When it comes to watching anime, there are two choices to make: English subtitles with Japanese audio, often called subbed, or English voice-overs replacing Japanese audio, often called dubbed.
Although the choice may seem simple, there are a lot of different views on which is the best.
As far as subbed anime goes, Matt Wall, junior in computer science, pointed out subbed can be a more favorable choice since episodes tend to be released sooner than dub.
However, dubbed anime has come a long way. Before, viewers would have to wait several months before the dubbed version would come out. Now, it can come out between a day and a week later, said Jonathan Nettles, senior in computer science.
Wall also argues in favor of subbed since there are some shows that don’t have dubbed versions. In this way, it opens up more content for the viewer and allows more overall accessibility.
Preston Tomcho, freshman in pre-business, backed this issue up with the fact that dubbed often does not get the funding it needs like subbed does in order to allow for more dubbed content to be produced.
Sydney Broderick, freshman in history, also said subbed tends to be better translated than dubbed. In subbed, they have a wider time slot to fit in the words they need to, unlike in dubbed.
Another point as to why one may be preferred over the other is in regard to which voice actors the viewers prefer to listen to.
Nathaniel Gieseking, freshman in mechanical engineering, said he prefers subbed since it tends to be more accessible, as mentioned by Wall, but he also prefers the Japanese voice acting.
Nettles prefers dubbed for the same reason; he prefers to hear the English voice acting.
Dubbed allows the viewer to focus more on the overall show.
“It’s also easier for me just to pay attention to the anime. Instead of me having to read the subtitles just to focus on what’s being said, I can focus more on the action scenes, or, you know, the plot that’s going on,” Nettles said.
Dubbed also allows people to multitask easier when watching. If they turn away from the screen for a minute to do something, they don’t miss out on some of the context of the show, Broderick said.
Broderick also points out it can depend on the anime on which is better.
“I mean, in terms of context, it works both ways. It really depends on what the anime is and what the context is. Sometimes, you can’t translate it well, and the subbed tends to translate better than the dubbed because they’re also thinking in the fact of the matter of how they can fit it into the time space they have,” Broderick said.
The Anime Club meets every Wednesday at 5:45 p.m. in Haley Center 3166.
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Abigail Murphy, senior in journalism with minors in history and women and gender studies, is the operations managing editor at The Auburn Plainsman.
