The voice actors for King of the Hill are far better quality then most English dub anime though. Ive tried watching a few English dubs but the voices are just so grating. I can watch South Park, Rick and Morty, Archer, MLP, King of the Hill. all of them just fine, but a English anime dub.. Id rather eat vomit.
I think there was one or two series in all existence where I did not vomit myself. This is one: "Kamishiro... enjoy your last pshhmsmms"
Yeah. Most I can't watch english dub. Ruroni Kenshin actually has good dubbing. I think the english voice actors try to do the characteristics like the high and mighty tsundere voice that works well with a japanese voice but english it just doesn't work. And most of the time the english voice just doesn't match the character.
In other terms, most dubs are done in some basement studio of the lowest bidder using mostly his college friends and voice actors that work for 'visibility'. And assuming the dubbing director was an absolute genius there's only so much one can do with such people.
There are groups out there attempting to change this issue, but it's a slow transition. The biggest issue is most American studios don't give voice acting much credit, like it's a lesser form of acting. This isn't usually a problem for high budget films, or American animation, but translations have a tendency to be picked up by third rate groups and opportunists just looking to cash in on something that is already proven. They -are- getting better, a lot of the newer series that are being voice acted directly are much better than the shit like Pokemon and the stuff we got forced down our gullets by 4kids and the equivalent.
Over here given that everything for children had to be dubbed for 50+ years or so it has allowed despite the low population for some really good groups to emerge and outcompete the bad ones by establishing themselves as the 'state of the art' option out there and you could see certain dub groups always doing all the good series.
funny because of a few of the big names prefer voice acting I think because less stress, less dangerous, better hours and more fun (maybe).
To be fair, they typically do American work, not translations. That being said, the biggest issue with dubs -is- the translation. Not just the words, though sometimes they can be a complete travesty, but context and tone can be a complete failure. Frequently the voice actors have never actually -watched- the show, and are just reading a script with limited context. The best dubs are treated the same as if they were a new animation, the actors playing to the video etc... but many of the studios that take on these contracts don't bother with that. It's cheaper and easier to limit recording costs and travel.
So word in the pipeline is that Macross in its entirety will be allowed to go global for merchandise and have official blu ray releases. A agreement as been met that will allow this to happen which will also pave the way for live action movies.
It is pretty funny watching Iron Blooded Orphans on netflix. Because the subtitles are clearly the english sub for the Japanese audio. sometimes the english audio just does not work like sentences don't mesh. One sentence doesn't make sense following the previous sentence.
Watch Kung Fu Hustle or Shaolin Soccer, the dub version, with subtitles on. Takes it to a whole other level of hilarity even beyond the already intended hijinks.
Just a little update on what I've been watching: Some would argue that Castlevania on Netflix is not anime, but I just got done with the new Season 4 and it is still fucking great.... great character development, great ending, satisfying closure. Anime writers could learn a thing or two from this series.
If you're in the mood for vampire shows Dracula is also pretty good. It's even more not anime but they pretty much nail the character despite it being a wholly original story.
Watchin' Invincible. It's very good. On par with the 90's Superman cartoon and maybe even Justice League. Little bit teen angsty but it seems like it's targeting that demo.
Watchin' Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan. It's basically Inuyasha except vastly improved since Kagome isn't there constantly bitching about everything.