c/anime-discussions

I started watching subbed anime instead of dubbed and my whole world opened up

For about 3 years I only watched dubbed stuff because I thought reading subtitles would be too slow for me. Then I forced myself to try Attack on Titan subbed during a long bus ride last month. I caught details in the voice acting that just don't come through in the dub, like that raw emotion in Eren's screams. Now I'm rewatching old favorites subbed and it's like hearing them for the first time. Has anyone else felt like they missed half the story watching dubbed?

Went to a con in Chicago and noticed everyone was glued to their phones during the opening ceremony

I was at Anime Central last weekend and like half the crowd was scrolling through Twitter during the big guest announcement instead of watching the stage. Like I get checking your phone but people were literally missing the whole thing. Has anyone else noticed this at cons or is it just me getting old lol?

I finally fell for a $60 anime figure that arrived looking like a melted candle

Bought a discounted figure of a character I liked off some sketchy site and when it showed up the face was all squished and the arm was bent at a weird angle. Has anyone else gotten ripped off by those cheap bootleg figure sellers that pop up on social media ads?

Remember when fansubbed episodes came on VHS tapes?

I was digging through some old boxes and found a fan-subbed VHS of Evangelion from 1997 with a handwritten label. The quality was terrible, half the subs were misspelled, and someone's friend had taped over the last 10 minutes with a wrestling match. Has anyone else noticed how the whole experience of discovering anime has shifted from physical trades to just clicking 'next episode' instantly?

Hot take: that scene in episode 4 of Vinland Saga actually changed how I think about forgiveness

I was rewatching season 2 last weekend and when Einar tells Thorfinn that he's not required to hate someone who wronged him, it stopped me cold. My dad walked out on us when I was 12 and I've been carrying that anger for 10 years now. Idk, something about two fictional characters on a boat in the middle of nowhere made me realize I've been punishing myself more than him. Has anyone else had a random anime moment hit way harder than you expected?

Bought a $300 figure of Ryuko from Kill la Kill and the arm came off in the box

I pre-ordered that fancy figure from a site called WeebWonders back in March, paid $300 plus shipping, and when I opened it the right arm was just lying there loose. The peg was snapped clean off like it was made of cheap plastic or something. Has anyone else had a bad experience with figures from lesser-known import shops?

My favorite anime streaming site went down during the season finale last night

I was all set up with my snacks and everything, ready to watch the last episode of that new mecha show everyone's been talking about. Then right at the climactic fight scene, the whole site just crashed on me. I sat there refreshing for like 20 minutes while my chat group kept sending spoilers. Finally I gave up and drove to my friend's place at 11 PM because he had it downloaded. His internet was slow too so we watched it buffering every 30 seconds, which kind of ruined the hype honestly. Has anyone else had a streaming service totally fail on them at the worst possible moment?

Found a trick to binge-watch old anime without burning out

I was trying to get through the original Mobile Suit Gundam series, 43 episodes from 1979, and around episode 15 I hit a wall hard. The pacing felt super slow compared to modern shows. Then I started watching at 1.25x speed on my laptop, and honestly it was a game changer. The dialogue still sounds natural but the action scenes feel way tighter. I also switched to watching one episode during lunch and one at night instead of cramming three in a row. Now I'm at episode 38 and I actually remember the plot. Has anyone else tried messing with playback speed for older anime?

Hit 217 episodes of One Piece last month and something clicked

I was just watching casually, then I realized I'd passed the 200 mark without even noticing. That number surprised me because I'd always thought long-running shows would get boring by then, but the arcs kept pulling me in. For those who've watched big milestone episodes, did the show change for better or worse after a certain point?

Dropped my whole anime collection down a stairwell at a con last weekend

I was hauling a box of Blu-rays up to my dealer room at Anime Expo in LA and the bottom gave out, sending like 30 discs clattering down two flights - had to spend $60 on replacement cases and spent an hour checking scratches, has anyone else lost stuff moving booths at a big con?

Debate: Should dubs or subs get the credit for making anime mainstream?

I’ve been watching anime since 2015, and I swear subs are the only way to catch the real emotion. But my buddy from college says dubbed shows like DBZ on Toonami back in the 90s built the whole fanbase here. Which side actually did the heavy lifting? I’ve seen arguments about accessibility vs. accuracy, so what do you all think?

Finally finished watching all of One Piece in 6 months

I hit episode 1120 last night after starting back in January. It took me about 30 episodes a week while the kids napped. Has anyone else tried binging something that long and actually made it?

Can we talk about the advice my friend gave on pacing anime arcs?

My buddy Nate told me to skip the filler arcs in Naruto because they're a waste of time. I watched about 20 episodes of filler in the middle of Shippuden before I took his advice and skipped straight to the canon stuff. Now I actually see the pacing was dragging me down and I finished the main story in like 3 weeks. Has anyone else regretted sticking through filler just because of peer pressure?

Just realized I've been watching anime wrong for 10 years

I was at a friend's place last Saturday and he put on an episode of Cowboy Bebop. I mentioned I usually skip the opening credits to save time. He looked at me like I was crazy and said "the music and visuals set the mood for the whole show." So I watched the next episode with the intro and the ending credits too. Now I'm going back through my whole watchlist to see what I missed. Has anyone else been burned by skipping intros and regretted it later?

Sub vs. Dub debate: I was Team Dub for 10 years until a bad translation ruined a whole episode for me

Started watching One Piece from episode 1 back in March, somehow I'm still not caught up and I don't think I'll ever be

I really thought I could binge through it in a month or two like I did with Naruto back in college. But man, this show just keeps going and going. I'm stuck around episode 450 now and every time I think I'm making progress, there's another arc that drags on forever. The Dressrosa arc alone felt like it took me three weeks. What did I learn? That I should have just read the wiki summaries and called it a day. Has anyone else started a long running anime and just given up halfway through?

Caught a panel at Anime Expo in LA that flipped how I pace my watch sessions

I was at the AX2024 convention center floor last July, and a guy named Ken from Crunchyroll talked about how viewers burn out after 3 episodes if there's no breathing room. He said studios actually build in 'rest beats' around episode 4 or 5 of a 12 episode run, but I always binged straight through. Now I pause after episode 3 to let stuff sink in, and shows feel way less exhausting. Has anyone else hit that same wall where you forget what happened by episode 8?

That time a random guy on a forum told me to skip the first 3 episodes of Steins;Gate

I was struggling to get into Steins;Gate and someone on here said just skip the slow start and jump to episode 4. I did that and missed all the setup for the characters and the whole vibe. Ended up confused and had to go back and watch them anyway. Anyone else have a bad time following skipping advice on a show they were trying?

Went to an anime convention last month and the panel rooms were a complete mess

I hit up Anime Expo in LA last month and the panel rooms were honestly a disaster. They had people lined up for 2 hours for a popular show discussion and the room barely held 100 seats. I ended up missing the whole thing because the volunteers had no clue how to manage the overflow. Has anyone else dealt with overcrowded panels at big cons or is it just me?

Saw the original Sailor Moon cels at a convention in Portland last month

I was at the Sakura-Con in Portland (well, it was a smaller offshoot) and they had a booth with actual hand-painted animation cels from the 90s Sailor Moon series. The detail on them is crazy different from what you see on screen, like the shading on Usagi's hair has like 4 distinct layers of color. I spent a good 15 minutes just staring at one of Sailor Jupiter in her transformation pose, you can even see the tiny brush strokes on the sparkle effects. It made me realize how much work went into each frame before everything went digital. The seller told me some of these cels were used for the actual broadcast and others were backups, priced anywhere from $80 to $400 depending on the character. Has anyone else come across original cels at a con and bought one?

Dubbed vs subbed debate got me last night at 2am

I was watching Akira with my brother. He swore the English dub was better. I always said subs are the only way. But then we watched the new dub from 2021 and something clicked. The lip flaps actually matched and the voice acting had real emotion. Now I'm confused. Do you guys stick with one or switch based on the show?

Finally watching subbed instead of dubbed - night and day difference

Tbh I used to only watch dubbed anime because I thought I'd miss stuff reading subtitles. Last month I gave Attack on Titan a try in Japanese with subs and I caught way more emotion in the voice acting. Now I'm 15 episodes into season 2 and I can't go back. Anyone else make the switch and feel like they're watching a totally different show?

Spent $80 on a box set for an anime I thought was overrated, and it completely changed my view.

Tried to watch 'One Piece' in order in a single weekend and my brain is now scrambled eggs.

My friend keeps calling the 'Attack on Titan' ending a 'plot hole' and it drives me nuts

He said it last week, that the final twist was a mistake because it didn't explain a thing from season 1. I had to pull up the manga on my phone and show him the exact panel from six years ago that sets it all up. It's not a plot hole, he just forgot a major story point. Does anyone else have a friend who argues about anime they barely remember?