Nathan Fillion, Patrick Stewart, Karen Gillan and Kelly Hu at Salt Lake Comic Con FanX 2014
Subbed vs. Dubbed
by Aly Jordan
The constant debate concerning whether subbed anime or dubbed anime is “better” has grown to the point where all the common pros and cons of both have been repeated numerous of times. Both subbed anime and dubbed anime has what may be considered good or bad traits that either draw viewers in or pushes them out.
People who enjoy watching dubbed anime say that different character’s accents are better differentiated with English voice actors. That is true in anime like Hetalia, where the characters represent countries in the world and interact with each other.
The lack of subtitles makes the experience more comfortable for the viewer, but also fairly common in dubbed anime is that the voice and the character that is speaking do not match up. The voice may have finished their lines, but the character’s mouth continues moving with no vocals.
Also typical in dubbed anime is when the sound of the voice does not seem to match how the character was previously thought to speak. The voice may be too high or too low for the character, which will annoy some viewers.
Subbed anime has the advantage of providing a more authentic exposure to the Japanese culture. Viewers also get to see what the directors had in mind for the voice of each character.
However, in subbed anime, there are subtitles which can divert viewers’ attentions away from what might be occurring in the anime to make sure that they catch every word that the character is saying. Some may be reluctant to watch the subbed version because it is out of their comfort zone because it is in a different language than they are used to and some people just don’t like to read.
I personally enjoy watching subbed anime because it helps me become more knowledgeable about the Japanese ways. I also think that the Japanese voice actors do a great job at matching their voices with the character.
The constant debate concerning whether subbed anime or dubbed anime is “better” has grown to the point where all the common pros and cons of both have been repeated numerous of times. Both subbed anime and dubbed anime has what may be considered good or bad traits that either draw viewers in or pushes them out.
People who enjoy watching dubbed anime say that different character’s accents are better differentiated with English voice actors. That is true in anime like Hetalia, where the characters represent countries in the world and interact with each other.
The lack of subtitles makes the experience more comfortable for the viewer, but also fairly common in dubbed anime is that the voice and the character that is speaking do not match up. The voice may have finished their lines, but the character’s mouth continues moving with no vocals.
Also typical in dubbed anime is when the sound of the voice does not seem to match how the character was previously thought to speak. The voice may be too high or too low for the character, which will annoy some viewers.
Subbed anime has the advantage of providing a more authentic exposure to the Japanese culture. Viewers also get to see what the directors had in mind for the voice of each character.
However, in subbed anime, there are subtitles which can divert viewers’ attentions away from what might be occurring in the anime to make sure that they catch every word that the character is saying. Some may be reluctant to watch the subbed version because it is out of their comfort zone because it is in a different language than they are used to and some people just don’t like to read.
I personally enjoy watching subbed anime because it helps me become more knowledgeable about the Japanese ways. I also think that the Japanese voice actors do a great job at matching their voices with the character.