This whole debate is silly

I love ink running through water. It's just so gorgeous, laying something over the base and seeing where it runs. And let's be honest here, the debate of dub versus sub is much like adding colored ink to black water. Anime isn't meant to be viewed either way, when you really think about it. The purists say that anime should be watched in subtitles because the Japanese audio is the original track. That is certainly true.

But on the other hand, the anime was originally meant to be watched in the language of the audience, meaning that dubbed anime actually stays closer to the original feeling it was meant to provoke. You're not supposed to be shifting your eyes from text to story. You're supposed to watch and the meaning of their words should reach you without you having to give it too much thought.

So really, there is no solid, factual argument for which is better. It's all a matter of opinion. Personally I think the show should be watched in its original language, but that's unfair of me to say: I speak a fairly good amount of Japanese and do not have to rely on subs. But, the people who prefer the dub also have a point. I have noticed many things while watching Gurren Lagann in dub because I'm no longer busy watching the subtitles. (yes, I am lazy and rarely bother translating the show for myself)

So if you walk away from this remembering only one thing, remember that (when done right) neither way is any better than the other. One preserves the author's original script, but the other preserves the author's original intent.

Blue ink doesn't belong in black water, and when put there it branches in different ways. Much like anime, when brought to other countries, takes different directions when you try to impose another language upon it--either in subtitles or dubs. But the branches of ink are gorgeous, aren't they? Why should anime be any different?

So really, both sides deserve a fair chance and your attention.

(That having been said, the Gurren Lagann review will be up soon. I was unable to post after the episode due to technical problems.)

Introduction

I'll be the first to admit that I'm no good at this whole 'introductory' thing, but here goes. My name is Kasey, and I've been watching anime since before I could spell my own name. It started with the campy, over-done Speed Racer, and spiraled into Samurai Pizza Cats, Sailor Moon, Pokémon, Dragon Ball Z, and so on. At the time I watched all of these in English, as they were aired on television.

Around the time that I turned ten I began watching Dragon Ball Z in the Japanese subtitles. These were much harder for me to get my hands on, but I had some connections and breezed through the Cell Saga while most people were waiting for new episodes to air (for those of you unfamiliar with Dragon Ball Z, I was probably a good thirty or forty episodes ahead). It was around that time that I started paying attention to the debate of dub versus sub.

Which is to say, whether a show is better when dubbed over in English, or when the Japanese audio is merely subtitled.

So what does this have to do with anything? I would like to think that over the years I've become at least somewhat knowledgeable about this subject. I give each show I watch a fair try in both Japanese and English, both with and without translations. These days dozens of new anime are being brought to the United States, and a good handful of those are being aired on television. My goal is to tell you which ones are worth watching, and which dubs you should avoid.

Right now, the three shows I aim to analyze are these:
Code Geass: Cartoon Network, Sunday 5:00 AM
Moribito: Cartoon Network, Sunday 5:30 AM
Gurren Lagann: Sci-Fi Network, Monday 11:01 PM
(all times listed are in Eastern Standard Time)

Of these, I have the most familiarity with Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, having watched all of it in Japanese. On the other hand, I have only seen a few episodes of Code Geass in Japanese, and have seen nothing of Moribito. For each of these I hope to bring a different approach, as I have a different frame of reference for each.

Unfortunately, a good deal of time has passed since each of these shows began airing, so for those people simply wishing to know more about the show, I suggest going elsewhere. I will provide a general overview of the show's main plot, but that is no exception for actually watching the episodes. For those people who have already seen the show, this is for you.

I especially hope to be useful to those people who, like me, have seen a series in Japanese and wish to know if the English is worth watching. This is particularly relevant in the case of Gurren Lagann, as DVDs are being released without the English language track included. Why bother buying the multilingual DVDs if the dub is simply mediocre? These are the sorts of things I would like to discuss.