Over here in Sweden Cartoon Network is one of the few channels that is dubbed and I assume the reason is because Children watch it. The norm in Sweden is for subtitling, but most kid’s shows get dubbed. Anything aimed at kids from about 13/14 upwards will be subtitled.
Even in the cinema foreign animated films will be offered as dubbed and as subtitled.
Bah! Dubs forever. I very rarely veg out in front of the TV and just watch. I read papers and magazines, I cook, I clean, I do a hundred other things. I don’t speak Japanese, so dubbing works for me. Perhaps on that magical day when I have no other responsibilities, I’ll start watching subtitled anime. Until then, dubbed or nothing.
May I point out the futility of trying to make a generalization on two examples, which conflict? Regardless, I also point out that plain text would have served “.hack” much poorer than dubbing anyway. So what is your point?
In any event, I disagree with you analysis. In fact, I rather like the dubbed Tsukasa character. His quiet demeanor works pretty well as written.
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/columns/DubTrack.php?id=11
I also have realized a certain fact about anime. People tend to associate characters witht he first voice they hear attributed to him/her/it.
CN already SAPs some of their shows for the Spanish version in certain markets. But as mentioned by Ahriman not everyone has access to that feature (TV sets don’t grow on trees). Plus it’s a technical problem in other markets where SAP channel may be rented out .
It’s Basic Cable, folks, we’re getting about as much effort as they’re willing to make; and we are not that many customers. We whine too much, and we may get subs, or may get all-night Scooby Marathons.
I like both subtitles and dubbing but I prefer dubbing. It just depends on how lazy I’m feeling. For fairly general stuff or comedic shows I would much rather hear it dubbed. Reading comedy doesn’t work as well for me. More serious stuff, like Metropolis, I watched subtitled.
Live foreign films I always watch subtitled. There’s something about watching a real person and wanting to hear their voice. But with animation, there is no real person to base it on. Everything is dubbed. Most of the time I prefer to hear my own language than hear a different one and read my own.
Strangely enough, I just rented Evangelion episodes 1-8 and watched it dubbed. While a couple of characters were poorly done (Asuka), most of the main ones I kinda liked. I didn’t think it was that bad of a dub at all. What makes this such a terrible dubbing?
The funny part was that my DVD automatically puts subtitles on, so for the first few lines (before I turned it off) it was amazing to see how different the English dubbing was from the English subtitled.
I’ve never really understood the hatred of the Eva dub either. I only saw part of it, but it seemed competent, if not great. The Japanese audio seemed to oscillate between shrieks and monotone, anyway, with no real middle ground, so I’m not sure what they were expecting.
I’ve just been filing it under ‘Eva fans make my teeth hurt.’ 
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“You haven’t transcended anything. You’re just a human who’s been superbly adapted to combat.”
How could Metropolis be anything but subtitled? It’s a silent film, fer cripes sake.
I’m talking about the recent anime film Metropolis, not about the 1927 German film Metropolis.
Oh. Is it anything like the same story?
Well, it was just an idea. Of course not every TV could access it (I believe that it’s just stereo TVs that can) just as not every TV can access closed captioning (although all new ones can.) However, a lot of people do have TVs that can access it, and many people would prefer to hear the original voice–or might be curious about it, at any rate. If your TV couldn’t access the SAP, or you preferred the dub, you could still watch the dub. If the option were available, I would watch anime that way. As it is, I don’t even subscribe to cable right now–so I’m not going to demand that Cartoon Network do anything. If it’s feasible, it’s a good idea. If it’s not, oh well–I’ll just watch DVDs.
I also don’t think that the EVA dub is so bad, but, then again, it’s the way I heard it first. However, I prefer subtitles. One of the big differences is that, in the English dub, Rei speaks so softly that it is almost impossible to hear her. You might as well have subtitles, for all the good her voice does. I was surprised to find that she wasn’t so quiet in the Japanese soundtrack. You view the character differently, I think, when she’s almost inaudible.
Actually no. Adult swim starts at 11 on the West coast which means that Sealab does indeed air at 12 and the Anime airs at 1.
According IMDB in the trivia under the anime version, “Osamu Tezuka claimed that he received inspiration for his Metropolis manga from seeing the poster for Metropolis (1927), but never actually saw the film.”
So you have a film based on a comic book based on a poster of the original film. Inspired, but definetely not the same story.
Basically, no one wants to read their movies.
Besides, isn’t part of the fun of anime the dubbing - kind of like the old kung fu movies?
As long as the diaologue isn’t like:
“YOUR ACTIONS ARE INCORRECT MEGAZOR!!! CAN’T YOU SEE THAT I AM SERIOUS!! TRANSFORM INTO GIANT-ROBOMON 55!!!”
I’m pretty much fine with that.
Few cartoons are performed live anymore…it’s very hard on the animators.
You poor, poor people. Sealab hits the air at a decent hour here in Hawaii. 9 pm with Adult Swim starting at 8. Although come whenever your crazy daylight savings kick in it moves an hour later.
I also prefer dubbed versions since the English voices are much more distinctive and unique to my ears. When I listed to subbed verseions most often all the Japanese cast disappear into each other. Not always true as Bear from .hack was very recognizable and sounded exactly like he was supposed to, as opposed to the English version where he sounded 20 something.
I feel like I’m getting more so it’s not a purity issue for me. Not at all like my passion for widescreen. Although when they change things I do feel cheated. Stupid changes on DVDs especially annoy me. Like changing Ryoko’s panties to uniform in the Pretty Sammy Special. But thankfully those seem to be rare.
Weird… It’s exactly the opposite for me. I’m always happy when I pop in a subbed DVD and it dawns on me that x role is played by Tomokazu Seki or Kappei Yamaguchi or Mayumi Tanaka or whoever. When I listen to American dubs, I feel like the voices are bland and generic. Maybe the “distinctiveness” of the cast depends on what format the viewer watches most?
I do agree that it is unreasonable for CN or other national networks not specifically geared toward foreign-language programming to favor subs over dubs, although a teeny-weeny, stubbornly irrational part of me wants to disagree that subs are a turn-off to kiddies or people who can’t be bothered to read or try another language. Here in Hawaii, subtitled Korean soap operas enjoy popularity with non-Korean-speaking, non-Korean viewers. And back in the Seventies, young kids of all backgrounds went nuts over a subtitled Japanese superhero show. Maybe the problem is not enough exposure to subtitles?
I think you’ve hit upon something there. People don’t like subtitles because they aren’t used to them. However, I think that there are less people who hate subtitles than network executives might think. I mean, I know a lot of people who are not deaf who turn on closed captioning for various reasons. Gym and bar TVs have them on constantly, for example. And, anime fans are more likely to be used to subtitles than the general population. But, still, subtitles are seen as “bad”. I think there are a lot of people who would give them a try, though–a lot of people went to see “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, after all.
I enjoy the Japanese voices. They often have a lot more emotion. They don’t blend together for me, either. But, subtitles do take a little gatting used to, and they tend to scare newbies for some reason.
Perhaps to promote friendship among among fans we should have a “Sub/Dub Reversal Day”: proponents of one camp agree to watch their favorite series in the opposite format. Or maybe subbers will watch a title that dubbers hold up to be a particularly good example of American acting, and vice versa.
For a deeper examination of this timeless debate, I shall refer you to Jane Hamilton’s most excellent article.