Crispin Freeman: Depends on the show. But on the whole, we are asked to match the Japanese pronunciation as closely as possible while still making it sound natural. It can be hard for many American voice actors, however, who are not familiar with Japanese. I myself had to say the phrase "Amakakeru ryu no hiromeki" many, many times in Ruroni Kenshin, sometimes twice in the same sentence! I fancy myself being pretty skilled at pronouncing Japanese words and I had some trouble with it!

In L.A., we almost always get a preview of the Japanese performance before we lay down our track with very few exceptions. In N.Y., we almost never got a preview of the Japanese before we laid down our performance. Different strokes for different folks. I myself prefer to preview, not necessarily to match the intonation of the Japanese, but to understand their intention and most importantly, to see if the rhythm of the writing matches the lip flap on screen.

Michael Lindsay: As for pronunciation, I always go with the pronunciation the director says is correct. Japanese is a language whose syntax, vocabulary and syllabification are obviously completely different from English. The idea is to get across the sense of the situation or emotion in a way that is easy on the English-speaking ear.

Olivia Venegas: We usually have the pronunciation of the word written phonetically by someone fluent in Japanese (approved by the client) and we also preview the Japanese track before recording to make sure we've got it right. Pronunciations are very important.

Are there differences between recording anime for TV broadcast and for direct-to-video/DVD release? Some titles have been released on DVD in two versions, the "TV version" and the "uncut version." What do these differences mean to you in the studio? Do you record different versions of the same episodes, or just record one version, which is then slightly cut for TV?

Bob Bergen: The recording process is the same. Oftentimes the TV version is just edited down from the entire uncut version. However, often times you record a scene twice: once for the uncut version and once a bit cleaned up for TV. This is also done sometimes for on-camera. Then again, I've been asked to dub many well known on-camera actors to clean up a film for TV.

Crispin Freeman: It's been completely the same for me. I haven't really had any instances where we edited the anime for broadcast except for when I was adapting scripts on Pokémon. Obviously on that show there was a lot of input from producers and higher ups on what could air and what could not. And on Digimon, I know they changed many things, but we dubbed to the edited version, not the original uncut Japanese version. But other than that, most of the anime I act in and direct goes out the door as is with no differing versions for DVD or broadcast. If the network decides to cut something later, that's out of my hands.

Michael Lindsay: The only difference I can find are little things like a "Crap!" for "Shit!" substitution. Obviously for a DVD package there will be many more special features like a commentary track or a blooper track ("I'm not wearing pants!"). [A Marmalade Boy in-joke.]

Olivia Venegas: It could mean different things. One is that the TV version would be a version specifically tailored to the American audience where for example names, places and storylines are changed. And the DVD version would be for the anime fans that expect names and such to be kept intact. Uncut could also mean scenes that may have been cut to enable the series to be aired on TV are included. Generally all scenes (the uncut version) are recorded at one time and edited for TV afterward, if necessary.

Which do you prefer, acting for American animation or for Japanese animation? Does dubbing Japanese animation present any particular challenges over dubbing other foreign animation such as French or Spanish?

Bob Bergen: I myself prefer American. The actors have much more freedom due to the fact they don't have to match sync. Plus the pay is better. And I've only dubbed from Japanese.

Crispin Freeman: I like dubbing for Japanese animation because I'm so fascinated by the stories and the characters. But there are limitations because of the lip flap and cultural translation issues. I'm working on acting in some American shows because they tend to be much more spontaneous and improvisational than the Japanese shows. They're both different animals, however, and I'm sure I'll have different levels of satisfaction with each one. My goal is to produce my own animated series/movies that take the best from both sides of the Pacific. I really admire the work in The Animatrix, and I think some amazing stories and animation could come out of those types of collaborations.

Michael Lindsay: I love to work period. Some projects you obviously like more than others, but I'd be a fool to say I liked one to the exclusion of the other.

Some Japanese animation voice actors have become well known in the anime fan community and are guest speakers at anime fan conventions. How does this "stardom" compare to your voice acting for American animation?

Bob Bergen: The anime fans are far more loyal!!! I've been to a slew of anime cons and love em!!!!! The fans rock!!!!!!!!! There are far more anime cons than American animation cons. And I think there is more anime "stardom" than American animation "stardom."