Subs versus Dubs

Anyone who has been an anime fan for a while will know all too well about the sub versus dub debate. If you don't already know, subs are anime with Japanese subtitles, and dub is anime with English voice actors dubbing over the original Japanese voice actors. I've seen countless arguments om the internet and in real life on which one is better. Hell, I've even argued about it on occasion. Now, which one is better, subs? Or dubs? Let's find out...

Subs

Anime fans who ONLY watch subbed anime are "purists" you could say. Now while I don't necessarily agree with all of these, here are some reasons for why subs may be better than dubs. 

+ You get an extremely accurate translation with the subs, which might include quirks in the original language that wouldn't be there if it was dubbed. 

+ Anime is an art, and changing anything about the original work just damages the quality.

+ Japanese voice actors are much better than English Voice actors

+ Subtitled anime has a much wider potential reach  because it is easier to produce and the licensor can turn a much larger profit on the smaller cost.

To counter the positives, here are some negative qualities of subs.

- Having to read the subtitles at all times takes away from actually watching the anime.

- People (not me) like to do other things while they watch anime, and with subs, you can't really look away that long or you'll miss out on important dialogue.

- The subtitles can be changed, or can just be very low quality in terms of proper grammar, text speed/color, etc. 

Dubs

Most people who watch anime started out watching it dubbed since it's what we saw on TV. From there, people either branch out into watching anime subbed, or stick with dub. Here are some reasons for why dubs may be better than subs.

+ It's in English, the language you speak, so it's better.

+ You can pay closer attention to detail since you don't have to read all the dialogue. Can appreciate the background art and animation more.

+ Viewers who process spoken word better than written word will like dubs better, as they can comprehend what's going on much better. This is especially true in more complex and dialogue driven anime

+ Hearing the dialogue in our native language makes it easier to immerse ourselves in the anime and feel a sense of familiarity with the story and characters that is much harder to obtain while trying to hear dialogue in a foreign language and simultaneously read subtitles.

4kids does shit like this all the time. 

To counter the positives, here are the negatives of dubs.

- If an English voice actor is bad, it's VERY easy to tell they're bad, and lowers the overall quality.

- The lips don't match with what they're saying. While it may not seem like a big deal, I can understand why it might be very annoying.

- Like I said earlier, there is sometimes translation problems, where the English language just doesn't have a suitable translation for a certain part of the original dialogue, and is then changed due to that fact. (Usually ends up being a bad).

- Studios like 4Kids entertainment censor and change an anime so much that it's almost a completely different anime than the original.

My Thoughts

I used to only watch dubs, as I liked listening to English much more than Japanese. That changed over time, as I began to find some anime I REALLY wanted to watch were only subbed, so I was forced to watch it in Japanese. This made me love subs as well. I hate that anime fans bicker and fight over which one to watch, as both have their merits, and I can understand completely why someone would choose to only watch subs or dubs.The way I watch my anime is simple: Watch 1 episode subbed, and then 1 episode dubbed. Whichever one I like better, I'll watch. Simple. We as anime fans shouldn't try and shun dub watchers, as we should be happy that other people are getting into anime, and dubs are a great way for newbies to start their journey into the world of anime. If dubs didn't exist, anime would be a lot less popular and anime studios would make less money, which means less new anime being released from said studios. So while you can not like dubs, you have to appreciate what they bring to the table. 

To sum it all up, who gives a damn how people watch anime? Just enjoy yourself! 

5 things I hate about anime

Anime. One of my favorite things in life that's always provided me with quality entertainment for years. Now while I love anime, there's some things that I see across multitudes of anime that I  really hate. Here are 5 things that I HATE about anime.

Random drops in animation quality.

Good, quality anime.

Anime caught my eye because of how different it looked compared to american cartoons. I loved the way everything looked and how everything was animated in general. But  negative aspect I see in a lot of anime is animation quality. One example of this is Welcome to NHK. The first 3 episodes looked just fine, and then I get to watching episode 4, and it looks like shit. It is really hard to look at, and even harder to take seriously because of how bad it looks compared to before. I'm not asking for perfect animation either, I'm just asking for consistency, whether it be high quality OR low quality. Some people aren't bothered by the animation at all, but for me, it's a pet peeve. 

Overly oblivious/beta main characters.

Most whiny and spineless character of all time.

Another huge annoyance I have with anime is the mass amount of anime where the main character is completely clueless when it comes to the opposite sex, or they're just so dense that they don't even notice another character likes them, even though it's OBVIOUS. Some examples of anime with a main character like this include Seitokai Yakuindo, B Gata H Kei, Elfen Lied, and Mirai Nikki. It gets to a point where I end up hating the main character because they're so beta and whiny (Looking at you Yuki from Mirai Nikki). Now I know there are people like that in the world, and that's fine, but lately It's gotten to the point where almost every new anime I watch, the main character is completely spineless. I just want SOME anime to have a beta main character, not MOST!

This is who dies to keep you safe

Most of the main characters are teens.

Again, I like a lot of anime where the main cast are teenagers, I just don't like it when EVERY anime is about teenagers, no matter what the situation. Oh the world is ending? BETTER SEND A TEENAGER TO SAVE US! The best fighters in the world? ALL TEENS! The people who defend you from witches? 14 YEAR OLDS! *Cough Madoka cough.* It has gotten to the point where I just assume every animes main characters are all teenagers, unless said otherwise. I'd like to see more anime involving full grown adults, as a more grown and mature main cast is a breath of fresh air in the high school ridden anime realm. 

        

Too many filler episodes

Nothing makes me want to drop an anime more than excessive amount of filler episodes. Some examples of this include Naruto, Bleach, and Detective Conan. I don't ate filler episodes, that's not my point. In Code Geass, for example, I love the school festival filler episodes, because they're entertaining AND don't go on for too many episodes. But an anime like Naruto, for example, has a LOT of filler episodes. If you don't look up an episode filler list for Naruto, you could spend over over a DAY watching filler that is completely pointless and doesn't add to the story in any way. But even this isn't my biggest problem with anime, my biggest problem with anime is...

Bland and overused archetypes for characters.

Archetype- a very typical example of a certain person or thing

 For this, I'm talking about when an anime is full of walking and talking archetypes that aren't anything more than that. For example, in a lot of anime, there;s the "shy and awkward" type, the " talkative pervert" type, the "airhead with big boobs" type, the "emotionless and quiet" type, and so on and so forth.  There's a lot more, but I'm sure you can think of a few. Anyways, a character CAN have one of these archetypes and still be an amazing character. For example, Yugi Nagato from the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is a common archetype (emotionless, quiet), but is still a very great character, because she changes over the course of the anime and is a memorable character. But in a lot of anime, the characters offer nothing other than that specific archetype, and stay that way throughout the show. An example of a show that's guilty of this is Demon King Daimao. I do like the show, but all the characters are pretty much specific archetypes and aren't memorable or original in any way.