Subbed vs Dubbed for Attack on Titan is not even a debate once you watch both

I finally sat down and watched the first season of Attack on Titan subbed after only ever seeing the dubbed version. Man what a difference. The English voice actors do an okay job but the Japanese cast brings so much raw emotion to scenes like Eren's mom getting eaten or when he first transforms. It felt like watching a completely different show. The timing of the screams and the pauses match the animation way better too. I tried switching back to the dub for one episode after that and the delivery just sounded flat and awkward in comparison. Has anyone else had that moment where switching to subs completely changed how you felt about a series?

2 comments

2 Comments

val22324d ago

I watched the first season dubbed and thought it was fine until a buddy made me sit through the subbed version. Now I can't unhear the difference. The English voice actor for Eren sounds like he's trying to sell me a used car during the big emotional scenes. Japanese Eren sounds like he's actually losing his mind, which is the whole point. My buddy said switching to subs is like putting on glasses for the first time and finding out trees have individual leaves. He wasn't wrong. Now I'm stuck rewatching everything subbed like some kind of snob who can't enjoy cartoons without reading first.

angela_dixon24d ago

Hard disagree that English Eren sounds like a car salesman though. He's actually pretty solid in season 2 and 3 when he's less scream-y. The real problem is the English side characters, Mikasa and Levi sound totally phoned in compared to the Japanese versions.