kamui no ken comes to mind.
there seem to be two main camps (with various sub-camps) on how to translate across culture. one camp likes to translate literally, and the other prefers to translate conceptually.
the former gives you the opportunity to better understand the culture, especially if the subber is ocd about explaining what things mean. for example, in japanese the phrase "it arrived/came to my head" is a term equivalent to "i've had it up to here (pointing at one's head)". it means something has ticked someone off. personally, i like to learn these sort of things. then again, i also speak japanese.
my wife gets on my case because everytime i listen to english dubs, i start ranting about that what was said in english is not what they said in japanese. try it out sometime. get dubbed and subbed versions of the same anime. just watch and compare. you can see what i mean with the disney-released miyazaki flicks. give it a try sometime. a friend of mine was not convinced until i finally talked him into rewatching cowboy bebop in subtitles. then he was astonished and amazed at how much of the plot and details he had been missing the whole time.
great example of the latter method: there are basically no swear words in japanese. as in, there are few words which carry the inherent and peculiar label of "it's just universally wrong and vulgar to say this". and those that do, seldom mean anything similar to english and american swear words. so all those english dubs of anime and drama that swear all the time? not even close to what they are actually saying. however, english does not have the finely gradated conjugational grammar like in japanese that allows you to clearly indicate if you are talking up or down to someone, and to what degree, and just how polite (or not) you are being to that person... all by conjugating your verbs and adverbs a certain way and changing a few words here and there.
take "kuso". it literally means feces. you can guess how it is translated into english, however. also, take "baka". in inner city areas, no one much thinks anything of hearing or using this word. however, out in the countryside, it is a horrible word, and i almost got my mouth washed out with soap for using it (about myself, no less) and a big lecture to boot. it is usually translated as 'stupid' in english. but apparently it is not so mild a meaning in actual usage.
obviously, i'm in the keep it literal, and provide explanations during or afterwards, camp. i want to learn more about other ways of doing and thinking from my popular media, rather than have it all pureed into something that someone thinks is close enough.
