I know that this debate usually goes on with Japanese anime but I want to ask this question about video games. So when you play a game and it gives you the option to have either English or Japanese voices, which do choose? I ask this because I know there are tons of games with this option and I'm curious to see which dubbed voices they prefer. For me, well, it really depends on how good or bad the VA is for English or Japanese dubbed games. Like Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm games for example. Most of the English voices just don't fit to me since the Naruto series is based off and made by Japanese culture.

 

 

I mean look at this English dub for Naruto Storm 4. It doesn't sound very good tbh. And before anyone says anything no I'm not a, what you call, "weebo". It's just that it doesn't seem like they tried at all to make the English voices good compared to the original Naruto anime.In the English dub of the original naruto anime the English voices sounded great to me. But here, it's like they're not even trying to sound good or emotional (except maybe Naruto. The English VA for him sounds like he's at least trying to put emotion into his character)..

 

But back to the matter at hand. What language audio do you prefer? English or Japanese?

Edited November 29, 20159 yr by Tails

Depends on the game. Anime games, Japanese, but I must confess that if I could I would have Bobobo's and One Piece's voices in Spanish. But then, KH (although this doesn't give you the option) and other games, definitely in English, mainly because it's how I started the game. It really depends on the game and how I was introduced to it.

 

I've got an example of each (without counting anime games), I prefer Sengoku Basara (yeah, none of you know this game ) in English, but Xenoblade Chronicles in Japanese.

it depends how well both English and Japanese voices perform, for example I dislike the persona 4 Japanese voices, while i enjoy most tales games in English due to the fact that in japanese voices in tales gets degrading after they announce their attacks very loudly in japanese. it matters on performance and writing that voice actors work with. 

It tends to depend on the anime most of the time, but I typically always prefer English. Sometimes the Japanese can really hit the emotion in the voices very well, but I like to spend all of my time WATCHING the anime, not half the time READING it. A lot of times it depends on whether I really like the English cast or if a lot of my favorite and familiar voice actors are in it (So much Dissidia in Bleach, my gods... OoO""). If the cast doesn't sound too good, either I can get used to it until it starts to pick up a bit, or I give up and go with the Japanese version. Also, a lot of times it can depend on which version you are exposed to first. If I hear the English version of ANYTHING first, I will be loyal to that, because that's what I know, it's what I'm familiar with. But if it's reversed, and I watched the Japanese version first, then I would be forced to compare between the two when I listen to the English version. Right away when I was starting Fairy Tail, I knew I wanted to watch the dub, because I always preferred dubs, but my friend who was further ahead of me preferred the original Japanese and because we tend to watch things at his house, that was what I was more exposed to. Now whenever I switch around to hear the English version the difference just jars me. Maybe it also has to do with the quality of the English version, as I realize not all dubs are golden, but sometimes half of the perceived quality of a dub is reliant on how much exposure you have to either version of the anime.

 

Idealistically though, I would always wish for the English version to be equivalent in quality to the Japanese version (or better if the Japanese version is just grating), so that that way there is no need to compare or choose between one or the other. I think a lot of the bigger main stream anime tend to get it right more often than not, I'm fairly pleased with DBZ, Bleach, One Piece, etc's dub work and I hope that other anime that may be falling behind in that aspect pick up a bit more. I watched all of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure and I really hope that I love the English dub as well. Ben Diskin is of course a fan favorite of a lot of people on this site, so I'm really hoping I love his depiction of Joseph. And of course, I really hope that Richard Epcar still gets to play Old Joseph when they resume dubbing Stardust Crusaders, he's such a perfect fit for the character (JoJoJo-Jo Jo-JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, now with DARKNESSSSSS!!!! >). Of course, it's nice to start having some favorite Japanese actors as well, I was so surprised when I learned that it was Miyu Irino who was voicing a young Kiritsugu, who I thought already looked like an adult Sora/Vanitas.

 

So either way, I guess it just depends on your tastes and preferences. I'll always prefer English first, but if the Japanese sounds really good too, then I'll enjoy that as well.

I've never been one to actively go out of my way to change to Japanese. The only recent example is I am playing Project Zero currently with Japanese audio. Other than that I never change. I was tempted to change Type-0's audio, but I simply got used to the English VA so eh.

 

There are certain exceptions however, in Street Fighter I change some of the characters (like Ryu and Chun Li for example) to speak in Japanese because I think it fits better (I know Chun Li is Chinese but I haven't a choice for that so...).

 

I'm not really one to complain if the option isn't there to switch. I know for games based on anime it is kind of expected because you are then appealing both types of fans. Two games this year left me not really caring that an option wasn't there; Steins;Gate and Xenoblade 3D. As a fan of Steins;Gate I was in no way fazed that the VN was sub-only, because I watched the anime in Japanese. Therefore it suited me fine as I was already used to the voices. Xenoblade 3D got a lot of flack from some fans because it lacked dual-audio that was in the Wii version. This was funny because I actually didn't know that there was dual-audio in the Wii version, so I actually got really attached to the Britishness. It actually is one of the highlights of the game for me to the point where I find the Japanese audio really strange to listen to.

 

I think having the option is the best of both worlds and it is great to see more games realise this because it affects different games depending on the person. I don't agree with selling the Japanese audio as DLC like XIII-2 did (if I remember correctly?) though. If you are going to have an option to give fans the Japanese audio then don't charge them for it. Downloadable is fine, but it has to be free I think.

Edited November 29, 20159 yr by KHSoraKeyBlade

English. 

For me, it just all boils down to who is picked to voice in an anime. A classic example is Sailor Moon. I watched the entirety of the original 90s series and pretty much hated every moment of it. Not the story, but the acting. It was down right God freaking awful! By far the worst English dub I've ever heard thus far. It really soured me on the Sailor Moon franchise.[media='']

[/media]Now, thank God, VIZ rescued the series and gave it a much needed face lift! Not only are the voiced updated, they fit the characters and their personalities so much better. Plus, they re-translated the show and kept the characters original names.[media='']

[/media]Now, if you compare that with the new Sailor Moon reboot, that's a case where I actually prefer the Japanese dub as a whole. Even that one sounds better. [media='']

[/media]Here's the new reboot.[media='']https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLbtm0b-UG4 [/media]Like I said before, it all comes down to voice cast. In both languages. It doesn't mean that Japanese is better than English, or English is better than Japanese. It just means that the casting directors either picked real good, or real bad actors. So I support both the Japanese subs and the English dubs. If they're good of course.

Well, in anime I always prefer japanese voice acting, but when I'm playing I tend to pick english. Maybe because most games don't have the option to change the language, so you kinda get used to the english voices and japanese audio would just sound strange... It's not that a big deal to me, as long as the voice acting is bearable.

What everyone said besides one post.

 

Some examples where I preferring listening the Japanese voices are such as the Megaman Battle Network series (DS only had voices though) and Starforce series (2 and 3). It's also worth noting that the names were shortened due to space, but also changed to make no sense. "Atomic Blazer" became "Atom Bomb" when there was no bomb involved. Also way to go Capcom of America for directly referencing an atomic bomb lol. Going back to the voices, they sound like crap and/or cheesy in English. "EAT DIS!" HAAARG!" Yeah, no.

Edited November 29, 20159 yr by OmegaForte

Huh, I never really bothered thinking about this, since I usually don't have the choice. I go with English audio with video games, since I'm too used to it and I never bothered to see if there was any alternative, since I'm not bothered by most voice acting.

I always go with english dub no mattwr what

I've always preferred English, simply because I want to play the game in the language I can understand. The only exception to this is the Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm games, for that I usually use Japanese audio but put on English text. In my opinion, the English audio for those games aren't bad, per se, but I guess I'm just used to the Japanese audio for those games more, because I was so used to watching the anime in Japanese. 

That depends if I can tolerate the English dubs. For me I mostly choose Japanese subs over English dubs because the main characters sound better in Japanese. However if the main characters have some decent English voice actors and actresses than I will listen to the Eng dub version. If I can tolerate and don't find the English voices annoying than I'm fine with English dub. Luckily Kingdom Hearts the video game series has one of the best English Dubs I heard. 

I prefer English dub over Japanese voice acting when it comes to anime. I just don't like Japanese voice acting at all because I can't understand what they're saying at all. 

My default choice is English, but if given the option, I might switch over to Japanese if I feel like it.

When it comes to anime, of course I always watch with subs rather than dub. Something about the English dubs usually sound really generic and boring to me usually (one could say the exact same thing for japanese dubs with like 90% of the female voice cast sounding like your typical cutesy). Meanwhile, in videogames, I actually think that the english dubs are more authentic and better. Take for example Fire emblem Awakening. I actually like the english dub way better than the Japanese dub since in the japanese dub the voices sound more generic while the english dub sound more unique. (ugh nowi and olivia's japanese voices...). I truly believe that in video games, dubs are done better. Why? I dunno. But it's for that reason that when the Ace Attorney anime comes out, I'm going to watch it with English Dub (that is if they actually dub it)

I've never been one to actively go out of my way to change to Japanese. The only recent example is I am playing Project Zero currently with Japanese audio. Other than that I never change. I was tempted to change Type-0's audio, but I simply got used to the English VA so eh.

 

There are certain exceptions however, in Street Fighter I change some of the characters (like Ryu and Chun Li for example) to speak in Japanese because I think it fits better (I know Chun Li is Chinese but I haven't a choice for that so...).

 

I'm not really one to complain if the option isn't there to switch. I know for games based on anime it is kind of expected because you are then appealing both types of fans. Two games this year left me not really caring that an option wasn't there; Steins;Gate and Xenoblade 3D. As a fan of Steins;Gate I was in no way fazed that the VN was sub-only, because I watched the anime in Japanese. Therefore it suited me fine as I was already used to the voices. Xenoblade 3D got a lot of flack from some fans because it lacked dual-audio that was in the Wii version. This was funny because I actually didn't know that there was dual-audio in the Wii version, so I actually got really attached to the Britishness. It actually is one of the highlights of the game for me to the point where I find the Japanese audio really strange to listen to.

 

I think having the option is the best of both worlds and it is great to see more games realise this because it affects different games depending on the person. I don't agree with selling the Japanese audio as DLC like XIII-2 did (if I remember correctly?) though. If you are going to have an option to give fans the Japanese audio then don't charge them for it. Downloadable is fine, but it has to be free I think.

 

Lightning Returns actually. And it was free, for two weeks then free to PS Plus users. All future releases for all 3 titles have included it for free.

 

And I actually do agree with it. Allows them to see how many people truly do want it, plus it's a shit ton of work.

Edited November 29, 20159 yr by Sora96

For games: I prefer English VA.

For anime: Deeply depends on how the dubbing and subbing are. If the subs is the only version available, then subbed. If the English is available and it's really good, then Dubbed.

 

 

Rock on!

Always English. I only use Japanese audio if it's the only option available. I've never found an English dub that's unbearably bad.

Lightning Returns actually. And it was free, for two weeks then free to PS Plus users. All future releases for all 3 titles have included it for free. And I actually do agree with it. Allows them to see how many people truly do want it, plus it's a shit ton of work.

Yeah but you agree with most things SE do.

Yeah but you agree with most things SE do.

 

Actually, no I don't.

Always English. Much more better than having to follow  the subs.

The only time I would pick Japanse is if 4kids decides to voice a game for whatever reason.

Edited November 30, 20159 yr by Darth Hydra

Always English. Much more better than having to follow  the subs.

The only time I would pick Japanse is if 4kids decides to voice a game for whatever reason.

 

The voice talent 4Kids used for Yu-Gi-Oh!, Sonic X and TMNT was great imo. I won't comment on anything else. Haha.

I prefer English when playing Video Games. In the few games I've had to play in Japanese (honestly, can't think of anything outside of Tales of Hearts R and Project X Zone), I just read and advance the text at my own pace, basically not even paying attention to the spoken dialogue.

 

For anime I still prefer English, but I'm much better at tolerating the Japanese audio when necessary.

Actually, no I don't.

Ok then, you agree with most things Toriyama does then.

Ok then, you agree with most things Toriyama does then.

 

He just makes games I love. Kitase's the one doing the business side of things. Nothing more to it.