Alright, let’s gab about this The Boy and the Heron movie, y’know, the one everyone’s yappin’ about. Folks keep askin’ me, “should I watch it dubbed or subbed?” Well, hold your horses, I’ll tell ya what I think.
First off, this “dubbed” thing, it means they got them fancy actors speakin’ English over the Japanese talkin’. Big names, they say, like that fella from the bat movie, what’s his name? Oh yeah, Robert Pattinson, and that tough guy, Christian Bale. They even got that pretty girl, Florence Pugh, in there. Sounds all high and mighty, don’t it?
Now, the “subbed” way, that’s when you hear the real Japanese voices and they got them words at the bottom of the screen. You gotta read while you watch, which, you know, can be a pain in the neck if your eyes ain’t what they used to be. But some folks swear it’s the only way to watch, says it feels more real, more… I dunno… Japanese-y, I guess.
- Dubbed: English voices, easy to listen to.
- Subbed: Original Japanese voices, gotta read subtitles.
So, I watched both. Yep, I did. Sat myself down, got my glasses on, and watched them both. The dubbed one, well, it’s easy on the ears. You just sit back and listen, no need to squint at the bottom of the screen. Them actors, they do a pretty good job, I reckon. They make the characters sound like real people, even if they ain’t speakin’ the real language.
But then, there’s the subbed one. At first, it’s a bit of a bother, readin’ and watchin’ at the same time. But after a while, you get used to it. And, gotta say, them Japanese voices, they got somethin’ special. They sound… different. More… emotional, maybe? Like they really mean what they’re sayin’. It’s hard to explain, but it just feels… right.
This movie, it ain’t no simple cartoon, mind you. It’s about a boy, Mahito, and his ma gets killed in a fire durin’ that war, the one in Tokyo. Then he and his pa, they go live with his ma’s sister out in the country. And this sister, well, she’s gonna have a baby, so Mahito’s gonna have a new brother or sister. Lot of stuff happenin’, see? And the heron, well, that’s a whole other story. Big bird, kinda spooky, kinda magical. Robert Pattinson voices it in the dubbed version, which is kinda funny when you think about it, him playin’ a bird after playin’ that bat-guy.
So, which one’s better? Dubbed or subbed? Well, that’s the million-dollar question, ain’t it? I ain’t gonna tell ya one is better than the other, ’cause it ain’t that simple. It depends on what you like. If you want somethin’ easy and you don’t want to read, go for the dubbed. It’s got all them famous actors and you can just relax and enjoy the story. But if you wanna hear the real deal, the way it was meant to be heard, and you don’t mind readin’ a bit, then the subbed is the way to go. It feels more… authentic, y’know? Like you’re really there, in Japan, listenin’ to them folks talk.
Personally, I liked both. Yep, I did. The dubbed was good for when I was tired and just wanted to kick back. But the subbed, well, that one stuck with me. Them voices, they just… they got to me. Made me feel things, y’know? So, if I had to pick just one, I’d say go with the subbed. But hey, that’s just me. You do what you want. It’s your movie, after all.
And don’t let anyone tell you different. Some folks, they get all high and mighty about this stuff, sayin’ you gotta watch it subbed or you ain’t a real fan. Hogwash, I say. Watch it however you want. Just enjoy the story, that’s the important thing.
Tags: [The Boy and the Heron, Dubbed, Subbed, Movie Review, Anime, Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki, Christian Bale, Robert Pattinson, Florence Pugh, Japanese, English, Animation]
