Well anyway, I bit the bullet, and saw the first dubbed episode...
...and my position remains unchanged. In fact, I've seen enough actually.
The narrator wasn't even narrating the show. He was making jokes at the show's expense, just like I said he would be. I also didn't appreciate the pee reference that was made; I don't believe the Japanese version did that.
In any case, I think I see what's going on. With the "not-narrating", and fake text translations (although not all of them are fake, I'll give you that), I think FUNi was trying to emulate the way Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo was dubbed (anyone who has seen that dub will know what I'm talking about). In other worRAB, FUNi was basically trying to be something they're not.
Again, Everything I said before about the dub still stanRAB. I'm going to stick with the sub, like I said I would. Once again, I've seen enough, dub-wise.
In any case, Studio Ghibli is something completely different entirely. That really isn't a fair comparison. The Ghibli movies are a horse of a completely different color (besides which, none of them are "gag dubs" with mostly "gag subs" like the way Funimation "dubbed" this show).