Western voice actors

[Carl the Llama]

Ok I honestly don't know what the big deal is with people shunning western voice actors, I am always seeing people saying "-names- voice actor was pants ect" is it really that bad? I personally have never had any issues with western voice actors and I have no idea why alot of people think that the Japanese have better voice actors then the western counterpart, what is the big deal, if you speak English and you want a language 90% of the people who moan about the voice actors can't even understand, I know some Japanese but I'm no where near fluent enough to understand a whole game of said language.

Its the same with anime too, anyone seen Fist of the North Star (film not the live action movie which was complete pants) they will have to agree that the English version is not only better (having seen both the English and the Chinese counterpart) and the ending itself is better, but lets not go off track. not many would have seen FotNS but a shedload of you have seen Dragon Ball I'd wager, have you ever seen it in Chinese? Goku's voice actor was terrible, so much so that I can't bring myself to watch it.

So in short, why do so many people hate the western voice actors? I think they are great. I have never heard a voice that made me think "what the hell were -company - thinking in hiring them?"

[Roto13]

No More Heroes 1.5 is on YouTube and it's heartbreaking how boring Travis' Japanese voice actor is compared to his English one. :(

[NorthernChaosGod]

People like to be elitist little pricks.

Localizations are superior in that they actually allow conversations to make sense, rather than literal translations in which all inflection, context, humor, wordplay, and flow are lost. Why is being closer to the original preferable? Literal translations are an approximation of meaning, subtitles can rarely express puns or culture specific terms or verbal gestures that have no equivalent meaning, the more literally accurate you attempt to be in a translation the less likely you are to convey the intended meaning.

[Roto13]

http://imgur.com/AwrQ7.jpg

[NorthernChaosGod]

I have one, too.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_I2uQkGxIykM/S8Fu7xeeRyI/AAAAAAAAKFE/AWYPkTy8naI/s400/moo+vd.jpg

[McLovin']

The guy who does the voice of Spike Spiegel is a damn fine voice actor. And the guy who does the voice of Yu-gi-oh! Can't imagine what he'd sound like in Japanese lol.

[JKTrix]

You know how they say, 'different strokes for different folks'. The first version of something that you hear usually leaves the biggest impression on you too.

Part of the 'Dub vs Sub' debate goes back several years to a time when it was actually relevant--when anime came out on video tape. This is long before console games ever had a considerable amount of voice acting, so I'm coming at this from the perspective of anime. Back then, you could choose whether or not you bought an English dubbed tape or an English subtitled tape (for the most part--if it was a kid's TV anime it was always dub only). The thing is, I think sub tapes were actually more expensive and in shorter supply than the dub counterparts, so back then it was even more of an elitist thing. And back then, many of the dubs really were just plain horrible.

Now with most DVDs (though I can't speak for kid's TV anime) you can just switch the language, and dubs these days are overall of pretty high quality, so as far as anime goes it's less of an issue. Except that people don't buy DVDs, they just stick to their illegal fansubs.

My personal opinion may be a little different than most others who generally prefer original Japanese voices. I understand some Japanese and some of the culture and inflections and what have you, and I also am familiar with many of the Japanese voice actors. FF13, for example, had a good handful of relatively popular Japanese voice actors, so I'm most interested to play that in Japanese.

Funny that you bring up Fist of the North Star, since a PS3/360 game just came out which includes the Japanese language option. The thing about that is, none of the characters in that are voiced by their original anime actors, and are instead replaced by some of today's 'hot' anime actors (Kenshiro is voiced by the guy who played Kamina in Gurren-Lagann, for example). It's just not the same as the old cast that I had become so familiar with.
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As for games, I don't know. Japanese RPGs tend to have juvenile stories with juvenile characters and writing, so it may be difficult for English actors to convey the same level of juvenile enthusiasm in their acting. So it may just come off as awkward. Some people recognize this and are numb to it, especially compared to bad anime dubs in the past. Others may just be trying to nitpick at different things.

One thing that does confuse/irritate me though, are when games do include the Japanese voices and it exposes how off-the-mark their text is. This was really noticeable for me in Muramasa the Demon Blade for Wii. Since I could generally understand what they were saying, the text that was on the screen often only matched the spoken words at the basest level. The text in that game did not convey the personality that was being put into the original voices--'country' accents and word puns (though puns are hard to localize) and some more poetic dialogue were all translated as dully as possible.

Fist of the North Star is getting into some of that too, with its between-the-chapter narrations in Japanese being a little more flowery than the text on screen. This isn't as big of a deal there, since it's just straight narration and not really anything to do with characterization or personality. For example, the narrator would say (in Japanese) 'The people had forgotten how to smile', while the text said 'People were in despair'. It means the same thing, and is more direct, but it's a little less interesting.

But yeah. Most people just like to complain. They should be exposed to some of the really bad dubs from years/decades past, maybe it would give them some perspective on how good they have it.

[Roogle]

A poor localization of a video game will force Western voice actors to deliver stilted, awkward lines that resonate poorly with the audience.

It can be difficult to work with material that comes from another country and adapt it to a point that makes sense for Western audiences; additionally, the localization process does not usually make hard changes to a game, and voice acting will have limitations because of that. For example, a cleverly delivered scene in Japanese with quick comebacks may sound awkward in English because the same intentions cannot expressed so quickly.

You may find that you have less of an issue with Western voice actors if you watch animated series or video games that were produced in English first. Would you say that Batman: The Animated Series or Gargoyles had poor voice acting? I certainly would not.

[Aerith's Knight]

Western voice actors have the men down, that's for sure. But the women? I mostly just want to tear my hair out if I hear Vanille or Aeris speak another word.

http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/4852/animefansubfailure014.jpg

[Roto13]

I hate a LOT of Japanese voices for female characters. Especially the "energetic", "cute", or "shy" ones. (Read: moe)

[Madame Adequate]

Primarily because Star Ocean: Til The End of Time.

[Shiny]

I prefer American voice actors to Japanese voice actors. Not because they speak English, but but because I think that a majority of the time, their voices fit the characters better. This especially true in video games where a lot of the characters are clearly not Japanese or even Asian at all.

[Aerith's Knight]

To be honest, I prefer to read/listen to any media as it is in its original language. If I watch anime, I want it in Japanese. If I'm watching a movie, I want it in English. If I read a book, I want it in the language it was written. It makes more sense, both in content and pleasantness of voice.

It does give a lot of translation fail if you don't understand the language though.

[Depression Moon]

If I read a book, I want it in the language it was written.

You must be omnilingual. I don't think I ever played a game where I thought the voices were just awful. Well, not all of them. In SSF4 I keep the shotos minus Ken and Dan on Japanese along with E. Honda and I flip back and forth with Chun Li and Sakura's. Chun's English voice is okay. Sakura's is annoying, but funny at the same time. Fei Long's is bad too, but I think that was intentional since he is a Bruce Lee parody. I also Keep Ibuki, Makoto, and Gen on Japanese as well.

Aside from that I can't recall any others that annoyed me. Oh no wait, there was Aeris in KH and Vivi too.

[Laddy]

I hate how I'm culturally insensitive when I want to watch a Caucasian American speak English.

Some voice actors are absolutely brilliant and deserve true recognition (Vic Migogna, Travis Willingham, Laura Bailey, Greg Ayres, etc.)

Hetalia: Axis Powers is a far superior show in English dub. Plain and simple. Each character is based on a nation and in English the accents and little quirks come out more. Let's be fair, Americans are as a whole tighter with nations such as England, France, Canada, Spain, Germany, Italy, and such culturally than Japan, so the English dub brings out more inside jokes. (This dub, as are most English dubs, is American.)

Not to say all dubs are good per se, but I hate the otaku elitism. Acting is always more effective in your own language, and with all the non-Japanese characters speaking perfect Japanese with no accent, it sort of requires too much supsension of disbelief.

[Aerith's Knight]

If I read a book, I want it in the language it was written.

You must be omnilingual.

Well, I do read 4 of them, but that's hardly omni-lingual. 5 if you count runes, but nobody ever does.

[kotora]

Western voice actors + Japanese names and words in the script = disaster

[Bolivar]

As far as games go, I can't really say I've seen an example of VA that was bad... but I could totally understand how it would annoy some people. I remember Dragon Quest VIII, all the actors seem to talk really slow so a young/slow reader could follow along, I'm assuming they really made that game for kids in the US?

I can't really say I have a preference for what I hear first, either. I know you're all dropping really esoteric or iconic anime series' which are good examples of translation, but I watched Gundam Wing as a kid and in the last year watched it in Japanese - I think they both have their own strengths.

[Roogle]

If I read a book, I want it in the language it was written.

I don't think I ever played a game where I thought the voices were just awful. Well, not all of them. In SSF4 I keep the shotos minus Ken and Dan on Japanese along with E. Honda and I flip back and forth with Chun Li and Sakura's. Chun's English voice is okay. Sakura's is annoying, but funny at the same time. Fei Long's is bad too, but I think that was intentional since he is a Bruce Lee parody. I also Keep Ibuki, Makoto, and Gen on Japanese as well.

For those who are not familiar with the game, Super Street Fighter IV allows you to choose the language of the voice acting on a per character basis once certain basic requirements are met.

This presents an interesting choice as you can set the voice acting entirely to English, entirely to Japanese, or mix and match as necessary. Naturally, I chose to outfit the Western characters with English voice acting and outfit the Asian characters with Japanese voice acting, and I am glad that the game gave me the choice. I do not see why Guile, a United States Air Force officer, would speak in stilted English.

The developers have stated their wishes to have characters eventually speak their native language in the future. Chun-Li, for example, would have a Chinese speaking voice actor.

[Old Manus]

I don't watch programmes in Japanese because I don't understand Japanese.

[MJN SEIFER]

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090508234242/soulcalibur/images/thumb/2/2d/MitsurugiSC4.jpg/300px-MitsurugiSC4.jpg

US VERSION: Calm, collected, completly suits his "undefeated" reputation (even though he's actually been defeated three or four times).

JAPAN VERSION: Prone to shouting in mid-sentance, generally sounding retarded.

So yeah, sometimes it's actuall better dubbed!:eek:

[RedPouch]

Western voice actors for translated foreign games tend to be absolutely terrible at what they're hired to do. It could be due to the localization and all, but aside from that... there is a very obvious, definite lack of effort put in by the English voice actors for most of these translated foreign games . However, I believe that this has more to do with the English divisions of these companies and how they choose to handle it. I'm pretty sure that for the most part, a lot less effort is put into the English version of these games than the original. They may not roll with the bare minimum effort, but they won't put as much effort into it as they would for their own version, so they generally aren't going to put in much time and effort to rehearse and re-voice the English version anymore than they have to. This isn't always the case, but I notice that this tends to be the occurrence often.

I also agree with Roogle on his earlier comment. From everything I have seen, games that are made in English [B]first tend to have high quality voice acting if I do say so myself. To take games like the Halo series, the Fable series, Dragon age, etc... these games on average tend to have pretty good voice acting [I'm saying in general to make a quick point - I don't want to open up a debate for nit-picking].

So people who complain about "English voice actors" are only referring to the very general and apparent side of it - which is to be expected from the average person, since most people aren't going to dig up info on the voice actors. They're simply going to hear the voice acting in the game and judge "good", "okay", or "bad". However, the primary issue at hand here is a lot more specific than just "English voice actors". In my opinion, it's mostly due to the English divisions of these foreign companies and how much time, cash, and effort they are willing to put into it. Since they primarily care about the gamers in their own country, we are secondary and therefore less important to them. It's also good business sense [technically] since voice acting usually isn't enough to deter someone from the game on its own. Even if people are complaining about the voice acting here, they still purchased the game and played it, which is all these companies need to accomplish. Therefore, there is no need to spend extra cash and time on better voice acting. Your dollar is just as green either way.


As far as games go, I can't really say I've seen an example of VA that was bad
Star Ocean 4 is one such game that comes to mind for me. The two voice actors for the main characters were fine, but the voice actors for the rest of the cast were just absolutely atrocious. But to be fair, I usually don't see it get that bad. Most games that I can think of with bad voice acting left me with an impression of "the voice acting in it was kind of annoying" rather than "Ugh... the voice acting in it was smurfing terrible".


So yeah, sometimes it's actuall better dubbed!
Sometimes this is true. It isn't a video game, but the anime series Tenchi Muyo is one such case where I actually loved the English dub quite a lot.

[Forsaken Lover]

Xenosaga 1 and 3 have possibly the best voice-acting in all of anime or video gams when it comes to dubbing.

The only video game with voice-acting on its level is an English made one knon as the Legacy of Kain series. Simon Templeman, Michael Bell, Tony Jay, Richard Doyle... Ah, it's unbelievable how good they all are.
RIP Mr. Jay.

[Bolivar]

Yeah, that's pretty much the same way I felt about it in my post. I'm almost even afraid to admit that... I kind of... really like the voice acting in FFX. Hopefully this comment will be buried in obscurity in a relatively more quiet thread.


The only video game with voice-acting on its level is an English made one knon as the Legacy of Kain series. Simon Templeman, Michael Bell, Tony Jay, Richard Doyle... Ah, it's unbelievable how good they all are.
RIP Mr. Jay.

Those games are teh EPIC win of voice acting.

[Vyk]

Its funny but I think the Resident Evil series makes points for both sides of this argument. The first game had -terrible- acting. Though most of you seem to be omitting early games with voice acting, as that couldn't have really went any other way without practically bankrupting a company for attempting it. PSOne's first voice acted game (whatever it was) was not expected to have Disney quality voicing. Though Resident Evil 5 had pretty good voice acting. Not sure if its better than the Japanese version. But it was believable and enjoyable enough for me

[Forsaken Lover]

I'm surprised no one here has mentioned Metal Gear Solid yet.

Along with Legacy of Kain, it was one of the first exceptionally well-voiced games out there.

Cam Clarke as Liquid Snake is the best ham in gaming history.

[Roto13]

I hate Cam Clarke as Liquid Snake or anyone else. What a terrible, annoying actor.

[Bolivar]

I hate Cam Clarke as Liquid Snake or anyone else. What a terrible, annoying actor.

whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat you gotta be kidding me. He's the ham to end all hams.

He's gay, too, I thought he'd be your hero.

[kotora]

Cam Clarke was awesome. The only way to pull off the cheesy (and scientifically incorrect!) dialogue from MGS is to ham it up all the way to eleven, which he did an excellent job on.

[Roto13]

I hate Cam Clarke as Liquid Snake or anyone else. What a terrible, annoying actor.

whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat you gotta be kidding me. He's the ham to end all hams.

He's gay, too, I thought he'd be your hero.

Cam Clarke being gay doesn't make him my hero any more than that guy from Backbone Entertainment being an idiot (http://blogs.sega.com/usa/2009/02/10/sonics-ultimate-genesis-collection-yes-it-has-sonic-games-too/) makes him your hero.

[Forsaken Lover]

Well even if you don't like Cam, there's other greats like Patric Zimmerman as Ocelot and John Cygan as Solidus.

Oh and Phil LaMarr as Vamp.
Or as us FF fans might know him, Reddas.

I can't see why anyone would dislike his Liquid though. It must take a ton of talent to adopt a very smug fake British accent and then overlay that with a very smug American voice.

Liquid was Miller all along?!!!

[Roogle]

Star Ocean 4 is one such game that comes to mind for me. The two voice actors for the main characters were fine, but the voice actors for the rest of the cast were just absolutely atrocious. But to be fair, I usually don't see it get that bad. Most games that I can think of with bad voice acting left me with an impression of "the voice acting in it was kind of annoying" rather than "Ugh... the voice acting in it was smurfing terrible".

Star Ocean 4 is an example of a game from Japan that requires more than a translation. If I recall correctly, there is a character that speaks with a certain cute tone in Japanese whose English counterpart was forced to end every sentence with "... 'kay?" at random intervals. These types of things do not translate well. I feel badly for the voice actors that have to voice characters that will seem poorly portrayed no matter how the voice acting is handled. I mean, in your mind, how can you take the voice of a character seriously if they're forced to add on "... 'kay?" to every sentence? You have the choice to try to make it believable or to try and make it funny.

[RedPouch]

Yeah, that's pretty much the same way I felt about it in my post. I'm almost even afraid to admit that... I kind of... really like the voice acting in FFX. Hopefully this comment will be buried in obscurity in a relatively more quiet thread.
It's alright. The voice acting in FFX wasn't really that bad to me. I don't recall anything that annoyed me... except for that damn laughing scene uh, the laughing scene at least made me totally crack up due to its, erhm... stupidity charm, yes.




Star Ocean 4 is the first game is one such game that comes to mind for me. The two voice actors for the main characters were fine, but the voice actors for the rest of the cast were just absolutely atrocious. But to be fair, I usually don't see it get that bad. Most games that I can think of with bad voice acting left me with an impression of "the voice acting in it was kind of annoying" rather than "Ugh... the voice acting in it was smurfing terrible".

Star Ocean 4 is an example of a game from Japan that requires more than a translation. If I recall correctly, there is a character that speaks with a certain cute tone in Japanese whose English counterpart was forced to end every sentence with "... 'kay?" at random intervals. These types of things do not translate well. I feel badly for the voice actors that have to voice characters that will seem poorly portrayed no matter how the voice acting is handled. I mean, in your mind, how can you take the voice of a character seriously if they're forced to add on "... 'kay?" to every sentence? You have the choice to try to make it believable or to try and make it funny.
There was a great deal more that was wrong with the voice acting aside from the "kay?"s dropped in every other sentence though. My brother and I felt constantly irritated and annoyed by the constant, upsetting voice acting at every turn. Probably one of the worst characters handled was Arumat. Here you have a character that's already this annoyingly over-used cliché of a character, and yet they hire a voice actor that took the voice and made him even more prosaic. But I don't really want to turn this into another one of my long-winded Star Ocean 4 rants. There are several other games that suffer from poor voice acting [albeit to a lesser degree].

[Jessweeee♪]

I prefer to hear it in my own language, provided the acting/localization isn't terrible and much isn't lost. Also very subtle things like choice of pronouns can be difficult to translate into English and are often handled awkwardly in subtitles.

Star Ocean should always always be played with the voice acting off. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loVFaxvO4zA)

[Wolfen]

I prefer hearing voice acting in my own language.

And on that note, Mass Effect has some of the best voice acting I have ever heard in a video game. why can't Japanese games get the same kind of treatment when brought over here?

[blackmage_nuke]

I prefer to hear media in the language it was originally created (unless it's physically painful to listen to), the expression just feels more right even if i dont fully understand what theyre saying.