A lot of people might be in my position. I've 
never liked dubs much, but in VHS days I would 
tolerate them since many series were as much as 
$10 per tape *more* to buy subtitled -- and 
inevitably it had to be special ordered. Subs 
were treats that cost upwards of $40-$50 per 
tape, and I usually only indulged in them when my 
fansubs of a show were imcomplete or damaged. It 
was just too prohibitively expensive.

It is also interesting to note that (so I heard) 
when Disney was releasing Mononoke, they weren't 
originally going to include a Japanese language 
track. There was such a huge negative response 
about it, that they pushed back the release date 
to include the option of Japanese language with 
subs. . . So people, a lot more than you would 
think, *DO* prefer subs.

I have nothing against a *GOOD* dub. But, that 
said, I think most dubs are pathetically lousy. 
Twelve Kingdoms has the best dub I've heard come 
along in a *VERY* *LONG* time and I can actually 
enjoy it. . . But of the other shows I watch, the 
mistranslated monstrousity that is the Saiyuki 
dub is bad enough to be laughable, the Wolf's 
Rain dub was a serious thumbs down, and the 
Fruits Basket dub is so hideously horrible it's 
become legendary! (I thought Funimation couldn't 
possibly go lower than the completely AWFUL job 
they did with YuYu Hakusho -- for which the 
entire dubbing crew should be rewarded by being 
lined up and SHOT -- but I was proven wrong.)  
I've been warned to not even listen to the dub 
for Witch Hunter Robin.

So yes, DVDs are heaven sent!! I, for one, would 
be extremely interested to know which track is 
chosen more often by watchers. . . I don't think 
the VHS numbers speak too much truth, since the 
sub vs. dub competition didn't have a financially 
level playing field.

Many Sharp Smiles,
--Drac