The Best and Worst ENGRISH in Anime

Japan has a reputation for its “not so good” understanding and pronunciation of the English language. In fact, it’s so common, it’s been coined the term, “Engrish.” In anime, this is known as “gratuitous English,” which basically means, “unnecessary English words that have been thrown into a Japanese anime for no good goddamn reason.”

In the 80's and early 90's, video games and anime were known for having bad gratuitous English, as it was a new niche at the time. Back in the day, Japanese developers didn't have the budget or the control to make perfect Japanese-to-English translations, and since it was new, it wasn’t a big deal at the time. They had to translate and export their games to the West as fast as possible. But, why is this even an issue in the present day? Who knows? There are voice actors that are much better at speaking English and have a better handle on the language, so why not use them? Some even have heavy accents, but you can still tolerate it. What’s the point in using voice actors that hardly know the English language at all?

Besides being "fahking funny as sheet!" to some of those who speak English, I think today’s Japanese anime writers use it more for decorative purposes. They like the way it sounds, it gives off a tone that the Japanese language can't, and people should understand it enough to get the point. It’s different and unique, which is why English lyrics are often added to some Japanese songs, especially anime theme songs. It adds variety, it’s popular, and it attracts a wider audience. The younger audience in Japan thinks anything to do with the English language is cool. They themselves will insert random English words into their daily conversations. We're no different though. As soon as we learn any language, we'll do the same simply to show off that we know a bit of it, even if it's only a small amount. ¿No está de acuerdo?

This also opens a whole new opportunity for the anime industry to use “Engrish” to their advantage. Some shows stick “Engrish” words or phrases in there solely for comedic purposes, such as Steins;Gate and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. I actually prefer watching these shows in Japanese (with subtitles of course), instead of the English dubbed versions, just so I can catch the “Engrish” lines. Even though it’s purposefully done, it's just so damn hilarious and keeps me wanting and waiting for more.

On the flip side… Gratuitous English can be a huge disaster. Some anime are translated so awkwardly, the subtitles or the animation itself contains English words that are misspelled or written in the wrong context.

In other cases, the voice actor's "Engrish" is just horrible. And I mean horrible! Ah, I don't even want to go there, it's just so “fahking” bad! In some cases though, it's so bad it's funny… at first. Then before you know it, you’re facepalming and trying to keep yourself from driving pencils into your ears so you don't have to listen to it anymore. To me, it’s a complete turnoff and I just can’t bring myself to finish watching the show or the series. It's so cringeworthy. You shouldn’t need subtitles to understand your own language. The anime Heritage from Father probably has the worst Engrish I've ever heard. Again, at first I thought it was hilarious, then after watching it a few more times, I realized how shitty it really is. Why? Why would they do this? It wasn't made this way on purpose, it's not meant to be funny. This is an honest to goodness anime that was dubbed in Engrish. No pencils please!

Even if it's not totally necessary, sometimes adding that little extra "something", can totally "make" a show. And if not, as the Japanese proverb goes, "Even monkey fall from tree."