I usually listen to the dub when I can. Every once in a while I have to sit through a grating performance, i.e. Nina from Fullmetal Alchemist, but I don't have to read subtitles, and the few anime that I own on DVD all have good dubs.

I hate dubbing.
good, bad any dubbing is horrible.
reason is i always watch subs if i don't understand the language, because i believe dubs take away from what the show supposed to be. The director chose the actors according to his vision of the show.
Dubbing is cheating, is taking away from the true show.
No matter how good it is i would never be able to enjoy the show.

Trigun is the only anime series I have watched all the way through. I wanted to watch Monster and Pet Shop of Horrors all the way through because they both seemed interesting. Everything else I tried watching were either completely shit or I got distracted by something else and lost interest.
Problem with anime is it's swamped with shit like Lucky Star. Makes me cringe.

Hey now. I agree, it's better to watch it subbed at almost ANY time. But some dubs are way WAY better than the sub. Heres examples of when to watch subs and when to watch dubs:
Dubs:
Baccano! - This show takes place in the US during the 20s (I think). The voice acting, and the accents, are incredible well done in the dub. If you prefer the sub to this, I would have to beat you down with a baseball bat.
Cowboy Bebop - The Dub is incredible. Steve Blum is the greatest voice actor to ever live.
Trigun - While theres not much reason to NOT watch it in Japanese, the dub is very nice. Which is rare considering how old the show is. I've always called it "the show you need to watch after Bebop."
Subs
Evangelion - It's based in Japan. And the dub sucks.
Grave of The Fireflies - Based in Japan.
Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood - The dub isn't fully out yet. :P
Theres plenty of examples for both sides. Pretty much, anything based in Japan, watch it in Japanese. If the dub sucks, watch it subbed, If the dub is great, then watch the dub. Great dubs are rare.

@ovoon
it ain't about whether dub is good or bad or whether it is really better.
Its about show not being the original version but a secondary version, not the vision of the original director but of american one.
On second rewatching dub can be fun. yet if i have to choose: subs. No matter how good dub it is not the proper version.

Watch Gungrave, it gave me a real appreciation for what anime has to offer. It starts at the ending, goes to the start and revisits the ending for a satisfying conclusion while not holding back morality issues. Did I mention the characters who you hate or think are stupid but can't help but respect because of how it all comes together?

well you're already getting translated text with the subtitles, unless the writer did the translation that's a secondary vision too.
and if you don't understand the language then you're not getting the intricacies of the voice acting anyway. you're not understanding what makes the voices so great--the way they emphasize things or little quirks that make them unique--all you can tell is the tone. you're never going to understand the original vision anyway if you don't know the language.
and seeing as that's the case, i'd rather watch the good animation--an important part of that original vision--instead of squinting at text at the bottom of the screen.

watching it next! thanks for the tip

I'd definitely recommend finishing watching Monster if you found what you watched so far interesting. Very well done psychological thriller that continues to build all the way to the end.

years of reading subtitles taught me how to read it without missing any of the action. so that's not a problem
second thing is that yes. it is translated so i would prefer to know the language but its lesser 'evil' than replacing the voices altogether.

ooh. that stings!
I didn't read all the comment, i mostly skipped to the end I hope that's ok.
As i said, all Anime has a formula which is really repetitive. Ghibli movies don't. Clearly they are "animation" but they don't follow the genre cliches. (by which anime has, for good or bad, come to be defined.).
It's the same way that fallout 3 isn't an FPS, though it's in first person and you shoot people.
Is this anime? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qH5_A20B3vU
I'd say no. But it's animation from japan. Maybe you'd say yes. Either is fine with me.

eh.
Anime is not a genre and if you actually read my post you would realize how moronic what you say sounds.
90% of everything is shit.
Nine out of ten animes are made out of crap
so does nine out of ten western animation
movies, books and so on.
so your argument that anime = bad but when something is good like ghibi's movies is not anime is just pretty childish.

If you didn't even read his comment, why are you responding to it? Instead of reading his counter-argument and coming up with your own, you're simply going over the same stuff you said before. If I use your logic, then It is a Stephen King book because it's good, while Dark Tower 6 isn't because it sucks. Or it's like saying In Absentia is a Porcupine Tree album, but DeadWing isn't because it's too heavy. You're argument just isn't a good one.

Listen, if you argue against peoples counter arguments, you should probably know what your arguing against. Just saying.