I've seen this is a matter of debate in Anime communities, Subtitles vs English Dubs. I"m not really that much into groups or forums, so I don't get into great discussions over these things. But recently my friends asked me the same question. One is an avid sub fan, he likes hearing the Japanese voices. My other friends enjoy subs because its the original, or true, form of the show. Some that have tried anime think its awkward to listen to Japanese at home with their family around, so they stick to dubs. Personally, I prefer English dubs because its easier to connect with the characters (and I can't follow the emotions in Japanese voices well at times). I don't have anything against subs, I've seen plenty of them, but if I'm given the option I go for dubbing.
And of course I have an attachment to several voice actors, especially FUNI's regulars, and seeing them fill roles in separate series makes me squee like a teenage fangirl upon finding them. But it goes for people with Japanese voice actors as well, and I can't really say that I'd have the same opinion if I'd watched subs of my favorite series first. A great example of this is the Shakugan no Shana series. The first dubbed release was done by Geneon, before FUNimation licensed and started dubbing the remaining seasons. After the shift in voice actors, I often found myself thinking "would the original cast have done this better?"
But what if the roles had reversed? What if the voice actors that did season 2 had done season 1 and vice-versa? Would I think the same thing? I can't honestly say, because first perceptions are incredibly important with these types of opinions. That's my biggest complaint among my purist friends who believe shows are better because its in its original form it was made for. For all we know, anther Japanese cast could have done much better or worse, just like the English versions. Although I do admit the fact that they are tailored for Japanese does give it a definite edge, English can be adapted to suit it well even with that in mind.
Which leads to the other point: that some shows simply don't come across well in English versus their Japanese counterparts. While this is true and sometimes prominent, there are also a small number of shows that are better in English, so it can go either way.
So in my opinion, it comes straight down to personal preference.
So what do you think? Are there any points that greatly make one better than the other? Please refrain from unfriendly comments, I just want points to discuss with my friends and you with yours. 
*starts playing Beauty & The Beast Music*
... Argument as old as time, pointless to say the least, everyone has their own taste, and in their own eyes either can be a beauty or a beast.
To put it quite simply the whole argument is just fueled by bias on both sides. People argue purity & artistic integrity, but if thats the case NOTHING should ever be dubbed into any foreign tongue. That means no English programs dubbed into Spanish or French, no French programs dubbed into English or Japanese, etc, etc & so on. And that IS NOT good for the international distribution of a property.
Anime dubs for the most part are just fine, heck of a lot better then say a hungarian or german dub of a cartoon or anime.
In the end dubbing is just a logical way to bring another country's media to U.S. shores (or again in some cases a U.S. product to Asian &/or European shores)
Also, just on a personal note, most young females in the original Japanese dubs of anime all pretty much sound the same to me, like chipmunks. I'd much rather watch a show in my own language where at least I can get some slight variety in the voices i'm hearing.
I will admit though inconsistency in English dubs is by far the worst thing about them, given sometimes its unavoidable ( such as a voice actor passing away) but other then that, I find myself hard pressed to buy companies excuses no matter how good they are.
All Will Know The Wonder Of My Dark & Jewled Sky, When All The World Is Wrapped In An Eternal Lullabye.
No offense intended, but I think this would be better for the Anime forum.
...Also, the term "Dubs vs. Subs" is kind of a fallacy, because almost all anime is dubbed, even in Japanese, but that's just super nitpicking.
Myself, I'm someone who likes to watch both. Being that anime's original language is Japanese, if it really came down to the wire and I had to choose, I'd pick the Japanese version. I think, and it's something I've recently observed, that I actually pay more attention to anime if I have to read subtitles, but that's just me. I also enjoy seeing different ways in which a translated dub handles its anime.
While it does come down to personal preference, it'd be foolish to say that "all Japanese dubs are good" or "all English dubs are bad" or vice-versa--I tend to view each dub on a case-by-case method, to see their merits and judge for myself. It's entirely possible that I might be harder on English dubs, since I can actually understand English, but I think I'm at the point where I can judge Japanese voice acting well enough.
(Fun fact: That realization actually came around the time I started watching Rurouni Kenshin in Japanese--and I realized, that for the first part of the show at least, I was not satisfied with the Japanese cast).
Oh, but here's my personal thing, one that others might consider anal and inflexible, but whatever. If I find out that an English dub makes any technical changes--if there's missing scenes (including next episode previews), or any changed music (even insert songs)--I will not watch that dub. It's that simple.
So, aside from that pet peeve, I say that each dub, whether Japanese or English, has different levels of quality. I can't overall say one or the other is better.
"Of course you realize, this means war!" -- Bugs Bunny
"Here we gooooo!" -- Mario
I've always been 50/50 with subs and dubs. Sometimes, the English dub is extraordinary and really is better than the Japanese version. What bugs me is that there are still some people out there who can't accept that. I usually go into an anime watching it in English if I have a pretty good feeling about it. But if I go into a show (usually an older title) where I know that the dub isn't quite on par, listening to it in Japanese is no problem at all.
The more Japanese dubs you watch, the more you get used to it. You'll have a better understanding; by that I mean it's not about the words they're saying, but the tone of their voices. It's pretty easy to tell if someone is happy, angry, or emotional regardless of what language they're speaking.
To most people who can't understand Japanese, yes. But even I can identify a female seiyuu nowadays if I've listened to her long enough. And it's not just Hirano and Kugumiya; one of the benefits of preferring Strike Witches in Japanese is that I've explored a wider array of talent out there. Like I previously said, the more Japanese dubs you watch, the less alienated you'll feel.
Of course it's completely up to the viewer of how they choose to watch anime. But the further you are on one side, the more limited you'll be when sharing common interests.
I was a bit at a loss where to put this. I saw general discussion so went with that. I agree with you all on your points. Taking a broadsword to the topic was a bit much, but I was looking for opinions to bring out the finer points. My full concept was a bit much to put out in a few paragraphs to eliminate any nitpicking and over sites, but that's the case with everyone. I myself feel reading subtitles slows down the experience, I think that's my greatest qualm about them. But the downside to English dubbing is of course the wait. Most series don't bother me this way, but shows on their third season only being English dubbed to the second breaks it up for me, especially with cliffhanger endings.
Personally I rarely ever watch subs. On the rare occasion I do, its usually bc I am totally enthralled with a show and the english dub company has not finished the remaining seasons. But even now, like with D Gray Man, I want to know what happened but more importantly I want the voice cast of the 1st 50 episodes to tell me, so I abstain from the sub. I just generally dislike subs because I am so focused on reading the subtitles that I miss a lot of the animated content. With english being my first language I am free to watch and listen, yet with the subtitled version I feel like I am only watching and the listening experience is extremely hampered for me.
As cliche as it is to say I'm sure that something is indeed lost in translation but unless you speak Japanese fluently that will still be the case with a sub as well. Anime is meant to entertain. Dubs nearly in all cases I find more entertaining, some may find entertainment in watching subs only, a lot like both, and there are pretentious a$$holes that find entertainment in watching both and ripping on the English dub cast/companies. To go tilting at this particular windmill is imo a bit of a waste of breath. If that's your thing though I'd also recommend arguing about religion and convert some of those pesky democrats to republican while you are at it, or vice-versa, idc. I'm a liberatarian lol
"Big Brother Is Watching YOU!" Nothing like an Orwell quote to brighten your day ;P
The whole argument is kinda stupid, IMO. I watch dubs and subs, usually I will watch a show both ways at least once. Every single audio track is a case-by-case basis. I've seen some wretched, poorly acted and ridiculously scripted dubs, and I've seen some really flat, low-budget seiyuu performances and I've seen some really crappy subtitling.
I tend to watch more subs, by necessity more than actual preference, because they are simply available first(and my house is pretty loud, so not having to actually hear to understand the story is good sometimes). So I'm mostly going to speak from that perspective. Getting used to subs just takes time and practice. You have to be a quick reader and learn the nuances of Japanese language. You don't have to be fluent, but learning things like honorifics and pronouns helps a lot. I think I recognize more seiyuu by voice than I can American voice actors by now. There's also the argument that the Japanese audio is always going to be closer to the creator original intent, which I think is only partially true.
But I don't hate dubs. It's just a different experience, and it brings its own set of problems. The thing about dubs is, when they're bad, it's noticeable. Because it's my native language, if the script is awkward or the actors are wooden, it's going to affect the show. This is especially true of older shows. One of the reasons that old masterpieces like Utena and Escaflowne are so criminally under-appreciated is because they have shitty old 90s dubs. People who are spoiled by newer dubs aren't going to watch them and no company in their right minds would bother to redub them. The other problem is that the quality and feel of a dub is dependant entirely on the ADR director. Just look at all those Steve Foster dubs, ugh. Some of them leave in things like honorifics or Japanese slang, and some of them over-Americanized. There's no set formula for making a dub, so they're going to vary wildly which is jarring to someone who watches a lot of subbed anime.
I'm gonna agree with 7Jaws on this one, it just takes getting used to. Take Katsuyuki Konishi's Kamina in Gurren Laggan for example. He puts way more over-the-top bravado into his performance than Kyle Hebert. It's very noticeable. Or Mamoru Miyano's Okabe in Steins;Gate, if you can't tell the emotions of his character, you just aren't listening.
Well this would be a good opportunity to get used to subs, with the reigning queen of tsundere herself, Rie Kugimiya as Shana.
Don't forget. Always, somewhere, someone is fighting for you.
As long as you remember Her, you are not alone.
Well, I suppose I can weigh in on this, again, so I apologize if I repeat myself here. I am a dub enthusiast - I always try, when possible to watch material dubbed, it's not always the case just in the simple fact that everything goes Japanese first, and if I want to check out any new animes, or watch anything legal streaming - Japanese audio, english subs, that's the only choice.
So, since I've gotten plenty of track time watching both subbed and dubbed, I can say I prefer dubbed - this is entirely biased of course because I speak english, so I'm going to get into an anime easier this way.
However, I will say the whole dub vs sub thing with me comes down to a couple of exceptions, one main one being that I've watched animes where all the actors do well and turn out brilliant performances, but the issue is one of miscasting. I have two examples right off the top of my head:
On Freezing, for the part of Rana, as great as Jamie Marchi is, I feel that wasn't the right role for her; she's an amazing VA, outstanding to be honest, but for the character of Rana I feel Alexis Tipton or even Brina Palencia would have fit the character better.
On the first season of Ikkitousen, the role of Ryomou, Willow Lane did her best, but once again, I strongly feel that her voice didn't fit the character.
On these animes, every other character was perfectly cast and well performed - even these actors here did their best, it was a matter of the wrong actor playing the wrong part, however it's just the odd time that one runs into this issue.
Yes, yes, yes, I agree with you 100%, sometimes the high pitch voices of the Japanese actresses gets to be too much for me, they sound more like toys. But I have had at least three incidents in the past few years involving Japanese girls - I know many find them cute, beautiful etc. But they can be very creepy - I know it all too well, let's just say they can be pretty aggressive when they want something, or someone.
There is also just some of the vocal tones they use in their greetings and certain phrases, this is merely a side effect of having practiced and played music for some time, my ears pick up on this. It reminds me of an educational experience I had when I was in Mexico and they played Batman Begins, in Spanish. The scene where Christian Bale confronts the mob boss in the bar near the start of the movie, in English, his dialogue is very low, calm, threatening and reserved, however in Spanish, the same dialogue sounds like he's planning a party, it was loud, energetic and almost smug. That was made me understand more that tonality and dynamics play into adapting a piece of media art into another language.
That is part of it, I will agree to a certain point; during that time, I'm sure the studios dubbing these works didn't have near the resources the companies have these days, or the quality of actors. Thus, the performances end up being, subpar. This brings me to my other issue I have with the rare dub, just poor performances, the actors voices crack (when they should'nt) or it has too much of a raw sound - which is rare these days, but can happen from time to time.
But I also have to be honest with you here man, I have no desire to go watch this stuff, at least not now, not with the backlog of anime I want to watch, I'm talking material I go out of my own way to watch, stuff that I see a trailer for and make a beeline to seeing - some of these animes to stream here and crunchyroll, and of course my new blurays. And as always, my taste in anime is all over the map. Which reminds me, I finished Strike Witches a couple weeks ago, then Stein's; Gate, watched the rest of it this past weeked, both are very good, welcome additions for my collection.
Do you ever use headphones? I do, for a few reasons, more so that I don't bother the other people in my house (I work late evenings thus I watch material even later) but also to block out any other sounds (I wear earplugs when I sleep too though), I have a surround system I may look into hooking up soon though.
I only have one issue with the Stein's;Gate dub; episode 15, there is no "I am mad scientist, it's so cooooooool, sonofabitch!" I seriously thought they should've kept it that way, the scene still would've worked. can't have it all I suppose.
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That's your choice, and your loss. I can't force you to watch anything, but I do strongly urge you to get to some of them eventually.
I do, but I mainly use them to listen to music or uhh... other things... when I don't want to wake the whole house up. When i just want to relax and watch some anime, the headphones are just awkward and largely unnecessary since, as I've said, I have absolutely no problems watching anime subbed. There are anime on my top10 that I watched subbed first(Madoka and Steins;Gate, etc.), and anime I saw dubbed first(Code Geass and Darker than Black, etc). And in my observation, as long as the scripts and voice work is comparable, the experience is pretty much the same.
Don't get me wrong, I like the Steins;Gate dub, but that was a career-defining performance by Miyano.
Don't forget. Always, somewhere, someone is fighting for you.
As long as you remember Her, you are not alone.
I've looked into the two series a while back, I would probably get to Escaflowne first, and, the premise seems to appeal to me more, and I would probably get through it, actually, I'd probably like it considerably. As for Utena, I will give it a chance, but, in due time. But with the way things are going, I can't wait to start Hellsing Ultimate, start streaming Tatami Galaxy and Fate/Zero (which I postponed to watch Puella Magi Madoka Magica) and even that new Senran Kagura.
It's a simular case when I saw Puella Magi Madoka Magica, it was a fun ride, but for how hyped it is, it didn't push me to be enthused about it, I'd watch a few episodes, then I'd need to motivate myself to continue the next day, and eventually finish them. I think for me, there are a few things that bother me about the series, but, two things that stand out:
-the art style doesn't do it for me, it's very unorthadox, everything from the head shape to the style of the coloring
-I have to phrase my second issue as a question; would the series have garnered such enthusiasium had it been done with young male characters rather than female ones? To be honest, this series could've been done either way and the outcome would've been exactly the same, I say this from a point that young people (men and women) are naive, gullable, immature and impulsive, or as Thomas Jane said on the Mist about a young man who gets killed off: "He's a kid, he's supposed to be stupid. What's your excuse?" - So would fan reception still be as favorable?
Where as series like both FMA, or Stein's;Gate, GunGrave or the new Evangelion movies(and the rewatch of the new series), Shiki and even Queen's Blade, I was excited watching them. With Stein's;Gate, it kept me guessing right up to the end - it is quite unpredictable. Basically once I started watching them, I got right into them and was excited to watch. As for other favorites, I've been able to tear myself away for a short time, but no BS, I'd be at work looking forward to continuing certain series over dinner once I get home.
Now back on topic:
Yeah, but Tatum is always good in his dubs, always, when I see his name down for an anime it makes me look forward to seeing the dub that much more. But, as I mentioned, it was just that one line, just the one line. I adored Tatum's work on Shiki, his character didn't have too much screen time, but he stole every scene he was in, then there was his work as Scar on FMAB.
I said it before, I'll say it again; Tatum is the man.
For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge
You'd watch Senran kagura before Fate/Zero? I totally respect your choice, but I just don't think I'll ever really understand it
* The art choice was very deliberate. The first thing anyone ever hears about Madoka is that its a "z0mg dark subvershun", but way back when it was just promo art and trailers, we had no idea. That contrast is part of what makes Madoka memorable for a lot of people, I think. That and Shinbo is weird as &^%$. Just look at Bakemonogatari.
* Well it is a magical girl show. So yeah, I kinda think would have been a completely different show. Escpecially considering Japanese gender politics. Boys, even young boys, are simply taught different lessons about behavior and expectations of them. That's what shounen is. And a dark subversion about the consequences of being a shounen action hero already exists, it's called Hunter x Hunter.
* Honestly, no. Madoka is a twist on one of anime's most beloved and iconic genres: magical girl anime. Part of its hype is most definitely related to that. It still would have been a great story, you yourself said changing genders would have little effect on the plot. But it probably wouldn't have sold nearly as well.
Again, I'm not knocking Tatum. He put a lot of work into the script and performance for Steins;gate, and I'm grateful for that. He's a great guy. I'd totally switch teams for that guy if you know what I mean. Now that i think of it, is it ironic that he plays a lot of romantic roles with lead females?
Don't forget. Always, somewhere, someone is fighting for you.
As long as you remember Her, you are not alone.