Our apartment – 2016 NSFW

It's been not only a long time since I've posted here, but it has been a long time since I shared photos of my place. The last time you guys saw where I lived I was still living at home with my parents. It was back in 2012, so easily 4 years ago you saw my collection. Now you can see not only has my… [more]

Our apartment – 2016 NSFW Our apartment - 2016 NSFW

[Alter] – Melty Review

So since I've moved into my new apartment I still hadn't set up my photography studio. Seems work has me busier than I thought I would ever be, however I took some time this past weekend to set up my studio so I could take some photos of my latest purchase, Alter's 1/8th Melty from Shining Hearts. Now… [more]

[Alter] – Melty Review [Alter] - Melty Review

[Orchid Seed] – Yuki Review NSFW

Pre-ordered this figure the moment she was released for pre-order. I needed for for multiple reasons, she's sexy/half naked, plus while she's not Sora she reminds me of Sora from Yosuga no Sora! But she's Yuki from Maid Yome and she's pretty amazing. The only issue is her adorable mouth really looks… [more]

[Orchid Seed] – Yuki Review NSFW [Orchid Seed] - Yuki Review NSFW

Nendoroid Storage Container

I recently went on a trip to a magical place, The Container Store. Ok it's not really magical, but I happen to have discovered a love for organizing my home. I tend to prefer Ikea and Daiso but we went to The Container Store on a whim and I discovered this lovely storage container! I've been needing… [more]

Nendoroid Storage Container Nendoroid Storage Container

Is Dubbing an American Concept?

I bring up this topic once again because during my trip to Mexico I realized something very interesting. First thing we did in Mexico was go to the movies; we went to see Revolutionary Road. Now my first concern when my aunt told me we were going to the movies was the fact that is it was going to be in English or not. My Spanish is good but I’m so used to hearing my family speak it that if they say something I don’t understand I can ask them to explain things to me. I can’t ask a movie to stop and explain to me a certain phrase, so I was honestly worried. But my aunt told me “don’t worry the movie is in English, it’ll just have the subtitles in Spanish on the bottom.”

I thought ok that’s fine and we went and enjoyed the movie. The next few days at night we would sit around and watch TV. Now it really didn’t occur to me that everything we watched was in English, I thought maybe they are putting on channels that play them in English for me, since my Spanish is still not perfect. It wasn’t until my aunt gave me the controls and let me choose what to watch when everyone went to bed. I noticed almost all the channels playing American shows or movies were in English with Spanish Subtitles. I asked my aunt why this was, I know they dub over stuff as well so why not show it dubbed? She explained that they prefer it in English, that when a channel broadcasts a show Dubbed in Spanish the quality of the Dub tends to be very bad and the emotions don’t transfer over as well. She also explained when it comes to background music and background noises such as explosions and such. It doesn’t get transferred over. So if there is an action movie and they dub it over they remove all the sound and just replace it with their own so it sounds very bad.

I thought that maybe it was just the certain shows that did this so it was just easier for them to subtitle them and that was it. But then I switched over the HBO since they were airing an episode of True Blood. I noticed the episode was in English with Subtitles. Not what I noticed was weird is that all of HBO’s shows and movies were in English w/subs. What caught my attention about that is that here we have HBO as well in my home. It comes with HBO HD, HBO WEST, HBO Comedy, and HBO Latino, where everything is dubbed, from movies to the HBO original programs.

Now why would they have a dubbed over HBO Latino in the Us but not in Mexico? I asked my aunt about that. They don’t like dubs, same reason I don’t. You lose the Emotion and you lose the quality. They prefer to watch it in its original form. When you go to the movies the only movies shown dubbed are kid movies since some kids might be too young to read. But any other movie is shown with subtitles.

I found this very interesting because even my aunt said it just how I always say it here. You don’t read the subtitles, you skim over them. Our brains are designed that you don’t have to read everything, like when driving down the road you can see a sign and don’t have to sit there and “read it” you skim over it and you can see it obviously says” 15 Freeway on ramp 15 miles.” If you honestly sit there and read Subtitles you’ll never be able to enjoy the anime or movie or TV show fully. You have to skim over them and then enjoy your series. Now I have to say I’ve been conditioned to watch TV and such with Subtitles since I was a little girl. My father happens to be 60% deaf and we have always had closed captioned TV and movies with subtitles so he can enjoy the movie with us as well.

When you live your entire life with subtitles it comes as a second nature to not read them and skim over them. Knowing the language has nothing to do with watching a show in its original language. I don’t speak French, Italian or Japanese. Yet I do enjoy watching TV, Movies and Anime in these languages, as long as it’s the original language it was made in. yes I understand Subs aren’t for everyone. But really if you give it a try and get used to not reading but skimming over the subs you’ll find anime much more enjoyable and find yourself remembering certain words enough in other languages that when you hear them without subs you’ll find you recognize them. Watching Movies in Spanish and French really has helped me improve in both and I know if I focused on studying French, Italian or Japanese it would be much easier since my ears are much more accustomed to hearing it much more often.

Now here is my question for all of you outside of the US when a movie is released do they dub it or sub it? Is this as I think maybe an American thing? I notice that when a foreign film is released here it might be released in very few theaters subbed, and then if it gets popular they do a wide release but of it dubbed. Because there are too many people who won’t watch it if they have to “read,” far too many people feel they have to read the movie and don’t understand the idea of skimming over the subs. How do you feel on this topic? Last time I talked about my feelings on Dubbed Anime I got plenty of responses and I loved the amount of people who thought up really interesting arguments for both sides. Let’s get more of this kind of conversation.

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21 Responses to “Is Dubbing an American Concept?”

  1. Ash_Ka_Chan says:

    It depends on the dub. I usually find Funimation dubs top notch. Bandai’s dubs are overall, ‘eh’ with me. Viz’s are getting better. (Just look at how awesome Death Note was. The Bleach dub is getting better too.)

    I watch subs not only because I want to stay on top with Japan, but because dubs take forever to get out into the US market. I do buy anime DVDs although.

    I’m sticking with Funimations dubs for now. The FMA dub remains one of the best dubs I’ve ever heard. Next to Cowboy Bebop and FLCL.

    (As if you couldn’t tell, I’m a long time lurker.)

  2. tj han says:

    Yeah, I have the same habit of skimming subs even if the subs are in a language I don’t understand lol. It’s probably the arrogance of the native English speakers, most of whom only know one language and thus the foreign languages sound funny to them.

    In the past it was to remove the nationalistic flavour of the imported shows, like eg Pokemon where you couldnt tell it was from Japan.

  3. BakaTanuki says:

    I watch subs whenever possible, but when I watch with my dad I usually watch dubbed. Why, after so many years of watching anime, does he still prefer dubs? Because of his eyesight, skimming over them isn’t really an option. He has a lot of trouble reading them quickly, and since anime is something he does to have fun and relax, why should he be required to have trouble with it? For the most part, I feel like everyone capable should give subs a try, but dubs are still important for a sizeable chunk of viewers.

    BakaTanukis last blog post..Now The Party Can Really Start!

  4. Dancing Queen says:

    @Ash_Ka_Chan:
    true it does depends on the dub, there are a few good dubs out there but i just prefer it in it’s original language

    @tj han:
    it is true that many American English speakers are very arrogant about learning another language

    @BakaTanuki:
    I think that eyesight is the only excuse i will honestly take and fully understand and say “ok they can watch it dubbed then”

  5. Dan says:

    I’ve never had trouble with English myself.
    I’m a native Spanish speaker from Mexico, and all my life I’ve done so well on English class at school (I’ve had English class since kindergarten), that people ask me “Do you take afternoon English courses?” every once in a while and I’m all like “Uh no.”

    The truth is that I had no idea why I am good at English, but my sister and parents say that ever since I was a little kid, I would sit down and listen to English shows and movies, and when I learned to read, I would read intently the subtitles on them, and sure enough, being in an environment that deals with other languages for long periods time did help me much on English, so much that I sometimes find it ridiculous how much trouble other people have with it.

    I’m also noticing how anime has helped me learn the language, while, when I first started watching Japanese anime, it was all gibberish to me.

    So yeah, sorry for the long post!

  6. animemiz says:

    I don’t believe that dubbing is an American concept. I actually believe it is an arrogant English ideal.. and yes I say this with a certainly since… English is not my first language. But I do believe that since English is the lingua franca of the world now, then the belief that English would be very much the opinion of how France was back when it was Thomas Jefferson era.

    Ugh.. back to the topic at hand, since I practically gave away my opinion of dubbed American anime. I grew up watching anime series like Dr. Slump, City Hunter, Project A-ko, Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, and even Nausicaa Valley of the Wind dubbed in Cantonese- Chinese.. and for the Miyazaki movies there was even Chinese character subtitles along with the audio dubbing. So yes I would say that there is a level of comfort in watching some anime.

    Now I have got to the point where I don’t watch anime unless it’s Japanese.. and if there’s no subtitles.. I usually would watch it raw. Watching it with subtitles is a plus.

    animemizs last blog post..[NYCC] Post-con Snapshot

  7. Ayu says:

    I think it’s part of America’s laziness and disdain for reading xD I remember reading about something like this relating to if animes should be aired in Japanese and English and the company spokesperson said something along the lines that our (American)kids don’t want/like to read.

  8. Drieick says:

    Arrogant? The whole dubbing business most likely started when Kung-Fu movies came to America. Kids watched those movies, not adults.

  9. Dancing Queen says:

    @Dan:
    No worries about it being long, when i first started watching i had no idea about what they were saying, if i took my eyes off the screen for a second i’d be lost since i didn’t have a full grasp of the language, after watching it for so many years, i have a better grasp of the language and i can get bits and pieces and don’t have to fully focus on the screen at all times to know what’s going on, but this is after years of anime watching

    @animemiz:
    i will admit when i was younger and didn’t know any better i watching anime dubbed, only because i had no idea it was even Japanese

    @Ayu:
    that is a very very good point, i myself know a few people who refuse to watch subs because they are too lay to read

    @Drieick:
    and look how badly those movies are dubbed, people take them as a joke here and not like actual movies

  10. To be honest, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a good live-action dub. :/

    I’m not sure about how other countries do dubs and whatnot, but from my visit to Taiwan years back, it seems like dubbing is mostly limited to children’s programs. Which makes sense considering young children are still learning to read. (A lot of those shows had subtitles in addition to being dubbed, so I guess it’s actually helping them learn?)

    I generally regard dubs as an “extra” in anime. Personally, I think it’s kinda fun watching a different interpretation of a character. (Unless the dub is bad, in which case I crawl in a corner and cry) Heck, I was even looking forward to the Baccano! dub since it takes place in 1930s America, and I wanted to see if they would go so far as to add in slang from that time period or give the characters appropriate accents. 😀

  11. Caitlin says:

    I know that in Japan, movies are sometimes dubbed and sometimes subbed. On TV, they’re frequently released with bilingual playback options, giving you the choice of English w/subtitles or dub. I wouldn’t call dubbing an American concept, although I do think it’s embraced so much because people don’t have an appreciation for other languages (except maybe Spanish).

  12. Beren says:

    Well, in Spain they usually dub the movies, but dub actors/actresses here are really good, if you ask me. They try to reproduce the original performance as faithfully as possible. TV shows such as The Simpsons, Family Guy and Futurama are also dubbed.

    Berens last blog post..Suzumiya Haruhi-chan no Yuuutsu Episode 1

  13. Dancing Queen says:

    @Coco the Bean:
    Children’s programs is understandable since they can’t read as well as adults can yet. But for a show geared at adults to be dubbed just seems almost lazy

    @Caitlin:
    well even in the Us people don’t like Spanish, i’ve met countless people who look down uponme because i speak spanish. They feel that English is the only launguage you should know, yet i proove them wrong when i get a job much easire than they can cause i’m bilingual

    @Beren:
    Yeah but shows like that are always going to be dubbed since kids watch them too, plus the majority of their jokes are adult american jokes so they’d have to translate them or the joke would be completely lost within a different culture

  14. steelbound says:

    When I watch an English language movie at home, I always turn on the subtitles. Even movies like Lord of the Rings that I’ve seen completely at least a dozen times, I still flip on the subtitles. I think partly because I’m a visual learner and not an audio learner.

    The odd thing I’ve noticed about myself is when I watch anime,afterward, I can’t remember – for sure – if it was spoken in Japanese or English. I think what my mind does is take the subtitles, match it with the actor’s emotional tone, and remembers it as happening in English because I certainly don’t know how to speak Japanese.

    steelbounds last blog post..A New Wallpaper and a New Banner & Poll

  15. MrJack says:

    Well well since you aske for the Situation outside the US.
    I’am from Germany and we pretty much have everthing regarding cinema dubbed.
    We got pretty decent voice actors and we even get all the explosins and stuff.
    On the one hand its a bless since it is easier to to follow a movie in your native language but on the other hand the elaborately designed dubbing coasts a lot of time, so american movies come out in Germany 2-6 month delayed.
    For example the are airing Simpsons season 19 and Lost season 4 or 5 idk.

    Yeah but I heard about bad dubs.
    I got russian friends and they told me that in the 90’s all American Action movies got dubbed to russian by a single voice actor ( who simply translated everything emotionless).

  16. Vanessa says:

    Normally, I don’t read these kinds of articles because people tend to bash dubs for no apparent reason other than “Because they suck!”, but you have a really good reason for preferring them over dubs. I mainly watched anime dubbed until the seventh grade when I first saw Getbackers in its original Japanese. I admit that it was hard to follow the subs at first, but I got better at it because I watched more subbed anime later on. Now I watch a mix of both Subbed and Dubbed anime (as long as the anime isn’t dubbed by Central Park Media *shudders*, I’ll watch it).

  17. Asoch3 says:

    I’m native spanish speaker and I hate dubs in any language. At the beginning I thought it was just that I hated Spanish dubs… but when I came to the US and start watching japanese animations here I realize that I hated english dub as well… and it didn’t matter what company made them… I always did.

    I don’t know Japanese and in most cases the English subs come before the Spanish ones, so I always watch my shows with English subtittles and I do just fine. So, I don’t understand why native English speakers complain about it. Feelings do get lost during the transition and to tell you the true, I believe that no matter how good the dubbers are they can never be as good as the seiyus. That’s my personal opinion.

  18. Dancing Queen says:

    @STEELBOUND:
    well since i’m so used to it i can’t watch a movie without subtitles, sometimes people mumble and it helps to full udnerstand the movie for me

    @MrJack:
    wow having only one voice actor for dubs would make this even much more worse

    @Vanessa:
    i started watching dubs but once i switched over to subs i can’t watch dubs without cringing

    @Asoch3:
    it’s not just the seiyuus but whoever did the audio originally imo us always going to be supirior, since they worked directly with the person who made the show/movie/anime

  19. Blowfish says:

    I dont think that dubbing is an American Thing…
    As you know im from Germany and we get everything dubbed…
    Its more a use and cost thing.Our neighbouring country the netherlands get alot stuff only subbed…Why? Its a small country and hiring dubactors for such “few” people” isnt worth the money.Just slap some subtitles on the bottom and there you go.

    I guess its the same thing for mexico.They prefer to save the money for actors and just sub the show.

    Personally I prefer Subs for most shows.It doesnt matter wich language but there are alot emotions and jokes that get lost in the dubbing process.People over here dont like subbed stuff but i think thats only because they arent used to it.

    One Reason they tell me why they dont like them is: Its hard to follow both and tiring.

    I dont think that this is the case but oh well…

    AnimeDubs over here are baaaaaad…It really hurts to hear them…want an example? -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBffMLd9Qfs >.<

    Blowfishs last blog post..Bikini Idol Iori

  20. Renji says:

    Hi! I’m from Germany, too, and while dubbing is a bliss for movies that are believed to make cash (like most Hollywood ones), the dubbing quality in the anime department is pathetic at best. In most cases it’s horrible and totally kills the atmosphere of the show. 🙁

    When I started watching anime, I started to read (English) subs. I was surprised that you exactly described what I am doing when watching Anime. Sometimes I also understand parts of the original phrases so I don’t need the subs anymore. 😀

    I knew a girl from Poland that told me that their movie industry put in the voice of a narrator. He/She then kind of explains to the audience what is happening in the movie… now THAT is unsatisfying! :O

  21. ojisan says:

    Heard a great radio show last year about the awesome dubbing industry in Italy – dubbing movies from around the world into Italian. Their standards are very high, & they occasionally get letters from directors who prefer the italian dub to the original actors.
    I wonder if anime gets any benefit of this for Italian-speaking fans?

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