voice acting so bad its funny.

[Der Jermeister]

From what I hear, Japanese voice acting really isn't all that better than English voice acting. And Japanese voice actors do tend to do a lousy job saying English words, typically adding an -oh or -uh to them, which I know has something to do with how they're spelled in Katakana, but it might be nice if they actually said them like the English-speaking world would. I personally think many think Japanese voice acting is better simply because they can't understand it.

[Eusis]

I personally think many think Japanese voice acting is better simply because they can't understand it.

This. I'll take an atrocity I can't understand over one I can.

[Dice]

I personally think many think Japanese voice acting is better simply because they can't understand it.

This. I'll take an atrocity I can't understand over one I can.

I agree full-heartedly with both statements.

I suppose budget is an issue.  But man, this is found-on-the-street voices without a doubt.  Shit, I mean, go to a local drama class in high school even.

[everluck]

I personally think many think Japanese voice acting is better simply because they can't understand it.

local drama class in high school even.

This is worse than anything I've heard from any high school theatre program.

Can someone confirm this is real? It all sounds like a joke to me. The dialogue, acting, everything... just terrible.

[Eusis]

Ramza's review essentially confirms it, referring to Yuri as Uru and his description of how he sounds fits the VA in the clip. Oh, and there's more.

[SonicDeathMonkey]

I find the badness of this voice acting bizarre.

[daschrier]

I don't think it would come off as bad if there were background music.

It sounds like there's a group of my friends sitting next to me reading the lines. The dead silence destroys the immersiveness.

[everluck]

I don't think it would come off as bad if there were background music.

It sounds like there's a group of my friends sitting next to me reading the lines. The dead silence destroys the immersiveness.

The lack of inflection helps to destroy it, too. Also, are your friends robots? I don't know anyone who talks like the characters in Chaos Wars. I'm not sure there's a person on Earth who's so totally joyless.

edit:
Not trying to be a dick, here. I'm just blown away by how awful those VAs are :P

[MeshGearFox]

No way in hell that's not intentional. And if it is intentional, which I think it is, it's brilliant.

[Shiguma]

From what I hear, Japanese voice acting really isn't all that better than English voice acting.

Unless you understand Japanese, that statement couldn't be more invalid.  If you don't understand the words spoken, there is no way you could evaluate the quality of the voice actor's presentation of them.

[calintz]

well, not all japanese VAs are bad

seriously, its like english VAs on english games - more likely to match...
the japanese language has a tendency to overact and work well, which doesnt translate well into english

[Raziel]

From what I hear, Japanese voice acting really isn't all that better than English voice acting.

Unless you understand Japanese, that statement couldn't be more invalid.  If you don't understand the words spoken, there is no way you could evaluate the quality of the voice actor's presentation of them.

So I have no right to criticize Japanese voice acting, even if a middle-aged man is voiced by a 3-year-old girl?

[Eusis]

This is getting pretty dumb given that the guy said he heard that Japanese VA typically isn't that much better than English VA. Meaning he heard someone else say that and it's not his opinion. Shig's a better authority on the actual qualify of Japanese voice acting, but I'm inclined to believe that these days there's not really a significant quality difference between the English/Japanese dubs.

[Shiguma]

From what I hear, Japanese voice acting really isn't all that better than English voice acting.

Unless you understand Japanese, that statement couldn't be more invalid.  If you don't understand the words spoken, there is no way you could evaluate the quality of the voice actor's presentation of them.

So I have no right to criticize Japanese voice acting, even if a middle-aged man is voiced by a 3-year-old girl?

That's a ridiculous example, heh.  

Bart Simpson is 10 year old character; his voice actress is a 50 year old woman.  So no, such criticism would be equally invalid, as age/gender often have little bearing on a quality of a person's voice.

[AJR]

So no, such criticism would be equally invalid, as age/gender often have little bearing on a quality of a person's voice.

I think, in the incredibly rare case of it being a 3 year old, it would have a pretty strong bearing on the quality of that character’s voice.