Watching Anime: Sub, Dub or Raw?

[CousinMerl]

When watching anime (either TV shows or movies), how do you prefer to watch them: Subbed, Dubbed or perhaps Raw?

I prefer subbed anime all the way; the original voices are in my opinion always better than voice dubs and the subtitles helps a lot to make you understand what they are saying (that is almost always the case if you aren't from Japan or doesn't understand Japanese very well).

[cinco]

I'm not a purist. I listen to the dubbed English versions witch Dutch subtitles.

[Gatorgod]

Dubbed all the way! The ones dubbed in Dub'lin, Ireland are my favorites.

[nathan]

90% of the time i watch subbed anime. most american studios don't take dubbing too seriously and they just slap english voices actors on to increase dvd sales/marketability. the remaining 10% is made up of 5% studio ghibli stuff in which the dubbing is incredible and 5% watching in the original japanese. i mostly do the latter with childrens shows (panda! go panda!, etc.) as i only have two semesters of japanese language study under my belt.

[The Sovereign]

Sub


dubs normally aren't as good and i don't understand japanese

[Kang's Bastard Spore]

Man do I wish that I could vote raw in this!

Subbed all the way. Many shows I have hated in English and then loved once viewed in Japanese. Also, a good subtitler will add cultural notes to explain why a character has chosen certain words or actions, a total bonus. While a dub would just rewrite the line or ignore it completely.

I despise the fact that most DVDs autoplay with dub forcing one to go into the settings to change it back to normal. They should play in Japanese (raw) automatically, IMO.

[Bella Drape 'er]

sub

dub cuts out too much of the good stuff out! And if you don't speak Japanese, then the idea of raw is just ridiculous

[Mr. Trampopoline]

Mine's simple; excluding raw, depends on the show. If it's like "Cowboy Bebop" or particularly any dub nowadays, I'll watch the dub (and watch the sub just out of curiosity). However, if the dub is completely altered, like the majority of 4kids' work and "Sailor Moon", then sub all the way. No way can I enjoy something that makes the shitter Simpsons episodes look like art compared to dubs that makes their unintended audience feel like idiots.

But I have a strange feeling that I'm the only one here that thinks this...

[Gatorgod]

I'm tired of reading books and the internet all day! I like to take a break from reading. Last thing I want to do is read when I'm watching my cartooney shows.
I even get pissed if I have to read those severe weather alert scrollers that occasionally run across some of my Tv shows! I just pretend their not there!

[kupomog]

I can follow some very simple raws, but I don't really get any more enjoyment out of that than I do from just watching subs...

Most times I'd rather see the original with subs but that's because I want context. I want to know that was really going on. Some shows completely change the context with a dub. So I'd rather see sub first then check out the dub. Even shows with GOOD dubs do that...like Ranma ½...great cast in the dub, pronunciations notwithstanding, but they often made Akane angrier than she was really supposed to be in certain scenes. And Crayon Shinchan vs. Shin-chan is a world of difference in content. Strangely don't mind the Sailor Moon changes. I enjoy both versions. It's like having two alternate universe stories.

Most times though I don't mind much either way. Some dubs get on my nerves because for well known stuff they pick annoying well known actors who don't do voices well at all, or because they just go for the same 5 or 6 people who work on everything else. Japanese voices can get very tiresome (due to the same archetypes being present) to me after awhile. Cute optimistic girl, energetic perky boy, stoic-cocky male, sultry woman, shounen/shoujo bait...gets annoying and boring.

[Moe Nopoly]

depends, many of the Ghibli movies i have seen dubbed in english, but also sometimes with just english subititles. Most of the other anime i see with english subs.

[Chou]

I watch subs and dubs, though more subs than dubs I suppose. I've been studying Japanese for around 3, 3 1/2 years but I don't trust my skills enough to watch raws. For a kid's show maybe, but subs are preferred. Watching anime in Japanese can be very helpful when studying the language and there are a bunch of Japanese VAs I really like. But there are also a bunch I can't stand. The typical squeaky, "moe" can be very grating, for instance.
I don't have that many problems with dubs--- there's quite a few I enjoy. There is a tendency to overact, but Japanese VAs and English VAs have pretty different approaches. I like watching a show, if I have the chance, in both English and Japanese because I find differing interpretations of characters to be really cool, actually. I think animation is probably the only medium that lends itself well to dubbing, so I keep an open mind about dubs.

[qwertyuio]

Depends on the anime I guess, there are good and bad dubs and some series or movies simply have not been translated to my mother language (Spanish). I like watching them dubbed better than subbed, not because of any quality matters but the inconvenience of having to read below while my eyes are trying to follow the action.

One thing I will never do is watching them in English, subbed or not. It would actually be pretty useless.