We "won" the sub vs. dub wars by dubs usually being dogshit, unfortunately. That's not our fault. I didn't want dubs to suck ass, but when they usually suck ass, I am going to point out that fact and recommend subs as a preferable alternative if I want someone to enjoy watching anime.
I will watch both dubs and subs because I stopped having a personal preference in the game a long time ago. These days, I will go with whatever holds my attention the most; the original Gundam wasn't catching my attention subbed, so in my second attempt, I'm watching it dubbed and I actually have of yet to catch myself about to drift off. Higurashi is sub all the way, however, sometimes I will turn on the dub if I'm a little lazy and to also ask myself the question of "How in the FUCK did Geneon drop the ball so hard when I know these VAs are actually
good?"
My issue with dubs comes from both the script and ADR director, and sometimes there's just only so much you can do because some people just cannot voice-act no matter what. I actually
like listening to older dubs because
at the very least, I can distinguish between voices, and that helps add to the lulz. It's rare these days for a newer VA to sound unique, and all the seasoned VAs are retiring, dying off, or are stepping out of roles due to #OwnVoices/the clique getting to be too much.
I had this thought yesterday watching/listening to Berserk at work (the bloopers fan-cut btw), where even without looking at the screen for maybe half the time, I didn't have a problem telling voices apart. And everyone was just
so raw, it was real refreshing despite being an older Media Blasters dub. It even got me thinking that Veronica Taylor's voice for Ash Ketchum is actually a
unique range because she's only used that particular voice a couple of times. Young Griffith was a mix of Ash and her usual voice, sounding
just enough to separate her portrayal of both characters as being different likely because she was still dubbing Pokémon at the time and didn't want to bring "Ash" into the Eclipse.
And I really miss that about dubs. They just don't do that anymore, and that frustrates me.
