Ask John: How Many Americans Prefer Dubbed Anime?

Question:
What rough percentages of American anime fans fall into the dub vs. sub camps? Have there ever been any scientific polls conducted on this issue by anime distributors or periodicals for market research purposes?

The few people I do know who enjoy anime are all “sub-only” people like me, but I think I have read in a few places that “dubs people” are actually in the far majority. Even my little nieces (13 and 10) prefer to watch subtitled versions, if available.

I would buy subtitled anime series released without English voice tracks without hesitation, especially if that was the only way the distributor could afford to release them domestically. And I find it frustrating that some popular series such as POCKET MONSTERS will probably never be available in Japanese with subtitles.

Answer:
I’m not aware of any scientific or trustworthy professional or informal studies on the aural viewing preferences of American anime fans. However, based on my observations as an employee of an anime specialty retailer and as a habitual industry observer, I have no doubts whatsoever that the American anime watching population predominantly prefers anime dubbed into English. There are numerous examples that provide evidence of America’s preference for anime with spoken English dialogue instead of original Japanese language dialogue.

There are only a handful of subtitled only American anime DVDs. American anime DVDs commonly include a selectable English dub because anime DVDs that don’t include English dubbing don’t sell well. Extrapolating from AnimeNation sales and observation of the American market, subtitled only DVDs sell only a small fraction of the number of copies that bilingual and English only anime DVDs sell. I’ve read countless complaints about DreamWorks’ decision to release Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence on American DVD without an English dub. I’ve read countless promises from self-proclaimed anime fans who refuse to purchase any anime DVD that doesn’t include a selectable English dub. Anime series including Pokemon, Megaman, Rave, Kirby, Sonic, and Viewtiful Joe are only available on American DVD in English dubbed versions. The Cartoon Network has expressed an interest in broadcasting anime in its original Japanese language, but so far has not done so. Only an estimated 10% of the programming on the Anime Network is broadcast in its original language. AD Vision has even admitted to creating an “Americanized” English dub of Gakkou no Kaiden in order to boost sales, implying that only a faithful, unaltered release of the series won’t generate a satisfactory number of sales.

There are many signs that the majority preference for anime in America is with its original audio track replaced. Ironically, although many Americans seem to like Japanese animation; most of them don’t like it actually in Japanese. I’m familiar with the theory that anime being released on subtitled only DVD might speed up its official American release. In fact, I can virtually guarantee that subtitled only DVDs could be released in America faster than bilingual discs. But subtitled only anime DVDs aren’t financially viable in America in most cases because they sell so few copies. I don’t have any reliable estimate of the exact popularity of English dubbed anime in America. So based entirely on subjective speculation, I’d guess that no more than 20% of America’s fan community consistently prefers subtitled anime or watches only Japanese language anime. Also by purely speculative estimation I’d say that more than 50% of America’s anime watchers refuse to watch anime with spoken Japanese dialogue. I need to stress that my statistics are purely imaginary, based on my own vague estimations. But if my experience has any value, I can confirm with absolute certainty that a large majority of American anime viewers prefer English dubbing instead of original Japanese language audio.