I might not call it "artistic intent," but it amounts to the same thing. What is it I've heard said, that only a third of human communication is in the words?

Think about any misunderstanding you've had through texting or e-mail.

Plus, there's the whole "literal translation" thing. A dubber who understood the intent of the source might write better dialogue than the literal subtitle translator (see the link in my original post).


I guess it just comes down to quality. For a Japanese voice, the best I'll get is "This is a happy voice" or "This is a sad voice," and then read the dialogue. For dubbing, I'll be able to hear actual people say lines, but maybe they'll mar the intent... and also, maybe they'll suck.


We need more awesome Voice Actors! We have some, I know it, but it's still so minor that even I, a person ranting about it on a message board at 2am, can't name one without checking Wikipedia!