Subbed vs Dubbed

[The Specter]

Title says it all, what do you like better when watching a show that isnt in a language you speak?

I personally like subbed better because I feel that the initial voice actors (or actors) usually do a better job conveying emotion than the people who dub it, where it mostly sounds like a translation.

However some shows are pretty good with dubs.


What do you guys think? Which one do you normally prefer?

[Yogurt]

ha ha im not falling for this twice desu

[Mitch]

Will take a good dub over a sub, but they are rare. Subs usually have the advantage of the voice acting better suiting the characters mannerisms and gestures so there is a plus side. I'm just talking about anime btw.

[The Specter]

@yogurt what?

and yeah Mitch thats what i was primarily talking about too

[Kev]

baccano is only dub i'll ever do so subbed 100%

some things are funnier in dub though

[ZucchiniJuice]

Has anyone ever heard Goku's voice in subbed? I never ever heard DBZ in subbed ever. Its weird...

[The Specter]

Nope same with Ash from Pokemon

[tuna]

Chinese oriental films, it's a disgrace to dub them. Subs are better most of the time.

[Jojishi]

Dubs can be incredible if they're done correctly. I'm bias in this regard, but I'd probably take a 7/10 dub over a 9/10 sub just because I find it more enjoyable to listen and watch. If the sub's a lot better than the dub (in regards to voice acting) then I'll just suck it up and watch the sub.

The Funimation dub DBZ is a prime example of how a dub is done well. I thoroughly enjoy watching it because not only is the performance of the voice actors spectacular, but the soundtrack fits the show perfectly. The theme song that plays when Vegeta delivers a monologue, or when the long harsh sound plays as Frieza bashed Goku around, as well as many others just fit so perfectly. The sub couldn't hold a candle to Bruce Faulconer's memorable soundtrack. The sub's soundtrack fit the martial arts/adventure them of Dragon Ball, but not the science-fiction, testosterone fueled action that was DBZ.

I know there are other dubs which aren't that good. In those cases it's definitely better to watch the sub. Regardless of all of this it comes down to taste in the end. People can enjoy whatever they enjoy. Apples and oranges.

[Phewz]

it depends on the quality of the dub really
i'll take a good dub over a sub but good dubs are fucking hard to find and a lot of the voices in dubs piss me off anyway

especially that really airy 'cute girl' voice that a lot of VAs feel the need to do
jesus fucking christ

[Alca]

It's really all down to personal preference. Both have their merits. Personally, I only watch subs. Not that I find dubs terrible, but I feel that sometimes, a lot of stuff gets cut out when a show is dubbed. A lot of comedies use many cultural jokes but I find that some dubs tend to change it around to make it more localised. Plus some jokes are just impossible to transfer over to the English language, e.g. characters speaking Engrish. You can't really make a joke of a character trying to speak English when they're speaking English in the first place.

Of course, with dubs you have the advantage of listening to it in your native tongue, and you don't have to read subtitles. I actually really enjoyed the Death Note dub, but other than that I always stick to subs.

[tenks]

Comes down to personal pref. so it's not really a debate. I take subs over dubs anytime, if we're talking korean lightshows of course. Dubs just don't do the cut for me because I'm a dirty weeb and also ignorant, the only worthwhile dub I've witnessed was the GITS SAC one.

[Skype]

Yeah this en't a debate.

I don't mind either; the stint of my life I spent watching obscure anime means I can read subs very quickly. Only down side being you can't eat/multitask and watch subbed anime.

I'll watch dubbed if I can get it for what I'm watching but it doesn't bother me.

[SIFTER]

I like subtitled stuff better becasue I appriciate the japanese voice acting talent.

[Tom]

I normally watch dub if the anime has been dubbed because I like listening to the language I speak. If there's no dub I'll most likely watch the sub, which I don't mind at all, lately I've ONLY been watching subs cause of the lip syncing and terrible voice acting some anime's have. Unless it's something that just throws me off completely like a screechy voice for the main character then I won't even bother.

These are probably the only really good dubs I've experienced.
-FMA series
-Cowboy Bebop