Are there times that Dub is better than Sub?

Diffuse said:
Are there times that Dub is better than Sub? The answer is YES, for example american dubbed DBZ is much more supperior than original.

PROOFS:
https://youtu.be/kpezw3cwSgw?t=9m31s [jp]
https://youtu.be/aIpzR6Bphgo?t=13s [us]

SadMadoka said:


Oh! I thought you meant you watch it with Japanese audio, since that's what people mean when they say sub. Only seeing the subtitles doesn't give you the experience, really, so I hope you eventually watch the originals as well. But yes, I do like to see how the scripts differ. (I just do it the slower way.)

GlennMagusHarvey said:
Well, yeah, you're right -- watching something "subbed" has two separate meanings which are often conflated, watching the Japanese voicework (or in other words avoiding the English voicework, depending on how one wants to look at it), and watching the subtitle translations.

Comparing voice acting quality has to do with the former, while comparing translation accuracy has to do with the latter.

SadMadoka said:

One rare benefit with DBZ is that the American version had a different soundtrack. Bruce Faulconer is a legend! But on the American clip you linked, they used different music than I remember hearing before. (A bit more generic and repetitive this time around, but in a similar style.)

Diffuse said:
Yeah, Bruce Faulconer and Goku+Gohan voice actors did a great job! About the music, this is Gohan theme by Bruce. First time it played when Gohan was fighting with Frieza (https://youtu.be/sQA8hDFpw6Y?t=17s).

By the way, I wasn't watching the first original source of DBZ on USA TV, because I am Russian and only 23 years old. I cheked https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Ball_Z and the diffrenece in music could be, because of redubs. This might be the reason why it sounds different for you. Can you please check the article and confirm it? My knowledge of English does not allow to do this accurate! :D

SadMadoka said:


Speaking of... I find it odd how I barely know Japanese, yet I know it well enough that I occasionally spot translation errors in subbed anime.

SadMadoka said:
Like, I've seen that episode various times in various versions...and I swear I heard other American music (still Bruce) during that scene. I guess that means they mixed things around. They keep releasing new versions, with remastered animation, new voice acting, different music, and so on.

wupero-chan said:
NO subs are always better but there are anime with good dubs so if you think reading subtitles is a pain you can always compensate....BUT STILL ALWAYS GO FOR SUBS

YayaChibi said:
When the dub hires an attractive and fitting voice for its characters it might be a good dub but never better than sub lmao lol

YayaChibi said:

The next mother fucker who quotes another shitpost is getting a nice long PM saying how I'll fuck their waifu in the most horrendous way possible
Lmao lol JK
Dubs are half assed, typically have ass casting, shitty translations and scripts, and are made for a westernized audience which is never good lol

MikominMM said:
Black Lagoon
Ghost Stories
and of course...

YayaChibi said:
You don't need a thoughtful answer to like dubs or subs, aside from the acting is fitting and done well, which is not typically found in dubs to a point where even english voice actors joke about the low paying jobs as compared to seiyuus and game dubbing lmao lol

comedylover said:
HOW COULD NOBODY MENTION GHOST STORIES UNTIL THIS FAR?

Sekai said:
There probably is a time where dub is better than sub.
But imo I think that sub is way better than dub

comedylover said:
HOW COULD NOBODY MENTION GHOST STORIES UNTIL THIS FAR?

-SP- said:
English Dubs can't really be as good as the Japanese dubs. That's because Anime is made with the Japanese dubs in mid. The Japanese dub is recorded and then the Anime is animated, they try to math the animation with the voices by making sure the facial expressions of the characters match the words. English dubs require a translated script, the words are different so the sync is going to be off. To fix this the words are sometimes switched so it flows smoother but this can also cause confusion. This is basically why English dubs can't ever be as good as Japanese dubs, unless the Anime was animated with the English Dubs in mind.

Corvus8 said:
Berserk is the only acceptable dub i've ever heard. Probably because it actually fits the universe and they aren't throwing japanese names in english around.

GlennMagusHarvey said:
Actually, if I may make this more elucidating:

Why do you recommend always going for subs?
Why do you say they're never better than sub?

So, basically, I'm just trying to understand the reasoning better. I already have my guesses from reading other such threads, but I'd like to see people who prefer subs talk more about why, specifically, they prefer subs, to see how right/wrong my inferences have been.

Cyborg_Icarus29 said:

The berserk dub doesn't hold a candle to some modern dubs (steins gate, FMA:B,Psycho pass , ect)
Guts is the only good voice in the dub. The others are meh at best imo.

Kruszer said:
any anime where Japanese VAs actually speak English because native speakers are better at it

wupero-chan said:
There are several reasons...like japanese seiyuus are really good at what they do...Then when a show is of japanese origins it is best to see it in japanese cause it retains the originality and many jokes...then the nuances of many things they say will change in english and if you are learning japanese like I am it helps a lot and I dont know about you but watching many shows in their dubs makes me cringe a little bit.....I hope what I said made sense
( ´ ω ` )

GlennMagusHarvey said:
Oh gosh you're reminding me of the hilariously bad English in Symphogear.

Yeah that makes sense. Thanks for elaborating!

----

Also I forgot to mention one other show that I've seen at least a bit of the dub of:

AKB0048 - I watched this subbed. Then they dubbed it. Then I was like, I wonder if they dubbed all the songs? I mean, they could have, because the characters are actually voiced by people who aren't core members of AKB48. That would be really nice, because I actually really appreciate song dubs, even though they are very rare. Then I found out they didn't. But then I found out that they DID, but only in solo renditions of the songs like when the characters are practicing or something.

So I was like, "Why would you ever dub this???"

Though I guess if I ever go back to rewatch it dubbed, I could interpret it as Japanese being some sort of magical chant language that's only used in the concert performances. Hey, who knows, it could be fun.

Vhailor said:
Fullmetal Alchemist (2003) - It's better not just because it has great voice acting that seamlessly syncs with the lip flaps without sounding rushed, far more often than what I've seen in the vast majority of dubs, but also because of the amount of effort they put into modifying the script to eliminate redundant and simplistic lines, and make the dialogue sound more natural, clever, and witty (when it needs to be), compared to the original Japanese dub.

Space Dandy - The Japanese voice actor of Dandy was just plain horrible to listen to. He tries hard to sound funny, but completely falls flat on his face every single time. His delivery neither sounds natural, or has good comic timing. The Japanese dub as a whole also lacks the energy of the English dub, so it ends up sounding too serious and bland during the slapstick comedy scenes, which make up a huge portion of the show.

And then there are Cowboy Bebop, Baccano, Black Lagoon, Ergo Proxy. All of which sound much more believable in English, than seeing a bunch of non-Japanese people speaking flawless Japanese. Their dubs having great voice acting doesn't hurt either.


You've got that backwards. Japanese dubs are usually animated first, with the animators keeping the timing of the dialogue in mind when drawing the key frames and inbetween frames. And then the voice actors do the voice over while watching either the finished animation, or a rough storyboard style animation. What you were describing is how American cartoons are dubbed. Which is why they have better lip flap animation, which actually match the words that are being spoken.