Dubbed vs Subtitled

[Princess Viola]

I think the biggest problem with the sub vs dub thing is false information we had as kids when we got such subs that often... thirteened the things. Like all the fansubs that had Vegita screaming F-bombs every few words.

I missed this part but fansubs that do this in shows meant for children are the worst.

I don't mind light or minor swearing in the subs, like 'dammit' or 'crap' or other mild profanities. And if a character gets really pissed off or in a really intense scene, I'm cool with them dropping like a 'bastard' or something.

But when you just have the subs full of like hella intense swearing, that just reeks of insecurity to me. Like you gotta make the characters in the show aimed at like 11 year old Japanese kids be swearing up a storm to prove that this isn't actually for kids or something.

 

[Tm_Silverclaw]

I don't mind light or minor swearing in the subs, like 'dammit' or 'crap' or other mild profanities. And if a character gets really pissed off or in a really intense scene, I'm cool with them dropping like a 'bastard' or something.

I agree with you, mainly because most of the words that translate best into those... aren't necessarily the same as cursing in the US.. but yeah, the whole making Vegita drop F-bombs and just a lot in old fansubs really turned me off fansubs for a LONG time.

 

[Confuzor]

I always try to give the Dub the benefit of the doubt when I have equal access to both.

Until very recently i haven't felt the need to switch over to subs. (Saw first episode of Metallic Rouge and 5 minutes in I needed to do subs. The voices were grating and too much new jargon without context made it difficult to follow)

 

[LBD "Nytetrayn"]

I forgive 4Kids for one reason. They found Mike Pollock.

That is a significant reason I am sorry I overlooked.

 

[Daith]

Both? Both? Both are good....

Honestly I usually have no issue watching Dub or Sub. Most of the time the Dub actors from most shows don't bother me too much. There are a few choices ones I've come to hate with a passion since it seems they can only do the one shrill annoying voice. Looking at you Hillary Haag. Love some of her roles over the years but anymore it's almost a turn off when I can instantly single her out in a dub.

These days it's what comes out faster so I watch Sub a lot more, but sometimes I will go back and watch the dub if it's out at the same time. I just prefer to admire the animation without focusing on reading. I had started "A Sign of Affection" dubbed and until CR biffed the subbing of the text messages on the dub of a late episode I had watched it that way. And then I couldn't help myself and watched the rest.

Usually though if I watch it dubbed first I'll continue that way, but In instances like DragonBall Super I watched the Sub first and enjoyed the dub later. But for a lot of Kid shows I really do want to see a dub so I can enjoy them with my younger nephews and nieces. I was waiting for the "Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai" dub for some time so I could introduce it to them.

But there are a ton of bad dubs for sure. I love Gundam Build Fighters but both the original and Try have some bad acting in it. And we can all kick the Big Green DBZ dub to the curb.

On the other hand there are tons of dubs that I love. Johnny Yong Bosch and Yuri Lowenthal on Code Geass. Most of the time when Steve Blum has a starring role Like Cowboy Bebop. The Gurren Laggan dub has always been a favorite.

 

[Teufel]

Almost always subs. On some level it's probably a bias towards what I heard first as many years ago I started watching more and more anime while it was airing overseas. If I spend 13 or 26 weeks with a show it will be a little difficult to switch. But frankly, at the risk of being that guy, I often find the Japanese actors better. Not just in performance, but the character of their voices. Most dub actors sound dull and generic, like a producer with no budget grabbed some no talent random people at a bus stop and shoved them into a recording booth. To my ears it's gotten worse since the mid 2000s as the domestic market has shifted and consolidated and my personal ratio of sub to dub has adjusted accordingly.

I find the idea you need to speak Japanese to be able to appreciate the performances bunk. Emotion trancsends language. There are subtleties I may lose, certainly with it being a rather differnt culture, but overall I don't think it's all that opaque. There have been performances that made me laugh my ass off, cry my eyes out, seethe with hatred, get the adrenaline pumping, etc. The animation and music aid in that, but the vocal performances are the backbone to that coming through. One show I'm watching (for now...) is The Banished Former Hero Lives as He Pleases and the main character's performance in Japanese most definitely does not paper over his lifeless, boring performance.

But I think I can still appreciate a good dub. Wolf's Rain is one of my favorite watches in part because it's basically a highlight reel of almost all my favorite dub actors. I prefer the Japanese version of Angel Beats but the English dub is a really solid, fun take. I watch Miyazaki films exclusively in English because Disney can afford to assemble high quality talent who do great work. I mean, if dubs were always Patrick Stewart, Mark Hamill, Michael Keaton, Alison Lohman, or Joseph Gordon-Levitt I might not ever listen to the Japanese audio.

I often watch dub trailers out of morbid curiosity, and it's rare, but sometimes it convinces me to give the English version a go. I watched three seasons of Overlord in Japanese over several years and was quite happy. Then I heard Chris Guerrero's take on the main character and I became a convert. But most of the time it doesn't go that way. My brother's exclusively dub and a baby about subs so when I have to watch something like the My Hero Academia movies with him in English it's like nails on a chalkboard.

So in summary, mostly sub because the Japaense cast are usually good and the English cast are usually poor.

 

[Sabrblade]

I watch Miyazaki films exclusively in English because Disney can afford to assemble high quality talent who do great work. I mean, if dubs were always Patrick Stewart, Mark Hamill, Michael Keaton, Alison Lohman, or Joseph Gordon-Levitt I might not ever listen to the Japanese audio.

On the other hand, one could make the argument that Disney's continuous hiring of big name celebrities for Ghibli film dubs is a case of them hiring actors who don't specialize in dubbing anime just to entice critics and casuals, and are taking away high-profile work opportunities from regular anime voice actors who are more experienced in dubbing than the celebs are.

 

[Axaday]

Machine Robo and Dorvack were released subtitled only.

24 years ago I was desperate to watch Dorvack and couldn't find anything available. Now I hadn't looked in a long time.

Just know what you're getting. I took advice decades ago that you get better translations with subtitles. But it is harder to watch. You have to pay more attention and you have to decide what s worth it to you. I am very auditory and what I have found is that I spend a lot of energy listening to the Japanese, even though I don't understand Japanese, and that I often realize I haven't been reading the subtitles and don't know what is going on. And most often when I am "watching" TV, I am doing other things. I probably look at the screen only 50% of the time and rely on what I am hearing to cue me when to make sure I am looking. I find myself doing that when watching subs as well.

So lately I have been rerunning Naruto on Netflix while doing things and I am enjoying the trip down memory lane. I know it is a dub with some serious problems. They spill about 9-tails from the very beginning and various characters have voiceovers about it. I watched subs the first time. And yet, the main substance of the story is the same. Rather like your Godzilla and Robotech, the story is being changed a lot. But do you like it? If so, go ahead.

 

[Tm_Silverclaw]

24 years ago I was desperate to watch Dorvack and couldn't find anything available. Now I hadn't looked in a long time.

Just know what you're getting. I took advice decades ago that you get better translations with subtitles. But it is harder to watch. You have to pay more attention and you have to decide what s worth it to you. I am very auditory and what I have found is that I spend a lot of energy listening to the Japanese, even though I don't understand Japanese, and that I often realize I haven't been reading the subtitles and don't know what is going on. And most often when I am "watching" TV, I am doing other things. I probably look at the screen only 50% of the time and rely on what I am hearing to cue me when to make sure I am looking. I find myself doing that when watching subs as well.

So lately I have been rerunning Naruto on Netflix while doing things and I am enjoying the trip down memory lane. I know it is a dub with some serious problems. They spill about 9-tails from the very beginning and various characters have voiceovers about it. I watched subs the first time. And yet, the main substance of the story is the same. Rather like your Godzilla and Robotech, the story is being changed a lot. But do you like it? If so, go ahead.

Ironicly if Subbers had actually subbed Naruto correctly, and not ignored Naruto's speech tick, most people would have understood that the "Believe it." that the Dub put was pretty accurate.

 

[Haywire]

24 years ago I was desperate to watch Dorvack and couldn't find anything available. Now I hadn't looked in a long time.

Discotek released it (last year?) in the SD on BD format (all episodes on one disc). It was seemingly exclusive to Right Stuf, but is now available at the Crunchyroll store. Picture quality is okay to decent, obviously not remastered, and one of my players (a Samsung I bought many years ago) has...difficulty displaying the subtitles on this and the Machine Robo discs (but my clearance LG player displays them just fine...)

Just know what you're getting. I took advice decades ago that you get better translations with subtitles. But it is harder to watch. You have to pay more attention and you have to decide what s worth it to you.

I used to assume that subtitles were always the more accurate and complete translations. Then the Japanese Transformers series got released, and while I don't speak enough Japanese to watch without subtitles, I do try to follow along as much as possible (if nothing else, just to keep practiced), and the name changes were really jarring. Had the series been dubbed, I honestly wouldn't have minded nearly as much. (Still glad we got them at all, though!)

 

[Princess Viola]

I used to assume that subtitles were always the more accurate and complete translations. Then the Japanese Transformers series got released, and while I don't speak enough Japanese to watch without subtitles, I do try to follow along as much as possible (if nothing else, just to keep practiced), and the name changes were really jarring. Had the series been dubbed, I honestly wouldn't have minded nearly as much. (Still glad we got them at all, though!)

Hasbro's decision to 'localize' the subtitles for the Japanese G1 anime has to be one of the most baffling choices they've ever made tbh.

I don't mind them using Western names and terminology for the characters and concepts that existed in both the American and Japanese continuities (like subbing 'Cybertrons' and 'Destrons' as 'Autobots' and 'Decepticons' or having the subtitles call him 'Optimus Prime' and not 'Convoy', although my ) but doing stuff like calling Chokon Power 'Energon Power' or 'translating' Sixshot being the Decepticon Dinobase Ninja Commander as the 'Phase Six Decepticon Officer' was just utterly stupid and completely defeats the point of subtitles.

 

[Sabrblade]

Hasbro's decision to 'localize' the subtitles for the Japanese G1 anime has to be one of the most baffling choices they've ever made tbh.

I don't mind them using Western names and terminology for the characters and concepts that existed in both the American and Japanese continuities (like subbing 'Cybertrons' and 'Destrons' as 'Autobots' and 'Decepticons' or having the subtitles call him 'Optimus Prime' and not 'Convoy', although my ) but doing stuff like calling Chokon Power 'Energon Power' or 'translating' Sixshot being the Decepticon Dinobase Ninja Commander as the 'Phase Six Decepticon Officer' was just utterly stupid and completely defeats the point of subtitles.

It was that blasted Aligned mindset Hasbro had at the time. They didn't care about fidelity to the source material, they just wanted as many aspects of the brand's fiction to be as unified as possible.

What's worse, the subtitles of those releases didn't just change names and terms, they changed entire lines of dialogue. For instance, in Episode 3, when the ghost of Alpha Trion sacrifices his energy to revive the Matrix, the original Japanese dialogue sees him beckon the Matrix to please be revived with cosmic wisdom and power. In the subtitles, this is completely changed to say "May the Matrix of Leadership light our darkest hour!" That is the exact opposite of the original line's context, as the Matrix was the one that needed saving and Alpha Trion was hoping that his energy could save it. "Light our darkest hour" is a command for the Matrix to save everyone else in their moment of need, when the Matrix was the one in need of saving.

 

[Fero McPigletron]

Ironicly if Subbers had actually subbed Naruto correctly, and not ignored Naruto's speech tick, most people would have understood that the "Believe it." that the Dub put was pretty accurate.

Datte bayo!

 

[Princess Viola]

It was that blasted Aligned mindset Hasbro had at the time. They didn't care about fidelity to the source material, they just wanted as many aspects of the brand's fiction to be as unified as possible.

What's worse, the subtitles of those releases didn't just change names and terms, they changed entire lines of dialogue. For instance, in Episode 3, when the ghost of Alpha Trion sacrifices his energy to revive the Matrix, the original Japanese dialogue sees him beckon the Matrix to please be revived with cosmic wisdom and power. In the subtitles, this is completely changed to say "May the Matrix of Leadership light our darkest hour!" That is the exact opposite of the original line's context, as the Matrix was the one that needed saving and Alpha Trion was hoping that his energy could save it. "Light our darkest hour" is a command for the Matrix to save everyone else in their moment of need, when the Matrix was the one in need of saving.

The Aligned Continuity and its a consequences were a disaster for the Transformers franchise.

 

[Sabrblade]

The Aligned Continuity and its a consequences were a disaster for the Transformers franchise.

And now we're feeling the effects again with the Legacy Shadow Striker and Side Burn figures being a weird mashup of Cyberverse Shadow Striker, RID 2001 Side Burn, and Universe 2008 Legends class Wheelie.

Our only hope now for a better subtitled release of the JG1 shows would be for Discotek to do their own release with their own newly-made subtitles.

 

[Tm_Silverclaw]

Also.. For those "Subtitles are better!" I present the case of "NO ONE ON EARTH SPEAKS LIKE THIS!!!!"

 

[Princess Viola]

Also.. For those "Subtitles are better!" I present the case of "NO ONE ON EARTH SPEAKS LIKE THIS!!!!"

maybe you don't

 

[NovaSaber]

An English speaker not translating words originally said in Japanese would probably say "underneath it all" instead of "behind everything" and "drifting away" instead of "floating apart from it all", I guess?

 

[Tm_Silverclaw]

An English speaker not translating words originally said in Japanese would probably say "underneath it all" instead of "behind everything" and "drifting away" instead of "floating apart from it all", I guess?

Even then... lets be honest, someone would likely say something, "But I feel like a third/fifth wheel" or use some other idiom.

 

[Sabrblade]