This is the one, big debate that anime fans, and it never seems to die down. Do you prefer to watch your localized anime in its dubbed form, or would you rather read through the subtitles? I think the reason this is so hotly debated directly relates to the companies that handle the dubs in the first place.
The more I think about it, the more I start to believe that bad dubbing is one of the reasons why some people have been turned off by anime. Just like the early days of voice acting in anime, the first wave of dubbed anime had some horrendous voice actors. A bad voice actor can completely ruin a scene or a series. I've experienced that a handful of times, but luckily that was years ago.
Since then, anime dubbing has really moved up in presentation. There now seem to be a set group of voice actors that go between anime projects, and they really do a great job with their delivery. Sure, some lines have to be cut/chopped along the way, but the final product is pretty great quality. Anything you see out there in the American market today usually comes with a decent to great dub.
For the purposes of getting new people into anime, it seems that dubbing is the only way to go. Thankfully, any of the content I plan to share with family/friends to get them interested ends up having a good dub. For those reasons alone, I almost always prefer choosing a dub over sub.
I've staked my claim, but what about you? Do you prefer subs or dubs, and why?
