Japanese vs. American voice acting

[Visor]

Hmm... personally I'd say it depends. For shonen series like Naruto, Pokemon and the like, you can generally expect the English dub to be unimpressive or downright crappy.

But for something more seinen-oriented, e.g. Death Note or Code Geass, I personally found the English voice acting to be excellent.

That could be just from my limited viewpoint, though. Rule of thumb is look for the general opinion on the specific show's dub before you decide. If it does the original work justice, I usually go for it. It's just so much easier to understand and get into that way.

I'd say this would be the way to go, but to be honest, I would probably go English every time unless it was really, really .

Problem I have with Japanese voice-actors is that I often don't know what emotions the characters have. You have to understand the cultural context I thing. It's not just with voice acting but japanese stuff in general, it often doesn't make sense to me

I also agree with this. Often I find it much easier to get into a show when its in English rather then Japanese.

All of you speaking only of Naruto must repent watching some quality anime like:

Berserk, Elfen Lied, GTO, Cowboy Bebop, Rurouni Kenshin or Neon Genesis Evangelion (to mention some)...

Anyway as in books or motion pictures, the original version is always better, much is lost in translation, like cultural references or idioms...

Cowboy Bebop sounds stupid. Neon Genesis Evangelion I have watched for a bit, I didn't mind the English in it, but then again, that was a while ago.

Death Note had a good English dub as Chaotix mentions.