# Subbed? Or Dubbed?



## Sernion (Dec 3, 2008)

I used to find subbed ones are always better than the dubbed ones. But when I watched both subbed and dubbed version of _Spirited Away_, I couldn't say which one is inferior to the other.

So, when watching a movie or anime (or even video games) in different language, which do you prefer?
Subtitled one? Or dubbed?


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## Beastcub (Dec 3, 2008)

i find subs annoying because while reading it i miss some of the action. plus i like to play my fave show/movies while i work on costume and art work and listen to them and with subs it just does not work.

i agree with the spirited away bit, i showed a bootleg subbed copy to the school anime club and when it came to US theatres i saw it with a friend from the club...my friend was convinced i showed the dubbed version to the club not the subbed version.

now the new dubbing of totoro just pisses me off, those girls have no emotion to their voices and i think the sound accents that fox added to totoro and catbus for their version only enhanced the characters. 

the dubbed version of castle in the sky is also better, they kept all the lines really close to the original BUT they really really enhanced the movie woth more music which to me was such a great thing, i mean when i watch the subbed version i feel like the background was put on mute, the music they added was inspired by what little music was in the original and it added so much more emotion.


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## Hyenaworks (Dec 3, 2008)

Subbed is always a safe bet.

Dubs like Cowboy Bebop make subbing unnecessary unless you want to know what was purely said in Japanese.  

The biggest problem I've had with dubs is horrible sound engineering so that the voices just don't seem to fit with the environment and the fact that I swear some of these VAs don't VA.  They just read the lines.

Although some VAs OVERACT.  lol


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## Talvi (Dec 3, 2008)

95% of the time, subs. It's annoying to read since you can't focus as much as what's going on visually but dubs often really ruin the mood.


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## Beastcub (Dec 3, 2008)

tenchi muyo is another where i think the dub is better, the voices in the japanese version just don't work for me, ryoko sounds so much better in the dub.

the dubs of naruto and DBZ suck, all the voices in naruto are fine except for naturo himself, god just hearing him talk makes my throat hurt its all scratchy (and likely done by a chick) 

the dubs of DBZ doubly suck for not only crappy voices but changing the music (why the hell bother?), heavy editing (especially early episodes) and changing actors (the early voices for gohan and goku are so much better) the worst voice is kid trunk's voice is just AWFUL he sounds like a fat punk.


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## Talvi (Dec 3, 2008)

I was tempted to say dubbing should be illegal under penalty of flogging but then there'd be no James from Team Rocket. Unacceptable.


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## Shark_the_raptor (Dec 3, 2008)

"Depends on how good its dubbed/subbed."

This.  Sometimes the dubbed anime is translated almost word for word of the original dialogue, but most of the time bits sometimes chunks of dialogue are omitted or changed.  While subbed anime usually goes word for word with slight changes to make it read better.


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## WolfoxOkamichan (Dec 3, 2008)

It depends.

For instance, I am actually loving Galaxy Angels dub. I am also loving the straight-subbing of Casshern Sins made by Shinsen Subs.

Crappy subs include weaboo-infestation (seriously, you don't have to leave something "untranslated" for the sake of it), Mister Smith-kun (Shinsen Subs did it well - they did not add "-kun", etc. but rather translate it to an English equivalent THAT USES THE CONTEXT), and well... weaboo-ness. We all know what bad dubs are.

Here's a sample of weaboo-infestation.


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## Digitalpotato (Dec 3, 2008)

It depends how good the subbing or the dubbing is. Honestly not only can I not STAND those female Japanese voices that are EXTREMELY high-pitched, or Male Japanese voices that have all the emotion and monotony of a Text-to-speech programs, I actually acknowledge that dubs over in the U.S are actually getting better.

Need I mention that many other countries out there have it FAR worse? I see Spanish dubs of American shows in which they don't even make an attempt at syncing the voicework with the characters so I actually hear them speak even FASTER. 

Gimme a good dub in which Rukia Kuchki doesn't sound manlier than Toshiro Hitsugaya...even though Rukia's japanese voice gets MAJOR  bonus points for actually sounding like a REAL girl. While japanese women do have higher-pitched voices, I've yet to meet one that can get to the ear-piercing pitches usually seen in animes. Or in which they translate the stuff instead of weeaboo infestation, as mentioned above.


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## Talvi (Dec 3, 2008)

I'd rather have accurate translation and non-cheesy sounding voice and dialogue than voicesyncing. Much more.


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## X (Dec 3, 2008)

subbed, its like an extremely entertaining Japanese language class.


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## Gavrill (Dec 3, 2008)

Subbed because I'm a goddamn weeaboo.

No, I just usually like the subs better. Plus they come out waaayyy sooner than the dubs.
Such as Mnemosyne. I finished watching all six episodes about a month ago, and I've yet to see a dub. But the names can get a bit confusing, especially when they go to the "English" versions of the names.
For example, Princess Tutu's 4th or 5th episode came up with the English names, thus canceling out the names I'd just memorized. 

How the hell does the name "Mute" become "Mytho"? Gah. 
/rant


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## Enigmaticat (Dec 3, 2008)

It all depends. Ive seen reall good dubbed anime, sometimes I just cant stand the high squeeky voices that sub has. (Screaming/Ranting Japanese chicks... *shiver*)


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## brrrr (Dec 3, 2008)

Really really depends.

It's not so much that I like subs, it's just that an English dub is usually inferior to it. Lack of emotional value in a lot of dubs, like the people just weren't paid enough lol. 

But VAs have as much potential as anything out of another country. Japan for example, still can never seem to get an age demographic correct. 13 year olds sounding like 30 year olds, 30 year olds sounding like 13 year olds, etc.

There's been some pretty amazing dubs too. FMA, Cowboy Bebop, FLCL, Ghost in the Shell, Samurai Champloo, Trigun to name a few.


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## mrredfox (Dec 3, 2008)

subtitled, i cant stand dubbed films, the lip syncing is alyways out and it annoys the hell out of me


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## Nylak (Dec 3, 2008)

Depends on the material.  For anime, I'm way too lazy to read when I'm watchin my toons.  If I'm a big fan, though, I'll seek out the subbed, just to see it in its original format...but that doesn't happen often.

But for live action, definitely subbed.  Dubbed live action movies cause me pain.  ><  Besides, I love my kung fu movies in the original Chinese.


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## Aden (Dec 3, 2008)

I gravitate towards subbed. However, both methods have the potential of sucking.


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## mrredfox (Dec 3, 2008)

dosnt matter for anime shows because the lips arnt synced anyway


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## Grimfang (Dec 3, 2008)

I'm kinda of leaning towards how well the subbing/dubbing is done, but I'm gonna go with subtitles. There are too many shows, when translated and voiced over, that are totally ruined. I think America's gotten a little better over time. Sometimes I've found an anime to be terrible, only to later realize that I liked it with subtitles. The voice acting can make all the differences.

Example: You can have a change in vocal tone/expression by a small degree, but that character may sound more on the whiney side than the pissed off/gruff side he was supposed to be.

With video games.. I'd say the same applies. I'm not saying all American voice acting sucks though... I haven't been keeping up with the past few years. That last anime I watched through was probably Wolf's Rain, when it was pretty new.


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## Digitalpotato (Dec 3, 2008)

Nylak said:


> But for live action, definitely subbed.  Dubbed live action movies cause me pain.  ><  Besides, I love my kung fu movies in the original Chinese.



How exactly DO you manage to dub a live-action movie?  




			
				brrr said:
			
		

> But VAs have as much potential as anything out of another country. Japan for example, still can never seem to get an age demographic correct. 13 year olds sounding like 30 year olds, 30 year olds sounding like 13 year olds, etc.



The U.S. does kind of have that problem but you do get some good ones. The woman who does the voicework for Dexter and Chuckie was rather good at sounding like she has a "Y" chromosome and whoever is the voice actor for Bart is alright, though they mostly don't wanna have to hire a new voice for when their VA's balls drop and they for some reason start to sound like Sasuke and Gaara. 

And of course Japan seems to be most guilty of not even making it sound like a woman. yes I am fully aware Naruto sounds like a girl with a sore throat...but in Japanese he sounds like someone kicked him in the balls and his voice never recovered from it. And meanwhile you have Gaara and Sasuke...who're not that much older if anything than Naruto and wait...what's this? They sound like they're in their 30's...I can understand "growing up early" but geez, how can one little kid who's TWELVE sound like my 49-year-old father?

While people bitched about Luffy's english voice, just listening to his Japanese voice was enough to drive me away from the anime. I cannot hear his japanese voice without wanting to reach through the screen and either strangling him or jabbing a syringe full of botox and injecting it directly into his larynx.


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## Lowblock (Dec 3, 2008)

I enjoy the subbed versions with Japanese voices.


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## Hanazawa (Dec 3, 2008)

I prefer subs for two reasons:
1. I am hard of hearing and for some reason many dubbing companies can't manage to get their sound engineering right (when the girls all sound like they're screaming and I have to strain to hear the guys during a single scene, it's a problem)
2. I never know what kind of cheesy dialogue is going to come up and I'd rather it be something my roommates have to glance over to see rather than hear over their shoulders. Anime is fuckin' weeaboo.


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## Toxxy (Dec 3, 2008)

I've always felt it can go either way, just because a series or movie is in its original language doesnâ€™t mean its content or voice quality will be superior. I think when editors take the time to match voices with characters as best they can, then it really doesnâ€™t matter what language it's in.

What I count as a good dub would be something like Cowboy Bebop, most of the Miyazaki movies and I suppose Outlaw Star.


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## Armaetus (Dec 4, 2008)

Original audio w/ english subtitles.


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## Dyluck (Dec 4, 2008)

I just like the way that gruff, sexy, masculine, Japanese voices sound on my ears 8D  Tsuna *swoons*

Subtitles, please.


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## TwilightV (Dec 4, 2008)

Subs, but only if they're accurate.

FUNimation: Onibaba means Demon Witch, NOT F*CKING CANNIBALS!


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## Dyluck (Dec 4, 2008)

HEY GUYS 4KIDS TV


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## TwilightV (Dec 5, 2008)

David M. Awesome said:


> HEY GUYS 4KIDS TV



AAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!

*Assumes fetal position*


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## Adelio Altomar (Dec 5, 2008)

Being a linguist, I always prefered the subtitled versions more than the dubbed by a lond shot. Their language is so much better than English. That and seeing how _you can notice_ that this isn't their original language by looking at their mouths gets to me.


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## Horrorshow (Dec 5, 2008)

There's shitty Japanese voice acting.

I think I actually like the dubs on Blue Submarine No. 6 more than the original Japanese.


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## Dyluck (Dec 5, 2008)

Horrorshow said:


> There's shitty Japanese voice acting.
> 
> I think I actually like the dubs on Blue Submarine No. 6 more than the original Japanese.



Oh, fuck yes, the dubs on Blue Sub 6 were amazing.


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## Horrorshow (Dec 5, 2008)

I know, man. It's like they got _good_ voice actors or something. Weeeeird.


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## Dyluck (Dec 5, 2008)

Horrorshow said:


> I know, man. It's like they got _good_ voice actors or something. Weeeeird.



It stands to reason, it was more of a movie than a series.


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## Beastcub (Dec 5, 2008)

David M. Awesome said:


> It stands to reason, it was more of a movie than a series.



agreed, and i wish all 4 episodes were on 1 tape i mean its one of the few series that will fit on one damn tape! 
i love blue sub 6, the name does not really encourage one to feed it to their VCR though.

ANYWAY
i wanted to bring up Akira, i think the voice talents are aswome but there are a few places in the movie where the they strugled with the voice sync because the animation is drawn so fluiently that it presented the same diffculties that dubbed live action has. (dubbed live action sucks)


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## Neybulot (Dec 5, 2008)

Horrorshow said:


> I know, man. It's like they got _good_ voice actors or something. Weeeeird.



I'd say the same for Fullmetal Alchemist's dub. For example, Ed's voice actor for Japan actually sounds girly like the female who did him. I mean, really. He's like...15 in the show? Not 13.

Didn't like Death Note's dub, but I loved Kuro-Hana's subbed version.

I just put depends on how it's dubbed/subbed. Although, I don't care too much how it's subbed, just as long as the translate is the same. I just hate 4Kids though. Except when they lost PokÃ©mon. PokÃ©mon USA shouldn't have screwed around with that.


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## Kajet (Dec 5, 2008)

Depends on how it's done... engrish is hilarious (christian magic anyone?) BUT... ultimately I prefer dubs, I usually don't devote all of my attention to a show but if I'm interested enough subs won't bug me.


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## Digitalpotato (Dec 5, 2008)

David M. Awesome said:


> I just like the way that gruff, sexy, masculine, *and emotionless* Japanese voices sound on my ears 8D  Tsuna *swoons*
> 
> Subtitles, please.



fixed.



> Their language is so much better than English. That and seeing how you can notice that this isn't their original language by looking at their mouths gets to me.



I wasn't aware that there was any language being any better than any other...oh wait do you mean in that there are less exceptions in Japan than there are in English? (Apparently some people seem to think that "Veggie Patty" is pronounced "Vee-Gee-Pay-twhy")


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## Gavrill (Dec 5, 2008)

In all honesty, I preferred the Death Note dub to sub.

Misa's voice in the sub is absolutely gouge-your-ears awful.


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## Talvi (Dec 5, 2008)

Shenzi said:


> In all honesty, I preferred the Death Note dub to sub.
> 
> Misa's voice in the sub is absolutely gouge-your-ears awful.



It's not worth it. Compare Ls american and japanese voices. Misa is a small price to pay.


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## Gavrill (Dec 5, 2008)

Either way it's terrible


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## Talvi (Dec 5, 2008)

Shame there aren't "subdubs". Misa gets dubbed and the rest get subs


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## Gavrill (Dec 5, 2008)

That'd work! 

Oh, and Kannazuki no Miko? Fuck that dub in the ass. It SUCKED. Worse than Bible Black, and I've seen a lot of Bible Blacks.


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## Teracat (Dec 5, 2008)

I'm guessing we're talking animation? If so, I do prefer dubs. _Kino's Journey_ is a shining example of English dubbing that (to me) far surpasses the original Japanese.

Now, if we're talking about film, I'm all about subtitles. Especially cheesy kung-fu movies.


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## Dyluck (Dec 5, 2008)

Beastcub said:


> (dubbed live action sucks)



The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly was done pretty well.



Digitalpotato said:


> fixed.



Even better.



Shenzi said:


> In all honesty, I preferred the Death Note dub to sub.
> 
> Misa's voice in the sub is absolutely gouge-your-ears awful.



Misa in general is absolutely awful.


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## Chex (Dec 5, 2008)

It depends, honestly, on who does the dubbing/subbing, and how good it is.

I liked both the sub and dub of FMA, for example, and absolutely adored the dubs of Trigun and Cowboy Bebop, not to mention FLCL and a few good others.

Dubbing is getting better and better, now, though, because they're using real actors, as opposed to radio announcers.


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## Beastcub (Dec 6, 2008)

another good dub is slayers 
Lina to me sounds exactly the same in english or japanese.
Zel had a different voice at first his second one is better and Amy also had a different voice at first (it sucked) as for Gallery/Gourry his voice is perfect.
i can say that the dubbing for the series is good...because the voice talents for all the slayers movies i have seen so far SUCK


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## Neybulot (Dec 6, 2008)

David M. Awesome said:


> Misa in general is absolutely awful.



I agree.


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## Digitalpotato (Dec 6, 2008)

alchemydragon said:


> Dubbing is getting better and better, now, though, because they're using real actors, as opposed to radio announcers.



Least U.S. Dubs are. Have you seen some of the atrocities committed by other dubbing companies in OTHER languages?


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## PriestRevan (Dec 6, 2008)

Depends. 

For example, I like Bleach subbed 'cause the Japanese voice actors sound better.

But with, say, Spirited Away, I like dubbed.

Usually depends on the voice actors.


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## nachoboy (Dec 6, 2008)

i voted for subtitles, just because i like movies where i have to read while i'm watching, but if not for that, i really wouldn't care. i do like the Princess Mononoke dubbing with Billy Bob Thorton, Billy Crudup Claire Danes, and John DiMaggio a lot and watch that dubbed more than subbed, but if i get the choice, i ususally watch things with subtitles.


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## whiteskunk (Dec 7, 2008)

Dubbed definitely. It a major pain having to sit and read lines that sometimes flash so fast you have to go back or pause the disc. Subs ruin the show. I don't know about anyone else, I'm not one to sit on my ass for long periods of time reading a tv screen.
Furthermore, the economy is bad enough, do you want to put more people out of work?

Here's a better idea. Do away with subbling and dubbing all together. Leave the shows raw. That way very few would have a clue what is being said. NO MORE DUBS OR SUBS! WHO'S WITH ME?


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## WolfoxOkamichan (Dec 7, 2008)

Really, subbed would've been tolerable if it didn't have poor grammar skills or weabooness.


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## Neybulot (Dec 7, 2008)

whiteskunk said:


> Here's a better idea. Do away with subbling and dubbing all together. Leave the shows raw. That way very few would have a clue what is being said. NO MORE DUBS OR SUBS! WHO'S WITH ME?



Unlike you, most of us don't know Japanese or have the time to dedicate to learning it. Well, then there are the people that are just plain lazy.


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## whiteskunk (Dec 7, 2008)

Neybulot said:


> Unlike you, most of us don't know Japanese or have the time to dedicate to learning it. Well, then there are the people that are just plain lazy.



ROTFLMAO! Did you even bother reading the entire post?! And who are you to call someone lazy?! Hell you're the lazy ass who didn't read my entire post.


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## -Lucario- (Dec 8, 2008)

whiteskunk said:


> ROTFLMAO! Did you even bother reading the entire post?! And who are you to call someone lazy?! Hell you're the lazy ass who didn't read my entire post.


Neybulot = pwnt....

Me agrees with whiteskunk. Leave em RAW and watch all the anime junkies who don't know japanese SQUIRM! *evil laughter*


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## Digitalpotato (Dec 8, 2008)

No no no here's a better idea.


We get ALL The people in the world, we force them ALL To learn the SAME language! Even old people who can't learn new languages. We translate ALL The texts to this language and this language only, and ALL the people in the world have to speak and read this language, and FLUENTLY! Sure it's hard to learn a new language, especially since we don't wanna give ANYONE an advantage and will introduce an ENTIRELY NEW WRITING SYSTEM AND ALPHABET WITH NO ORIGINS IN ANY LANGUAGES! }


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## -Lucario- (Dec 8, 2008)

Digitalpotato said:


> No no no here's a better idea.
> 
> 
> We get ALL The people in the world, we force them ALL To learn the SAME language! Even old people who can't learn new languages. We translate ALL The texts to this language and this language only, and ALL the people in the world have to speak and read this language, and FLUENTLY! Sure it's hard to learn a new language, especially since we don't wanna give ANYONE an advantage and will introduce an ENTIRELY NEW WRITING SYSTEM AND ALPHABET WITH NO ORIGINS IN ANY LANGUAGES! }


 
.....That sounds alot like the Ministry of Truth's new language, newspeak, from the book 1984. *Not sure if anyone will even know what I'm talking about but meh*


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## WolfoxOkamichan (Dec 8, 2008)

Just like in video games!


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## Digitalpotato (Dec 8, 2008)

-Lucario- said:


> .....That sounds alot like the Ministry of Truth's new language, newspeak, from the book 1984. *Not sure if anyone will even know what I'm talking about but meh*



considering how many people here praise 1984....


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## -Lucario- (Dec 8, 2008)

Digitalpotato said:


> considering how many people here praise 1984....


 Not gonna lie, that book was double plus good. xP


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## CAThulu (Dec 8, 2008)

For me, it depends on how good the dubbing is, or what I'm doing at the time.  I tend to draw while I'm watching movies.  If i'm throwing on Howl's Moving Castle for background, i'll have it on the dubbed setting.  Otherwise it'll be subbed.

For the stickler's to the subbing, you can have fun with the dubbed audio tracks.  Throw on the Neon Genesis Evangelion dvd and listen to Shinji's voice in french


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## Neybulot (Dec 9, 2008)

whiteskunk said:


> ROTFLMAO! Did you even bother reading the entire post?! And who are you to call someone lazy?! Hell you're the lazy ass who didn't read my entire post.



Where in my post did I call you lazy?


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## -Lucario- (Dec 9, 2008)

Neybulot said:


> Where in my post did I call you lazy?


Probably guessing he was implying that you don't have the right to call people lazy since you didn't even bother to finish up reading his post. Other then that *shrugs*.


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## Neybulot (Dec 9, 2008)

-Lucario- said:


> Probably guessing he was implying that you don't have the right to call people lazy since you didn't even bother to finish up reading his post. Other then that *shrugs*.



I think he did. Because I read all of his post over again and just refers to him not being lazy. I read the whole thing when he accused me of not. He must have misread my post when I was trying to get across that there are people out there that are unlike him which are lazy and don't want to learn Japanese.

EDIT: (Too many edits. Stupid me being up at 4AM.)


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## Tatsuyoujo (Dec 9, 2008)

*IT DEPENDS!*

Both are useless if done poorly.


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## whiteskunk (Dec 11, 2008)

Neybulot said:


> Where in my post did I call you lazy?



The part of my original post about leaving the stuff "raw" was sarcasm. Not meant for real. Also, there are other languages besides English and Japanese.
Other countries distribute their movie, tv shows and animation globally as well.

This topic (dub or sub) is one I have seen at other website forums. It up to the individual what they prefer.


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## Tazzin (Dec 11, 2008)

Even though I can't speak it, I really like how the Japanese language sounds, so subtitled for me.


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