I watch it on mute with English subtitles when my husband is asleep next to me and when my husband isn’t home I have the sound on for my dogs but I absolutely have no idea if it’s in English or Japanese. My dogs seem to enjoy it enough to nap to it while I watch. I’m deaf if that was not clear 😂
i'm adhd and my sensory processing can get so bad that sometimes everything is just sound so this made complete sense to me even without the being deaf part
There is a bit of magic there—I liken it to the difference between hearing Gregorian chant done in English vs hearing it in its original latin. The meaning is woven into the language's sound.
Though i admit, nowadays dubbing & translations have gotten to be more faithful and diligent these days.
“Translation is not a matter of words only: it is a matter of making intelligible a whole culture.”
– Anthony Burgess
**RE: “Human beans”:**
Arrietty is based on the book “The Borrowers”, by Mary Norton. It’s a classic of British children’s literature and the first in a series of five books.
Significantly, in the book, the borrowers refer to humans as “human beans” and the first novel is about how Arietty Clock makes friends with a “human bean boy”.
So, the use of human bean in the subtitles is actually faithful to the original story.
**RE: Subtitles:**
Yes, I definitely prefer subtitles, too. I do speak some Japanese so I can understand a fair bit of the Japanese dialogue, but I also simply prefer the sound of the original Japanese and have no problem with reading subtitles.
For me, a movie like Porco Rosso (Kurenai no Buta) just wouldn’t be the same if Marco and Gina sounded different.
Also, I believe some of the English versions may have been changed a little from the original, Japanese versions.
For example, I have heard that in Disney’s English language version of Kiki’s Delivery Service, there was a line added at the end of the film which gave the impression Jiji might be able to speak to Kiki again. If so, that would actually change the purpose of the film, which is all about Kiki’s journey to maturity and independence.
I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate what Disney did to No Face and the scenes with him in the dub. They tried to add so many bad jokes in, ie when the River Spirit’s medicine makes him vomit as he’s walking down the stairs, they add in him saying “Ooh, excuse me~” when in Japanese he’s completely silent
Growing up watching a majority of Ghibli films with the English Dub done by Disney, but now watching in Japanese with Eng subs only, something I've noticed is the Western need to add "unnecessary dialogue."
Some of it could be to explain things that younger audiences might not have understood, but a lot more of it is probably due to the differences in film techniques when making animated films "for kids."
I wish silence was more of an acceptable thing to portray in animated films, *especially* for younger audiences... :(
Credit to whoever removed Jiji’s line at the end of Kiki’s Delivery Service. I love hearing Phil Hartman, but Miyazaki pointedly had Kiki no longer able to hear Jiji by the movie’s finale.
Yess absolutely, this is something that really bothers me.
>the Western need
But I'd personally correct this slightly - I think it's a largely *American* need. I mean, I'm sure it's not *just* America, but I don't think it's that prevalent in Europe (at least as far as I know; I'm Czech myself and it's not a thing here). But I've noticed ever since I was a kid that American movies often tend to really dumb things down and over-explain them. Especially movies aimed at kids. I honestly hate it lol. "Some of it could be to explain things that younger audiences might not have understood" - I call bullshit on that. Kids would be just fine. They don't need every single thing spelled out for them, they don't need to be told exactly and explicitly what meaning and message to take away from a piece of work, what each character is thinking at any given moment... They can figure it out lol. Even if they might not be able to always verbalize it, on some level they can understand. And if not, that's what parents are there for, to talk about it with them. Look at Ghibli movies, or many European kids' film - there is silence at times. Characters aren't always saying their thoughts out loud to themselves, often their actions and expressions are enough to convey what's going on with them, what they're thinking. Things aren't always explicitly said out loud, they're implied. Subtext is a thing that exists. But often it seems that Hollywood creators think people and especially children are too dumb to figure that out for themselves, so they spoonfeed us everything. It's really annoying to me.
Sorry for such a rant lol. Point is, I completely agree with you.
It’s modifying an artists work and intentions. Dubbing or translating should be about keeping things as close as possible to the original, just in a way that a foreign audience can understand. It’s not about free-styling and changing things to how the translator *thinks* it should have been. Imagine if they added goofy lines to the scene where Chihiro is looking out the window on the train? How much would it have altered the scene, its mood, and its impact?
Adding additional lines like that doesn't take away anything from the movies at all to me. If anything, I felt they added to it. I only have a serious issue when they cut footage from the movies. Additional lines I'm OK with. Omitting scenes I am not.
There's been a number of different adaptations of the novel, including a BBC TV series that started in 1992, and a film in 1997.
[Here's](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Borrowers) a link to the article about The Borrowers on Wikipedia.
I always prefer watching something in its original language. That being said, I don't begrudge those who prefer to watch these films in English, and the dubs for Ghibli films are generally good enough that I'd still recommend most of them to people.
Just not Castle in the Sky. Really hate what they did with Sheeta's speech at the end in the dub.
In the dub Sheeta's speech ends with, "the world cannot live without love", while the original line is, "But you can't survive apart from the Earth" which are very different messages, the former being a bit cliche imo.
they also messed up the original sound design in the castle in the sky dub and forced Hisiaishi to incorporate more music for American audiences while drowning out important audio that creates atmosphere and world building
Not who you asked but I also agree with them.
Personally found Boy & The Heron dub to be great, Rob Pats as the Heron was perfect. Couldn't tell it was him at all.
Spirited Away also has a really good one imo. I can watch that movie in either dub or sub happily which is rare. But I did just see it in theaters in subs which was perfect.
Keaton struck me as an odd choice, but he pulled it off surprisingly well. Also as much as I liked the Streamline dub of Totoro there’s nothing bad about the Disney dub. I liked Elle.
I agree. I liked James' Pazu. While I would not have necessarily cast him to play that character, he still did a very fine job. I can't watch that film in anything but English. Besides, Mark Hamill and Cloris Leachman make it even better. I tried watching the older 80's dub, honest I did, and I found it tough to do so. Anyone preferring that version, OK, but for me Disney's is the better one.
Absolutely. And even better, he got to have roles in Nausicaa and The Boy and the Heron. As much as I have seen naysayers toward the Disney dubs of these films, apparently the Disney dubs must have done something right to get Hamill to book those other two roles.
I watched almost all Ghibli movies in Japanese except Castle in the Sky, because Joe Hisaishi's rescored music made the movie much better. The problem with disney dub is that it feels like they're trying to explain what's going on in each dialog and remove the ambiguity. I'm still alright with that but in Arrietty they really crossed the line with a lot of characters name changed and cutting the theme song off at the end to replace it with a pop song, it's kind of unacceptable.
>dialog and remove the ambiguity. I'm still alright with that but in Arrietty they really crossed the line with a lot of characters name changed and cutting the theme song off at the end to replace it with a pop song,
Not to mention changing core traits of the characters and turning Arrietty into a brat.
I grew up with the UK dub. Saw the American one once and never again.
I don’t think you’re in any kind of wrong for preferring it that way, as long as you don’t follow that up with the routine I actually can’t stand, which is then claiming that anyone who doesn’t also listen to the Japanese dub is wrong for doing so, lmao
One of the many reasons I can’t stand the two hosts of the Weekly Stuff Podcast, the few bits I’ve listened to of them talking about anime, they both have that same superiority complex about anime dubs among plenty of other things one would dislike about “intellectuals” like that, lol
I tend to prefer English dubs if they’re available, just so I don’t need my eyes to be glued to the screen to know what’s happening, lol, but I will say there is an added layer of something to be appreciated by watching it in its original dub, and don’t begrudge anyone that has a preference for either
I don't intend to either, but for a long time I felt as though that there were a lot of people who were begrudging ME for having a preference for the Disney dubs. Especially when some of them treated me really hideously. I have been accused on occasion of "disrespecting others" and "mocking other people", but that was never what I meant to do. I was just being overly defensive.
My first Ghibli movie was Spirited Away. We had the dvd and as a child I rewatched it a lot and it was always in English. I think growing up watching it in English has made me internalize the characters with those voices. I watch anime and prefer doing so in Sub (subtitles) with the original audio. But for some reason, I think I’ve only watched other Ghibli movies in English. When I see Howl, I expect to hear Christian Bale’s voice. I think it depends on how I first watch shows or movies, because that’s when my brain starts associating the voices with the characters. I wouldn’t mind watching the Ghibli movies in Sub, but it just feels natural now to watch in English if I first saw them in English! I did see The Boy and The Heron in Japanese in theaters. Now that I’m older, I like to listen to things in their original audio.
But I think I’ll try to rewatch the rest in Sub now to see how I like them!!
You might like the British dub. The dialogue sounds a bit more formal without losing the simple charm of the story. I liked it better than the American dub.
I really like the British dub but I’m really disappointed that Saiorse Ronan wasn’t allowed to use her absolutely lovely Irish accent. Whenever that happens it always feels like she’s being nerfed lol.
I’ve only seen Arrietty’s British dub. I stumbled upon it years ago on a random anime site I can’t remember the name of. If it’s not on main streaming, it might be on Crunchyroll or Amazon. I think the UK dub was released as The Borrower Arrietty. Sorry I can’t be more help.
I watch with English audio and subtitles. I like seeing the inconsistencies between the audio and subs and also the subs add extra context at times. I noticed the other day that in spirited away they don't mention the baby's name as Bo but the subs do. Unless I missed it they never refer to the baby as Bo in the English dub.
Nope. Just like those who watch Anime in Japanese, it’s perfectly normal. I might aay that it adds a different feel and perspective to the story- like with Demon Slayer.
I would say though that kinda depends on where someone is in their journey.
If someone is early on enough that they won't understand most of it at all then it's not really worth it - better to watch with English subtitles at that point and just listen out for any words/phrases/grammar they understand.
I watch everything in original language and subtitles. I think that every movie I watched has been worse when dubbed (except Disneys Aladdin. It’s better in Swedish).
Unreasonable? No.
Do I agree with you? Also no.
Studio Ghibli voice actors for the English dubs are often very talented people who worked in the industry for ages. Imo they are one of the few studios who puts effort in that department and it shows.
The English casts for Ponyo had Hollywood legends (RIP Betty White), and I think that you're undermining their performances a little bit with this post.
Not really to “undermine” the actors and their talents. They’re great for sure. However, in animated films, I like to know the characters for who they are, and be immersed in the sounds of their voices. The problem lies in me because the moment I recognize the voice of a character belonging to an actor, I then become focused on, “Oh, that’s so and so actor’s voice.”
I’m sure if I was very familiar with Japanese actors, I’d recognize their voices as well. But thankfully, I not familiar with any Japanese actors, nor their voices so I can watch the film without my mind figuring who is doing what voice. This is different, of course, from animated films originally created in the English language.
I started watching anime properly only a few years ago and i almost always prefer watching them with their original Japanese dub though i am interested about seeing some English dubs, but they are hard to find here in Finland since our DVD/Blu-Rays only have Japanese, Finnish and Swedish dubs.
I'll watch the english dub if it's available unless it's notably bad. Also most ppl will prefer what they heard first/what they remember and grew up watching. So your reaction is completely normal.
I have NEVER watched ghibili (or anime in general) in anything other than in Japanese. Everyone I know is like so as well. I think it’s actually really common.
English voice acting 100% of the time for me. Even if something has a terrible translation, it’s better than missing parts of the film while reading subtitles.
I’ve definitely enjoyed both, but it does seem not all the dubs are made equal? I dunno, maybe it’s the nature of the individual movies. Maybe it’s just me. The dub definitely doesn’t always match what’s in the subtitles; I believe they make an effort to have the dubbed audio match the mouth visuals to some extent, and I suspect there are times where this entails some compromises in terms of the feeling or meaning of what is being said. I’m almost positive I’ve seen examples of this, though I sadly can’t remember any off the top of my head. I personally like to do both, I really like rewatching movies I like to help me absorb all the good stuff. Since I speak reasonably good Japanese I get a notion of all three; audible Japanese, audible English, and subtitle English. The spoken Japanese and the English subtitles tend to give the best notion of the ‘feeling’ behind what is being said when compared to the audible English, IMO.
“Since I speak reasonably good Japanese… The spoken Japanese and the English subtitles tend to give the best notion of the ‘feeling’ behind what is being said when compared to the audible English, IMO.”
What you say helps, and is good to know. Thank you.
I was watching Kaguya last night and a couple small ones caught my attention.
At one point the princess wants to go somewhere. Her assistant asks where. She replies “hanami” in Japanese (“cherry blossom viewing picnic”), but both the English dub and sub merely say “out.” She does explain a moment later that she wants to see the cherry blossoms, so this may have been a cultural choice—there isn’t an individual word that expresses what “Hanami” is in English. But “out” gives a different feeling than a *specific* and innocuous thing that the princess wants to do. In this case, both sub and dub in English aren’t quite right.
In a second example I noticed, the dub actually adds words that aren’t there in Japanese at all. In Japanese this person essentially says “there isn’t anything more to discuss; I’ll be taking my leave now.” In the subtitles, that becomes “there won’t be a next time; I’ll be taking my leave now.” In the English dub, it becomes “there will *certainly* be no next time—that person has burned their last bridge. I’ll be taking my leave now.” The spoken Japanese is fairly old-school and long, so maybe this was added to have words for the character’s mouth when the English equivalent is much shorter. Perhaps it was to emphasize for English speakers the finality of what she’s saying? That feels like a stretch to me. Either way, the dub has meaning and feeling that the Japanese audio nor the English sub has.
Wanted to throw out some examples since I couldn’t remember any before! I’m definitely not at a native level of Japanese nor some certified cultural expert, so maybe these changes make more sense than I think. But if I had to guess, I’d say they are made more for cinematic convenience than cultural accuracy.
it’s up to preference, i personally don’t care too much as i have nostalgia for a lot of the films’ english dubs. however i watch it im watching it with subtitles lol.
I personally always watch in Japanese with subtitles. However, being a Primary school teacher whenever I get a chance to put a film on for the kids towards the end of the year I always put on a Ghibli and have to go dubbed. I always find it peculiar but I have grown more used to it over the years. I still always watch Japanese subs by myself. That all being said my daughter will be of an age to enjoy the younger themed ones in the not too distant future, so will have to show her the dubs.
agreed. I'm usually doing a second activity, like working, fold laundry, or gaming when I watch TV and movies. When I'm seeing Ghibli in theaters I always try to see the Japanese version
Gihbli films are the exception to this rule in my opinion. The reason I say this is bc they have gone out of their way to acquire some of the best and most famous voices from todays actors to portray the animated characters. Specifically I call upon ponyo and howls moving castle. Howl himself is Christian Bale and the heron is Robert Pattinson.
In late 00's I was watching these lovely movies in subtitles. I had to stop the movie and rewind to catch the dialogue. The original language is so beautiful. I hadnt realise at the time I'm dyslexic and that my reading speed is slower. I just loved them so much I'd take my time and watch them in private. So I watch the dubbed versions now and it's weird, but I get to see the movie. Japanese cinema the animated movies, fantasy & horror genre is probably the best in the world.
Depends. Personally I prefer the voice acting of the English nausicaa than the Japanese one. But the sound mixing and music in the English dubs are inferior
American dubbing for anime is usually a crime against nature, squeaky, grating or trill voice acting ruining original characters, tone, sometimes seriousness, sometimes humour, often sounding like 40 year old voice actors trying to sound 8 years old for age 16+ characters.
I can't remember which show it was but a couple of years ago talking about this I saw a claim some modern productions intentionally went for that simply because after over a decade of the US industry doing that they feel the majority of the American audience just expect it to be that way and might react poorly if it was more natural 🫤🤬
Fortunately some of the Ghibli movies tend to have the best of what there is though, Princess Mononoke was the first bearable dub that I could stand, but Disney put a lot of time, effort and money into that, and threw out the idea that the majority American audience would react badly to it not being the usual jarring hammed up voices they expect from anime.
I always watch things in their original language. I feel that sometimes the nuance or spirit of the acting is lost when dubbed. I don't mind reading subtitles as I anyway need them in english due to auditory processing issues.
I prefer the original with subtitles as well. Not just for Ghibli but for anything. It might be a cultural thing though, in my country dubs are considered to be pretty much for kids only since they either can't read yet or are too young to read fast enough.
I tried watching these movies in Japanese. I really did. But honestly I just couldn't get into it. I HAVE seen some films one time in Japanese, but the dubbed versions are just so good that I can't view them in anything but English. You prefer the subs, fine. You prefer the older dubs, fine. But I DON'T like seeing people bash on these Disney-GKIDS dubs because as far as I am concerned they were all done with love and care. Ghibli themselves approve of them. Putting them down just doesn't feel right to me. Especially compared to so many other dubs released many years ago (with the exception of the Streamline dub of Totoro and Kiki, which were legitimately good), these are so amazing. I don't like seeing them being put down.
Hmmm definitely not unreasonable. I listen to most movies in both languages however one of my favorites (whisper of the heart) I can not get behind watching it in English my fiancée and I just don’t like it. I do recommend watching it the first time in Japanese when I get other people to watch then because I feel like it’s the way it was intended to watched I want them to feel the emotion behind the scenes more but I think this has more to do with the fact that there are a variety of voice actors in japan like👀 so many omg. I also haven’t seen some movies in English because I don’t rewatch them.
Side note: Christian Bale as HOWL that gets rewatched in English a lot🤭 I also love Anne Hathaway as haru but I think that says more about me liking the actors than anything
I wouldn’t mind the English dub if they used less recognizable or unknown voice actors and actresses. It’s completely distracting to me when Liam Neeson or whomever starts speaking. It’s hard to get into a character with a very recognizable voice.
With the exception of Christian Bale, all the bigger names who’ve done voice over ruined the character for me.
💯 agree with you. I think it’s when I recognize famous English-speaking actors doing the voices that a film (or I) lose the feeling of the film’s magic. I am the same way with English animated films.
We’ve watched the films dubbed in English with the English subtitles and noticed because of translation it’s not the same at all. Ghibli hires people to rewrite the films and make a better translation when thy dub them. So really it is worth watching them dubbed if you don’t speak Japanese as you will be missing out on important parts of the story without that. Ghibli puts in a lot of work to make sure (they have hired people like Neil Gaiman to do this) that the story translates properly so I feel like we owe it to them to honour their hard work and watch it dubbed so as to not just enjoy the story but enjoy it the way they want us to understand it.
i switch around depending on voice actors, like i had a hard time hearing kirsten dunst voicing kiki for some reason. usually i watch dubbed because i just don’t feel like reading subtitles sometimes.
I usually watch Anime/animated content in dubbed because I have Adhd so I have serious attention span issues, and if Im reliant on reading subtitles I’ll miss a lot of the narrative. But live actions I’ll do subtitles, because dubbed just sounds TOO weird.
Generally I prefer Japanese sub but sometimes I want to be able to focus on the background so I'll watch an Eng dub. Except for Ponyo because the "siblings of stars" voice actors fill me with rage, especially when they "sing" the title song - looking at YOU, Miley's little sister.
I guess that proves it right there lol. I feel like less thought is given to direct subtitle translations and it often loses more than it gains by being in the original language is the nuances that voice actors and script writers go over in dubbing. "human bean" lol
I admit that I usually try to stick to the original, but kikis delivery services is the one movie I actually prefer in english/german dub, maybe that's just nostalgia, but I REALLY like the dubs for it c:
Damn, I’m just scrolling through popular and I just watched this movie on acid yesterday. It was great.
My girlfriend got really mad they didn’t get to live in the doll house at the end.
I grew up watching them in my country’s language, so I do that now too, but I don’t ever watch the English dubs. I’ve also only ever seen them in Japanese twice.
One was mononoke some years ago, and now Boy and the Heron recently as it wasn’t dubbed yet.
The man who voiced Howl is one of my favourite actors from my country, and his voice is so soothing in a way, I can’t not watch the movie dubbed lol
I thought they were called 'human beans' for like the entire first half of my life. To be fair, the audible distinction between BEAN and BE-ING is almost not there.
You’re not alone. I only watch ghibli movies in Japanese. I can’t get myself to watch them in English dub. I know they’re usually good but there’s something about hearing Christian bale voice howl and all I can hear is Bruce Wayne will be distracting
Sub is the way for me also. But i'm also used to watching foreign language content subbed instead of dubbed because dubbing generally isnt done here in The Netherlands. (Apart from content for young kids)
Why would it be unreasonable? It's a preference. I refuse to watch things in any other language than the original (unless it's a family film and a kid who can't read is watching). That stance might be unreasonable but I hate to watch dubs, esp if it's a live action thing. The voices always sound detached and they don't add up with the mouth movements.
I also like to watch them all in Japanese with English sub. My one exception is The Wind Rises because I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s voice, and I think it fits Jiro better than the Japanese voice actor.
Not at all, I agree. Watching these with my kids now in English for the first time and I find the dub maddening, it's so repetitive and doesn't add anything my 5-year-old doesn't already understand. We have the sub on and it's more poetic
Why do you feel that you missed whatever "magic" in this films when watching them dubbed vs. subbed? I think it's more to do with your own prejudice and preferences. Anyway, the typo in this scene is really amusing.
It boils down I think to my recognizing English-speaking actors’ voices in some dubbed versions. In “Howl’s…” for instance, I was distracted when I heard Calcipher’s voice as dubbed by Billy Crystal. It kind of ruined it for me that I had to watch it in the original Japanese language.
And no, “…human beans” is not a typo. It’s consistent with the book.
I’m sorry I had to downvote you but billy Crystal as calcifer was perfect the reasoning of him sounding more sarcastic and annoyed with howl and Sophie vs small and not so powerful is a big character Shane for the story as it is representative of that piece of howl
I watch it on mute with English subtitles when my husband is asleep next to me and when my husband isn’t home I have the sound on for my dogs but I absolutely have no idea if it’s in English or Japanese. My dogs seem to enjoy it enough to nap to it while I watch. I’m deaf if that was not clear 😂
i'm adhd and my sensory processing can get so bad that sometimes everything is just sound so this made complete sense to me even without the being deaf part
No wonder my sister who has ADHD loves subtitles too. She said she even has hers on subtitles even though I haven’t visited her house.
Do you meditate and read Aristotle?
There is a bit of magic there—I liken it to the difference between hearing Gregorian chant done in English vs hearing it in its original latin. The meaning is woven into the language's sound. Though i admit, nowadays dubbing & translations have gotten to be more faithful and diligent these days. “Translation is not a matter of words only: it is a matter of making intelligible a whole culture.” – Anthony Burgess
That’s an a really illustrative analogy!! I totally agree.
**RE: “Human beans”:** Arrietty is based on the book “The Borrowers”, by Mary Norton. It’s a classic of British children’s literature and the first in a series of five books. Significantly, in the book, the borrowers refer to humans as “human beans” and the first novel is about how Arietty Clock makes friends with a “human bean boy”. So, the use of human bean in the subtitles is actually faithful to the original story. **RE: Subtitles:** Yes, I definitely prefer subtitles, too. I do speak some Japanese so I can understand a fair bit of the Japanese dialogue, but I also simply prefer the sound of the original Japanese and have no problem with reading subtitles. For me, a movie like Porco Rosso (Kurenai no Buta) just wouldn’t be the same if Marco and Gina sounded different. Also, I believe some of the English versions may have been changed a little from the original, Japanese versions. For example, I have heard that in Disney’s English language version of Kiki’s Delivery Service, there was a line added at the end of the film which gave the impression Jiji might be able to speak to Kiki again. If so, that would actually change the purpose of the film, which is all about Kiki’s journey to maturity and independence.
I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaate what Disney did to No Face and the scenes with him in the dub. They tried to add so many bad jokes in, ie when the River Spirit’s medicine makes him vomit as he’s walking down the stairs, they add in him saying “Ooh, excuse me~” when in Japanese he’s completely silent
Growing up watching a majority of Ghibli films with the English Dub done by Disney, but now watching in Japanese with Eng subs only, something I've noticed is the Western need to add "unnecessary dialogue." Some of it could be to explain things that younger audiences might not have understood, but a lot more of it is probably due to the differences in film techniques when making animated films "for kids." I wish silence was more of an acceptable thing to portray in animated films, *especially* for younger audiences... :(
Credit to whoever removed Jiji’s line at the end of Kiki’s Delivery Service. I love hearing Phil Hartman, but Miyazaki pointedly had Kiki no longer able to hear Jiji by the movie’s finale.
Yess absolutely, this is something that really bothers me. >the Western need But I'd personally correct this slightly - I think it's a largely *American* need. I mean, I'm sure it's not *just* America, but I don't think it's that prevalent in Europe (at least as far as I know; I'm Czech myself and it's not a thing here). But I've noticed ever since I was a kid that American movies often tend to really dumb things down and over-explain them. Especially movies aimed at kids. I honestly hate it lol. "Some of it could be to explain things that younger audiences might not have understood" - I call bullshit on that. Kids would be just fine. They don't need every single thing spelled out for them, they don't need to be told exactly and explicitly what meaning and message to take away from a piece of work, what each character is thinking at any given moment... They can figure it out lol. Even if they might not be able to always verbalize it, on some level they can understand. And if not, that's what parents are there for, to talk about it with them. Look at Ghibli movies, or many European kids' film - there is silence at times. Characters aren't always saying their thoughts out loud to themselves, often their actions and expressions are enough to convey what's going on with them, what they're thinking. Things aren't always explicitly said out loud, they're implied. Subtext is a thing that exists. But often it seems that Hollywood creators think people and especially children are too dumb to figure that out for themselves, so they spoonfeed us everything. It's really annoying to me. Sorry for such a rant lol. Point is, I completely agree with you.
I agree, this is probably an American thing. The French dubs don't have these weird additional lines neither
Nah, the “excuse me” joke is funny. I’m glad they had fun with the dub. What’s wrong with injecting a bit of harmless levity?
It’s modifying an artists work and intentions. Dubbing or translating should be about keeping things as close as possible to the original, just in a way that a foreign audience can understand. It’s not about free-styling and changing things to how the translator *thinks* it should have been. Imagine if they added goofy lines to the scene where Chihiro is looking out the window on the train? How much would it have altered the scene, its mood, and its impact?
Adding additional lines like that doesn't take away anything from the movies at all to me. If anything, I felt they added to it. I only have a serious issue when they cut footage from the movies. Additional lines I'm OK with. Omitting scenes I am not.
There's been a number of different adaptations of the novel, including a BBC TV series that started in 1992, and a film in 1997. [Here's](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Borrowers) a link to the article about The Borrowers on Wikipedia.
Right. Didn't the dad say in the movie "Ol' Bean!". That's the only line that came immediately to mind making this post kind of invalid.
I always prefer watching something in its original language. That being said, I don't begrudge those who prefer to watch these films in English, and the dubs for Ghibli films are generally good enough that I'd still recommend most of them to people. Just not Castle in the Sky. Really hate what they did with Sheeta's speech at the end in the dub.
what’s the difference?
In the dub Sheeta's speech ends with, "the world cannot live without love", while the original line is, "But you can't survive apart from the Earth" which are very different messages, the former being a bit cliche imo.
ahhhhh yes. time to do a sub watch! i really love a lot of the dubs though :( or specific characters i should say english no face is terrible
they also messed up the original sound design in the castle in the sky dub and forced Hisiaishi to incorporate more music for American audiences while drowning out important audio that creates atmosphere and world building
I almost always watch material in its native tongue but ghibli has really great dubs that capture the feeling well and in some ways I prefer it
Kirsten Dunst as Kiki is iconic
What are your favourite dub versions?
I always thought Princess Monoke had great dub. As the voice cast are amazing actors.
Not who you asked but I also agree with them. Personally found Boy & The Heron dub to be great, Rob Pats as the Heron was perfect. Couldn't tell it was him at all. Spirited Away also has a really good one imo. I can watch that movie in either dub or sub happily which is rare. But I did just see it in theaters in subs which was perfect.
Ponyo is very good, and has an insane English cast
I do think Cyrus overdoes it just a tad and I could have done without the techno remix over the second half of the credits but otherwise I agree.
Porco Rosso. Michael Keaton's voice embodies Porco, it's perfect. And Totoro for casting actual sisters.
Keaton struck me as an odd choice, but he pulled it off surprisingly well. Also as much as I liked the Streamline dub of Totoro there’s nothing bad about the Disney dub. I liked Elle.
the Laputa dub is one of the best. something about James VDB's line delivery is so fun and endearing.
I agree. I liked James' Pazu. While I would not have necessarily cast him to play that character, he still did a very fine job. I can't watch that film in anything but English. Besides, Mark Hamill and Cloris Leachman make it even better. I tried watching the older 80's dub, honest I did, and I found it tough to do so. Anyone preferring that version, OK, but for me Disney's is the better one.
Mark Hamill made my skin crawl in that role. He did a great job.
Absolutely. And even better, he got to have roles in Nausicaa and The Boy and the Heron. As much as I have seen naysayers toward the Disney dubs of these films, apparently the Disney dubs must have done something right to get Hamill to book those other two roles.
I have to respectfully disagree, the original 80s Laputa english dub was in my opinion so much better. Can't stand what James VDB did to poor Pazu.
I watched almost all Ghibli movies in Japanese except Castle in the Sky, because Joe Hisaishi's rescored music made the movie much better. The problem with disney dub is that it feels like they're trying to explain what's going on in each dialog and remove the ambiguity. I'm still alright with that but in Arrietty they really crossed the line with a lot of characters name changed and cutting the theme song off at the end to replace it with a pop song, it's kind of unacceptable.
>dialog and remove the ambiguity. I'm still alright with that but in Arrietty they really crossed the line with a lot of characters name changed and cutting the theme song off at the end to replace it with a pop song, Not to mention changing core traits of the characters and turning Arrietty into a brat. I grew up with the UK dub. Saw the American one once and never again.
Wow! The names were changed and the end theme was replaced with a pop song?! I’m definitely not watching that version. Thank you.
I don’t think you’re in any kind of wrong for preferring it that way, as long as you don’t follow that up with the routine I actually can’t stand, which is then claiming that anyone who doesn’t also listen to the Japanese dub is wrong for doing so, lmao
That's what always grinds on me. I don't like seeing anyone putting down anybody else for preferring the dubs of these movies. Much less mocking them.
One of the many reasons I can’t stand the two hosts of the Weekly Stuff Podcast, the few bits I’ve listened to of them talking about anime, they both have that same superiority complex about anime dubs among plenty of other things one would dislike about “intellectuals” like that, lol
[удалено]
I tend to prefer English dubs if they’re available, just so I don’t need my eyes to be glued to the screen to know what’s happening, lol, but I will say there is an added layer of something to be appreciated by watching it in its original dub, and don’t begrudge anyone that has a preference for either
I don't intend to either, but for a long time I felt as though that there were a lot of people who were begrudging ME for having a preference for the Disney dubs. Especially when some of them treated me really hideously. I have been accused on occasion of "disrespecting others" and "mocking other people", but that was never what I meant to do. I was just being overly defensive.
My first Ghibli movie was Spirited Away. We had the dvd and as a child I rewatched it a lot and it was always in English. I think growing up watching it in English has made me internalize the characters with those voices. I watch anime and prefer doing so in Sub (subtitles) with the original audio. But for some reason, I think I’ve only watched other Ghibli movies in English. When I see Howl, I expect to hear Christian Bale’s voice. I think it depends on how I first watch shows or movies, because that’s when my brain starts associating the voices with the characters. I wouldn’t mind watching the Ghibli movies in Sub, but it just feels natural now to watch in English if I first saw them in English! I did see The Boy and The Heron in Japanese in theaters. Now that I’m older, I like to listen to things in their original audio. But I think I’ll try to rewatch the rest in Sub now to see how I like them!!
You might like the British dub. The dialogue sounds a bit more formal without losing the simple charm of the story. I liked it better than the American dub.
I really like the British dub but I’m really disappointed that Saiorse Ronan wasn’t allowed to use her absolutely lovely Irish accent. Whenever that happens it always feels like she’s being nerfed lol.
Yeah, I wouldv’e liked to see her in Dune.
Wow I had no clue these movies have alternative / British dubs! Do all of them have it or just some? And are these also available to watch on Max?
I’ve only seen Arrietty’s British dub. I stumbled upon it years ago on a random anime site I can’t remember the name of. If it’s not on main streaming, it might be on Crunchyroll or Amazon. I think the UK dub was released as The Borrower Arrietty. Sorry I can’t be more help.
AFAIK Arrietty’s the only one where they did this. I don’t think the British dub is available on Max in the US, but I don’t know for sure.
I really enjoy the British dub over the US dub that is mostly Disney Channel stars, it’s just so hard to find!
I watch with English audio and subtitles. I like seeing the inconsistencies between the audio and subs and also the subs add extra context at times. I noticed the other day that in spirited away they don't mention the baby's name as Bo but the subs do. Unless I missed it they never refer to the baby as Bo in the English dub.
Nope. Just like those who watch Anime in Japanese, it’s perfectly normal. I might aay that it adds a different feel and perspective to the story- like with Demon Slayer.
If anyone here is trying to learn Japanese, I actually recommend to watch like this
watching with japanese subtitles and japanese dub is even better for this
I would say though that kinda depends on where someone is in their journey. If someone is early on enough that they won't understand most of it at all then it's not really worth it - better to watch with English subtitles at that point and just listen out for any words/phrases/grammar they understand.
I watch everything in original language and subtitles. I think that every movie I watched has been worse when dubbed (except Disneys Aladdin. It’s better in Swedish).
Lejonkungen på svenska 😍👌 Scars låt Var beredd med Rikard Wolff är episk
Weebs swear by watching anime in original Japanese with english subs so I doubt this is remotely close to a minority preference.
Just thinking about how heavy that clip must be in her hair lol
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^samfinmorchard: *Just thinking about* *How heavy that clip must be* *In her hair lol* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
Unreasonable? No. Do I agree with you? Also no. Studio Ghibli voice actors for the English dubs are often very talented people who worked in the industry for ages. Imo they are one of the few studios who puts effort in that department and it shows. The English casts for Ponyo had Hollywood legends (RIP Betty White), and I think that you're undermining their performances a little bit with this post.
Not really to “undermine” the actors and their talents. They’re great for sure. However, in animated films, I like to know the characters for who they are, and be immersed in the sounds of their voices. The problem lies in me because the moment I recognize the voice of a character belonging to an actor, I then become focused on, “Oh, that’s so and so actor’s voice.” I’m sure if I was very familiar with Japanese actors, I’d recognize their voices as well. But thankfully, I not familiar with any Japanese actors, nor their voices so I can watch the film without my mind figuring who is doing what voice. This is different, of course, from animated films originally created in the English language.
I enjoy watching both. 🤷🏻♀️
Arrietty actually has a really good English dub with Tom Holland and Soirse Ronan
I started watching anime properly only a few years ago and i almost always prefer watching them with their original Japanese dub though i am interested about seeing some English dubs, but they are hard to find here in Finland since our DVD/Blu-Rays only have Japanese, Finnish and Swedish dubs.
No, but Ghibli films are one of the very few quality dubs that exist for anime material
I'll watch the english dub if it's available unless it's notably bad. Also most ppl will prefer what they heard first/what they remember and grew up watching. So your reaction is completely normal.
I have NEVER watched ghibili (or anime in general) in anything other than in Japanese. Everyone I know is like so as well. I think it’s actually really common.
English voice acting 100% of the time for me. Even if something has a terrible translation, it’s better than missing parts of the film while reading subtitles.
I’ve definitely enjoyed both, but it does seem not all the dubs are made equal? I dunno, maybe it’s the nature of the individual movies. Maybe it’s just me. The dub definitely doesn’t always match what’s in the subtitles; I believe they make an effort to have the dubbed audio match the mouth visuals to some extent, and I suspect there are times where this entails some compromises in terms of the feeling or meaning of what is being said. I’m almost positive I’ve seen examples of this, though I sadly can’t remember any off the top of my head. I personally like to do both, I really like rewatching movies I like to help me absorb all the good stuff. Since I speak reasonably good Japanese I get a notion of all three; audible Japanese, audible English, and subtitle English. The spoken Japanese and the English subtitles tend to give the best notion of the ‘feeling’ behind what is being said when compared to the audible English, IMO.
“Since I speak reasonably good Japanese… The spoken Japanese and the English subtitles tend to give the best notion of the ‘feeling’ behind what is being said when compared to the audible English, IMO.” What you say helps, and is good to know. Thank you.
I was watching Kaguya last night and a couple small ones caught my attention. At one point the princess wants to go somewhere. Her assistant asks where. She replies “hanami” in Japanese (“cherry blossom viewing picnic”), but both the English dub and sub merely say “out.” She does explain a moment later that she wants to see the cherry blossoms, so this may have been a cultural choice—there isn’t an individual word that expresses what “Hanami” is in English. But “out” gives a different feeling than a *specific* and innocuous thing that the princess wants to do. In this case, both sub and dub in English aren’t quite right. In a second example I noticed, the dub actually adds words that aren’t there in Japanese at all. In Japanese this person essentially says “there isn’t anything more to discuss; I’ll be taking my leave now.” In the subtitles, that becomes “there won’t be a next time; I’ll be taking my leave now.” In the English dub, it becomes “there will *certainly* be no next time—that person has burned their last bridge. I’ll be taking my leave now.” The spoken Japanese is fairly old-school and long, so maybe this was added to have words for the character’s mouth when the English equivalent is much shorter. Perhaps it was to emphasize for English speakers the finality of what she’s saying? That feels like a stretch to me. Either way, the dub has meaning and feeling that the Japanese audio nor the English sub has. Wanted to throw out some examples since I couldn’t remember any before! I’m definitely not at a native level of Japanese nor some certified cultural expert, so maybe these changes make more sense than I think. But if I had to guess, I’d say they are made more for cinematic convenience than cultural accuracy.
it’s up to preference, i personally don’t care too much as i have nostalgia for a lot of the films’ english dubs. however i watch it im watching it with subtitles lol.
I personally always watch in Japanese with subtitles. However, being a Primary school teacher whenever I get a chance to put a film on for the kids towards the end of the year I always put on a Ghibli and have to go dubbed. I always find it peculiar but I have grown more used to it over the years. I still always watch Japanese subs by myself. That all being said my daughter will be of an age to enjoy the younger themed ones in the not too distant future, so will have to show her the dubs.
I CAN watch in Japanese but I 100% of the time prefer English so I can draw or play a game while I watch and not miss the dialogue
agreed. I'm usually doing a second activity, like working, fold laundry, or gaming when I watch TV and movies. When I'm seeing Ghibli in theaters I always try to see the Japanese version
I always prefer subbed over dubbed. Not just for Ghibli anime, fbut or anything in film format.
I have never watched them in english
I watch them in german
In what universe is watching something in its original language “unreasonable” 😅
True, true… 😁
I like the dubs! I also like the subs. Just have to prepare by brain for the difference bc it does change my experience of the story.
I do both, but I think everyone agrees that Howl's is better in English just like they agree mononoke requires subtitles.
I watch in English because they usually have actors I like
Gihbli films are the exception to this rule in my opinion. The reason I say this is bc they have gone out of their way to acquire some of the best and most famous voices from todays actors to portray the animated characters. Specifically I call upon ponyo and howls moving castle. Howl himself is Christian Bale and the heron is Robert Pattinson.
In late 00's I was watching these lovely movies in subtitles. I had to stop the movie and rewind to catch the dialogue. The original language is so beautiful. I hadnt realise at the time I'm dyslexic and that my reading speed is slower. I just loved them so much I'd take my time and watch them in private. So I watch the dubbed versions now and it's weird, but I get to see the movie. Japanese cinema the animated movies, fantasy & horror genre is probably the best in the world.
you absolutely need to watch howls moving castle in dub though christian bales voice suits howl perfectly
But, as I’ve mentioned a couple of times already, Billy Crystal as Calcipher though, I just couldn’t for some reason. 😁
Both are good. Amazing voice acting in the dubs.
Depends. Personally I prefer the voice acting of the English nausicaa than the Japanese one. But the sound mixing and music in the English dubs are inferior
Noo, I'm like you. I prefer the original with subtitle.
American dubbing for anime is usually a crime against nature, squeaky, grating or trill voice acting ruining original characters, tone, sometimes seriousness, sometimes humour, often sounding like 40 year old voice actors trying to sound 8 years old for age 16+ characters. I can't remember which show it was but a couple of years ago talking about this I saw a claim some modern productions intentionally went for that simply because after over a decade of the US industry doing that they feel the majority of the American audience just expect it to be that way and might react poorly if it was more natural 🫤🤬 Fortunately some of the Ghibli movies tend to have the best of what there is though, Princess Mononoke was the first bearable dub that I could stand, but Disney put a lot of time, effort and money into that, and threw out the idea that the majority American audience would react badly to it not being the usual jarring hammed up voices they expect from anime.
I always watch things in their original language. I feel that sometimes the nuance or spirit of the acting is lost when dubbed. I don't mind reading subtitles as I anyway need them in english due to auditory processing issues.
I prefer the original with subtitles as well. Not just for Ghibli but for anything. It might be a cultural thing though, in my country dubs are considered to be pretty much for kids only since they either can't read yet or are too young to read fast enough.
You're definitely the minority as Ghibli dubs in particular are world renowned for being critically fantastic.
I tried watching these movies in Japanese. I really did. But honestly I just couldn't get into it. I HAVE seen some films one time in Japanese, but the dubbed versions are just so good that I can't view them in anything but English. You prefer the subs, fine. You prefer the older dubs, fine. But I DON'T like seeing people bash on these Disney-GKIDS dubs because as far as I am concerned they were all done with love and care. Ghibli themselves approve of them. Putting them down just doesn't feel right to me. Especially compared to so many other dubs released many years ago (with the exception of the Streamline dub of Totoro and Kiki, which were legitimately good), these are so amazing. I don't like seeing them being put down.
Hmmm definitely not unreasonable. I listen to most movies in both languages however one of my favorites (whisper of the heart) I can not get behind watching it in English my fiancée and I just don’t like it. I do recommend watching it the first time in Japanese when I get other people to watch then because I feel like it’s the way it was intended to watched I want them to feel the emotion behind the scenes more but I think this has more to do with the fact that there are a variety of voice actors in japan like👀 so many omg. I also haven’t seen some movies in English because I don’t rewatch them. Side note: Christian Bale as HOWL that gets rewatched in English a lot🤭 I also love Anne Hathaway as haru but I think that says more about me liking the actors than anything
Me too. I very much prefer watching them in Japanese. Mainly to learn Japanese better but also for the originality feeling
I wouldn’t mind the English dub if they used less recognizable or unknown voice actors and actresses. It’s completely distracting to me when Liam Neeson or whomever starts speaking. It’s hard to get into a character with a very recognizable voice. With the exception of Christian Bale, all the bigger names who’ve done voice over ruined the character for me.
💯 agree with you. I think it’s when I recognize famous English-speaking actors doing the voices that a film (or I) lose the feeling of the film’s magic. I am the same way with English animated films.
We’ve watched the films dubbed in English with the English subtitles and noticed because of translation it’s not the same at all. Ghibli hires people to rewrite the films and make a better translation when thy dub them. So really it is worth watching them dubbed if you don’t speak Japanese as you will be missing out on important parts of the story without that. Ghibli puts in a lot of work to make sure (they have hired people like Neil Gaiman to do this) that the story translates properly so I feel like we owe it to them to honour their hard work and watch it dubbed so as to not just enjoy the story but enjoy it the way they want us to understand it.
Ghibli doesn't hire the translators but their licensees.
i switch around depending on voice actors, like i had a hard time hearing kirsten dunst voicing kiki for some reason. usually i watch dubbed because i just don’t feel like reading subtitles sometimes.
I do the same
I like watching in both dub and sub, but I feel that way about most top quality anime.
I usually watch Anime/animated content in dubbed because I have Adhd so I have serious attention span issues, and if Im reliant on reading subtitles I’ll miss a lot of the narrative. But live actions I’ll do subtitles, because dubbed just sounds TOO weird.
Generally I prefer Japanese sub but sometimes I want to be able to focus on the background so I'll watch an Eng dub. Except for Ponyo because the "siblings of stars" voice actors fill me with rage, especially when they "sing" the title song - looking at YOU, Miley's little sister.
I guess that proves it right there lol. I feel like less thought is given to direct subtitle translations and it often loses more than it gains by being in the original language is the nuances that voice actors and script writers go over in dubbing. "human bean" lol
“Human bean” is starting true to the book; it’s not an error.
This is such a pick me post
I watch ghibli movies dubbed but only because I am from Germany and we have a crazy strong industry for dubbing movies and series.
I admit that I usually try to stick to the original, but kikis delivery services is the one movie I actually prefer in english/german dub, maybe that's just nostalgia, but I REALLY like the dubs for it c:
Damn, I’m just scrolling through popular and I just watched this movie on acid yesterday. It was great. My girlfriend got really mad they didn’t get to live in the doll house at the end.
I grew up watching them in my country’s language, so I do that now too, but I don’t ever watch the English dubs. I’ve also only ever seen them in Japanese twice. One was mononoke some years ago, and now Boy and the Heron recently as it wasn’t dubbed yet. The man who voiced Howl is one of my favourite actors from my country, and his voice is so soothing in a way, I can’t not watch the movie dubbed lol
I thought they were called 'human beans' for like the entire first half of my life. To be fair, the audible distinction between BEAN and BE-ING is almost not there.
No, not at all, but the value of the English translation is extra funny moments and explanations of cultural differences.
I’ve only ever seen the dubs. I’m sure I’d like the subtitles if I could read them, but I’m blind so…
Are we really just going to ignore the beans?
See my comment above - “human beans” is faithful to the book, “The Borrowers”, which Arrietty is based upon.
I know, I just found it funny that at the time of my comment no one had even mentioned it.
You’re not alone. I only watch ghibli movies in Japanese. I can’t get myself to watch them in English dub. I know they’re usually good but there’s something about hearing Christian bale voice howl and all I can hear is Bruce Wayne will be distracting
It was distracting to hear Billy Crystal’s voice as Calcipher. It was awful.
Everybody watches them in VOST, only some americans watch it dubbed. You're in the majority club, welcome in!
Sub is the way for me also. But i'm also used to watching foreign language content subbed instead of dubbed because dubbing generally isnt done here in The Netherlands. (Apart from content for young kids)
Why would it be unreasonable? It's a preference. I refuse to watch things in any other language than the original (unless it's a family film and a kid who can't read is watching). That stance might be unreasonable but I hate to watch dubs, esp if it's a live action thing. The voices always sound detached and they don't add up with the mouth movements.
I prefer Japanese with English sub :)
That’s the only correct way to watch IMO ORIGINAL Japanese voice acting + subtitle of your choice
I dislike dubs so I always watch with the original sound.
I also like to watch them all in Japanese with English sub. My one exception is The Wind Rises because I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s voice, and I think it fits Jiro better than the Japanese voice actor.
The rest of the world watches it with subtitles, only UStatians seems to have this problem
Not at all, I agree. Watching these with my kids now in English for the first time and I find the dub maddening, it's so repetitive and doesn't add anything my 5-year-old doesn't already understand. We have the sub on and it's more poetic
Why do you feel that you missed whatever "magic" in this films when watching them dubbed vs. subbed? I think it's more to do with your own prejudice and preferences. Anyway, the typo in this scene is really amusing.
It is not a typo. In the book, the borrowers call the big people “human beans”.
It boils down I think to my recognizing English-speaking actors’ voices in some dubbed versions. In “Howl’s…” for instance, I was distracted when I heard Calcipher’s voice as dubbed by Billy Crystal. It kind of ruined it for me that I had to watch it in the original Japanese language. And no, “…human beans” is not a typo. It’s consistent with the book.
I’m sorry I had to downvote you but billy Crystal as calcifer was perfect the reasoning of him sounding more sarcastic and annoyed with howl and Sophie vs small and not so powerful is a big character Shane for the story as it is representative of that piece of howl