Dubs Vs. Subs which do you prefer?

[Damien]

I prefer Subtitles because MOST of the time it takes away the personality it would normally have with the original japanese language, I feel that MOST of the time the Japanese VA put thru a lot more emotion in their work.

If I am feeling lazy and not wanting to read subtitles is the only time I usually watch dubs, and it also has to be a decent job dub like Berserk for instance, I also thought Hellsing had a pretty good Dub.


Edit: pollified. --arke

[Ayanami]

I am going to go ahead and be the only person most likely to say dub.

I don't understand Japanese, so all the inflections in the voice or what ever meant to put emotion into the voice acting is wasted because I do not know what words they are emphasizing and what not.

This is of course if and only if the dub is good. Very few good dubs now a days. So as ya do. Cowboy Bebop dub for example, good. Labyrinth or Flames Dub how ever, ear piercing.

[Eldo]

One Piece dub was fucking horrible. In an attempt to be all kiddy-friendly, nobody 'dies' (even 'Zolo' 's girl rival when he was young didn't die) , there's no blood in it, and the whacked out humour and voice actor emotes and expression has been killed off. I didn't enjoy it at all.

[N3oShweaty]

im a sub man myself. Putting aside the obvious censorship issues that i have with dubbed anime (and most american tv), The VAs that they get to do the voices are generally so over the top and stupid that all the character gets lost in the voice. There are good dub jobs but those shows are all on adult swim (i am thinking of trigun and cowboy bebop)...I need to see trigun again.

[Damien]

I personally don't mind the Bobobo Dub either.

[BasouKazuma]

My philosophy is that films should be viewed in their original language (be it japanese, russia, chinese, spanish, french, korean ... whatever). Setting aside the quality differences between japanese and american VAs, whenever you try to directly translate a film into another language, you lose some of the original message. Reasons being, different languages have different ways of saying things. What sounds cool in one language could sound stupid when translated into a different language (or may not even be defined in that language). Also, the dubbers have time constaints since they have to fit a certain amount of speech into a fixed segment of the film.

So even when there is no censorship, subtle things will inevitably have to change in the process of dubbing. So you are no longer seeing exactly what the film maker wanted you to see. This is usually a bad thing and lowers the quality of the film.

[arke]

Also, the dubbers have time constaints since they have to fit a certain amount of speech into a fixed segment of the film.

And subbers don't..? The main constraint in dubbing is if they try to get the mouths to match. They also don't have the luxury of using supertitles for translation notes.

[Quest]

subbed, of course!
hear it the way it was meant to be.

[Gundam_Bobcat]

Im going to say subs.

Even though i dont fully understand Japanese, i rather hear their voices than get stuck with some crappy american voice actor that really doesn't play the part.

[nimrod]

english voices are soo bad : (

[Tempest]

When I watch anime (though it is a rarity nowadays) I prefer dubs. One of my problems was something I noticed durign Tenjou Tenge. During the rare occasions where 2 or more people were talkign symotaniously, its was like doing reading gymnastics to catch everything. Sometimes one characters text is above and another below, sometimes they switch, or in cases where the font is the same, I can't tell who is exactly saying what! Also, I feel that sometimes I will miss something if I am reading subs and not keeping my full visual attention on the screen. Now I know I wont miss anything big or most likely anything at all, but I still just feel more comfertable with subs.
As far as the lost in translation business, while it is difficult, subbers have the same problem writing those those translations as dubbers do saying it, so irregardless of the situation you are going ot have hang-ups.

[BasouKazuma]

Also, the dubbers have time constaints since they have to fit a certain amount of speech into a fixed segment of the film.

And subbers don't..? The main constraint in dubbing is if they try to get the mouths to match. They also don't have the luxury of using supertitles for translation notes.

I have failed to see what your point is.

This isnt exactly fansubs versus dubbed. If you just have to watch a newly airing anime right now, you're gonna have to watch a fansub (or raw). Dubbed is not even an option. So we are mainly talking about professional subs and professional dubs. The question is (from my understanding), if you have a DVD of Anime A, would you watch Anime A's dubbed track or subbed track?

And yes, subbers dont have nearly as many contraints as dubbers (there are still the contraints of translating between two languages). Subbers can usually completely translate the speeches without much paraphrasing. Almost every line in a dubbed anime has to be paraphrased which could cause the words to lose some of their intended impact.

[arke]

You're changing your argument. First it was "dubbers have time constraints" with a slight implication that subbers do not. Now you're saying that this is only about "professional" subs/dubs?

Subbers have plenty of contraints. You have to make sure the subtitle appears at the right time and stays there long enough for people to read, but it should disappear before the next person's subtitle appears. Then there's what Tempest noted with multiple conversations. You now have to sub multiple people in a way that won't detract much.

And of course they paraphrase. You have to keep the subs short not to mention a literal Japanese to English translation is a mess. Doing a literal translation from German to English (they're, grammatically, quite similar) is a mess. All good translations take some liberty in how they are done.

[Femto]

As with everything else, it depends on the quality of either version.

I don't think I ever watched a subbed Akira, just because the dubbed version is so good. Eva, for example, can go either way (though I've probably watched the dubbed version more) and Berserk is pretty much unwatchable in dubs.

PS: BasouKazuma is an idiot.

He should've stayed away from this place like he said he would.

[LordMune]

A movie should be viewed in its original language, if possible. Subtitles are a small addition, while dubbing tampers with the source material.

[Femto]

A movie should be viewed in its original language, if possible. Subtitles are a small addition, while dubbing tampers with the source material.

And how would you know that the subtitles are not "tampering" with the source material through mistranslation or incorrent dialogue?

Sub or dub, there is no difference whatsoever in that aspect, you'll never get the exact, absolute meaning of a movie unless you actually speak the original language it was made in. I'd even go as far as saying that you won't get the complete picture unless you're from the place the movie was made in, because of cultural and region-specific content it may contain.

People fail to acknowledge that and assume that reading subtitles is inherently better than a dubbed version just because it's in the original language. Reading subtitles distracts tremendously from the overall atmosphere in film or television and can arguably kill the pacing if you are able to read faster than they can speak.

But of course, people like BasouKazuma are content with masturbating to the fact that they are watching something "the way it was meant to be" when that is absolutely untrue. The film was not meant to be seen with subtitles. Period.

lol @ "quality differences between japanese and american VAs"

What a fucking retard.

Worst member on the site.

[LordMune]

And how would you know that the subtitles are not "tampering" with the source material through mistranslation or incorrent dialogue?

You can never be sure, in either case. Rationally speaking, however, it is more likely they've been forced to alter the source material in the case of dubbing.

To me, dubs are simply unthinkable not because of some elitist bullshit, but because I am used to watching movies with subtitles. Maybe it's a Swedish thing, we really don't dub jack shit over here, and I've yet to meet a Swede who is pro-dub.

[Femto]

You can never be sure, in either case.

That is exactly my point.

There is nothing that supports this thing of subs being more accurate that dubs though.

Most companies work with pretty much the same translation, I assume.

[Eldo]

I just want to re-emphasise that One Piece dub really sucks. Because they changed everything to make it kiddy and censorship friendly to the American audience. Even twisted some of the meanings around.

Personally, I'd prefer subs with movies and anime, I tried watching Three Colours on dub and it turned out pretty damn horrible. If it's games and whatever, I don't think I give two shits about that.

[N3oShweaty]

I just want to re-emphasise that One Piece dub really sucks. Because they changed everything to make it kiddy and censorship friendly to the American audience. Even twisted some of the meanings around.

why, i must declare that having "chaser" spew out smoke from his mouth for no reason at all is the original intention of oda. Why is Ace now Trace? what the fuck is the difference!?! Those two are among the litany of problems with the dub censorship, which is another topic.

The voices in the One Piece dub just annoy me. That are so ill fitting if you know the original but most american viewers probably dont so it is a mute point. I happen to enjoy the Bobobo dub despite the voices(eventhough they arent that bad) because it is just so crazy.

[Ayanami]

People fail to acknowledge that and assume that reading subtitles is inherently better than a dubbed version just because it's in the original language. Reading subtitles distracts tremendously from the overall atmosphere in film or television and can arguably kill the pacing if you are able to read faster than they can speak.

I could not have said it better. This is one of my main gripes with god damn anime fan boys and their whole subs over dubs philosophy. It is a bunch of horse shit. And I completely forgot to mention the fact that the subs distract the viewer from the animation itself. I have always talked to Tempest about that shit before watching some anime.

On another note. I have to say I did not mind the Berserk dub. Maybe that is just me because I have always enjoyed a decent dub. As ya do.

And am I the only one who thought the old Dub of Akira was better than the new dub?

[Femto]

And am I the only one who thought the old Dub of Akira was better than the new dub?

I never saw the old dub, but I heard it was terrible.

The new one is tops though. I watched it in english the first time and I never looked back. I tried to watch it with subtitles, but I always end up switching to the dubbed version in less than 10 minutes.

[Ayanami]

Maybe it's just because I hate that one VA that does Kaneda in the new version. The dude who did Vash, I can't stand him. It has been a long ass time since I have seen the old Streamline Dub, so maybe I am just not remembering too well. Could also be the fact that I was real young at the time, and I didn't know good VA from bad VA. So as ya do.

[Deathbringer]

I could not have said it better. This is one of my main gripes with god damn anime fan boys and their whole subs over dubs philosophy. It is a bunch of horse shit. And I completely forgot to mention the fact that the subs distract the viewer from the animation itself. I have always talked to Tempest about that shit before watching some anime.

It depends on the person, i never got distracted by the subs and missed any of the animation.

Mostly the reason that i enjoy subs more then dubs is because english VA´s suck, the majority of them sound like they are reading the lines for the first time or try to sound " television funny", almost all of them simply sucks, it´s fucking disturbing.
But there´s always exeptions, i liked the Berserk, Hellsing, Gungrave´s dubs and a couple more series.

[Eldo]

I think the only dub I enjoyed was Castle of Caglisostro. I didn't care if Lupin couldn't be used, but the charm and humour was all there.