Dubs vs Subs - In Defense of Both for Nintendo - LightningNaga

It’s the debate that spawns a thousand memes in the anime and video game communities. 

“Do I watch it dubbed or subbed?”

This is a question that is actually pretty sensitive among fans. Do I pay respect to the original voice actors and writing? Do I listen to it in my most natural language so I don’t necessarily have to rely on subtitles? 

While this is a debate that is typically found analyzed profusely with anime fans - the video game fandom has the same debate. This is especially the case when it comes to Nintendo-released titles. And I’m sure if you join the Nintendo Jump Discord you could meet people with a ton of different opinions. 

For this post in particular, we’ll analyze three games and my opinions on the language version(s) of said games. One that’s pro-Subs, one that’s pro-Dub, and one that’s good either way.

To be fair, I’m excluding any games released on Nintendo devices that are only available in one language (I’m looking at you Tokyo Mirage Sessions and Persona Q2). However, I am not limiting my games to JUST ones released on Nintendo devices. 

Pro-Subs - Kill la Kill IF

For those who don’t know, the Studio Trigger anime Kill la Kill had a fighting game released in 2019. I was extremely hyped about this as it’s honestly one of my favorite series of all time. I watched the show dubbed, as it premiered on Cartoon Network during the Toonami block. And the cast is pretty fantastic (plenty of which can be found in other games on this list).

But then I started playing it. 

Now, I will say that the scripts are pretty close together. But because of the difference in syllables between the native Japanese and English, lip flaps were completely off. 

Lip flaps are those things that you make fun of with old Godzilla movies when they were recorded in English. 

The visuals and audio were totally off sync, and it distracted me so much to the point I couldn’t even play it Dubbed. Not even high energy matches could make me forget. 

Pro-Dubs - The Fire Emblem Series (Specifically Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

I think one of the top reasons the Fire Emblem series has had such amazing Dubs and scripts is because of one main reason. 

Patrick Seitz. 

For those who don’t know, Patrick Seitz started working on Fire Emblem with Awakening, and he has served as the voice/adr director for many Fire Emblem titles. 

But what’s important to understand, is that Seitz is a voice actor. And he has adapted and directed anime for years. (And he was a High School English teacher before all of this, so that must help.) 

And with that knowledge in both voice acting and writing, he knows what works and what doesn’t. And he can pass that knowledge to those that come in to the booth. Multiple voice actors for the Three Houses cast have talked about how amazing he was to work with. 

And I think that’s what makes the Dub so good in recent Fire Emblem games - specifically Three Houses. You get this raw emotion that Anti-Dubbers say most Dubs lack. It doesn’t sound forced, it sounds right. 

You Decide - Persona Q

I was pretty disappointed when Persona Q2 was announced without an English Dubbed version - but I could understand why. Despite a pretty great and large cast of Persona veterans, the games itself are very much a “Japanese”-style game. 

And this was something apparent in Persona Q. Everything from the setting, the gameplay, and the story were aspects that a more Japanese audience would see more in common with. Games like Persona Q and Etrian Odyssey just aren’t as possible in other regions of the world. 

But despite the clearly Japanese cultural influences in the script, the English cast did a great job at making it relatable. This is something they were able to do with the main Persona games as well. 

This is why I would put Persona Q as a “good either way” choice between Subbed or Dubbed. 

Conclusion

I think it’s important as gamers to be receptive of both Subbed and Dubbed titles. If we’re so selective on our preference in language, we might miss out on some great games! 

And if we have the time available, I don’t think there’s any harm in trying both out - to get a more experienced-based opinion on the debate. 

And hey - I think we can all agree that the neutral choice of this debate would be the animalese of Animal Crossing.