JRPG's (and Anime too I guess). Japanese or English voices?

[runequester]

When playing games that are explicitly Japanese (or watching Anime) in setting and context, do you prefer English voices or Japanese ones (when the game gives you the option) ?

I don't speak a word of Japanese but I always prefer the original voices, unless the dub is very good (the Ghost in the Shell series stands out). I grew up reading sub titles though so it always just seemed natural to watch things in their original language. My wife hates it and prefers the English dubs.

Your call?

 

[LarsInCharge]

Anime: Prefer Dub (I have several friends who do dub work), though I admit some groups (4kids) have crappy dubs. Also, even my friends who swear by subs refuse to watch Gundam subbed. The Japanese voices (especially females in Gundam) are awful.

Games: Prefer English, since most of my games are action games, I'd rather listen and focus on the task at hand rather than try and read tiny subtitles while fighting.

 

[Elfgore]

I'm a fan of Japanese voices, they just seem to fit better. Of course, there will be exceptions, but I most sound better in Japanese. My only complaint is during intense battles, following the dialogue can be a little tough.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Varies depending on the show.

Cowboy Bebop? Fuck yeah, English dubs are awesome.

Kill la Kill? Ehhh, English dub over-pronounces everything and just doesn't sound right.

 

[Catfood220]

I play JRPGs and I always have the English voices on simply because I understand English. To be fair, I agree that they can be pretty bad but the only game I have actually turned the voices off on is Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean because the voice acting on that game was fucking atrocious. Thankfully things improved after that.

 

[TessaraVejgan]

If I have a choice then Japanese. I prefer everything I watch and play in its original language if possible. For me a movie, game, anime losses part of its charm when it gets dubbed over. For example I recently played Metro and left Russian voice overs. Not to mention If a dub is done badly it completely ruins my mood and experience. I remember ages ago I was going through different channels on TV and run into some channel, I think it was Polish or some eastern European country, and the dub was basically just some guy talking over in a monotone voice regardless of situation, gender, etc and I taught it was horrendous.

 

[runequester]

The Russian voices made Metro much more enjoyable for me

 

[Dandark]

It can vary for me in games. I don't play many Japanese games so im not too sure.

Anime however I watch a lot of and I always prefer subs. I just like hearing it on the original Japanese plus it comes with the bonus of not needing to wait for the delayed dub. I also don't need to worry about it being a questionable dub, some dubs can be kinda bad but the sub is nearly always fine.

 

[Sleepy Sol]

The majority of the time I just play/watch the dub. But every now and then a dub has that one character who's grating as hell on my ears. Or it just isn't available outright. In which case I will watch or play with Japanese voices.

 

[Zhukov]

I have nothing nothing against dubs except for the fact that 99% of them are fucking awful.

I've never had a problem with reading subtitles, so I usually go with that.

Perhaps the original voices are terrible too, but it doesn't bother me since I can't judge a performance in a language I don't understand.

 

[Vendor-Lazarus]

Original voices please. Most of the time, dubs are just too jarring or forced for me to enjoy.
(exception being Hellsing.)

Haven't many games with that in mind though.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Original Japanese voices all the way. I don't like dubs, and I particularly don't like English dubs. There's an impressive spectrum going from equanimity to savagery in Japanese voice-acting that English can only hope to imitate.

 

[RaikuFA]

I play JRPGs and I always have the English voices on simply because I understand English. To be fair, I agree that they can be pretty bad but the only game I have actually turned the voices off on is Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean because the voice acting on that game was fucking atrocious. Thankfully things improved after that.

I guess you haven't played Chaos Wars...


Shit just got real.

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

Huh, a poll without a poll to vote in... This is madness!

Original voicetrack every time, when possible. Subtitles have always been a part of world cinema, so why buck that where animation or other mediums are concerned? I remember in the bad old days of VHS you didn't really have a choice if you were just a fairly casual consumer of anime. DVD's were a bit of a godsend, frankly, because English dubs rarely ever felt tonally appropriate, with a few exceptions (Steet Fighter II: The Animated Movie being one where they put a lot of effort into the English language version).

Ditto in games. I'm not sure why this should be reserved for JRPG's and anime alone, so I'll quickly nameheck two games which worked brilliantly with native dubs: Assassin's Creed II in Italian, and Metro 2033 in Russian. You did lose a few snatches of dialogue and ambient narrative/texture, but for the most part I found it vastly superior to the English dubs (the American accents for the children in Metro were just mind bendingly immersion breaking).

 

[TheSapphireKnight]

It depends on the anime/game. Dubs are nice for the sake of convenience, and most higher profile series have at least decent dubs these days.

So for me it often comes down to context. If it is a proper Japanese setting then I generally prefer to at least start with the sub. If it otherwise international setting/cast, fantasy, sci-fi, then I have no problem watching the dub.

I can't imagine watching Baccano!, a show set in 1920s America, in japanese with subs.

 

[thundra]

Most of a time i use japanese voiceovers. But if it's something like cowboy bebop i use english.

 

[Mudokon]

Always Japanese voices with accurate english subtitles, in my oppinion nothing can beat the original, and dubs most of the times are a complete failure, as i dont like to watch Japanese dubbed western movies same goes for Anime and Japanese games as well. its better though to have an option for those who like the original voices and for those who like dubs.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

I will always pick the English dub over the Japanese dub as long as the dub is good. If the dub is quite bad but in a so bad it's funny bad then I'll probably watch it for the lulz. Although, some things in English dubs really make me cringe like the pronunciation of Diarmuid in the Fate/Zero dub for example. I think the English dub pronounces it right once in the whole thing while the Japanese pretty much gets it right every time. It shouldn't be hard to find pronunciations of things via Google to be honest.

 

[Tony2077]

i personally couldn't care less which one it is as long as its officially released over here and i find it interesting