The Sub vs. Dub Debate: Do Dubs Sound "Wrong" To You?

Oct 17, 2019 3:35 PM

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Feb 2019

102

To be honest, I really dislike subbed voice acting. Now not all of the acting is bad, but most of it just makes me cringe. Dub overall has better feeling, emotion, and less cringy.

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Oct 17, 2019 3:42 PM

#102

removed-user

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Jul 2018

564491

Not at all. It depends on which I hear first as to which ends up sounding weird. Example, I watched season 1-3 of bnha dubbed first. A friend said they were interested in it so I agree to watch it with them and this time went with sub. It didn't sound bad it just wasn't what I was used to the characters sounding like. Now that is to say that I cannot tell a bad dub from a good one *cough cough* Haikyuu *cough cough*.

Oct 17, 2019 3:56 PM

#103

NthDegree

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Dec 2013

2103

I think the biggest advantage dubs have is that you don't need to stare at the bottom of the screen to follow the story and can focus on the image. However, since I don't really need the subs, I'd say the experience is pretty much the same on the both languages. Neither of them are my native language either, so there isn't really a reason for me to prefer one over another.

Personally I like picking between Japanese and English based on the setting. If the characters in-universe speak Japanese then I have the audio in Japanese and if English then it's in English. Having the correct language helps with the immersion.

Oct 18, 2019 2:41 AM

#104

ezikialrage

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Aug 2009

5519

BallisticRiot said:
I have no desire to add fuel to the fire, but the website where I watched anime uploads both the Subbed and Dubbed versions of shows (assuming they even get dubbed). I have watched anime almost exclusively in Subtitles since I started watching, but I don't have anything objectively wrong with the idea of watching dubs.

However, when I try to watch even 2 minutes of a dubbed episode, as compared to the subbed version, the voice acting just Feels Entirely Wrong.

Maybe it's a personal bias and I don't realize it, but I feel like Japanese VAs generally do a far better job of expressing tone and emotion which is why I prefer subs.

At first they sounded weird. Weird as in its a different voice actress playing the same character. I remember watching a dub of Ah My Buddha and thought the voice for Yuuko Atouda sounded weird. But it was only because its a different voice actress.Of course that was right after I seen the whole series subbed. Now I usually wait a few weeks or months before watching the dubbed version if I seen the subbed version first. Unless you are actually fluent in Japanese and watch a lot of Japanese cinema you can't really judge the acting abilities of Japanese voice actresses and actors. Right now your understanding of what the voice actors are saying comes from a translator who at most is providing his or her interpretation of what that voice actor is saying instead of an actual literal translation.

Oct 18, 2019 3:24 AM

#105

iLoveWater

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Jan 2019

442

akex005 said:

Water-sama said:
Most Dubs are horrible because of the lack of emotion/expression in them. Also, Most Dubs sound like someone is talking to you like you're a child. They're Dry asf.

My thoughts exactly, I feel they don't carry the same amount of energy in the dubs. I always use this as an example - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A52jF75LTX8 VS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pREOMmhHyU8

Holy fucking shit... That English dub sounded like garbage compared to the Japanese dub. Perfect example.

sidenote: The way she got rekt. Gender Equality at its finest.

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Oct 18, 2019 3:33 AM

#106

konkelo

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Apr 2015

3110

Some dubs are ok and some aren't, that's about what I think of dubs. However I prefer subtitles only really because it happens quite often I can't understand what voice actors are saying, worse is if they have some accent or try to not sound normal ex. "cute" voice. This also applies to live action movies too.

Bad dubs are a treasure tho.

NthDegree said:
I think the biggest advantage dubs have is that you don't need to stare at the bottom of the screen to follow the story and can focus on the image.

Never understood this, unless someone isn't used to reading subtitles or are slower reader/have reading problems. It isn't like when I go to the movies that my eyes focus only on subs that I would miss half of what happens on the screen.

konkeloOct 18, 2019 7:56 AM

Oct 18, 2019 4:04 AM

#107

NthDegree

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Dec 2013

2103

konkelo said:

NthDegree said:
I think the biggest advantage dubs have is that you don't need to stare at the bottom of the screen to follow the story and can focus on the image.

I suppose some of it depends on how big of a screen you're watching on.

I do think it matters when you're just kind of half-watching something though. Like having anime on while you're doing something else on the side, like grinding in an RPG. I notice it's impossible for me to do this when I'm watching K-dramas, because I can't understand Korean.

Oct 18, 2019 4:09 AM

#108

RooHappy

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Oct 2018

If an anime is dub to me...its not anime anymore

Oct 18, 2019 5:38 AM

#109

Seygneur

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Jul 2019

761

There is so much more passion in the Japanese dub. I guess many voice actors doing the sync are underpayed or are being ill prepared for the job. The same issue was very prominent in the gaming industry. Until a few years ago most voice actors just received their lines without any background information and had to get it done without any given context.So yeah, there would much potential if the industry would dare to do so. However, it probably is not worth it for such a small audience.

Oct 18, 2019 8:31 AM

#110

konkelo

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Apr 2015

3110

NthDegree said:

konkelo said:

Could be. I can read in movie theater both finnish and swedish text (you know how they're next to each other) and on tv subtitles are a lot more crammed so it at least feels slower to read. While I usually watch anime on tv or computer with some distance between, I have just lately started to watch also on Crunchyroll app. As of now I haven't felt I'd miss something important, but it really isn't like I picked shows with information heavy dialogues.

That actually happens to me a lot, half-watching I mean. My attention is easily distracted and I usually do something else, like drawing.

Oct 18, 2019 8:43 AM

#111

ShidoItsuka74739

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May 2018

171

Okay basically dubs don't suck if people to this day are still making them and subs can be bad at times sometimes but they are awesome so there you have it

Oct 18, 2019 9:37 AM

#112

LuzNoceda

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Jan 2017

556

GlennMagusHarvey said:

Nine-TailedJosh said:
(If you can't tell I'm having trouble trying to find the right wording to describe the particular way in which they are different. Forgive me.)
(If there's any writing or grammatical errors, I apologize. I wrote more than I expected to and don't have the energy to look it all over.)

I think you're fine actually. I didn't notice any issues. Okay I did notice a "they're" where it's supposed to be "their", I guess.

Nine-TailedJosh said:
Slice of life scenes are a little different in cartoons than in anime, though the way the characters interact is usually very similar as the type of characters present in anime and western cartoons are fairly alike in the sense that certain character traits usually get accentuated in a way you wouldn't see in live action show, and overall their personalities are more flamboyantly done, more out there, eccentric-like if that makes sense. In subs, it's much easier to see the similarity, but because the emotion in dubs is much more watered down, it maybe he harder to notice the similarity.

Knowing that I have a taste for the more serious/quiet/poetic moments, and considering that I'm also a fan of the very "dry" and serious tone often characteristic of the Law & Order series, for at least this particular point it may simply be that I actually prefer it "underacted". At least this line of thinking is also consistent with my not being a big fan of very cutesy characters.

Nine-TailedJosh said:
but if you compare the way emotion is expressed in Japanese voice acting for anime to the way Japanese people express their emotions through tone in real life, it is almost exactly on point.

You're the first person I've seen to say that it matches real life, rather than is an overacted version of it.

I dunno which one it is, though based on the little I've seen of people speaking Japanese on-camera in things like news broadcasts and interviews, my guess is the latter. But I don't actually know Japanese nor hang out with Japanese speakers in daily conversation.

Nine-TailedJosh said:
The overall way their tone is expressed is just poorly done. And it's quite easy to see why when you consider that nowadays dubs are rushed and mass-produced -- everyone's trying to dub everything as quickly as possible, and rushed acting is most likely what makes it sound so poor. That's why most older dubs sound better; they weren't rushed.

Your comment here runs counter to other comments I've observed that say that old dubs were worse (for not just script reasons -- I'm talking voicework reasons here) since the people sometimes didn't care and occasionally felt very amateurish while new dubs are better because the industry has built up more experience and the licensors also have and exercise more oversight and active communication during the production.

To some extent I feel that all these "reasons" are more people trying to look for a reason to explain something they feel, rather than necessarily a factor whose importance is really well-proven. They could each all apply and then there's also just random variation from show to show.

For the record I'm not writing this to say that you have to or should like dubs. I don't and I shouldn't mind you having your opinion on them, since after all they're just entertainment.

Meanwhile it's just been my own experience that dubs in my language (i.e. American English) have a noticeably greater potential to enhance a story by "bringing it to life" more vividly -- while the Japanese voicework feels like a standard "safe bet" that doesn't as easily accomplish stuff like really iconic characters or very emotional moments. That's not to say that they can't; I watch anime in both languages' voicework (usually not both for the same series, but occasionally that happens too), and my favorites include both stuff I've watched with English voicework and stuff I've watched with Japanese voicework. But this is why I try out a dub first when given the chance, and usually I just end up sticking with it. (My best guess is that the difference that would result wouldn't be particularly significant anyway.)

I don't know what others' experiences are, but I've watched quite a bit of videos of interviews and videos on the life of Japanese people and the way they express their emotions, in my opinion, matches quite well with how it's expressed in anime the majority of the time (my sisters are also big K-Pop fans and watch lots of videos about the groups and their daily life, and in this case it also perfectly matches with anime; yeah Korea isn't the same as Japan but from what I've seen they express themselves very similarly.) I don't know how much experience the people you've heard from have with the way Japanese people express emotions, but in my own experience it sounds quite the same.

I've seen many other people claim that older dubs are better, while I haven't seen many argue the point you made about having more experience. I guess we just have happened to not encounter opinions from each others' sides.

If dubs bring the story to life more for you, then go ahead and watch dubs. I wasn't saying you should hate dubs either, I was just trying to defend my point of view. You're welcome to experience anime in whatever way is best for you. But for me personally, I feel more connected to an anime when watching it subbed rather than dubbed. The emotional scenes feel more emotional to me and I get more attached to the story and characters this way.

Oct 18, 2019 9:42 AM

#113

AnimeDownUnder

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Aug 2013

3552

I only prefer the dubbed version of pokemon & dragonball series, but I liked afro samurai too because it was in dub.

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Oct 18, 2019 10:08 AM

#114

Durfesth21

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Sep 2018

103

I prefer dub over sub, English is not my native language but I understand it perfectly. If there’s no dub I have no problem watching it sub

Oct 18, 2019 10:18 AM

#115

Pande91

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Apr 2017

760

I prefer subs for four reasons:

1. if you have a very, very basic understanding of Japanese (say, from watching anime), certain jokes - especially puns - will be better and easier to understand in their native language. Likewise for words/phrases that carry certain nuances or multiple meanings;

2. I got accustomed to hearing Japanese during anime, so hearing English makes me expect a Western animation, which leads to dissonance that makes me unable to enjoy it;

3. anime is made with a specific cultural style behind it, from the way the lines are spoken, to the humor and story structure. Talking styles and facial expressions, for example, differ greatly from Japanese to US English. It's for the same reason that I found Chinese language and tone very odd-sounding when I watched some Chinese animations;

4. some voices plain don't fit the characters, they're either too cartoonish/exaggerated or too stiff and unnatural. People were praising Edward Elric's English VA but I watched some dubbed scenes on YT and he sounded awful.

Oct 18, 2019 10:46 AM

#116

FZH

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Apr 2018

I think subs are way better than dubs. Hearing the original voices just sounds way better than hearing the characters speak English. It just makes it less attractive to watch for me.

Oct 18, 2019 1:04 PM

#117

ruimtekaas

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Apr 2019

I started off exclusively watching dubs. Then I bumped into gintama (not dubbed) and now every dubbed anime just sounds wrong and like bad acting.

Oct 18, 2019 1:52 PM

#118

removed-user

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Jul 2018

564491

I started off prefering dubs then after a while I would watch 1 ep in dub and 1 in sub to see which I prefered, now I prefer mostly subs

Also we need a poll:

https://www.strawpoll.me/18811901

Oct 18, 2019 2:38 PM

#119

ryan77999

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Aug 2017

840

I'd say there's some shows where I prefer it in English, and others that I prefer in Japanese. Honestly, it's really about what we're used to. Even if a show has a poorly-received dub, if that's the version I watched first, then it will be the version that sounds "right".

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Oct 18, 2019 3:02 PM

#120

Waifulover69420

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Oct 2019

Whenever I watch a sub I feel like there is a lot more excitement going on then the dub(in most cases). Then if I switch to dub it feels awkward some characters' voices feels too soft like Archers in Fate. It ruins the experience but I think that you could get used to it. You could also imply that to the subbed version, for instance, in FMA I think that Ed's voice is too soft and you can't take him seriously because of that.

In the end, it is all subjective but I think that dubs sound wrong if you already are used to watching the show subbed and vice versa(in most cases).

Have a good day :3

Oct 18, 2019 10:37 PM

#121

Tap_Dancin_Kaiju

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Sep 2019

528

I will not watch anime like Chrono Crusade and Baccano subbed. They did a good job with using 1920's era lingo and accents for the nationalities of the cast. It's more authentic like that

Besides that I usually watch both subs & dubs however preference varies series to series

Oct 18, 2019 10:48 PM

#122

removed-user

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Jul 2018

564491

I'd say I prefer subbed more because I'm already used to it for years already. Dub only gets some flack from me if it was for the normie anime series like Dragon Ball or Pokemon

Oct 18, 2019 10:58 PM

#123

removed-user

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Jul 2018

564491

No for the 9999th time, stop being a weeb!

Oct 18, 2019 11:27 PM

#124

CatEatYourPizza

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Dec 2017

Okay, I don't wish to add fuel to the debate, but I'm going to keep this as unbiased as possible (But probably still bias).

Personally, I prefer subbed, although I don't use the subs cause I'm actually Japanese hehe.
Even though I may have grown up with the Japanese voices, I still think some dubs can pull off SOME anime series. Panty & Stocking, awesome English dub, I honestly prefer it over the Japanese voices to be honest.
And in terms of the voice actors/actresses themselves, I think each one is different in their own ways, in which some people prefer different styles over others.
For me, nearly every time I watch an anime, it's with Japanese voices, and dubs feel a bit... forced.

Although I may like the JP voices for anime majority of the time, I just think shows are just better in their native languages.
I dislike JP dubs for many western shows, and that's me talking after growing up with these western shows airing on TV with Japanese dubs.

And here's the real issue for me when it comes to dubs, changing some of the storyline.
Yes, it happens, it may be small, but sometimes, it bothers me so much, I can't continue the series in dub (Yes, I do watch series in dubbed here and then).
The one on the top of my head is Boku no Hero Academia. Sure, the English voices are much less forced and the voice actors do convey more emotion in comparison to other English VA's, but one simple translation ruined it for me.
It was something like Uraraka saying she likes the name Deku cause it was cute, if I remember correctly (In the dubs).
In the original version, however, Uraraka says she likes the name Deku cause it sounds like "Dekiru" (Rough translation: You can do it!).
On normal circumstances, this wouldn't be an issue, and I don't have other issues with the other translations.
I really liked how they made Bakugo come up with the name Deku (Defenceless Izuku). It was very clever.
But the reason I had such a big issue with Uraraka calling Deku cute was because Midoriya chose Deku as his hero name.
Midoriya and Uraraka shippers, here we go (I have nothing against them either ww).
In the JP version, the reason for Midoriya choosing the name was justified. He thought of Uraraka's words (Yay, Uraraka and Midoriya shippers can still be happy here) and chose Deku as his hero name.
For me, it takes away the meaning from the scene where Midoriya reveals his hero name, since it's not really justified why he chose the hero name of Deku.

That's what my opinion is, I was probably very biased since I've grown accustomed to the Japanese version of anime, but as I said before, I really do prefer the original language of the show (With the exception of a few series/movies of course), regardless of whether it's western, or asian.

I apologize for any grammar issues and such, as I'm still studying English and it's not my mother tongue.

Also, here's a little something that I can't see being dubbed with the same emotion and feeling placed into the voicing of the scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHd3xfDzTg8

CatEatYourPizzaOct 18, 2019 11:35 PM

Oct 19, 2019 4:34 AM

#125

Seijatachiiii

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May 2018

2939

I struggle to watch dub because I find it weird that they all have American accents, its probably because as British person I find it a weird accent. if youre American imagine it as every anime dub you listen to it has a British accent, it would feel weird right?

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Oct 19, 2019 4:59 AM

#126

Darksnowing

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Oct 2019

Honestly it depends. Just hire a good va who fits the character and its all good.

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Oct 19, 2019 5:42 AM

#127

el_lyynx

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Sep 2019

dubs are just really not good for one reason because the Japanese original usually gives off more emotion
than the English version making it English just make it feel like a cartoon not an anime

Oct 19, 2019 6:57 AM

#128

7samurai

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Sep 2019

355

While there are dubs that are good, they usually sound bad when you've watched the subs first. More often than not, they're gonna sound cringe-y and cartoon-y. I just stick with the subs nowadays.

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Oct 19, 2019 8:27 AM

#129

YeeYeeAss

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Jul 2019

2282

I do enjoy many dubs, they are close to my heart. There are dubs that sound wrong to me, for example Dragon ball, JoJo and Fire Force. Then there are subs that sound wrong like: Ghost Stories and High School DxD. (note: I watched DxD subbed first but still prefer dub since its funnier.) Of course then there are the dubs that does not sound wrong and I like them as much as the dub like One Piece. I started One Piece. with dubs but then there were no episodes, so I watched the sub and both versions were good. Of course There are show that I watched dubbed at first but then with subs and realised that the dub was bad, and one of those shows is MHA.

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Oct 19, 2019 8:36 AM

#130

Comrade-Question

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Dec 2018

I watch both Subs and Dubs.

If the anime is a comedic SOL show where the cast are all high school students, then Subs are definitely the way to go. Japanese VA's do a much better job of sounding like children and teens. The problem with English VA's is that it is too obvious that grown adults are "trying" to sound like a little kids or teenagers. This is especially noticeable with cutesy female characters who have very high pitched voices.

When it comes to long running Shonen series or darker Seinen series, I'll usually go with the Dubs. I found the dubs for Inuyasha, Naruto, Bleach, and Fairy Tail to be very good. The Dubs for FMA:B, Black Lagoon, Phantom, and Psycho Pass are good as well. The Dub for K Project is also very good.

Oct 19, 2019 9:36 AM

#131

Sphinxter

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Mar 2019

2478

Gulogulo said:
Japanese voice actors are light years ahead of English speaking actors. Anime lose at least 83 percent of it's magic when it's not in Japanese

They are when they hire bad voice actors; believe you soothly that all those high budget Disney films have bad voice actors?

The English versions are typically good when they were written to have a simultaneously English release, and it wasn't some afterthought. — Afro Samurai even only has an English version, and the quality of the voice acting is excellent. Ghost in the Shell, Texhnolyze, Ergo Proxy, FullMetal Alchemist, Dragon Ball — they were all planned for an English release and consequently adequate effort and resources were spent on the English voice acting.

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Oct 19, 2019 3:04 PM

#132

Tropisch

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Apr 2015

3038

I don't mind either, as long as the dubs aren't done by Funimation, since they like to insert things in the show that weren't in the Japanese version, such as the Dragon Maid dub. So more leaning toward subs.

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Oct 19, 2019 7:32 PM

#133

terminador_2397

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Jul 2015

1419

Seiya said:
Dubs sound just fine to me. I've been watching dubs for as long as I've been watching Anime. I recently watched "Kanata no Astra" and "Kochouki: Wakaki Nobunaga" dubbed, and they were fine.

Water-sama said:
Most Dubs are horrible because of the lack of emotion/expression in them. Also, Most Dubs sound like someone is talking to you like you're a child. They're Dry asf.

This is absolute BS. How can you hear emotion in subbed Anime, if you can't even understand Japanese? If anything, I can't hear any emotion in Japanese voice acting.

Nice to see someone being chill about it.

For me after a certain point it doesn't bother me that much, if the actual content of the show is good then that carries more weight. Years later and people still debating about this.

Oct 19, 2019 7:36 PM

#134

HobbyLobby

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Oct 2019

If you watch dub you are not watching anime dub is cringed in every possible way

Oct 19, 2019 9:34 PM

#135

renyrells

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May 2017

215

My thoughts on sub vs dub are that i watch the first ep. of both and if the script is nearly identical then I'll just watch the dub. that way i can eat, play a video game during, and/or just power through a bunch of ep. sped up.

Subbed for me is like the pizza rating bell curve. i only notice it if its really bad or really good and then like 90% of it is fine. i'm a white american. i cant tell the cadence or different accents of the japanese language. plus most of the time im either watching the screen or reading the sub-titles. how the characters sound is a tertiary aspect.

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