Anime Subs Vs. Dubs: The Final Frontier

[DinoRexMax]

(Ironic I use and Naruto image for this, since Naruto is one of the earlier examples of a mainstream purist dub after Cowboy Bepop, after first being a sanitized 4kids-like dub for a season, remember "Rise, Ninja!"? Pepperidge farm remembers....)

I've seen enough of these "...but it's an Anime Dub" parodies to the point where they've seemingly lost all meaning. Twitter, being the cesspool that it is, is filled to the brim with 0 IQ takes, emboldened primarily by the fact that with the host of Funimation/Crunchyroll controversies making defending anything in the Dubbing/Localization industry nearly indefensible.

But localization is quite the difficult task (even when they aren't actively shooting themselves in the foot with asinine ideas). It's unenviable undertaking to try and transpose the concepts and ideas of one culture to another, while also working in the strict limitations of the medium they are given (translating a book is one thing, but Manga requires you to fit all your words into the speech balloons and Anime needs to match the original animation and mouth flaps, all of which is oriented around a language that is read vertically or spoken inverted and in syllables). And now, more than ever, it must feel like walking on landmines. Back in the days of Harmony Gold, with Cobra and Robotech, the internet was little more than isolated BBS servers. Now, with the World Wide Web proper, fans are becoming more familiar with the source than the creators at this point. You start dubbing something and it's already got a fanbase of 1000 people who are 100 episodes ahead of you and your crew.

But Dubs add a certain level of convenience and understanding you can't get from just reading subs, especially when reading a bunch of words on my TV takes my eyes away from the action. And purists are the biggest hypocrites without even knowing it. They can criticize the acting of Dub VAs all they want, because they're just playing ignorant to their lack of understanding of Japanese language and parlance. Of course English VAs sound worst to your ears, your able to pick out the idiosyncrasies due to speaking the same language, then pit it against Hollywood actors with billion dollar paycheque. How do you know Japanese VAs don't sound the exact same to a Japanese audience? How do you know what GOOD Japanese acting even sounds/looks like? You don't, and you're just filling in the gaps.

But like I said, Dubs havne't been really giving themselves a super great rep as of the past 5 or so years. Though, if I were to get into all of the reasons why, things'd get pretty politically heated, and I'd feel like we'd be crossing a line. And we're here to have fun.

So, what's the consensus around these parts? You like your Mangos and Animus with, or without Jelly Donuts and Hamburgers?

 

[Zerohour2k12]

I watch both, and dubs I'd sometimes prefer if the performance of the cast is solid but I go for subs first.

 

[DinoRexMax]

I'd like to shamelessly bump this thread, and make a side note on the career of one, Gary Chalk. Gary Chalk is a Canadian actor, who is best known for being the second most prevalent voice of Optimus Prime/Primal (second to Peter Cullen).

He's presents an interesting dichotomy in voice acting, since not only has he dubbed both Western and Eastern animation, he's also, like, a real actor. Like, live action and on TV and in movies and stuff. Nothing super major (since he's always typecast as a General or a Police Captain) but you'd Blink and you'll miss him in movies such as "The Predator" (mailman), "Freddy vs Jason" (police captain), "The Fly II" (security guard) and "Watchman" (general in Nixon's cabinet).

The point being, he's been around. Specifically, he's done enough acting on all sides of the fence to properly gauge his performance.

He's also pertinent to the discussion at hand, seeing how there was something of a controversy with his involvement in the dubbing of the Unicron Trilogy (Armada, Energon, Cybertron). Fans compared his performance from Beaster Wars/Beast Machines with early Armada, and in interviews he highlighted the difficulties of dubbing Anime when compared to just acting in homemade stuff (despite having the benefit a character who didn't have a mouth, something Dave Wittenberg actually took advantage of as Kaakshi).

It doesn't help that the Armada and Energon were pretty sloppy during localization, which shows when compared to Cybertron and the voice acting drastically improves.

So really, for VAs, dubbing normal cartoons is like pulling the limiters off, and I imagine Japanese VAs have just as much diffculty dubbing something like King of the Hill or Spongebob or something.

 

[TruxtonTatsujin TruxtonTatsujin]

I only watched the dub if it offers something unique. I've given up on the possibility of it matching the original, so at the very least I'd like it to be entertaining in it's own right.

 

[Scotty Scotty]

Can I be honest here? I'm sick of the "SUBS vs DUBS" debate—especially since both aren't always perfect; I've seen anime with poorly translated subtitles before (especially when comparing fansubs to official subtitles) and I've seen bad dubs before (mainly those early, low budget dubs from the 80s and 90s). Conversely, I've also seen plenty of great dubs—some of which I prefer over the original Japanese versions like Frieren, Ameku MD, My Deer Friend Nokotan, Dungeon People, Dragon Ball, Panty & Stocking, and Roshidere just to name a few.

At the end of the day, it is merely a matter of personal preference. Just watch the show in whatever language you want and don't criticize people who don't like to read subtitles and prefer to watch anime dubbed in their native tongue.

 

[DinoRexMax]

Fuck who ever uploaded this, he cuts off part of Ryo's comeback.

Devilman: The Birth is such a fucking gorgeous movie too, shame it couldn't have gotten the same treatment as the Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust movie (which had significantly better acting, while also being just as well animated).

Post automatically merged: 27 minutes ago

I've seen anime with poorly translated subtitles before (especially when comparing fansubs to official subtitles) and I've seen bad dubs before (mainly those early, low budget dubs from the 80s and 90s).

What are you talking about, man. Fansubs are always perfect.

Also:

Can I be honest here? I'm sick of the "SUBS vs DUBS" debate.

Oops, sorry, man...

 

[TruxtonTatsujin TruxtonTatsujin]

Also it's true, I don't watch Chinese cartoons