sub vs dub

Cynic · Post by **Cynic** » Sun Jul 10, 2011 2:43 am

As a teenager, I was an adamant fansub guy. I would talk and talk about the difference between sub and dub translations. I even helped a small time group in looking up server space and stuff. I've since lost my interest in anime. I'll still watch my favorites again. Netflix's collection ofg anime is definitely awesome but they don't carry subs on most of them.

So I've been watching Ghost in the shell dubbed into english. I used to be a snob and watch my anime dvds by turning on the japanese and using english subtitles.

One of the things that drew me to the fansub community was the idea that more effort was put into finding a proper translation rather than what was found in many of the official english dubs.

So does the gap between fansub quality and the official dub quality still exist? I don't feel like renting the dvds but it just seems wrong to watch ghost in teh shell in English. But, I'm not sure if this is just a kneejerk reaction to my old attitude or if fansubs still have (or ever had) greater merit?

Leress · Post by **Leress** » Sun Jul 10, 2011 2:50 am

The short answer is: no. There are still some anime that will have poor dubs but the quality has gone up since the 90's. Now fansubs still have merit since they do animes that would most likely never come to the US (like candy boy, chocolate underground, etc)

Kaelik · Post by **Kaelik** » Sun Jul 10, 2011 2:54 am

I hate most voice actors, so I find it to be useful to have subs, but that's a separate issue. Quality wise, it's a lot better than it use to be, but the voice actors are still kinda shitty, and don't provide proper emphasis. It's not the translation quality so much as the failure of voice actors.

CatharzGodfoot · Post by **CatharzGodfoot** » Sun Jul 10, 2011 2:57 am

IMO it's all about the voice actors. If the dub has good voice actors for the characters, then go with it. This includes Ghost in the Shell. Otherwise watch it subbed. It's only rare that something really egregious happens, like the Ghost in the Shell remake/remastering using a female voice actor for the Singularitarian mind.

If the original voices are terrible too, you're fucked either way. With subs you can at least watch it on mute or something.

Maxus · Post by **Maxus** » Sun Jul 10, 2011 3:47 am

It depends on the anime, it truly does.

F'rinstance, the English dub of YuYu Hakusho is a lot snappier and better-written and pokes a little fun at itself. The Japanese is a lot of serious stating the obvious.

I know this because a lot of the subs of Hakusho have a direction translation of the Japanese, so you can compare line-by-line.

Personally, I use the dubs because most of the anime I watch is shonen and I've staring at the bottom of the screen, I miss what's happening. I still turn subs on, usually, mind you, but if I can I have a dub. Because if English voice acting can be grossly exaggerated, the Japanese is usually even moreso.

Count Arioch the 28th · Sun Jul 10, 2011 4:01 am

I think they should find the women they get to dub female voices in anime and hand them injunctions preventing them from ever doing voice acting again.

I don't often watch anime but I watch foreign movies semi-regularly. And I prefer subtitles over dubs, I find dubs distracting when their lips don't match the dialog.

Josh_Kablack · Post by **Josh_Kablack** » Sun Jul 10, 2011 6:08 am

It depends

If I am going to be drinking while watching, or am watching on a small screen and/or without my glasses - dubbed is better.

If I am going to be in a room full of noisy otaku, subbed is better.

If I have previously watched subbed episodes of the anime in question, then the different voices and occasional attempts at localization of dialects can be jarring enough to be a major turn off. But if I watch the whole thing dubbed, then I'm used to characters talking like that.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sun Jul 10, 2011 8:54 am

CatharzGodfoot wrote:IMO it's all about the voice actors. If the dub has good voice actors for the characters, then go with it. This includes Ghost in the Shell. Otherwise watch it subbed. It's only rare that something really egregious happens, like the Ghost in the Shell remake/remastering using a female voice actor for the Singularitarian mind.

If the original voices are terrible too, you're fucked either way. With subs you can at least watch it on mute or something.

This, pretty much. Though lately I've preferred dubs because I almost never just watch something, I typically watch while working on something.

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Sun Jul 10, 2011 11:53 am

I used to be picky about subs only (final destination), but these days, if it's just on in the background instead of actively watching it (reasonably often) or if I'm tired, I prefer to use my ears to know what they're saying.

Then again, most anime I watch is downloaded, not yet officially released in the West, so the only option is subs, and it's nice to try any series in subs first just to get an idea what the original voices were like.

For what it's worth, for every NiS/Gust game that has the option, I set voices to Japanese. Sounds so much better, and that goes double for when Laharl is on screen. He is extremely annoying at the best of times, never mind in English where it seems they get an actual 13yo boy (the single most annoying variety of human) to do the speaking/shouting/fake laughing.

My housemate can't understand this (the hate of Laharl OR the preferring Japanese voices), then again:
A. He is wrong about everything, from How WoD Rules Work to "If you have to hunt whales, is it better to do the harpoon+lance combo or electroharpoon them?"
B. He hates girly things and has an obsession with GrimDark and Hardcore. So Atelier Rorona irritates him more in Japanese, because Rorona sounds properly girly.

Maj · Post by **Maj** » Sun Jul 10, 2011 10:41 pm

My preference is to watch a subbed anime because I speak enough Japanese that sometimes I can catch subtlety that doesn't translate, but like Prak, I work on things while I watch TV, so I'll watch a decently dubbed anime. I thought the voices for Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler were well done, but Naruto was so bad it was an entirely different show in Japanese.

Really, if you get the story without voices that make you want to throw your television out the window, dub is OK. Minor translation differences really shouldn't have a major effect on the overarching plots.

Prak · Post by **Prak** » Sun Jul 10, 2011 11:13 pm

I'm sad that the american voice actors and translators for Naruto are so terrible. Of course the show itself isn't much better, so...

Lago PARANOIA · Post by **Lago PARANOIA** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 3:59 am

I prefer dubs of comedic series or series that lean towards the comedic. Yu Yu Hakusho is one of those series where I prefer the dub f'instance. I couldn't imagine watching Golden Boy or City Hunter undubbed. Because unlike drama, jokes are usually funnier when they're worked on in committee. This is why MSTings are funnier when it's a large writing crew working on the entire fanfic than having portions of the fanfic distributed to each person. It's also why Kefka is probably the second-most memorable Final Fantasy villain in the States even though in Japan he's nothing special.

Neeeek · Post by **Neeeek** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 5:44 am

I generally go with dubs because I find most Japanese female voice actors gratingly high and most Japanese male voice actors ridiculously low. So finding a volume that I can listen to subs is generally impossible. If women in the US talked like Japanese VAs do, I probably kill them, then myself.

This was actually a problem when I was trying to learn Japanese. I couldn't play any of the audio tapes, because I either couldn't hear the men or couldn't stand (and, for that matter, understand) the women.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 1:21 pm

Over here in germany, we have the problem that we basically have 20 people doing ALL anime dubs for TV it seems . .
So yes, you will hear the same voices in basically all different character sets again and again . .

Usually, i go with subs rather than dubs . .
But for the Wolverine/Iron Man Anime, i'll go with dubs, preferably american ones, because the japanese voices simply do not fit the characters <.<

Koumei · Post by **Koumei** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 1:25 pm

Stahlseele wrote:Over here in germany, we have the problem that we basically have 20 people doing ALL anime dubs for TV it seems . .
So yes, you will hear the same voices in basically all different character sets again and again . .

It was like that for English dubs for a while - see: Crispin Freeman, Lisa Ortiz, Spike Spencer

JigokuBosatsu · Post by **JigokuBosatsu** » Mon Jul 11, 2011 2:50 pm

Yeah, if you only watch subs then you miss out on Stephen Blum and Richard Epcar...

Fuchs · Post by **Fuchs** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 8:09 am

Subs only.

erik · Post by **erik** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 1:05 pm

Subs usually. I find most dubs to be so bad that they distract me from the movie. It does stink sometimes if I want to watch a movie and do something else at the same time since subs require constant full attention.

Stahlseele · Post by **Stahlseele** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 2:25 pm

One of the few cases where the german dub was okay was sailor moon actually. . we got the japanese names in our native tongue. Pronounciation was correct too!

sabs · Post by **sabs** » Tue Jul 12, 2011 2:26 pm

I like French Anime Dubs. Though they did tend to use the same people for the various voices.