To Dub or Not to Dub...That is the Question

[McMurphy]

When I first started watching anime, I had a notion in mind that a "true" anime fan watches these Japanese imports of entertainment in their native tongue with English (or place your first language here instead) subtitles. That best represents the intended audience experience, right? Besides, all the voice re-enacting sucks. Or so I thought.

Either I have since become too lazy or my general outlook on the matter of dubbing has changed because I watch the majority of my anime collection now in English. I think the change in viewing habits has altered partly because the quality of English dubbing has, in turn, improved immensely. I was originally under the impression that Japanese voice actors were better trained, but I have since learned that the industry in Japan approaches voice acting differently: they often don't wish to bother big name voice actors with overt attention to match the words with the mouth movements.

Thoughts?

 

[Lith]

There's a lot of prejudice against dubs out there, some of it deserved, as dub quality over the years has been laughable. There was never until recently enough desire in the US for foreign products (also some inequalities of budget) to bother putting much effort into a dub, resulting in... bad dubs.

People don't seem to realize that we can't tell whether the "original" voice actors are any good or not. We (mostly) don't speak Japanese, don't speak it fluently, and don't have an understanding of Japanese culture, so can't get some of the jokes. And as for it being a "truer artistic vision"- that's kind of a joke as well. Any licensed product is subject to revision by the studio, the producers, the advertisers, the budget... and just generally being the product of a lot of hands and opinions dilutes a thing's artistic quality. There really isn't room in animation (or filmmaking generally) for the auteur with a crystal-clear vision that they slavishly cling to. Artistic vision is hardly ever that clear anyway.

Then there's the English dubs- some of them are getting good. It isn't just a matter of finding a good voice actor, but also finding gifted directors and translators, that understand the jokes and can translate not only the meaning but the wit.

My favorite dub is Fullmetal Alchemist. It's a cut above most others, and a good cartoon to boot.

 

[Overread]

on the flip side, some subs are totally rubbish,
try watching Ghost in the Shell Innocence with the subs - it makes no sense; switch to the dubs and it makes sense.
I watch both - one is always better than the other, but sometimes each will pick on different aspects - thus seeing both you get a better overall picture