TIL that subbed vs dubbed debate made me rewatch 20 episodes of an old favorite

Last month a guy on here said my favorite anime was "ruined by the english voice actors" and I got so defensive. But I actually went back and watched the subbed version of the same show. Turns out I missed a ton of jokes and emotional beats because the dub changed some lines around. Has anyone else switched sides on this after getting called out?

2 comments

2 Comments

maxm501mo ago

Wait, you actually went back and watched the whole sub after that argument? Same thing happened to me with Cowboy Bebop. I swore up and down the dub was better for years. Then someone pointed out that Faye’s jokes didn't land the same way in English. Rewatched episode 5 and realized I completely missed a whole scene where Spike's voice tone changes. Felt like an idiot for being so stubborn.

ruby_lane1mo ago

Has anybody else noticed how the sub vs dub thing gets way more personal with certain genres? For me, it was comedy anime. I was dead set on the dub of Gintama being the only way to watch it. Then a friend made me watch the sub version of the episode where they’re doing the serious samurai parody. In the dub, the voice actor just sounds sarcastic. In the sub, the Japanese actor has this tiny little breath change before he delivers the punchline. It completely changes the joke from "haha this guy is dumb" to "haha this guy is making fun of himself for being dumb." I felt so silly for missing that layer for years. Your mileage may vary on which is better, but I think the emotional subtlety gets lost in translation way more than people admit.