Dubs vs. Subs

[Yukimura]

Dual Audio all the way. I personally prefer the option to watch a show in English so I can understand what is going on. Last year I hit the point where anime i'd started watching from Japan were being released in the US, and I tend to replace my subs with Dual Audio's as long as the dubbing isn't too annoying and the meaning sn't to hard to follow without lots of little notes appearing at the top of the screen explaining this or that custom. Since most of the US releases i've encounters don't seem to care about explaining these things I usually stay away from titles where Japanese culture or history plays a significant role in the story.

However even with the dubbed audio playing I usually keep the English subtitles on, as the translations tend to be more exact and I can see what they removed to make the dilogue flow better. Ideally I'll watch a series fansubbed (as they usually give you more contextual information than the subs on the US DVD's) and then archive it in Dual Audio, so I can rewatch it in English, but not get confused when stuff comes up that doesn't make as much sense.

Like DF said it's all a matter of preferance, but I think any series should be seen in the original language at least once if it pertains to Japanese culture, but if there are no cultural reasons I see no harm in relying on a dub to get your kicks. Oh wait...EDITING!!!!!!

One wildcard that dubs bring into play that can ruin an anime experiance is editing. I've recently started watching Tsukikage Ran DVD Rips and I find it hard to believe that Ran kills so many people with absolutely no blood loss suffered by any of them. I haven't found any subs yet so I'm not sure if the series was originally like that or edited for release in the US. It is oldish and thus sentiments could have been more anti-violence back then. Also I know that Naruto has had blood and homosexual kisses edited out on CN, though i'm not sure of those changes will translate to the DVD's or not.

EDIT @ BELOW: DDBEen reminded me of a good point, for me at least, it's easier to remember english VA's so when I hear a voice for the first time the voice tends to become locked into that charachter for me. Often this isn't a big deal but if a VA doesn't alter his or her voice enough for a role it can get distracting.

Some notable examples are Stephen Blum, who generally hides his Shishio well, but in Tsukikage Ran keeps making me think Shishio whenver his charachter speaks. Alison Keith who still sounded like Misato from Eva while playing Mao from FMP.

The worst by far has to have been Samurai Deeper Kyo, with VA Dan Green, who I first heard as Yami Yugi (a little punk bitch if you don't know) playing Kyo (a raging badass), every time Kyo speaks I think it' time to D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-Duel...