After watching the seventh episode of Kamisama Kazoku and singing to the tone of the OP and the ED, I quickly followed up with watching a dubbed episode of Hikaru no Go. It just reminded me that no matter how good the material or the show is, dubbing it really removes a lot from the show as compared to its original (or subbed) form. Sai’s voice wasn’t as forceful in the dub as it was in the sub, and Akari’s voice was annoying at times. Because the anime, however, is just a really good one, I once again felt that thirst for more episodes (despite having watched all 75 episodes along with its specials) despite the fact that it was dubbed. It was a good thing that they didn’t put alternative OP and ED music, because I’d be really irked by then. It just reminded me of other good anime that I forgot to take notice of because of H&C.
The episode, by the way, was ripped by [LA], a group that also ripped the first episode of MAR. I was pretty lucky that I was able to download the episode of HnG using the torrent, because it had dwindling seeds and few to no leechers at all. I guess a lot of the serious anime community (those who take anime fandom and otakudom seriously, anyway) really don’t want to view dubbed episodes.
Nothing beats the original, they say. I guess it also applies to anime. It was only now that I was really able to put the sub vs. dub argument to the test, and now, I really can understand the position of those who prefer the sub.
July 23, 2006 at 4:01 pm
BAM! Dubbing sucks.
Please support your local Anime Dub Actor Extermination Fund.
July 23, 2006 at 4:50 pm
This entry was something I found interesting. Personally, I’m at a place right now where I’m done being strictly subs only, and have come to respect and even love some dubs over the original Japanese.
After all that I’ve come to the conclusion that what’s bothersome about dubs is not really the acting quality most of the time, but the timing itself. English is a bit more wordy than casual Japanese, and because of that the dialogue feels a lot slower often. That lack of speed usually registers as something unnatural to the ear, making it seem false or forced acting wise when really what you’re watching is English speakers trying to sync up English dialouge to Japanese-timed lip movement.
Anyways, that’s just what I think.
July 23, 2006 at 6:43 pm
I think it’s a combo, a lot of the actors used for dubs really can’t voice act at all, much less well. If you look at things like the dub of Mononoke Hime where all the actors are top-notch and provide an incredible performance you can see just how bad the run of the mill dub actors are. While I understand not every title can afford such top-tier talent as Disney can, surely there’s got to be some competent voice actors out there that don’t suck! Why aren’t they being used?
Secondly the timing thing destroys much of the emotion of scenes. If you pay attention the lip flaps don’t match perfectly in the original because of how the Japanese do the voice recording process. For American dubs however the timing has to be PERFECT. If you take bad to medicore actors, insist their timing be mechanically precise, meddle with the language until the lip flaps can match perfectly, then dub it you’ll get very flat sounding performances nearly every time. Basically they’re focusing so much on lip-timing perfection that they destroy any emotional impact.
It has gotten better, dubs of Speed Racer are hilarious for the way the dialogue is spit out, but until the industry gets over this timing perfection thing and allows some minor discrepancies for the sake of ACTING dubs will by and large continue to suck.
July 23, 2006 at 7:27 pm
OMG. Thank you for the comments.
July 24, 2006 at 1:53 am
I think for the most part the dubbing fails to convey the original emotion, but there definitely exists the possibility for dubbing to work better for me than subbing. Samurai Champloo has excellent dubbing and I actually prefer it to the original Japanese. However, of the animes that I’ve heard dubbed (basically only the ones they show on Cartoon Network) that has been the only one where I thought the dubbing was worth a lick.
The coincidence might be that of all the animes I’ve seen that have been dubbed on Cartoon Network, Samurai Champloo was the only one I had not already seen in Japanese with subs. Perhaps we get to know the emotion behind the original voices and lock ourselves in to associating certain voice actors with the characters. It makes sense then that someone would find a performance “flat” if the first thing that came to mind when hearing an english dub was “this doesn’t sound like the Japanese actor I remember”.
July 24, 2006 at 2:35 am
I agree with the idea that it possibly all depends on what you hear first. I’ve also watched a lot of the anime on Cartoon Network, and they don’t seem as terrible as I often hear everybody say. It may be that Cartoon Network lands really good dubs of shows, but I think that the real problem is the fact that you’ve heard the Japanese version first, and so you can’t associate with the other voice actor, especially if the voice of that english actor is way different from the voice of the japanese actor. For some examples, I prefer to watch FLCL, Cowboy Beebop, and Inuyasha dubbed. I’ve seen subbed versions of each, but to my ears, all the voices sound too generic or too much like each other, like they’ve lost personality.
But then, part of the problem may be the fact that many dub studios make the english voices more over the top than the original japanese voices, and a lot of times it can backfire, or at least it seems that it’s backfired to you.
Then again, it all just could be a matter of which you’ve heard first. For example, One Piece, they’ve come up to the Alabastor arc. And even up to this point, I’ve found myself loving the english voices of the Strawhat crew (although I wish they’d change Sanji’s, as his voice only fits about half of his personality). When I listen to the subbed version, Luffy’s voice sounds too childish (funny how for Naruto, I hate the dubbed version specifically because they make Naruto the character sound too childish). Of course now at this point, I’m trying to decide which I’d rather stand, the major cut up, flat jokes, and bad voice actors for nearly every character not in the Strawhat crew, or the personal anguish I feel listening to Luffy’s Japanese voice. I’ll get back to you when I decide.
Oh, and yes, I do realize that the dubbed version has cut up and then changed around a lot of the story. Not only was it very noticable, but my brother, who has been following the japanese version at the same time, told me. While he prefers japanese version, because I haven’t completely given up on the english, I haven’t downloaded it for us to watch.
July 24, 2006 at 3:26 am
I just see watching subs as an opportunity to learn Japanese, having learned Cantonese the same way.
July 24, 2006 at 11:51 am
Hah yeah I learned quite a bit of Chinese watching the entire Disney Ne Zha series w/o subs or anything…
I thought to myself if I ever wanted to learn Japanese I had a huge library of episodes with translations to help me out!
July 25, 2006 at 2:32 am
I find that I much prefer subs to dubs, but that doesn’t mean I don’t give dubs a chance, normally though, even when I have dvds I’ll watch the sub. There are some exceptions though like Last Exile or Samurai Champloo but some dubs are so simply awful like Inital D and Full Metal Alchemist.
July 26, 2006 at 11:21 am
Whoa, I didn’t see this. Funny you wrote about this while my head’s still reeling over the announcement that H&C will be aired on Animax Asia this year.
I truly don’t like dubs because, as has been said, something is taken away from the original—the voice actors (especially the guys and those voicing children) either cannot act or tend to exaggerate their voices (and therefore the characters come across as caricatures of the original Japanese dub). And I hate the mispronunciation of names. I would recommend that they take the time to take Japanese language classes just to get the inflections/accentuations/etc. right.
There are some cases as well, where the dialogue has been changed in order to fit the timing. I would cite the nightmarish Samurai X (aka Rurouni Kenshin) dub as one such case.
For me, there have only been a handful of really good dubbed anime. I felt that El Hazard, for example (I hope there aren’t any other versions out, but the one I saw back in the late 90s was well done), as well as Ranma and some of the Studio Ghibli/Disney stuff was excellently dubbed; I don’t have much to complain about with those.
But I just dread seeing (hearing) what dubbers will do to a really amazing series like Honey & Clover.
September 7, 2006 at 9:53 pm
I’ve found if I see an episode in sub or dub first, that is my accepted version of how the anime’s theme should be. I get the origional version I saw in my head and that’s how it should be from that day forward.
I always wonder if the the writer or producer of an anime, gets involved in the dubbing process on some of the animes. Boy do they miss the intent of the anime sometimes.
I’ve found that the diffrent fansubbers translate better in general that the store bought subbed versions. And all fansubs are not created equal.
Some fansubbers include the signs and writting in the anime, a lot of store bought will not do this. It sucks when the someones reading an important letter and you don’t know what it say but it’s important to the story. That’s lazyness on the US porducers part.
September 28, 2006 at 12:05 am
Aw come on! The Dub on FMA isn’t really Bad at all….they did a fairly good job on it. As for Cowboy bebop and Samurai Champloo, I think they did an fantastic job. Maybe they figured out that they have too choices in the matter, either A) Do a great jib and everyone loves the dub or B)Do a crappy job and everyone hates it and cricify them for another fucked up show that was great before they got they’re hands on it.
Personally I also enjoy watching Inuyasha Dubs better, But I cannot resist Kappei’s yells he does Inuyasha in Japanese, It’s too funny! In Japanese as well as in english Kagome still annoys me so it’s ALL good. But the main reason I still watch the English verson is not only for Naraku’s, Sesshomaru’s (hottie
),Or Inuyasha’s voice actors (I love richard cox) but for Miroku’s. For some reason (especially in the movies) He’s voice is so irrisistible.
Yeah I hate Luffy’s voice and Naruto’s voice in dub version, it’s more obnoxious then need be. even my 12 year old sister can see that. Speaking of naruto, u know who has the easiest voice there? Kakashi! I mean whoever got that role got off real easy.
January 18, 2007 at 6:31 pm
dubbed sucks they cut out the good parts and their voices sound funny
February 16, 2007 at 1:07 am
i think it dubbing inuyasha takes too much out of it, the passion mostly, he seems so much more true to his character when its not dubbed, dubbing changes or takes away too much of the intended dialog
April 9, 2007 at 8:34 pm
Good site!!!
April 9, 2007 at 11:50 pm
11Good site!!!!!
April 9, 2007 at 11:53 pm
N
November 7, 2007 at 3:21 am
Drug Soma Test
Drug Soma Test
December 6, 2007 at 4:27 pm
dub simplifys it to ur current language making things easier so why dont u spend ur free time on something more important then trying to exterminate dub u fucking loser lol seriously a organization for exterminating dub no wonder ur still a fucking virgin get over urself mr anime king im sure the ladies melt when u say ur the president of the dismantling of anime dub series lol man up
January 12, 2008 at 12:51 am
I dunno…in my opinon, dubs are better just because I don’t like having to read things subconcously at the bottom of the screen, which causes me to miss small little details in the show that either: are important later on or have sort of significant reletivity to the plot or episode, or simply details that I enjoy looking at.
Also someitmes the japanese voices over the course of a few episodes can really start to sound whiney and almost anoyying to a certian point. Especially when they yell or shout. I’ve found this the case (in my opinon anyway) with a good number of anime.
I don’t know…maybe it just me. The dubs just obiviate the need to read subtitles and the amercian voices seem to have more “substance” for lack of a better word to me. Scenes where voices need to have aloot of emotion in the originals just seem to be lacking to me…a lot of the voices all sound the same. Subs are great, just when you get down to it I perfer to watch dubs.
I WILL say however, it can be frustrating when certian scenes are taken out and as we know this is all done for a multitude of reasons, but one of the main ones is because if the hate 4kids network and others didn’t, 30-40 soccer moms across the country would file a class action lawsuit and shut them down for airing and episode with swearing, provacative themes, sexual inuenddo or images, and blood. Really gay, I know…but that’s just the way it is.
I love anime and manga, I just perfer dubs in the end.