There has been a dilemma within anime loving communities since time began. Should English speaking audiences watch their anime in the original Japanese with English subtitles translating for them, or should translators dub over the Japanese voice actors with English speaking voice actors. This simple question has created a huge controversy within anime watching communities. Here’s my take:
People say that dubbed versions of anime are inaccurate because they attempt to mimic the movement of the animated character’s mouth, rather than the translation of the words. In truth, having the capability to turn on dubbing and subbing at the same time, shows that the translations are very similar on most anime films and series. If anything, the subbing is slightly mistranslated to account for time and space constraints.
Many say that it is necessary to watch anime in the original Japanese to preserve authenticity. These same people who want to preserve Japanese authenticity, have no problem exploiting the anime in English through merchandising. They will buy wall hangings, posters, T-shirts, coffee mugs, and who knows what else…all in English mind you, but they must preserve the authenticity of the show by watching it in the original Japanese, and reading the English translation through subtitles…Please…
Then there are the people who claim that American voice actors just don’t have the passion it takes to play an anime character properly. Really? Come on! That’s just ridiculous. We have some of the best voice actors in the world right here in the US and you people are actually going to dis them?!
Let me tell you what is really going on here. There are some people who are insecure about their interests. Some people only think their interests sound cool in another language. Some people think the shows sound corny, or stupid in English, but it sounds cool when it’s happening in Japanese. I know, it’s childish, but we live in a childish society. Me, I am proud of my interests…all of them. I think they sound cool in Japanese, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, or any other language you can think of. I prefer to engage in them in English, because that’s my native language.
I find it ridiculous that I can’t enjoy myself while watching anime with certain friends because of some religious cult of “subbers” who think that it is a sin to watch a dubbed anime.
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