Talking to an old-school fan at a con in Detroit made me rethink how I watch dubs

I always hated watching dubbed anime. Like I was one of those people who would clown on it hard. But last weekend at Motor City Comic Con I got stuck next to this guy in his 60s who was telling stories about fansubbing VHS tapes in the 80s. He said he watched Evangelion on a bootleg tape where the subs were translated by a guy who barely spoke Japanese. And he was still grateful for it because he just wanted to experience the story. That hit me different. Made me realize I was just being a gatekeeper over something that dont matter. I been giving dubs a fair shot since then and some of them are actually solid. Anyone else ever had a talk with an older fan that changed how you think about something?

2 comments

2 Comments

barbarab564d ago

, but I gotta say I see this from a different angle. I started watching anime in the late 70s with stuff like Star Blazers and Speed Racer, and dubs were the only way to get it back then. I respect that old-timer's gratitude, but to me dubs back then were often butchered translations that changed whole plots. That experience taught me to value the original language, not because I was being a snob, but because I wanted what the creator actually made. I think there's a middle ground between gatekeeping and settling for less. We can be grateful we have access to anime at all while still wanting the best possible version of it.

elliot_miller224d ago

Wait so do you still watch dubs now or strictly subs?