Welcome to the 1st ever FFT (Food for Thought?) post where I discuss in length topics related/and or related to Bleach or just Anime in general. There was once a short-lived segment titled "21 Questions" that I was supposed to post on Wednesday, but sadly I forgot to post it & was busy with other things. However, effective on August 31st 2015, I intend to stick to my schedule of Fight Nights, Watch-Lists, WBCRs, and yes, Food for Thought. Food for Though delves right into questions that many fans ask. It could relate to a certain Anime, about certain situations/scenarios in Anime, and overall the drive behind an Anime's actions & motivations. Today, we discuss one of, if not, the biggest questions fans ask when it comes to Anime ~ Subs or Dubs?
I can go into a LONG tirade on why I personally believe Subs are better than Dubs, but quite honestly, there are some good dubbing in Anime. A list of the best of the best Dubs include (in my opinion):
1) Cowboy Bebop
2) Trigun
3) Black Lagoon
4) Panty & Stocking w/Garterbelt
5) Dragon Ball Z
6) Any Studio Ghibli Film
Those 6 I've just listed, in my opinion, are what make Dubs stand out than Subs. However, not all Dubs are well off like others. When I watch an Anime and I know it's being dubbed in English, I want to see the voice actor/actress put as much effort as they did with the original cast. The energy, feeling, & overall interest have to be there. If there's none, why should the audience care? Some Dubs are just downright, to put it in nice terms, lazy. I want to be entertained, enthusiastic, and overall want to invest my time in that Anime because the drive behind any great work of art is its focus. You or just about anyone loves to get lost in a fictional world because sometimes, no offense, real life can be a pain in the @$$. Continuously following the same routine day in and day out sounds so monotonous and it eventually becomes stale & boring, but in fiction ~ the unreal, unorthodox, and un-bias can take place. Audiences love Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, & Orange is the New Black because it's fictional, the characters are interesting, the story-telling is genius, & most importantly ~ the focus is there. It knows what it's doing and with that being said, we, as the audience, want to feel as if we're with them along the way ~ an escapism no less, but still a whole other world quite out of the ordinary to just get lost in because it's worth investing time in it. Anime is no different. People want to get lost in that World because sometimes we need an escapism ~ to invest our conscious into something unworldly. Audiences love Bleach, Naruto, & One Piece because, like fictional TV shows, we want to invest our time with the characters, story, & overall atmosphere/focus the show/manga is trying to convey. However, with Anime, it can lose focus just on the basis that the energy, tone, & drive is toned down by the actual dubbing. Some (if not) the worst Dubs I've heard are (in my opinion):
1) One Piece (4kids)
2) Dragon Bal Z Kai
3) YYH: Poltergeist Report
4) Naruto
5) Powerpuff Girls Z
6) Any Hentai
Notice that I've put up One Piece & Naruto ~ 2/3 best Shonen Jump series. Their stories are engaging, their are a lot of characters to root for, and overall is filled with tons of bad@$$ moments. However, going back to the dubbing, the focus is lost once I heard the Dubbing. 4kids dubbing is probably some of the worst dubbing I've ever heard and, to be honest, I wasn't the biggest fan of the Naruto dubbing. There's a thin-line when an Anime loses focus based on the dubbing not having enough energy or when a dubbing gets TOO over-the-top for its own good. In this case, One Piece 4kids dubbed doesn't have a central focus whereas the Naruto dubbed is too over-the-top. I'm not saying that all Dubs have this problem, but it's still present once you hear the comparison of the original voice actor/actress & the dubbing of it. Sometimes the lines are altered, bad words are censored, & the voice acting could be out of sync (Yeah, that's a problem!). As a fan of Anime, if I want to invest my time into watching an Anime, I'd like to see both sides of the spectrum, but 95% of the time, Subs have much more replay value than Dubs.
So to wrap things up before I end up going on an even longer tirade ~ Subs or Dubs? To me, it's a matter of preference ~ Should you watch it in its original intention or watch the dubbing of it. Again ~ preference. For example, I can only watch Cowboy Bebop in English and My Love Story in Japanese w/English subtitles. Some shows that I can tolerate both the Sub & Dub include :
1) Kill La Kill
2) Akame Ga Kill
3) Attack on Titan
4) Fairy Tail
5) Tenchi Muyo
6) Rurouni Kenshin
Regardless of my rant against Dubbed Anime, I will NOT discriminate anyone who prefers to watch Dubbed Anime. Whether it's Subbed or Dubbed, more power to you. This is just my impression of both sides. I don't think anyone has a major problem with Subs whereas with Dubs, there's a lot to be talked about. So I do apologize that I didn't talk in length about Subs. Overall, watch it as you see fit, but for me, I'll rock the Subbing (and some Dubbing) all day.
Food for Thought? Comment below and let me know your thoughts on this topic. FFTs will be posted every Tuesday. I don't know how long this segment will run, but I'll be 100% dedicated to posting by my schedule without delays. Like always, you stay classy as always!
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