I was planning to watch this sometime this week and I wanted to know if the dubbing lives up to the subbed version. I usually prefer subs, but in some rare cases like Cowboy Bebop, I actually preferred the dub. It maybe helpful if people who watch either version plug in their views here.
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I generally prefer subs because I love languages, learning a little as I watch, and the director chooses his original cast for a reason. I did start out with the English dub for the first few minutes because I was interested in the casting, but switched back to subs.
Not that it was terrible, on the contrary. It was because before I saw this, I watched the documentary "The Kingdom of Dreams and Madness", which includes the process of creating this film. Miyazaki-san took such pains and effort to find his Jiro (an interesting choice, indeed!) that I just had to watch it with his voice in place. I would say either way is delightful (watch it both ways if you have time!) - both will bring you to tears.
Watch the documentary as well if you haven't, it's wonderful. Especially the last shot.
Dub. Hideaki Anno does a subpar job on this, while Joseph Gordon Levitt at least gives some emotion to the performance.
"Citizen Kane" fan, "Frozen" fan, and "Boyhood" fan. ;)
Are you fluent in both English and Japanese, Xator-Nova? I envy you, if so. If not, I don't see how you can tell. Sure, the American voice-actor will make Jiro sound more emotional, because that's the American way. The Japanese way is to repress emotion - but it's still there, of course.
shareYou don't really need to be fluent in a language in order to recognize good acting. As long as you have watched enough material from a certain foreign country, you should be able to recognize voice patterns and emotions.
I am pretty sure that I have watched enough japanese productions, both animated and live-action, to be sure that Anno's performance was... not good, to be generous.
"Citizen Kane" fan, "Frozen" fan, and "Boyhood" fan. ;)
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People generally prefer dubs over subs because Japanese acting isn't the greatest. There's a reason the cinema capital of the world is in America :)
sharethe cinema capital of the world is in America
I've always watched Studio Ghibli films with dubbed dialogue, simply because of 2 reasons: 1. I can concentrate on the wonderful visuals, and 2. The English voiceovers are usually done by top name American actors. I watch them again with the original Japanese actors also.
shareI usually prefer subs on foreign films, but the studio ghibli films dub so well I really enjoy them dubbed. that and these films are so visually stunning it seems like it would distract alot having to read subtitles.
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