*steals*

Tekante wrote:

Dubs are easier to watch and understand. Your eyes aren't half on the subs and half on the show, just the show itself, the difference is subtle, but it gives a better watching experience. I don't think it matters if the translation is exactly precise, as long as it gets the original point across. And I can relate better to characters if they speak in English. Also, contrary to what a lot of fans think, English voices are actually superb nowadays. I hear a bunch of people complain on how 4kids ruined One Piece, but compared to the stuff done in the 80's and 90's, One Piece is pretty good even for a sub par dub. Ever hear of Garzey's Wing? That dub was so ridiculously bad, it was hilarious. But dubbing companies don't do that anymore, if they did, they would be screwed. I think most anime fans are stuck in the past about dubs, and newer anime fans see all of these older anime fans bashing dubs, and to appear cooler, they join the dub bashing band wagon, even though their reasons for bashing are mostly out of date. Or the third option is that the anime fans are the type that worships Japan and always think that Japan > Everything. Like Naruto's "Believe It!" line. English Naruto actually stopped saying that at the end of the Zabuza arc, yet people still complain about it. Although Japanese Naruto has yet to stop saying "Dattebayo!" yet, which means absolutely nothing and is also twice as annoying. Yet hardly anyone complains about that. And because the only subs I watch are fansubs, those subs tend to have bad grammar, and some don't translate idiomatic phrases, which just don't make any sense in English. And everytime some song comes up in the background of an anime, these annoying karaoke lines pop up, which pretty much ruins the moment for me. /rant Sorry, I tend to be in typing-an-essay mode when I explain things.

Mwahahahaha!!

Naruto, for me, sounds.. just like the Naruto from Japan.

One Piece would be better if they let it out to be PG 13, just like Naruto. The ages they're sent out to make a huge difference in the way the anime is portrayed.

My opinion :O and not a steal >.>

_________________

I really don't have a anything against dubs, other than sometimes American voice actors can't actor like the character they're voice acting or just have a horrible voice. o_o. Now, I've actually watched some dubs, and I actually prefer those dubs over subs like Kenshin and Trigun, >_>. But I just prefer subs over dubs because I've gotten used to it and plus I like hearing the original Japanese version as they're voice actors seem to fit more for the character. <.<

The point I'm trying to make is that dubs are not as bad as many fans think they are, and that presently, English dubs are getting better and better, even being better than the original version.

The Tales of games are a good example of that, even though they're games.
Symphonia, Abyss, and Vesperia all have top notch voice actors that I would prefer over the original voices any day.

But there are also first impressions. If someone watched the subbed first, they get used to the voices, so an alternative language would sound strange to them and vice versa with English voices.

Right now the amount of sub par dubs are decreasing, and English voice actors are getting better at their jobs. I think Michelle Ruff is one of my newer favorite VAs (mostly because of her being Rita from Vesperia, but that's beside the point >__>).

Fitting the character is also an excuse that a lot of dub bashers use.
Although obviously not true for every case, most fans don't know a lick of Japanese, or maybe a few words, characters, phrases, and such.
And because of that, they probably can't tell good acting from bad acting.
Seriously, I tried that, and all of the Japanese voices sounded the same, meaning that I have no basis for saying what a good Japanese voice is.

Japanese voice actors aren't perfect and do make mistakes, but since I don't know any Japanese grammar, I don't notice it.

But sometimes, it's obvious when a voice doesn't fit a character, like using a light and soft voice on a tough and serious character.

Taking another example from a Tales of game, Tear Grants from Tales of the Abyss to be specific, I watched a few clips of the Japanese version on YouTube.
Tear is supposed to be 16-17, somewhere around there, but she sounds like a little 12 year-old girl. And not only that, Tear is the serious business kind of person, but her voice was all light and soft.

English Tear was much better, even almost sexy (at least to me xD). She sounded at most like a 18-19 year-old (which fits her better, since she is the more mature looking person), her voice had an appropriate deepness to it and such.

I'm not saying the English VAs are perfect either, but we can understand their voices better. But that works both ways. Because we can understand English voices better, we can also point out their flaws. And that usually leads to the Japanese > English mindset.

There's also the matter of setting.

Baccano! takes place in 1930s America. None of the characters are of Japanese descent and yet they all talk fluent Japanese instead of English. Not very fitting for me...

I can understand if someone is used to a Japanese voice, but it grinds my gears when people just start senselessly bash dubs and voice actors for minor reasons or for reasons that the Japanese actors can be susceptible to too.

/crap, I typed another essay without thinking again... >___>

Arguments come from difference of opinions. If everyone thought the same things, that would be very boring. x vs. y will always happen, even if it is ridiculous.

I don't care what people prefer to watch, but when they start listing off on how the Japanese is better than blah blah blah, I get ticked off. And then I type an essay to show my point.

A lot of fans I've seen tend to think that the English version of anything is censored or edited in some way, but DVDs are almost always unedited. But I think that's just an excuse for them to not buy it so they can pirate off of the internet. =/

Wasn't the DVD One Piece edited at one time? I remember reading about that long ago.

I think it really depends on what you're watching when it finally comes down to it. I've seen certain animes like Naruto, where the English dubs sound great. But then there are some things, like the game Chaos Wars, for instance, where the English dubs just make you want to knock your head against the wall until you receive a concussion.

Overall, however, I like the English dubs better. The really bad ones like Chaos Wars are rare, and I like being able to hear and understand what is being said, rather than having to read the story across the bottom of the screen (this takes away from the action in my opinion).