Crispin Freeman: Acting to animation that has already been finished is probably one of the most technically demanding types of acting I've ever had to do besides musical theater and opera. If you're lucky, you have a great adaptation to work with and the script is already very close to matching the lip flap on screen. Then you as an actor have to try and match that flap which takes a lot of rhythm and acting coordination and still make the line believable, or in other words you have to act well! Then if it doesn't match or you need to pause here or there, you have to come up with a good acting reason for why that would happen, or else it will sound mechanical and "dubby."

Also, you're dubbing by yourself in a voice-over booth with no one else to play off of and you almost never know what the story of the show is unless you've researched it yourself. That makes you incredibly dependent on the director for guidance. It's very difficult to do well and there isn't a lot of money in it so there isn't a whole lot of incentive for some of the best actors to get involved.Also, on the whole, anime is not as cartoony as a lot of American animation, it's much more straightforward and dramatic. It's closer in style to something like Gargoyles or Batmanthan Ren & Stimpy or SpongeBob SquarePants. Also stories in anime are more serial in nature and less episodic. You have to watch them in order or else the story won't really make sense.

Michael Lindsay: The big difference in recording pre versus post is that in post you go it alone. You're in a booth with a director, an engineer and sometimes a producer and those darn beeps. With pre-recorded you're in a room with the other actors and you can riff off of their timing and impress them with your brilliance. If you screw up it's a public event. In anime, the engineer eats all the mistakes.

Jennifer Wagner, producer and co-director of Marmalade Boy, refers to the original Japanese version for intonations to retain in the English version of the movie.

In Marmalade Boy almost 80% of Yuu's scenes are with Miki, yet I've only met [her voice] Michelle Ruff a couple of times. Truth be told, I'm sure Michelle's not remembering what I look like probably makes it a lot easier to say; "I love you, Yuu" and keep her lunch down. But sometimes it's odd to do heavy scenes and go it alone. One of you in a scene is always going to do it before the other person records.

Olivia Venegas: Since the animation is determined before the voices are recorded, there is a definite handicap when it comes to the acting, which is highly dependent on how the characters were drawn and how the show was edited. It takes an extremely talented actor to be able to pull off all of these factors and still make it sound natural and engaging.

Unfortunately, most of the anime dubs being produced now have low budgets, which adds another very important factor: Speed. We are expected to record 30 lines per hour usually, which is extremely fast.

Some Japanese animation fans prefer (or used to prefer) to watch DVD anime in Japanese with English subtitles because they claim the voices sound "better," "more dramatic," "more realistic," "less cartoony," or similar descriptions. (This criticism is made most often regarding dramas for teens and older audiences.) How do you feel about this? Are you directed any differently for post-dubbing of Japanese productions than for American productions? Are you directed any differently for animation productions than for live-action productions?

Bob Bergen: Every project, whether American animation or anime, is different. You basically make choices, then take the director's suggestions. The feel of the project depends on the producer or director's vision. So it isn't that the difference is between American animation or anime, it's whatever is needed for that particular project. The big difference between the two is that you don't have to match sync in American animation VO work, which allows much more freedom for the actor. The difference in live action? No one cares what I look like in animation!!! You don't have to hit your mark. No make-up!!!!! I don't have to shave!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But acting is acting, whether it is for animation or stage, commercials or films. You still have to believe the actor!