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Dubs or Subtitles?


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Otaku-Sensei



Joined: 01 Dec 2005
Posts: 54
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 8:57 am Reply with quote
personally i like subtitles better but in some cases the subs are better. one dubbed anime that i thought was great was the fruits basket series. Which one do you prefer?
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Alex K.



Joined: 18 Mar 2006
Posts: 247
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 9:14 am Reply with quote
PLEASE GOD NO. WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER THREAD LIKE THIS.

Threads like this always turn into an "LOLDUBSUCK4KIDSBUTCHERSANIME" debate.

But if you must know, I prefer dubs. Well, MOST dubs. There are some truly horrific ones, like the 4Kids stuff and most of the stuff from Central Park Media. I like dubs better because I understand the language, can recognize voices, and I don't like to read subtitles (not that it's hard for me or anything). But everyone has their own preference. I just hate those purist otaku nerds who think they're "elite" in some way and believe that anyone who likes dubs "doesn't know better" and isn't a "true anime fan."
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Maken Buster



Joined: 30 Mar 2006
Posts: 104
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 9:17 am Reply with quote
Back in the day, I prefered dubs but these days I love subs. It's hard to keep up with them after a few beers (for me, anyway), though. Although, same with HK flicks, I know I'm missing some of the inside jokes that only a fluent practitioner would pick up, but I try not to think about that.
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Enjeru



Joined: 04 Apr 2006
Posts: 221
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 9:24 am Reply with quote
I watch and like both. So I am not going to spout of about which is better. I believe it is all about preference, and nothing more. Each have their own pros and cons. Every series I own or have ever owned I have watched in both unless Dub was not provided.
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fighterholic



Joined: 28 Sep 2005
Posts: 9193
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 10:24 am Reply with quote
Alex K. wrote:
PLEASE GOD NO. WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER THREAD LIKE THIS.

Threads like this always turn into an "LOLDUBSUCK4KIDSBUTCHERSANIME" debate.

And the battle goes on Wink
Personally I like original Japanese versions without the dubs or the subs. Obviously because I can understand what's being said. Dubs sometimes tend to, as mentioned above, butcher the anime. Although sometimes they turn out to make more funny (I don't see where, but).
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Keonyn
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Joined: 25 May 2005
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 10:29 am Reply with quote
I sense a disturbance in the force.

I'll make it short and sweet and non-aggressive. I prefer dubs when the dubs are of sufficient quality, which I find to be the case more often than not in modern times. I make it a point to watch both but simply prefer the voices and language that is more natural to me. The translations are rarely 100% spot on, but to do so would likely make it sound like someone reading an instruction manual than acting so I don't mind, so long as the intent and the feel of the series is maintained.

There are some I watch sub only because the dub failed in my eyes, Crest of the Stars and Akira to name two, but when the dub is of decent quality I will choose it instead. As for "butchering", I just don't see that on any common basis aside from anime redone for television broadcast, we all know the ones.
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Zalis116
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Joined: 31 Mar 2005
Posts: 6883
Location: Kazune City
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 10:35 am Reply with quote
Alex K. wrote:
PLEASE GOD NO. WE DON'T NEED ANOTHER THREAD LIKE THIS.
Well, I suppose it's been awhile since we've had one of these threads...'tis best to attempt to keep things civil. When I started watching anime three years ago, I was all about the subs (started collecting series with bad dubs like Sailor Moon & Love Hina), and I still watch subs the majority of the time. This is because I enjoy Japanese and can understand it well enough to pick up many of the jokes and cultural elements. (And it IS possible to recognize VAs in Japanese, for better or for worse *thinks of Futari Ecchi* (shoot it'll be hard to look at Love Hina & Snow Fairy Sugar thse same way...))
However, dubs have gotten much better in the last 3-4 years, and I always watch at least few episodes of a series dubbed, just to "give it a chance," if I don't decide to watch the whole series dubbed. So, no one's any more or less of a fan for liking one or the other--in a perfect world, hardcore dub fans would watch a series subbed from time to time, just to get a feel for the original language, and the purist otaku nerds would watch a few series dubbed so that they can see that not every company is like 4kids. Maybe that way, these threads wouldn't turn into flame wars.
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Azathrael



Joined: 12 Sep 2005
Posts: 745
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 10:52 am Reply with quote
Even without considering the unbearable quality of most dubs, I prefer subs because I'm currently planning to learn Japanese and I've acquired a lexicon of about 500 words just from memorizing common words that constantly appear in anime. Greetings are basics; I can even make simple sentences using the words I know by applying Korean grammar, which is exactly the same as Japanese. And I'm a huge fan of Japanese seiyuus, especially female ones. :P
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greatdevourer



Joined: 13 Apr 2006
Posts: 39
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 11:00 am Reply with quote
Subs where necessery, as most dubs are awful (but some are OK. What I don't understand is when the subs and the dubs are completely different...)
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LydiaDianne



Joined: 28 Jan 2006
Posts: 5634
Location: Southern California
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 11:52 am Reply with quote
I enjoy both. I, too, have noticed that the quality of the dubs have improved a great, great deal over the past two or three years. So both are enjoyable to me.

Some of the anime that I have I do not usually watch in dub format: i.e. Sailor Moon S & Sailor Moon SuperS. I just can't stand the dubs. I'm able to tolerate the dubs of the first two but the second two...bleech! Some of the one-liners they came up with when the Senshi first appear in each episode...Good Grief!

I think some of the best dubs I've seen recently have been Witch Hunter Robin, Fullmetal Alchemist & Saiyuki (ADV). Those I feel have the best dub script written not to mention superb voice actors.

As probably mentioned on previous threads, without quality voice actors, (and it can be a quality actor even if it's their first VA job) the dub will suck toilet water.
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Enjeru



Joined: 04 Apr 2006
Posts: 221
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 12:13 pm Reply with quote
An outstanding point was made in the fact that dubs have gotten a lot better over the years. In the mid to late 90's, they did make my ears bleed. However you have to remember that this was still a new industry to America and it would have been hard to convince someone with an acting backround to get themselves involved in a project like that.
And speaking of which is more "correct", one would have to remember that Japanese and English do not directly translate into each other. It doesn't matter if it is spoken or typed. I would be much happier to see subjects like this involve people talking about preference rather than talking down on one side or the other. All it does is cause needless fights.
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Azathrael



Joined: 12 Sep 2005
Posts: 745
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 12:31 pm Reply with quote
Enjeru wrote:
An outstanding point was made in the fact that dubs have gotten a lot better over the years. In the mid to late 90's, they did make my ears bleed. However you have to remember that this was still a new industry to America and it would have been hard to convince someone with an acting backround to get themselves involved in a project like that.
And speaking of which is more "correct", one would have to remember that Japanese and English do not directly translate into each other. It doesn't matter if it is spoken or typed. I would be much happier to see subjects like this involve people talking about preference rather than talking down on one side or the other. All it does is cause needless fights.


Speaking of translations, why is it that a money-making company can't hire a half-decent translator compared to a volunteer college student making translations for fansubs? I'm always disappointed by dub translations - there are a lot of meanings taken out and a lot of American expressions substituted that does not really give the anime its original (and most of the times better) feel. I guess substituting American jokes in place of Japanese jokes would be one example, but I'm not talking about Americanization here; I'm talking about either not (or forget?) translating or mistranslating.
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Enjeru



Joined: 04 Apr 2006
Posts: 221
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 12:44 pm Reply with quote
Speaking of translations, why is it that a money-making company can't hire a half-decent translator compared to a volunteer college student making translations for fansubs? I'm always disappointed by dub translations - there are a lot of meanings taken out and a lot of American expressions substituted that does not really give the anime its original (and most of the times better) feel. I guess substituting American jokes in place of Japanese jokes would be one example, but I'm not talking about Americanization here; I'm talking about either not (or forget?) translating or mistranslating.[/quote]


Well if you notice most companies like ADV use translators who are from Japan. Also most of the time part of the agreement for an anime to licensed in the US is the english script has top be aproved by the creators of the series.
Also, unless you are fluent in Japanese......how do you really know that the fansubbers are even right? I have only been taking Japanese for a little of 3 years and I can with my limited vocabulary I cn tell you that they are not even close to 100%.
In terms of cultural jokes, even people who have been watching anime for a while would not get these jokes. Thus minor changes are made to make the show flow smoother.
Again, I am not saying one is better than the other. I actually like subs and dubs about 50/50. There are a lot of shows where both are good, some where I dont like the dub, and some where I dont like the sub.
It's all about preference baby. Wink
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Azathrael



Joined: 12 Sep 2005
Posts: 745
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 1:21 pm Reply with quote
Enjeru wrote:

Well if you notice most companies like ADV use translators who are from Japan. Also most of the time part of the agreement for an anime to licensed in the US is the english script has top be aproved by the creators of the series.
Also, unless you are fluent in Japanese......how do you really know that the fansubbers are even right? I have only been taking Japanese for a little of 3 years and I can with my limited vocabulary I cn tell you that they are not even close to 100%.
In terms of cultural jokes, even people who have been watching anime for a while would not get these jokes. Thus minor changes are made to make the show flow smoother.
Again, I am not saying one is better than the other. I actually like subs and dubs about 50/50. There are a lot of shows where both are good, some where I don't like the dub, and some where I don't like the sub.
It's all about preference baby. Wink


I don't have to be fluent in Japanese; I'm fluent in Korean. Most words I can immediately recognize its derivative in Chinese then translate into Korean. An example I gave before was "unmei" which means "fate" in Japanese. In Korean, it's "un myoung", with the "un" part pronounced exactly the same. I also deduce which Japanese word spoken refers to which english text given by eliminating common words. That's how I'm currently learning more words right now. I hope this is enough bragging to convince you that I know enough to say that the fansubbers are doing a fantastic job, if not a perfect job, in comparison to dubs. I can go and browse through anime dubs, find specific scenes where phrases are lacking translation or mistranslated, and give an entire list of examples. But even without all that I'm sure there are people who agree with me, because they've experienced the same thing.

I'm not taking into account the matter of preference for subs or dubs; I am simply presenting what I've experienced from my viewing of anime in both sub and dub from an objective view. I posted my opinionated view of dubs vs subs in my first post.

As for cultural references, I believe I already said that I'm not talking about Americanization.

More:

So why would companies like ADV hire translators from Japan when the audience are American who are more fluent in English? Is it really that hard to organize a system that would allow a better translation, when fansub groups have been doing the exact same thing? I'm not really looking for an answer here, it'd be the wrong place unless a representative of one of the dubbing companies visited here. But I think it was worth mentioning that dub translations are often poor compared to fansubs, when dub translators are getting paid to do so while fansubbers are not.


Last edited by Azathrael on Wed Apr 19, 2006 1:27 pm; edited 1 time in total
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omar235



Joined: 02 Apr 2006
Posts: 1572
Location: Florida, Jacksonvile
PostPosted: Wed Apr 19, 2006 1:22 pm Reply with quote
so very very true, it is all about someones preference. But I personally like dub anime more than sub (depending on the anime series). Like FMA was dubbed really well but love hina wasnt. As for the cultural joke changes, you see there are just some jokes that a non-Japanese person would not get, so they had to change the way the joke was worded (sometimes keeping the same meaning the joke oringinally had) so it would be funny to us. Im sure this works both ways.
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