Gabedamien
I Want To Be Happy
Sometimes English voice actors are not great. Sometimes Japanese voice actors are not great. Sometimes both are true, or neither.
But personally, I think one of the real reasons many people like subs more than dubs is... lots of anime and games have fairly stupid writing. And nothing makes that clearer than actually speaking such lines out loud in a language you understand. Alternatively, voice acting in a language you do NOT know, accompanied by subs that you do understand, can simultaneously communicate both the emotions and concepts of a character without triggering the critical parts of your brain that notice bad writing.
In my opinion, the people best qualified to judge whether specific Japanese or English voiceovers are better are people who are actually fluent in both languages - currently a minority of the audience (and certainly a minority of the people who complain endlessly online about sub vs dub).
As long as any given media includes both options, people should just pick whichever language they like best and not bother everyone else about it.
P.S. – of course, sometimes the difference is so undeniably vast that the better option should be set by default. But these days localization is generally not that horrible for anything worth watching or playing.
P.P.S. - for what it’s worth, I play SCIV with English voices and enjoy them. I’ve tried Japanese voices, and my enjoyment was... lessened. But I see the SC series as being composed of equal parts awesome and hilarious; for me, a lot of what the characters say is supposed to sound silly and over the top. Your mileage may vary.
P.P.P.S - also fwiw, some things I prefer sub, some things dub. I’m not trying to make a case for either as a general rule.
But personally, I think one of the real reasons many people like subs more than dubs is... lots of anime and games have fairly stupid writing. And nothing makes that clearer than actually speaking such lines out loud in a language you understand. Alternatively, voice acting in a language you do NOT know, accompanied by subs that you do understand, can simultaneously communicate both the emotions and concepts of a character without triggering the critical parts of your brain that notice bad writing.
In my opinion, the people best qualified to judge whether specific Japanese or English voiceovers are better are people who are actually fluent in both languages - currently a minority of the audience (and certainly a minority of the people who complain endlessly online about sub vs dub).
As long as any given media includes both options, people should just pick whichever language they like best and not bother everyone else about it.
P.S. – of course, sometimes the difference is so undeniably vast that the better option should be set by default. But these days localization is generally not that horrible for anything worth watching or playing.
P.P.S. - for what it’s worth, I play SCIV with English voices and enjoy them. I’ve tried Japanese voices, and my enjoyment was... lessened. But I see the SC series as being composed of equal parts awesome and hilarious; for me, a lot of what the characters say is supposed to sound silly and over the top. Your mileage may vary.
P.P.P.S - also fwiw, some things I prefer sub, some things dub. I’m not trying to make a case for either as a general rule.
