Animation Source Forums

I've been getting into a little more anime recently, and I just had to pop the generic, age-old question into the open, praying all the while that it wouldn't steam up like those "dedicated" anime communities that rip your head off if you think that one of the characters didn't have as good of a voice as the English version did. So, subs or dubs? Here are my opinions:

Fullmetal Alchemist- Overall, good both ways, although I did prefer Ed's and Al's English voices. They fit their ages a little better, and thankfully, Ed's nasallyness and Al's high-pitched squeaking were absent in the English dub.

Wolf's Rain- Pretty well rounded from what I remember of it, but I'll have to go back and watch it again, being so caught up in FMA and whatnot. The only complaint with the English version is the fact that Cheza sounds like Snow White, and I don't recall enough of the Japanese to know each character by voice. I'll come back and give a better opinion on this one once I watch both versions again.

Cowboy Bebop- English is leaning a bit more into my favor, being less stereotypical and all. I haven't seen too much of the series, but I have seen both versions of the movie a couple times each and its gotten me interested in watching more.

So, I don't have a preference between dubs and subs in general. It really depends on which ones they do well on and which ones they don't. I would gladly watch the dub if it's available and find out for myself what it's like, but if not, I'm fast enough of a reader to be rather good with fansubs, which has become especially useful in cases like GNG and GDW where no dub is available. ASD has done an exceptional job at subbing GDW, and even more impressive, they're re-doing GNG, which is quite a relief, judging by how "grammatically challenged" the subs were in its first release. I have a very hard time putting up with bad subs, but it worked out fine.

There are some shows, like the ones you stated, that I like the English dubs....but there are some (such as Naruto and One Piece) which I find so annoying that I just have to watch it with subs. Unfortunently, there seems to be a lot of English dubs that lean towards the crappy quality with odd and annoying voices.

As for fansubs, they are some good quality ones in my opinion. If they're not good quality it's hard to get caught up in an anime. I'm also glad they're redoing GNG with better subs. (what with "Grandpa is a good dog breader" and "I am go going")...sigh... I believe they used something from a Swedish or some language to English translation for GNG, I don't know.

When it comes down to it, for subs vs. dubs, frankly, it depends on the quality in my opinion.

I hate the dubs they dub out almost EVERY violent thing..sigh but not in japan...

Not always. It depends on what company's dubbing it and what channel/time slot it'll appear on. If it's coming on at 5 PM on Cartoon Network with a shiny rainbow 4kids symbol in the corner, then count on it being the way you described. However, if it's on at 12:30 AM on Adult Swim, it's done pretty well more often than not. I know that with FMA they edited very little. I think that the extent of it was a few of Scar's headsplodes and the ending songs are always cut down for time, and that was pretty much it.

yeah^^ but on naruto they do it alot

Yes, but Naruto isn't adult swim or 4kids...it's sort of inbetween those two, but is still edited...sigh...

yeah...I bet it would be better if it wasnt dubbed

Dub should die! Yay sub!!!

4kids has ultimately trashed the reputation of dubbing, and although I disagree with the behavior, I can somewhat understand why people make closed-minded comments about dubbing in general as well as scream their heads off and go cry in a corner when they recieve rumors of their favorite animes being liscensed for dubbing. Just look at this thread:

http://forums.animesuki.com/showthread.php?t=13429

But I must say, some of the behavior there is just plain ridiculous, and I've yet to come across any FMA community that doesn't shun the dub-tolerators. Sigh...

But on a more amusing note, check out this hilarious 4kids parody! Warning: Contains lactose intolerance, tacoes with cheese, vicious destruction of pinatas, gangster/surfer talk, popsicles, and mispronunciation of the word, "fiesta." Enjoy!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=K5UfIRmkv28

Subs only. I hate Dubs.

Subs only. I hate Dubs.

Rather difficult topic. I'd like to keep my answer rather general, because I don't like anime at all...

I think it's a matter of individual attitude towards things you like and how much altering you can tolerate.

I, for example, am a strict purist when it comes to things I love and things that mean something to me. For movies/tv-series that means that I want to experience them in their original intended version, thus in it's original language. As most films I love are originally English, that is no problem at all.
The problem appears, when it's a language I don't understand (Japanese is one of them, for example); in that case I must resort to altered versions in a language I can understand (English, German). Now we face the problem sub or dub. Personally, I dont' like subs, because I can't (or rather don't want to) split my attention to both the screenplay and text at the bottom at the same time; that isn't what I consider to be enjoying a film, though I concede it's only a matter of practice and habit.

I know dubs bereave a movie of its soul and originality; I'm entirely aware of this (I avoid German dubs on English movies!), but I don't like subs and I think one can go too far in matters of purism, too. I seem to be rather alone with this opinion when I read through this thread, but then it's only my humble opinion

Well, as long as it is possible for everone to get and watch a movie in his personally preferred version, then everyone is contended and the world is in peace