I've been watching anime since I was 9 years old. I grew up only watching english dubbed stuff and I still tend to watch a lot of it. Though recently I've started watching subbed episodes of things like Bleach and Naruto and I've found that I like it as well and I was wondering what you guys think about Subbed anime compared to Dubbed anime?

I prefer subbed over dubbed nowadays. True, I did grow up watching [badly] dubbed anime but I figured watching subbed material would hurt my eyes. I realize that it doesn't. In any case if I had to choose between subbed and being lazy with my reading and watch dubbed...

I'd go for subbed. Since Japanese voices are mostly way funnier and show more passion for their animated character.

Like you two, my animes in the beginning were all dubbed and all bad voices. Though now that I hear the Japanese voices and see the subs, I just can't get use to Dubs anymore. To watch a dub, I have to, have to! Watch it in dub first or else it just does not seem right. Just because the original japanese voices seem to fit perfectly, in Bleach mainly. I love Ichigo's voice, Kenpachi's and Renji's. Yet I'm afraid of how their going to brutalize Kenpachi's and Renji's in English. It frightens me.

Almost ALWAYS subbed is way better than dubbed, unless you are lazy reading there is no reason to choose dubbed over subbed, the is so much more emotion and gracefulness in japanesse voice actors that is just no match between the english ones, aside from trying to match the english words to the images.

I practically live of off subs, hehe. Dubs these days are going down hill, in my opinion...I thought it was "okay" back then... But, heck, I'm gonna stick with subs for the rest of my life, haha.

I think people tend to stigmatize dubs based solely on what's shown on TV rather than licensed commerical products. This decades old sterotyping is unfair to all the good dub jobs that exist because they can not escape the shadow of bad works. Most DVDs will be uncensored and uncut compared to their TV counterparts. Also keep in mind that dubs in one country may be terrible compared to a dub of the same anime in another country. You can't say "all dubs are bad" if your only experiance with dubs are German or Polish langauge dubbed anime. English or Spanish dubbed versions may actually be well done compared to their forgien counterparts. I've seen French and British dubbed anime that were pi-- poor and I've seen Chinese and English and Spanish (oddly enough) dubs that were excellent. Also to say that the Japanese voice actors are superior is faulty unless you are a native speaker. If you are not a native speaker then how can you tell if the voice actor is even pronouncing the words correctly? Or showing emotion? Japanese like Chinese requires a lot more stresses and empthesis than most other langauges. But someone who hasn't studied the Japanese may not be able to pick up on this. The actor could be doing a terrible voiing job in the eyes of a native Japanese speaker, but a non native speaker, may not be aware. Not all Japnaese dubs are perfect either. So if you're going to prescute one you may as well prescute all dubs. The dub, or voice-over, to one episode of Fate/Stay Night, for example, was terrible becasue it voice did not match the lip movement at all. And this was in the original Japanese. So even the Japanese make mistakes with their voice actors.

Good dubs do exist. Most people (especially the elitists) will not take the five mintues it takes to sit down and sample a good dub, but would rather prescute all dubs, good and bad, for being abominations. Sorry for getting a little off topic but I hate when people generalize somthing like "all dubbs are bad" without considering all the factors (what language it was dubbed in, when it was dubbed, producers, restrictions, etc...). Personal prefaces are fine. But that doesn't mean you have a right to bash it if you don't like it.

DIDnt somone start this thread a few days ago?

Well anyways i like subbed but if i buy the anime i have to listen to dubbed b/c thats the only way to watch the anime in 5.1.

Plus, i really like Monica Real, Hilary Haag, and Kira Vincent Davis are my fav dubbers! whenever they're in an anime i just really like watching the dubbed just cause they sound just like what i think that characters voice would be in english. Perfect examples would be Steel Angel Kurumi and Gunslinger Girl.

I prefer subs because I almost always enjoy the voice actors better. Because they are speaking another language, I cannot tell if the acting is technically bad. This way, it always seems they are doing decent voice acting.

Darkfire

dubbing kills ......... that's it

Dubbed anime...sucks..... that's all I can say.

Well...I just prefer sub, since I'm sure that is the best one. there are some good dub out there, but it is very rare. because of this fact, i have decided that I will only watch subbed anime... >.<

I agree fully with nychi002. yup i've watched good dubbed versions before especially the chinese versions which are well done with expressions & moods & the voice is quite similar to that of the original jap version. but i've seen poor subs before so not all subs are good...said this somewhere before...anyway chinese subs/dubs are usually good ( well for all the animes that i've watched )

I was yet a child when i started watching anime, like dragon ball, voltes v, mojako, doraemon etc. and all of those animes were dubbed based in our language, and since i was really young that time, i dont care whether it is dubbed or subbed.

but now, i often watch anime subbed since the original vocals of the anime gives more expression and feeeeliinggs with the anime. and well talking about english dubbs, for me they kinda ruin the anime. its just my opinion though. eventhough its hard to watch while reading the subbs it gives me a satisfaction.

I also started with the dubbed versions when I was a child, and back then we didn't noticed it that much, but now I prefer lot more subbed, its way better to listen to the real voices it expresses alot better what the characters are feeling and their expressions.

For me, it all depends on the anime and the quality of the dub. Contrary to the opinion of subber fanboys, good/amazing english dubs DO exist - Good examples of the high quality english dubs include but are not limited to Cowboy Bebop (honestly, Steve Blum fits Spike so much better than the Japanese voice talent does), Vision of Escaflowne, Full Metal Alchemist, Full Metal Panic, and Fruits Basket.

That being said, if the anime in question has a good English dub, I'll most definitely watch that over a sub. Why? No, it's not because I'm lazy or a slow reader, I just feel that subs detract from the visual beauty of the production since you have to set your eyes at the bottom of the screen through the entire episode. On top of this, in some cases, they even interfere with any mood setting that is trying to be set forth, although that is probably my ability to identify with english speaking characters better coming through.

Now if the said anime has a craptastic dub, I'll watch the subbed. In such cases the bad voice talents would hurt the anime far more than the subs themselves would.