'd flip to the dub on the DVD's and not mind it.

Sere

[Guest Yhitzak]

Ahh, the wonderful invention of the DVD. It has given us the option of subs *and* dubs. Now the debate can *never* end!

[wattersk]

Subbed by a long shot. FMA and Digimon Zero-Two are the only ones I can put up with in English.

[Guest Alien Pirate Pixagi]

On par, dubs by Funimation, like the FMA dub, are pretty darn good! Good enough that I'd flip to the dub on the DVD's and not mind it.

Sere

Indeed, Funimation is awesome. They are one of the few who can really do a good dub. So was Pioneer. I miss Pioneer... TT__TT

I'm so happy Funimation is picking up One Piece TT__TT Now we might actually get to see someone get killed! WOO!

I'm still aggravated with the way Naruto was edited. I fail to see how cartoon blood is harmful to children TT__TT

And, whoever did the Advent Children official Dubs/Subs need to be shot. There were only a handful of well done characters, and the SUBTITLES WERE JUST THE SCRIPT FOR THE DUBBING! YARGH! Why, oh why, couldn't they give the outright translation? WHY?

Also, "zuru zuru zuru" does NOT translate to "dily-daly shilly-shally" -twitch...twitchtwitch-

Just like how "dattebayo" do NOT translate to "Believe It!"

[redsliver]

I'm so happy Funimation is picking up One Piece TT__TT Now we might actually get to see someone get killed! WOO!

Um, have you read One Piece? Everybody lives.

[Guest Alien Pirate Pixagi]

Um, have you read One Piece? Everybody lives.

I'm not talking about main characters. I'm talking about minor and near non-existent characters. I read the manga before watching the Anime on Saturday mornings and noticed that 4Kids glosses over a lot of bloody scenes and such. Funimation tends to be less... reserved.

[JustS]

Subbed everytime. American voice actors just don't take their anime roles seriously enough, and really damage the atmosphere of most dubbed anime.

[madlodger]

Definetely subbed.

I see Anime as an artform. It is a combination of visual and sound parts. In dubbing, the original sound part is replaced entirely and usually cheaply. The authenticity is getting lost. They have famous actors doing quality voices. I can't imagine some english-speaking dude trying to come even close to Iason Mink's voice, for example. No contest.

On another hand, many people have poor reading skills and are unable to keep up with subs. So much for education.

[Guest BelleKeat]

Yeah, I've found that if you watch the dubbed version, while it's easiest to understand and still catch every single thing going on since you don't have to take the time to not watch the characters with full attention just so you can read what is being said, the subbed versions are better.

In the dubbed versions words, and even names, are often changed to make more sense to the viewing audience that they are directed at. Here in the US most of the anime that goes through the television is made so that it can be viewed by little kids, when the original anime was not meant for that.

A good example would be Sailor Moon. A lot of words were changed in that, even some of the items that were eaten in there were changed. I believe when watching a movie in the anime some of the girls were eating popcorn in the English dub version. In the original version it should have been rice balls.

Where characters are nude in the original version for certain scenes, this is censored.

Everyone by now probably knows what happened with the Zoicite/Kunzite and Uranus/Neptune relationships in Sailor Moon, as well. Zoicite was made into a woman, while Uranus and Neptune became cousins in the English dub so that there would be no homosexuality for the little kiddies to watch.

Words are often changed as well. Bleach is a good example of this, as well as Dragon Ball Z.

In DBZ there is a scene in which Bulma, Krillin and Gohan are on the planet Namek and Krillin makes a rude remark about Bulma's cooking. While I'm sure this happened often, and I think it might date back to Bulma's cooking skills in the Dragon Ball series which came before DBZ (though I'm not entirely sure), and I don't rightly remember the Japanese version of what was said I do remember thinking at the time it had NOTHING to do with Bulma's cooking skills.

In Bleach words are also changed. Abarai Renji's release command for his Zanpaktou becomes "Roar" in the English dub whereas in the Japanese sub it is "Howl." That isn't a big deal, I suppose, if you get right down to it. But, what's wrong with keeping the release command as "howl" instead of making it something else? What harm does the word "howl" create? I suppose there was a reason, but I don't know it.

Names are often changed in dubbed versions as well. In Sailor Moon most of the girls' names were changed in the dubbed version from what they originally were. Makoto was the name of Sailor Jupiter, I believe, and yet somehow they put her name as Lita in the English dub. WHY they did this, I don't know. I suppose it could have something to do with an adaptation one of the moons of Jupiter. Minako (Sailor Venus) became Mina and Usagi (Sailor Moon) became Serena. I believe the only time they used the English translation of the nickname Usagi (Bunny) in the English version was in the very first episode where I believe Serena tells Luna that some people call her Bunny. After that, as far as I know, it is not used again in the English dub.

In Dragon Ball Z, in a movie about Goku's origin and his father Bardock, the name of the female Saiya-jin was changed in the dub. I don't remember what it was in the Japanese version, but in the English dub it became Fasha. Saiyan was used in the English dub as well, rather than Saiya-jin as the race's name.

There are probably countless other differences in the dubbed versions of anime that I just have simply forgotten to mention, but these are the ones that stick out in my mind. I like the subbed versions a lot better. Also, the Japanese versions tend to have seiyuu (voice actors/actresses) that seem to have voices that fit more closely to what you would think the characters would sound like. And, in my opinion, the male voices tend to be much sexier.

Case in point (for me) would be Gundam Wing. In the English dub Duo Maxwell sounds as if he is at least 30 years old. To me, anyway. And for a 15-year-old boy this...is a bit much for me. After I watched it long enough it wasn't so apparent any longer, but later when I was finally able to hear his Japanese voice, I almost swooned.

It's not a slam at the English voice actor, just that in that case the sound of the voice itself didn't quite match what I thought a 15-year-old boy would or should sound like.

But, yeah, those are just my observations and some of my reasons as to why I think sub is better than dub. It's overall more accurate.

~BelleKeat

[Haywire_Hakaze]

I'm kind of a mixed bag though for the purposes of the poll I voted "Subbed". In general I prefer the subbed version because it seems to me the seiyuu (or Voice Actors, VA, whatever you want to call them) put more passion into the scenes. Watch an anime character in pain and agony, whether physical or emotional, in Japanese. Then watch it in English. You'll see what I mean. And this goes for things I've seen in dub first. I watched Fullmetal Alchemist in English, then bought the DVDs and watched it in Japanese. The scene where

they're at Maes Hughes's funeral and Elicia starts crying and calling for her dead father

made me cry like a baby in the subs, but only made me a little sad in the dubbed version. It's no fault of Funimation, either. The dubs were PHENOMENAL. And, like i said, I saw the dubs first. They just didn't have the same impact.

And then there are some dubs that are just ATROCIOUS,-- or, at the very least, they're grating when compared to the original voices because none of the new voices fit the characters. For me, a good example is Ouran High School Host Club. I saw the subbed version before the dub, and I don't think Funimation did such a great job with the casting. That's not to say it isn't watchable. After an episode or two, I quickly got used to the voices and enjoyed the show (although I still hate that they dubbed the theme songs and i still can't listen to them that way. It hurt my ears).

Then again, sometimes it's great that the dub sucks. Or for me, it is. But then, that's mainly out of nostalgia. Two words: SAILOR MOON. the dub was horrible and there was so much "editing for content" that it was sad. But I grew up on that edited version, so it's nice to watch it and bathe in the campy goodness. Sure, it was still slightly campy in the subbed version, but the subbed version was still better. I enjoy both subbed and dubbed, in that particular case.

My husband's point of view about "Sub v. Dub" is much more clear-cut than mine. He 100% supports dub because he'd rather focus his gaze on the art and the story than have to divide his attention and read to find out what's going on, when he could miss something that way. Eh, what can I say? Some men just can't multitask.

[phoeyay]

I enjoy dubs and there's nothing wrong with them - sometimes they do really cool stuff with the dub. However, personally I am interested in knowing more Japanese, and I like being able to practice / pick up things by watching the subs. Also, I find the Japanese seiyu's are usually a bit more expressive, or at least seem that way to my Western ear. Oh, and Japanese guys' voices are sexy. So there.

[DrunkenScotsman]

My husband's point of view about "Sub v. Dub" is much more clear-cut than mine. He 100% supports dub because he'd rather focus his gaze on the art and the story than have to divide his attention and read to find out what's going on, when he could miss something that way. Eh, what can I say? Some men just can't multitask.

I was about to make this exact point. Additionally, in a sub, if there's a lot of chatter happening simultaneously, it can be hard to follow along; either the subtitles are being replaced too quickly to read, or I can't figure out who's saying what and why.

On the dub side of things, while some things are inevitably lost in translation, a good translation will convey the original sense as closely as possible. What I've read from most of the other comments about bad dubs has a lot to do with bad translation choices.

I'm also going to go against the grain here and say that I hate listening to the Japanese voice actresses. The typically-high-pitched voices commonly used for female characters are exceedingly grating to me.