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Do you prefer anime dubbed or subbed?

Do you prefer watching anime subbed or dubbed ?

  • Original Japanese version, with subtitles as an ocasional help as I mostly understand Japanese

    Votes: 85 20.3%

  • Original Japanese version with subtitles (I mostly can't understand Japanese)

    Votes: 296 70.8%

  • Dubbed

    Votes: 20 4.8%

  • No preference

    Votes: 17 4.1%
  • Total voters
    418
Always sub here. Get more emotion from japanese voice actors than english ones. Like Initial D and DragonBall (Z, GT, original)
 
well, probably not all english dubs are bad. Though I have not really seen much english dubs, my experience with one will be Sailor Moon.

Yes I know this probably has been debated/discussed many times here or else where, but just like to say something about Sailor Moon english dubs.

To be fair, the diction was ok, but somehow the voice and the emotion conveyed doesn't really sound attractive after listening for some time.

Other than my interest in learning japanese, the high voice acting standards of japanese seiyuu contributes a good deal to the enjoyment of anime.
 
Well, it depends on the person really.

I like either, when its subbed it takes a while to get into it but it comes naturally after a while.

But I have to say that Kurbi Morrow is a really good voice actor for dubbed series. He has been Goku(DBZ), Van(Escaflowne) and loads more.

But i agree that some of the voices are better in japanese. :haihai:
 
I prefer subbed anime...I prefer subbed everytime....NOT a fan of dubbed at all, as I think one has to listen to the original language.
 
That's tough... it depends on the series, for me. A lot of times the quality of the dubbed voices sucks, and doesn't go with the characters. And if I'm watching a show that's set in Japan, where Japan is obviously where it's set (like Rurouni Kenshin), I'll watch it subbed. Cowboy Bebop was excellent dubbed, though. I watched Fruits Basket both ways (I've seen it like 4 times now LOL). Hellsing I watched dubbed because they got British voice actors which made much more sense than British people speaking Japanese. So it just depends on the series. I want to get the best out of what I'm watching, plain and simple. And every series is different.
 
sub is usually better then it doesnt usually miss much of the orginal...dubbed only works with a few...like bebop i think it works out great and the voices work very well with the characters...and i love watching escaflowne the movie dubbed...cause of paul dobsons voice *drools* is pretty damn sexy
 
I use anime for Japanese listening practice, so it has to be subbed. I tend to read the subtitles and predict what I am going to hear. I have learnt a lot that way.
 
Eh, depends. I'll watch anime both dubbed and subbed. Sometimes I prefer subbed and other times I prefer the dubbed version. I've also been known to like both at the same time.

I tend to like bad dubs too.... They make me giggle.
 
I root for subbed. 100%. No dubbed for me unless it's really really good. Haha, picky me.

I dunno about English dubbed...but some chinese dubbed seriously go down the drain...No offense to anyone.

So...yeah, yeah. ^-^ Subbed all the way.
 
I like both.. I can understand some liking dubbed more, but if I like the show and it happens to be in english.. whatever.
 
sadakoyamamura said:
I was told by a friend studying in a Japanese college that some animes use a different dialect like Samurai X which according to him used the dialect of that period. :?
Click to expand...

Yes, there are many particularities that are not conveyed by dubbing anime in other than the original languages. In the case of 'Kenshin', he speaks in the old Samurai way. This might be convened in English if a character spoke as in the days they said 'thee' and 'thou', for example.

In fact, this kind of speech is common to many Jidaigeki anime. Like 'Kenshin', 'Kazemakase Tsukikage Ran', for example, also uses this style, which you can recognize easily by the heavy use of the 'de gozaru' or 'de gozaimasu' expressions (which are old-fashioned ways of saying 'desu').

There are also two anime shows where this very noticeable: in 'The adventures of Kotetsu', for example, the main character uses the Kensai accent, in particular that of the Kyoto region. Very old and very typical. Not something you can replicate in English.

(and, to be honest, I'm not sure non-Nihongo speakers can identify it just by following subtitles)

In 'Elf Princess Rane', it's dialect Bonanza. Many different dialects were used, and it is a challenge (an impossible one?) to actually follow them all without the aid of subtitles.

There are many more characteristics of the original language, and one of the things that jumps to the mind is the fact that the characters from the Osaka area can easily be identified by their speech, something that is possibly lost in most of the non-japanese audience. And is a pity - it is a bit like the Yankee/Dixie speech difference in the US.

Anyway, the original is always better for everything, be it anime or not. Besides, hearing the original allows one to find out wrong translations. For example, I noticed that often when a chara says he/she is 16 years old, the subtitle often says '18 years old' (like in the 'Gestalt' OVA). And I do not believe the translator got it wrong, there is no way someone with a minimal fluence in Nihongo can misunderstand those numbers.

Fortunately for me, I live in a country where just about *everyone* hates dubbing, so we get everything in their original form. This not only includes anime (subbed and unedited) but also all kinds of movies, to american blockbusters to small-budged chinese productions.

In fact, things even went as far as the main channel airing the popular game show 'Takeshi Castle' raw Saturday afternoon. Most of the population could not understand Nihongo, but the show was so good it had a record audience nonetheless

Regards,
Keoland
 
Subbed all the way! Although it was dubbed that orginally got me into anime, I really can't stand it anymore. When comparing an English language track with Japanese one, I find the two to be on completely different levels. As you can see from the above results of the poll, most people dislike dubbed for similar reasons. Although I have a friend who likes dubbed better simply because he says he's too lazy to read subtitles (which is why I always make fun of him).
 
I prefer subtitles now that I'm learning Japanese.

But in short, if I was a fan of some series during my youth, chances are I'd like it dubbed just like it was then.

I recently bought a series called Albator (O.t. is : Uchü Kaizoku Captain Harlock) that was dubbed in French in the '80s and was shown on French-Canadian TV. Not a shred of Japanese, dub or sub, in the DVD's. Just the original French that I remember as a kid. Another well known French dub from my youth (late 60's) is Mini-fée (O.t. is : Mahou Tsukai Sally). I ... I don't think I could bear to hear it in another language, even in Japanese. Even so, "Jungle taitei" was translated in Quebec with local talent in the early '70s. Now the only dubbed DVD's available are done in France. It's the same language but, you know, it's not the same thing.
 
kinda off topic cause it isnt anime..but has anyone seen Volcano High? they played it on MTV here...an asian film with dubbed voices

the actors...


the voices...

i think the movie was pretty funny...but the voice actors they chose as you can see was a joke...
 
I actually found Volcano High pretty entertaining. Though, it is nice to have the DVD, since the original movie is one the reverse side once you get bored of the intentionally melodramatic hip-hop dubbing. But still, you have to admit...an asian with the voice of Li'l John is just hilarious.
 
Sub, usually.

I don't know why it is that dubs are almost always poorly done. I'm always wondering if it's because the English Voice Actors just don't take their roles seriously enough. Some get the whole concept of the anime title wrong, others can't even properly pronounce Japanese names correctly, and almost all of them plain cannot act (while not anime, I've always wondered how the VAs of some of the PSX Megaman titles ever even got hired). Really, it's as if some of the localization teams hire bad actors intentionally.

I have, however, heard some really good voice acting. The lead character of Makoto Shinkai's The Place Promised in our Early Days (Orig: Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho) did a pretty good job expressing the feelings of his character, although some of the other cast didn't do so well in that dub. I thought Genji Ikari's (evangelion) english VA had more badass feel than the Japanese version.

Also, there are times when, like in the aforementioned Kumo no Mukou... it's better to use dub because there are so much stuff to pay attention to in the visual side (artwork, hints about character developement, foreshadowing, etc). Unless you know the script already, of course.
 
Subs are definitely much better for me. For one, listening to the original seiryuu voices is always a pleasure, and subs help me understand what they're talking about for I'm still an amateur at the japanese language. Still, I suppose there are certain series that are dubbed by competent casts... It's just that I've never had the fortune of encountering those good ones.

Trust me, when all you've heard are abysmal chinese dubs, you'd naturally go for the original. *shudders* I honestly can't imagine how they'd dub something like FFAC... *huggles Kadaj & Vince's seiryuus*
 
I say dubbed though after recent aquisitions of certain animes I must say subbed has never looked better!
 
Subbed. Normally, you get the actual uncensored anime. Sometimes though...I like the dubbed. Hellsing's dub in particular. Its just too funny.
 
Last edited:
For me it depends on the anime, the voice actors involved with the project, and the dialog that's being said. Sometimes I prefer anime in dubbed, other times I prefer it in subbed. It all depends on those three following factors for me.

Doc
 
I like to watch both subbed and dubbed versions whenever I get a new anime. But for me the better version will be the original Japanese subbed version, generally the voices are better and more suited to the character. Alot of English dubbs are very good (Eg. Ah! My Goddess TV) but there are also a few animes that have been dubbed so poorly it could really put you off from watching it any further.
 
Coastal Line Studios was still in business they had the best dubbing ever. Ah My Goddess the OAV was the best English dub IMHO. I would like to also point out that if a particular company is doing the dub, it also dicatates which track I will listen to. For example Geneon (formerly Pioneer) pisses me off to no end. The voices hardly ever match the characters, and it just sounds annoying as hell. ADV Films is about the only ones who can pull it off anymore. Too bad some of these companies like Viz can't do the same.

Doc
 
I like both the original Japanese version and the Greek dubbed version.
 
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