Japanese Voices Vs. English Voices

[Peter_20]

English VA > Japanese VA.
Why?
The laughing scene in Japanese.
That is all.

If that's true then I feel really sorry for the Japanese, because the English VAing was four skulls. Apart from Auron. Although I kinda liked Wakka as well.

I can't see anything wrong with Lulu's and Rikku's voice acting; actually, I found them outstanding.

However, Auron is actually pretty cool in the Japanese version as well, but he takes some getting used to.

[Vivisteiner]

^Actually, Lulus was quite good I guess. Rikkus was a bit annoying. Tidus and Yuna were the main culprits tbh.

[Peter_20]

^Actually, Lulus was quite good I guess. Rikkus was a bit annoying. Tidus and Yuna were the main culprits tbh.

I actually thought that too.
Tidus does become better and better during the game, but Yuna just sounds boring all the time.

[Vivisteiner]

^Funny thing is, I didnt notice it when I first played the game. And I really enjoyed it. But later on, after the quality of VAing improved, I went and replayed it, and some of it sounded really bad.

[black orb]

>>> I can stand japanese voices in my anime but in videogames they get really annoying so the american voices in any FF (or game) will be always the most suited.

[Jessweeee♪]

Tidus's real laugh during the Japanese laughing scene is pretty funny. With Yuna, her English VA had trouble matching the English lines to her Japanese lips. I think it had more to do with how Yuna speaks than the actress herself. Notice how it isn't an issue when Yuna's personality changes in FFX-2.

[Mirage]

I prefer the voices in my head...

[Cyric]

This is how I rate the Japanese voices (in order of appearance):

TI-DA:
this isn't Tidus, it's Ti-da - I consider them two completely different persons.
Ti-da generally sounds much better than Tidus, but he can also sound more annoying at times.
Ti-da sounds really beautiful when he speaks softly, but horrible when he starts shouting.
However, sometimes even his yelling sounds refreshing. XD

A-RON:
A-ron and Auron are really different, but somehow they still feel like the same character.
A-ron is rough and badass, which is reflected in his constant casual speech (he doesn't even show politeness to Seymour and Tromell!).
A-ron's voice needs some getting used to - it sounds weird at first, but gets a cool ring with time - hoarse and rough, yet deep and wise.
Auron's voice holds a higher class, though.

RYUKKU:
More childish and fragile than her fairly mature American voice, but also really cute in a different way.
Ryukku tends to shout more than in the American version, which honestly becomes annoying sometimes, but both voices tie with each other; I like them both a lot.

WAKKA:
In the Japanese version Wakka never says "ya?" at all, but otherwise he's very similar to his American character.
I like him a lot in this version, can't decide which one is best here either.
Another tie, I guess.

RU-RU-:
Sharper and more high-pitched than in the American version, and fits her character perfectly.
She sounds more aggressive and less mysterious in the Japanese version, though, but yet again I can't really decide.
Yet another tie.

KIMARI:
I think I prefer his American voice.
However, there's nothing wrong about his Japanese voice either, it just doesn't sound quite as pleasant - it's more high-pitched, and kinda aggressive at times.
Still pretty good, though.

YUUNA:
Much better than her American voice.
Yuuna actually sounds naive in an energetic way, and she feels much more alive than in the American version.
For example, while the American Yuna mumbles "I've done it. I have - become - a summoner.", the Japanese Yuuna is more like "I DID it! I have become a summoner!" instead.
It's pretty much the exactly same sentence in Japanese as well, although the Japanese version is closer to a polite "I could do it!".

Nice way of putting it. But hearing them is better. I just fraps'd all the voices while running it on my emulator. Here's the sample.

FFX-International voice demo

The voices it has are Auron, Kimahri, Rikku, Lulu, Wakka, Rin, Tidus and Yuna. He isn't in it, but I really like Maester Seymour's voice in the japanese version too. Although I like the general Guado voice in the english version more than the Japanese. Too bad there isn't a mix'n'match version.

[the AJman]

I thought that the voice acting in X was pretty good, the laughing scene was the only questionable part and even that I don't think the characters were being all that serious to began with. I haven't heard the japanese voicing acting so I really can't comment on it, but I can safely say I'd still prefer the english dialogue considering its easier for me to understand the tone and emotion of the dialogue when its in my native language.

[Peter_20]

The laughing scene is pretty misunderstood.
It seems like most people think Tidus and Yuna are supposed to laugh "for real" and the voice-actors miserably fail, but the truth is that they are just doing it to make themselves feel slightly better.
That's why it sounds so forced - they aren't in the right mood to begin with.

Besides, if you listen to Tidus and Yuna right AFTER the laughing scene itself, they suddenly sound natural - because they start laughing for real at that point.

[cally777]

My general impression from this discussion and also listening to the demo (thanks for that link BTW) is that there isn't so much difference in quality in the VA between Japanese and English. Nobody's voice in the Japanese sounds particularly annoying, and Lulu, Wakka, Rikku and Yuna sound pretty much like I'd expected them to. (Auron perhaps a bit different).

I think we should give a bit more credit to the voice actors in both languages. Not for what they occasionally got wrong, but for what they often got right (its a pretty popular game worldwide, isn't it?) After all that's an awful lot of dialogue they had to do.

[Roto13]

Tidus sounds like a big fag in Japanese. I hate using that word, but it's the only one I can think of to describe Tidus in Japanese.