People commonly criticize me for using dubbed clips in my videos. Here is why I watch dubs, and why I believe the benefits of watching subs are overstated. Twoot me: ExPoint140 Patringo me: www.patreon.com/explanationpoint
As a Japanese American, bilingual in both English and Japanese.. I think alot of people take this sub crap too seriously. There's some great dubbed animes that are equally as good as the sub. I watch in dub if it's actually a good. Frankly, if you're not Japanese you're not going to get alot of the nuances anyways. I think the video poster made alot of great points.
That's a really good point. We Assume they translate properly for subs. I don't know much Japanese, but I've definitely noticed enough inconsistency to wonder. And it still gets censored, One Punch Man season 2 is a great example of that (cough episode with the sister game cough).
Also like, reading disabilities exist. I'm dyslexic so it takes me a bit longer to read thing and I have to put a lot more effort into reading subtitles which completely exhausts me two episodes so marathoning subbed anime is impossible for me
Jepze calm down man and I've tried to learn Japanese I took it my senior year and I was the worst in the class cause language isn't my strong suit also taking test take me longer than most people. Calm down and let people watch anime however the hell they want
I don't understand why you would want to be doing other things while watching anime. To me, I have to focus my attention on the anime so I understand what is happening. If you just want to listen to voices in the background, listen to audio dramas instead.
I like to eat my meals while watching. Makes it a little more difficult when you have to divide your time between looking at the subtitles, the animation, *and* your fork lol
90% of the time when someone says a dub is a bad or the sub is better, they are not talking about poor voice acting or weird translations, but are showing off their elite weeb status, for we know the Japanase language is far beyond mere mortals and to tamper with it is to tamper at the very heart of creation.
while i do agre that the 90% comment was a bit much, it functioned as effective hyperbole. and to be honest... i've met both, but at least on the interwe(e)bs i tend to find more of the "glorious Nippon" types than the "original language" types. though in the physical world it's quite the opposite. personally it's a context thing for me, i refuse to watch JoJo in english, and i also refuse to watch MHA in japanese. yet i'll watch Gurren Lagann in both, so really it depends.
Both kinds exist -- I've met them. There are both people who think EVERYTHING is better in the original dub (Kirbate), or that EVERYTHING is better is this or that language (be it English, Japanese, French, Russian)... My point is that there's nothing wrong with any of these opinions, if you simply make it clear that it's your taste. If you like EVERYTHING in Japanese, great! Go enjoy the Spiderman movies in Japanese dub. If you like EVERYTHING in English, great! Enjoy Mushi-shi in English dub. What's bad is this smug elitism that some people also DO have: the insufferable I'm-better-than-you-because-of-my-artistic-preferences crowd. These people do need a little humility.
subs have limitations too: only 2 lines are allowed with 35 spaces each. a translator might come up with a great and faithful translation but if it does not fit or divide along the 35 spaces, they have to settle for one less ideal. subs have a lower and upper time limit that they are allowed on screen. the lower limit is calculated by how long it takes an average educated adult to read a word/line. the upper limit is set because once your eyes finish running along both lines they will automatically restart the process. difficulties appear when characters speak quickly using complicated words, like Watashi's monologues in Tatamy Galaxy. don't tell me your brain is not feeling assaulted by the amasing visuals, amasing voice acting, fast reading and processing the meaning of what is being read, all at once. or when lots of characters are talking over each other, you end up with little subtitles looking like they're dancing on top of each other, they don't match the cuts because timing guidelines, who said what, grrr.... in the end, if you do not speak the original language at all, you might not realise that what you are getting is a summary of what is being expressed and some things are missed out.
Re: Audio. I tried to make it better and made it worse instead. It happens. I have no experience with audio editing, so I'm still trying to figure out how to make all of that work. I'm getting a new mic in the next few weeks, which will hopefully make all of these problems a lot easier to solve. Thank you for your patience. ~ !
I'm just glad the problem was you and not my computer. Speakers are always the first things to go on my laptops. I'd love to see a comparison between Konosuba and In Another World With My Smartphone when the first season is finished.
Also, the scene when Deku convinces Todoroki to use his fire during the tournament fight, in english he screams "It's yours! Your quirk not his!" which i feel carries more weight than "It's your quirk, isn't it" from the sub, just because it kind of goes along with todoroki's rejection of his father, that deku gets that todoroki can't accept his father, but still wants hime to use it for his own sake, rather than the sub making it seem like he is just reminding todoroki that it isn't his dad's which seems kinda lame honestly
Furthermore Deku's line when saving Bakugou in episode 2--"You looked like you were asking for help" in the sub versus "I couldn't just stand there and watch you die." One is the kind of thing you say when helping someone carry a heavy load and the other is appropriately dramatic for the situation.
People love to be elitist rather than just letting everyone have the experience they enjoy the most. I feel like it comes down to which anime you're watching. For example, I'd much rather experience anything adapted from One's Work (Mob Psycho, One Punch) in Japanese, just cause I feel like his style of comedy and storytelling is very Japanese and putting an English spin on it would kind of make me uncomfortable. Meanwhile, I refuse to watch Hero Aca or AOT in any language but English. I also watched Code Geass in both English and Japanese and enjoyed it equally both times, so you kinda just have to know what you're about rather than being an elitist fuckhead, choosing a side, and bitching about Dubs in the comments section. Good luck with the rest of hell week, my man!
The issue is that we can't have the experience we want the most when the video analyzing the anime we love watching subtitled has the dubbed version or viceversa.
Saitama's English voice simply DOES NOT fit the impression I have of him overall, as for Mob Psycho, I watched both sub and dub and I think the English voices are perfectly passable, though not an elevation of the show. I don't think the English dub of steins;gate could have possibly given us an acceptable substitute for the Japanese VA of the great mad scientist Obake Rintarou, despite the fact that I think the same English VA did a great job with Iida and Lawrence. Other anime I wouldn't watch dubbed include: Code Geass/Death note, because I think these two are a bit too theatrical for English VAs, Kill la Kill, because I feel like the Japanese cast capture the feel of the characters and story better, and Konosuba because the cast for that show is just perfect (I'm aware that Konosuba doesn't have a dub anyway). On the other hand I will defend MHA's dub to the death because I can say with certainty that I love it and the Japanese cast doesn't even come close for me. Other anime I feel work better in English dubs include Hetalia, because the accents are all too necessary for that show, Shimoneta, because of the prominence of innuendos, Soul Eater, because of the overall vibe of the series gelling with English better IMO, Bebop, because cowboys should be in English and the cast is great, and Psycho-Pass, because I love the cast, and its complex conversations are more easily digested if you can understand the words that are being spoken. Some of my favourite shows are those I've watched Dubbed (Psycho Pass, Haruhi) but some of my favourites also happen to be subbed (Steins;gate, Kill la Kill). I think there is a place for both. TL;DR: I agree with the OP Sorry for this long and horribly structured post, it's a bit all over the place, but that's my two cents.
In this video you've pointed out, fleshed out and expanded upon everything I've every said about the stupid Dubs Vs Subs argument. You sir have earned my Subscription.
He's not wrong, I want to not feel like I'm reading a book to keep up with the show I'm watching. But, it's all really just a matter of preference. Right?
Exactly. I read super slow so subtitles aren’t ideal for me. Yeah sometimes the sub sounds better, but I’d rather watch the dub because I don’t have to read and can just focus on enjoying the show.
if the show is action oriented shonnen battle style dragonball Naruto ext then dubs are fine..for legit anime I suggest subs...dubs tend to change a lot
Usually if a show is being dubbed at the same time as the sub, I'll watch the dub. Nothing against subs mind you, I just prefer having my attention on what's going on.
Granted, there are some shows I have to watch subbed because of their lack of a dub, like Konosuba and Mob Psycho, but I really hope those come out dubbed someday too.
I completely agree to watch both Dubbed and subbed. Actually there is some AMAZING anime that people miss out on because "I only watch Subbed." I have had people tell me that they thought Space Dandy wasn't that funny or emotional. And they then told me when asked, that they only watched it subbed. So... Here's a list of anime that I implore everyone to at least try out dubbed. As they are... In my opinion, better than the subbed of that series. Space Dandy Panty and Stocking Afro Samurai Cowboy Bebop Stein's;gate My Hero Academia And to be honest, now owning the blu-ray of it... The Jojo dub is pretty good too, however the sub is slightly better because of the narrator is better in the sub to me... Meh. You decide. Little Witch Academy Anymore that I find or that I remember I'll place on this list, but most of the anime above are better due to the dub because the jokes land better or the dialogue actually comes through at a swifter pace, or you don't getdistracted by the visuals (this one is best for jojo with all those hot bods! Lol)
Tyler Lindsey-Delise Glad to see another Jojo fan! But I think subbed is better by far for shows like Jojo for the comedic aspect of it. The voice actors say hilarious things when they speak English, and their expressions are so much better in Japanese because it matches the intended mood.
Zaxomio the normal context in the true Japanese is just as crude. However their language doesn't have as many different insulting words as English does. Which is why it sounds cruder because that's the intention. Calling someone a Baka has at least seven different types of meaning. But it's all the same word, where we have idiot, stupid, jackass, stupid ass etc etc. all varying degrees of insults.
I got into anime roughly 26 years ago, back then subs were the way to go because the dubs were really fucken bad and strangely high pitched too, some of them would actually give you headaches. Now days though there are heaps of high quality dubs that are highly enjoyable to watch and for some shows the dub is arguably a better experience but the cool thing is you can pick what you want sub or dub, whatever makes you happy. There is absolutely no need to attack others because of their choice regardless of how good dubs get subs are not going to go away, your way of watching the shows is not under attack so there is really no need to criticize people for preferring to watch anime in a language they speak.
Personally I like both. I've been taking Japanese for several years now, so it's fun to listen to the subbed version and catch the different nuances of Japanese, like noticing when a character wants to go hang out with someone, but they use the term for going out romantically instead and it leads to a funny, awkward moment. That being said, it's also more pleasant and relaxing to watch the dub because I'm not quickly reading the lines and can just roll with the punches as the characters say their lines. You explain some good points my friend! Subscribed and wishing you luck in your subscriber battle!
>The sub and dub are completely different shows. That is especially the case for Ghost Stories Please do a sub/dub comparison video on Ghost Stories just for the hell of it.
I like watching both sub and dub cuz I like to look at the changes translators have to make in order to properly adapt things. Plus it gives me an excuse to watch something twice. Edit: Also I will never be able to watch Gurren Lagann Subbed because the Dub was both amazing and iconic and there were parts that I genuinely prefer over the sub. And Kyle Hebert's performance as Kamina was amazing, you can't deny that.
Gotta' say, I watched TTGL in Sub and fell in love with Kamina's voice so much so that the when I heard the Dub in episode 1, I could not even come to stand it. This is coming from someone who has watched the series at least five times now. Let's agree... To disagree! I do think that whichever you heard first plays a huge part. Absolutely adore Kamina's voice in sub so much.
alright I'll agree to disagree, that might be because the first time you watch a show (that has good acting mind you) and you grow to like it it sets a standard for certain characters that if they are not meet by the other versions it makes you not want to watch said second version.
i used to be a dub hater, then i watched all the studio ghibly movies dubbed. now i just think dub hating is dumb. i do whatever is convenient to me. if its only subbed, ill see it subbed, if its dubbed and good, ill watch it dubbed, if the sub and dub are equal, ill watch it dubbed. then i have strict rules about older anime but thats a different discussion
As a newcomer to anime, I started off watching anime in sub, rather than in dub, because I let myself be lead to believe that subs were "more accurate" to the original languages than dubs &, quite frankly, watching my beloved Japanese cartoons in subtitles made me feel smarter & more "sophisticated" - whatever the hell THAT means. Over the months, however, & as I started introducing other people with no patience for racing to keep up with subtitles to anime, I've started to really prefer dubs cuz I can pay attention to the show instead of the subtitles, don't miss half or more of the dialogue cuz the speakers onscreen talk to fast for me to keep up, & I can actually do other things - like eat dinner - while watching my shows, among other things. My only wish is that MORE anime shows & movies had accurate, high- quality dubs by talented, caring voice actors who are more true to the characters they're portraying. Cuz there is little less disconcerting or more disrupting than either a character whose voice sounds NOTHING like them (somehow you CAN tell). Just my thoughts on things.
Dubs are like chocolate ice-cream. I may be a strawberry boy/ sub lover but even I need a break once and a while from the creamy pink goodness. Credit where credit is due dubs are getting better and I don't mind my chocolate covered Hayate from my strawberry flavored Lelouch Don't take it out of context alright?
I really appreciate this, it's really opened my eyes to possibilities. I generally get drawn to the subbed version because I process visual info better than auditory info, so I can easily skim the subs and still enjoy the visuals.
I gotta agree. HOWEVER, don't pounce on me just yet. Whenever a new episode of an anime comes out, like My Hero Academia or Dragon Ball Super, I don't have the patience to wait for the dub, so I watch the sub. Any elitist anime fan that bows down on their knees every night wishing to be born Japanese in their next life will obviously say the sub is better, because they want to believe that their way of watching is the best way, and I disagree. My native tongue being used WELL, emphasizing a dub DONE WELL, makes a show immediately more enjoyable for me. I get to see the bigger picture without feeling like I'm reading the manga, because if I wanted to read the manga, I'D READ THE MANGA. If I wanted to "get the best Japanese experience," I wouldn't even be watching the damn anime, I'd go right to the source material, meaning the manga. I hate how the Japanese wanna-be's always ruin this shit with their elitist crap. An animated show is meant to be watched, not read, or else there is no point in animating it. Now I mentioned that I prefer dubs, but I watch the subs, for a reason. I can say that I also disagree with the statement "a dub and sub of the same show can be completely different" because I simply don't see it. The goal of dubbing a show is to simply transfer languages. If it was meant to be a different show, it would be titled differently and/or would be regarded as different. When I watch a sub, then go back and watch it dubbed, I get a completely different experience. That difference is NOT because it feels like a different show, but rather I'm experiencing what the Japanese intended, and I simply didn't get that same experience when feeling like I'm reading lines off a boring, sometimes poorly written (translated), script. In short, I feel like dubs are great, and I prefer them for many reasons, but the biggest is that I actually feel like I'm getting a better experience that is closer to what the creator wanted me to feel, instead of reading the lines and just knowing how I'm SUPPOSED to feel, rather than actually feeling it like I do with a good dub. Main point: In my opinion, a good dub is arguably a better experience AND closer to the experience the creator wanted you to have, instead of reading the entire story off bottom text that gives you an idea on how you should feel, rather than feeling it yourself. I think hard-core anime elitists get these two things mixed up, because they don't give good dubs a chance.
The answer is simple: wait till the dub is released/finished, than read reviews of it online. If people say it's good watch it, if it's not, don't. Honestly, while you made really good points about dubs, I'm probably gonna stick to subs unless people, tell me a dub of a show I like is good. Mostly because a lot of times I just don't like the VAs as much as the Japanese seiyuus. For example, while I quite like Jojo part 3's dub, it still doesn't even come close to the original voice acting. (Thankfully Jojo is a series that doesn't really rely on puns and wordplay that much. Or at least, not that I know of...)
Shortruler there’s a problem with that in this community no matter how good a dub is the retards still say its shit because its not japanese the thing with VA’s i dont understand to me when i watch in sub everything sounds the same the girls sound like 4 year olds and guys sound like douchebags all the comedy is lost since i dont speak japanese and all the emotion is lost since i’m too focused on reading the thing in english to listen to how the line was even delivered.
marko cumic I know how it is for you, I have that same problem when I'm listening to french people speak, they all sound the same to me and I don't get the tone and feeling of what they're saying. I think if you listen to them speak enough you'll slowly start learning... or something... I guess that's how I learned swedish.
Personally, I watch JoJo's subbed for 2 reasons: 1. The way the characters scream out broken English is way funnier to me than it could ever be the other way around. 2. They made the cowboy voice go to Jotaro and not Joseph, the actual cowboy. Aside from that, I usually choose whether or not to watch subbed or dubbed based on an anime's reputation. Generally, the quality of the show won't go up or down at all if I watch it one way or the other, so I usually watch whatever I feel like at the time. However, if a show's particularly eccentric, I usually go with subbed, due to the craziness of the voice-work being typically up-played in Japanese, whereas if a show's more character-and-dialogue oriented, I'll usually stick with the dub, since I'm not bilingual. That being said, if a show has an especially bad English dub, I'll always choose that version. There's no amount of quality improvement that would make me give up the English dub of Evangelion. It was a magical experience, and I'm glad I watched it that way.
I guess it's (in part at least) a matter of what you're accustomed to. Almost everything gets dubbed for the few most spoken languages, but for someone like me, a Norwegian, only children's movies and edutainment games get dubbed. This means that, in order to enjoy a decent variety of entertainment after the age of 10, I was forced to learn fluent English or enjoy subs. And now, as a result, I can do both, but prefer to have subtitles on everything I watch, even if I understand the spoken language. You know, so I don't miss a word...
Heck Some dubs are better than the subs ever were. But for the most part, the fact is that the translation work and casting didn't have as much thought put into them for the dub as was put in for the original language release. The best way to experience a foreign show is to learn the language and nuance and become fluent enough to not need any subtitles or dubs at all. But no one has time for that, and most people don't give a fuck. So 🤷🏻♀️
+Sanwoo Jojo in some areas because "All I've got up my skirt is more tequila, big boy" and "That son of a bitch took his bodaaaaayyyy!!!!" Basically Joseph is a ham and cheese omelete and I love it.
I lived in Japan for a short-while, and it was a pretty amazing time. Especially when Dub-snob me, learned that my Japanese roomate thought that our sub/dub bickering in the west was hilarious. He named a few dubbed anime he and his friends actually preferred to his native language, and it was a real eye-opener.
One time I downloaded something that had only the English dub audio track, but also had English subtitles burned into the video track. They didn't match of course but after a couple hours of watching my mind transcended the subs and dub into a realm of pure linguistic meaning. It was the purest anime watching experience I ever had, and I forgot what it was....
Ping pong the animation Kill la kill Cowboy bebop Black lagoon Ergo proxy And more I watched all of them dubbed and I fucking loved them And I highly doubt that I would get the same experience if I watched them with subtitles A good dub can enhance your experience and it's not something to be ashamed of That being said... AOT's dub is still terrible
You earned a subscriber with this one. I've been a sub watcher for like ten years, and you totally haven't changed my mind, but you raise some really good points, some of which hadn't occurred to me. Good shit man.
I recently watched the MHA movie in both subbed (first) and then Dubbed. You perfectly described how the differences in vocal inflection are super important but often lost on English viewers when watching subs. I couldn't put it into words myself until watching this. Even with subtitles, I don't speak Japanese. And the semi-literal translation of the wording didn't always quiet work. Phrases in Japanese don't always make as much sense in English and it broke my suspension of disbelief sometimes. I also found myself needing to "make up" voices for the characters in the sub as I read it in English, which also took up more energy and took me out of the work. Needless to say, for those reasons I found myself better able to relax and appreciate the English version better. And doing so really gave me a chance to appreciate the animation as well. Everyone can do their own thing without it being a big deal. I just prefer dubs myself. :)
THANK YOU SO MUCH. I hate getting shut down when I say I like a dub even when I feel the dub did it better. Also while 4kids does have stinkers (cough*Mew Mew Power, One Piece, Magical Do Re Mi* cough) I feel they get a bad rap because I re-watched some dubs of theirs recently and no one mentions Shaman King. Shaman King got it right. Anyway I also feel when people in Japanese use English it does takes you out of the experience. People praise Bebop because not only was the dub good but also it fit the world better. Trigun, Outlaw Star, Big O any anime that has western influence gets more respect in the west because of the time the dubbers took to get things right. Even if some lines are clunky they at least got the characters right. Oh if you want bad dubs look no further than anything produced by MEDIA BLASTERS. They do not try at all!
LilyBannel oh I totally agree. 4kids gets a lot of crap from people when they actually had some good stuff. Granted, as much as I liked Shaman King, I did notice that 4kids had a habit of adding more dialogue to some of that show's quiet moments.
I think it all depends on what you are used to. Hearing something in a language you don't know or is different would change the experience and could pull you out. Of course I'd say the same about really bad acting. Forget voice acting, just watching a movie when the actor clearly isn't very good or didn't care will pull you out of the movie as hard or harder than watching something in a language that isn't your first language. I think it is fine to enjoy dubs more. I don't, but that isn't something that impacts me. What other people enjoy is up to them and they should watch things in a way that they can derive the most enjoyment out of it.
I agree, Flare Knight. It is like watching someone on stage. If they give a bad performance then it ain't good. I watch both dub and sub when I have time because I like comparing the voice casts. Fruits Basket was the first anime where I felt the dub did something better than the sub. Yuki's voice. In Japanese I know he is supposed to be girly and that both men and women want him but hearing him with a female voice actor threw me off. The characters acknowledge his manliness but with the voice I didn't get that. In the dub I did. His voice was soft but still masculine making him a gentleman type. I still knock points off though for the pronunciation of names but that change made me happy. Also I don't get distracted too much watching subs. I have been an anime fan since 2006 and I have adjusted my eyes to pay attention to the screen and the subs.
I like Dubs because I'm a distracted watcher. I like being able to look away from the screen and not miss the lines of the actors, plus in some shows the dialogue is so fast I miss some of it in japanese. In other cases like Boku no Hero Academia I may find a character's voice extremely grating; in that I hated the MC's voice so much I nearly quite until I switched to the Dub which I found to be excellent. I do miss the japanese VA for froppy though, she's hilarious. It comes down to personal taste and I'm glad there's multiple ways to consume shows for different people.
The reason no one mentions the dubs that do it right is because it doesn't reinforce their arguments. If you type in "Really bad voice acting" into RU-vid's search brings up a hilariously bad dub from Chaos Wars as either the first result or one of the first results, yet I've had dub elitists link me that scene DOZENS of times and tell me that it's ALL like that, simply since they're that devoted to dub bashing. People can like what they like, and the entire reason there's a Sub vs Dub war at all is because of sub elitists that come into discussions about the dub just to troll and grief and start fights. It's gotten so bad that I legitimately can't stomach subs anymore (I was watching HeroAca subbed because Crunchyroll only has it subbed and I decided the other day that I would restart it with the dubs, not even joking) since it makes me think of those people, because they've left THAT bad a taste in my mouth, for the following reason: Despite claiming they do so "on principle," many of these people go so far as to threaten localizers of JRPGs who couldn't get the rights to Japanese audio because of the contracts of individual VAs who didn't want their work to leave Japan. Every single time I see a new game (With only english voices) coming out that I'm interested in and I check out the forums, these people go through an hour of interviews to find one line that can be taken out of context and use it as leverage to try to bully the developers into giving them what they want. Sorry, but what "principles" could an unprincipled thug like that even HAVE!? Seriously, just look at the Steam Forums for the PC ports for the Legend of Heroes games. So yeah. People can like what they like, but the dub haters really need to chill out.
I think the only show that should never be watched dubbed is JoJo, and that's because so much of the show's comedy is created by the Engrish. Who can forget Zeppeli yelling "Hey, Baby?" That was the fucking best.
I was already going to subscribe and then "tell your dog's friends". I started crying of laughter. +1 subscriber. First anime youtuber to make me laugh!
You brought up some good points! It makes me want to start watching the dub now so I can spot the differences! The problem is that I have to read with closed captions even when the show is in English. A lot of times the captions aren't changed in the dub, so it reads the subtitle script, and it's pretty confusing when you read something different from what you're hearing. Like the video though, and I look forward to your series dub vs sub reviews!
I have the feeling that a lot of these people who are claiming they didn't miss anything because of the subs, probably didn't try watching the dubs either, and missed the point of the second half of the video...
Possibly. But the most vocal about it tend to be the ones you'd never be able to convince. Locked so tightly into their own echo chamber they're unable to separate objectivity from subjectivity.
Jepze What? No, they're not lying. I meant that they don't know if they're missing anything because they never gave the English dub a chance. You can't tell if your missing something by comparison if you don't watch both versions to compare. You can say that you didn't miss anything if you watched both versions, but most people I've seen in the comments are saying that they didn't miss anything even though they haven't watched both versions. Also there's nothing wrong with not wanting to watch anime in English/dubbed, it's just you can't tell if you missed anything if you've only seen one version.
drisk101 then you aren't seeing enough of a series and you are watching the same episode both subbed and dubbed. Add to the fact that there are so much anime that comes out and has already come out and you are screwed. Again ain't nobody got time for that. XD
9:58 Um..did hear boku no pico academia? Also, I agree with the statements you are making. I think sub is fantastic for people who are interested in learning Japanese or want to hear dialogue that sounds natural to Japanese people. Japanese voice actors are amazing to listen to. With that said, there are fantastic voice actors the in the U.S. (or whatever country the dub is from) and they help enhance the experience for people in that country, with great writing and great voice acting. As a Japanese person, its feels very strange because though I understand where they are coming from, it often seems like a rule that's forced on to people that don't necessarily desire it. An example of this is when I wanted to get my mother into watching game of thrones (yeah I know I'm a sick asshole). Even though she could speak English, even with the subtitles she struggled to understand the story or rather, she was so focused on understanding the narrative that it was more stressful to her than it was interesting. When I showed her the first episode in Japanese dub, she was much more engaged. These voice actors perfectly captured the essence of the English voice actors, and the dialogue was written beautifully making sure they didn't lose any detail, while not seeming too forced. While there's plenty of dubs that suck royally, proper dubs do make the experience better for those who aren't as proficient with the original language it was published in. TLDR: Good dubs enhances the experience for people who don't speak Japanese and aren't used to subbed anime. Bad dubs exist, but dubs are important. (this is still too long)
Loved the video! It's nice to see someone else who sees value in DUBs. Especially in E!Deku. The Japanese voice actor's performance just rubbed me the wrong way so I switched to the Dub after a couple of episodes and it make a world of difference. :-)
YES!! THANK YOU!! I don't understand why everybody wants to jump down my goddamn throat for wanting to visually experience my visual medium! I actively await your new Sub vs. Dub series.
I'm kinda with you on subtitles. My autism makes paying attention to words popping up harder that keeping to the screen. I think when I watch subbed, I'm mostly just reading than watching ;;
I have a few anime that I actually prefer to watch dubbed, just because the dub is pretty good and the anime is very plot heavy, like FMA Brotherhood and Cowboy Bebop but that's about it. I don't really judge people who watch anime dubbed, I simply don't enjoy watching most of it because I feel the voice actors for the dubs don't emote enough while most japanese manage to fit the roll better Also I thoguht that in regards to emotion in their voices, from what I can remember from fucking... what, four or five years ago or something? The One Piece dub was ok, but that might be me just fangirling too hard for Zoro, Chopper and Sanji (god I love Zoro so fucking much I wanna punch something)
One Piece? the new one? you can't possibly be speaking of 4kids. i think there was a different dub aside from 4kids. i never watched very far into one piece though so idk. i got maybe 50 or so eps in so i didn't get to the grand line.
Yeah there weren't a lot of episodes but the voice acting was pretty good and I don't think they replaced Sanjis tabacco with a lolipop, the episodes stopped somewhere around when Zoro and Sanji have to play that game with the ball hat thing, I think. Like I said, it was a while ago and I don't remember much
This is the second time that I've heard the thesis mentioned, and my interest is piqued. Is that shared anywhere, or is there a way to get a copy to read?
I liked this video. As a SUB diehard fan, it offenden my sensibilities and made me questions my true faith. It is well explained, summarised and have really good examples. I am still a SUB fan at heart, but I can see your point. And I not gonna lie, that exit creeped me out more thnat it should... OSOM
I'm pretty sure that when people say they like subs over dubs is because there watching with their mom when they go to their dirty basement and watch anime with them and they have to read so they can't keep their (to many theirs) closed and say "sound is better than visual"
Heya ! First of all i'd like to say that i LOVE your videos. I adore them. They are both funny and incredibly well written. I kinda want to hear you analyse stuff all day. Secondly : You spoke of analysing the differences between dubbed and subbed songs in frozen and i suddenly realised i really wanted to hear that because i'm a french croissant that also really loves disney movies. Would you ever consider posting that on this channel (or any channel for that matter)? I understand this isn't the focus of this channel so i understand if you don't want too. In any case, keep it up because you're doing great :D bye bye ! -A french croissant
I actually also think dubs are important for reaching a larger audience as a whole since watching something in English is more accessible to Western fans and that dubs are just so much easier for people who have dyslexia and other reading disabilities. I still strongly prefer subs (I'm a Yu-Gi-Oh fan so you can see why that is) but I think dubs are still important. I actually occasionally watch certain episodes in dubs if I'm in a certain mood and it's actually quite enjoyable. It helps with understanding lore and stuff like that.
I like the consensus this video ends on. I haven't started watching any of the anime I plan on watching as of yet, but when I do I plan to at least attempt to see both versions of the shows which give me that option. Hell I've even held off buying Koe No Katachi on Blu-ray because I'm waiting for the U.S. release with English dubbing, just so I have the option present. I've already seen it in Japanese, and already know there are a couple scenes I prefer the Japanese version over what I've seen of the English one, but I feel like the option will be nice to have. Good video.
I think that you're overestimating the difference between dubs and subs in translation quality. If grammar order is so intrinsic to comedic timing, why would dubs be better than subs? Dubs have to be translated simultaneously - the punchline would _have_ to be out of order for things to make sense, whereas in a subtitled version you could at least understand the full joke, even if the timing was off. Moreover, if something is so difficult to translate that you can't find an equivalent phrase in English, why would a dub be better than a sub? Dubs are susceptible to translation incompetency too, and unlike subtitles, dubs have a time constraint for the amount of information you can convey - the length of the spoken dialogue. An excellent series like _Bakemonogatari_ would lose a ton in the translation to dub, because of the length and difficulty of translating certain concepts. It wouldn't be _impossible_, certainly, but it would be laborious and time consuming, and you would still likely have to resort to transliteration. I think the point I most disagree with is the one about tone. I get where you're coming from: inflection is a huge portion of how a dubs can succeed over subs. But it's almost impossible to capture inflection with the same fifteen fucking voice actors that live near Funimation headquarters - there's no getting around that. Unlike the Japanese Seiyuu scene, the American dub scene has fewer actors, and much less genuine talent. And when that talent runs out (like in a series with a large ensemble) most of the time they have to call in C-List voice actors instead of their typical B-list ones - that, or have one of their other actors do an atrocious voice to cover up that they're the same person. A part of the reason I think you disliked the Attack on Titan dub is that the lead actor actually missed the subtlety of Eren - not that Eren was subtle to begin with - but that some of the content of his lines was lost in translation, and the English actor just substituted emotions like "fear" or "terror" with bland edgyness. And don't get me started on dubs of shows with female lead characters. If I have to hear that nasally fucking valley-girl accent from a Funimation actor one more time, I'm going to fly down to Dallas and wipe their sorry studio from the planet. The "Dragon Maid" dub was an abortion of everything that translation is meant to be, and I can't condone the industry if it puts out content like that. The problem is that you need to separate big budget dubs of foreign films from the criticism aimed at the dubbing scene. When most anime dubs come from a single company that has a spotty track record, I can only feel dread when my favorite series get dubbed. Will it turn out excellent like _Mob Psycho 100_, or will it fall flat like 99% of the other stuff Funimation pulls out. As a dedicated audiophile, it only takes _one_ bad voice for a lead character, or _one_ really shitty translation to put me off of an entire dub for good, and the current dubbing scene is filled with them.
An interesting take -- it seems to me that the kernel of what you don't like about dubs is the recognizability of the voices ('those 15 VA's that live close to Funimation') and their accents ('nasally fucking valley-girl accent'). That's one of the reasons why people sometimes go for the original: not because they can actually see or hear it as the native speakers would (that's not really possible in 90% of the cases), but because at least it doesn't stimulate the associations they have in their minds with specific speech patterns ('valley girl') in English. (I remember a bitter discussion once about Lauren Landa, Kyōko Sakura's VA in PMMM, and "how much worse" her kinda bad accent was than Ai Nonaka's original). I believe one reason why people go away from dubs in their own languages is that the original Japanese dub seems "mysterious," "not ordinary" -- or they associate it only with the context of animes, since American viewers are usually not really in a context in which they hear Japanese and its many accents in their everyday lives. To them, Japanese language is "anime", is "different world" -- anything but the boring routine of English. So they don't mind that they're actually not getting what the native speaker gets (which includes 'boring routine Japanese' as well), that their experience is not really closer to that of a native speaker: they associate the language with the mindset of watching anime, having a good time, perhaps being really amazed by a great work of art. And English could never beat such associations! Notice that I'm not denying your experience as an audiophile. Your reactions, with your trained ear, to the dubs you get from Funimation or elsewhere is perfectly valid, and the feelings that these dubs elicit in you are also true. For you. Me, I have a totally different experience, because I'm a different kind of audiophile (I'm a linguist by profession, and I tend to see dialects and dialectal pronunciations as things of beauty to be all appreciated in their own terms; yes, even nasally fucking valley-girl dialects [which in my mind are perfect for characters like Galko-chan, but that's a different topic]), and I actually like many of the 15 VA's you mention (Monica Real, Jamie Marchi, Vic Mignogna, Sarah Williams, etc.). I actually enjoy the dissonance (or resonance, as the case may be) in the choice of VAs. I like to argue about whether or not it is a good thing to use a Southern accent to "translate" an Osaka accent, as they did in Azumanga Daioh. I find this things fascinating, not infuriating. Which means that, in the end, the reaction is a personal one. I like dubs a lot; both English dubs and Japanese dubs (and French and German dubs), each for different reasons. I find it a pity that so many people center on one of those and exclude the others ('except for a few exceptional cases like Cowboy Bebop or Baccano!', they hasten to add, thereby missing the point), but then again, if non-Japanese dubs make their ears cringe, then it wouldn't be a good idea to force it upon them. To each their own.
Hey, want me to spoil something for you? *Japanese dubs are like that too* Obviously not to the same extent, there's definitely more people over there involved in making and producing anime, but undoubtedly there are similar problem with the Seiyuus as there are with the Voice Actors. Truthfully, if you don't notice that a lot of anime girls are high-pitched, to the extent that you could probably substitute any two random girls' voices and the average American Otaku wouldn't notice a difference, then you'd have to be paying real hard to the subtitles. It's a problem in the industry worldwide. Now, is it as bad as you say it is? Of course not. Funimation does have more than "the same 12 people" (12 is much more fun number to use), and when they run out they either call more people in or they have Sabat do another voice. Jokes aside, you treat this as if Funimation is the only dubbing company. They're not, and while they do quite a few shounen and shounen-type anime, they're fairly isolated in terms of scope. More and more companies are starting to dub, and they're improving as well, since that's how progress works. Plus, the fact that you're super invested in who voices what character means you completely disregard the rest of the show, as well as the talent that the VA apparently doesn't have. Also maybe you should stop watching shows with shit dubs. There are plenty of others.
Thank you for this! I'm tired of sub elitists insisting the sub provides a better understanding when the opposite is true. Not having to read the most awkward sentences ever in subs is a plus of dubs that people never bring up as well, thanks for bringing that up!
marko cumic If you watch enough anime, you can eventually pick up on key words and phrases that are commonly used. Or you can start learning 日本語 and enhance your sub-watching experience. I was really ecstatic while watching Kobayashi's Dragon Maid because I heard one of the characters say お目出度う and that was one of the vocabulary words that I learned beforehand from my class.
Great video! I am most interested by your analysis of French dub of Rapunzel! Any chance you would share your thoughts on the French dub of Frozen? Your paper sounds fascinating!
Aho Girl is subtle? In all seriousness. I would contest the first point mainly because you seem to assume that reading the subs means the viewer somehow has to ignore the entire rest of the screen. This probably depends a little on the viewer's level of reading comprehension, how long it takes them to gist a line, but I don't believe most people focus solely on the words. Clearly you managed to pick up on the body language in Sound Euph despite watching it subbed. There's some validity to the second point, though again I think personal levels of comprehension can play into it. Both in terms of reading comprehension and, as you noted,, one's familiarity with Japanese. Also, you later on point out that subs and dubs are different enough that changes can and do get made, so is it possible that in some cases the changes to the dub are what are responsible for making it seem dumbed down or edgelordy? Maybe rather than projecting depth on the show when subbed, it's depth that was removed in the dub. Okay, maybe not in Attack on Titan, but it does happen. (see your own examples of 4kids dubs) On the third point comedy is one of the areas where subs and dubs tend to differ the most. Dubs definitely help out those who haven't spend (entirely too) much time watching chinese cartoons with jokes, but they can also render some jokes nearly impossible. Take the pronoun fumbling in Your Name. As I understand, they had to essentially remove the joke entirely in the dub because there's just no way to translate it well without the the parentheses they used in the subs. There's still a lot of Japanese culture/language knowledge required to get the joke and laugh at it, but in the dub it's not a joke at all regardless of your knowledge. With the sub, I was able to laugh at it when viewing where I would have probably been left scratching my head at the dub. Overall I still prefer subs myself. I can agree with your ultimate conclusion, namely that the dub and sub are different (though related) products. Maybe the dubs even end up being as good, or better but ain't no one got time to watch both.
Ive probably never 180'd on a topic so hard before. Watched this video a few months ago and since then have stuck to dubs after only watching subs and have been pretty happy. Granted, I've only been watching stuff that happens to have good dubs (Edgerunners, FLCL, etc.), but I digress.
While i prefer subbed, i have nothing against you if you like dubbed. However i would like to add one thing, After watching Subbed for several years, I can not get behind the notion that subbed distracts from the visuals. You not only learn to distinguish certain words, but over time your reading skill improves and your able to do both. it's not like reading a book that has picture in it, you can do both at the same time, without losing anything, you simply have to get used to it. However, to say some people can't do that is true, so i would rather get behind the notion that you struggle doing so, and that's okay. Not everyone can be able to do some things, and that is fine. I've also watched a few shows in dubbed, but honestly, 4Kid's traumatized my willingness to watch dubbed. and often if i watch dubbed, it's only because i watched the subbed first, and the anime community is raving about the dub being "SO GOOD". $Kid's is the bottom of the barrel for dubbed animation. And one last thing, the scene you displayed from Boku No Hero Academia, While is funny in Dubbed, I still prefer it in subbed, the scene made me laugh bth ways, but i loved the expressions and hand movements that matched so well in subbed, and i wasn't distracted by the subtitles the first time i watched the scene. Dubbed just kinda leaves me watching anime, subbed gets me to feel involved in anime, so i actually struggle watching dubbed rather than subbed. To explain this, I have depression, it's something i struggle with, and it's one of the reasons i prefer subbed. Dubbed makes me zone out, leaves me with thoughts that i don't like, and subbed doesn't let me get there, i become fully ingrained in subbed, while dubbed i am more likely to just turn off, or miss some visuals because I'm looking elsewhere. again, if you prefer Subbed, that's great, however neither side should dismiss the other, and i find the dubbed versus subbed argument silly. Not everyone can enjoy subbed, and not everyone can enjoy dubbed. your preference answers the decision for you before the argument has even started, facts can come later, but your unlikely to be swayed from a personal preference. All in all, I look forward to your dubbed verses subbed series to come, I think it'll be interesting to see the differences in shows i never watched dubbed.
I'm slow, dumb, anti-social, and depressed. I rarely ever even look at people when they or I talk. It's such a problem I sometimes have trouble looking at fictional characters... not sure where I'm going with this... So subs just naturally fit me better as a person, it's somewhere for my eyes to go. Subs have never detracted from my experience any more than dubs. I don't feel like I've missed out on timed jokes in shows like Gintama. I'm able to read subs and watch at the same time. The only time I have trouble keeping up is with short and fast paced anime like 'Hetalia' or 'The Disastrous Life of Saiki K' but switching to the dubbed versions didn't solve that problem. Since I watch subbed (and dubbed occasionally) I pick up on the tones of voices a bit more and I'll say that the English voice actors don't do as good a job as the Japanese most of the time... Again, not sure where I'm going with any of this... sorry
No, you did very well, i understood perfectly, and i happen to agree with you about the tone of voice thing, Dubbed voice actors rarely ever use the proper tone when speaking, and many times it sounds forced instead of natural.
After seeing a lot of angry, defensive arguments in the comments section, I really appreciate how you wrote a calm, structured argument. I find it easier in my busy day to watch the dub because it allows me to "multitask", but I've also watched the subs and they're great when I have time to become absorbed in the anime. Though I will say I remember more from and laugh more at the dub dialogue because I can understand it better. To each his own, ya' know.
If you watch enough sub you will be able to understand most of the jokes without even reading subs. So it is all about the dedication and practice. And about the question "do you like to hear japanese voice?". For me japanese just sounded much more intriguing when i first watched an anime, and that gave me a great sense of aproaching something new, something that came from an alien culture. I was sick of hearing the same boring russian and ukranian everywhere. And i was so hyped to watch more anime and to hear more of that strange new language... That was about 11 years ago. Now when i hear japanese it is almost as if i hear my native languages. Not that i can understand everything, but it just feels so familiar and cozy... Almost as english, which i have learned to the point where i am now mostly just from playing games and watching youtube a lot. So for me: anime = japanese, youtube and games = english, boring reality = russian & ukranian.
That's also exaclty my point -- you like the Japanese voice because it's different and intriguing, not because you're getting a "more legitimate experience" (which I don't believe in anyway). I wished more people would be sincere like you. If you enjoy the Japanese language, if you enjoy hearing characters who speak it even if you can't understand it -- then more power to you! Enjoy! Aand you also mention that Russian and Ukrainian are the boring languages of everyday life -- which I suspect is the reason why many sub-lovers like subs: they think of English this way. Me, I can't think of Russian or Ukrainian this way because they're not my native language, so they sound exotic, mysterious and intriguing to me (да, я говорю свободно по-русски -- моя жена из Киева, и я у неё научился... всё равно язык звучит таинственно, как будто у него скрытые красота и тоска... I bet non-Russian speakers see the preceding sentence as strange, incomprehensible, but perhaps also mysterious and other-worldly...). But you can, being a native speaker... Hell, the Japanese think of their language as a "boring, everyday" thing, and this perception also influences how anime VAs sound.
Both Subs and Dubs change the experience. When a studio dubs a nonsense joke to proper comedy, that is great. When a sub show explains the context of the japanese word or joke (through annotations) I both learn and understand the intended context closer. Both have positives.
I can confirm that the ''drawing away from the visual'' part of your statement is correct. After watching this video I noticed that Fate Apocrypha was on Netflix and decided to give it a watch in dub version. It was like watching the show all over again and since there's little to no cringeworthy dialoge I managed to enjoy it a lot more than the first time. Thank you. Shame that I was forced to unhear Astolfo's and Achilles's beautiful japanese voices tho. No homo. Also, if you want to see a show where the dub and sub are two diferent shows, watch the first three yugioh series. In the GX case it's almost like the dub is an abridged series instead of an actual TV show.
I have Dyslexia and ADD. I’m not a fast reader and I like to do other shit like draw, cook, do house work or play video games. I get distracted/board easy and if I do it’s very hard to focus or I tend to zone out. I only watch things Subbed when I am otherwise have no other option. That’s just how I work. Even if I didn’t have these brain barriers, it would still be valid because the way I feel most comfortable consuming media is my 100% my preference and no one can convince me to be comfortable with something I’m not as comfortable with. Theirs no “superior” way to watch a thing. Sub purest, calm down. Before any of you be like “I’m hard of hearing!” Or “well I have ADD and I watch sub!” Great, that’s your preference and what you’re most comfortable. It’s not mine and never will be. Ditto how you feel about mine. It’s not your preference, your not comfortable with it and that’s also fine. Just stop caring about how other people consume shit. My god their are such more important issues in the world.
As someone who has ADHD I completely agree, it’s very hard to focus on the subtitles when I could simply just watch it in dub and enjoy myself. I often get shamed by my friends for watching in dub but honestly I’m literally just watching the same type of show as you just in a different language.
