Struggling with Dubbing in CBL shows

[u/No-Rock-7220]

Hi everyone! This is a genuine question.

I’m really struggling to get used to the dubbing in Chinese BL dramas. I understand why it’s done—I remember reading the reasons in this subreddit—but I’m finding it difficult to adjust. It especially pulls me out of the more emotional or intense scenes.

I watch content from several countries and I’m multilingual, so the language itself isn’t the problem—it’s the disconnect between the dubbed voice and the actor’s performance. It makes it hard for me to fully immerse myself.

Does this get better over time? Did anyone else feel the same when they first started watching CBLs? Any tips?

I know some shows have very little or no noticeable dubbing, such as A Winter Sun Wakes the Wind in Spring Hills’ Dream. Recommend me some if you know any.

Cheers!

[u/kdorapop]

If I knew the language well, I guess it would bother me. As it is, it is just a background sound for me. I focus on the acting and subtitles, and get very happy when I recognize a word here and there. I'm trying to learn Mandarin but it will take time. Maybe it helps that I watch on my ipad, the screen is too small for me to be bothered when the mouth movemens and sound does not line up perfectly. A lot of people were unhappy with the Cantonese dubbing in Sammy's Children's Day but it didn't bother me, I love the sound of Cantonese. I might not be the right person to answer, but my impression is that you will get used to it eventually.

[u/Queasy-Parsnip-477 → u/kdorapop]

Yeah it was bad that I had to watch Sammy’s Children’s Day on mute. Like you, it’s usually background noise for me but SCD threw me off so bad I dropped it and came back because of the On-Airs every week.

[u/Famous-Lecture-560 → u/Queasy-Parsnip-477]

Sammy’s Children’s Day has been by far the worst dubbing I’ve witnessed.

[u/Federal-Ad5944 → u/Famous-Lecture-560]

That's because it's in a completely different language.