Japanese voice actors tend to sound too dramatic... [Archive]

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Peter_20

11-23-2007, 11:20 AM

Does anyone agree?
Whenever I hear a Japanese voice actor, they always sound extremely aggressive.
If I were to quote a Japanese voice actor, I'd need to make exclusive use of capital letters, BECAUSETHISISWHATTHEYSOUNDLIKE!!!

I mean, just listen to voice samples from, say, Final Fantasy 10 and Star Ocean: The Second Story - the actors don't even care about sounding calm when particular scenes are obviously supposed to be calm.

JKTrix

11-23-2007, 12:38 PM

Well, you're still kinda new to this 'Japanese' thing and given your normal choice of material, you're bound to come across a bunch of overactive kids. That's kind of the staple of the whole Shounen style, which the majority of Japanese RPGs fit into as well. You get used to it (until you grow tired of it).

Saying they "always" sound that way may be an exaggeration. You probably notice it the most when they actually are shouting, and forget about the normal times. It's ok though, your point was made.

While I can't reccomend any games that have Japanese voice acting that are more mature, there are tons of anime out there that can counter your views.

KentaRawr!

11-23-2007, 12:41 PM

I share similar, but separate sentiments towards Japanese Voice Actors. To me, it seems that most talk the same way when applied to a certain character. Voices rise at similar times, they lower, and so such. I could never hear a Japanese Voice Actor and say "That's the voice from ____!", because I'd be saying too many names. But that might just be due to English being my first language.

Jessweeee♪

11-23-2007, 05:19 PM

NOT DRAMATIC ENOUGH, I SAY!

Selena_Akariko

11-23-2007, 05:55 PM

starseeker

11-23-2007, 06:02 PM

The best way to counter over-dramatic acting is to comment on it I find, although in some cases it's the over-dramatisation that makes it good. Case in point, Zero in Code Geass, the humour is in the over-dramatism.

Anything beats the whiny, irritating girls in many English dubs.

Selena_Akariko

11-23-2007, 06:06 PM

Anything beats the whiny, irritating girls in many English dubs.

Agreed.

Marshall Banana

11-24-2007, 04:05 AM

The Summoner of Leviathan

11-24-2007, 04:19 AM

Well, I don't know. Personally, I love Japanese voice acting. When it comes to anime, I always prefer the original voicing to the English one (I mean, I was once watching an English-dubbed Sailor Moon episode on YouTube, and I switched it to the original in less than a minuite).

So, Japanese voice acting ftw.

:save: Selena

I know what you mean. The Sailor Moon dubs kill a little bit of my soul every time I hear them.

Worst yet, Gravitation's English dub. O.M.G. The most inappropriate voice actors ever chosen. Totally unfitting the characters at all. I had to change it the instant that I heard them. I mean Japanese voice acting is not without its flaw, but I'd wager to say there are more skilled Japanese voice actors than North American ones. There are good NA voice actors but they mostly only do the "big" ones, in other words the really popular series. For less popular series you ultimately get really horrible voice acting as far as I have experienced. Then again, I rarely watch English dubs. Save for Inu Yasha (when I do watch it). For some reason I like their dubs.

I am probably bias in opinion as you tend to be more favourable to what you are used to hearing. In other words, the more you listen to Japanese voice acting, the more you get used to those specific voices for those specific characters. If you then switch to the English dub, then it does not sound "right" since you associate a certain kind of voice with the character. The same is true if your tendency lays in watching dubs. Or so I think.

Big Brother

11-24-2007, 04:28 AM

Seymour's Japanese voice actor was horrible. He seemed like he was simply reading a script.

Roto13

11-24-2007, 09:36 AM

Anything beats the whiny, irritating girls in many English dubs.

The whiny, irritating girls in Japanese are a lot more annoying. Good lord, those voices are enough of a reason to ban the creation of any more perky, energetic lolis.

Big Brother

11-24-2007, 01:34 PM

I concur. Look at Yuna's voice actress. She wasn't terrible but she sounded like a little girl. It's the really high voice of some of the actresses that make me cringe.

Big D

11-24-2007, 10:14 PM

There are good, bad and ugly voice actors in every language and culture. I don't really see the need to idolise or demonise any particular group.

scrumpleberry

11-24-2007, 10:18 PM

Azure Chrysanthemum

11-25-2007, 05:33 AM

There are good, bad and ugly voice actors in every language and culture. I don't really see the need to idolise or demonise any particular group.

Agreed.

Although I will say that Japan has a larger talent pool due to the fact that the industry is more prominent than it is in America. And there are some excellent examples of voice acting within Japanese games and anime, just as there are with American games and cartoons (The Bard's Tale, most Blizzard games and the Simpsons spring most readily to mind).

Jessweeee♪

11-25-2007, 09:30 PM

I love both Tidus's japanese and english voice actors, but you have to hear the part of the laughing scene in japanese when they start really laughing. It's so weird XD

Rye

11-25-2007, 09:57 PM

I ACTUALLY

REALLY LIKE THAT THEY TALK

LIKE THISSSSSSSS!!!!!!

Peter_20

12-01-2007, 04:32 PM

Seymour's Japanese voice actor was horrible. He seemed like he was simply reading a script.Yeah, particularly during the fight against Flux - at that part Seymour didn't put ANY emotions into his lines, but just went "I say this, because the script tells me to. Dramatic scene? Who cares?".

You can check the scene yourselves:
YouTube - FFXJ (No Sphere Grid) Seymour Flux! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bowtmdlA-Os)