Oh no please don't watch that in English!

[Mr. Google]

So me and my brother were scrolling through the anime on Netflix when we came across Clannad and he's like didn't you watch this? And I went on a rave about how amazing the show was how it was hilarious and made you feel for the characters in a way that I had never gotten through an anime. After this he decided that he would watch it. A few days later he says to me that the show is kinda stupid and annoying and I'm like yeah it's stupid but its funny stupid and he says No its awkward stupid. And i ask what's annoying and he says the voice acting is loud and obnoxious. So later I see him watching it and it is in English. Everyones voice is so different than from how it should be, I'm freaking out because nothing is right so we finish the episode and I say "You're not allowed to watch this anymore." He asks me why and I say "If you're going to watch this show it has to be in the correct way, these voices take away all of the good qualities of this show." So we go on the computer and actually watch an episode in Japanese and I say alright how was it? He just goes "Wow...Holy Shit that was so much better."

TL;DR My brother was watching Clannad in English, it sucked, so i made him watch it in Japanese.

Discussion: Do you know any shows that are terrible to watch in English but great in Japanese.

It's most of them but for me some that were good in English regardless were Death Note, and Claymore. Soul eater is great...if you just mute black star. Besides that there is some great voice talent there and i dont think the Grim Reaper would make as much sense in Japanese to me because of his silly voice.

Edit: Or any movie or show that was translated.

 

[-Samurai-]

Not an anime, but the Crows Zero movies.

The English voices don't fit the characters and most of the plot gets lost in the bad translations.

 

[Yosato]

Bleach? I mentioned this in a post the other day. I don't think the dub is AWFUL but everything in it is just SO Japanese that it really takes you out of it when you hear it in English. The characters will say a line and there's like five Japanese words in a single sentence; sounds really forced.

Just having Japanese names for characters I can deal with (Like Yu Yu Hakusho has a great dub), but in Bleach there's place names, concepts, sword names and attack names to keep up with.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

I think you overreacted a lot here.

I know the great 'dubbed-subbed' debate rages on in anime forums but really if someone has managed to get into it and you want to encourage them you shouldn't be shutting them down. I watch anime both subbed and dubbed (Trigun for example I have watched both ways) and really apart from some where the English voice actors are obviously not into it its fine either way.

I know people who can't stand to watch anime in Japanese because they want to actually see what's happening instead of being constantly looking at subtitles. It's okay if you're a fast reader, like I am, but when it;s someone who doesn't read really quickly, reading the subtitles can take a lot of the fun out of the experience.

So yeah, let your brother watch it in whatever he wants as long as he's enjoing it.

As for your discussion, Trigun I prefer in English mostly, Hellsing was much much better in English, and really only Elfen Lied I thought sounded better in Japanese.

 

[madster11]

I remember DBZ being the complete opposite, with the dubs being better than the subs.

Most Anime aren't like that though, in my experience. Very rarely do the dubs actually match up to the emotions of the original. It's like half the time the people doing the dubs just don't give a shit.

90% of the time, if i can, i automatically go for the subbed versions. Like i said above, DB/Z/Kai is really the only one where i prefer the dub.

 

[Mr. Google]

I think you overreacted a lot here.

I know the great 'dubbed-subbed' debate rages on in anime forums but really if someone has managed to get into it and you want to encourage them you shouldn't be shutting them down. I watch anime both subbed and dubbed (Trigun for example I have watched both ways) and really apart from some where the English voice actors are obviously not into it its fine either way.

I know people who can't stand to watch anime in Japanese because they want to actually see what's happening instead of being constantly looking at subtitles. It's okay if you're a fast reader, like I am, but when it;s someone who doesn't read really quickly, reading the subtitles can take a lot of the fun out of the experience.

So yeah, let your brother watch it in whatever he wants as long as he's enjoing it.

As for your discussion, Trigun I prefer in English mostly, Hellsing was much much better in English, and really only Elfen Lied I thought sounded better in Japanese.

I think you read the TL;DR He almost stopped watching it because of the English then he REALLY like the Japanese version. If he was okay with the English one I would have let him do what ever and me and him watch subbed stuff together all the time IE: Death Note, Bleach, Code Geauss.

 

[Richardplex]

I've not really seen anything that is so bad in the english dub that I have to go to sub. Full metal alchemist would be the opposite, the voice acting is so amazing I can't watch the subbed version, especially the women who voice acts ed. I'm sure many love her voice acting talents, but for me, just an emotionless drone.

 

[John the Gamer]

Well, apperantly most of the German television industry thinks that way, as almost anything is translated to German. I was once on vacation in Germany, and watched on the bus a French movie that was translated to German with English subtitles. It was madness.

 

[Carrotslayer]

Hellsing OVA. This is one of those animes that actualy sounds A LOT better dubbed (english ofcourse). The reason is quite simple: People have dialects.

The brittish characters sounds brittish and so on. This is absolutely crucial in my opinion, probably because I love when the germans speaks english with their special dialect. :3

 

[Ilikemilkshake]

Interesting that you say Death Note and Claymore were two of the better dubbed animes, because i was about to say those two as ones that were way better subbed.. those two plus Full Metal Alchemist

 

[Llil]

I have this irrational hatred of all things dubbed egraved into my brain, so for me, anything that isn't originally in english. I think the two main reasons why I hate dubbing are that I'm not used to it, and most dubs I can remember have been horrible.

I live in Finland, and the only tv shows or movies that get dubbed here are those that are meant for younger kids, who probably can't read yet. Everything else is subtitled so I've grown to get used to it, and dubbing just seems wrong.
And the things that do get dubbed in finnish are almost always practically unwatchable for anyone older than (just making up a number) 10 years.
The only show I can watch dubbed and not feel uneasy is the Moomins, and that's because I've always watched it dubbed (the swedish dub for it isn't terrible either).

By the way, the Moomins tv show is made in Japan, so I guess it counts as "anime".

 

[Macgyvercas]

Terrible in English, but great in Japanese, eh?

SAILOR MOON!

I've seen the dub. The voices were absolutely terrible, and I'm sorry, but JAPANESE PEOPLE SHOULD NOT HAVE A BROOKLYN ACCENT UNLESS IT'S YU-GI-OH ABRIDGED!!!

 

[swansman]

I watched both the dubbed and subbed versions of Dragon Ball Z, and all I can say is that it is a lot better in English. I just don't think Goku sounds manly in the Japanese version, nor any of the other characters sounding right.

 

[Creator002]

Attempting to watch the Deltora Quest anime, I find it hard to enjoy when it's been dubbed into English. I prefer Japanese with English subtitles.

 

[SextusMaximus]

Not an anime. But [REC] over Quarantine. REC with subtitles is a MUCH better film than Quarantine.

 

[floppylobster]

Princess Mononoke

Honestly, it's a different movie in English. They change the main character's voice inflection and try to make him the 'hero' of the story when he's not supposed to be at all. It's the only time I've seen enough differences between the dubbed and subbed versions to consider it truly damaging to a viewer's perception of the the film.

 

[Eolon]

No matter what genre, I will ALWAYS watch/play the thing in the original format.(Please count an exception Persona 3(as I don't understand Japanese, and I don't think a version with the original voice and english subtitles exists), and stuff on the TV). Comming from a country with my main language not being english , I had to get used to subtitles from pretty early on, because my mother didn't let me watch dubbed films.

Most of the characters emotion/jokes/dialog intent is lost, so while I watch my stuff, I can always try to learn stuff.

 

[Mr. Google]

Interesting that you say Death Note and Claymore were two of the better dubbed animes, because i was about to say those two as ones that were way better subbed.. those two plus Full Metal Alchemist

I've watched Death Note both ways and though i prefer subbed its still good dubbed. Also I never watched claymore subbed but the only voice I didn't like was Rocki and he stopped being in the show near the middle.

 

[Mr. Google]

Princess Mononoke

Honestly, it's a different movie in English. They change the main character's voice inflection and try to make him the 'hero' of the story when he's not supposed to be at all. It's the only time I've seen enough differences between the dubbed and subbed versions to consider it truly damaging to a viewer's perception of the the film.

So you're saying that which one is better because if it's subbed then I might have to watch that.

Terrible in English, but great in Japanese, eh?

SAILOR MOON!

I've seen the dub. The voices were absolutely terrible, and I'm sorry, but JAPANESE PEOPLE SHOULD NOT HAVE A BROOKLYN ACCENT UNLESS IT'S YU-GI-OH ABRIDGED!!!

NYEH! BROOKLYN RAGE! haha I love YGOTAS

 

[Staskala]

Terrible in English, but great in Japanese, eh?

SAILOR MOON!

I've seen the dub. The voices were absolutely terrible, and I'm sorry, but JAPANESE PEOPLE SHOULD NOT HAVE A BROOKLYN ACCENT UNLESS IT'S YU-GI-OH ABRIDGED!!!

You think that's bad? Check out the German opening: