c/anime-discussions

2

derek939•2d ago

The day I switched from dubbed to subbed anime changed everything

I spent about 3 years watching nothing but dubbed anime because I could multitask while folding laundry. Last month I finally gave subs a shot with Attack on Titan season 2. The voice acting just hit different with the original Japanese cast, especially Eren's screaming scenes. My laundry pile got way bigger but I actually felt the emotions more. Has anyone else made the switch and had trouble going back to dubs?

19

uma_lopez•2d ago

Question about how anime dubs have changed since the 90s

I was watching the old Dragon Ball Z dub from 1999 the other day and then switched to a new dub like Demon Slayer from 2020. The difference is wild. Back then, the voice acting felt so over the top and corny, like they were just shouting lines in a booth. Now, the dubs feel way more natural and emotional, with actors actually sounding like real people. I think the shift happened around 2015 when companies like Funimation started hiring better talent and doing more takes. But some old school fans still swear the 90s dubs have more charm. What do you guys think, did dubs get better around 2010 or did they lose something special?

28

jessicamiller•2d ago

I used to skip all the filler in Naruto but last month I changed my mind

I was that guy who skipped everything between Sasuke leaving and Shippuden, but my friend Jake made me rewatch episode 101 with him in his apartment in Austin. That episode about Kakashi's mask had me laughing so hard I cried, and he showed me a Reddit thread that explained how much character development is in those filler arcs. Now I'm going back through all 90 episodes I skipped and honestly enjoying it more than the main story right now. Has anyone else found a filler arc that totally changed how you see a character?

21

dylan_patel•3d ago

That one Reddit comment that made me stop fast-forwarding filler arcs

Some user said I was missing the "breather episodes" that let character relationships develop naturally. I ignored them at first, but after skipping through 8 episodes of One Piece to get back to the main story, I realized I had no clue why the crew was acting so buddy-buddy. Has anyone else had a random forum post completely shift how they watch a show?

28

coleman.jade•3d ago

My buddy swore I'd regret skipping the dub for Hunter x Hunter

He said I'd miss character nuances reading subtitles, but I was 60 episodes deep before I realized he watches everything at 1.5x speed, so I dunno if I trust his take on pacing anymore. Anybody else have a friend who gives anime advice but has weird watching habits?

28

lisa_jones21•3d ago

Hot take: filler episodes in long-running anime are actually important for pacing

I keep seeing people skip entire arcs in shows like One Piece or Naruto because they call it filler. But I watched Bleach from episode 1 to 366 last year, filler included, and the payoff in the canon arcs hit way harder. The breather episodes let you care about side characters so the main story has more weight. Has anyone else noticed that skipping episodes makes the main fights feel rushed?

10

fiona502•3d ago

The moment I realized I was skipping the wrong parts of every anime opening

I used to always skip the first 30 seconds of an anime opening (you know, before the song really kicks in) because I thought it was just filler. But last week I sat through the full opening of Frieren for the first time after someone on Reddit mentioned hidden visual clues in those first frames. I went back and checked episode 3, and sure enough there was a small character detail I had missed every single time. Now I wonder how many plot foreshadowings I've just glossed over for years. Has anyone else had that moment where you realized you were watching anime on autopilot and missing actual story setup?

16

henry_kelly54•3d ago

Got schooled on pacing by a random comment on episode 7 of Lycoris Recoil

I was watching that show and thought the action was perfect, then someone points out how the quiet scenes between the fights are what make the hits land harder. It never clicked for me until they said the calm moments are like setting the table before a big dinner. Now I pay way more attention to how shows balance downtime and action, not just the flashy stuff. Has anyone else had a random comment totally shift how you watch a series?

19

felix_jones•18d ago

PSA: The "Scream" scene in Evangelion still gets me every time, 20 years later

I was rewatching Neon Genesis Evangelion last week, the original series not the rebuilds, and I got to episode 18 where Unit 03 goes berserk. That whole sequence where Shinji has to fight it while his friend is inside, the music and the animation just hits different now that I am older. I first watched this show back in 2003 when I was 15, staying up late on a crappy CRT TV in my bedroom. Back then I thought it was just a cool mecha fight with some weird stuff happening. But last Tuesday night, sitting there at 32 years old, I actually felt sick watching Shinji break down. The voice acting in that scene, especially the Japanese dub, is just brutal. Has anyone else gone back to an old favorite and had it hit you way harder than before?

15

rowan666•20d ago

Heard a guy at Fanime say 90s dubs are better than subs and it got me thinking

I was in line for a panel at Fanime last weekend and some dude was going off about how he only watches dubs from the 90s because the voice actors had more soul. He said stuff like Cowboy Bebop and Trigun dubs set the standard and modern voice work feels too polished. Anyone else think older dubs actually had more character than what we get now?

15

susan_wells•21d ago

TIL I've apparently watched over 600 anime series according to my MAL list

I was just messing around on MyAnimeList the other day and hit the 'completed' tab and there it was - 612 entries. Honestly I never kept count before. I started watching anime back in high school around 2008 when a friend lent me a burned DVD of Cowboy Bebop and it just snowballed from there. 612 feels like a weird milestone because it's not really a round number but it hit me how many weekends and late nights that represents. Some of those shows were 12 episode seasons I binged in a day, others were 200+ episode shonen that took months. I checked my average score and it's like a 7.2 so I guess I'm not that picky. Does anyone else ever get surprised by their own numbers on these trackers or do you just ignore them?

18

west.alice•21d ago

Had a talk with a 12 year old about Goku vs Saitama and it got deep

I was at my cousin's birthday party last Saturday and this kid, maybe 12 years old, came up to me and asked who would win in a fight between Goku and Saitama. I gave him the usual answer, saying Saitama's whole thing is winning in one punch so it's not really a fair comparison. But then he looked at me serious and said, "But Goku trains every day and never gives up, Saitama just got lucky with his workout. Who really earned their strength?" I honestly didn't know how to answer that. It made me rethink how I look at characters who are just born powerful versus ones who grind. Now I'm watching One Punch Man again with a totally different perspective. Has anyone else had a kid drop some anime wisdom on them like that?

21

jakewhite•21d ago

Binge watched Attack on Titan on 2x speed for 3 seasons before I realized what I was missing

I always thought anime was slow so I cranked the speed to get through episodes faster. Last week my buddy asked if I caught the subtle music shift during the Beast Titan scene and I had no clue what he meant. Turns out the soundtrack and voice acting are half the experience. Anyone else blast through shows only to realize you skipped the whole vibe?

6

jessicamiller•21d ago

My streaming setup crashed mid episode of Frieren last night

Was watching the latest Frieren episode around 11pm and my entire Plex server just gave up after 3 years of no issues. Anyone else have their home server die at the worst possible moment?

24

henry_kelly54•23d ago

That whole 'sub vs dub' thing - I finally switched sides after 10 years

I used to be one of those people who swore subs were the only way to watch anime. But last month I watched Cowboy Bebop dubbed for the first time after a friend kept bugging me about it, and I gotta admit the English cast actually fits the characters better for that show. Steve Blum as Spike really changed my mind on dubs in general. Now I'm going back and checking dubs for action-heavy shows like Attack on Titan and Jujutsu Kaisen because I noticed I miss half the fight scenes reading subtitles. It's not that subs are bad, it's just that some dubs really put in the work and I was being stubborn for no reason. Has anyone else had a similar switch after watching a specific show?

3

spencer_ross•26d ago

The "filler episode" argument is completely backwards and here's why

I was at a buddy's place in Portland last weekend watching the new season of an anime I'd rather not name. Four episodes in, he stops the stream and says "man this is all filler, nothing's happening." But here's what got me - he was calling character development and world building filler. I told him if every episode was non-stop action you'd burn out by episode 8. He disagreed, we almost got into it. Then I asked him what his favorite arc was from any show. He said the tournament arc in Yu Yu Hakusho, which is basically 20 episodes of characters standing around talking before fighting. I just laughed. Has anyone else noticed people calling any episode without a fight scene "filler" nowadays?

19

sagey69•29d ago

That filler arc that broke my binge streak

I was three episodes deep into a 90s anime rewatch last night when suddenly the plot just stopped dead. The next episode was a beach episode with characters I didn't even recognize. I checked the episode list and realized the next 8 episodes were all filler. I skipped ahead to the last one but it still referenced stuff from the filler, so now I gotta decide if I power through or just drop the whole series for a while. Anyone else hit a wall with filler ruining a good run?

26

charlesj46•1mo ago

Rant: People keep calling filler arcs "non-canon" wrong

Filler means stuff the studio made up that's not in the manga. Non-canon includes whole movies or novels that are official but separate. Saw someone claim the G-8 arc in One Piece was non-canon. It's anime-only filler, but it's still a great arc. How do you explain the difference without sounding like a jerk?

13

tylerw92•1mo ago

Trick for finding good anime on Crunchyroll faster

I got tired of scrolling through 50 pages of isekai. Started checking the "simulcast" section and sorting by user rating. Then I cross-check with MAL scores. Cut my browsing time from 30 minutes to like 5. Anyone else got a better method for filtering out the bad shows?

1

mason361•1mo ago

Got corrected on how I say 'Goku' at a con last month

I was at Anime Expo in LA and mentioned to this guy how I loved how Goku's voice actor changes in the dub. He stopped me mid sentence and said it's 'Go-ku' not 'Go-koo' with a hard pause. I've been saying it wrong for like 6 years since I started watching Dragon Ball Z in high school. Has anyone else had someone call them out on a pronunciation that you just never thought about?

31

fiona_scott44•1mo ago

Binged a 90s mecha series I never heard of and the animation floored me

I picked up this old show called The Big O from a thrift store DVD set for $8 last month. I figured it would be cheesy since it aired back in 1999, but the art style and music caught me off guard. The whole noir detective vibe mixed with giant robot fights felt way ahead of its time for me. I learned that older anime can still hold up if you give it a real shot, especially the cell animation work. Has anyone else found a hidden gem from a decade they normally skip over?

20

wesleyjohnson•1mo ago

The trick that got me through every bad anime recap episode

I was binging this 200-episode shonen and hit a wall with those filler recap episodes that just rehash the last fight. Instead of skipping them entirely, I started playing them at 2x speed on my laptop while I folded laundry or chopped veggies for meal prep. After 8 episodes of this, I realized I never missed any actual new content and my kitchen stayed clean. Has anyone else found a weird way to power through the boring parts of a long series?

12

shane_ross•1mo ago

Watching an anime at a friend's house made me see my own shows differently

I was over at my buddy's place in Denver last month and he put on an old mecha series from the 90s. I usually just watch whatever is new and popular. But the way he talked about the story and the old animation style, pointing out stuff I never noticed, it clicked for me. Now I've gone back and re-watched three shows from my own list, looking for those deeper themes. I caught so much more the second time. Has anyone else had a simple viewing session change how they pick what to watch next?

17

dylan_patel•1mo ago

I had to pick between finishing a long show or starting a new one, and it changed my whole anime week.

So last Friday, I was staring at my list. I had 8 episodes left of the 86 anime, which I was really into, but my friend kept pushing me to start Spy x Family right away. It felt like a real choice: finish the deep, heavy story I was invested in, or jump into the new hot thing everyone was talking about. I decided to finish 86 first. I binged the rest over two nights, and honestly, I'm so glad I did. The ending hit way harder because I saw it all through without a break, and all the story threads felt complete. If I'd stopped, I think I would have lost that feeling. Now I can start Spy x Family with a clear head. Has anyone else had to make a choice like that between finishing one show and starting another?

10

henry_kelly54•1mo ago

Just realized I've been watching anime all wrong for years.

I always tried to keep up with 5 or 6 seasonal shows at once and ended up forgetting half the plots. Last month, I forced myself to just pick one, 'Frieren: Beyond Journey's End', and watch it twice a week with zero other shows. Actually remembering character names and story details was a total game changer. Anyone else try this 'one at a time' method and stick with it?