Why subbed anime is important

Alright, after last week’s post, I’m gonna go turn around and play devil’s advocate. As it stands, there are many undeniable advantages of watching an anime in Japanese with English subtitles over watching it with an English dub.

1.)    Horrible Dub: The first and most obvious reason for choosing to watch a sub over a dub. Sometimes you listen to a dub and just go “Wow, are they reading this off of the script?” or “Do they even believe what they are talking about?” A good dub won’t do this, but if it does, you should probably be watching the sub

2.)    It fits better: While this is not always the case, when I’m watching something like Rurouni Kenshin, or another show that takes place in early Japan, it just makes perfect sense for the show to be in Japanese. This adds an extra level of immersion, because you very well know they didn’t speak English in ancient Japan, That is, unless there was some conspiracy and Japanese is just a made up language they created to screw with foreigners. That WOULD explain why it’s so hard to learn.

3.)    It’s closer to the source material: Most anime is written with a Japanese audience in mind. This means the show is written with Japanese voices in mind. Hence, dialogue and character movements were made with the intent to have Japanese voicing, meaning that the entirety of the show was based around having a Japanese dub, meaning the show flows more naturally with Japanese voice acting

4.)    Suspension of disbelief: Some stuff is just so cheesy that you can’t say it with a straight face. This is especially prevalent in fantasy series, where the concept is just so out there people have trouble saying it with a straight face. Meanwhile, with a sub, you don’t actually HEAR them say it, so it blends in with the plot better. At least in my experience.

Out of all of these reasons, I believe that number 3 is most impotant, followed by number 1. This is due to the original artist having the most impact on how the voice actor performs. This however, does not always prove to be the most important factor, as shown by Cowboy Bebop, where the original voice actors just get one-upped by the English cast. Of course, I believe that the most important thing is to remember that the best time for a sub of a dub is based entirely on the series, and that generalized statements cannot be made in this field.

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Why dubbed anime is important

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Why dubbed anime is Important

Alright, I’m going to do my take on the sub vs. dub debate, but with a twist. Instead of arguing why subs or dubs are better, I am going to point out when it is more appropriate for an anime to be subbed or dubbed.

1.)    American Television Broadcasts: A channel’s lineup just looks better if everything is in the same language. It’s kinda weird for the average viewer to go from just hearing what the show is saying, to reading it. Furthermore, an uninitiated viewer may be turned off by hearing things in another language. This, obviously, is why all anime on TV is dubbed.

2.)    Bringing in the n00bs: Hey, remember your first anime? I remember mine. I was a little kid watching Pokemon, dubbed. Other people will say their first was Dragon Ball Z or Sailor Moon, which they saw dubbed. Some old school fans watched Speed Racer, also dubbed. When you try to introduce your friend to an anime, what do you show them? You show them Cowboy Bebop, dubbed. We show new people dubbed anime because new people are more comfortable experiencing a new medium in their native language. Subs tend to alienate new people, while watching a show in their own language bridges that little gap between the new experience and the person experiencing it.

3.)    Slapstick Comedy: Do note that I am not referring to slice of life comedies like Azumanga Diaoh that rely entirely on being in Japan, and make jokes that revolve around living in Japan. Dubbing those things is unnatural. Yet some comedies, like Fruits Basket, are just funnier in English. I attribute it to your brain taking less time to process data from a dub, (unlike a sub, where you need to read, process, and associate with the voice) causing the joke to sink in faster. This lack of delay allows you to get the joke as it’s being made, with the accompanying visual effects. For this reason, a dub gives the optimal gag audio –visual response time.

4.)    EXPLOSIONS: Some series are just to fast paced for me to want to read. See, reading requires that I look down, and looking down brings my attention away from what is going on in the middle of the screen, and not the important parts. This is when a good quality dub is incredibly important. If I have to look down to read, I could be missing an important segment of the fight scene! Although I make an exception for samurai anime (since samurai are deeply rooted in Japanese culture, hence, never spoke English) but high octane explosives require me complete attention

5.)    CULTURE SHOCK Some things in Japan just don’t have an English equivalent. This is when a dub is great, because this allows the English voice actors and writers to put in an English equivalent in order to maintain the flow of dialogue. This is really nice, since the joke isn’t very funny if it needs to be explained. Hence, I would prefer an English equivalent to having to have a joke explained to me afterwards. Furthermore, a proper dub should go beyond just translating words, and translate the meanings behind what the original artist was saying. Unfortunately, due to cultural differences, maintaining the same meaning would be nearly impossible, since Japanese people live quite differently than Americans. This means sometimes, a dub can be more loyal to the source material than a sub.

As we can tell, there are lots of situations when a dub is more suitable than a sub. It’s times like these when I want to smack the nearest guy who says subs are always better. Anyways, tune in next week, where I take the opposite side of the coin and explain when subs are better than dubs

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Is the First episode really that important?

I’m gonna go on out on a limb and say, yeah, first epidsode really is important. Sure, you can come and yell at me about shows that have a lame first episode, but get better as they go along….

And I don’t care, because if you come and give me some solid recommendations, I win anyway, don’t I? Alas, a first episode is the viewer’s first impression of a series. If the viewer gets a bad first impressions, they won’t be as enthusiastic as they go in. Really, why spend MORE time watching something you didn’t enjoy?

My favorite anime, for example, “The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzimiya” has a solid first episode, establishing how ridiculous and wacky this series is going to be. Also, it pretty much sums everything up in the whole series in an incredibly convoluted manner. Another solid first goes to Fruits basket, a Shoujo that while, it looks like generic coming in, gets a few giggles, while leading in to the series main hook. Ninja Nonsense, a fine comedy, starts making you ROFL from the get go. It doesn’t stop in the second episode either. Code Geass, although mostly a boring first, has a pretty awesome ending, setting up a hook. Overall, a lot of my favorite anime start out solid, and build from that foundation. Cowboy Bebop? Starts with a solid episode that tells you next to nothing about the character’s origin, and you like it anyway.

Can a series with a bad first episode be good? Absolutely, I’m usually just more hesitant to show that series to a friend. There’s always room for redemption, but really, when you show up for a job interview, do you wear the same thing you wore to bed or do you wear you’re best suit?