Why do people hate the English Dubbed Anime so much?

Question

Many people said that I'm not a true Anime fan because I watch the dubbed versions when I can. I don't understand why. They insult the voice actors like they pretty much suck at life. These are the reasons they often put and they are all pointless to me:

1. English voices don't have emotions. Seriously? How do the Americans even understand Japanese emotions? For example, in this scene below, people are going crazy because there is no echo when L says "I'm L" in Death Note. But I don't see how the English one has no emotion. The people that say this, I would like them to make a fandub of this with better emotion.
Original:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4UjwC-lpis&feature=related
English: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bygdlhkDlJ0
My version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvhzCA0PKFI&feature=watch_response
2. They are cut. The people that say this are very ill informed. There are always uncut versions. It's just an excuse that they make to watch the episodes online for free.
3. The English voices are different than the original ones. Well, two people are always going to have two different voices. Besides, they don't dub the Anime in English so that you can go and compare them with the Japanese versions.
So what is your opinion on this?

Answer 1

I like both equally:



I like dubs cause i can multitask and still know what on going on. but i also feel lazy can i really like to read. II like subs cause I get to read and I used to it going y fast and if it is to fast you can always go back im mean i really like anime and as long is it is goo d to don't mind either. except when they have the guys sounding like 9 year olds when they are supposed to be 16. and the girls sound all cutie

Answer 2

1. The English version DID have no emotion. However, I think the fandub was better than either version just because I honestly don't like Light's Japanese voice actor and that fandub actually had emotion in it. That's one of the reason why I hate official voice actors: they get paid to suck while there are GOOD voice actors out there who are WAY better than they ever will be who are doing it for free as a hobby.



2. I use the edited excuse on most older anime. Card Captors, Ronin Warriors, Pokemon, Digimon, Knights of the Zodiac... You can't find the full length, uncut episodes for those shows on the DVDs. Or, at least, not on the ones I'VE found... Also, I buy most of my anime. The rest I watch on free yet legal sites, like Hulu, which pay the company that owns the rights. I don't use the "oh, they cut scenes" excuse to cheat companies out of revenue.



3. I personally don't think the problem is with the voices being different. I've seen anime where the two voice actors sounded totally different and yet the dub was good. I've also seen anime where the two voice actors were almost identical and the dub sucked. However, I find more of a problem with the voice not fitting the character, which I personally think is extremely common and unfortunate...



In all, I really don't like the dubbing practice. It doesn't matter what the original language was or what the end language is. I've seen American cartoons dubbed in Japanese, Spanish, and French. I wasn't too fond of any of them. Also, it raises the price of a disc of anime because I have to pay the voice actors for their fail attempt at dubbing. Wouldn't mind it so much if they put it on a different DVD that I didn't have to buy, but no....they can't do that... -_-;;;



Now, dub quality varies from company to company. I know this. Disney, for example, hires real voice actors, like the ones they use in their animated movies. I actually love Disney dubs because of that. However, most other companies use people they picked up off the street or those "famous" voice actors who're known more for their looks or how funny they are at conventions than their voice acting skills. Bleh.



Few of the dubs I've actually liked:

~Anything by Disney (except for Princess Mononoke...)

~Sorcerer Hunters

~Loveless (German dub)

~Golden Boy (was so terribly done that it made it even funnier)

~Dragon Half

~Ronin Warriors



Btw, I've heard American voice actors brag about how much better dubs have gotten since the 80s and 90s. Well, I've seen recent dubs and I've seen older dubs and I've found that I actually prefer the older dubs to the newer ones. There was actually a series that I had seen over and over again that had been dubbed in the early 90s. At my 5th time rewatching it, I accidentally hit the dub. It was so good and so close to the original in voice and emotion that I couldn't tell it wasn't in Japanese until I realized there were no subtitles yet I could understand it. That's how good the dub was.

Answer 3

The English versions do sometimes tend to water down the content. I believe this is because of their target audience. I don't mean to imply anything by saying this, but Japanese entertainment leans more toward the obscene animation, and so, through certain tv stations, they will change the wording a little bit. Another complaint I've heard about the Dubs is that they're poorly done and that the voice doesn't match the character's lip movement. I think this is just because the voice part is off from the audio. If you've ever watched a video on the funimation website, or videos off of an iPod, then you'd know that originally, the voices aren't off. It could just simply be an error from ripping, or however people get the videos online.



I'm of your opinion, though. I tend to prefer dubs, simply because I don't have to pause at a long speech, or concentrate on the text. Dubs allow me to more freely enjoy my viewing experience. I think that a lot of the time, the English voices are better for the characters because a lot of Japanese voices tend to be on the higher range. Especially the guys. :)

Answer 4

People hate American Dubbed Anime for the very reasons you listed. I agree, that these aren't the greatest reasons in the world, but on occassion they do hold some merit. A lot of times, the japanes voices mesh better with the charcter that is being created, and when American's dub over an anime, a lot of the time the authenticness of the charcter is lost in translation. A prime example is tasuki from Fushigi Yuugi. His accent in the japanese version is from a specfic prefecture in japan that really doesn't translate well when you're trying to get the same feel for an american dub- the result, horrible sounding dub. While I don't agree with statements like 'you like the american/english dub, so you aren't a real/true anime fan' I can understand why some fans discredit english dubs. Also, while it's true that english dubs can turn out really horribly for reasons like an attempt to translate something untranslatable like an accent, there are some really awesome ones too- like in Descendants of Darkness/Yami no Matsuei. AMAZING job with the dubbing, I didn't care for the japanese voice actors at all. I also think it has a lot to do with which version you watch first, japanse or english. Because one or the other can grow on you as you watch it, and if you go back and try to watch the english version after you've fallen in love with the japanese version, and the voice overs are drastically different, you're automatically going to be biased. I think a lot of fans watch the japanese versions and then stumble onto the english versions, which results in the kind of behavior you're talking about. My advice, if you like the english dubs, continue to watch them- I know I like being able to understand what the characters are saying without having to read tiny subtitles, and there's nothing wrong with that. It doesn't make you any more or less of fan for you to watch on version or the other. I like to dabble in both :D

Answer 5

For me, it's just because i always prefer the original. Heck, i even squirm when i hear any american tv series that are dub by the Japanese.

And, there is also some people who have a thing with the Japanese voice actor (i'm one of them i guess, but i am not the hardcore type of fan..) so, they will always favor the japanese version better than the dub.



That's just my opinion though, peace! (^_^)v

Answer 6

in my opinion its because true bout the 2nd beacuse the dubbed animes always sometimes cuts the most bloody or perverted parts depending on wat the want tho second is that the japanese version are best because it is the real thing and that it has more episodes than the dubbed animes since they would usually make it dubbed like 1-2 years later after it was finished but it depends bout the ratings of the animes i guess

third is that the voice translations are not acurate sometimes like they would just put different words so that it can match with how the charaters mouths move ya kno?

but thats my opinion^^"

Answer 7

Don't listen to the weeaboos that say that dubs are inferior, I don't see how someone can compare Code Geass or Fullmetal Alchemist to their originals and not see an improvement, if not a level that is par to the original. It's just ridiculous.



There are bad dubs out there, don't get me wrong. Just when dubs were getting a good reputation again, Clannad was released and that dub is one of the few terrible ones that is recent. But for the most part, they are extremely well done.

Answer 8

Because some anime was meant to be with asain voice because it sounds beter that way some anime is poorly dubbed I think but personally I love english dub!!



example: Flame of Recca sounded gay when it is dubbed the japaneese version with subtittles is better

Answer 9

i love dubs, it saves you having to read stuff the whole time.



and i think the english voices do have emotion. i watch subs too, but if it has dubs i watch it instead of the subs



:D

Answer 10

they feel it's less authenic maybe.

i used to feel that way, i thought that it ruins the "japanese-ness" of anime.

but the emotion idea is messed, i think the dubbers did an ok job

Answer 11

the dubbers did ok but i cannot feel the originality

Answer 12

every thing that others said