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Anime Poll: Sub or Dub?

Sub or Dub?

  • Sub

    Votes: 54 63.5%
  • Dub

    Votes: 31 36.5%

  • Total voters
    85
18
Posts
11
Years
  • Seen Oct 17, 2013
Subs. For multiple reasons:

1.) Dubs tend to censor things (for example 4kids), so if you watch it subbed, you get a more mature version. Hell, the Japanese version of Hoshi no Kaabii can be mature at times.

2.) I'm learning Japanese, so listening to the language helps a lot. In fact, my Japanese teacher said it's very good to train your ears, and he even considers it to be studying.

3.) I usually perfer the original voices. A lot of dub voiced annoy me.

And if I can't find an anime subbed, I watch it RAW. I haven't watched an anime dub in, what, three years now?
 

Pppgggr

Cheese, for everyone!
198
Posts
12
Years
Subbed. Always. The American voice actors for every anime I've watched to date besides those for DBZ, FMA and Brotherhood, and Death Note, have been so bad that Anime isn't the same with them. I wouldn't have noticed the difference if I hadn't tried subs in the first place, but now that I've heard the Japanese actors, I'll be inable to go back. Some people say the American Actors these days are just as good, but that simply isn't true. Have you HEARD the American actors for Bleach? They make me wanna barf.
 

LividZephyr

Oxymoron, not a moron, thanks
445
Posts
11
Years
I prefer a dub because then I can understand what is being said. Having subtitles is basically like reading, and there are multi-layered thresholds of understanding for what exactly is going on - there's taking in the dialogue, the emotion, and the action all at the same time through three different methods - text, voice, and image respectively.

Sure, most seiyu are better than their American counterparts, but I care more about being able to understand everything and having a flow. Plus, some of the dubs are actually quite good. Not all I'm saying. The 4Kids dub of Pokemon had great voice acting... but as has been said, their censorship was confounding to no end. It's really a mixed bag, and given the little anime I watch, I'd prefer to understand it so I can keep up with it.
 

Treecko

the princess without voice
6,316
Posts
12
Years
I like both. If there's a dub available , I'll watch it but if not I'll find a subbed version. Though I hard time keeping up with subs cause I'm too busy reading, the original Japanese version is usually better in quality of voices and contain all the original content in tack. Though there are some really well done dubs. The dubs for Bleach, Soul Eater , The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzimiya and Lucky Star are good examples of really well done dubs. They have really good script writing and fitting voice actors, and in Lucky Star and Haruhi's case , retains most or alot of the Japanese culture and terminology used in the original. I prefer dubs that are more Japanese cause then I can learn about Japanese culture ,traditions and myths while watching an anime. So either is fine for me.
 
13,600
Posts
15
Years
  • Age 31
  • Seen Dec 11, 2023
These days I'll go for either except in some occasions where the dub is incredibly bad compared to the subs. But I like the idea of watching things on the TV instead of a computer screen. That said these days if there is an anime on netflix that I want to watch I'll watch it dubbed because (for the most part) that is what is on Netflix. Though if I watch things on the computer I tend to go for subs.

So .. yeah just depends on the factors involving what I want to watch.
 

Keiran

[b]Rock Solid[/b]
2,455
Posts
12
Years
Subbed, definitely. The quality is just so much better, and it only takes a split second to read so it doesn't distract at all.

99% of dubs are just..terrible. I was going through dubbed Naruto episodes recently to see how they handled scenes that would only make sense in Japanese, and it was just...wow. So bad. The script is also quite degraded and censored in most dubs. The only dub I found good enough to watch/buy DVDs of is FMA, but even then the sub is a lot better (which I've watched as well).
 
13,131
Posts
19
Years
I go for both. There are some I'll watch where I refuse to watch it dubbed because the voice actors are just...no, they just don't fit or just don't do a good job. No. So it's always subbed.

Although I think the last few series I watched I ended up watching dubbed and didn't mind it. It's usually with newer series that I don't mind watching dubs, since the quality (at least of the ones I've tended to watch) is much better than ones from years ago.

So...it really, really depends on the series for me. But I'll watch either as long as I can stand the voices.
 

Who's Kiyo?

puking rainbows
3,229
Posts
12
Years
I find subtitles way too bloody distracting from anything it's involved in, whether it be anime or movies in another language, etc. In an anime or film in general, it's all about imagery. You shouldn't have words to distract you from the picture, for the same reason you wouldn't want a TV blasting something next to your ear while trying to get into a good book. You would constantly keep having your ear be lulled into listening to the TV, and your attention flies away even when your eyes continue to go over the sentences.

Dubbed allows more ease for me, and I'll admit, you may lose a bit of substance through it, but it's a take your pick kind of thing. Would you like to miss the actual anime/film, or some of the script? Unless you're trained to watch subbed things or don't find it an issue for you, dubbed is the way to go. Hey, there's still a possibility the translators were faithful to the original script and you may get some half-decent voice actors.
 

Hannah

beep bop boop
1,150
Posts
11
Years
  • Age 23
  • Seen Nov 16, 2021
Sub, for the win! I absolutely hate dubs. Well, I guess not American dubs, but our own Filipino dubs. I dare you to search one. It's horrible. So I guess I prefer subs. Yeah.
 
22
Posts
11
Years
Subbed. The voices match what the animators were going for.

Also it takes a lot longer for the episodes to be released, obviously. For example, the Bleach dub is like 90 episodes behind.
 
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