> For foreign content (like Anime) I use dubs + subs (the subs are of the initial English translation before the dubs were done) because it gives 2 passes at any given line. I find it very interesting to see how they change things between the two and it sometimes paints a fuller picture.
Anime is an interesting case, because — remember, a lot of these threads are about poor enunciation and mixing? — anime tends to be really well enunciated, and the characters speak like they're on stage. It's easy to follow along. I keep subs on, because I don't understand literally everything, but usually I don't read them.
Surprise surprise, this doesn't reduce my immersion at all.
Also if you speak some Japanese and listen to the Japanese audio while reading the subs it makes for some interesting food for thought, often the translations aren’t exactly what the characters are actually saying so you get a feel for how the languages and cultures differ.
Sometimes it's that, but often it's just that concepts don't really map 1-1. Especially humor, often jokes don't really directly translate well even with great translations, but also because there are connotations to certain words or phrases (e.g. allusions to folklore, or just the feeling of a word is different in each language) that could make a direct translation sound bad. Really common example is that you'll often see advertisements directly translated to English like "Let's go traveling!", "Let's eat seafood!" or whatever, but it just sounds lame in English since people don't talk the same way (and ironically sounds cooler to Japanese people because it's in a foreign language).
Anime is an interesting case, because — remember, a lot of these threads are about poor enunciation and mixing? — anime tends to be really well enunciated, and the characters speak like they're on stage. It's easy to follow along. I keep subs on, because I don't understand literally everything, but usually I don't read them.
Surprise surprise, this doesn't reduce my immersion at all.