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New Poll - Anime Sub vs Dub
Afiaki suggested we do a sub vs dub poll, which we haven't done in 10 years. Sub won before, and I'm pretty sure it will again!

You can submit poll ideas here
http://www.mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=3903

Previous Poll Results:
Question: Suppose people could replace their bodies as simply as replacing a phone (somewhat easy but potentially costly). Would people become more extreme or violent?
Choices:
Yes - votes: 2003 (77%)
No - votes: 599 (23%)
There were 2602 total votes.
The poll ended: March 25th, 2023 10:02am PDT
Posted by lambchopsil on 
March 25th 10:09am
Comments ( 26 )  
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Comments (limited to first 100 replies)

» YuriM on March 25th, 2023, 10:14am

Eng Subs.
The single exception:Gakkou no Kaidan

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» kaloo on March 25th, 2023, 10:25am

Native with subs. But I need to make a mention about how annoyed I am when the official English has the Japanese dubs of Chinese and Korean shows

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» Midlife_otaku on March 25th, 2023, 6:59pm

Mostly subs. I definitely prefer subs but sometimes my brain is too tired to read. Anything I watch with my SO is dubs, except HxH. The English was obnoxious.

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» mallika23 on March 25th, 2023, 9:06pm

Mostly subs, but dubs if they're good (This poll doesn't mention that it has to be EN dub btw. 😂)

Flavors of Youth in Netflix is one of the few anime that I watched with both original voice (JP) and dub (CN). It was a joint project between the Japanese and Chinese studio. The setting all took place in China.

I also watched Pokémon series (at least the Indigo League and Johto League) in EN dub. I think it's better for me, since the Pokémon names and the characters (except Ash and his mother) are the same as the US game.

However, there were some anime series that I watched only the ID dub because I didn't know any way to watch it in the japanese dub at that time. Digimon, Doraemon, P-Man, Chibi Maruko-chan, Ninja Hattori, etc. I watched them when I was a kid. Most of them were shown in TV stations, dubbed in my native language.

(And I recently also watched some chinese anime in Netflix, eg Big Fish and Begonia. It's great one. )

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» VawX on March 25th, 2023, 10:14pm

The only time I watch a dub was the anime on TV back when I was a kid mmm...

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» The_Fox on March 26th, 2023, 3:42am

So far as I can tell, I last watched an anime... 1 year and 5 months ago. I picked "I don't watch anime".
I just don't have the patience for watching things. I don't have enough of an interest in video entertainment, anymore, to take the effort to pay attention and follow at someone else's pace. I'd rather use that kind of focus on practical things.
The erosion of attention common to our era is a factor.
And some of it is just changing as a person. I've stopped trying to force interest.

I like reading. I really like reading. It's at my own pace.

There's still OST. I've been listening to Berserk (1997)'s soundtrack on loop for several hours now.

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» calstine on March 26th, 2023, 7:16am

Native audio with English subtitles, all the way. The only exception in my 15+ years of anime-watching: Get Backers. One of my favourite animanga, and the English dub is amazing for no reason I can determine. It's just random good fortune, seeing as it was only moderately popular in both Japan and the west.

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» zarlan on March 26th, 2023, 10:13am

Aside from joke dubs, (including unintentional joke dubs. I.e. supposedly serious dubs, that are really bad, in a way that makes it hilarious) dubbing is an abomination!

The only justifiable reasons, for doing non-joke dubs, are:
1. Shows for kids, too young to be able to read subtitles (either can't read, or not fast enough)
...but NOT if it's a language that the kids are expected to learn.
So e.g., if it's a non-English country, but English education is obligatory and introduced early in school... No dubbing! (and no subbing. Well, maybe subbing in the original language)
Some kids show in some Slavic language, or... Japanese? Dub 'em.
Anything for somewhat older kids, who aren't all too slow at reading (so maybe... 8+? I dunno): No dubbing!

2. A sizeable portion of the target audience is illiterate.

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» Suxinn on March 26th, 2023, 10:41pm

Mostly subs, and sometimes dubs if they're good.

Generally, I default to native audio, but I'll sometimes take a peak at a dub, especially if the actual show is set in a western country. So like Baccano!, Black Lagoon, and the lesser known L/R: Licensed by Royalty are all shows I go out of my way to watch dubbed at least once. Though, honestly, Licensed by Royalty's English dub is so good that it's almost criminal to watch it subbed.

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» zarlan on March 27th, 2023, 1:04am

Quote from Suxinn
especially if the actual show is set in a western country. So like Baccano!, Black Lagoon

...
Dude, Black Lagoon is set in East Thailand.

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» Suxinn on March 27th, 2023, 3:02am

Yes, I realize, which is why I never said that Black Lagoon took place in the West, just listed it as one of the shows that I watch the dub for, especially since the entire lagoon crew, other than Rock, claims to be American. I admit my sentence structure was ambiguous, but I didn't think I needed to make such a clear distinction, especially since Black Lagoon is relatively well known as a very west/Hollywood-inspired show.

Also, they go to Venezuela with the U.S. military at one point, but whether that counts as "west" enough depends on your point of view, I guess.

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» zarlan on March 27th, 2023, 3:29am

Ah. 'k.
And yeah, I'd assume they probably mostly speak English, within the Lagoon crew. (what language(s) they use around others, however, I dunno, but suspect it's mostly English)
Quote
Also, they go to Venezuela with the U.S. military at one point, but whether that counts as "west" enough depends on your point of view, I guess.

Venezuela isn't an English speaking country...
Why do you speak of "Western", rather than "English speaking"?

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» Suxinn on March 27th, 2023, 10:10pm

You're right. I only realized afterwards that I probably should've specified "English-speaking", but hindsight is 20/20 and all that.

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» LazyReviewer on March 27th, 2023, 7:03am

Considering I don't watch much anime and the ones I used to watch had passable to good dubs (FMA, Eureka Seven, Bleach, Your Name, Kiki's Delivery Service, Inuyasha, etc.) I've always preferred dubs.

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» hkanz on March 27th, 2023, 8:00am

Dubs. I have dry eyes so I like being able to look away from the screen at intervals.

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» zarlan on March 28th, 2023, 11:37am

Quote from hkanz
Dubs. I have dry eyes so I like being able to look away from the screen at intervals.

...
So you listen to anime, more than you watch it, then?

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» Jessica_desu29 on March 27th, 2023, 6:41pm

Definitely subtitles. I just really like hearing the language, because it's pretty. I prefer subtitles on non anime as well for the exact same reason. I do hate when subtitles remove the honorifics or change the name order or alter the nicknames when you can hear them in the Japanese (Funimation wrote "Rittie" when the character clearly said "Ricchan" in Sekaiichi Hatsukoi). However, I've watched some Studio Ghibli films first as dubs, such as Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro (old Fox(?) dub, NOT the one with one of the Fanning girls), so I don't mind dubs with those.

But watching Demon City Shinjuku on Amazon Prime Video dubbed was a very, very hilarious and terrible experience. Most dubs seem so overwrought in the acting in order try to match the Japanese mouth movements(?) that it's embarrassing to listen to.

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» MangaGhost on March 27th, 2023, 11:48pm

I'm a regular anime watcher and usually its mostly subs like probably 90%, but there are some that I prefer English dubbed (ex. Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell, Baccano, Code Geass, FLCL, Hellsing Ultimate) and a few that I alternate on rewatches between sub and dub (one time view the whole thing sub and next time all dub) like for example Black Lagoon, Neon Genesis Evangelion, etc. Mostly because I enjoy certain voice actors in one dub over the other like I prefer Maryke Hendrikse over Megumi Toyoguchi because Megumi just sounds like she's just using a typical yankee voice which I found boring, but I prefer Tsutomo Isobe over Dean Redman as Dutch in Black Lagoon. 😁

In live-action its only subs the dubs in live-action are often horrible.

One thing that should be mentioned is that while some anime dubs can be bad especially the old ones not all subs are good either. There's been plenty with mistranslations or just poor word usage and then there are some that go opposite extreme and are so stilted attempting to be accurate that it can be a pain to comprehend.

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» zarlan on March 28th, 2023, 11:54am

Quote from MangaGhost
not all subs are good either. There's been plenty with mistranslations or just poor word usage and then there are some that go opposite extreme and are so stilted attempting to be accurate that it can be a pain to comprehend.

True, but subs are still better than dubs, in terms of translation, either way.


Especially if you stick to fansubs. Commersial subbers may technically be "pros", but they obviously aren't neccesarily particularly skilled ...and more important than skill, commersial translations often have the wrong goals and attitudes. Intentionally changing things, censoring, cutting out stuff...

Stilted or overly-literal translations, by those who make an honest attempt at conveying to the target audience, what the original conveys to the original audience, is still way better than something that intentionally tries to make sure that it isn't like the original. (not saying all fan translators have that kind of attitude, but many [at least partially] do ...and pretty much no company does)

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» ElKaichou on March 28th, 2023, 6:12am

It's 50/50 for me. I don't have a real preference, it depends on whichever one sounds better or is readily available at the moment.
But I am slightly biased towards dubs.

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» shichikouhouju on March 29th, 2023, 12:23pm

I watch anime in Japanese, without subs. So I can't vote for my preferred option 🤣
If I watch Chinese or Korean animations - then I do so with subs.

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» Zeyo on March 29th, 2023, 11:25pm

Native audio with subs. I studied some Japanese language can enjoy some things that are lost in translation, like some puns, dialects, and speaking styles that add to the experience. Sometimes I pick up new words to learn, too.

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» 狂気 on March 30th, 2023, 2:20pm

Um... How about Japanese audio, no subs. I've said this before, probably several times. If you can't be bothered to think the likely answers for a minute, and even if you can, just add "Other, specify in comments" option and you've got all your bases covered.

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» zarlan on March 30th, 2023, 11:36pm

On original audio with no subs:
I want to occasionally watch some Japanese stuff (not necessarily anime) with Japanese subs ...which is, annoyingly, something that is extremely rare to find.
Watching something with subs in the original language subs, is great for language learning!

...and it's also nice to have the subs, for if you don't quite hear what is said, properly (or if you're not entirely sure how the word is written), which is a reason why some people sometimes like to have subs on stuff, that is in their native language. (such as English speakers, choosing to have English subs on English stuff ...and I'm not talking about people with hearing problems)

P.S.
It's really annoying, that English subs for English stuff, often names the person saying something
...even when the viewer wouldn't/shouldn't know who the speaker is, yet. (even if you have to name the people, and I think there are better solutions, you can "name" unknown people as "man"/"woman"/"stranger"/"unknown" or something like that, until it is known who they are)
...and also, it would be nice to have subtitles in the original language, that aren't made for the hearing impaired, with the extra stuff that such subs include. (they're necessary for the hearing impaired, sure, but for the rest of us, they're just annoying)
D.S.

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» HikaruYami on April 1st, 2023, 7:42am

I went from "I watch dubs because they're on TV" as a child to "I watch subs but will watch dubs if they don't make me want to gouge my ears out" as a preteen to "I watch exclusively subs because they best capture original author intent through their voice work" as a teenager to "I don't watch anime because the vast majority of them are based on manga and sometimes get soul-crushingly bad adaptations so it's not worth the risk" as an adult.

When people recommend anime to me, my immediate thought is "I wonder if there's a manga that came first", and if there is, I will give that manga a shot. If there's not, I end up going "hmm, it's original so maybe it'll be fine since there can't be any weird filler or plot deviations... maybe I'll watch it" and then I never end up watching it.

The last anime I watched was Tiger & Bunny in 2011 (never watched the Netflix continuation) and the last one before that was Code Geass.

So I picked I don't watch anime

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