Dub versus Sub

Now, for simple expressions like the various ways to give an affirmative in Japanese, this rarely matters. はい, ああ, うん, そう--these all take about the same amount of time to say as simply "yes"; even 了解します isn't much longer than "affirmative" or "yes, sir", although it looks funny when it gets dubbed as a crisp "roger!" and the characters' lips are still moving when the word is done.<br><br> But no meaning is lost for such simple things. Where that happens is with a lot of ritual phrases, clipped slang, idioms, or Japanese cultural touchstones.<br><br> Concepts like 大和撫子 (<i>yamato nadeshiko</i>, the idealized perfect Japanese woman) can be hard to translate cleanly even subtitled, let alone trying to translate it in a way that can be rattled off as quickly as those seven <i>mora</i>. What about the idiomatic usage of 草食系 (<i>soushokukei</i>, herbivorous type) to refer to (and this is a VERY rough attempt to explain it) non-aggressive men who prefer coexistence with women rather than trying to pick them up for sex? Or the word 同級 (<i>doukyuu</i>, someone who is the same age as you and entered your school or work at the same time)? Even the variations on よろしく can be tricky in some contexts; it doesn't simply mean "nice to meet you".<br><br> Yes, by the way, translation and linguistics are particular passions of mine; why do you ask? XD

I prefer sub over dub. For me, I personally find that american voice actors suck and don't like watching/hearing them speak. Along with that, the japanese voices usually better suit the character unlike the american voice actors who seem to be a little forced usually.

I think that Japanese actors are normally wayyyy better but when there is a good dub it's better than the sub because it's best hearing something in my own language. It feels more kinda... real? I dunno how to explain it.

There are certain exceptions which are that way for me. Cowboy Bebop comes immediately to mind as the first example I'd give anyone of a good dub.

Subbed. Japanese Seiyu are more subtle about the personality petals of each character and know how to hop from petal to petal without an abrupt transition. Dubbed just hurts my ears and soul. Except... there are TWO exceptions for this. Hellsing is tolerable dubbed. And Azumanaga Daioh is good dubbed. Nothing is lost character wise there.

how can dubs be cleanly translated? the nuances of the english language are just as great as in japanese. "hi" and "bye" rhyme in english, but "arigatou" and "sayonara" don't rhyme in japanese. it may seem like a dumb comparison but language differences such as the example i mentioned play a huge role in translating japanese media, especially when it comes to specific references, or jokes. words sounding the same as a cats meow (japanese contains lots of onomatopoeia jokes) and so on. think of it the other way - try translating english jokes into japanese? there are multiple puns or even intentional misspellings of words that get jokes across. there was a 'joke' i heard combining 'comfortable' and 'affordable' into 'comfordable', how would you go about translating that into japanese? that being said i really could not give a shit about subs or dubs. if the dub is bad, i watch subs. 75% of times subs are the easiest to find so i watch them. Brotherhood was very good subbed, same with Ouran, etc etc.