That time I rolled my eyes at a subtitled anime and ended up binge watching it for 8 hours

I always thought subbed anime was just for pretentious people who wanted to feel superior. My friend kept telling me to watch this show, said the voice acting was way better in Japanese. I finally gave in last Saturday, put on episode one just to prove him wrong. But then I got hooked on how the emotions came through in the original voices, even without understanding the words. I ended up watching 12 episodes straight, ordering takeout twice because I couldn't stop. The whole thing flipped my opinion completely, now I actually prefer subs for most series. Has anyone else had a change of heart like this, or do you still stick to dubs?

3 comments

3 Comments

taylor.hayden1mo ago

Wait, is that really how it goes for everyone? I was the same way with Cowboy Bebop, thought the English dub was the only way to go. Then my buddy @pat_fisher24 dared me to watch the Japanese version and I couldn't admit he was right for like a week. Now I'm the one who gets annoyed at lip flap in dubs, which makes me feel like a total hypocrite. Subs just hit different, though - especially the way the voice actors nail those little breathy moments in tense scenes. It's weird how your brain just rewires itself once you give it a chance.

leo_fisher1mo ago

Wait, you watched 12 episodes straight? That's insane, I don't think I could sit still that long even for a show I loved. Your takeout guys must have thought you were having a serious weekend.

pat_fisher241mo ago

Yeah no I had basically the same thing happen. Put on Attack on Titan in English because I heard the screaming was funny, ended up switching to Japanese out of curiosity and then couldn't go back. The weird part is now I actually get annoyed when the mouth movements don't match the audio, like my brain just decided this is the proper way to watch. My friend still gives me crap for it because I used to make fun of him for doing the exact same thing. Guess I'm one of those pretentious people now, but at least I can read subtitles faster than I used to.