Forum - View topicSurvey: How do you prefer to watch anime?
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Mad_Scientist
 SubscriberModerator  Posts: 3011 |
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I chose "no opinion" for sub vs dub, but that's not entirely accurate. Assuming equal quality and perfect translation for both, it depends on the setting of the series. There are two basic rules that usually apply for me:
If the series takes place in Japan, or in a fantasy world that is clearly based on Japan, I usually prefer subs. If the series takes place in an English speaking country, or in a fantasy world that is cleary based on an English speaking country, I usually prefer dubs. If the series takes place in neither, well, it varies. Claymore isn't based on any specific country, but it's in a fantasy world with medieval influences on it, so I suspect I'd prefer the dub. (I haven't heard it yet, though, so I might find I don't like the acting as much as the Japanese. I've read that the dub is pretty good though.) Cowboy Bebop, a Sci-Fi series with a multiculture setting, I've only heard dubbed, and even though I have the DVDs, I haven't even bothered to watch it subbed yet. I know Cowboy Bebop is a series I'd prefer dubbed. Can't say precisely why, though. Now, Eureka Seven is another Sci-Fi series, rather different though, with some fantasy elements. In this case, I've seen good chunks of it both subbed and dubbed, and I don't think the dub's voices are as good as the sub's. But even if they were, I'd still prefer it subbed. Even though Eureka Seven has a lot of influences that definitely are not Japanese, there's something about it that makes the Japanese language fit it better, at least to me. I don't know, maybe it's the giant transforming robots flying through the sky on what are essentially surfboards. Last edited by Mad_Scientist on Mon Nov 10, 2008 11:31 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Gewürtztraminer
 Posts: 1028 Location: Texas - Its like whole other country. |
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I prefer dubs if one is available, it allows a degree of multitasking and interruption that subbed does not.
That being said, I have no problem with sub only series, many of my favorite series from the past year have been sub only. The people who denied themselves Simoun, Marimite, Aria, and Kashimashi for lack of a dub truly missed out. Maybe it is just the Yuri, but it just seems to work better subbed. I watch most anime from DVD on my computer, it is just easier, and my computer's sound system is better than what I have on my Sony HD 40 inch. The computer dvd does have issues with mistreated rental discs from time to time, but the dvd on the tv can save this most of the time. I buy or rent the vast majority of anime I watch. I did catch the youtube release of Tower of Druaga, and will own it if it ever comes out. I do follow the adult swim website releases of anime as well. I also Tivo just about all anime available via Directv. I burn these off on dvd at low quality (10 episodes per dvd), to watch and make a buying decision on. 90 percent of the time the decision is buy, mainly for the better picture and sound. |
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fuuma_monou
 Posts: 1827 Location: Quezon City, Philippines |
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My preferences are Japanese dub (w/ subtitles), Tagalog dub, then English dub. For some reason most English-dubbed anime sounds "forced" to me. Japanese and Tagalog are phonetically similar, being distant linguistic cousins, which I guess makes matching lip-flaps easier. Mind Tagalog dubs translated from English-dub scripts are usually horrible (Voltron, Transformers).
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nagashi
Posts: 78 Location: michigan |
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Subs only, fansubs over dvds if possible (and it nearly always is), and on a computer screen (usually my laptop) over any tv or portable device.
I can get a high def copy with a good translation with no drm/restriction of any kind in under 15 minutes now with my internet connection, and the industry can pry that from my cold dead hands. |
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Big Hed
 Posts: 1607 Location: Melbourne, Australia |
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Preferred audio: Dub
Preferred medium: DVD Preferred viewing cycle: Single day/night marathon The reality of how I watch most stuff: Subtitled fansub releases, either on a weekly basis (read: whenever the groups actually release something, which often takes longer than a week), or in small chunks due to scheduling limitations. My preferred/nominal viewing methods are essentially the same; fansubs are watched on my 26" LCD via laptop, while DVDs are watched on my 26" LCD via DVD player. I think that a lot of people aren't answering the first question honestly, judging by the results. If you've got the choice between a Japanese dub with subtitles or an alternate language dub with absolute translation fidelity and equal acting quality, then the latter should be the natural choice since you don't have to read subtitles and can spend more time focusing on the actual eye candy. Obviously this doesn't apply to people that watch raws (read: have sufficient comprehension of Japanese to understand them), in which case I can understand the choice of listening to a show in the language it was produced; having said that, I would personally still tend to watch a show in my native language given that choice, because I think I'd have a better understanding. Exceptions to my dub preference: as Mad_Scientist said, for series that have a distinctly Japanese setting, I generally prefer to watch subs. Very few shows fall into this category for me, though. Even a show like ef - a tale of memories -- which is partially set in a Japanese city -- I would prefer to watch dubbed under this criterion. |
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penguintruth
 Posts: 8474 Location: Penguinopolis |
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I have to laugh at the people who have the attitude of, "I don't want to read and watch, I don't care if the dub is inferior." Is it that tough to follow subtitles? If you watch enough subtitled anime, it becomes like second nature, you don't even notice that you have to read.
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nagashi
Posts: 78 Location: michigan |
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Can't say I agree. First off, anime *tends* to take place in Japan, or star japanese people. The fact that in an english dub they're NOT speaking Japanese is inappropriate. If I'm watching a French movie that takes place in France starring French people, I'm sure as heck going to watch it with the French audio, and I don't see why that would be any different for anime. This is coming from a life long dub hater though, so an anime having an english dub with a cast of equal quality is an extreme hypothetical to me anyhow 
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posterior_praiser
 Posts: 296 |
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mostly fansubs for the quick fix, then dvd boxsets later if i like the series. i prefer sub in all cases. only a few dubs have really wowed me, most of them being recent ones. Usually watch in 1-4 episode blocks, depending on how into the show i am.
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LuckySeven
 Posts: 585 Location: Georgia, USA |
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People have their own preferences, just because it isn't what you prefer doesn't mean that its wrong. |
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Top Gun
 Posts: 4653 |
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I've watched at least a decent amount of fansubs (including 200 episodes and counting of One Piece), and I'm still noticing that I have to read every single time I glance down at the edge of the screen. To me, the fact that I read quickly enough to do so is irrelevant; in my mind, anything that distracts me from taking in the entirety of what's going on in a scene is detrimental to my enjoyment of it. |
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Ambrogino
 Posts: 57 Location: York, England |
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I'm another who think's there should be a "Computer connected to TV" option for viewing.
I put a dub preference, purely because it's nigh on impossible to follow something "in the background" with subs. If I'm going to actively watch something then it's much of a muchness, but if I want something on in the background while I do something else, it's gonna have to be in English. |
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Shadowrun20XX
 Posts: 1935 Location: Vegas |
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Disney Movies are another example,that do not have an English dub,when the original language track was recorded in English.Another example is when MadMax came to the U.S. it was dubbed over in English.The original track was Australian.You wouldn't count the Australian track as a dub.Same with anime,anime doesn't have an Japanese Dub when it was recorded in Japanese.Saying it was Japanese dubbed is saying the Japanese recorded over the Japanese track with Japanese. I came from a time where the two tracks sold for different prices,and if you wanted to hear them,you had to buy one,the other or both.Saying anime has a Japanese "dub" is probably a generational thing. |
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FlashFumo
 Posts: 16 |
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I buy the official DVD releases when I can but otherwise I have to venture to the shady world of fansubbing. I rarely watch anime in one sitting , though I did marathon Higurashi/Kai but that was a special case. If they did a good job on the dub (Haruhi for example) I watch the dub. If not (FMP? could have been better) I have it on Japanese.
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posterior_praiser
Posts: 296 |
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Agreed, not just for anime, but foreign films as well. Unless someone has a vision problem, I don’t see how the subtitles are that big a deal. It takes a bit of getting used to, but now I don't notice that I’m reading when I watch. It's a preference though. What bugs me is people who are totally xenophobic about foreign films though. Anime fans usually aren't, but there are plenty of people who don’t want to sit though a foreign language film just cause it's foreign. Heaven forbid that people speak languages other than English. |
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Haterater
 Posts: 1727 |
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Its the technical term of what dub means which can be recording in general. Like when live action shows that have the on screen actors do the "physical" work while their voice is done by someone else, but its still produced by the same region. Star Wars for example with Dark Vadar. For the anime world, its most commonly used for any track other than the original. I guess some peeps are just getting more technical with their definitions. |
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