What's so bad about dubs anyways?

[Slash]

I've seen Goldenboy both subbed and dubbed. The dub actually made me laugh out loud many times, Kintaro's voice is just so absurd. The sub version did nothing for me, just like any subbed anime. Comedy, especially in dialogue, is something that is very fragile. Punchlines have to be delivered at just the right time and they have to sound just right. Comedy has its own rhythm.

If you went and saw your favorite comedian, but he spoke in Japanese and you got to read his jokes in subtitles, would you even laugh? No, you might smile, but probably just out of politeness. It would be embarrassing and not very funny.

This is why I prefer dubs over subs, granted the dubs are good. Dubbing makes the anime actually make sense to me from a cultural perspective. When Japanese people watch anime, they aren't watching them subbed, but dubbed. The anime was written and dubbed for them in their own language. To think that, as an American, I should be watching anime subbed, makes no logical sense. That's like buying a book or manga that has the original Japanese words in it with subtitles crammed in there, which brings me to another point...

Subtitles usually draw me away from being immersed in the anime. When you watch any film in English, you get immersed in the characters and world of the movie. There is no "interface" between you and the film world. With subtitles, there is a veil thrown over the film that you have to constantly interface with. It is subconscious, but it's there and it takes away from the feeling of being completely immersed in the fictional world, even though most people don't know or realize it.

Of course, most of the anime I watch is subtitled because I have no choice. There are series I want to see and most of them haven’t been dubbed yet.

My perfect world is where all anime is dubbed and dubbed well.

Amen to that. I couldn't have said it better myself. I don't like being distracted while watching an anime. If you're reading, your attention is split and you might miss some things. I like to have my full attention on the animation, not trying to read.

[Gyro Zeppeli]

I hate dubs cause the voices really suck and they can't pronounce the names properly. Although another person might say differently. Let's just say that different people have different opinion.

That's not always true. The 4kids dubs are horrible about that and Naruto is as well, but some dont have that issue, some anime such as DBZ doesn't and I think the dubbed voices are better (especially Goku's). And I also thought the dubs for Cowboy Bebop and s-CRY-ed were pretty good

[PockyPanda]

there is nothing wrong (to me) with a properly
executed dub
if the characters voices are not squeaky or annoying
i really have no problem with it
there are tons of animes that had good dubs
(like FLCL and Samurai Champloo)
peoples main problems with bad dubs are they
feel it ruins the anime and people get mad
when their favorite anime is ruined....
I don't like a bad dub but i wont dismiss an anime simply
because its dubbed...if it annoys me then i will

[Slappy]

There is one dub that is so bad that it's good. First of the North Star. Whoever was responsible for that dub was either a complete idiot or a super genius.

"When I fight, it's always to the death!"
"That's right. In fact you're already dead."
"Is that so?"
*cue head explosion*

Me and my friends have memorized almost every line from that anime.

[Slash]

Heh, that's one of the ones I was talking about. They used to play Fist of the North Star whenever they played anime on the Sci-Fi channel. That was one of the many horribly dubbed animes that made them so enjoyable to watch.

[Hobo_13]

What are these "dubs" that you speak of???

[Slash]

You mean the horrible dubs that they used to show on Sci-Fi, or what the term means in general?

If you don't know what a dub is, it's the english versions of the anime we watch. Sub is short for subtitled and is when you listen to the original Japanese track and read the text at the bottom of the screen.

[akeria]

I hate dubs cause the voices really suck and they can't pronounce the names properly. Although another person might say differently. Let's just say that different people have different opinion.

That's not always true. The 4kids dubs are horrible about that and Naruto is as well, but some dont have that issue, some anime such as DBZ doesn't and I think the dubbed voices are better (especially Goku's). And I also thought the dubs for Cowboy Bebop and s-CRY-ed were pretty good

True I have to admit that some of them are well executed but most of the shows that I have watched their dubs really suck and I have yet to watch one that I like.

[Ryukon]

Well, whatever you see first would be something that you'd prefer overall.

For some cases, if you see the dubbed first for a while, then watch the subs later, the impact of dislike shouldn't be so bad as watching subs first before dubs.

And on rare occasions, like Slash-san said, the dubbed voices are better than the subbed. I think I've heard several people complaining about Shinji's high pitched voice in the subs and liked the dubbed version a whole lot better.

[Slappy]

I honestly feel like it is hard to replace Jouji Nakata. His voice is so deep and menacing sounding. While the dub for Hellsing was decent, I felt that Alucard's voice should only be done by Jouji Nakata. Same with the Count of Monte Cristo. If the guy could learn English and then do the voices, that would be even better, granted his voice in English doesn't weird.

[Slash]

You always have your favorite voice actors. Mine would have to be Steven Jay Blum, who does the voice of Spike (Cowboy Bebop) and Mugen (Samurai Champloo). I can't picture Bebop with any other voice actor. I do have to agree with you that Jouji Nakata has a unique voice. But a unique voice that fits can play on both sides of the field ^_^

[magnumPI]

i prefer english subtitled imports, much cheaper than the domesticated version

[kukutaru_ookami]

ahh a world were all anime were dubbed well..aka "the world in which 4kids doesn't exist" for comedies it is best to watch them subbed though I have watched rumble school subbed and still found it pretty funny but it WAS fansubbed so that might explain it..on a side note I feel bad for that moron he even wore peacock feathers (though I did love the irony)..err getting side-tracked there's nothing about dubs in general it's just some dubbers are evil..like 4kids

[DarkWolf0]

My sister she said that on inuyasha she hates the dubbed because of Kagome's high pitched foice.And she said she'd prefer Japanise.I dont know why though.To me Kagomes voice is perfect but i guess not for her

[Ryukon]

People have different perspectives, that's all.

Kagome's dubbed VA is a little higher than the original VA to be honest, but not overly high pitched. The original can match the dubbed at times though.