I was totally against watching anime dubs until I caught one on a flight

For years I swore by subs only, you know the whole "read the subtitles or it's not authentic" thing. But last month on a 6 hour flight to Denver I didn't have my headphones and the screen was too far to read subs comfortably. So I caved and watched the dub for Attack on Titan season 2 (the Funimation one). I was expecting cringey voice acting and mismatched lip flaps but honestly the English VA crew really brought it. The emotional scenes hit just as hard and I didn't miss any dialogue while looking away. Now I'm not saying dubs are always better but that experience made me realize I was being kinda snobby about it. Has anyone else had a similar switch where you changed your mind on subs vs dubs after trying the other side?

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lee.casey25d ago

Funimation's Attack on Titan dub is actually a great example of why I think the whole subs vs dubs debate misses a bigger point. I realized after watching the first season dubbed that the localization team sometimes has to make choices that change the tone entirely. Like in the sub, certain characters speak in very formal Japanese that signals social status, but in the dub they might use a casual tone and it completely changes how you perceive their relationship. For me, the dub of Cowboy Bebop was actually written by the original creator beforehand, but most people don't know that kind of thing happens. It made me stop caring about authenticity and start caring about what version tells the story in a way that clicks with me personally. Idk, maybe I'm overthinking it but I think a lot of the snobbery comes from people who haven't tried dubs with really good direction and casting.