c/anime-discussions

Talked to a buddy who loves dubs and it made me rethink subs

I had a conversation with my friend Mike last weekend about Anime and he said he watches everything dubbed because he likes to look at the animation without reading. At first I was like nah subs are better for the original voice acting. But he pointed out that I miss a lot of visual details in fight scenes because I'm reading subtitles. Now I'm not so sure sub is always the best way to watch. Has anyone else switched sides on this?

That random guy at the con told me to watch Kaiji and I'm glad I listened

He just handed me a burned DVD-R outside the dealer room in 2016, said trust me this is better than Squid Game, and now I've rewatched it every year since.

That convo with my buddy about filler episodes hit different

I was ranting to my friend Matt about skipping filler arcs in One Piece, and he just goes, 'You're missing the whole point of the journey.' He said the G-8 arc from 2002 was his favorite part of the whole show. It made me stop and think-am I just speedrunning anime instead of actually enjoying it? Have you guys ever had someone change how you watch a show with one dumb comment?

That moment I realized I'd been reading manga panels in the wrong order for years

I was at an anime convention in Columbus back in 2018 and someone pointed out I was going right to left in a scene from Akira. I'd been reading tankobon volumes backwards for about 15 years thinking the art was just experimental. Took me a good 20 minutes to rewire my brain after that conversation. Anybody else have a basic thing they missed for way too long?

Just realized why I keep rewatching the same first 3 episodes of every new anime

I read this blog post last week that said most anime pilots are designed to hook you with mystery boxes and cliffhangers, so your brain keeps chasing that dopamine hit instead of finishing the series. Has anyone else noticed they drop shows around episode 4 or 5?

Rant: The anime meetup I went to last Saturday was a total letdown

I finally dragged myself to that anime discussion group at the downtown library, the one everyone hypes online. They spent the whole hour arguing about which subbed version of some 90s show is better, and nobody wanted to talk about anything new. I brought up a recent slice-of-life series I've been loving, and three people just stared at me like I insulted their grandma. The worst part is, the organizer kept cutting people off to push his own favorite show, and it felt more like a lecture than a chat. Has anyone else dealt with meetups where half the group won't even consider watching anything past 2010?

That one Redditor told me to skip the first three episodes of Steins;Gate and they were right

I kept quitting Steins;Gate around episode 3 because nothing was happening (just a lot of phone microwaving, you know?). A user named @futuristicweeb said I should tough it out through episode 12 because that's when the plot really kicks into gear. I was skeptical, but I finally tried again last month. By episode 9 I was hooked, and by episode 16 my jaw was on the floor. I would have missed out on one of the best time travel stories ever if I hadn't listened. Has anyone else ever dropped a hyped anime early and then regretted it?

Subbed vs Dubbed for comedy anime, which actually hits better?

I've been going back and forth on this for years, but recently I watched Kaguya-sama Love is War in both versions and I'm convinced the dub actually lands more jokes. The timing and cultural references they adapt feel way more natural in English, especially the narrator's over the top delivery. But then I tried the same test with Gintama and the sub was clearly funnier because so much relies on Japanese wordplay that just can't be translated. So which side wins for you, is it just show dependent or do you have a hard rule about one or the other?

Ran into an old friend at the con last weekend and he changed my mind about dubs

We were standing in line for the Toonami panel and he said he actually prefers the English dub because it lets him focus on the animation more. I always thought dubs were inferior but he had a point about catching visual details you miss with subs. Anyone else ever flip their stance on something after a random chat like that?

Serious question, why does everyone call every anime a "masterpiece" now?

I was scrolling through a thread about last season's shows and saw like 5 different series all getting called masterpieces... and I just don't get it. A masterpiece should be something that stands above everything else, not just the show you happened to enjoy that week. I remember when people reserved that word for stuff like Cowboy Bebop or Evangelion, stuff that really changed the game. Now it feels like every new isekai or slice of life gets that label thrown at it before the season even ends. Am I being too picky here, or does that word lose all its weight when you use it that much?

Am I the only one who thinks anime dubs are ruining the original vibe?

I was watching a clip from Attack on Titan in English and a buddy said the voice acting felt 'more natural' than the Japanese version. Honestly, I think they strip out all the emotion and replace it with flat delivery. Does anyone else skip dubs because they change how you connect with the characters?

Dropped $60 on a Crunchyroll subscription I barely used for 6 months

I finally caved and got the mega fan Crunchyroll tier last January because I wanted to watch the new season of One Piece without ads (you know, the Egghead arc). It cost me about $10 a month, so $60 total over half a year, and I only watched maybe 4 shows the whole time. Most nights I just ended up scrolling through the catalog and then falling asleep to YouTube instead. The ad-free experience was nice, but I totally overestimated how much anime I actually have time to binge. Did anyone else here sign up for a streaming service and realize you're just paying for a library you barely touch? I'm curious if the free tier would've been enough for most people.

Showerthought: Watched Golden Boy dubbed in 2003 and it still holds up weirdly well

I was at a buddy's place in Austin last night and he put on the old Golden Boy dub from 2003. Does anyone else think that English cast nailed the over-the-top energy better than most modern dubs?

Hit 500 episodes on my backlog tracker and I feel like I'm failing at anime

So I keep a list of anime I want to watch. Nothing fancy, just a notes app thing. Last week I counted and it hit exactly 503 shows and movies I haven't seen yet. That's like 3 years of watching non stop if I did nothing else. I honestly thought I was keeping up fine but somehow the list keeps growing faster than I can watch. How do you guys even manage your watch lists? Do you just give up on some shows or trim them down somehow?

Spent 3 hours rewatching the same 2 episodes of Code Geass before I realized my CPU was thermal throttling the whole time

Just found out HxNs 2011 version skipped a whole chapter from the manga

Picked the crunchyroll stream over the bluray for the new season

My internet went out halfway through episode 3 of that new mecha show and I sat there staring at a loading screen for 20 minutes like an idiot. Now I'm stuck watching at 720p on my phone instead of the 4K disc I had sitting on my shelf. Anyone else regret choosing convenience over quality?

Debate: Should dubs fix cultural references or keep them as is?

I was at Anime Weekend Atlanta back in 2018 and heard both sides argue this during a panel. One guy said dubs should change jokes to make sense for English speakers, like swapping a rice ball for a sandwich. Another fan got mad and said that ruins the whole point of learning about Japanese culture. Where do you all land on this?

Took me 10 years to realize I was reading subtitles wrong

Was watching Akira with a buddy and he pointed out I was reading the subtitles out of order. Turns out I was skipping every other line for like a decade. Ever have one of those moments where everyone else knew something you didn't?

Why does nobody talk about how repetitive isekai has gotten since 2020?

I sat down last monday to watch the new season of that one isekai everyone was hyping. 3 episodes in and it was literally the same plot as the one from 3 years ago. Dude dies, gets reincarnated with cheat skills, builds a harem. I counted 7 shows this month alone that follow that exact formula. Its like the anime industry found a money printer and just stopped trying. Anyone else feel like we need a break from this genre for a while?

Had to pick between subbed or dubbed for Attack on Titan

I went with subbed because my friend said the voice acting is way better. Three episodes in and I keep missing half the action reading subtitles. Has anyone switched halfway through a series?

Hot take: Monogatari series is unwatchable if you can't stand rapid fire subtitles

I was at Anime Expo 2023 in LA sitting in a packed room for the first episode of Monogatari Off Season. The guy next to me was laughing his butt off while I was still reading the first sentence of dialogue. By the time the credits rolled I had no clue what was going on because the text flashed and split so fast. I told my friend after and he said just pause it. But you can't pause a theater screening, can you? I get that the visual style is a gimmick for some people but for me it just killed any chance of following the story. Does anyone else feel like the whole series is basically a flex on people who can read really fast?

Took 3 hours to find out why the subtitle font was wrong on episode 7

I was rewatching a show on Crunchyroll and noticed the subs looked totally different from every other episode, like a different team had done them. Turns out the player defaulted to a secondary subtitle track that had a different font, and I just never checked. Has anyone else had their settings get all messed up without realizing it?

That conversation with my cousin about Vinland Saga really threw me

He said the second season is actually better than the first because it's about healing, not fighting. I always thought season 1 was peak anime action, but he walked me through episode 4 of season 2 where Canute talks about building a paradise on earth. It hit different because he pointed out how the show changes genres halfway through, which I never really noticed before. Anyone else feel like Vinland Saga gets judged too hard for swapping swords for farming?

Found out that 90% of My Hero Academia fans skipped season 4 arc

Saw this stat on a Reddit poll by some guy with too much time. Checked the episode view counts on Crunchyroll. 9 out of 10 people just jumped to season 5. Never would have guessed that many skipped the Overhaul stuff. Anyone else surprised by that metric?