Hayden/Brittany or Alyson/Meaghan as Kairi/Namine?

[SuperMillionaire]

Which pair do you like better as the English voices of Kairi and Namine: Hayden Panettiere/Brittany Snow or Alyson Stoner/Meaghan Jette Martin?

[sdm42393]

I like Hayden's Kairi but I prefer Meaghan's Namine.

[SuperMillionaire]

Alyson voiced both Kairi and Xion. In the next game, Alyson should voice Xion, Hayden should voice Kairi, and either Brittany or Meaghan can voice Namine again (they're both good).

[Fynn]

I seriously doubt the chances of Xion appearing in the next installment...

[SuperMillionaire]

Not in BBS, but perhaps III?

[Fynn]

That's what I mean. Considering what she was and what happened to her, AND the fact that she was never supposed to exist I can't see how she can appear in KHIII. Even flashbacks wouldn't make sense.

[SuperMillionaire]

Well, you never know.

[Fynn]

Anyway, I always found Hayden's performance as Kairi mediocre, though Alyson Stoner will always remain Xion for me, so I guess Hayden should return. As for Namine - I could never tell the difference between those two, so I guess I don't care.

[SuperMillionaire]

Yes, Brittany and Meaghan sound almost the same.

[Roogle]

The popularity of Hayden Panettiere makes it difficult for her to be cast in every game in the Kingdom Heart series. I'm a fan of consistency in voice work from game to game in a series with many recurring characters; Alyson Stoner and Meaghan Jette Martin would be a better choice for me simply based on the fact that they would be more available for localization work.

[SuperMillionaire]

I've began to notice that a recent trend in English voice-casting is to cast actors from the Disney Channel; both Stoner and Martin previously starred in the Disney Channel original movie Camp Rock (the movie also starred Demi Lovato and the Jonas Brothers).

Comparing Hayden and Alyson as Kairi, they definitely sound different, but Brittany and Meaghan as Namine are very similar.

[Roogle]

That is probably an industry trend rather than a trend of the Disney Channel. Actors that appear in a few television movies or older television shows can often find more work providing their voice to a cartoon character or dubbing and they carve a dependable niche and career doing that rather than a few television appearances. Cree Summer is an example of this. She had a few guest star appearances on some sitcoms in the late 80's and early 90's, but really struck it big with her raspy, recognizable voice providing the voice of characters like Suzie Carmichael from Rugrats.

[SuperMillionaire]

You're right in that aspect too, but I was referring specifically to Kingdom Hearts Anglophone voice-casting. I also remember Cree Summer voicing Cleo in Clifford the Big Red Dog.

[Roogle]

Oh, do you know if Disney is involved with the localization of Kingdom Hearts in the dubbing aspect? I know that nearly all of the Disney characters were voiced by their official Disney voice actor. If that is the case, then, yes, you would be right about them contacting the actors that appeared in earlier low budget works.

[SuperMillionaire]

Exactly; all of the Disney characters' actors reprised their roles here. Original characters such as Sora, Roxas, Riku, Kairi, Namine, and Xion are often voiced by actors affiliated with Disney, especially the Disney Channel.

[Roogle]

That would make an interesting article if you had the time to compile a list of the voice actors that you recognize.

We are currently planning to transition to a new vBulletin version that has an articles feature and I would like to monitor and nominate posts to become articles for the front page from time to time. I may be biased because I voice act, but I like reading about the industry and all the ways that people get into the industry. The Kingdom Hearts series has always had a pretty high quality localization because of its involvement with Disney characters and series, too.

[SuperMillionaire]

Oh wow, when will the transition take place?

[Roogle]

I would say some time next month. We have already purchased the copy and we are trying to make a smooth transition to the next version since it has a lot more features and styles than the current version.

If you are interested in contributing in the form of articles, you need to only keep posting and there should be a "Nominate Article" button or something similar below each post.

On the subject at hand, do you prefer the big name actors lending their voices to localization or regular voice actors lending their voices to localization? Like I said, Hayden Panettiere and Brittany Snow are harder to get than Alyson Stoner and Meaghan Jette Martin at any given time, and I think one of the downsides of North American localization is that it's not taken nearly as seriously as the original in Japan. The voice acting industry is much different there.

[SuperMillionaire]

Personally, I prefer big-name actors, and I believe that Alyson and Meaghan will soon hit the big-time; Hilary Duff did, and so did Jesse McCartney, who voices Roxas.

[Goldenboko]

If you are interested in contributing in the form of articles, you need to only keep posting and there should be a "Nominate Article" button or something similar below each post.

You mean like reputation, except not worthless? :)

Back on topic, I would imagine it would be cheaper for Disney Channel to contact people they've used in low budget works before, rather than run a try-out or audition or whatever it is they do in the industry, when they already have a vast pool of cheap acts.

[Roogle]

You mean like reputation, except not worthless? :)

The Nominate Article feature would only be for Final Fantasy articles, but this may be changed in the future.


Back on topic, I would imagine it would be cheaper for Disney Channel to contact people they've used in low budget works before, rather than run a try-out or audition or whatever it is they do in the industry, when they already have a vast pool of cheap acts.

The localization company creates a casting call and contacts various agents to get in touch with voice actors for an audition. Surprisingly, most of the voice actors are based locally near the recording studio. Dallas and Los Angeles are two locations that come to mind. The Disney Channel is not involved with the localization of the Kingdom Hearts series aside from Disney providing vocal talent for its characters, I think. SuperMillionaire might have more thoughts on this.

[SuperMillionaire]

Yes, that is true, indeed, Roogle. But I would have said LA and NYC rather than Dallas...

And according to what you said earlier, it's very different here than in Japan; characters tend to consistently have the same Japanese voice actor, but have multiple voices in English; while Alyson and Meaghan replaced Hayden and Brittany, Risa Uchida and Iku Nakahara, their Japanese counterparts, have still kept their roles.

[Roogle]

Yes, it is a North American trend with the way the voice acting industry is right now.

The North American branch of Square Enix does not deem it a priority to have Hayden Panettiere create a small amount of voice samples for a Playstation Portable game or a Nintendo DS game because they are seen as smaller projects than a full-scale console game and likely not worthy enough of her time in their eyes. I think that there is less of a sense of character ownership in the entertainment industry for voiceovers than there is in television shows or movies.

In television shows and movies, recasting a character is a bigger deal than it is for a video game mainly due to the use of live action actors.

[SuperMillionaire]

Exactly; home console games are always bigger projects than handheld games.

[Mercen-X]

I like Meaghan's middle name. I had planned to use that as a nickname for when I had a daughter.

[SuperMillionaire]

"Jette." Interesting nickname indeed, Mercen-X.