Ask John: Should Foreign Anime Characters Speak Foreign Languages?

Question:
Was there ever a question over whether non-Japanese characters in an anime should be portrayed as speaking fluent Japanese, particularly if the show is not set exclusively in Japan? As an example, I could refer to the third and fourth TV episodes of Martian Successor Nadesico where the head official of the Earth military forces, who is clearly not Japanese, is portrayed speaking in English.

Answer:
I’ve personally never heard of creative disputes or debates in the anime production industry over whether or not foreign characters should speak their appropriate native languages. I don’t know if this dilemma has ever been considered in anime production, although I imagine that it has. Logically anime characters all speak Japanese for the convenience of viewers and anime producers. Since the primary viewers of anime speak Japanese, it’s logical for anime to employ Japanese dialogue. Furthermore, since anime is produced and directed by Japanese speakers, working with their native language results in more skilled and nuanced performances and art than trying to write dialogue or work with actors in an unfamiliar language.

Viewers should approach anime with a conscious recognition that it’s an artistic medium that utilizes artistic license. The language characters on screen speak isn’t necessarily literally the language they’re speaking. Black Lagoon episode 4 contains a conversation between two German soldiers onboard a German submarine. The two characters literally speak Japanese because it’s a Japanese produced anime and the characters are portrayed by Japanese actors, but the viewer can imagine that the characters are theoretically speaking German. Likewise the humanoid characters in Star Wars probably don’t literally speak English, as it doesn’t make sense for any Earth language to literally exist in the Star Wars universe. Viewers unconsciously understand that the actual spoken language of the film is a technical conceit used to assist the viewers, actors and production staff. Theoretically actors and staff working with their native language results in more natural and believable performances than fumbling attempts at literal realism by staff and crew who aren’t fluent in the literal foreign language.

In some cases anime does employ literal foreign language. Shows like Beck, Himesama Goyojin, and Ojamajo Doremi which have multi-cultural characters allow those characters to speak in fractured, mixed Japanese and English. Royal Space Force and Crest of the Stars employ authentic alien languages made up just for the anime. Titles like Kite and Robot Carnival include American characters who speak exclusively in English. Obviously certain anime do make an effort to literally illustrate characters speaking their appropriate native tongue, but examples like the stilted and unnatural sounding English in Kite prove that anime voice actors and animators are more effective when working in the language they’re most familiar with. I think that most anime stick to Japanese language because that’s what results in the best quality production. I believe that anime relies on receptive and intelligent viewers to use their imagination to transpose literal spoken Japanese into situationally appropriate languages. Personally, I think that it’s preferable for Japanese artists to comfortably do their best work rather than attempt linguistic accuracy by stumbling through writing, directing, and performing in foreign languages that they’re unfamiliar with.