The Simpsons argument is not entirely irrelevant though. As a US show, it has its original directors and such. So the director can do his visionary moulding or what have you as he sees. If you watch Simpsons with a Japanese dub (no clue whether it exists or not), would you be able to say that the Japanese version is better? Things in their original language are usually better, or at least truer to the intentions of the director.Originally Posted by The Summoner of Leviathan
While vocal variety is indeed an incredible talent to have, I wouldn't go so far as to call it a required skill. If one is really good at a certain type of voice, they will often have first dibs at roles like that.
On the English side as an example: Crispin Freeman. He's probably one of the most popular male VA's out there. He has a deep, expressive voice, and is often cast as 'The Badass'. Take a look at his roles: Alucard from Hellsing, Tsume from Wolf's Rain, Holland from Eureka seveN, Itachi Uchiha from Naruto... he has a few different roles, but those all suit his deep, 'Badass' voice.
On the Japanese side: Jouji Nakata. I wouldn't go so far as to call Crispin Freeman his English Parallel, but they have similar qualities. Deep, powerful voice, often gets cast as someone in a position of power. He share's Freeman's role of Alucard from Hellsing, he's Folken from Escaflowne, The Count of Monte Cristo from Gankutsuou (one of my favourite favourite anime), etc.
So the ability to create totally different voices is a great skill to have, but it's not exactly a golden rule of seiyuu. It would definitely open up more opportunities to a person though, so they're not stuck always playing one type of role.
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