Do you like watching subtitled animes or redubbed ones?

[Ninjinister]

I don't watch a lot of anime anymore, but even back in my otaku high school days I preferred English redubs, for many reasons. For one thing, people seem to grossly underestimate the acting quality of English dubs and at the same time, some Japanese ones aren't exactly as good as many believe them to be.


(I do like how you indicated "redubbed" in the title - because people often seem to forget that all cartoons are dubbed in the first place, no matter the language. That's what the process of adding vocal tracks to it is called )

[Jester]

Anime...what's anime?

[GK Punk]

The Japanese word for cartoons. :p

[Ninjinister]

Originally Posted by GK

The Japanese word for cartoons. :p

I'm pretty sure he knows that. He's just being... well... Jester.

[GK Punk]

Yeah that's why I put the little smiley there. Just givin' him a hard time.

[Jester]

They have cartoons in Japan?

[gobo]

Originally Posted by Jester

They have cartoons in Japan?

No, but they hafta have a word for it. It's the law! ^_^

[Jester]

Ok, enough "jesting." Never was a huge fan of anime (mainly because I thought when Pokemon the series came on that it was a "fad" and it was all way too similar, art wise.), but I'm sure if i found the right series or movie I'd enjoy it. As for dubs versus subs, not sure. I don't like subtitles, unless I'm really investing the time. Most of the time I have a movie on as background noise. But if I do watch a subtitled flick, eventually I don't even realize I'm reading anymore...so it really depends on the situation.

[GK Punk]

I'm sure there is something out there you'd like. There is such a large variety of anime. Not all of it is like Pokemon or Sailor Moon or any of the other ones that are really popular over here. Just depends on your tastes.

[Jester]

ATM I have on my PC Highlander the Anime and the Wolverine anime. One is dubbed (Highlander) and one subbed (Wolvie), but I haven't watched them yet.

[Powder]

Anime is just like anything else. There's tons of great stuff, tons of trash, and plenty of "okay".
As said before, just gotta find what suits your taste.

[Ninjinister]

Originally Posted by GK

Yeah that's why I put the little smiley there. Just givin' him a hard time.

Oh, okay. It didn't parse in the forum as a smiley so my brain registered it as "colon-p". Which actually sounds a lot worse now that it's out in text....

[Peanut]

My fiance has been watching a lot of anime for the last little while, mostly stuff like Fruits Basket and Ouran Host Club. This weird newfound interest led us to watch a few different animes together together, including Soul Eater, which I ended up liking a lot. After watching that and then checking out some subs, I found I liked the dub a lot more.

I dunno, I think people are just stupid. A lot of anime in the original Japanese have insanely irritating/grating voices that really start to bug me. At the same time, some are really well done. I don't think something getting dubbed in English automatically makes it worse, far from it.

[XERO]

I just got through watching the dubbed version of Street Fighter II V. The voices didn't bother me.

[Ninjinister]

Originally Posted by Peanut

I dunno, I think people are just stupid. A lot of anime in the original Japanese have insanely irritating/grating voices that really start to bug me. At the same time, some are really well done. I don't think something getting dubbed in English automatically makes it worse, far from it.

This. F**king this right here.

[Abnormal Freak]

Originally Posted by The Ninjinister

(I do like how you indicated "redubbed" in the title - because people often seem to forget that all cartoons are dubbed in the first place, no matter the language. That's what the process of adding vocal tracks to it is called :P )

Bah! Technicalities. ;) They're just terms to help distinguish; it's easier to call them "subs and dubs" versus "dubs and redubs." And what about the case of something like Akira, which has been dubbed into English twice? Is the newer one a reredub? ;)

Originally Posted by Peanut

I dunno, I think people are just stupid. A lot of anime in the original Japanese have insanely irritating/grating voices that really start to bug me. At the same time, some are really well done. I don't think something getting dubbed in English automatically makes it worse, far from it.

I can understand preferring a dub to a sub (kinda, I guess), but to call me and others stupid just because we like subs more? Really, now. For me, I prefer subs automatically based on them being the original language. Original dialog, original voice acting, and what the lip movements were animated around. A dub, to me, is bastardized just because of the changes necessary to create proper lip syncing, and the added problem of putting voices to animation, rather than animating to the voice actors' performances. (Not all cartoons—Japanese or otherwise—are voiced first, but a lot, probably most, are.)

That, and I've never heard a dub I like more than the sub. The Japanese put a lot of emotion into their voice acting that's rather over-the-top, and I like that excessive emoting; it fits the stylized animation and concepts. Most US voice actors, however, sound pretty drab and with almost no vocal range whatsoever. If you'd rather listen to Steven Blum play the same monotonous voice in every anime and video game ever, fine; but I'll taking emoting and the "excited when necessary, including in his voice" Spike Spiegel over that any day. ;)

Also, dub dialog usually just bites the dust, I find. Again, because they have to use words that go relatively well with the lip movements. Compromises have to be made, and you can only get so much of the same message across, and it usually comes across very stilted. I'd rather read English translations of the original dialog, imperfect as that may be, over an even more bastardized form of the original wording.

BUT OH I GUESS I'M JUST A BIG STUPID SO DON'T LISTEN TO ME ;)

[XERO]

Rub a dub redub.

[Mandi-chan]

I like both. Some dubs I love because I grew up with them, and some dubs I love because they are honestly good (once in a while, I come across a dub that I think is better than the original version).

[Ninjinister]

Originally Posted by Abnormal Freak

I can understand preferring a dub to a sub (kinda, I guess), but to call me and others stupid just because we like subs more? Really, now. For me, I prefer subs automatically based on them being the original language. Original dialog, original voice acting, and what the lip movements were animated around. A dub, to me, is bastardized just because of the changes necessary to create proper lip syncing, and the added problem of putting voices to animation, rather than animating to the voice actors' performances. (Not all cartoons—Japanese or otherwise—are voiced first, but a lot, probably most, are.)

It is pretty stupid to prefer something, regardless of quality, just because it's not the original or has been changed. This is called a blind bias, and is a logical fallacy. Now I personally would not say you are stupid. I'd say the idea is.

That, and I've never heard a dub I like more than the sub. The Japanese put a lot of emotion into their voice acting that's rather over-the-top, and I like that excessive emoting; it fits the stylized animation and concepts. Most US voice actors, however, sound pretty drab and with almost no vocal range whatsoever. If you'd rather listen to Steven Blum play the same monotonous voice in every anime and video game ever, fine; but I'll taking emoting and the "excited when necessary, including in his voice" Spike Spiegel over that any day.

This shows that you know absolutely nothing about acting or voice acting. At all. American or Japanese. Especially Blum... his voice is far from monotone, and he has a wide vocal range (compare his Guilmon to his Spiegel, or heck... I didn't even know he was Taskmaster in MVC3 until I looked it up, because that voice is so different from his Wolverine in the same game). When you have an actor with a wide range of vocal differences, but seems to use the same or similar ones in different projects, it's because that is what the director feels fits the character. But that happens even in Japan, quite often. Look at the late Daisuke Gouri... he used the exact same, distinctive voice in EVERYTHING. Yet he was one of the most popular voice actors because his one voice was spectacular. Case in point, Kouichi Yamadera (Spike's Japanese actor) does have quite a few different voices he uses, but there is one, his Daigo/M. Bison voice, that is used most often.

And I know, you're going to be like "well, that's just your opinion, man." That's just it. I don't understand how acting is one of the few vocations where there's no general baseline of how someone is good at their job or not. True, you can like something regardless of quality. I like the acting in Symphony of the Night, although I admit it's terrible. I like Next Mutation even though I know it's s**t. I like Shaq Fu. But with something like acting, people will argue whether it's good. The likes of David Caruso and Sean Penn make millions from delivering their dialogue with all the chops of a board, because there are people that insist otherwise. Now, if I half-assed my job, there'd not be a soul that would save me from being canned. If a construction worker botched several projects, do you think he'd still be employed? In either case, nobody would step in and say that those responsible for terminating employment are wrong in their decision. But if an actor's lack of skill is a factor in him or her being fired from a production, there will always be someone who insists that his or her skill is adequate.

EDIT: Sorry. Unnecessary rant. Art is in the eye of the beholder and all that jazz. Disregard.

[Candy Kappa]

Originally Posted by Master Splinter

I don't really watch anime, but when I catch a show I would prefer a dubbed show over subtitles, I cannot stand having to miss out on what is going on because I'm stuck reading..

-ms

could be one of the good point not being native English speaker. I have always read subtitles on movies and non-animated TV shows, and with the little to no real voice actors in Norway. You in early age learns to appreciate the original dub (Nor. dub of TMNT had helium voices)

And usually when I watch movies have English sub as well, helps often if the sound is low.