Subtitled/Subbed or English Dubbed anime (aka Subs vs. Dubs v2)

SheasonDuerulo said:
I started with dubs. I can't keep a straight face with Bleach/FMAB, but I found the dubs for Fairy Tail and Angel Beats to be pretty good. However, I've found as I tried subs, I prefer them over English version. I agree that the Japanese VA is better.

I don't think it's wrong to make dubs more mainstream in an attempt to make more money, but that doesn't mean the quality compared to the original version won't suffer. In fact, it may be cliche, but a lot is lost in translation. It's not the same as translating from German or French; languages that heavily influenced English and often have literal translations. Japanese and English are incredibly different languages, with their own quirks and conventions. English approximations of original phrases can inherently sound strange because the situation is written for a different language that functions slightly differently.

That said, I think that's why Pixar movies and Fox cartoons have higher quality VA. Not because of budget, but because the original script is written in English. If you can overlook that and not think the dub sounds almost ridiculous set to the video, then that's your cup of tea. But personally, even if I can't understand the language completely, I can pick up on it enough to where it just sounds more right.

gamer2710 said:
You're making it seem as if the end result should be different. The processes may be different from how original voice overs are done versus how redubs are done (except with anime in Japanese, surprisingly, because they actually do their original voice overs after the animation), but that doesn't necessarily mean the end product of both should be totally different. They are two different methods, sure, but they don't have two different purposes. The purpose of redubbing anime into English is no different from the purpose of making any other original English media: to sell entertainment to the English-speaking audience. The difference in the methods by which both use to achieve the end product shouldn't mean that we should accept one product to be different from the other because with a budget that has even a modest portion of Disney's, the quality of anime English dubs would definitely be on par with other English works that use a different method of voice overs.

mattbenz99 said:
also you found the angel beats and fairy tail dub to be good but the bleach and fma dub bad? lol i am not sure if troll or not

SheasonDuerulo said:
I started with dubs. I can't keep a straight face with Bleach/FMAB, but I found the dubs for Fairy Tail and Angel Beats to be pretty good.

IntroverTurtle said:
Yeah he has a different opinion than me, not sure if troll.

mattbenz99 said:
subs still translate the show so you still lose something in translation when you read subs. also you found the angel beats and fairy tail dub to be good but the bleach and fma dub bad? lol i am not sure if troll or not

mattbenz99 said:
i have never heard anyone ever say that the fairy tail dub was better than fma before while being serious

IntroverTurtle said:
Still doesn't mean he's a troll. It's been said in this forum many more times that SAO is bad than the Fairy Tail dub was bad, would you call someone a troll who likes SAO? I don't think so. It's just whenever someone disagrees with your opinion on which dubs are good you call trolls.

mattbenz99 said:
that is why i said i am not sure. it sounds like something a troll would say but i am not entirely sure.

Lanik said:

You expressed your disbelief to the guy in a negative way, implying that you think Angel Beats and Fairy Tail are terrible in English, even though you like dubs.

Lanik said:

You expressed your disbelief to the guy in a negative way, implying that you think Angel Beats and Fairy Tail are terrible in English, even though you like dubs.

miereneronaile said:
You know, are there ANY dubs that just sound like... people talking? Every single one ive heard sounds like people acting.

Suggestions?

mattbenz99 said:
i will say the same thing about subs.

miereneronaile said:


Spend a lot of time around Japanese nationals just talking to eachother, do you?

(I suspect you are right, of course, but its totally unrelated to my question.)

mattbenz99 said:
no but last year there was like 20 japanese exchange students in my grade so i have a pretty good idea on how japanese sounds and it is not like in anime.

miereneronaile said:


I dont really think that qualifies as having a solid understanding of what Japanese people just talking to eachother sounds like, but it is still not the point.

I asked for English examples, not people saying noone does it in Japanese either.

mattbenz99 said:
wait where did you ask me that?

miereneronaile said:
You know, are there ANY dubs that just sound like... people talking? Every single one ive heard sounds like people acting.

Suggestions?

mattbenz99 said:
wait where did you ask me that?

miereneronaile said:


In the... first part of this quote?

'Are there ANY dubs that just sound like people talking'

That was what I was talking about. I was wondering if there were any English dubs that were even remotely natural sounding. Like people really talk. Then you said that all subs sounded the same way(though I imagine you actually meant all original Japanese voices because it has nothing at all to do with the subs themselves)

mattbenz99 said:
i have never heard anyone ever say that the fairy tail dub was better than fma before while being serious

miereneronaile said:
You know, are there ANY dubs that just sound like... people talking? Every single one ive heard sounds like people acting.

Suggestions?

Lanik said:

How the fuck would talking rather than acting resolve anything? You don't make sense. There are many people who say the English VA's can't act and refuses to watch dubs.

miereneronaile said:


Ok, I had a much less friendly reply posted and decided to get rid of it.

Ill try and reply in a nicer way.

I really dont understand what was hard to understand about what I said though.

Most anime involve a lot of talking, and I do not feel that any dub I have seen does a good job of making it feel like its two people really talking. I feel that it always feels VERY clearly like two people acting out a script, and generally doing a really poor job of actually feeling like people talking.

Does that make it clearer? I was asking if there were any examples of dubs that sounded like the actors were naturally talking instead of it being abundantly clear they were simply acting. You know, like a really good actor would do.

Btw, I am not quite sure you made any sense at all when you started talking about people saying english vas cant act. I dont see how it was related to what I said at all. More specifically, even if its loosely related mentioning that other people say it is basically AGREEING with me.. Yea..

Lanik said:

What you just described was natural acting, and there are some voice artists that have the experience and the talent to pull that off, like Steve Blum and Brina Palencia. If you're looking for dubs with natural-sounding voice acting, then try out mature shows like Cowboy Bebop and Baccano.

miereneronaile said:


Yes, its natural acting.. and it sounds like people 'just talking' as opposed to sounding like people acting. Which is why what I said did actually make sense. Anyway, thanks for answering properly once you understood what I meant.

Ive listened to a fair bit of bebop dubbed. Its probably the closest to a dub I would consider actually 'good' of the ones ive seen.

SheasonDuerulo said:
I started with dubs. I can't keep a straight face with Bleach/FMAB, but I found the dubs for Fairy Tail and Angel Beats to be pretty good. However, I've found as I tried subs, I prefer them over English version. I agree that the Japanese VA is better.

I don't think it's wrong to make dubs more mainstream in an attempt to make more money, but that doesn't mean the quality compared to the original version won't suffer. In fact, it may be cliche, but a lot is lost in translation. It's not the same as translating from German or French; languages that heavily influenced English and often have literal translations. Japanese and English are incredibly different languages, with their own quirks and conventions. English approximations of original phrases can inherently sound strange because the situation is written for a different language that functions slightly differently.

That said, I think that's why Pixar movies and Fox cartoons have higher quality VA. Not because of budget, but because the original script is written in English. If you can overlook that and not think the dub sounds almost ridiculous set to the video, then that's your cup of tea. But personally, even if I can't understand the language completely, I can pick up on it enough to where it just sounds more right.

Wecc said:


Dubs I think are OK:
Fate/Zero
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

Dubs I liked but think are bad:
Code Geass

gamer2710 said:
A loss in translation isn't inherently a quality that makes a product suffer. The reason it might seem that way is because of the expectation that the English voices and script sound more like the Japanese voices and script, assuming the viewer has even watched the Japanese version of the show. But to a viewer who is judging the English version on its own merits, it is more appropriate to compare the English voice acting and translation of the anime to other English works, including other English dubs. There really shouldn't be a standard set by a different language version of the same show because it is already a given that the script will be different from that different language.

I find it extremely hard to believe that the reason Pixar movies, US cartoons, and other original English works have higher quality voice acting is not because of the budget. I mean really, the budget is the biggest limiting factor here. Go ahead, tell me that this abomination came out and that the biggest reason it sucks isn't the budget. It's an original script written in English, so obviously the quality is going to be better than anime English dubs, right? The budget doesn't matter, right?

Aramaki23 said:
I am sure Sub is better and more true to what the creator envisioned

BallsOfShinji said:
Not really. To truly grasp that you would have to watch it raw as subs are translations too so undergo the same thing as dubs whereby some liberties have to be taken in order for people who do not understand Japanese to understand it

IntroverTurtle said:
Subs are closer to raw than dubs translation wise. The translations don't undergo the same thing, dubs are made to sell to ordinary people wherever while subs are meant for anime fans. Thus they localize less. And people who watch the subs can get the subtle (would you call it nuances) in how they address each other with suffixes and other culturally unique things.

Battlechili1 said:

Depends on the translation. Dubs can go anywhere from exact translations to very westernized.

Subtitles too depend upon who's doing the subtitles and how they do them.

Also some of those suffixes added in the Japanese versions of the shows actually wind up in the English versions too. Even in them sometimes things like "kun" and "san" and "chan" get added to the end of words. Happened in Durarara!! whenever Izaya and Shizuo were on screen. Shizu-chan was said even in English.

BallsOfShinji said:
Hmm It is still a translation nonetheless so has to take some liberties especially due to the massive difference in languages but I do see your point

Battlechili1 said:

Depends on the translation. Dubs can go anywhere from exact translations to very westernized.

Subtitles too depend upon who's doing the subtitles and how they do them.

Also some of those suffixes added in the Japanese versions of the shows actually wind up in the English versions too. Even in them sometimes things like "kun" and "san" and "chan" get added to the end of words. Happened in Durarara!! whenever Izaya and Shizuo were on screen. Shizu-chan was said even in English.

CurryRice said:
Follow your heart, and let it lead you onto the right path.

Emnay said:
Whatever the fuck you want, like it makes that much of a difference.