Anime: English Dub Vs Sub

[winner1017]

Depends on the voice actors. Get good english dubbers and you have a great episode. I understand all the haters saying english dub sucks, well that's with the not so good voice actors. Watching hellsing made me appreciate crispin freeman. Code geass has great voice actors in both languages. Haruhi suzumiya, awesome. But some series (hello fate/stay night) have terrible dubs. Thankfully we can switch both audio.

[DeepCovere]

english is, i must say, much easier to understand and follow. however, i do prefer japanese audio sometimes depending on the quality of the anime but otherwise, i rather listen than read subtitles. takes away from the watching

[edward_kun]

I've always preferred dubs simply because I don't speak Japanese natively, so I'd never be able to tell if they were doing a good job or not. Plus, it's always easier to listen and watch instead of attempting to read, watch, and listen. That just gets annoying in the more action-y shows.

[gtlpc]

I'm pretty much open to either, but more often than not, I watch it in Japanese. A lot of times the Japanese actors seem to have a better grip of the character and can make them emote much better than the English actors. While this isn't always true, it does influence me to hear it in it's native tongue.

Thats not to say that I don't like English voice acting. Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, Robotech (Macross), Gundam Wing, The Big O and Rurouni Kenshin are a few series that I've seen and readily prefer in English. If the dubbing studios put good actors in the roles, I'll watch anime in English.

[kira_is_justice]

Usually I dont really mind. But after watching dragon ball Z as a kid english dubbed I couldnt stand the voices in the japanese versions. Especially Goku 's voice ffs. But there are so many good anime out there without english dub and I enjoy loads with just subs, like Ao no Exorcist. And the xmen anime 2011. But thats just my opinion

[AlexitaSan]

I...am tooooo lazy for reading subs! :PPP Not saying I hate 'em,I can read when I have too.If I really like the anime,boy,sure,I will read subs if there isn't dubbed version!Although,I prefer dubbed ones,it's much more easier to enjoy the artwork!Actually,to be honest,it really depends on voices... -.- For example,I don't mind listening to Haruhi Suzumiya in Japanese,but I TRULY hate Kyon's voice in Japanese version... o.O 1 more example,I don't find Lelouch from CG so damn hot in Japanese dub.His English voice gives him that sexy look! ^^ Same goes for Tamaki from OHSHC!But,in my opinion,I really can't imagine PANDORA HEARTS English dubbed! o.O I enjoy the Japanese version,and if I enjoy it,it sure means it's pretty good! Etc...

[JiNX]

Well, it just depends. Sometimes you can find an anime that's been dubbed perfectly - as in the voices fight the character well and the translations are smooth. And other times, it's crap all away around so I'd prefer subbed in those cases.

[Ultra NHD]

For me it's both. The japanese voices are always good, but there are some cases that the eng dub actually fits the characters like bleach. I prefer eng most of the time, however if there is a character's eng voice that's just bad I naturally go to sub. One thing I hate about most dubs though is how far behind they are, I mean at this rate it's going to take almost 2 years for the dub to reach Ichigo vs Aizen. So I gotta give major props to bandai for there job with Gundam UC (Unicorn) which has a global release and has both sub and dub.

[cross_wine2000]

Frankly, I prefer English dubbed since I don't understand Japanese. While it's true that the emotion in any anime is really felt when listening to the Japanese audio, depending on the subtitles to understand what is being said is disconcerting for me.

[halogen045]

Well in my case it depends on how I started watching the anime. For example I don't like watching Inuyasha subbed cause I'm accustomed to watching it dubbed, and D. Gray man I can only watch it subbed. I feel like a lot of the emotions are removed when an anime is dubbed, but it just depends on many factors really.

[aitamashii]

I would say Japanese, but it all depends on which you started off with. For example I can't stand Kenshin or YYH in Japanese, but I just can't get used to Bleach in English since I started on it in Japanese. Plus there is the whole name reversal thing too...

[Dan Den]

I follow my code, never watch anime in subbed irregardless of how shitty the voice acting is i will always watch it in English dubbed.

Like take for instance Saint Seiya/Knights of the zodiac I loved watching this show as a kid, so recently I decided to look and download it but alas I could only find the subbed or the other languages they dubbed it in but still no English dubbed version. It would be so easy just to watch the subbed version, but the that would that I'd have to break my code then next thing I'll be watching Bleach or Naruto Shippuden in subbed and more.

The bottom line is there is a reason they dub anime, Last word dubs rule except in hentia.

[Nero D. Ace]

They dub stuff because they can't show foreign language material on American TV all the time.

Also, it really isn't that smart to stick to dubs. Consider this -

1) Not ALL anime GETS dubbed.

2) The ones that get dubbed could be dubbed by a shitty company which constantly edits stuff *cough* 4Kids*cough*

3) The ones that get dubbed may get discontinued after a while and then you'll be left wondering what the hell happens next. *cough*Yu-Gi-Oh! GX/5D's*cough*

4) Waiting for dubs is pointless. Most of the internet is probably covered with spoilers by the people who've seen the sub anyways. And it really gets on my nerves when people yell "SPOILER!" when I talk about Sasuke beating Itachi. IT HAPPENED YEARS AGO! GET WITH THE FRIGGING PROGRAM!

5) In some anime, the translation loses it's meaning. For example, in Genshiken Season 2, there's an american transfer student come to Japan. So in the JAPANESE audio, he says stuff in English and then a translator translates it into Japanese for out Japanese friends. However, in the english dub, he says the stuff in English and they translate it into ... English. So yeah, fail there.

[Rodwen]

I definitely prefer the Japanese voices. Early into me watching the series, I managed to download a dubbed episode instead of a subbed episode. I couldn't watch the episode past five minutes. It seems like the English voice actors aren't typecast for their specific roles as well as the Japanese are.

[MISHNAM]

I agree that sometimes the dubbing voice over can really destroy the impact of the original audio.

My first experience of samurai champloo was the english dubbed version. after seeing the original Japanese version i feel the mood changed significantly.

A lot can be said for the tone in the voices and often finer points are lost in translation

[Wallachia]

It doesn't matter to me. Chances are I'll enjoy the Japanese audio more, but there are still plenty of good anime dubs I've thoroughly loved. I just can't tell whether the Japanese acting is bad, so I'm more likely to accept it.

If a show I liked comes out on DVD, then I'll probably watch the English dub. There's a good chance I'll like it, but I may be so alienated by the some of the casting that I'll be tempted to switch back to the Japanese audio I'm used to.

[TheAlterUser]

I am actually okay with either or. But there are the times where it depends on the anime. Like Dragon Ball Z for instance. I straight up prefer dubbed. Goku sounds like an even more messed up freaking version of Spongebob in Japanese. Maybe it's just me, though. Not to mention that I like a lot of their voices better dubbed in DBZ just in general.

Then there's the anime I like either way. But if I like it both Japanese and English, I'll probably just watch it in English unless if it's from a website that only uploads Japanese voice / English dub. But it just depends on the anime for me.

[dvverga]

I find, with any anime actually, that if I start watching it in Japanese to begin with then I usually find the dub cringe worthy. Whichever I associate with the character first is usually how I expect the character to sound.

I prefer the dubs overall, only so that I can take in the full essence of the picture and what is going on without missing so much by reading.

I do really think more times than not that the the japanese voices match the true intent.

The things that drive me nuts is when they try to simulate the differences between different japanese dialects and so in the english dub they use different english dialects (usually a southern country dialect or sometimes a california surfer type one). I get they are trying to make it like the source, but there has to be a better way to get that across.

[Xanodus]

You know what; I've changed my mind. I don't mind sub or dub. For some odd reason though, the Japanese voice actors seem to put more emotion into the voices of the characters they portray. I dunno, it's just what I think. But overall, I dont mind sub or dub; but I'd preferably watch sub.

[Sanosenso]

I'd prefer the English, mainly because, believe it or not, I can do my homework and watch anime at the same time. But if the dub is not available or just bad, then yes, Japanese.

I have noticed that the Japanese does an overall better job, though in some cases the English dub does an equally good job. However I don't like it when a male character has a younger-than-he-looks/is voice in the Japanese version.