Subs vs Dubs: Who Wins?

If you’re online all the time and talk to other people who like anime, you might hear this one time or another. “Dubbed anime sucks!” or “No one wants to read anime all the time!” This debate comes up numerous times. Dubs vs Subs. The big question is however, who wins? Let’s start by looking at the main points of both.

Each of the two has their own strong points and their weak points. With subs, it’s the original material. You’re hearing it coming right out of Japan. These voices are far better to some people than the English voices. I fall under this category. Besides the voice actors and actresses in California and New York, I think most English voices don’t do the subbed version of the anime justice. Some sound far different from the Japanese voices. I understand that you can’t exactly match the Japanese voices, but don’t make the characters have entirely different voices. Two examples of this are Karneval and Yona of the Dawn. Watch both versions and you’ll see what I mean. However, that’s where this weak point of subs comes into play. Most people don’t understand Japanese besides a few phrases. When I’m watching anime, I’m usually tuned into the subtitled version as I stated before. If I want to go text or tweet something or even have to go into the kitchen, which is right next to my living room, I have to pause the anime instead of letting it play. I can’t understand Japanese, and this factor really comes into consideration when choosing which version of the anime I want to watch, but if it’s a simulcast or simply has no dub, I’m out of luck.

Now that we looked at the strong and weak points of subbed anime, lets look at the dubbed side of anime. Just like the subbed version, this version of anime also has it strong points. As stated previously, the main point I want to point out is that it’s in English. I can do whatever I want when I watch this version of anime. It’s also easier to multitask. Some dubbed anime even sound better than the Japanese version of anime. Two examples of this are Fullmetal Alchemist and Tiger and Bunny. I’m a subbed person as you can tell, but I also am fair, and will give credit where credit is due. I may sound like a hypocrite, but these dubs are far superior to the subbed versions. The voice actors and actresses put in a lot of effort to make these characters come to life. This, however, leads into the weak points of dubbed anime. Some try way to hard and some voices don’t even sound as well as they do in the subbed version. An example I stated before was Yona of the Dawn. Both versions sound so different, and again, I understand that you can’t exactly match the voices, but don’t change them completely.

Whether it’s subbed or dubbed anime, I encourage people to just watch anime. Who wins? Both win, because both have their strong and weak points. Until next time guys.

If you want to talk with me more about this topic, you can do so at twitter.com/djddueces. If you want to see picture of nothing but Hatsune Miku, you can do so at djddueces.tumblr.com. If you want to see what anime I am watching, you can find me on MyAnimeList at djddueces.