A dubtitle is a subtitled program where the subtitle track is a transcription of the dialogue spoken on the dubbed soundtrack. The term was popularized by anime fans to refer somewhat disparagingly to this practice. Most companies releasing translations no longer use the method.
Using the dubbed dialogue for subtitling can sometimes work, but is often considered problematic because spoken language needs to be more natural and less formal than written language.
Another problem of dubtitling complained of by fans is that dubbed anime dialogue sometimes departs drastically from the original Japanese, while subtitles need to stay close to it, since they are read at the same time as the original soundtrack is heard. Someone who listens to loosely translated dubbed dialogue may be satisfied with it, while the same looseness in subtitles can be highly distracting for viewers with even a slight grasp of the original language.
