Forum - View topicRe-casting anime dubs... for fun.
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LuckySeven
 Posts: 587 Location: Georgia, USA |
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This is probably a strange idea for a topic, but for some reason this has been on my mind a lot lately. I have often wondered how some anime series might have been cast if different licensing companies had gotten hold of them. I thought this would be a really good thought provoking idea for everyone play around with so I hope people take the time to participate. And since I started the topic I'll throw out the first example.
Love Hina First lets look at the original dub casting (just the core characters). I'll go by character name, then actor name from the original Bandai dub (which is also on the new Funimation DVD release) Keitaro Urashima - Derek Stephen Prince (credited as David Umansky) Naru Narusegawa - Dorothy Elias-Fahn (credited as Dorothy Melendrez) Mitsune "Kitsune" Konno - Barbara Goodson Shinobu Maehara - Bridget Hoffman (credited as Ellen Arden) Motoko Aoyama - Mona Marshall Kaolla Su - Wendee Lee Mutsumi Otohime - Julie Ann Taylor (credited as Jean Howard) Why re-cast it? It has been said this series has a horrible dub, so when Funi got the license to it from Bandai, there were hopes that it would get a brand new dub, unfortunately for them that wasn't the case. That's why I'm using this as my example. Personally, I didn't think the dub was as awful as I have heard others call it, but I did have some points of contention over it. Mainly Mitsune's voice and the horribly done southern accent (I'm from the south and I've never heard anyone sound anything close to THAT). This character is supposed to be 20 years old, yet she sounded like a woman in her 50s or 60s. The other issue I had with the dub was all of the points in the show where a character or characters were singing and for the English dub it reverted back to the Japanese track in all cases. That's just wrong on so many levels to me. I don't mind opening and closing themes still being in Japanese, I rather enjoy quite a few, but in the context of the actual story line of an episode is another thing entirely. With that in mind here's how I would have liked to see a re-casting if Funimation had choosen to give it a new dub. Now I'm not all that good with Funi's pool of VAs especially compared to how good I am with the ones from LA, so bear with me, and feel free to make your own suggestions if you wish. Keitaro Urashima - Tough choice so since again I'm not too familiar with Funi's VAs I'd say Vic Mignogna. He's very good at what he does, and the role would fit him like a glove. I'm honestly surprised Funi has not used him as the male lead in a harem show (besides Ouran High School Host Club) before. Naru Narusegawa - Caitlin Glass, I think she'd fit Naru's tsundere persona perfectly as she has demonstrated in small doses with her take as Winry on Full Metal Alchemist. Mitsune "Kitsune" Konno - Clarine Harp because she is very good at sounding mature without sounding like an old lady. Not sure if she could pull off a good southern twang though. Shinobu Maehara - Laura Bailey hands down, she excels at playing child roles and given how she handled a character like Sana Kurata, this would not be much of a stretch for her. Motoko Aoyama - Brina Palencia, another VA with good range and she can sing if necessary. I've heard her in 3 different roles on three different series and had no idea it was her until I checked the voice credits. Kaolla Su - Monica Rial I think she'd sound right in this role because she too excels at roles for young girls and she could pull off the character without resorting to a ridiculous accent. Mutsumi Otohime - Colleen Clinkenbeard because every good Funimation dub needs her in it somewhere. Hopefully we'd get something more Rose Thomas than Riza Hawkeye (both her characters in Full Metal Alchemist). Like I said at the start, this is about recasting anime dubs for fun, I only used Love Hina as my personal example, so again feel free to make your own suggestions about this one, or post one for the anime of your choice. Have at it people and have some fun with it. No real rules to this, I just hope if you post your own to be consistent with the group of actors/studio. You know, don't have actors from Canada, New York, LA, and Texas all in the same show. But again its not a hard rule, just a suggestion. No one has to do it exactly like I did, nor would I expect them to. Just try to make sense. I'm certainly not expecting this to be flooded with responses, since participation in this takes some actual time and thought. So one line replies aren't gonna cut it. 
Last edited by LuckySeven on Wed May 06, 2009 3:25 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Cloe
Moderator
 Posts: 2728 Location: Los Angeles, CA |
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This thread seems like it could easily fall into lists and one-liner posts. I don't mind keeping it open for now, but those of you who reply, please be sure to explain your choices and why you think they would be a better fit. If we get too many list posts this thread will be locked.
LuckySeven, that goes for you, too. "I think she'd sound right" isn't good enough an explanation--care to go into more detail? |
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PetrifiedJello
Posts: 3782 |
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You know, this is an interesting topic, because I'm sitting wondering why studios don't expand VAs, rather than just keep a few on hand.
And, LuckySeven, it's not a strange idea. I often do this when I see a series, and ask myself "I wonder if Cowboy Bebop would have been as popular using these character styles (while watching Haruhi, as an example)". It's going to be hard to pick a series, then cross-VA them. I'll explain. Let's take Monica Rial. She's famous enough. Her voices range from "normal" to irritating high pitched. It's pretty safe, with this range, that even a simple change in voice could be a drastic change to what we expect. For example: Her voice as Minamo in AzuDa. I'm sure many are familiar with her talents, now picture as many as you can with Minamo. Tee hee. Fun, isn't it? Wendee Lee is my favorite female VA. Yes, I know, not much change in her voicing over several series, but it just fits. And it doesn't seem to matter what character. It fits. I can't begin to imagine Monica voicing Haruhi. In fact, it makes me sort of shiver to try it. *shiver* With so many possibilities, it's really hard to do this. I mean, it's easy to say "Monica Rial as Haruhi", but then you've got to say "but only if she uses the same voice as Minamo from AzuDa". Tabitha St. Germain would be a good replacement for Wendee Lee as Haruhi. I can imagine it now, Haruhi saying "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" to Kyon using the Shana voice. Geez, I wonder how many people just shivered with that example. 
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LuckySeven
Posts: 587 Location: Georgia, USA |
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Alright fair enough, I will go back and do some editing to my original post for a better explanation on my choices. I shouldn't expect others to post smartly when I didn't fully follow my own example. |
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Teriyaki Terrier
 Posts: 5689 |
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I also forsee flames on the border, as well as one liners and lists. I remember when Bamboo gave the Funimation version of Love Hina a pershiable rating and some people got exceptionally angry. But in all honestly, considering Love Hina was my first manga, I liked the manga version much better. |
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Craeyst Raygal
 Posts: 1383 Location: In the garage, beneath a 1970 MGB GT. |
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Oh, this is an easy one for me to answer and only because it's righting a few historical wrongs.
Rebecca Forstadt should never have been Mihoshi from Tenchi Muyo. Ellen Gerstell actually gave range to the role by giving Mihoshi a woman's voice, not simply saying all her lines with a child's lisp. Petrea Burchard IS Ryoko, not Mona Marshall. Marshall's flippant tomboy voice for Ryoko was horrible at best, and did nothing to convey the inherent sensuality and femininity of the character. And finally, Pioneer, MediaBlasters, and ADV ALL got it wrong when they chose not to bring Juliet Cesario and Scott Simpson back as Belldandy and Keiichi for their versions of Oh! My Goddess. I'm sorry, but you cannot possibly have K1 and Bell being voiced by anyone more appropriate than this couple. |
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LuckySeven
Posts: 587 Location: Georgia, USA |
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I can't say I disagree with you, but in both cases the original actors were not going to return for their roles. Ellen Gerstell retired from voice acting as far as I know. Which is why Ms. Forstadt took over. But at the least she had history with the playing the character since she also voiced Mihoshi in everything Tenchi related after Tenchi Universe and the first movie, Tenchi Muyo In Love. I still don't know the whole story for certain, but for reasons only she knows, Petrea Burchard declined a return. I believe something was said along the lines of moving on with her acting career. Though I had heard rumors that she had a ridiculously high asking price for her salary if she did return. I'll admit I wasn't too fond of hearing the voice of Izzy from Digimon coming out of Ryoko's mouth. But that doesn't mean she was horrible in the role. She did the best she could, but it was most certainly an epically bad case of miscasting. In my personal opinion, if they had to replace Ryoko's voice (and I'm sure they did because they had no other choice) I think Mary Elizabeth McGlynn would have been a better choice. Sure, she's probably best known as Major Kusanagi from Ghost In The Shell, but after having heard her portrayal of Jura from Vandread there left little doubt in my mind that she would have filled in nicely as the replacement for Ryoko's English voice. |
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Gewürtztraminer
 Posts: 1028 Location: Texas - Its like whole other country. |
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I don't know, this is an unpopular view, but I may be her biggest fanboy. To me her voice fits and becomes part of the character to me. Lain, Mahoro, Shinobu, Mima, Raquel, Mizuho, Rem, and what I thought was her best: Ryoko in the The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. Even Miaka, as annoying as she was, I just can not imagine anyone else's voice there. I would say my biggest gripe would be the recasting of Jessica Calvo as Emi Ohba from Comic Party to Larissa Wolcott in comic party revolution. I thought Comic Party Revolution was a big drop off, dub wise. Jessica made the stupid Panda jokes work for me in the first Comic Party. |
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mdo7
 Posts: 6888 Location: Katy, Texas, USA |
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Well, I'm all for redub of YuGiOh if 4kids gave up the license for that series. If they do, I hope Viz Media pick it up, I would like the Ocean Group (Gundam, Deathnote) to do it. I think they have the right VAs for them. Here's my selection:
Yugi Mutou-Brad Swaille or Matt Hill. I think one of their voice would fit Yugi because Brad or Matt would fit Yugi's character and dual personality. I think both of them would know how to voice Dark Yugi also. Anzu Mazaki (Tea)-Monica Stori. When I heard Monica's voice for Kagome from Inuyasha and laura from Hamtaro I think that voice would fit for Anzu just from using my imagination . Katsuya Jonouchi (Joey)-Richard Ian Cox. Even though he may have a Brooklyn accent in the 4kid version. I use my imagination to see which voice would Jonouchi, Richard Cox is the only one that fit him. There's no one else that can pull it off. Hiroto Honda (Tristan)-Kirby Morrow. From looking at his character and personality, I think Morrow can give him the right voice. Mai Kujaku (Mai Valentine)-Saffron Henderson or Venus Terzo. Looking at Saffron's list of what character she voice and listening to her voice. I believe she may fit Mai's character. Venus Terzo also has a right voice for Mai. Seto Kaiba-Matt Hill, Samuel Vincent, or Alex Zahara. One of these three can give Kaiba a true character. Mokuba Kaiba-Cathy Wesseluck. I hear her voicing young kid really well and I think in my opinion she would be perfect for Mokuba. Shizuka Kawai (Serenity)-Shannon Chan-Kent, Tabitha St. Germain, or Kelly Sheridan. I'm confident some of thse ladies can voice her the right way. Maximillion Pegasus-Dale Wilson. After I saw The Ocean Group voice for Cell in DBZ (in which Dale Wilson voiced Cell). Dale's voice sound perfect for Pegasus when I heard how he voice Cell. He's the only VA with the voice that can give Pegasus true justice. |
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sailorsarah08
 Posts: 471 Location: Houston, Texas |
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In the event of a redub of Sailor Moon, which will most likly never happen, here would be choices.
Why recast - IMO it never really got a dub in the first place. This is only Funi/ADV people. Usagi - Luci Christian She would have to use her Tenma (School Rumble) voice IMO not the Miss Yukari (AzuDaioh) scary fake I know what I'm doing voice. I like Luci because she is veratile but she gets a lot of Magical Girl leads. Hmm wonder why? The Duck voice (Princess Tutu) would also be very good, especially the way she changes her voice for spoiler[ Duck the duck, Duck the girl, and Duck as Princess Tutu.] Rei - Jessica Boone - I'll admit I got a great deal of enjoyment out of listening to Rue hassle Tutu. She did a very good job in Princess Tutu will a lower voice, but a voice like Misaki (Angelic Layer) would kill the good natured jabs of Rei. Tuexedo Mask - Chris Patton - He and Luci make a very good love hate team. He's good at being the fake bad guy then showing compassion and making you feel bad you wanted his character to go rot. Ami - Monica Rial - She'd have to use the Lumiere (Kiddy Grade) voice because Ami is much more refined than any of the other characters. spoiler[ While Lumiere says, "A lady really should really be more refined," Ami says (rough estimate), "We really out to be studing." Ami knows she's the smartest and since she's smart she doesn't flaunt it. ] While Ami is not that agressive, she is certainly not a pushover either. Mina - Leah Clark - She was an excellent Eri (School Rumble) with just a hint of flirt in her voice a lot of the time, which is why she is my pick. Mako - Wendee Lee - Mako is a less "out there" version of Haruhi IMO and she excelled at Haruhi (MoHS) . I don't know how she would be with the wistful catch phrase, spoiler[ "He reminds me of my sempai." *looks wistfully into the distance* ] I still laugh at how no matter who the boy is she is reminded. 
Luna - I really have no clue. I am so used to Luna with a british accent. I'm sure anyone Funi picks would be fine. 
That was fun! It took a lot longer than expected though. Edit: Changed Luci mistake. Last edited by sailorsarah08 on Thu Aug 06, 2009 2:47 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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LuckySeven
Posts: 587 Location: Georgia, USA |
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Well a re-dubbing of Sailor Moon isn't too out of the question considering a few surveys Funimation held earlier this year. And being Funimation they would probably go with their own actors rather than seek out the original VAs from the first dub. I'm all for consistency with voices so I'd be all for it. Just on Serena/Usagi alone I think they old dub used possibly 3 or 4 different actresses over the course of the series. Not to mention other voice changes and other bad casting in my opinion simply because the voice actors/actresses in question had the exact same voice while playing completely separate and distinct characters.
I think sailorsarah08's casting choices are pretty solid though a couple of minor nitpicks I hope don't come off making me sound too anal. Luci Christian was Miss Yukari in Azumanga Daioh (Jessica Boone was Chiyo). And Wendee Lee's only voice over work with Funimation was the Tenchi Muyo related stuff that Funimation had dubbed out in some Los Angeles studios. All in all nice choices and glad to see my old topic rise from the ashes of whatever page it had dropped back to since I last saw someone reply to it way back in May. |
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sailorsarah08
Posts: 471 Location: Houston, Texas |
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Sorry. I am kinda spacey. I could have sworn I looked everything up. Just edit out my stupidity...
They should fly Wendee Lee in to Texas she can stay at my spare bedroom in Houston and she will be Mako. Just kidding. A Sailor Moon redub would be awesome as would this cast.
This was a really cool thread idea because there are lots of show I would like to see re-dubed or dubed in general. I half way want a Magical Witch Punie-chan dub but I have a eerie feeling that anyone who wanted it has purchased it. I know I have and I'm not so sure I would buy it again. |
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penguintruth
 Posts: 8511 Location: Penguinopolis |
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Well, that's what you get for watching the third Tenchi OVA, anyway. It was an abomination to begin with, it's almost like Burchard knew. |
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Redbeard 101
Oscar the Grouch
Forums Superstar  Posts: 16974 |
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I would almost totally agree with you on this. The new crew from Media Blasters, that got carried over and used by ADV as well, don't do a bad job per se. They just aren't as good as the original. I will say though I actually liked Ruby Marlowe as Bell myself. I felt her voice matched Bell very well in the movie. Now hearing it for a whole tv season or 2 might be different. no way to tell now. Even considering that though I'm not saying she was any better then Juliet Cesario. At least we got her back as Peorth in the tv series though. When I first heard her I was scratching my head telling myself I know the voice and it belongs in Oh My Goddess but something seemed off heh. Something is better then nothing. She also is the one and only Miyuki from You're Under Arrest. So if the new series gets dubbed and brought over here and they don't use her it will be more epic fail. Then that new series would be mentioned right here heh. |
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JacobC
ANN Past Staff
 Posts: 3728 Location: SoCal |
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Hm. A lot of people are choosing shows that were bowdlerized because they were children's shows or had bawdy and goofy content. (Doesn't mean they deserved the poor treatment they got, but it is a commonality I see here.) You know, what I find FAR worse is when mature and graceful shows get crap dubs. It probably happens less, but boy when it does is it frustrating. If I could recast something, I would HAVE to recast Saikano. The best-played roles in it were only average by the standards we dub-enthusiasts expect, and MOST of them...were...awful.
I'll "cast" Texas actors because I think they handle natural-setting dramas better, or subtlety in general, while New York/LA/Vancouver handles a lot of the typecasted fantastical blowout stuff better. (Generalizations, I know, but whatev.) Chise, Laura Bailey -- Don't think Tohru (Fruits Basket), though, think what would happen if you somehow combined Lust's (FMA) tragic ruminations with Henrietta's (Gunslinger Girl) tender sweetness, and I don't think you could pick a better Chise. The funny thing about her is that while she looks like a sweet little moe girl, most of what she says and does is very adamant and mature. She's not a timid person (lest she get embarrassed about something sexually or whatever,) and even though Chise may have been the best-played role in the whole dub, I think Laura Bailey could do it better. Shuji, Jerry Jewell -- The others were off the top of my head, but this one took me a long while. It's an important part.  But all I can think of are people who make boring people sound cool without...impressing me with their acting much, either. The people I automatically thought of aren't BAD actors, but aren't exciting either, and just because that's good for beginning Shuji doesn't mean it's good for end Shuji. So I had to try REALLY hard to remember someone with that "typical" bored sounding voice that can also bust out a really good cry, and I eventually remembered this fellow. Perhaps someone else can do me one better? (Actually I'm sure ANYone could, but keep in mind that I really did already think of Jason Liebrecht, Sean Teague, and Robert McCollum, but nice voices or not, wasn't really sure they could ACT that part.)
Akemi, Brina Palencia -- Seriously. Perfect casting. Akemi is forceful and outspoken, but at the same time, kind of a normal girl who gets more than a few very upsetting scenes that require good dramatic instincts. So, Brina it is. Watch her Maho in BECK for a good example. On a really random note, I find it funny that she constantly gets cast with those rare anime characters that I find to be EERILY like myself. I wonder if we would be friends if we met or something? (I'm very excited about hearing her in Spice and Wolf!  )
Tetsu, John Burgmeier -- Mature and sometimes forceful, yet with a lot of shakiness and self-doubt about him. That and when he eventually spoiler[has his massive insane breakdown], which I watched in Japanese because I quit the dub entirely after two episodes, I thought the seiyuu kind of sounded like him. Anyway, I can see a lot of the scenes between him and Chise sounding awesome with him as Tetsu. Atsushi, Vic Mignogna or Todd Haberkorn -- Um...this isn't a hard role to play, really. You could give it to a lot of people. He's a naiive but supportive guy who is clearly set up to take a great and tragic fall. But for his boyishness and warm genuine feel, I like the idea of Vic playing him, because Vic naturally sounds nice. (Seriously, Edward Elric is a douche in word and deed most of the time, but he made us like and understand him more.) Still, just in case we've heard him too often, Todd Haberkorn could also do a very fine job, and sounds much high-schooly to boot. Fuyumi, Leah Clark or Colleen Clinkenbeard -- I like Leah Clark's voice much better for this, but Colleen Clinkenbeard may be able to act it better, seeing as Fuyumi has some disturbing outbursts that are delicately HARD to play, and Clinkenbeard is one of THE best voice actresses when it comes to hard stuff. But maybe Leah Clark's really good too, and I just haven't heard her in any challenging roles to prove it yet. Kind of a tossup. Actually, there may be an even better actress that I'm forgetting that would be better. I'm better at remembering voice actors. Random note: For Haruhi Suzumiya, I wouldn't recast the whole dub, (Crispin Freeman as Kyon ftw,) but I sure would recast Haruhi herself! Since it's Bang Zoom! we're talking about (I think), I'd easily have cast Melissa Fahn as Haruhi instead. It's not that she's a better actress than Wendee Lee, who has done lots of good roles in the past, but she just made Haruhi plastic and over-happy instead of that weird, funny Haruhi-ness you expect Haruhi to have. Both the natural timbre of Fahn's voice and her ability to play cutesy and harsh/forceful at the same time would have made a great Haruhi, and not the flat performance we got from Wendee Lee. (And I watched the dub first! Still did not like what I heard, less so once I finally heard the Japanese, which made me appreciate Freeman's Kyon a lot more.) Add to that she can SING well. Wendee Lee could too, but the point is, you have to be able to sing for God Knows, god knows. Speaking of Crispin Freeman, why didn't he play the Count in Gankutsuou? What was the deal with casting Jamieson Price? I know I won't shut up about it, but...but...(sigh) The only problem with Crispin Freeman playing the Count, I suppose, is that he sounds a little too young...and people would probably be reminded of Alucard. But that aside, well, he can act! Mr. Price, on the other hand, has a great voice, but his acting...is at his most convincing when playing roles like he did in Lain and Code Geass: officious, forceful bodyguards. He seems to have a whole lotta trouble with most everything else... |
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