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I have a really, really bad habit of just saying the most incriminating things in these podcasts, it seems. Between last week’s rant on corporations trying to create with focus groups in mind to this week’s outright insult to English voice actors for anime and video games, I come off as a real jerk. Just like it’s hard to make even a bad game, it’s hard to act. You have to behave in a way that feels natural but isn’t. You have to be able to not only modify your voice, but also keep it healthy so that you don’t wear it out or do harm. In the case of most anime and Japanese role-playing games, you also have to do your best to match the line you’ve been given with lip movements out of sync of your language.

My silly, meager attempts to try any sort of voice acting on my stream should be more than enough evidence that I have no room to talk.

There are a lot of voice actors that do both Western and Japanese animation voice work, and some that even do live-action as well. Teryl Rothery, for example, starred as Dr. Frasier on Stargate SG-1 while also providing the English dub voice for Kodachi in Ranma 1/2. Before he was Walter White in Breaking Bad, Brian Cranston was Isamu Dyson in the English dub for Macross Plus. Clearly these are not lower tier actors, and you can even tell in their respective dub performances that they were trying their best, possibly held back by the medium rather than their own capabilities.

On average, however, it certainly feels as if anime and Japanese role-playing games have some of the lowest quality control in regards to voice-acting. Is this a fault of the talent hired? Or is it perhaps the voice directors being incapable of drawing better performances from these actors? It is likely due to a multitude of factors, and my attitude and attempt to cover it up were absolutely sloppy. Yet another example of inserting my foot comfortably into my mouth.

Regardless, I still stand by my statement that I tend to prefer Japanese voice work for Japanese games and anime due to how natural it sounds as a result. Too often a dub feels like watching a dub. Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition, however, is one of those rare instances that fools me into believing English was always the intended language of the work despite clearly not being so.

What games have you been playing lately? Play anything we have? Feel free to leave a comment below or send us an e-mail with your opinions.

Opening theme music by Fallen Prophecy.