Dubbed vs Subbed Anime, Games, etc

[elia925-6]

I personally prefer Japanese voice acting over English because i understand better the context of the line and i was used to it.

 

[Kolph]

I like English coz I speak it

 

[Mamisu]

I like the dub if it's good which most of the time it isn't. I watch the majority of anime subbed for that reason.

 

[GhostCow]

Subs for Japanese listening practice. If you aren't trying to learn Japanese then I suggest subs for anime and dubs for games. The reason being that the subs for anime will be a more accurate translation than the dub most of the time, but with games the subtitles are based on the English dub so you may as well just play in English.

 

[thareddriver]

My first dub was the end of eva one, where they swapped gushing blood with the sound of mac and cheese.

Never went back.

 

[thareddriver]

Subs for Japanese listening practice. If you aren't trying to learn Japanese then I suggest subs for anime and dubs for games. The reason being that the subs for anime will be a more accurate translation than the dub most of the time, but with games the subtitles are based on the English dub so you may as well just play in English.

View: https://youtu.be/YzZmvxJF_HU?t=278

 

[NW_Cryptid]

When I was in high school I was 100% dubs and now all these years later I will say I prefer subs but with a few exceptions. Every so often there's an anime that's actually good if not better (to some) in the dub. Though I will say, enjoy anime however you best enjoy it; I'm not going to tell you one way is better or worse when it's a matter of personal taste.

 

[Thereal]

I have only ever watched one anime in full but it had the greatest dub ever so I'm on team dubs. It was Golden Boy if you're curious.

 

[elia925-6]

I've heard in xenoblade 3, the characters speak in british accent.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-iNpDKuYb8

 

[ignika98]

I usually prefer dubs, even if the voice acting is less than stellar. I find that most subs (especially fansubs) tend to miss a lot of nuance and character in each line of dialog, and just opt to literally translate everything. There are too many subbed anime I've watched where the translation completely fails to give each character a unique voice in the subs and they all end up speaking in the exact same way. Usually with semi-formal textbook style English that you would only see in school.

I suspect the reason this is the case is because a lot of fansubs are done by people who learn English as a second language. And so even though they might be fluent in it, they don't have much experience with the language outside of an academic environment. That's why phrases like "It can't be helped" pop up all the time in subbed anime, despite it being a phrase no one really uses in English.

That being said, I feel like a lot of more recent anime have had pretty terrible dubs. Ever since companies like Netflix got their hands in the dubbing industry, a lot of dubs have started to have these really dry, toned-down performances by the actors. As well as pretty terrible casting choices. (AoT is a perfect example of the latter.) I think companies like Netflix are trying harder and harder to push anime into the mainstream, and so they want their dubs to sound like Hollywood movies so that normies will have an easier time digesting it. But they either don't realize or don't care that acting and voice acting are two different talents, and that a voice actor's performance needs to be dialed up quite a bit to make up for the fact that you can't see the emotions on his face the same way you can in a movie.

 

[elia925-6]

If the anime has heavy japanese culture references, i prefer to watch it subbed because in English it would not make sence. Same with greek drama and comedy. We taught it in the original format(Ancient greek, not Modern greek) even if ministry of education did a horrible job on ancient greek teaching to teachers. Ancient greek has more complex grammar than english even modern greek which is the lite version of ithe former.

 

[elia925-6]

Would be a great idea if xenosaga trilogy was dubbed to Hebrew since it drawn inspiration from Jeduaism and german philosophy and it's pretty underrated language limited to religious teaching?

 

[Bakaneko33]

Would be a great idea if xenosaga trilogy was dubbed to Hebrew since it drawn inspiration from Jeduaism and german philosophy and it's pretty underrated language limited to religious teaching?

as a fluent hebrew speaker i would fucking rope if i heard my favorite characters speaking in hebrew itll be so cringe to me

 

[elia925-6]

I usually prefer dubs, even if the voice acting is less than stellar. I find that most subs (especially fansubs) tend to miss a lot of nuance and character in each line of dialog, and just opt to literally translate everything. There are too many subbed anime I've watched where the translation completely fails to give each character a unique voice in the subs and they all end up speaking in the exact same way. Usually with semi-formal textbook style English that you would only see in school.

I suspect the reason this is the case is because a lot of fansubs are done by people who learn English as a second language. And so even though they might be fluent in it, they don't have much experience with the language outside of an academic environment. That's why phrases like "It can't be helped" pop up all the time in subbed anime, despite it being a phrase no one really uses in English.

That being said, I feel like a lot of more recent anime have had pretty terrible dubs. Ever since companies like Netflix got their hands in the dubbing industry, a lot of dubs have started to have these really dry, toned-down performances by the actors. As well as pretty terrible casting choices. (AoT is a perfect example of the latter.) I think companies like Netflix are trying harder and harder to push anime into the mainstream, and so they want their dubs to sound like Hollywood movies so that normies will have an easier time digesting it. But they either don't realize or don't care that acting and voice acting are two different talents, and that a voice actor's performance needs to be dialed up quite a bit to make up for the fact that you can't see the emotions on his face the same way you can in a movie.

Reminds me of 4kids situation when they edited heavily and changed words to fit more to american culture a bunch of anime and it was funny and disastrous at the same time? Jelly filled donut instead of mochi, dark moments like death, pain and controversial stuff like religion

 

[elia925-6]

Or Hades to greek, since it's a game about greek mythology. The only greek dubbed games released are playstation 1st party games and some pro evolution soccers :|.

 

[ignika98]

Would be a great idea if xenosaga trilogy was dubbed to Hebrew since it drawn inspiration from Jeduaism and german philosophy and it's pretty underrated language limited to religious teaching?

Xenosaga is a sci-fi anime with bible references. It has no reason to be dubbed in Hebrew lmao. The game already has some embarrassing uses of Hebrew in it like a character named "Sakura Mizrahi". Which is the Hebrew equivalent of your cringe weeb friend who has his Facebook name set to "John Uchiha".

Just because a story references certain cultures, doesn't mean it should be dubbed in that cultures language lmao.

 

[elia925-6]

Xenosaga is a sci-fi anime with bible references. It has no reason to be dubbed in Hebrew lmao. The game already has some embarrassing uses of Hebrew in it like a character named "Sakura Mizrahi". Which is the Hebrew equivalent of your cringe weeb friend who has his Facebook name set to "John Uchiha".

Just because a story references certain cultures, doesn't mean it should be dubbed in that cultures language lmao.

Like Neogenesis Evangelion and Bayonetta. It's scifi rpg game at best. We leave it alone.

 

[MorphedSnowman]

Anime? You mean Chinese cartoons? Not my thing.

 

[elia925-6]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EIy5JFp5Trw

 

[Pangolin]

I think that dubs when well done will give the viewer the optimal experience, but getting to that experience is a difficult and expensive task.

Sometimes studios will even insert their own failing viewpoints into the dubs further degrading the quality of the dub. A dub should be faithful to the original while also keeping in mind the western audience.

I try to avoid subs at all costs and only giving in when there are no more options. Sometimes an anime won't be popular enough to bother dubbing.