whenever a show got dubbed it also got hyper localized (ex Onigiri would become doughnuts, etc) and that kind of a culture wash was unattractive to people who were really passionate about it.
This! But your example is only a small in script change! They usually totally rewriting and simplifying whole dialogues, and final product is - as you said - totaly washed out with japanese culture and other nuances which are making anime “good”. I’m not watching anime for hearing 'murican culture references, slang or talking style. I don’t like american culture. If I would like to see a western show, I would watch a western show, insted to anime. It was a main reason why I’ve got interested in anime years ago, their specific humour, their talking style, they polite speech, their language and whole culture.
It’s bad and totally unbearable along with voice acting which is terrible for me (OK, Nao’s voice is not that bad). When I heard Ayumi’s voice I’ve almost got a heart attack. If you are from country where English is not a primary language, than you can really tell/feel the huge gap between eng dub and orignal VA.
I’m not saying sub is crap, but in MY opinion dub is easier on the ears. Minor point, but accents are so easy to identify in dub.
Since when something easier to understand = better? You are missing TONS of things in dubs and you don’t even know about it.