Anime: English Dub Vs Sub

[Dejitaru_Davis]

For me it depends on the dub.

When you sub you just have to rewrite the script for another audience. When you write a sub, you have to rewrite the script for another audience while making sure it matches the mouth flap and the actors sound good.

So a quality dub is harder to find than a quality sub.

Also, hotbloodedness is harder to pull of fin English.

[Wake]

some of the voices in Bleach sound really good in English and others not so much, so I prefer the sub now, but I did start watching Bleach in English and so I will always like it in both to an extant at least because the dub is what got me into this series.

[Mordeth_Kai]

I am surprised, usually when a sub vs. dub discussion goes on its usually dominated be elitist sub fans (I do not mean to imply that sub fans are all elitist, merely that sub fans who are elitist tend to be very vocal). I prefer dubs like many here due to laziness and convenience, however, one thing I never deny is that fan made subs tend to be the most accurate, there is a censorship that occurs when anything is done by a business in the states that removes most cultural references, such as chan, san, and domo suffixes to a persons name to denote rank, it irritates the daylights out of me as there are many jokes and conversations that cease to make sense as a result. Or the replacement of hitokiri batosai with batosai the man slayer and calling a sakaba sword a reverse blade sword in the kenshin series. I usually don't have a problem with dub voice acting, but there are times when bad voice acting ruins a series, a prime example for me is the dub version of card captor sakura, on top of them changing good song lyrics to something extremely cheesy in the us, the voice acting was atrocious in my opinion. On the whole I say dub because I am lazy, but I would encourage checking out fan made subs (as the commercial subs are severely lacking) to see the difference, some may find the changes un-acceptable

[animelover111]

I actually started watching anime in Sub. I watched about 30 or so animes before anime started to get popular on cartoon network. when that happend I watched a few in Dub and I have 2 things to say about it:

One, it is nice to watch the anime instead of reading most of the episode and not being able to enjoy it.

Two, I think the Japanese do a better job at acting then the Dubs.

Then again we are just starting so I should wait I guess. I think that some of the voice acting is good like in DBZ but other can make a good sub anime sound really bad in dub. Having that in mind, I hope to watch an anime with good voice acting and try for the dub. + my brother doesn't like sub so I try to get dub anime so he can enoy it also. I try to avoid watching the Sub anime so I don't know the difference when I watch the dub. ^^

[Narku]

I prefer English, especially if I feel like the voices matches the characters. Like bleach. To me that how I pictured Ichigo sounding, the Japanese version it perfect for trying to get a anime on the quick. But if I can, i'll rather here a good English voice then Japanese.

[DEATHxxx50bmg]

im with ya. English is much better in my opinion becuase you dont gotta spend time reading the subs. easier listening too but jap subs is great becuase they leave all the conversations in there without having to compromise anything for lipsync for the eng dub

[shawndeprey]

I really think it depends on the cast OP. For instance, Eureka Sever, first episode, compare the emotion the actor puts into his voice in both the japanese and english versions. The Japanese version definitely wins. On the other hand, take a look at Fullmetal Alchemist. The English voice actor, in my eyes, of Edward is more skilled...Perhaps its just because his voice is very memorable, but, the point gets across...hopefully lol.

[blacktigr]

i don't know if it's just me but whenever i listen to both the japanese original and the english dub, it just sounds like the casting for the original is more thought out and that the actors actually care. i mean there r a lot of american voice actors that don't even count voice acting as their primary job.

[blacktigr]

Quote: Originally posted by griffinheart

"Japanese is way better x_x The dub hurts my ears and they say things wrong D: There are very few anime that I can think of that are good in english.... (Hetalia is epic both sub and dub <3) Hitsugaya's dub voice does not fit him at all! D:"

absolutely. i especially hate it when there's a key conversation that relies on 1 sentence (like the ichigoxorihime scene where she asks him not to get hurt anymore) that just sounds a bit weird when they try to "reword" it. tho viz does that a LOT!

Quote: Originally posted by Xtreme413

"I hate it when orihime says ichigos name in the japanese version"

that's y i like some of the dubs that keep the honorifics. even if it sounds a bit weird

I for one, prefer their Japanese voices because through that, I think their real emotions can be seen/heard truly.

YES! absolutely!

[tcain99]

most japanese anime gets mutilated in the english dubbing process so i prefer anime that is japanese with english subtitles

[Koby]

most japanese anime gets mutilated in the english dubbing process so i prefer anime that is japanese with english subtitles

Actually that is rather wrong. Near all the companies now days try best as possible to remain faithful with the original script. It may have been true in the past, but dubbing companies are improving their practices.

[RawRawr]

Yeah, I prefer the English Dub over the English Sub. I understand it a lot more from hearing it then reading. Sometimes I doze off and miss some lines :b. But it doesn't mean I don't like watching Subbed. Especially if the voice acting is really good.

[pingo117]

I agree with 'Order of Ambrosia' it depends on the anime and what language you start watching the anime in. For example I watched Full Metal Alchemist with english dubbs the whole way through but when i heard the japanese version i thought it was terrible. And also with Naruto and Shippuden once you've heard the japanese voices a few times you realise how annoying the english actors are.

[Sublime]

I prefer English dubs because reading subtitles for too long gives me a headache and distracts from the anime itself. Even in series where I have heard the Japanese first, when I rewatch in English I just have to get accustomed to the voices. I don't think there has really been a dub where it was just so awful that I couldn't stand it. There are particular series like Baccano and FMA that just have to be watched as dubs because they're just... infinitely better that way.

[insadragon]

I go with dubbing myself, Don't mind subtitles if they are the only option, but I tend to be working on other things at the same time as watching so the subs aren't a good option for that. Although I do get a kick out of watching the dubbed versions and having the english subtitles on to see the difference between the sub translation and what they did with the dubbing, often with some hilarious results lol

[ask13]

Generally if a show has a dub I will give it a shot. Unless it is horrible I will watch it English (my definition of horrible may be different than yours) as I like to be able to focus on what is actually happening not on reading subs. However if there is no dub, or its horrible, than I have no problem reading subs and still mostly watching the show. Although one thing I can't stand is switching part way through an anime. If I start watching it dubbed or subbed I have problems switching to the other part way through. Mostly its just because the voices sound differently than I think they should because I'm used to the other version.

[JBird1974]

I prefer english dubbed animes like Black Lagoon they did an awsome job on dubbing that anime but not all dubbs are as good as this saddly I like subbed to but it takes me longer to watch a subbed anime because as I read the anime I miss important fight or actions in the anime so I have to either pause or back it up. I relize some of the best anime out there is only subbed as well so I have no choice but to watch subs sometime.

[Koudelka]

Really depends on the Anime, but my preference is usually towards watching things in Japanese...case in point i just got hold of part 1 of the English dubbed version of Black Butler - and couldn't listen to more than 5 minutes of the English version - i could be biased though as i think Daisuke Ono has pretty sexy voice and just suits the character of Sebastian perfectly ...I may be a little harsh as I in my head i can't seem to separate J Michael Tatum's voice from his role as the eccentric Komui Lee in D-Gray Man

[superhughie]

If i can find an english dubbed version, i will definately choose that over the japanese version, simply because i prefer to be able to concentrate on whats going on, instead of being distracted by reading the subtitles. Although if there is no dub i am happy to watch a subbed version because once iv got an anime in my head i have to watch it no matter what!

[Shigotami Ryuko]

I think for some animes, that English voice overs would be good for that scenario. But if that was the case, then it would be very rare for me. I just like DBZ in English alot better that Japanese because its sounds cooler to me. But the rest of the time, I like it in Japanese.