Thoughts about the dubs........

[abandonreality]

Promise this is my last spam of the night. *cringe*  Was talking back and forth with several people about the interview with some of the dub actors posted on soul_society, and it got me to looking around at the others and checking out the voices and what they had done....  These are just some of my thoughts...

Firstly, Ishida Uryuu's dub actor, Stephen Prince........this is going to be BAD.  So bad I may weep.  finnigan_geist had a link posted on her journal to his dub as Ken Ichijouji in Digimon.....*shudder*.....and he said he is going to play him like that character only more mysterious.....=_=.  He also says he doesn't see Ishida as a dork and he doesn't like manga or anime and has only read the wikipediea entry for Bleach to prepare.  I fear for this greatly.

Second, Kurosaki Ichigo's dub actor, Johnny Bosch.  The best thing I can say about Mr. Bosch is at least he has done his research and has respect for the character.  I listened to his Vash the Stampede voice.........I know I will have fangirls pelt me with tomatos but I never liked it.  It sounded to soft and sweet.  Unless he really messes his throat up, I just can't see Ichigo coming out of that.  He said in his interview he was using his "just woke up voice".......They better wake him up at 3:00 am.

Next, Michelle Ruff, who does both, Kurosaki Yuzu and Kuchiki Rukia.  While I can certainly see Ms. Ruff for Yuzu no problem, I am almost afraid looking at some of her other roles that while she has a wide range (As Yatsuha in Samurai Champloo, Yurika Dojima in Witch Hunter Robin), I don't think her voice is low enough or severe enough to play Rukia.

These that are next are the ones I feel most comfortable with.  First, Katie Higgins as Kurosaki Karin.  She will be a good Karin.  She has played pre-teen girls before very well.  I think she does a good job in Eureka 7.  Naruto fans will know her as Sakura's english dub.

Then there is Inoue Orihime's dub actress, Stephanie Sheh.  Nice soft, high pitched voice, sweet sounding.  What we would expect of Orihime.  You may have heard her as Eureka in Eureka 7.  Or Naruto fans as Hinata Hyuuga. (as a funny side note she is also listed as Naruto's 'sexy jutsu voice'  O_o)

Next is Arisawa Tatsuki's voice, Wendee Lee.  If you have watched dubbed anime at all in the last 10 - 15 years this name is probably familiar to you.  This woman works ALOT.  She can seemingly change her voice at will.  I seriously don't know if there is a dubbed anime that she has not had some kind of part in.  Some of her famous voices are Faye Valentine from Cowboy Bebop, Yahiko Myojin from Rurouni Kenshin and Lena/Bulma from Dragon Ball.

Finally is Kurosaki Isshin's dub actor, Patrick Seitz.  I had never heard of him before, but there was a link through ANN to his web page where he had demos of the animes he had dubbed.  After hearing his range and different characters, I think out of all of the males, I feel the best about him.  He can do a good gruff, silly voice.  If you want to hear him for yourself.  His web page is here

Well, thats my thoughts on the subject.  I thought if everyone put their 2 cents in, I might as well put 5. ^_^.
*silently weeps for dub Ishida*

Comments

[3-jane.livejournal.com]

Wendee Leeeeee! (She was the 'shroom woman with the rotten shoes in SC.) Oh, yays! I haven't heard her enough since CB. :D

Be interesting to see how this plays out (and even more when AS starts showing the eps! Soon, soon, my preciousss, yes.).

[abandonreality.livejournal.com]

Interestingly enough, I think I am one of the few in the fandom actually pleased with her casting....O_o
People who have only heard her as Faye, don't think she can do a teenage girl. They forget about the roles she took under another name (like the Kenshin one) *grins*

[kageisuke.livejournal.com]

::snerks:: Everyone always points to Vash's voice for Bosch, but he plays OTHER characters, too. Kiba's voice from Wolf's Rain isn't silly at all, and he's Sakaki in WHR, too. I'm trying not to be cynical about the voices until I HEAR them play it. THEN I will bitch, moan, and laugh my ass off. But I do worry he won't play Ichigo deep enough, because Morita-san gives him a decently deep voice for a 15 year old...

When I watched the Digimon dub recently [cruising around Disney Channel since my sister HAD to watch TV] the slightly painful memories awoke in me... and they caused me to laugh. I forgot how much of a bastard Ken was! If he plays Ishida THAT way, I do think I will cry... and laugh at the flashbacks...

I heard people complaining of Lee's voice for Tatsuki because she doesn't play young girls very well and would be better for Matsumoto... But I think, if she does play two roles, she'll probably come back as that one [Matsumoto] since Tatsuki disappears for, oh, 30 or more episodes during the SS Arc AND the Bouto Arc... [But why the hell is KEIGO in it?]

And yes! Sheh is perfect for Orohime, if you ask me. She has that nice soft, soothing voice that she uses for Hinata, which I really like as one of the best in the Naruto dub... But as she said herself, she just needs to take some of the meekness out of it... x_x

But either way, I agree pretty much with everything you said... but just hold out more hope for Ichigo than everyone else seems to... and when you point to Vash as his voice, I can see why you cringe... but just remember it isn't the ONLY voice he's done...

[abandonreality.livejournal.com]

Yea, I remember he was Kiba too...in the interview though he said he tried his roughest voice and the producers told him to back off...=_=. Me scared. I think he will try his hardest, probably the hardest out of any of them because he is aware of how rabid the fans are ^^. But if it sounds painful and gag worthy we will have no one to blame but the producers.

I listened to what else Michelle Ruff has done on her website, even some of her "mature" characters........*weeps for Rukia*

[kageisuke.livejournal.com]

I'm slightly frightened too. But I'm forcing the meager bits of optomism I have left in my great old age of 20 to let me survive this... It's almost a month away! And yeah, I'll probably still watch it... the voice'll just grow on me... like Renton's voice...

Well... Being that Rukia is a main character, regardless of whether you like her or not, we should all be crying... My fear is KON's voice... It could go so HORRIBLY wrong... And then there's Renji, Byakuya, URahara... ::falls to floor:: There is too big of a cast to decide of who's mutilated voice I worry about more...

[abandonreality.livejournal.com]

OH GOD URAHARA! *faints headfirst into keyboard*
dkjflksjdklfsj;dljf
If they get him wrong, it will just, just RUIN so much *flails* I just love his seiyuu soooo much *pets him* You have to get someone who can be goofily funny AND mysterious at the same time. GAH!

And Renji.....*rolls*...have you ever watched Kenshin dub? *shiver* If you haven't there is the guy they chose to dub Sano, who is a tough, smack talker like Renji, who was BLOODY HORRIBLE! If they do some thing like that I may weep everytime I hear the theme music......

[kageisuke.livejournal.com]

Yes! Shinichirou Miki is the WHORE of male seiyuu! He plays every perverted mysterious guy out there! His voice is SEX!

And yeah, I saw the Kenshin dub. But I'm okay with most dubs. So yeah, Sano's voice could have been MUCH better, but it could have been even worse... Have you heard Kaga's voice from Hikaru no Go? If you listen to THAT dub voice, YOU WILL CRY. Or at least cringe at it's horribleness.

I'm wondering about the OP and ED. Will they pull a Eureka 7 and chop the OP and ED to bits of their formers selves, or pull a IY and only show the ED? 0.o I wish they could just alternat! Why can't they di it that way?

[laurabryannan.livejournal.com]

I watch a lot of Digimon cuz of my little Bear and, to be honest, I think the VA for Ishida might not be so bad. Ken Ichijouji's voice is very similar to Ishida's Japanese VA, IMHO. Smooth and sleek. Perhaps you caught a bad clip or something.

I'm with you worrying about Ichigo and Rukia, though. I *ADORE* the original VAs for those characters and fear no one else can compare. We can only wait and chew our fingernails, I guess.

[abandonreality.livejournal.com]

What has me more worried is his seeming apathy for the character. He was kinda like "Eh, I looked him up on Wiki, do I really need to know more?" And the "He is not a dork" comment made me go WTF? O_o? I am afraid he will get the entire feel of Ishida wrong. *cringe*. Rukia worries me quite a bit, especially since I listened to what else she has done on her website. *weeps*

[laurabryannan.livejournal.com]

Well, to be honest, I'd be happy to see Ishida not played so dorky. I don't see him as particularly dorky anyway. I know fandom writers and artists like to make him act retarded and put him in women's clothes and such, but I can't go there myself.

It's going to be interesting to see how it goes.

[abandonreality.livejournal.com]

I hope you're right....I shall give him a chance for YOU! my dear *sparkles*. (Rukia still makes me weep)

[laurabryannan.livejournal.com]

I agree that Rukia's character would take a particular kind of voice acting that would be hard for anyone to pull off. She needs to be both hard and soft, with that wonderfully Rukia edge to her voice that the original VA has. Same with Ichigo. I'm gonna be biting my nails, that's for sure!

[gallo-de-pelea.livejournal.com]

I haven't seen any of the anime yet, and I'm holding out in order to see the dub first and then weigh the two against each other. That approach seems to work OK for most things.

Then again, I'm OK with dubs in general, despite preferring the subtitled version 9 times out of 10 (and always preferring it if the show takes place in Japan.) The only dub I can't stand is One Piece.

TiVo doesn't have Bleach listed yet...

[abandonreality.livejournal.com]

TiVo doesn't have it listed? It is scheduled at AS web site for September 9th at 11:30 p.m I believe. They have it marked in yellow all special like *sparkles*

[gallo-de-pelea.livejournal.com]

It'll probably get listed about 2 weeks out.

[grafx-icons.livejournal.com]

First of all, thank you for visitng/snagging the colorbars I made! I really appreciate it!

Anyway, I saw this post of yours, and decided to add my 5 cents. ^_^ I hope you don't mind... >_>

I agree about the Ishida part! I listened to the dubbed of Shino from Naruto (Stephen Prince does his voice too) and it sounded way too energetic for Shino; almost happy. o-o;; I don't know why they cast him as the serious characters...it doesn't fit his voice at all. Sure Ishida has his OOC moments, but Ishida still should have a serious deep tone. v-v I'm worried~ but I'll watch it to laugh at the dub. I seriously cannot imagine Ishida with a voice like Shino's.

Johnny Bosch was the black power ranger too! YEA! :D That's my childhood in a nutshell: power rangers. anyway...I agree, Vash's voice is too high for Ichigo.

btw, which character did Kate Higgins play in Eureka 7?

[abandonreality.livejournal.com]

They are gorgeous!
And sure I don't mind, thats why I post ^^!

I will cross my fingers for Johnny Bosch, from the interview, he is really researching the role and wants to please fans (he seems aware of how rabid we are *starts growling menacingly*)

Oh and Kate Higgins was Talho on Eureka 7.