Poll: The Ultimate Question: Sub or Dub?

[Elfgore]

Anime watchers, foreign movie watchers, and other people? It's time to answer the question. When it comes to entertainment not originally made in your native language, do you prefer to watch/play it in your native tongue with a voice over. Or in the original language with subtitles.

I myself started as a dub man. I remember I was so bummed out in my early anime viewing days that I couldn't watch Princess Lover! because it never got a dub. Granted, only watching dub saved me from that monstrosity. But then, one anime appeared. An anime by the name of Is This a Zombie? I was lucky, the first season had an English dub. Quite well done as well. I quickly flew through those twelve episodes, only to hit a barrier. The second season was not dubbed and wouldn't be for a few months. Me being the impatient bastard I was, had to watch the series now. I took the leap and watched the second season subbed. I haven't looked back. The only anime I watch dubbed is the known "amazing" dubs, like Fairy Tail, Code Geass, Baka & Test, and Fullmetal Alchemist. Other than those three, everything I watch is subbed.

I've actually gotten to the point where I cringe at dubs. When I heard trailers for Naruto and One Piece, I cringed. When I watched an episode of Attack on Titan, Sword Art Online, and Haganai dubbed, I think I may have hissed. I've almost completely turned to the dark side, there is no turning back for me.

So, that's my preference, what is yours? Dub or Sub.

Edit: *sigh* Guess I should add an "either" category. *grumble*

 

[tippy2k2]

Honestly.....I couldn't care less.

As long as whatever I'm listening to sounds good, I'm a happy man (and I am a simple man, therefore it doesn't take a lot to make me happy).

I watched shows like Cowboy Bebop and Trigun dubbed. I watched Attack on Titan subbed. I suppose if I had to choose, I'd prefer dubbing since that's easier to run to (Did I mention I do 9/10 of my TV Watching on my phone at the gym?) but I watched/read Titan on the treadmill so it is minimal difference to me.

 

[StormShaun]

In this great present. I don't view dubbed anime at all. So it is all subs for me now. Especially since I viewed the dubbed Clannad with intrigued. Now I am a 100% sub man.

Sure, at the beginning I began with dubs, because my anime journey started off with Dragon Ball Z, Gundam Seed (dubbed, later saw subbed), and the usual crap like Naruto and One Piece.
Then ... then I began the great journey up the hill, and I viewed Clannad.

It pretty much changed everything when it came to anime.
My tastes improved (no harem crap), and I enjoyed anime.

You can see why I keep having a Tomoya Okazaki avatar.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Subs. I like to stick as close as possible to the original material.

 

[VanQ]

I prefer my anime RAW as a steak. Then again, I speak Japanese so I don't need to watch with subs nor do I have to wait for half-assed English voice actors to ham it up in my Chinese girl cartoons. Where's the "Neither" option Elfgore?

Even I started with dubs though. Pokemon/DBZ/Evangelion were the first anime I saw as a kid on TV so I watched them dubbed. Then when I was a bit older there was InuYasha and Tenchi Muyo on Adult Swim so I cought those in English. Then the first time I ever went searching for an anime specifically was Love Hina which I saw the dub of on YouTube.

Dark times.

Honestly, the very first time I watched a sub, which would have been Love Hina Again, I realized just how much better the voice actors were. The voices suited their designs and the performances matched the scenes far better. It was after that that I started to delve deeper down the slippery slope of weeabooism and stated watching anime seasonly as they aired, whiched left me with no choice but subs though I never would have gone back to dubs.

I've accidentally heard a few dubs here and there like Naruto, One Piece, Ika Musume, HSotD, SAO, and jesus christ every single one of them paled to the original. Not to mention just how much is lost in translation.

I know a lot of people use the excuse "I like to be able to watch the show, I can't read fast enough to see the subs and the action" but if my 12yo sister can manage to watch subs any adult should be able to. Not that I'm saying they have to, just that they're missing out on a better product in the end.

 

[Malbourne]

Subs 90% of the time, and the main reason is because children tend to sound like girls rather than 20-year-olds in the original Japanese. Bleach is one of the prime examples. I happened to watch a subbed episode and came away enamored with how Toshiro sounded more like his age (or at least his appearance). I didn't watch much longer after that, but subs have been a major part of my viewing experience since then.

 

[geK0]

There are a lot of shows that just have dubs that are barely tolerable and it just absolutely kills the tone of the entire show

"I take a potato chip, AND EAT IT!"

Then there are other shows where I actually prefer the English dubs (Dragonball Z being one)

I prefer to watch shows in dubs when I'm multitasking, but more often than not the original cast just does a better job. Localization teams tend to be impassionate and just go with whatever voice actors they can find I guess?

 

[Barbas]

Honestly.....I couldn't care less.(...)

...


OT: Dubs, usually. I've never been able to deal with the high-pitched voices and raging bellowy angerfits of the original characters. Sometimes there's an exception, but I usually prefers dubs. "What about the crap ones?", you might ask. I just don't watch those animes because they're crap, so I don't miss anything.

EDIT: Actually, if they're crap they might still be funny, which just makes them entertaining in another way. Win-winnity, win-win, as they say.

 

[DANEgerous]

Dubs... the >5% of the time they are any good, so actually subs. Not hard for me to say though I talk rather fast yet can read faster.

 

[Tony2077]

if i enjoy them i don't care if there dubbed or subbed

 

[Elfgore]

I know a lot of people use the excuse "I like to be able to watch the show, I can't read fast enough to see the subs and the action" but if my 12yo sister can manage to watch subs any adult should be able to. Not that I'm saying they have to, just that they're missing out on a better product in the end.

I've seen this argument pop up quite a bit. As someone who can not only watch an anime subbed while, reading all dialogue, watching all scenes, and be typing on a computer, I find it hard to understand. I'm sure some people have good reasons as to why though.

"I take a potato chip, AND EAT IT!"

That dub is so bad, it somehow becomes amazing. The melo-drama, just everything about that dub is amazing. I'm pretty sure you could call it a parody.

Gotta love the original material. Sure it's kind of annoying to read subtitles sometimes when so much is going on- but I would MUCH rather have that then bad English voice acting. Dubbing in most cases are done poorly in comparison to the Japanese version. That's just me, I like hearing the epic voices in a different language and sounding more 'realistic' than someone reading off a script in English.

I forgot to mention this as well. Many dub actors just sound bored, like the only reason they showed up was to get paid. No heart or soul seems to go into some lines. Japanese VAs seem to at least get involved in their role.

Actually, if they're crap they might still be funny, which just makes them entertaining in another way. Win-winnity, win-win, as they say.

Time to post the Ghost Stories dub... again.

 

[tippy2k2]

Honestly.....I couldn't care less.(...)

...

Before my opinion came along, we were given two choices. A third one was added thanks to my efforts!

Some call me a hero...and they're right for doing so but I have to pretend to not think of myself as a hero in order to appear humble.

 

[cathou]

i'm not really an anime watcher, so i wont comment the quality of japanese to English dub. However, as a person who's first language is french, every american movie is a foreign movie. And while i do underastand English almost perfectly, translating a movie in my head does require much more attention than watching a movie in my own language. So i prefer to Watch movies dubbed.

however, we have a fairly good dubbing industry here, with a lot of talented actors that does the dubbed. and since they usually get the same voice to translate the same actors each time, at least each time you see the same actor, you hear the same voice most of the time.

 

[Asita]

Depends. For all that I understand that the Chinese is spoken with a very heavy local accent, Sword of the Stranger is a piece I will always recommend subs for, as much because of it making the most sense for the setting as because of the quality of the voice acting. Monster, by contrast, I'd recommend as a dub for exactly the same reason[footnote]German would have been more preferable given that it's set in modern Germany, but barring that I went with English as fitting the setting better than Japanese[/footnote]. Code Geass? Setting dictates that England had put no small effort into destroying Japan's identity and culture. Forcing them to speak "the King's English" fits the setting, so I went dubs for that. Baccano? 1930s USA. English.

Though the above is really an 'all else being equal' criteria. If I understand one set of voice actors to be noticeably superior to the other, I'll choose that language to watch in. If the series divides my attention too much (Looking at you, Durarara...damn chat windows >_>), I'll default to English for the sake of comprehension. If I can only find subs or dubs, I'll use those, and so on and so forth.

 

[Hero of Lime]

I don't watch anime much, but I've been perfectly fine with most of the dubs I've gotten. Gundam Wing is good dubbed, as was Princess Tutu. I do watch the Pokemon movies dubbed, and I'll say something many folks would consider insane. I actually prefer the current voice for Ash over the original. I always hated the original voice, even as a kid. Plus, hearing the English names of Pokemon when they speak is usually pretty cute.

I do prefer Gundam Seed subbed if that is worth anything. Like I said, I don't watch much anime, so I won't claim to say either is better.

 

[Zontar]

Actually, if they're crap they might still be funny, which just makes them entertaining in another way. Win-winnity, win-win, as they say.

Time to post the Ghost Stories dub... again.

Ah Ghost Stories, one of the greatest Dubs never told.

Honestly, that show is why I loved ADV, and I wish more dubbing companies had the balls to do what they did when they take pretty bad anime (one name which comes to mind is SAO, not THAT could have used a good GS treatment).

OTub, always dub. It's hard enough to read with my reading problems, the fact that I understand enough Japanese to tell the difference between a good and bad VA job I don't have that going for me, though it does mean shows which never got dubs can be watched (on a side note: Japanese VAs are about as hit-or-miss as English ones)

 

[[Kira Must Die]]

I've always been a dub guy, and I'm always one to stick up for them. I primarily watch sub for convenience, but if a dub's available I'll usually turn to that.

I just find dubs to personally be a more immersive experience for me. Now, I know what you're thinking, "But Kira, it's more immersive to watch something in its original language!" Well, my problem has never been the language, but with the subtitles themselves, and I'm not talking about crappy translations or anything. There's a difference between hearing the dialogue being delivered and reading words at the bottom of the screen while a language you can't understand is in the background. It adds an extra wall of separation between me and the show. Not significant enough to ruin a show for me, but I never felt like I was getting a full experience watching subtitles. However, I feel like I get a much fuller experience watching a show dubbed. Sometimes shows that I enjoyed okay the first time I suddenly enjoy even more after seeing it dubbed, and I noticed things that I feel was lost to me with subtitles, which is the complete opposite of what everyone tends to tell each other concerning subs vs. dubs.

It also helps that I find most dubs, especially nowadays, to be at the very least satisfactory. It's been a long while since I heard a truly terrible dub, or at the least it's very rare these days, from my experience. We're not living in the 90s anymore, where many problems such as a lack of communication between the original Japanese production and American companies lead to companies such as 4kids to have free reign on the localization process, or when anime wasn't as respected a medium as it is now. Nowadays Japanese production studios overlook the dubbing process, and anime has grown in popularity so more effort was put into production. Whether English dubs these days can hold a candle to the original Japanese audio is up for debate, but for me it's hard comparing the two as they're both different languages that work very differently, but at least to me they both tend to sound on the same level.

But live-action dubs suck and will always suck.

 

[FPLOON]

Honestly.....I couldn't care less.(...)

...

Before my opinion came along, we were given two choices. A third one was added thanks to my efforts!

Some call me a hero...and they're right for doing so but I have to pretend to not think of myself as a hero in order to appear humble.

<link=http://vocaroo.com/i/s04M2thC4UTQ>How I read this whole comment right here...

<link=http://vocaroo.com/i/s07u22nehVXH>OT: Shit, I don't give a fuck how I watch it as long as I get to fucking watch it, glob dammit! If both please me like a well-trained hooker, then expect me to buy that shit on Blu-Ray, beech!

*ahem*

I mean, I can go either or, basically... I love me some options... (even if one may end up subjectively better than the other by default...)

 

[A_Parked_Car]

I always prefer subtitles. Dubbing just comes off totally unnatural and throws me out of the movie/TV show/whatever else that I'm watching. I can see why some people wouldn't want to read a bunch while watching something, but I don't mind.