How to watch anime correctly?

I'd be more interested in lesbian anime and I'm pretty sure there is some.

__________________
Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.

Okay, you know what? I just watched some breastfeeding and tampon scenes and I take it back. I'd rather stay with Ghibli.

As far as audio goes, definitely Japanese with subs. Some dubs are good, but then many are not. Sure, it will be easier to understand what's going on with a dub, even a bad one, but you won't get the same emotions. English-speaking people tend to downplay everything compared to the Japanese, because they, in contrast, like to overact everything. By that I mean girls in anime will usually have a high-pitched, squeaky voice and are likely to shout their lines whenever there's an emotional moment. Guys will also definitely be better at making their voices sound serious when delivering a ridiculous monologue before a fight.

Generally, dubbed anime often sounds out-of-place and weird. The Japanese style of acting is way more... spicy than that of the English-speaking people. Also, keep in mind that the Japanese produce so much anime that they simply need to have a lot of very, very good voice actors (and they do). Let's face it: in English-speaking countries good voice actors are somewhat harder to come by because most of the mainstream stuff in the world is in English, so they don't need to get it dubbed. Also, Disney, Pixar, and Dreamworks all put together don't put out anywhere near as much animation as Japan does. Less demand = less talented voice actors.

__________________
Check out my blog: Yasashii's Retro Game Playground

See this is the problem I have with anime. I just can't listen to dubs. I have to listen to the original language, but there's so often this either little toddler lispy thing going on or the high pitched squeal which God knows as a Scouser I can recognise but taken to the nth degree it's awful and completely off putting

Christine, I think you would enjoy one that I enjoy.. its called "Mushishi"... its very dramatic... and the little kids in it dont screech...

Thanks MG, I'll have a look for that tomorrow

Your welcome.. I watch two others...

Darker than Black and Hell Girl

thats it.... My daughter is big into anime.

I popped a couple titles in over the weekend - it had been a while since I got a chance to watch some proper anime.

I watched a little Lain and Macross Plus!

__________________

That would be a criminal activity in some countries. Actually, Japan was studying prohibiting any form of drawn child pornography including comics.

Ghibli films have rather conservative dubbs I think. Some dubbs of nerd stuff like K-On are made to please specific otaku fetishes and not general of their voice acting.

Japanese stuff is always way more "over the top" than western stuff. It's weird that heavy metal is not more popular in Japan than in Europe, since it's over the top music.

And they make 500 dollars per episode!

I typically watch all straight action, adventure and horror anime with the original Japanese actors, and subtitles... but, in all honesty, having tried it both ways, out-and-out comedies (Ranma 1/2, Baka and Test, Urusei Yatsura, etc.) really do tend to "work" better -- for me, at least -- dubbed.

Much humor in anime is highly idiosyncratic, tied directly to Japanese culture, and thus all but impenetrable on this side of the ocean. (You'll laugh harder, and far more often, watching Sgt. Frog or Samurai Pizza Cats in English than you ever would otherwise...!)

Ultimately, however: whichever way works best for you is the "correct" way to do so. No one else is sitting on the sofa next to you, silently passing judgment, after all.

__________________
"If it was priggish for an older generation of reviewers to be ashamed of what they enjoyed and to feel they had to be contemptuous of popular entertainment, it's even more priggish for a new movie generation to be so proud of what they enjoy that they use their education to try to place trash within the acceptable academic tradition." -- Pauline Kael

It seems silly to worry much about it, just do whatever you enjoy the most. There's no authority on anime and even if there were you wouldn't have to listen to them.

Looks like youre gonna hafta lern Hapanees just to watch cartoons the right way.