Anybody hate watching English dubbed anime? - Samurai Chanpurû (2005) Discussion

[–] Suzume-san 12 years ago

No, you're not a weirdo, you're a sensible fellow. I have never been able to see any point in watching anime if you're going to watch dub, you might as well stick with American cartoons. Unless you're dyslexic or only four years old, of course.

Yes, I know, all anime is dubbed, before someone comes on to point that out; obviously, pixels can't talk. But the original voice actors are selected by the director, speak the lines to his direction and understand their own culture. If you superimpose another language, such as American English, and the speech rhythms and idioms of that culture, you lose the original intention completely. Look at all the horrible Studio Ghibli dubs, with Hollywood moppets squealing and Hollywood comics wisecracking over all that delicate artwork. Ruins it for me.

Willy99, you stick to watching original anime as the director intended it to be.

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[–] MrsSpooky 12 years ago

...I find, though, that if I watch any of these shows in English, I can't take them seriously. It just ruins the show and makes it seems far more cartoonish or something.

Yes! I've seen some dubbed anime and it sounds as if some of the English voices are cartoons. Not all of them, of course, but enough that it does take you right out of the story.

I don't avoid dubs for that reason though. I'm one of these people that likes to watch shows or movies in the original language (as the creators made them and maybe intended). Plus I speak some Japanese and am actively learning the language and I understand a third to half of what they're saying even without the subtitles. I get to hear the language I'm learning being spoken in a format that entertains me. I get to be entertained AND learn, so you can't beat that with a stick.

I too am childish and hate to lose.
http://mrsspooky.net/bebop

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[–] Suzume-san 12 years ago

Hey, Mrs Spooky, watashi mo nihongo o benkyou shi-te* imasu. Taihen desu, ne? Are you in the UK? Where are you studying?

I like to kid myself that watching anime is revision, when really I'm just indulging myself. Actually I do find the Studio Ghibli voices quite easy to understand; live action is much harder. I love Mifune Toshiro to bits but I can hardly understand a word he says. How about you?

* hyphen necessary to placate the censorship robot that monitors these boards.

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[–] MrsSpooky 12 years ago

Hi Suzume-san! :) I'm in the US, using japanesepod101.com mostly and various books and iPhone apps to study and build vocabulary (verbal and reading). There are web sites that can hook people up with native speakers of the language one is studying, but I'm not at the point yet where I can carry on a conversation. I also have zero confidence in my ability to really talk in the language, so that's kind of holding me back as well.

The only native Japanese speakers I know of in my area are the students working in the Japan pavilion at EPCOT (I'm in Orlando), but I work a lot and don't have the free time to really build a relationship with anyone there to work on my Japanese and help them with their English. :(

I haven't seen anything from Studio Ghibli, so I dont have an opinion on it. I found the Death Note special about Matsuda on youtube, but there are no subtitles and they're talking too fast so it's hard for me to pick out what they're saying. I have SO far to go, being just a beginner (it's only been about a year and a half).

I too am childish and hate to lose.
http://mrsspooky.net/bebop

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[–] Suzume-san 12 years ago

Oh wow, you're very good, I tried on my own for a bit but got nowhere at all, so now I go to classes at Birkbeck College, the part-time, evenings and weekends bit of London University. Just Saturday afternoons, in my case. I'm currently repeating Year 3; I did pass the end-of-year exam, without which you can't progress to Year 4, but I didn't feel I'd really assimilated the work and I only passed by the skin of my teeth, so I'm going round again. We are currently doing some of the weirder verb forms, like the transitive with arimasu, "a poster is stuck on the wall", and the suffering passive, almost impossible to translate, "I experienced the dying of my cat". And the emphatic shimaimasu, which I translated into Cockney, "I've bin and gorn and done it". It's great fun.

I too find the speaking and understanding the hardest bit; so yes, watching films ought to be a help. Do find some Studio Ghibli, Mrs Spooky, unless you are an action junkie and only like zap-pow! I think you'll find the voices are clear and the articulation good, so it really is a help. Anyway, I don't know how anyone could fail to love Sen to Chihiro no Kamikushi - Spirited Away. Give it a try, anyway, and let us know how you get on.

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[–] MrsSpooky 12 years ago

Are you also learning to read as well in these classes? The apps I have teach the vocabulary with the associated kanji. I'm remembering the words just fine, but the kanji trips me up in a lot of cases. It's sinking in, but it's tough, you know? :)

I'm finishing up the lower intermediate lessons on japanesepod101, and I'm going through and brushing up on the vocabulary before moving to upper intermediate.

I'll have to look up that anime. I don't NEED action, but I do like it. My favorite anime these days is Death Note, which isn't heavy on action at all. Studio Ghibli. Will have to watch some of their shows, thanks!

I too am childish and hate to lose.
http://mrsspooky.net/bebop

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[–] Suzume-san 12 years ago

Mochiron; you're not really learning a language unless you can read and write it. For our Christmas holiday task we have to write "a letter to a friend, describing your work, your home, your hobbies, your plans for the future..." This is as boring as hell, and anyway I did it all last year, so this time I'm going to write a letter from Chihiro to Rumi (characters from the anime I just recommended). It will be much more fun. "Dear Rumi, how are you? I'm fine, and I've got a new job working in a bathhouse; by the way, my parents just turned into pigs..." (Oh whoops, slight spoiler there)

Kanji are a conspiracy to make us poor gaijin feel inferior, I swear. You're OK with kana, I take it? They are no problem. Did you know that in the 1920s, I think it was, the Japanese government actually debated the possibility of abolishing kanji and just using kana for everything? If only...

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[–] MrsSpooky 12 years ago

That sounds like FUN! :)

I am good with hiragana, but my katakana is weak. I'm working on that. :) I mean, I find a kanji and know what it means, but what is the reading? There can be a half dozen on readings and a half dozen kun readings - which one do we use under which circumstances? I'm just working on learning the words and that's working quite a bit better. I picked up a series of little books called "Kanji de Manga" - they teach the kanji needed for the different JLPT tests. I've gone through book one (for JLPT 4/5), and am working on book 2. I also have a couple of books that teach the 250 most commonly used kanji which I think are very good.

What really helps is this "Buddha Board" I got at the Japan pavilion at EPCOT. It's a plain light grey surface that is propped on a base that has a reservoir for water and it comes with a brush. You use it for practicing kanji. As soon as the wet figures dry it's blank so you can start again. I was playing with it at EPCOT and impressed the store clerk that I could write the days of the week. :)

Yeah, I heard about the discussion to move to just kana, but that would be tough, especially since there are so many words that are pronounced the same but the different kanji shows their different meanings (like to, too and two). That would get confusing. They have reduced the number of kanji needed to learn even though with technology there are more that are popping up.

I love anime for giving me the opportunity to hear spoken Japanese (and even written in some cases) outside a classroom setting. I have a friend in Japan too, so if I try to translate something in a book and am not sure about it, she helps with what it really means.

Japanese is THE most fascinating language, is it not? :) I'm always happy to meet another student of this awesome language.

I too am childish and hate to lose.
http://mrsspooky.net/bebop

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[–] Suzume-san 12 years ago

I am good with hiragana, but my katakana is weak. I'm working on that. :) I mean, I find a kanji and know what it means, but what is the reading?

My dear, are you muddling up katakana and kanji there? Katakana are the angular syllables, ka ki ku ke ko, sa shi su se so, you know, that you use to write loan words. Ko-hi, coffee. Pa-so-ko-n, personal computer. They make me laugh; you read the sounds, mutter the result to yourself, and suddenly shriek "Valentine!" or "Golf!" or "New Zealand!"

I've got some of the little Kanji de Manga books too, good fun, and nicely pocket-size. I was looking at one on the Tube the other night and the chap next to me said "Excuse me, are you learning Japanese?"; we had a nice long chat about it till he had to get off. It's nice to meet a fellow sufferer. There are lots of Japanese people in London, and lots of meet-up groups, if only there were world enough and time to get to them all.

I know what you mean about the homonyms. I'm sure when a Japanese person says "kami", for example, the kanji pops into his head, so he knows whether he means paper, hair or god. Wish it would work for me!

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[–] MrsSpooky 12 years ago

Oh no, it's the kanji readings I have trouble with. Some of them have multiple Japanese and Chinese readings and the trick is which one to use. There could be dozens to a hundred different kanji that have the same reading, but when writing, how does one know which one to use?

Katakana, I know most of them, but some of them I confuse with others.

I too am childish and hate to lose.
http://mrsspooky.net/bebop

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[–] Unicorn_Blade 12 years ago

If you go on any anime forum, you will see LOADS of debates/arguments/discussions between fans of either sub or dub.

I prefer subbed series- for one reason, they let me listen to the original voice, then I do nt mind subtitles in general (in my country all foreign films are subtitled so I never found it hard to watch and read subtitles at the same time). What I did find the most irritating thing about the dubs is the fact that because of the costs and generally money and location issues, there is a bunch of people in the US doing the voice acting and they are the same people, over and over. A few names come up in almost every other series for the main roles, and I find it a bit tiring. A few people out there are as versatile as Laura Bailey who can do anything and you would not be able to recognise her. Plus, I also find some of the dubs overdone (Eureka 7... awful).

That being said, there were a few I really enjoyed. FMA and FMA Brotherhood have an excellent dub, a few characters are even better than the original. Planetes has got a very good dub... So do not worry if you don't like the dub, just go for the subbed version.

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[–] ultra_mafic 12 years ago

I just watch what's available, and that has been dubbed. So unfortunately (you will think, and maybe I do to) I've gotten so used to dubbed anime that subbed anime is what sounds cartoonish and ridiculous to me. I guess it's all about what you're used to.

As a note, I love foreign subbed live-action films, so it's not a problem with subs in general.

That said, I'm still fairly new to anime and have been lucky to watch the animes so far that have great dubs. Maybe if I watch one of the not-so-great dubs I'll change my mind. I've yet to watch Cowboy Bebop so if I can find it in subbed I may give it a try.

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] MrsSpooky 12 years ago

I never watch dubbed anime. I am learning Japanese and I already understand almost half of what they are saying, the subtitles fill in the words I don't know. Plus it gives me the chance to hear the language in action.

Heck, I can work on learning the language AND be entertained at the same time.

Plus I love the voices and most of the acting has been stellar.

Three... two... one... Tiger & Bunny Over and Out.
http://mrsspooky.net/bebop

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] MrsSpooky 12 years ago

My biggest problem with dubs (probably my ONLY problem) is that they have to change dialog to match mouth flaps.

Usually, the line change has the same meaning as the original, but sometimes it's so far off it completely changes the meaning of the scene - and the character. I know they have to change the lines so the voice matches the mouth flaps made for another language if the dub is going to look good, but far too often it renders the scene unrecongizeable.

Other than that, neither one is better than the other, it's personal choice.

Three... two... one... Tiger & Bunny Over and Out.
http://mrsspooky.net/bebop

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] MrsSpooky 12 years ago

The mouths open and close in time to the Japanese syllables uttered (or with close approximation of same). That's a mouth flap. It has them, watch the mouths as the characters speak and listen to the voice. If they do a good job of dubbing it, it's almost seamless. But one has to ask if the lines that the actor is reading is really what the original writer wrote or even close to it. Most of the time they are - the lines are quite different but mean the same thing. Sometimes they don't.

Voice actors are the first to admit that lines have to be changed, especially when something that takes a half second to say in Japanese takes two or three seconds in English and vice versa. It's pretty well known.

I mean, I've seen some horrid subtitles too, so that's not even immune.

I'm learning Japanese, at first because of anime but I've grown to love the language and I enjoy it for its own sake (I've been wanting to learn another language, and Japanese is the coolest and it's a good opportunity to learn another language while at the same time being entertained by programs released in that language). Nobody expects people to learn Japanese just to watch anime. :)

My big problem with dubs is personal and highly subjective. Besides already understanding almost half of what they're saying, I love the voices. The actors that voice these characters ARE the characters, because that's my default when watching anime in Japanese. To hear an English voice from a different actor, I suddenly don't recognise the character because the voice is 'wrong.' Much like the feeling YOU would get if you watched a favorite anime in the original Japanese with subtitles. The voices would be 'wrong.'

One isn't inherently better than the other, it's all what we're used to. We all have our reasons for watching dubbed or subbed and I can't see criticising either for their choices (not that YOU are, I just see that criticism coming from both sides).

Three... two... one... Tiger & Bunny Over and Out.
http://mrsspooky.net/bebop

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] MrsSpooky 12 years ago

LOL, it IS completely subjective. One is NOT better than the other. You say nobody can sound as cool as Steve Blum playing Spike. I admit Steve Blum is awesome (yes, I'm a fan) and I do watch the movie dubbed half the time, but you no doubt haven't heard Koichi Yamadera as Spike. He's freaking amazing and he does give a brilliant performance. I have seen clips of Trigun dubbed and I have to say Johnny Yong Bosch is perfectly cast as Vash (he comes rather close to Masaya Onosaka's performance (that guy could read the phone book and it would be hysterical). I love this comparison between sub and dub. They did a fabulous job with this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0l4GWlFAFKM.

Let's face it: anytime someone thinks they've come up with what they think is the definitive, objective reason why one is inherently better than the other, there will be legions of viewers out there calling "BS." It's not going to happen. I and many others out there prefer the subs for a variety of reasons. You and many others out there prefer the dubs for as many different reasons. Who cares?

It does make it difficult sometimes to talk about episodes, especially when dialog is brought up to support a position - with Cowboy Bebop, people will say a character said something and it may or may not be recognized. Truthfully, in Heavy Metal Queen, when Spike was on the toilet, he was talking to Faye, but the dub changed it to have him talking to Jet. Frankly, I think it's MUCH funnier to have him sitting on the toilet talking to a female. They ruined it for the dub and there's no good reason for them to do that. Here's the audio, you can see for yourself who he's talking to without even having to understand his words (I caught the end of VT's rant): http://mrsspooky.net/bebop/share/Spike_HMQ_growler.mp3

Either way, it's a choice. We get used to our choices and everything else sounds just... wrong.

Three... two... one... Tiger & Bunny Over and Out.
http://mrsspooky.net/bebop

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] MrsSpooky 12 years ago

I didn't expect you'd get the dialog. :) I thought I remembered you from the Cowboy Bebop message board and thought you'd remember the scene from Heavy Metal Queen. Spike is hung over sitting on the toilet with his pants around his ankles on the phone talking to Faye. Even if you don't understand what he's saying, when he gets to the end of his whine and suddenly stops, "...Faye...?" In the dub they changed it to make Spike talking to Jet.

Three... two... one... Tiger & Bunny Over and Out.
http://mrsspooky.net/bebop

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] TheBlueCrow 12 years ago

Sorry to interject and go off topic, but, rockingmule, the complete Monster series is up on the official MANGAentertainment channel on Youtube in English dubbed form: http://www.youtube.com/show?p=rn0rlxmJAqo&tracker=show0
I hope you didn't get too accustomed to Tenma's Japanese voice :)

As for this topic, I used to watch anime only in Japanese with English subtitle. Now, I first watch it dubbed in English, if they are especially bad (which is quite rare now-a-days) I watch it subbed.

I don't know Japanese. I'm not fluent in Japanese. I'm not enamored with every facet of Japanese culture (I still think it's cool though). I have few reasons to watch it in Japanese. I can pick up the nuance in dialogue when it is in the English language which I cannot when it is in Japanese. I believe that goes a long way concerning a show's overall mood and how you resonate with it.

Although, I especially dislike it when the translating team for the English dub actually translate the Japanese word for word. It sounds really stilted. Also, I find that to be lazy translating. When dubbing anime there's a fine balance between sticking to the source and accommodating the new language but a good dub/translation should present itself with the main goal of conveying the meaning of something so it is easier to understand for those who couldn't, not necessarily to hear what the original source would be like transcribed to another language. The phrase "lost in translation" comes to mind.

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[–] 12 years ago

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[–] NotAnUndercoverCop 11 years ago

Dubs are almost the only way I can watch. You know being dyslexic makes having to read the subtitles exclusively makes it a little difficult to sit back and enjoy the show. I would have to watch twice and when I did I'd wind up thinking the characters have said different things each time. I haven't watched the anime "The Legend of The Galactic Heroes" in spite wanting to for a long time simply because no English dub exists. I've watched the first two episodes 6 times and then I just gave up. Dubs are the only way I ever get to truly be able to enjoy anime. ...and no, Suzume-san, I'm not 4 years old. Just 27 year old who's dyslexic.

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[–] Suzume-san 11 years ago

Well, NotACop, I covered your case, didn't I? I think I said, either 4 years old or dyslexic. I'm sorry to hear of your problem, it must be a great nuisance, and I agree, under the circumstances dub is your best option. Better than missing out altogether!

There's a severely dyslexic woman attends the Japanese language school that I go to; she is doggedly progressing, pretty slowly, but you really have to admire her determination. It's a fiendishly difficult language to learn at the best of times. Gambatte! (which means, try your best and good luck to you!)

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[–] Zanza8 11 years ago

I truly feel the only reason for watching subs would be if you enjoy the sound of a foreign language. It's a completely subjective thing, but for anime, since you're not seeing the actor who is speaking no matter what language they are speaking, there's no real reason to go with subs. I've noticed that subs in anime are really badly done-I don't know why that it, but it's true.

http://thinkingoutloud-descartes.blogspot.com/

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[–] Suzume-san 11 years ago

Well, another reason for quite a few of us is to practice our language skills - it's helpful to listen hard to the Japanese dialogue and get a translation at the same time. Or quite often to think, hey, that wasn't what he said at all!

Another, rather more negative reason, is not to have a second foreign culture superimposed on the first. Nearly all 'English' dub is actually American, which is just as foreign to me as Japanese, except for the accident of a common tongue. Imagine you were watching a film set in, say, Brazil, and everyone spoke with strong Irish accents, wouldn't that be a bit weird? That's the feeling it gives me.

A funny exception to that rule is Steamboy, in which the villain speaks in the fine, Royal-Shakespeare-Company-trained and quite unmistakeable voice of Patrick Stewart. Oh, hello. That's even more distracting. When I found I couldn't access the Japanese soundtrack on that one I took it back to the shop.

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[–] Zanza8 11 years ago

Practicing language skills is one thing, but not everyone wants to learn a foreign language to enjoy a TV show. And taking that reasoning to its logical conclusion, there just shouldn't be any translations of anything.

Subs are a double translation-from one language to another and from spoken to written language. And while I have seen excellent subs in live-action movies, subs in anime are very poorly done. The language is stiff, ungrammatical, and often doesn't even match the action.

It's a matter of personal preference, but ther is absolutely no justification for the knee-jerk "Dubs are bad" attitude. Dubs in anime are not just for the dyslexic or the four-year-olds. They are for anyone who wants to enjoy an anime without listening to a language they don't understand while reading painfully awkward dialogue.

http://thinkingoutloud-descartes.blogspot.com/

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[–] Suzume-san 11 years ago

Well, I'm not learning a foreign language to enjoy a TV show, Zanza, I'm enjoying a TV show to learn a foreign language. I'm sure you'll see the distinction. But as I keep saying, I don't mind what anybody else does, why should I? I'm just explaining my own reasoning.

Nobody takes my point about the two-foreign-cultures-at-once effect? Sometimes I feel that the subtitles need subtitles, I don't understand the American usages and idioms. Especially in the baseball episode!

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[–] Zanza8 11 years ago

Nobody takes my point about the two-foreign-cultures-at-once effect?

Don't feel too bad, Suzume. Nobody takes my point about how subs are a double translation into account. Nor does anybody take my point about how live-action actors are a total package, with the voice you're hearing belonging to the face you see on the screen.

I do see the distinction about watching the TV show to learn the language-I know a number of people from different parts of the world who watch TV to improve their English, and there are Spanish language stations that you can watch and if you're trying to learn Spanish, it helps to hear the language. As for the baseball episode, I can't stand it but I doubt it's any better in Japanese. I know it's played in Japan, but it is a uniquely American game, with American idioms and usages. If you don't mind me asking, what country are you from? I don't mean to pry or be rude-I'm just curious. One of the great things about IMDB is all the people from different parts of the world we get to interact with.

http://thinkingoutloud-descartes.blogspot.com/

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[–] Suzume-san 11 years ago

If you don't mind me asking, what country are you from? I don't mean to pry or be rude-I'm just curious.

No problem at all, Zanza - I'm a Londoner. A Cockney sparrow - hence my handle 'Suzume' (suzume means sparrow). I had to have the -san because someone else already had plain Suzume. And you?

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[–] Zanza8 11 years ago

I'm a Cajun from Louisiana, Suzume. My handle Zanza is from Rurouni Kenshin, but I actually did know suzume meant sparrow from reading. I enjoy Japanese folk tales and a famous one is The Cut-Tongue Sparrow. I agree with Jane Yolen that folk tales are one of the best ways to get to know about a culture, since folk memory can neither be coerced nor bought and folk memories are long. Language is another good way to get to know a culture-I read somewhere that the Eskimos (or whatever the politically correct term these days for Eskimos is) have two dozen words for snow. It really is quite fascinating to delve into other cultures, and I have to say I envy you being in London, a place I've always wanted to visit. On t'other hand, maybe you've always wanted to visit San Diego, which is where I currently hang my hat.

http://thinkingoutloud-descartes.blogspot.com/

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[–] NotAnUndercoverCop 11 years ago

Yes, I've noticed that as well. I have to turn the subs off no matter what I'm watching. Because 1- I'm not reading them any way, 2- they're just getting in the way of the picture and distracting me from what's happening on the screen, and 3- they're always oh so wrong. It doesn't even have to be an anime. I see wrong subs constantly. That's why there's so many groups like opensubs.org. People get together and fix subs that are wrong. You'd be shocked how much time so many people spend on subbing shows themselves then sharing with everyone else so they can have actual verbatim subs for their shows. What is it about who ever is writing the originals that makes them think it's OK to write down anything but what the character actually said is beyond me. It really bums me out when I can't find a dub for a show I want to watch. I already mentioned Legend of the Galactic Heroes, but I've come across dozens more since signing up for MyAnimeList.net.

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[–] Zanza8 11 years ago

The weird thing is that in live-action, subs are usually really good. Rashomon, Das Boot, La Femme Nikita-three films from three different countries that all have excellent subs. What the heck is wrong with the anime people that they can't produce a decent sub? I mean, I just don't get the whole "Dubs are bad" attitude, when the subs are so poorly done.

http://thinkingoutloud-descartes.blogspot.com/

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[–] NotAnUndercoverCop 11 years ago

Funny you should mention Das Boot. The DVD copy of Das Boot I rented from netflix had subtitles that were nothing but a paraphrasing of whatever the character said. Not one word they said matched up throughout the entire film. I guess the subs were written from German audio track. Then the English dub rearranged the words and used alternate phrases. Because not a damn word was matching up. It was abysmal.

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[–] Zanza8 11 years ago

I thought it was a pretty good sub. At least what they were saying matched the action, which is not the case with anime. A lot of times it looks like somebody worked from a script, and not the final script at that, without even seeing what the action was.

http://thinkingoutloud-descartes.blogspot.com/

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[–] NotAnUndercoverCop 11 years ago

I just shut them off when I was watching. It annoyed me too much. You know, it really makes me wish I was fluent in multiple languages. My Aunt for example can speak, English, French, German, Spanish, and Japanese. She even lived in Japan for 4 years as an English teacher. Teaching rich Japanese business men how to speak English. But who has time to learn a new language just to watch some TV shows?

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[–] Zanza8 11 years ago

I'd like to be good in languages, but the fact of the matter is that it's not enough to know a language well, or even to be fluent in it. If you're not idiomatic in the language, you're still going to miss things, which is why a translation generally makes more sense. It's another fact that the more translations that are done, the farther you get from the source material and the original meaning. It's an old saying that all translations lie, and that's just a recognition that it's impossible to get all the subtleties and nuances of one language into a translation. And like I've pointed out several times, subs are a double translation, from one language to another and from spoken to written language. Read Jane Yolen sometime on how the eye and the ear are different listeners and you really get a sense of how much a story can change based on whether it's spoken or read.

In any case, if people enjoy subs and foreign languages, go for it. I'm not saying people should give up struggling to comprehend Japanese or stop reading illiterate subtitles. I'm just saying that there shouldn't be a "Subs are good, dubs are bad" attitude, when there are such great dubs out there and subtitles are still just awful.

http://thinkingoutloud-descartes.blogspot.com/

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[–] j_money77 11 years ago

^ I agree witht the above, I much prefer a good dubbing to a good subtitled work.

PEople who argue subtitles are more "pure" are off their rocker because they're both translations and if you need subtitles, you are either hard of hearing (less likely) or don't understand the language anyway (most common) in which case a dubbing makes more sense for you. Especially in anime, where all voices are dubbed to begin with.

Note, this doesn't mean all dubs are good and all subtitles are bad. I still enjoy subtitled movies when there's no good dubbing option, for example the works of Kenji Mizoguchi, Akira Kurosawa, Andrei Tarkovsky, Bela Tarr, etc. etc.

However, I have no problem playing a good dubbing over subtitling when its available, for example, in the works of Ingmar Bergman.

One of my biggest problems with subtitles is they distract from the screen, forcing your eyes and mind to focus on the words scrolling at the bottom of the screen. In film, a primarily visual medium this causes the viewer to miss alot. I often rewatch subtitled films with with the subtitles off, just so I can enjoy the visual and notice I miss an awful lot based on the first screening where I had to read the subtitles.

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[–] machtyn 10 years ago

Sub or Dub.

Anime is a beautiful artform of story telling and graphics. I'm missing all the action and graphics if I'm reading all the subs.

Cowboy Bebop is horrible dubbed. They hired the wrong voice actors for the English version. The voices, with regards to tone and pitch, are spot on in the Japanese.

Samurai Champloo is fine subbed or dubbed. If I don't have to read, I won't. There are others. Witch Hunter Robin is fine dubbed.

So, if you were to ask me, my answer on the sub vs dub debate is, "It depends!"

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[–] deltapatrick 10 years ago

How can you not love the English Dubbed version of Cowboy bebop? It is too me by far the best Dub in any anime show and probably the only Dub that actually beats the sub.

If you think this has a happy ending, then you haven't been paying attention!

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[–] Final_Hitokiri 10 years ago

How can you not love the English Dubbed version of Cowboy bebop?

Perhaps the voices aren't as "pure" as the originals, but I have to agree that Cowboy Bebop's dubbed voices are excellent.

Very well done and perhaps the best dub of them all.

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[–] pankoeken 10 years ago

I don't hate them at all. To be brutally honest, I've found the vast majority of people who insist on only watching subbed anime are pretentious annoying losers who don't even watch anime because they enjoy them. Sadly these morons actually believe watching a tv show with subtitles when there is no reason to do so is something to brag about ceaselessly. Then again those pathetic little oddballs really have nothing at all in their empty lives so I guess they brag about the only thing they consider note worthy. It's actually quite pathetic.

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[–] Ehronn 9 years ago

I only watch yank dubbed anime

The jap always sounds angry, yelling, harsh like Klingons very annoying on my ears

The subtitles usually suck, if I wanted to read id download the comics

English sounds better to me smoother, better inflections and volumes and not stupid fingernail on chalkboard fake cute sound harsh jap girls make to fake cute. When normal female voice is fine or hire a child voice actor.

If its not English I can't watch it

There are many toons you get 2 English dubs

Like Arriety had US dub and UK dub. The UK dub was best

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