Dubs or Subs?

what do you prefer? dubs or subs?

I personally like dubs. I think its funny when they finish saying something and there lips are still moving. like those old kung fu movies from china lmao 🙂

I’m a newbie so maybe I should see more, but from my experience (six episodes of Evangelion, two of which were dubbed) I’ve decided that I prefer subs. My reasons are this:

-The voices are the originals. This was how the people who wrote the script wanted the voices to sound.

-I love learning languages, and so far I’ve found that listening to the Japanese dialogue while reading the English subtitles is a good way to get used to pronounciation and simple phrases. ("hello," "goodbye," "I’m sorry," etc.) Watching anime isn’t going to make me fluent but if/when I do get the opportunity to actually be taught Japanese, I will have a slight head-start compared to if I knew nothing. I feel like I’m actually learning something with a subbed show, whereas with dubs I’m just watching a show completely for entertainment, with no benefit.

-It’s easier to understand things that are written than things that are spoken. I find a lot of times when I’m watching TV, I find myself missing lines of dialogue because I’m not paying attention, or not understanding what a person is saying because they have an accent or speak really fast or something. You can’t mishear something that is written, and I read fast so if I’m not paying attention I can usually still catch the subtitle before it changes.

Also, something I’ve learned: if you start a show subbed, stick with it that way. The dubbed episodes that I saw drove me insane. First of all, the American voice actors sounded nothing like the Japanese ones. I was too used to the Japanese ones, so I spent most of the shows saying things like "That’s not what Shinji is supposed to sound like!" Secondly, they actually mispronounced characters’ names. You would think, if you were playing the role of a Japanese character, you would learn a little about the Japanese language so you don’t mispronounce your own name. Or, if you’re a director, you would correct your actors’ pronounciations. But no, the American Evangelion is stuck with characters like Ritsuuuuko and Kensuuuke. :rolleyes:

I am kind of a newb too, but I don’t really care actually(why I didn’t vote:D ). I think it’s pretty easy to follow both ways. I can read fairly fast and I like to read, so I don’t mind subtitles, but dubbed makes it a teensy weensy to follw whats going on because you can concentrate on looking at the animation instead of the subtitles. I would prefer dubbed if I were forced to chose.

I like Dubs more…
Until I am fluent or half fluent in Japanese I will enjoy Dubs more because reading subs is annoying and takes away from appreciating the wonderful art

BTW Cowboy Bebop Dubbed sounds better to me than Cowboy Bebop Subbed…(Spike and ED)

Subtitles, definitely, it’s more fun that way.

Subtitles all the way! The dubs are EVIL! The actors/actresses just seem so out of it. I hate their voices, because they’re so PHONY. And the girls sound really bad when they scream/laugh/bitch. Just watch Sailor Moon and you’ll know what I’m talking about… XD

megalomania is sooooo right!~! Sailor Mercury’s American voice scares me!!!!!! Haruka’s voice also scares me……

Subs rool because they are the original works. Plus, something feels wrong when a character native to Japan is speaking perfect and fluent English…^_^;;; Also, my Japanese teacher even tells me when I watch anime, to get subtitles because it will help me…and it does!!!

I like subs, but I tend to watch it in dubs, just to get the feel!

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Subs, definately. That’s how the creators wanted the characters to sound, and that’s what they wanted them to say. It’s more… natural, original.

Besides.. Relena and Duo’s voices are really icky in the dubbed GW. Duo’s voiceactor tries to sound like a teenage boy and fails miserably, and Relena sounds so terribly whiny. *shudders*
And the ‘great destroyer’? Oh, please. XD

English voices for anime characters just doesn’t seem right. And dutch voiceactors are even worse.. XD
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Dubs are … very interesting.

Slayers is being broadcast on some German PayTV channel, I�ve only heard an excerpt from it, but I can tell you one thing: replacing Megumi Hayashibara – especially in Slayers – with some girl that has no talent and no interest to sound a bit like the original… that�s evil. That�s stupid. Especially Lina Inverse must not sound uninterested and bored!!!

Oh… let�s talk a little about DBZ here. When episode 5 was broadcast, everybody was simply shocked. All fans complained: Vegeta had got the German voice actor of Steve Urcle.
That is evil.

I do prefer subtitles. Of course, after watching a little of Hoshin Engi/Soul Hunter, I�ve realized that you can also screw subtitles up… but at least you still have the right sound, the emotions of the text in your ears!

I prefer subtitles… Still… if there is ONE good dub, it�s welcomed by everybody. On daily TV shows must be dubbed…

Hmmm… the Escaflowne dub is quite good, the German one, expect for one thing: Merle sounds too old. I hate her. >_<

I only get Dubs here, but when i was watching Akira, I kept hinking Kaneda would whip out a samurai sword and start acting like Leonardo off Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! So prolly Subs are better, but I like to watch the action, so having to read constantly isn’t the best thing for concentration.

I prefer subs. With subs you keep the original voices which are hilarious from time to time and japanese is just a cool language to hear xD
Usually with dubs a part of the anime and japan charm gets lost withit and there are always things changed which are for the worse and not for the best.

I actually like both, and for reasons that most among you already said :

I like dubs because it allows you to pay more attention to the animation than reading …Plus, most of the time the anime that I’ve got is english-dubbed or japanese-subbed ( Gosh I like DVDs lol ) and since neither is my first language, I’m praticing anyway. I’m not fluent in Japanese though, heck all I understand are basic sentences by hear, I can’t read ANYTHING in japanese.

I like subs because the subtitles follow more closely the LITTERAL meaning of the original japanase script.

Whatever you want to say, watching a movie in its ORIGINAL language always is the best. That goes for whatever type of movie you’re watching…

For instance, I just CAN’T stand Lord of the Rings in French…

But , on the other hand, you’ll NEVER see me like the english version of "Les Boys" ( a VERY popular movie movie in Qu�bec lol It’s about a bunch of guys playing hockey for spare time…That’s a three movie series…so HILARIOUS ! )

However, I’m not fluent at all in Japanese , therefore even if with the subtitles I’m able to more closely understand what the original version is all about, I just can’t memorize most of the japanese quotes from the anime…I’ll memorize what I READ IN ENGLISH…

Therefore, either one is fine by me…Like Atom would say, anime is A PRIVILEGE, NOT A RIGHT. So, being able to watch it in any version is okay, I guess. 😉

Do you know what I usually do ? I watch it DUBBED FIRST, to allow me to pay more attention to the art and animation, THEN SUBTITLED, to have a more accurate version of the story, then by putting together both viewings, I can honestly say I’ve understand the story a LOT better.

For me it simply matters on the appropriateness of Dub or Sub, I mean some animes like Cowboy Beebop would be pretty bad in sub, hell it�s the only anime I know that was created with western dialogue in mind. Anyways the point is if an anime is better off in sub I�ll buy the sub version and if I think it sounds better in English then yea I�ll buy the dub.

i’d have to say subs when i first watch the anime to get the story but dubs if i rewatch it to look at the purdy backgrounds.

I only get dubs…it kinda sucks. I’ve seen some subbing though and that seems more…genuine.

subs, definatly. My brain hurts when I see somthing thats "wrong" for too long of a time. Sure there are some good dubs, but I still perfer the subs in the end.

BTW never ever get an anime called golden boy in dubs, its crap. If you find it in subs though, its quite damn funny. (there are 6 eppisodes to my knolage.

With the exception of Cowboy Bebop, I definitely prefer subs. Many times when stuff is dubbed, some meaning and jokes are lost in translation. The literal meaning of the words always seems to go more with the show, probably because it was the intended meaning 😉 🙂

A lot of English dub actors are so over dramatic and whiny that I can’t take it. I don’t know where they find these people or why in the name of all that is sacred they allow these people to do voice-overs for anime. 😡 And also –> any cheesy dialogue seems much less cheesy in Japanese than in English. IMO anyway.

I really couldn’t watch Cowboy Bebop subbed..maybe b/c i was used to the english but also b/c i think the english actors were better. But basically it’s SUBs for me 🙂

subs, because you can watch the anime the way it was intended to be watched, with good voice acting and everything, and you still get to understand whats going on! lol XD

<font face="Bradley Hand ITC">subs are definitely the way to go.

i love japanese voices! whee!</font>

I usually give in to the dubs, but sybs are probably a lot better for my japanese educations. 😛 I’m just lazy…

SUBS SUBS SUBS!!

The eng voices suck. Also I think it’s a shame we don’t get to hear the original voices. I mean, the seiyuu put in so much effort in their work. And somehow it just doesn’t mix. I watched one ep. of Neon Genesis Eva dubbed in eng and I wanted to faint.

It’s subs all the way! The dub ‘actors’ sound like they aren’t really acting at all, but just reading from a script! Their voices have no feeling. And more often than not (especially with females) the voices are incredibly annoying. Ewww…:eye:

Just a little something that I’d like to point , though :

For all those who say english voices sound phoney, wrong, bad, evil, with not the good tone or speed, or whatever else you might say, I only have to say this :

If you can’t UNDERSTAND japanese, how can you KNOW it’s the correct tone or speed of speech ????

I’m sorry, but that’s like if you told me I wouldn’t speak French properly, whereas it’s my first language and you merely know a word or two. If you can’t understand the language correctly, there’s NO WAY you can say whether or not it’s well said.

So, for all those who say "japanese voices are better" when you can barely say a couple of words by hear ( like me ) …You are in NO POSITION to know !!! Therefore, if you can’t know, you just can’t make a valid opinion out of it.

That might sound harsh from me, but you just can’t say I’m wrong on this one. One can’t make a good opinion or put a convincing argument of something he/she doesn’t know well enough. Therefore, unless I’m comparing the French and English versions of a movie ( only two languages that I REALLY am fluent, my Spanish being not so basic , but not fluent either, and my knowledge of Japanese being barely any ), I’ll NEVER say "This version is better".

You MIGHT say it SOUNDS better, because that’s your impression, but you can’t point it as a FACT and say the voice actors did a better job in whichever version. Therefore, you should watch what you say when you’re saying "english voices suck" if it’s the only version you’re actually REALLY capable of understanding…Plus, come on guys, ditching work done in your own language…Anyway…

You might be partially right.
But believe me, you don�t need a lot of knowledge of the German language and its pronounciation to notice that the German dub of El Hazard is beyong bad, it is simply worst, especially the main character that lacks any kind of emotion and sounds as if he was half asleep… ALL THE TIME!

And I only think back to – okay it is a video game, but the best example for a bad dub that there could possibly be – Grandia with its plain annoying Liete monologues, that did not even sound human anymore, humans know how to pronounce a sentence… Rrrrghh…

No, it is a sad fact that most dubs are bad. There is no denying it. Believe me. I wish it was different!

Well, for me, the English dubs are just BAD. o_0 And true, how can I tell that the Japanese voice acting aren’t just as phony? Japanese voices seem to fit the anime better, though. At least the lips and everything is synchronized. The dub translations usually don’t fit the lip movement of the anime characters. Therefore they use really awkward English. Unfortunately, the result is usually the use of really stupid puns and lame/cheesy jokes.

I just find that the English dubs really really annoying. And even if I don’t understand a lot of Japanese, I can tell good voice acting from bad voice acting. The English voice actors sound out of it, while the Japanese voice actors are more into it. It’s not a matter of language; I can just tell.

Originally posted by Evad D’Aragon
Just a little something that I’d like to point , though :

If you can’t UNDERSTAND japanese, how can you KNOW it’s the correct tone or speed of speech ????

Two things:

1) It’s not so much that the tone sounds right as it is that it doesn’t sound wrong. If you can’t tell whether the voice acting is good, then you also can’t tell if the voice acting sounds bad. Whereas with a dub in your native language, you know if the acting is bad.

2) Some tones are universal. I’m watching the subtitled version of Evangelion. I can count the number of Japanese words I know on my fingers, but if Shinji screams, I know he’s screaming. If he cries, I know he’s crying. If his voice is shaking with fear, or has a nervous tone to it, I’m aware of it.

I prefer dubs for the sake of paying attention to the art and reciving the story better. As for watching the anime ‘the way it was meant to be.’ Think of this, anime directors didn’t mean for you to read the dialog off the screen. The only time I watch subs is when the dub is absolutely unbearable (or if there is no dub). I can go along with subs, but it’s more a strain on your eye to read off of a TV screen (they wern’t mean’t for continuous reading). In addition, you sometimes end up thinking about where certain japanese emphasis was used after you just read a phrase.

As for the english voice actors being bad. Try learning Japanese fluently, you’ll find that sometimes the english actors are actually *BETTER* than the japanese actors (I was told by someone who knew both langauges). Also, it is impossible to transfer the exact ‘feeling’ between Japanese and English. The english language (like most latin based languages) is a roller coaster. The Japanese speak closer to monotone, they also have a different way of expressions in the voice when they do have a change.

So, basically I prefer dubs if I don’t get to watch the series in both languages. Since I buy all anime on DVD, I usually watch them both ways for the sake of re-watch value.

To finish off, I’d like to say that the only way to "watch anime the way it was origionally made to be seen" You must first learn Japanese, import your anime from japan, and watch it. If it’s a movie that was released in theathers, then go to japan and watch it there. Thank you.

Originally posted by OnlySquared
As for the english voice actors being bad. Try learning Japanese fluently, you’ll find that sometimes the english actors are actually *BETTER* than the japanese actors (I was told by someone who knew both langauges).

I doubt it. XD It’s very rare, anyhow. The voice actors have so much competition in Japan. If they aren’t any good, they don’t have a chance of getting hired. Most anime voices are done by very famous voice actors, so you can bet your *ss that they’re damn good. ^_^’ Besides, anime voices just sound better in Japanese. English anime voices are freaky. o_0 Kinda scary, actually.

I guess that the original is always much better. True, I can’t really speak Japanese, but from the tone of their voices in Eng and Jap you can see the difference in standard. Eng dubs sound so… umnn… fake? Maybe some dubs are good, but I think overall its subs which are better in the end.

Originally posted by megalomania
I doubt it. XD It’s very rare, anyhow. The voice actors have so much competition in Japan. If they aren’t any good, they don’t have a chance of getting hired. Most anime voices are done by very famous voice actors, so you can bet your *ss that they’re damn good. ^_^’

…

Two things :

Famous actors ? Famous for WHO ? For people in JAPAN ! Or the way-above-average-anime-maniac…which isn’t exactly what would most of the anime viewers out there are…And don’t go telling me stuff like "then these people aren’t real anime fans or they’re just anime newbies"…because that’s plain lame for an argument. You want my definition of someone famous ? How about someone known the WORLD OVER ? Like Elvis Presley ? Or the Beattles ? Or Leonardo Da Vinci ? Or Julius Ceasar ? Japanese voice actors that are only know in Japan or by anime maniacs are NOT famous.

Second, famous doesn’t mean GOOD :p Britney Spears is known the world over, and let me tell you…there are far better singers out there :p Same goes for voice actors, "normal" actors or whatever else.

I definitely agree with OnlySquarred on one thing : If you REALLY want to watch the anime "the way it was intended", you need to watch it in JAPANESE, WITHOUT ANY SUBTITLES ! Because, hey, even the SUBTITLES THEMSELVES aren’t in the "way it was intended to be" language :p Have you ever thought about it ?

Misao’s right, most dubs aren’t that great, because it’s true to say that once you translate something, you might lose some of the original intention or meaning. But that’s part of the game. And the "desynchronization of lips" is but a mere part of the whole picture…If you’re actually only paying attention to THAT, perhaps you need change your priorities when watching a movie, ne ?

But I shall repeat what I said : You can know for a fact whether the voice acting is good or bad in your own language, but you CANNOT know for a fact if the voice acting done in a language you barely known is good or bad. Fujin’s argument does make sense a bit, though. If you can’t know if it’s good, then you can’t say it’s bad either. However, seeing things that way is a bit too optimistic, perhaps even biased. If you can’t say anything about it, you shouldn’t even compare it to anything.

EDIT : Oh…Fujin, you’re partially right about there being "some" universal tones…But "some" doesn’t mean ALL…Latin-based languages and other languages have "some" VERY DIFFERENT tones for some situations indeed. Therefore, you still can’t know for sure if someone is using the correct tone when he/she’s speaking a language you don’t know.

For those that may think I don’t agree with the ones saying they prefer subs over dubs, don’t get me wrong here. If I were forced to choose ( then again, that’s a pretty frivolous choice to make because I wouldn’t really care as long as I get to watch the damn thing )…I’d go for subs. BUT ! I strongly disagree with the ARGUMENTS some ( but not all ) of the "sub-likers" are using, saying stuff like "it’s the way it was intended to be" or "english voices suck but I don’t know any better since I can’t speak japanese" are not only lame , but sound as if you’re using these arguments because you can’t even come up with reasons of your own, and resort to "popular" reasons. Or perhaps it is the WAY you’re putting the arguments ? Anyway…

Funny, however, that we actually question the whole damn thing ( Not that’s it’s not interesting , mind you. ) . After all, if we are questioning the thing, it’s because we are all viewing anime, which is something we obviously all enjoy, and for that, we should already be thankful…

Anyway, why is it a big deal? Why do we have to justify our preferences? It would be one thing if I were going to watch an anime with someone who prefers dubs; then we would have to present reasons to each other in order to decide which one to watch. But since none of us will probably ever watch anime together or even meet in real life, why does it matter? :confused:

Originally posted by Evad D’Aragon
…
Famous actors ? Famous for WHO ? For people in JAPAN ! Or the way-above-average-anime-maniac…which isn’t exactly what would most of the anime viewers out there are…And don’t go telling me stuff like "then these people aren’t real anime fans or they’re just anime newbies"…because that’s plain lame for an argument. You want my definition of someone famous ? How about someone known the WORLD OVER ? Like Elvis Presley ? Or the Beattles ? Or Leonardo Da Vinci ? Or Julius Ceasar ? Japanese voice actors that are only know in Japan or by anime maniacs are NOT famous.

Second, famous doesn’t mean GOOD :p Britney Spears is known the world over, and let me tell you…there are far better singers out there :p Same goes for voice actors, "normal" actors or whatever else.

Yes, famous for people in Japan, which is good enough. o_0 Do not underestimate japanese talent… Actually, they’re not just famous in Japan. Any anime fan would recognize the name Megumi Hayashibara, for example. Anime voice actors will become world famous ONCE anime become global. Yes, Elvis is famous, but that’s only because music is global. Anime is not quite there yet, not even close. Once anime become as popular as music and movie, Megumi will be just as well known as Julia Roberts in north america.

Famous doesn’t mean good… in Britney’s case anyhow. Britney Spears is famous for being bad, so that’s different. XD Yeah, just because someone is famous doesn’t make him the best, but at least he’s decent. And decent is better than any horrible dubs.

Fujin…

I’m not actually making it such a big deal. But the reason why you need to justify your preferences and choices allows you , when compared to others’, to fully realize why you’re actually prefering something over some other thing. That’s all.

Oh, and I am not ditching japanese talent, and neither do I think not knowing who Megami Hayashibara is makes me a "anime newbie" or even not an anime fan, for that matter. I could care less who plays who, as long as it’s well done. Even more, I could care less as long as I at least have the chance to watch it.

Once again, all I’m saying is that you need to think about what you say when stating your opinion. That’s all.

I say I dont like dubs because it looks wrong, because the lips arent in sync with the words.

But they are also messed up because they are trying to make it look like they are in sync, whitch does mess up all sorts of stuff.

BTW when they have to change actors for the voices throughout the series, thats pritty lame…cant happen with subs.

Famous Japanese voice actors are famous for being voice actors, so you cannot compare it to Britney Spears, she is famous for singing, not for dubbing…
There are lots of anime in Japan, so there are lots of voice actors, and of course there are brilliant ones, while people who have only just learned that anime exist will surely need some time until they become good at dubbing them…

Originally posted by Evad D’Aragon
Fujin…
Oh, and I am not ditching japanese talent, and neither do I think not knowing who Megami Hayashibara is makes me a "anime newbie" or even not an anime fan, for that matter.

Off topic, but just in case you’re curious, she’s the person who did the voice of Rai Ayanami from Eva.

Oh really ? I didn’t know. Thanks for the info Megalomania. Has she done any other major work most people would know of ?

@Evad
Yush, the list of anime she took part in is amazing and cannot be fully told here. Lina Inverse from Slayers, Pai from 3×3 Eyes, etc etc. She also sings a lot of opening songs, the one from Evangelion for example, Slayers, Shaman King…

Taken from animeworld.com…

Major Roles:

3×3 Eyes (Ayanokouji Pai and Sanjiyan)
Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku (Natsume Atsuko/Nukunuku)
Evangelion (Ayanami Rei and Ikari Yui)
Ninku (Rihoko)
Ranma 1/2 Movie 1 (Saotome Ranma (Female))
Ranma 1/2 OAVs (Saotome Ranma (Female))
Ranma 1/2 TV series (Saotome Ranma (Female))
Slayers (Linna Inverse)
Tenchi Muyo Movie 1: Tenchi Muyo in Love (Achika)
Video Girl Ai (Amano Ai)

Other Roles:

Ariel (Kazumi Kishida)
Bakuretsu Hunter (Tira Mis)
Black Jack (Rie)
Blue Seed (Fujimiya Momiji)
Bounty Dog (Shoko Uzuki)
Bubble Gum Crisis, ep. 5 (Nam)
City Hunter, ep. 3 (Moriwaki Misuzu)
DNA2 (Saeki Tomoko)
Garaga (Kina)
Gundam 0080 (Christina MacKenzie)
Hello Kitty (Kitty)
Junk Boy (unknown)
Laputa (unconfrimed cameo as the lady with a parasol)
Macross Plus (Lucy)
Maison Ikko, part 3 (Dominic)
Patlabor (Sakurayama Momoko)
Patlabor Movie 1 (Weather Forecaster)
Project A-ko (Umee)
Riding Bean–Carrie
Sailor Moon S Movie (Nayotake Himeko)
Tekkaman Blade (Aki)
Yuuyuu Hakusho (Young Genkai)

So yeah, she’s pretty huge.

Well, that would indeed made her known around the anime community…I just can’t deny that.I still maintain that , while she’s one of a kind, being famous doesn’t imply being good. But I’ve heard her Rei work and the song of Evangelion sounds harmonious indeed. So, she SOUNDS good. Can’t say it for a fact, as I’ve been saying, but she sounds good.

I voted dubs as I’m used to it and it ~is~ funny to watch anime characters’ mouths move even after they have finished speaking.

I prefer Subs. I just think the voices fit the characters more than the dub voices.. esp. in Gundam Wing and Cowboy Bebop.

Mmm nothing like a quality dubbing… but I definately prefer Japanese subbed with english.

I feel the creators wanted people to experience it the original way; this way we get a better feel of the characters emotions.

There are alot of poor dubs out there so why not stick with the original? The Japanese voicing is so much better IMO.

Dubs, ‘cos I DON’T SPEAK JAPANEASE!
:notgood:

dubs are funny it adds to the entertainment!

Subs defiantly……..they’re so much better as they dont displace the character’s voice and gives no misconception as it is the way the directore wanted it to be….so Subs it is…

Again, the director never mean’t for the dialog to be read off of a screen.

Also, I’ve seen "In the making of and in the translation of" movies and I hear it directly from those who work on the translations that they wanted to *fix* some dubbing flaws in the origional version. Granted, some dubs are horrible. But subs can be equally as horrible. Anybody here play Xenogears? The entire game dialog is text. Did you know that Fei Fong Wong was much more introverted in the origional dialog? (which makes more sense for someone who has multiple personalities). Unless you absolutely know japanese, you can’t tell if the subs are saying, "They are cool" when the japanese voice overs are saying, "I want to kill them." Have you ever actually seen any of these Japanese movies where the subs are so horrible that they translate an entire sentence into "no"? I don’t think Japanese has 9 sylabuls (sp?) in the word "no".

What I’m trying to prove here is that neither form of translation is 100% fool proof, so most of these arguements as to why ‘dubs are better’ or why ‘subs are better’ are invalid, especially when the majority of people here couldn’t ask for the location of a hospital in Japanese if their lives depended on it.

I believe OnlySquared pretty much sees things the same way as I do on this matter…As I’ve been saying, unless you’re absolutely fluent in English, you just can’t know if the subs are actually better…They ARE trying to stay closer to the original meaning, as it is easier via some text than trying to match the lips, but as OnlySquared mentioned, no translation whatsoever is 100% foolproof.

Therefore, this explains why I believe you have to take this more in consideration when deciding whether or not you go for dubs of subs.

Well, I know quite a lot of people who speak japanese, and they’re always joking about how bad dubs are compared to subs. I can imagine, because English voice actors are the worst. It’s not just the translation, but the acting. Heck, I think I have better voice acting. XD

Strangely enough, Megalomania, I have this strange feeling that FRENCH voice actors are worse than English voice actors…And French’s my first language. See ? That is where I was getting at when I said most of us are actually dishing work done in our language…But I think the main reason is that since it isn’t a language we’re necessarily used to speak ( I AM used to speak english, but that’s another matter . ), we tend to have the impression they’re actually doing a better job in the voice acting department, which they might …or not.

Eh, I’m sure Japanese actors do a better job. They way they say things have just the right touch of enthusiasm. The words they say also match the lips very well.

I actually have proof that japanese voice actors are better because my japanese friends say their voice acting is really good.;) Thing is, the English voice actors probably find anime weird, boring, and stupid, so of course they’re not going to put their heart into their work, hence they suck. Japanese voice actors actually love what they do, and put their heart in their work.

The reason why the voice of the actors fit the lips so well is because they actually record the voices FIRST, then do the art NEXT. Whereas in America, we do EXACTLY the opposite. That explains why japanese productions have their voice actors fit their speech with the lips of the characters…It’s a matter of how the productions are done.

As for the "love" or "hate" their work, that is an interesting argument. Indeed, anime is far more well-known and like in Japan, so it obviously shows in the results.

EDIT : I just read something that made me laugh on IGN, it’s part of the Xenosaga preview they have on the site, just by reading you’ll understand why I kinda smiled when I saw it, because the guy seems to see the whole thing pretty much like me :

"Should the game have been left in the original Japanese? Well, if I were in charge of the world, it would be — in part because I’m a rabid geek, but mostly because I know that the followers of this game are also rabid geeks, and would in the main prefer the Japanese voices. Yes, that preference is basically irrational, because there’s no way for me (or the vast majority of American fans) to properly judge the quality of Japanese acting. For all I know, the original voice acting in the Japanese version is terrible, and it’s merely ignorance that makes me like it more than the American voices. But as it is, synthesizing emotional content from Japanese voices with factual content from English subtitles would still — from my admittedly irrational perspective, at least — result in a more satisfying experience than getting it all together from lackluster English voices."

I’ve always preferred dubs for a more simple reason – you don’t have to concentrate on one part of the screen to make sure you’ve read all that’s being said. You’re bound to miss something that’s going on in the background when your eyes are busy reading the subtitles. I’d rather endure a "bad dub" and let my eyes wander rather than keep them fixed on some text. I watch anime to see actions on screen, not read. I’ll leave that to manga. =P

Granted some of the English voices, when compared to the original v/a’s don’t seem to fit, but it isn’t too hard to understand that there is a vast difference between the tones of voice used in English and Japanese. One can’t always expect an English-speaking voice actor to speak as quickly, or as high-pitched, for example, as a Japanese-speaking v/a.

Sure, there are some cases where a dub can be…embarrassing, but it’s sad to reject all dubs because of a few bad apples.

I cannot but add a very very big advantage of subs.
When watching Saiyuki some days ago, me and my friends laughed that hard, that loud during a few scenes, that we simply could not hear any dubs. Thank god there were subtitles!

… Okay that was a bad example… The fact remains, there is still some way to go until the average Non-Japanese dub is acceptable. Let�s wait and see…

EDIT : I just read something that made me laugh on IGN, it’s part of the Xenosaga preview they have on the site, just by reading you’ll understand why I kinda smiled when I saw it, because the guy seems to see the whole thing pretty much like me :

"Should the game have been left in the original Japanese? Well, if I were in charge of the world, it would be — in part because I’m a rabid geek, but mostly because I know that the followers of this game are also rabid geeks, and would in the main prefer the Japanese voices. Yes, that preference is basically irrational, because there’s no way for me (or the vast majority of American fans) to properly judge the quality of Japanese acting. For all I know, the original voice acting in the Japanese version is terrible, and it’s merely ignorance that makes me like it more than the American voices. But as it is, synthesizing emotional content from Japanese voices with factual content from English subtitles would still — from my admittedly irrational perspective, at least — result in a more satisfying experience than getting it all together from lackluster English voices."

Eh…I’m a Xenoseries geek…(look at my sig) In fact I’m so hyped over the game that I yelled at the screen in the middle of tech class when I read that they made some "minor censoring" to Xenosaga. What the hell, most US fans who like the series like the fact that it’s not the ‘accepted norm’ in the US. Anyway, a scene was edited out for "Sexual Content" which was not any worse than the scenes in Titanic or Perl Harbor. That’s pretty hippocritical (I bet I misspelled it again) if you think about all the violence and gore they have in the series. Basically I think they’re just taking a chapter out of M.O.M.O.’s character deveopment by doing that. They did the same thing in Xenogears I believe but I forget where.

So basically if there’s anything I ever dislike about translated versions is not that it’s a dub, but when they alter the plot. Now that is when you can definately say that it is no longer the way the origional creators meant it to be. Anyway, 51 days, 2 hours, 15 minutes and 25 seconds till Xenosaga release!

But actually, do you REALLY want to see a "sexual scene" involving a female cyborg that looks 12 years old ? That is actually the reason why they removed the scene…And I doubt it was a scene that put SO MUCH development on M.O.M.O. anyway…So I doubt it’s really such a big loss.

There’s a reason why the creators put it in there in the first place. Wether I want to see it or not, it’s an unnecessary modification to the story. I mean, did I really want to see blood splattered everywhere in certain Xenogears FMVs? No that wasn’t the reason why I played the game. Scenes are placed in games for a reason. The reason I like the Xenosaga series is because of the more realistic character behavior and events. I mean if the japanese version of the series repeatedly has things edited out in the US version, obviously the origional creators want those things in there. I’ve never liked when things were edited for the sake of "conformity" I would think a game like BMX XXX would be more crude than a game which is not as graphic using what is normally not considered "In good taste" as part of the story. If you edit just one thing in game plots as complex as Xenogears and Xenosaga, you do lose a lot. I don’t know exactly what the story is around that scene, but if it was mean’t to make you feel sympathetic towards M.O.M.O., I’d say that that was a pretty big loss.

I’m going to bluntly say, I just don’t like censoring. If it’s suppose to be there don’t try to cover it up, it takes away from the origionality more than bad english voice acting in a japanese cartoon.

well, im colombian, so my native lenguage is spanish, its difficult to find dubs in my lenguage, so i have to see the series in japanese with subs in english, actually therres no problem , the reaaly problem is when i would like to see the series with someone who barely understand english, or is a little boy who likes the cartoons, if someone knows, a page, a link, anything, in whitch i can download in spanish or whot subtitles in spanish, the series: tekkaman, dragonquest, and starzinger, please let me know. Greetings

Reviving ancient threads to say absolutely nothing worth reading is bad. Therefore, fuck off with all possible haste.