c/anime-discussions

Those expensive art markers turned out to be a waste

I bought a set of 60 alcohol markers for $120 to color manga panels. Dried out after 3 weeks and the colors bled through everything. Anyone else fall for the hype on fancy supplies?

Tried to watch Evangelion in Japanese without subs for a week

I was at my apartment in Chicago last month and decided to challenge myself by watching Evangelion raw with no subtitles. I made it through 4 episodes before I realized I understood maybe 10% of what was happening, and I was literally just guessing at the plot points. The worst part was when I got to episode 16 and thought Shinji was confessing his love to Unit 01, but it turned out he was just talking about plugging in the umbilical cable. I had to pull up a summary site to figure out what I missed, and I felt so dumb. Has anyone else tried watching an anime without subs and totally botched the meaning of a scene?

Back in 2018 I used to watch dubbed anime on sketchy sites

Remember when you had to wait a week for fansubs to drop on some random blog? Now I just pay $12 a month for Crunchyroll and get simulcasts the same day. Crazy how much easier it is now, but I kinda miss the hunt for that one site with the decent video quality. Anyone else feel like something got lost with all the convenience?

The skip button hack that saved me from anime burnout

I was getting to where I couldn't finish a single new anime season because I kept dropping shows after two episodes. The problem was I'd force myself to watch every episode all the way through even when I was bored out of my mind. Then last month I tried something simple - I started skipping scenes that felt like filler or reused animations. Not whole episodes, just the slow bits. Turns out I finished three shows in one week that I'd been stuck on for months. The trick is to stop treating anime like homework where you have to see every frame. Has anyone else found a way to speed through the fluff without missing the good parts?

Just learned I was rewatching episodes wrong for 5 years

I always hit 'next episode' right when the credits started rolling, but last week I let an episode of Attack on Titan play through the end credits and there was a full scene after the music stopped. Has anyone else missed important post-credit scenes in their favorite shows?

Debating sub vs dub after a nightmare marathon session

So last Saturday I decided to finally watch that 90 episode mecha series everyone raves about. I went with the sub because I usually prefer original voices. But about 30 episodes in, I realized I was zoning out during the long exposition scenes. My eyes were just glazing over the subtitles. So I switched to the dub for the next 10 episodes just to see. Man, the voice acting was totally different. The main character sounded way more angry in English, like he was shouting half his lines. But I actually caught more of the plot because my brain wasn't working so hard to read. By the end I had watched 40 episodes subbed and 30 dubbed, and I honestly can't decide which version I liked better. Does sticking with the original language always give you the better experience, or is it okay to switch if it helps you actually enjoy the show more? Has anyone else gone back and forth mid series like that?

Rant: That time I argued about sub vs dub at a con and it got way too real

So I was at Anime Expo last year waiting in line for the Crunchyroll panel. This dude behind me starts going off about how dubs are trash and subs are the only way to watch. I told him I actually prefer dubs for shows like Cowboy Bebop and FMA because the voice acting is iconic. He literally laughed and said I wasn't a real fan. We went back and forth for like 20 minutes until his friend pulled him away. But it got me thinking - why do people get so nasty about this? Is it just gatekeeping or is there something else going on? Has anyone else had a debate like this turn into a full on argument?

Had to pick between watching the subbed or dubbed version of a 200 episode show in one weekend

My buddy dared me to finish Naruto Shippuden in a weekend. I know, ridiculous. I went with subbed because I figured faster reading equals faster watching. By hour 14 I was hallucinating ninjas in my peripheral vision and my eyes felt like sandpaper. Around episode 120 I accidentally started reading a pizza box menu as if it were subtitles. Did I finish? No, I passed out around episode 160 and woke up with a charlie horse in my neck. Has anyone else attempted a dumb binge like this and regretted their format choice?

Got schooled on sub vs dub by a 14 year old at the con

I was at Anime Expo last month and this kid overheard me complaining about a show's English voice acting. He just goes "you ever watch the original JP track with subs? really changes the emotion." I brushed him off at first but then I actually tried it on three episodes of Frieren. The difference in delivery on sad scenes was night and day. Now I'm questioning like half my watchlist. Anyone else had a random stranger totally shift how they view something?

Unpopular take on the Hero's Journey trope in modern shonen

I was sitting in my buddy's apartment last Thursday watching the new season of that popular fighting anime. Every arc follows the same pattern - training, tournament, betrayal, power-up. Am I the only one bored of this formula or does it still hit for you?

Hit 100 completed series on my MAL this week.

The time a veteran subber told me to stop watching dubs entirely for a month

He said I'd never appreciate the original voice acting if I kept splitting my attention, so I gave it a shot with Death Note. Did a full switch actually change anyone else's preferences or am I just a convert now?

I finally chose subbed over dubbed for Attack on Titan

Tbh I always went with dubbed because I like to multitask while watching, but my buddy Jeremy kept pushing me to try subbed for season 4. I gave in after he bet me $20 it would be better, and honestly the voice acting hits way harder in Japanese. Eren's VA in the sub is just on another level, especially during the big monologue in episode 80. Has anyone else found that switching languages changed how they felt about a scene?

I switched from watching dubbed to subbed after 8 years of anime

For the longest time I only watched dubbed because I could multitask or glance at my phone. Then I started Attack on Titan season 2 last month and the English voice acting for Eren just felt flat compared to the Japanese clips I saw online. Now I'm rewatching everything subbed and catching so much more emotion in scenes like episode 7 of Death Note. Anyone else make the jump late and regret not doing it sooner?

Tried watching a fan-cut with all filler removed, got a completely different show than I remembered

Why does nobody talk about how hard it is to pick between Attack on Titan sub and dub

Tbh I had to make a choice last month between watching AoT subbed or dubbed after my friend group split on it. I went with the sub first because everyone said the Japanese voice acting hits harder with Eren's screams. Honestly after 15 episodes I swapped to the dub and it felt way more natural for following the action during the big Titan fights. Has anyone else swapped mid-series and regretted it or stuck with one?

Unpopular take: shelling out $30 for a Crunchyroll sub was a waste for me

I dropped $30 on a monthly Crunchyroll membership thinking I'd binge all the classics, but the app kept buffering on my TV and half the shows I wanted had expired licenses. Am I the only one who feels like streaming services are getting worse, not better, for the price?

Heard two guys at a con arguing about sub vs dub and it actually made me switch sides

I always figured dubbed anime was for people who couldn't keep up with subtitles, you know? But last month at Anime Expo I overheard this one dude making a point about how the English VA for Spirited Away actually matched the character's age better than the Japanese voice. He said something like 'the original actress was 40 playing a 10 year old, the dub actress was 12.' I watched it again with the dub and honestly it hit different. Am I the only one who changed their mind on this after hearing a specific argument?

Ran into a wild fact about Dragon Ball Z episode count while checking Wikipedia last night

I was just looking up something random on Dragon Ball Z, and I found out that the original run actually had 291 episodes. That floored me because I always thought it was closer to 200 something. I spent like 20 minutes double checking different sources and yeah, it's 291. Has anyone else been surprised by a show's actual total episode count before?

Changed my mind about subs vs dubs after a bad week in June

I always swore by dubbed anime, but last June I had a terrible week where my internet went out for 3 days straight. I had to watch some older series on DVD from my local library, and the only option was subbed for a show called 'Monster.' I got so into the story that I forgot I was even reading, and now I actually prefer subs for anything serious. Anyone else have a moment where they switched sides?

I started watching subbed anime instead of dubbed and my whole world opened up

For about 3 years I only watched dubbed stuff because I thought reading subtitles would be too slow for me. Then I forced myself to try Attack on Titan subbed during a long bus ride last month. I caught details in the voice acting that just don't come through in the dub, like that raw emotion in Eren's screams. Now I'm rewatching old favorites subbed and it's like hearing them for the first time. Has anyone else felt like they missed half the story watching dubbed?

Went to a con in Chicago and noticed everyone was glued to their phones during the opening ceremony

I was at Anime Central last weekend and like half the crowd was scrolling through Twitter during the big guest announcement instead of watching the stage. Like I get checking your phone but people were literally missing the whole thing. Has anyone else noticed this at cons or is it just me getting old lol?

I finally fell for a $60 anime figure that arrived looking like a melted candle

Bought a discounted figure of a character I liked off some sketchy site and when it showed up the face was all squished and the arm was bent at a weird angle. Has anyone else gotten ripped off by those cheap bootleg figure sellers that pop up on social media ads?

Remember when fansubbed episodes came on VHS tapes?

I was digging through some old boxes and found a fan-subbed VHS of Evangelion from 1997 with a handwritten label. The quality was terrible, half the subs were misspelled, and someone's friend had taped over the last 10 minutes with a wrestling match. Has anyone else noticed how the whole experience of discovering anime has shifted from physical trades to just clicking 'next episode' instantly?

Hot take: that scene in episode 4 of Vinland Saga actually changed how I think about forgiveness

I was rewatching season 2 last weekend and when Einar tells Thorfinn that he's not required to hate someone who wronged him, it stopped me cold. My dad walked out on us when I was 12 and I've been carrying that anger for 10 years now. Idk, something about two fictional characters on a boat in the middle of nowhere made me realize I've been punishing myself more than him. Has anyone else had a random anime moment hit way harder than you expected?