Thread: Subbed or Dubbed: Which Do You Prefer?

Grumble Grumble Grumble

Originally Posted by TheZorch

This was long before Funimation even licensed Tenchi Muyo at all, long before the 3rd OAV was even went in production at AIC/VAP. So the only way to get it back then was to import it. I don't mind imports as long as they're good and they haven't already been licensed here. In the case of Tenchi Muyo GXP it hadn't been licensed in the US yet at the time I got the box set.

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Anyone who gets to know we well enough understands my views towards the MPAA and RIAA. I refuse to pander to them, they caused their own problems that they are stuck in now by buying off politians and alienating customers. Now they must reap what they have sown and hope that they can survive the storm when it comes, and it is on the horizon. The avalanche as already begun, it is too late for the pebbles to vote.

Still, the fact remains that the majority of 'licensed' Region 2 Anime DVD releases do not have English subtitles. And pandering to the sales of illegal bootlegs only encourages this activity, as well as depriving Anime producers from needed income. Ultimately, (as your experience has shown,) you get what you pay for...

well I like my anime subbed because its original but i'll watch a dub if its good like I thought hahuri suzumiya was a good dub

Originally Posted by LenMiyata

Grumble Grumble Grumble

Still, the fact remains that the majority of 'licensed' Region 2 Anime DVD releases do not have English subtitles. And pandering to the sales of illegal bootlegs only encourages this activity, as well as depriving Anime producers from needed income. Ultimately, (as your experience has shown,) you get what you pay for...

Unless its already been licensed or there are plans to license a series I'll buy it from a US company. In some cases there is anime that never get released here. Case in point is the Macross movie "Do You Remember Love?", Macross 7, Macross 7 Dynamite the OAV, Macross Zero the amazing Macross prequel OAV, and I'm certain Macross Frontier will also be overlooked. Macross Frontier is impressive with Hollywood action movie style cinematics, movie quality CG effects, and a fully symphony orchestra composed soundtrack. Yet it'll never appear here in the US except as an import. I'll buy it from a US company if they decide to release it here, but I'm not short sighted and will buy an import if a series doesn't make it over here at all. A lot of anime doesn't. All of the DVDs I have are domestic purchases except for GXP, but I hear that Funimation did a good job on it so I'm going to get that version soon. I'm also going to get the domestic release of Tenchi Muyo OAV 3, and Sasami Maho Shoujo Club when Funimation releases that series this year. I understand the necessity to buy from domestic companies to help support them, however ... you already know how I feel so I won't elaborate any further and I stand firmly by them.

Getting back on topic: I typically enjoy watching subbed anime a bit more than dubbed, not due to the "sometimes" lack of voice acting capability but because I want to learn Japanese and its such a cool sounding language.

The dub I liked the most were the early seasons of Ranma 1/2. Sarah Strange did the voice of male Ranma to really good effect. She actually sounded like a boy. I liked her voice better for Ranma than Michael Cox who later did the voice for Inuyasha. The voice acting in Ghost in the Shell Standalone Complex isn't bad either, and that is one really good series too.

I can do with either or. I used to didnt like subs becuz by the time you finish reading the subtitles the action was over, but now I'm so use to it that even when I watch it in dub, I catch myself looking down at the bottom of the screen anyway lol.

If I've seen an anime originally in english and then watch it in subs I usually dont like the subtitled version. I guess cuz I'm use to the voice actors. But I find myself more and more watching the subtitled versions so I'll just say I like the subs better if I havent already been watching it in dubbed version...does that make any sense? lol

Oh and I like the fact that in the subbed version you can catch some of the more commonly used phrases and see what they mean or the different ways they're used...8)

considering the ratio of dubbers and subbers...there are more subbers out there who are subbing for the "more hardcore"(i dunno if that's the most perfect term for what i'm tryin' to imply) crowd, like us here at AO...whether those subbers are from a licensed legal company, a group of people doing fan service, or those guys at the bootleg industry, they are dominating the translated anime market right now...subbing is more easily done than dubbing coz translatin' and then just placing the translations on the video is waaaay much easier than having voiceovers...its easier to just place the sentence by fonts on the video than fit it by voice when the characters open their mouths...that's why accuracy can be more easily achieved through subs....and that is why i think subbing is more preferred by fans.

dubbed ones are more uncommon compared to subbed ones, its quite hard to find really good dubbed anime stuff out there on the market(bootleg, download, or legal) because most dubbers belong to licensed companies...dubs aimed for the anime crowd where we belong are rare, doing it can prove inconvenient after all, paying people to translate japanese to english is more budget friendly than paying another bunch of people to do the voiceovers...i think dubbed anime like those on tv are done for sheer mass production and just for the "common crowd" to understand...just like what i said earlier, fitting voice-translated english sentences or phrases to match the mouth movement of characters originally designed for the japanese language can be pretty impossible at times...

but still, with a good dubbing crew, i'd choose it over subs....

In response to Hantei16's comments...

This growing love for subbed anime is reflected in the emergence of an all subtitled anime video-on-demand service called GONG Native and The Anime Network's online subtitled anime features (which I still have yet to get working, has anyone else had problems with that site).

GONG and GONG Native are European based anime VOD services carried internationally by cellphone TV services and on the Joost free Internet TV service (by the makers of Skype) among others. Now that The Anime Network's regular TV channel is gone maybe they'll focus on improving the offerings on their VOD channel. All of ADV's offerings should be on that service, no ifs, ands, or buts. They own the rights to them they should be able to put there up there so there's no excuse. Anyway, I'm digressing from the subject here.

Even on the Metro Anime group I've noticed some liking subs more than dubs.

for me i like subbs better to know the real voice of the characters and its more realistic in expressing their feelings