Dub VS sub a real discussion!

[ecoho]

so after reading the rant filled thread about how English dubs are bad I came to the conclusion that the op of that thread was a bit off, but I thought there could be a legitimate discussion on the subject.

So are there any dubs you prefer over subs or vice versa? this can be games, anime, or movies go nuts!

ill start I prefer subs for most anime but love the English VAs for gundam wing, outlaw star, DBZ, and of course cowboy bebop. I prefer all non finial fantasy games in English because if the story is well written you can shrug off a bad VA or two and usually the VA sound exactly the same. FF games on the other hand most be in Japanese because they get the worst VA for the most annoying characters so you just want to kill them after 5 mins with them.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Every time we have one of these subs always win in the end. You say "of course" the Cowboy Bebop dub is good, I think "of course" it's shit when compared to the original voices. It's all about opinion really. I think most of us prefer subs because it's a way of sticking closer to the original thing.

 

[SmallHatLogan]

I don't watch a lot of anime but I do play Japanese video games and I find that in general (not all the time but a lot of the time) a lot of the English voices either feel forced or stilted and not very organic compared to western cartoons/games. But as Johnny above me said there are always people who just flat out disagree and can't see the other side. And I'm one of them. There are some dubs that a lot of people think are good and I just don't get it. I feel like there are all these flaws that apparently only I can hear and it's like I've stepped into the twilight zone where I'm the sane one and everyone else is acting weird.

So I'm all about the subs, but I have no intention of trying to change anyone else's mind.

 

[tippy2k2]

Honestly...I don't think I could care less if I really really tried.

I suppose that's not 100% true; I prefer dub over sub only because then I don't HAVE to read (I always put sub's on no matter what I'm watching). If I can't watch dub (like Attack on Titan), I have zero problem subbing.

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

Most anime, if there's a dub available, I'd usually go with that. I usually find dubs listenable at the least. If I don't like the dub, I just switch to subs. It's as simple as that.

Also, while I can tolerate subs, I don't really like them. Nothing to do with the voice acting nor having to read, just subtitles in general. I prefer to watch and listen to the dialogue in my shows than watch and read while a language I can barely understand is in the background. It makes me feel more immersed, which is the opposite of what most people would say about dubs.

 

[ecoho]

Every time we have one of these subs always win in the end. You say "of course" the Cowboy Bebop dub is good, I think "of course" it's shit when compared to the original voices. It's all about opinion really. I think most of us prefer subs because it's a way of sticking closer to the original thing.

but what about DBZ were the dub was actually better then the original VA? while most of the time your right subs tend to be better you still get a few dubs that actually improve on what was done.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

It's entirely contextual, because a dub for one anime may be great or even an improvement like DBZ(the Japanese version of Vegeta just doesn't sound like a warrior) but another might have such terrible voice actors that it ruins the whole thing.

I'd say dubs can be better than reading subs because it means more of your attention is on the imagery but often the dubs fail because of shitty VAs. If that weren't the case I think more people would be arguing for the dubs.

 

[Asita]

Eh, it's very case by case for me. Code Geass, Baccano, and Monster, for instance, get pushed solidly into "English dub" territory because lore makes English just make sense for those worlds. Durarara!! would ordinarily get pushed to Japanese for the same reason, but the rapid fire Message Board that regularly popped up in that series pushed it back into English for convenience sake. Sword of the Stranger I prefer in Japanese both because of setting and because of a bit near the end that just annoys me in English[footnote]Foreign guy tries to convey a message in Japanese but doesn't really speak the language. In the Japanese version he gives few words which the subtitles translated as "use. drug. pain. go away." befitting his unfamiliarity with the language. In English he just says "Here, take this. It is medicine. It will help you to ease the pain." I think the former was a better directorial decision.[/footnote] Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood was very either or because I felt that both casts gave a strong performance and there was little to push me one way or the other. And then there's Ghost Stories...holy poltergeist, Ghost Stories...

 

[Fox12]

Every time we have one of these subs always win in the end. You say "of course" the Cowboy Bebop dub is good, I think "of course" it's shit when compared to the original voices. It's all about opinion really. I think most of us prefer subs because it's a way of sticking closer to the original thing.

Pretty much nailed it. It's not even specific to anime, I just prefer foreign language films in their native tongue. Can you imagine a dubbed over version of Pans Labyrinth? No thank you. The closer I can get to the artists intent, the better.

There are exceptions, of course. A good dub can make it easier to pay attention to the cinematography, or to the art of an anime. If an anime is fast paced, or if it's a comedy, then I almost need to view it dubbed on my first viewing. It can make it easier to follow, and wonky subs can ruin the punch line of a joke. However, if I really like the story, or it has something important to say, then I'll often revisit it in the sub, since I already know the jist of the main story.

 

[crypticracer]

This is always a stupid tricky thing. Most of the time I would argue subs as a dub breaks the flow of dialogue adding to keep pace making things sound very odd, and even then our brains notice the mouth animation and sound don't match, even when it seems to be well done. On the other hand, you have to read the subs. I can read at a slightly above average speed, but that still means I am focusing on a narrow lower portion of the screen, potentionally missing subtle or nuanced bit's of action above. It's also near impossible to adequetley sub without breaking dramatic tension or the timing of a joke.

 

[drednoahl]

Back in the 1990's I used to do fansubbing because I didn't have much of a choice in what I could buy commercially; in my country almost everything was dubbed in English with lots of Americanisms that I loathe. The sub vs dub arguments used to get quite heated back then - the folks who wanted dubbed stuff wanted anime to become mainstream, the sub guys were concerned about an anime's artistic integrity. These days I don't see sub vs dub as being an issue because more often than not you can watch anime in the way you want, and translation, writing and English voice actors are of a much higher quality; pretty much all bases are covered (apart from licensing an anime in the first place - that's still unbelievably hard.) What gets my goat these days is folks who call anime 'animes,' but sheep will be sheeps.

 

[syaoran728]

I personally like most dubs and most subs. I think part of it is a bit of context. If the series takes place in America like Baccano!(those accents were amazing) then for the most part the dub is going to be better. If the series takes place in Japan then I think there's might be some culturally relevant stuff in the original that might not get carried over as well in the dub. This is by no means a rule of mine. The English dub of BakaTest was amazing to me, especially season 2, episode 7 when we heard Minami's VA speak with a heavy German accent.

 

[lechat]

nope dub all the way i won't even watch stuff if it's subbed anymore

Why would you want to listen to some language you don't understand while spending 20-50% of your screen time staring at text on the bottom of the screen while shit is happening in the background?

 

[Bat Vader]

I don't really prefer subs or dubs. I can watch either one just fine.

 

[Leoofmoon]

Normally when I watch Anime or a movie or even TV show I am playing a game because I like to multitask and I like background noise. So Dubs are more my go too. plus a really bad dub is entertaining. (see anything Bennett the sage reviews.)

 

[Elfgore]

I'm a sub guy through and through. Things like anime, games, etc, I do prefer to watch them in Subs. It feels more natural to me and I have no difficulty reading and watching at the same time. I was over-joyed when I learned Dynasty Warriors 8 had a sub download option, made the game much more enjoyable for me. I actually mute my game of Senkogu Basara when I play it because of how bad the English dub is.

A few shows do get special treatment though. I will forever watch Baka and Test and Code Geass in Dub form. Cause they're amazing.

 

[Casual Shinji]

The only things I prefer dubbed are shows I used to watch when I was little, for nostalgia's sake. Things like The Smurfs and Disney's Robin Hood. The Dutch dub just holds a very special place in my heart. Also other cartoons like The Wizard of Oz, Spoon Obasan, Wowser, Niels Holgerson, and The Swiss Family Robinson to name a few.

As for Japanese games, most of them already have an english track by default, like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, or the Souls games. Or they have gibberish speak, like Okami, Zelda, and the Team Ico games. The only one I played that was dubbed was the Metal Gear Solid franchise, and the instant I played the first game those voices just became too iconic for me to ignore (if there was even a choice at all).

Beyond that dubs can go suck it. Unless it's something aimed at little kids you sub that shit like a real man.

 

[Gearhead mk2]

Generally speaking I prefer dubs, as I like being able to understand the characters. But if the English acting is really bad or the Japanese acting is really good, I switch to subs. I'm k watching something subtitled. As for dubs that are better than subs, the English tracks for the Metal Gear series and Kid Icarus Uprising are pretty good, but those are the only clear-cut objectively better ones I can think of off the top of my head.

 

[TheSapphireKnight]

I can easily see why someone would prefer one or the other, I've just never understood dub hate. Unless they remove even the option for the original language which does not seem to happen as often these days, I don't see what reason some people seem to have to be so incensed about it.

For anime and games the general quality of dubs has gone up quite a bit at least compared to when I was a kid. A good dub is preferable for me, especially when the the show/game is not set in Japan such as Baccano in 1920s America or any number of sci-fi or fantasy settings. That said I have no issue watching subs either and I do like to see more of the cultural through annotations and the like.

Although I do like dubs for animated things I can't deal with dubs of live action films anymore. When I was a kid I did not notice as much when the mouth movements did not reconcile with the words supposedly being spoken, but now I can't help but notice.