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Sub vs. Dub: My Argument


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JETBLACK87



Joined: 14 Apr 2002
Posts: 1073
PostPosted: Fri Sep 12, 2003 9:01 pm Reply with quote
in any debate there is usually one main argument that one person keeps going back to.

here is where I am on the Sub vs. Dub debate. I always watch the sub first. but I can sit through a dub if I have to.

anyway on to my main argument that I thought up. could you watch an Akira Kurosawa movie dubbed? I know I couldn't, and I'm sure that other people who watch anime dubs couldn't either. so what I want to know is, whats the difference? so the more I think about it the less i think I like dubs.

just want to know what you all think.

P.S. if you haven't seen a AK movie than "I curse you to the house of lamentation..."
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Delthayre



Joined: 05 Jan 2003
Posts: 414
Location: One of the good United States
PostPosted: Fri Sep 12, 2003 9:13 pm Reply with quote
First let us all take the fact that DVDs almost always have both tracks and thus nullify the argument as an accepted conceit so we don't have to keep going back to that instead of focusing on the main point of contention.

-segue-

First, since it's probably going to be mentioned anyway, I'll just link Ryan Matthew's argument for dubs right over yonder.

In Defense of Dubs
yonder

And I don't really like your comparison between Kurosawa and anime. Kurosawa worked in live action, wherein the voices on the dialogue tracks are generated in real time by the actors as they are performing. In anime, the visuals are recorded first (usually) and then the Japanese voices are dubbed onto the dialogue track after the fact. In short, they comparison doesn't add up because they're not the same thing (people on the internet have got to stop using analogies so much).

Hayao Miyazaki has said, "all animation is dubbed." So I think that English dubs can be near, equal, or greater in quality than the original Japanese dub. And given that my native tongue is English and animation is, more so than most TV and movies, a visually motivated medium, I prefer the English dub whenever feasible. I prefer subs only when the English dub is awful (i.e. most early to mid 90s dubs and Crest of the Stars), or the English voice acting, while competent, somehow fails to capture the important nuances of the dialogue (i.e. Grave of the Fireflies).
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lianncoop
Past ANN Contributor


Joined: 28 Jul 2003
Posts: 1705
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 12, 2003 9:31 pm Reply with quote
I am not an expert at watching anime or anything, but I don't really mind dubs that much. (allthough Sailor Moon dub = bad) There are some good ones out there, I'm sure. This has some good points too...
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Goshin



Joined: 27 Aug 2003
Posts: 288
Location: Illinois
PostPosted: Fri Sep 12, 2003 9:53 pm Reply with quote
The main thing I've noticed between the 2 is that in dubs u can enjoy the accents in the character voices. Hellsing is a perfect example of just that.If done properly it could turn out better than it's original japanese track.
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The Ramblin' Wreck



Joined: 07 Apr 2003
Posts: 924
Location: Teaching Robot Women How To Love
PostPosted: Sat Sep 13, 2003 12:51 am Reply with quote
^^

Agreed! Hellsing greatly benefited from English accents.
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor


Joined: 05 Jan 2002
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 13, 2003 10:36 am Reply with quote
I like dubs. I speak English. If something sounds good in English (and I am REALLY picky), I'll watch it English. If it doesn't, I'll watch it in Japanese.
I think being a 'purist' is stupid. To each his or her own, but some people just have asinine reasoning. Nine tenths of people who hate dubs don't know what good acting is and wouldn't be able to judge it even if they heard it. They're being mindlessly elitist; it's especially mindless when you consider that almost none of these jokers speak Japanese. Sometimes when I listen to the Japanese voice track, I can pick out bad acting (just listen to inflection, tone and line delivery) and I'd have to say that on average, the ratio of bad Japanese acting to bad English acting is about 1:1. Back at my old college anime club, I used to threaten them with dubs. They would all cringe and scream when I did that. Once or twice I showed dubs, and they cringed and so forth and made a big show out of hating even the good ones. They didn't know what they were looking for or even giving it a chance, they were just kneejerking for show. It was highly annoying. I think this is pretty common behavior among anime fans; exaggerated kneejerk reactions done solely to show off how truly elitist you are.

Ugh.
-Zac
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Tiresias



Joined: 14 Aug 2002
Posts: 353
Location: Illinois, USA
PostPosted: Sat Sep 13, 2003 10:55 am Reply with quote
I personally like either, but there are some that I'll refuse to watch the dub, like Inu Yasha. But dubs do have their place in our society. I was recently at our local rental store and was talking with a lady looking over the anime section with her 3 children. She brought up a good point, in her family, everything they watch has to be dubbed, since the youngest can't read the subs fast enough and gets frustrated, then no one enjoys it. With the advent of DVD, this has become a basically moot point, but some rental places. like ours, still have a rather extensive VHS collection, most of which are sub only. Not to mention the fact that many people like to be able to watch the show without having to worry about paying attention to both the words and the picture.
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Cassandra



Joined: 13 May 2002
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 13, 2003 12:54 pm Reply with quote
Zac wrote:
I like dubs. I speak English. If something sounds good in English (and I am REALLY picky), I'll watch it English. If it doesn't, I'll watch it in Japanese.
I think being a 'purist' is stupid. To each his or her own, but some people just have asinine reasoning. Nine tenths of people who hate dubs don't know what good acting is and wouldn't be able to judge it even if they heard it. They're being mindlessly elitist; it's especially mindless when you consider that almost none of these jokers speak Japanese. Sometimes when I listen to the Japanese voice track, I can pick out bad acting (just listen to inflection, tone and line delivery) and I'd have to say that on average, the ratio of bad Japanese acting to bad English acting is about 1:1. Back at my old college anime club, I used to threaten them with dubs. They would all cringe and scream when I did that. Once or twice I showed dubs, and they cringed and so forth and made a big show out of hating even the good ones. They didn't know what they were looking for or even giving it a chance, they were just kneejerking for show. It was highly annoying. I think this is pretty common behavior among anime fans; exaggerated kneejerk reactions done solely to show off how truly elitist you are.

Ugh.
-Zac


I completely and totally agree with Zac on this one.
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nyana



Joined: 14 Apr 2003
Posts: 93
PostPosted: Sat Sep 13, 2003 12:56 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
I like dubs. I speak English. If something sounds good in English (and I am REALLY picky), I'll watch it English. If it doesn't, I'll watch it in Japanese.
I think being a 'purist' is stupid. To each his or her own, but some people just have asinine reasoning. Nine tenths of people who hate dubs don't know what good acting is and wouldn't be able to judge it even if they heard it. They're being mindlessly elitist; it's especially mindless when you consider that almost none of these jokers speak Japanese. Sometimes when I listen to the Japanese voice track, I can pick out bad acting (just listen to inflection, tone and line delivery) and I'd have to say that on average, the ratio of bad Japanese acting to bad English acting is about 1:1. Back at my old college anime club, I used to threaten them with dubs. They would all cringe and scream when I did that. Once or twice I showed dubs, and they cringed and so forth and made a big show out of hating even the good ones. They didn't know what they were looking for or even giving it a chance, they were just kneejerking for show. It was highly annoying. I think this is pretty common behavior among anime fans; exaggerated kneejerk reactions done solely to show off how truly elitist you are.


I couldn't have said it better myself, its really disgusting to see all the wanna be elitist anime fans that praise the Japanese dubs just because its in Japanese. The only difference is that they can't understand the language so they are not able to realize that some Japanese dubs are just as horrid, and beleive me there are plenty of japanese dubs out there that can make you cringe just as bad or worse than an english dub would.
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Dan42
Chief Encyclopedist


Joined: 02 Jan 2002
Posts: 3791
Location: Montreal
PostPosted: Sat Sep 13, 2003 1:16 pm Reply with quote
Zac wrote:
I think this is pretty common behavior among anime fans; exaggerated kneejerk reactions done solely to show off how truly elitist you are.

http://www.rpgworldcomic.com/d/20030907.html
"You can tell I'm the biggest fan because I hate it more than anyone else!"

Now, concerning those bad Japanese dubs, could you give some examples? Sure there's plenty of overacting in anime, but I see that as a part of the Japanese culture, derived from Kabuki theatre or something like that. Japanese "doramas" are the same.
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JETBLACK87



Joined: 14 Apr 2002
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 13, 2003 1:24 pm Reply with quote
recently I've been watching more live-action foreign films than anime. and they don't give you a sub or dub choice. so most the the stuff I watch is sub. so I am really really used to it.
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Delthayre



Joined: 05 Jan 2003
Posts: 414
Location: One of the good United States
PostPosted: Sat Sep 13, 2003 2:05 pm Reply with quote
I grew up watching a lot of subtitled foreign films, and I still prefer live action subtitled. Animation, however, I I first saw dubbed into English, and I still prefer my anime (well) dubbed in English. So again, it may not entirely be a matter of what is better, rather, what we're used to.
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nyana



Joined: 14 Apr 2003
Posts: 93
PostPosted: Sat Sep 13, 2003 3:59 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
Sure there's plenty of overacting in anime, but I see that as a part of the Japanese culture, derived from Kabuki theatre or something like that. Japanese "doramas" are the same.


Overacting is one of the fundamental flaws of dubbing; often actors overcompensate to the fact that they are only voice-acting. this is a trait amongst many "bad" actors and over-acting is something the beginning actor finds difficult to overcome. If you are aware of the overacting on certain shows then you already know which shows have bad dubs. I really don't see the connection you try to make with kabuki?
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Masayume



Joined: 10 Jun 2003
Posts: 115
Location: Indiana
PostPosted: Sat Sep 13, 2003 5:22 pm Reply with quote
My simple outlook: Just watch what you like. If you like dubs watch them if you like subs watch them. Its all personal preference. You can argue and debate which is better all you want but its not gonna make any difference. I personally watch subs or raws. I'm not going to watch something in English where it was originally in Japanese. I like things in a semi-original state. That's just my personal preference.
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JETBLACK87



Joined: 14 Apr 2002
Posts: 1073
PostPosted: Sat Sep 13, 2003 5:31 pm Reply with quote
Dan42 wrote:
Now, concerning those bad Japanese dubs, could you give some examples? Sure there's plenty of overacting in anime, but I see that as a part of the Japanese culture, derived from Kabuki theatre or something like that. Japanese "doramas" are the same.


and look at Toshiro Mifune.
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