[Anime] Subtitles vs Dubbing


If you are unable to read/write Japanese, which do you prefer when watching anime?  

361 members have voted

  1. 1. If you are unable to read/write Japanese, which do you prefer when watching anime?

    • Subtitles (including fansubs)
      290
    • Dubbing (including fandubs)
      71


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My intelligence was called into question after asserting that watching anime with subtitles and the original Japanese audio track is superior to watching anime that has been dubbed into another language.

Here is an opportunity to gauge the anime-watching preferences of the Neowin community.

I believe the original audio + subtitles are superior (in any case) because too much content is lost in translation when dubbing... and in some cases stories/conversations will stray-away from the original script.

Subtitles can afford the opportunity to accurately translate Japanese... while not every set of subtitles are accurate, it surely beats limiting/restructuring sentences/conversations to the movement of the character's lips (as is the case when dubbing).

Please share your opinions. And please bump the poll up with your opinions!

Edited by joekr
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I never liked english dubs. They sound so weird and not natural. The japanese have a way to pick the right voices that suit the character. Fansubs is better IMO. Even if I get a DVD with dual languages, I would watch the subtitles with japanese audio than watch it with english audio.

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I would have to agree on your opinion, there is simply to much that gets cut out. Whats worst is 3 co-workers are on work visa's from Japan, they're more furious on at NA anime market for dubbing. Just today my friend Taka was going on about Vampire Hunter D in english.

But still it's meant to be watch the way it's original format was.

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It all depends on who is doingg the dubbing and who did the translation. Some companies are more liberal than others. ADV takes more liberty, while Animeigo tries to keep the original.

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I concur. I find that fansubs are best when it comes to anime and foreign films(crotching tiger hidden dragon). Fansubs nowadays are top notch, a good example is the Naruto series fansubbed by [DB]. I find the fansubs top notch because they limit the swearing in the sub next to none. I'm not a fan to lots of swearing in books/movies/anime. Makes it feel cheap and made by a 13 year old. After watching the premiere of Naruto on cartoonnetwork I felt like I was watching an entirely different anime altogether. I found the voices to be horrible matched with the characters when compared to it's Japanese counterpart. So I voted for subs, because in all honesty, it's better. =D

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It depends, Like for Naruto I prefer the Subbing But for Fruits Basket I Like The dubed version better. Id say tho That Theres Just way more feeling put into the Orignal Anime,So I rather Read the subs instead of watching a lifeless Dubbed anime.

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it depends on the quality of the dubbing, 90% of the time i will take subs over dubs.... but i do love to be able to watch the animation instead of spend the movie reading.

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I'm personally a dub fan. I usually don't have alot of time to have complete attention on movies, so I have my setup where I watch dvds on my 2nd monitor while I do things on my 1st. It just helps that I can hear the voices instead of trying to flip back and forth. I do agree though that dubs need to get better with how the translations are done.

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though i dont watch anime...i watch show lyk iron chef which is dubbed....in translation...and i find it hilraous when the translators try to show experssion in their voices in english.... :p

thus i lyk dubbing

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I never liked english dubs. They sound so weird and not natural. The japanese have a way to pick the right voices that suit the character. Fansubs is better IMO. Even if I get a DVD with dual languages, I would watch the subtitles with japanese audio than watch it with english audio.

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sub titles and original japanese for me, after a couple minutes i forget i'm reading anyway. too much anime is bastardized into english with too much of the original story lost

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in my experience some dubs are extermely well done, the voice actually catches the character's personality better than the original voices.

but it is very rare to find an anime like that, so i rely on subs mostly.

subtitles (in most cases, not all) are better than dubs.

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