If you go to the FJ /anime/ board, it will always be at the top.

My Neighbor Totoro, it's certainly good no doubt about that, but comparatively speaking it's not AS good as many of their other works.

My Neighbor Totoro, it's certainly good no doubt about that, but comparatively speaking it's not AS good as many of their other works.

interesting you mention pokemon, that would be an exception for me... i only watched it subd on tv and never had a problem with it.... I guess it's just that I'm too used to subs. This too goes for Dragon Ball, Digimon, Beyblade, hell even Yugi-Oh!!

Atop all that I have already mentioned there is also the fact that Japanese VAs (Seiyu) are paid more than English VAs. The quality of the VAs that both languages have to offer are very disparate. There are good and bad on either side but... yeah, Japanese has more good ones than English does.

You've then got the immersive elements. Spirited Away is incredibly Japanese in every respect so it makes sense to watch it subbed whereas Hellsing Ultimate is pretty damn English so it makes sense to watch that dubbed.

Then there's the whole issue of localisation which happens a lot more than you think. When people hear that word they probably think of stuff like changing rice-balls into burgers or some crap like that but there's also a ton of Japanese cultural jokes that fly past you if you don't have subs to explain it to you.

E.G: In Japan sneezing is considered to happen when people are talking bad about you behind your back and this is seen a lot in anime but can't be explained in the dubs so they're either left in unexplained or explained away as meaning something else.

Finally there is respect. Some series are best viewed in Japanese in respect to the people who made them. They made them to be viewed a certain way and viewing them in any other way might be a fun experiment but is ultimately contrary to their artistic vision. This doesn't apply to all anime as stuff like One Piece and Naruto is only there to basically advertise the Manga and related items but there's stuff like Princess Mononoke which is, like Spirited Away, so viscerally Japanese that it should be viewed in Japanese.

I kinda made that joke but you made it first so I've deleted mine. All hail Neefew.

(Anyway, the problem with dubbed anime is often the quality of the voice actors and also the requirements of the script. In Japan their language is much sharper and prone to having words be broken up into short, sharp syllables. This is reflected in their signature form of poetry, the haiku, which works much better in Japanese because of their language.

This leads to their language being much more effective at being punchy, loud, and sharp. Their jokes focus on being quick and loud unlike that of a country like the UK where the humour is more focussed on wit to the point where even their slapstick tends to be pretty wordy.

The same is true of dramatic series done in English. They tend not to shout much because shouting sounds weird in English. Often the shout is just restricted to a few words tops. "No!" being chief amongst them.

However... that's not the case with Japanese. When their language flows so quickly and sharply all the time it suits it to be continually intense the way they are.

Now, that wouldn't be so bad if the dubs weren't constrained to use the animation and timings set out by the Japanese. These two languages that are fundamentally different in so many levels do not overlap very well with regards to a lot of things. Whereas English prefers the subdued Japanese prefers the loud and in order to fit with what is being conveyed with the anime the English-VAs have to emote as if they were speaking Japanese and oftentimes it comes off as forced... because it is.

Now, there are cases where this is less apparent and good VAs can make it seem even less-so which leads to dubs like Hellsing Ultimate, which is actually damned good, but the point stands that there are a lot of things that get lost in translation.

E.G: Samus in Metroid Other M is dull in English whilst in Japanese that control of her emotions is considered a sign of strength. It's a culture thing.)

Also Boku No Pico

Also Boku No Pico