I'm not an anmie watcher but this is the first reason I can really understand.

Just stumbled over the dub vs sub thing when searching for spirited away and didn't understand why anyone would choose subtitles.

> with subtitles you actually get the original performance

True but since you don't understand what they are saying all you get is the text on the screen, meaning the only difference to dub is that someone else reads said text out loud.

Subtitles lose at least as much emotions and meaning as dubbing, if not way more.

That's also why I never understood why it is preferred.

I get all these benefits but they all only apply if you understand Japanese. When not the Japanese pronunciation doesn't change what you read, beaches you can't tell what or how it was pronounced.