Scooby, I am SO glad to read that, because I was beginning to wonder if I was the only one who thinks that, while the English VA does a good job, it's nothing compared to his japanese one. There's just a whole level of nuances he brings to the character that aren't there in English (it must also be said that the the translation misses a few things, at least during the first hours after he first appears - I haven't been too far with the English version though, so I don't know how the text turns out beyond Lhusu Mines). But yeah, he doesn't sound nowhere near as sexy as in japanese, but then, it would have been hard to doOriginally Posted by scooby
It's not that I think his voice is bad, per se.... Indeed, I think that Gideon Emery put in a decent performance.... It's just that, it rather pales in comparison with the Japanese voice - courtesy of one of my favourite seiyuus: Hiroaki Hirata. Balthier's Japanese voice is sooooo sexy, and his English voice...well...isn't. :-\ To me, camp = NOT sexy. I find it to be a major disappointment. Laughably camp.
Besides, Hiroaki Hirata also provides the japanese voice for KH2' Captain Jack Sparrow. I don't think it can get cooler than that
Actually, Fran's voice is the only true departure from the japanese ones, and the only true disappointment to me. I loved her deep, slightly smocky voice that gave her something of an ethereal aura at times, an ocean of calm in the middle of all the agitation (like when (SPOILER)they decide to head for Raithwall's tomb: she's just mezmerizing then). It made her stand out. Now she sounds like a 16 y.o., which is cute, but doesn't fit the character and her history, imo.Again, I was speaking comparatively. If I hadn't already been so in love with Fran's Japanese voice, perhaps I would've found her English voice more tolerable. As it is, it grates on me.
I was mostly referring to the (extremely active) FFXII message board on GameFAQs. "You know what rabbits like doing..." etc.
I agree. I think he would respect her too much to say something like that seriously, he's rather playful there (which he tends to do a lot at times of crisis :rolleyes2 )It could be interpreted that way...or, he could've just meant that Fran likes freedom.... Balthier's pretty cheeky - so, like you said, probably a deliberate double entendre.
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