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Anime Dub/Sub Issues: When Meaning & Feels Get Lost in Translation

Often times I get called out for being too judgmental when it comes to anime and dubbing. It is true. I am. However, there is a different feeling to me when you watch it in its main language and subbed rather than translated. Somehow, more often than not part of the feeling behind the whole scene gets lost in translation. Not to mention the many times we have encountered censorship or plain deleted scenes in the anime we grew up with. That has ruined my confidence in any anime I watch in English because it leaves me wondering what most likely got cut off or if I am getting the full version as intended (and not an edited/censored version based on someone's hang-ups) .

I prefer watching anime in Japanese with subtitles. However, most of the ones I grew up with I still would rather watch in Latin Spanish. Thankfully only a couple seemed to have been censored, like Ranma 1/2, but that was apparently due to prolonger moments of prolonged nudity (keeping most of the nude scenes as long as they were relevant to the plotline). I realized this when quarantine first started. I was incredibly surprised that Sailor Moon was not censored in Spanish. I was in love with Haruka when she was first introduced and loved her and Michiru as well as the Sailor Stars. Same with Cardcaptor Sakura in that I was very surprised when I found out it was censored. Like seriously? I mean, I do understand the Rika/Teacher part of it, but thankfully in the anime, it was not too bad. But why would anyone censor Yukito/Touya?

This brings me to my final point: people should remember that this all comes down to personal preference. I am not able to watch anime in Spaniard Spanish. The lingo can be so different and not always familiar to me- especially when it comes to some of the terms used. Like with English, it makes me feel like something is lost in translation and the feelings do not quite come across for me properly. That said, why does Netflix not have the Latin Spanish translation for these anime? Why only Spaniard Spanish? I hope to see that addressed by the streaming service sooner rather than later.

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