Forum - View topicAnswerman - Talk Like A Man
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Echo_City
Posts: 1236 |
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Speaking of license rescues and pre-existing extras, I continue to be disappointed with Funimation and RightStuf/Nozomi for rescuing ADV titles and not putting all (or, in some cases any) of the English extras on them. Those extras are thus becoming rarer and rarer.
BTW, any ideas as to why Sentai Filmworks rescues so few ADV licenses (and is seemingly content to let other companies grab them) but yet rescues so many licenses from other companies? |
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Jen Bigby
 Posts: 112 |
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I really don't like it when dubs, or shows in general, cast men as boys... at least the ones that don't even try to hide their age. It sounds so unnatural and deep. The characters end up sounding way older than they actually are usually like Shinji and Edward. One of the worst examples I've seen of this is from an American cartoon called Gravity Falls I saw one episode of. I swear the main boy in that show sounds like he's 30 years old.
 Then again the main girl sounds like she's 30 years old too but they both look like 10 years old. It's so weird seeing little kids with clearly adult voices. Digimon was pretty bad at this too with Taichi, Daisuke, and Takuto's VAs.. never saw Frontier or later series dubbed so no comment. I definitely prefer women in those roles.
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fuuma_monou
 Posts: 1847 Location: Quezon City, Philippines |
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ADV probably still owns the missing extras. |
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SahgoDN
 Posts: 86 |
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Yeah, I eccho the question. Though I'm not sure about "raunchy" shows, I always remember that in Code Geass a character (V.V.) was voiced by then-12 years old Kazato Tomizawa (and said character, in one of his most memorable scenes, starts monologuing before getting stabbed in the head). In the English side of things, Kino's Journey's title character was voiced by then-13 years old Gabi Chennisi in her flashback episode, spoiler[and one most recognized by a pretty graphic scene]. I really wonder if there were cases of kids who were considered for a part but then their parents (or they themselves) backed off because of content. Though some of the kids who read the "Chibitalia" segments of Hetalia should be considered for more dubs, since they are clearly confortable with raunchier language (for those wondering, Hetalia Bloopers 3, at the end) As for men characters with female actresses, yeah, pretty much a cultural thing. Around here in Brazil, apparently a couple of actresses auditioned for the part of Kurama in our Yu Yu Hakusho dub, but the director felt they sounded too strange and that the male voice actors who auditioned were more fitting. Legend has it that Mona Marshall was considered for the part of Kenshin before they went with Richard Cansino, though I can't confirm that. Point is, the idea of being faithful to the original, having a woman voicing a male character, is considered, but mostly passed upon because, eh, more natural to them than it is for us. I should research more, but apparently it happens in reverse too. In the Japanese dub of Ratchet & Clank, Ratchet is played by voice actress Makoto Tsumura (in English, he is voiced by James Arnold Taylor). Culture, man. |
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YamadaKun
 Posts: 304 Location: Sunny California |
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Nozawa's adult Goku is really forced. You know it's a woman and some of the screaming and other tidbits are just unbearable. Also, I agree that Spike Spencer is a bad VA, but the Japanese VA is only moderately better. Romi Park as Edward is great. Suzukaze is almost as forced as Nozawa. Tanaka is good. Sanpei is alright. |
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PurpleWarrior13
 Posts: 2034 |
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I do wish they would cast more real kids and teens in English anime. They're doing it more with Western Animation, and I think it gives it a level of authenticity that you can't get from someone older. The Ghibli dubs have sure benefited from it. Also, say what you will about Sailor Moon's English dub (I think it's a weak dub overall myself), but I think the best voice actor of the five main scouts is Katie Griffin as Sailor Mars, in part, because she was 19-20 when she started in the role and sounded far more believable than everyone else who were in their 20s-40s.
I feel the same about Aaron Dismuke as Al in FMA. His performance just felt so much more natural and real than Maxey Whitehead's. Not that Ms. Whitehead was bad, but she was definitely missing so many raw elements that were present in Aaron's voice. I don't have a problem with women performing male roles, as long as the character's voice hasn't broken yet. I think Mona Marshall is the best in the business when it comes to performing boy voices. Surprisingly, Wendee Lee is pretty good too. I also like Alison Viktorin as Conan in Case Closed, but that voice actually isn't much of a stretch from her natural voice. My favorite of FUNi's girl-boy voices is Leah Clark, with Brina a close second (minus Black Butler where she sounded far too feminine). In western animation, Kath Soucie is probably the definitive example of this, but Christine Cavanaugh will always remain my personal favorite. Her performance in Dexter's Laboratory is simply one of the greatest ever, especially in Ego Trip where she also voiced his teenaged and old man (yes, OLD MAN) self very brilliantly, and won an Annie Award for it. Candi Milo's squeaky annoying Dexter never compared. E.G. Daily and Pamela Adlon are good too, as is Grey DeLisle, the few times she's done it (I actually prefer her to Tara Strong, who's boy voices often come off sounding too forced, though I still enjoy her voice overall), and of course, who can forget Nancy Cartwright? Surprisingly, we're one of the few non-Japanese languages to keep a female as Ash Ketchum's voice. Most foreign dubs have cast a male, usually a young boy, in the role. The only other dubs I can think of that used a female are German and European Portuguese. I haven't heard any of the foreign dubs, so it's a little hard to picture a male as the character. Veronica Taylor did a fabulous job in the role (though sometimes may have sounded a bit too high pitched), but Sarah Natochenny just sounds constipated the whole time... As for older males (i.e. not children), it's cool if that's acceptable in Japan, but for us, it would be just plain weird. One Piece gets it fine, but even then, I've never been a big fan of either of Luffy's voices (Erica Schroeder and Colleen Clinkenbeard), probably because when I read the manga, I pictured him with a more natural-sounding voice you'd expect of a teenage guy. Obviously women voicing Kenshin and Kurama in English is a strange idea to comprehend. Who would you cast? I guess if you must cast a female as an older male, I'd go with Mona Marshall. She's probably the only female I could picture voicing adult Goku. |
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penguintruth
 Posts: 8499 Location: Penguinopolis |
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Kenshin Himura is a thin, almost frail-looking, feminine guy. At least you can make a case that adult Goku shouldn't sound that way based on his build (though there are high-pitched adult males, even well formed ones and Nozawa's adult Goku is merely an outgrowth of her child Goku), but Kenshin is very slight. I'm pretty sure he's even been mistaken for a woman in the manga. Shinji Ikari likewise, though he's a kid so it's more believable, is very thin and spindly with a unassuming demeanor, and is essentially Anno's critique of Japanese boys (or a stand in for himself, who knows what Anno thinks?). Megumi Ogata plays him as slight and awkward while Spike Spencer plays him like an exaggerated cartoon whiney coward that seems more like a mean-spirited caricature than anything else.
For English dubs, it is nice when they can get kids to play kids, like with Aaron Dismuke as Alphonse, but I found that Maxey Whitehead was every bit as good, and now I can't hear Whitehead without first thinking it's Dismuke, despite already knowing his voice changed. Brianne Sidall and Barbara Goodson are excellent with young boy roles. I always find it appropriate in The Simpsons when they do "future" episodes that Bart, no matter how old he is, is always played by Nancy Cartwright. It never sounds off to me. |
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YamadaKun
Posts: 304 Location: Sunny California |
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@Truth and PurpleWarrior
A lot of these dubbing companies of today take advantage of kids, when they do use them. Not paying them, for starters. I heard that one dub has two kids and they got NOTHING. I think this is because kids aren't needed in voice acting, but that's still unforgivable. If a kid worked hard in voice acting, then he should get his $60. That kid from Two and a Half Men got more money than a lot of adults, when he was young. |
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SahgoDN
Posts: 86 |
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Interestingly, a lot of Pokémon foreign dubs are perfect examples of why casting young boys in a long-running series is troublesome. I dunno about other countries, but here in Brazil there are a lot of people bothered for how (supposedly) forced Ash's voice sounds since his voice actor's voice broke (when it started, he was around 13). |
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st_owly
 Posts: 5234 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland |
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Paranoia Agent is still in print here in the UK as well and it's pretty cheap. You'll need to be able to play R2 DVDs though.
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belvadeer
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^I read this with a negative connotation in mind. Probably for the wrong reason too. In any case, women being cast as young boys is always an interesting part of voice acting history. I salute you ladies, for being able to pull off such roles. If there are any among us on ANN who do voice acting, whether amateurishly or professionally, you have my deepest respect. We guys just don't sound like little boys anymore once our voices start breaking. It also makes me want to say, "Lol puberty prevented me from becoming a famous voice actor!" XP |
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joelgundam00
 Posts: 153 Location: Western NY |
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Same here! Although, I always read Answerman in the past. I usually just skimmed them and only read the more interesting questions. Lately, I've been reading every question and answer, because Justin has some very good input and incite. |
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PurpleWarrior13
Posts: 2034 |
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There's nothing wrong with that (it's the same with Christine Cavanaugh voicing Dexter as an old man), but it is just for brief flash-forwards into the future. If the character actually aged, there might come a point when Nancy would sound a bit strange to voice an adult Bart full-time. It's sort of like Ben 10 when they replaced Tara Strong and Meagan Smith with Yuri Lowenthall and Ashley Johnson when the characters got older. It made sense for Ben Tennyson to be recast, but with Gwen, it was not needed.
Well, they hardly use them at all now. They're using YOUNG people (barely older than 20) to do voices like Christine Marie Cabanos and Jad Saxton, but it's not the same as kids. I know Berserk's cast had a child to voice a child role, but in anime, Aaron Dismuke is the best example. There's also Carly McKillip as Sakura in Cardcaptors, Cody MacKenzie as Takashi and Masaru in Akira, and the entire Nadia cast.
Sounds like they should've embraced the fact that the voice actor's voice was breaking, like Finn in Adventure Time still being voiced by Jeremy Shada, even though his voice has long broken. Or they could've recast the role. Can you believe that Arnold in Hey Arnold had FIVE different voice actors? However, I think it benefited the show to cast real children, even if the boys' were never the same. Arthur Read in Arthur has had six voices since the 90s. Surprised he's only had that many. 
Speaking of Arthur, an opposite example of this is that DW has always been voiced by a little boy, even though she's obviously a girl. They did something similar for Marcie and Peppermint Patty in Charlie Brown where the characters' voices also change quite frequently. However, I can't see the Charlie Brown characters ever voiced by anyone other than real kids.
Some former child voice actors have gone on to doing it full-time, like Jason Marsden. There are also cases like with Walter Tetely, a famous radio voice actor, where his mother had him *ahem* "fixed" so that his voice wouldn't change and his radio career could continue. He did voices from the 40s to the 70s (he's most famous for voicing Sherman in Peabody & Sherman), so I guess it worked. On a related note, today is actually Mona Marshall's birthday. Coincidence?
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Hagaren Viper
 Posts: 788 |
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I can't argue about them not sounding as young as the characters, but keep in mind this isn't a western exclusive thing either. In Digimon alone, Yamato, Kouji, Touma, Masaru and Kiriha sound even older than their English counterparts. Of course, Masaru and Touma look about five years older than they are anyway, but that's a whole other conversation. That said, for the most part I don't mind when male voice actors play younger characters for the most part. As long as they fit the character, I can give them leeway for not sounding quite their age [Hence why enjoy Digimon's dub, Vic's Edward Elric etc]. There are a few cases where I'd still prefer a female voice actor though, what little I've heard of Yuuki from the Future Diary dub made me raise an eyebrow for example. And lets be honest, Mona Marshall and Maxie Whitehead could voice every anime boy ever and they would still be perfect in every role. |
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YamadaKun
Posts: 304 Location: Sunny California |
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Ironically enough, Daisuke Namikawa played Al from Gundam 0080 in the original Japanese version. He was very young then. The dub cast a woman, Brianne Siddall aka Ian Hawk to play him. Namikawa's perfomance is more endearing, since, y'know, it's an actual boy playing a boy, but Brianne was still excellent to listen to. Moro from Princess Mononoke was played by a transvestite in Japanese and a woman in English. Not going to get into one of my tidbits, I'll just say Anderson is odd as Moro to say the least.
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