[Crystal Zeal]

Yeah, so, when I saw this in the Misc. section, I got pretty annoyed because I've been thinking about doing a thread like this since my Voice Actors panel this weekend at AnimeNEXT. But that one's speficially about the diversity of voice actors, while I was going to make this on favorites/ones you hate, and any stories you have about meeting them and what-not, so I think I'm okay, especially because I'm sticking to anime voice actors.

So, who are some of your favorite? I'm a big fan of Rachael Lillis, Veronica Taylor, Lisa Ortiz (<3) and Eric Stuart. In case some of you don't know, they've all played on both Pokemon and The Slayers as various main characters (Except Lisa, who's done a shitload of random characters in Pokemon instead of a main character).

I. Hate. David. Moo. ...So much. As well as those people who did Rei and Usagi in the Cloverway dubbing of Sailor Moon.

Another good voice actor is Scott McNeil, who's also done a bunch of stuff in and out of anime. I heard a funny story about him this weekend from one of the AN staffers. Apparently he just showed up at Anime Mid-Atlantic and hung around the con as a normal attendee, and was talking with a lot of people and handing out autographs to whoever wanted one. Everyone thought he was a guest. Some of the staff were like, "hey, you can't do that! You're not scheduled for that now!" And he whipped out his badge and was like, "I'm not a guest! I'm an attendee!" I heard a few stories about him this weekend. He sounds like an awesome guy, and I hope I can meet him at some con or another.

On top of hearing about that, I also went to AnimeNEXT's Voice Actress panel on Saturday. I GOT TO MEET VERONICA TAYLOR AND LISA ORTIZ! *squeals like a fangirl* The panel was awesome. Kelli Shayne Butler and another smaller voice actress who's...not listed on the website or in my event listing. Hmm. Those two were also really cool, especially Kelli, who I met at Shoujocon last year. While Lisa and Veronica were those kinda famous, intimidating-because-they're-so-cool type of voice actors, the other two seemed like typical con go-ers, so they were cool. Moneca Stori and Richard Cox (Kagome and Inu-Yasha from...Inu-Yasha) were also there, but I wasn't all too interested in them. Moneca was supposed to be at the panel, but her line for autographs was HUGE. She had, at the very least, about four hundred people in one session. Anywho, since people who attended the panel got precedence at autograph signing, it didn't take me too long to get an autograph. <3<3<3 Oh man. One foot away from Lisa Ortiz and Veronica Taylor. I hope I wasn't too fangirlish.

I also got to meet the guy who did the voice of Tidus at last year's AnimeNEXT, who was also cool. I enjoyed his panel. Other than those people, I've also met Jamie McGonnigal, who I first met at Shoujocon last year, then saw again at AnimeNEXT (also last year). At Shoujocon, this scary older fanboy wouldn't leave this teenage girl alone, so he went up and started hitting on the guy. A group of people I hung out with at that con dubbed him their "Gay Knight in Shining Armor."

So, who's your favorite anime voice actor? Who can you not stand? D'you have any interesting stories that you've heard/witnessed?

[Sailok]

Uh, I'm pretty sure there was a voice actor thread here in the anime section a while ago. Ah, well.
I think Crispin Freeman is a good voice actor.
The worst voice actor I can think of (who I want to kill every time I hear him) is the guy they picked to dub Lupin in the ADV dub. The only guy I've heard do Lupin justice is the guy they got to play him in the Streamline dubs.
I also agree about Scott Mcneil's coolness. If someone here doesn't think he's at least a little cool, check this out.

This post has been edited by Sailok: 21 June 2004 - 12:55 PM

[Crystal Zeal]

It's not on the first page, and the last post in the last thread listed on the first page is over a month ago.

[Ezelek]

I think Spike Spencer is totally the man. Mainly from the point of view that every character he does = Shinji, although he did quite the good job in Spriggan.

[ZealPropht]

My voice actor picks are:

1. Crispin Freeman - Alucard (Hellsing), Captain Tylor (Irresponible Captain Tylor), Touga (Utena), Hideki (Chobits)

2. Rachael Lillis - Misty (Pokemon), Martina (Slayers), Yuriko Star (Captain Tylor), Utena (Utena)

3. Tony Oliver - Lupin (Lupin the 3rd), Hibiki (Vandread), Sorata (X:TV)

4. David Lucas/David Hayter/Stephen Jay Blum - Spike (Cowboy Bebop), Kazuma (Scryed), Solid Snake (Metal Gear Solid)

5. Veronica Taylor - She was Amelia in Slayers, right?

6. Lisa Ortiz - Lina Inverse (Slayers), Nanaka (Magic User's Club), Shiori (Utena)

7. Wendee Lee (sp?) - Yui (Fushigi Yugi), Charlotte (Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust), Karen (X:TV)

8. David Kaye - Seisshomaru (Inuyasha), Megatron (Transformers: Armada), Trieze (Gundam Wing)

9. Brian Drummond - Vegeta (1rst season DBZ), Zechs (Gundam Wing)

10. Scott McNeil - Piccolo (1rst season DBZ), Rattrap and Dinobot (BeastWars: Transformers), Duo (Gundam Wing)

11. Ruby Marlowe (sp?) - Fuu (Magic Knight Rayearth), Hinoto (X:TV), Belldandy (AH! My Goddess movie and mini-specials)

12. Kevin Collins - Aburestubo (Magic User's Club), Griffith (Beserk)

13. David Moo - Xelloss (Slayers)

14. Jamie McGonnigal - Omi (Weiss Kreuz), Takeo (Magic User's Club)

15. Jessica Calvello (sp?) - Excel (the first one, Excel Saga)

16. Simon Templeman - Kain (Blood Omen)

I don't have any really cool stories, but I have met Mr. Freeman before. It was for a Hellsing signing. I was dressed as Zechs from Gundam Wing. While I was in line, I practiced all the things I would compliment him on as he signed my poster. But when I got up there, before I could open my mouth he took one look at me and said, "Zzzzzzechsy!" (Like "sexy", only with a Z.) This caused my brain to malfunction and everything I had intended to say went right out of my head. I could only mumble my name at him so he could sign the poster, and then my friends had to lead me away. Later, I kicked myself for having gotten so tongue-tied.

He also walked within a foot of me while he was helping to set up the AX Idol contest at last year's AnimeExpo.

In case you couldn't tell, I both adore him and fear him with my life.

[Minmei]

I would have a threesome with Crispin Freeman's and Brian Drummond's voices.

I've got a growing respect for Lia Sargent (Dorothy in Big O, Aura--as well as a couple others--in .hack, Shion in Xenosaga) too.

[Annie Felis]

My favorite VA's are the japanese ones. Things should never get re-dubbed, in my opinion.

[Cobra]

David Hayter is not Stephen Jay Blum. They're both really good, though.

Don't forget that Cam Clarke was also Leonardo from TMNT and Ryudo from Grandia II.

[ZealPropht]

Actually, it is him, but he's using different names. Why? Because aside from being overly popular to the point of having stalkers, he also writes screenplays for popular movies, including X-Men and (maybe less popular) The Scorpion King. To top all that off, he is both doing union and non-union work, which could cause him to lose his union membership if he ever officially announced that he's moonlighting on the side.

[Trippy Skippin Tomato]

Annie Felis, on Jun 22 2004, 10:52 AM, said:

My favorite VA's are the japanese ones. Things should never get re-dubbed, in my opinion.

I'm guessing you've never seen Outlaw Star in Japanese, then. It's TERRIBLE compared to the English dub. I mean it, the voices are simply awful. I can't listen to any of them for more than a couple minutes before I have to turn the whole thing off in disgust.


As for the topic at hand, I don't actually know the names of any voice actors off the top of my head, and I really have no desire to go and find out what their names are. But basically pick any person that participated in the Outlaw Star dub, and I'll like them. They were all pretty excellent in that one. .hack//sign had some good actors too.

[Sailok]

That's weird. I felt the opposite about the Outlaw Star dub, at least about Jim and Aisha. Their english voices make me want to toss the TV out the window. Melfina was dubbed okay, and Gene was excelently dubbed.

This post has been edited by Sailok: 24 June 2004 - 03:27 PM

[Wiegraf Folles]

I always thought that Spike's English voice suited him more than his Japanese voice. It just seemed more laid back to me.

[Ezelek]

David Hayter = Solid Snake.
Steven Blum = Random Genome Soldier.

Special magical union abilities do not make a person get credited as two characters in the same game, under different names.

Blum is not Hayter.

This post has been edited by Ezelek: 24 June 2004 - 10:54 PM

[ZealPropht]

I've seen it happen before with people playing uncredited roles in games or using false identities. He is not the first person to do this, only the most notrious one. So please, don't be getting all in my face over this. I don't care what IMDB say. For a while, Blum and Lucas were credited as different people, and now they're being credited as the same on some things. Just like Stephen King had a false name as Richard Bachman, or whatever, and now admits those were his stories all along.

You can think what you want, but I will continue to believe my own ears.

[Radio]

I only found two sites listing them as the same, with one retracting the connection due to their mistaking Hayter's name for the Lucas moniker. Another site spoke of the union/non-union explanation, but instead attributing it to the difference between Steve Blum and David Lucas, with no mention of Hayter at all. Also, here's David Hayter with Ian McKellen. Now take a look at Steve Blum on the Spike section of the featurettes on the movie DVD. Not only is he not David Hayter, but he is infinitely less cool than Hayter for not being next to Ian McKellen.

This post has been edited by Radio: 25 June 2004 - 05:32 PM

[Lina Darkstar]

My faves:

1. Tomokazu Seki- Not only does this man have a sexy normal voice, but he also has crazy-ass range. From the high-pitched Chichiri (Fushigi Yuugi) all the way down to the growl of Junpei (Those Who Hunt Elves.) Normal-voice examples include Sousuke of Full Metal Panic, Ken of Weiss Kreuz, and Touya of Card Captor Sakura. He's also insanely prolific.

2. Megumi Hayashibara- Speak of prolific. She's done a jillion different roles. I especially liked her as Faye of Bebop and Lina of Slayers, and the fact that she could pull off both Pai of 3x3 Eyes and Rei of Evangelion attests to her own formidable range. (She was also Pen Pen.)

3. Nobutoshi Kanna- Used to be Nobutoshi Hayashi. Not quite so prolific. But he was Tasuki of Fushigi Yuugi, and he rocked. (I seem to remember someone, possibly DK, lauding his role in Berserk as well. Never seen that, though.) Sounds like he's just gargled a mouthful of rusty nails and speaks in Kansai dialect. I'm a total sucker for Kansai-ben.

4. Takehito Koyasu- Deep, smooth, silky-- this man's voice makes me think of dark chocolate. Aya of Weiss Kreuz, Hotohori of Fushigi Yuugi, Rezo of Slayers, Dias of Star Ocean EX, Ilpalazzo of Excel Saga.

5. Hikaru Midorikawa- No way to describe this guy, except to say that his voice sounds like honey tastes. Zelgadis of Slayers, Heero of Gundam Wing, many many others. Tends to the spotlight roles, from what I've seen.

6. Shinichirou Miki- Now he sounds like soft leather feels. I know I'm rather overdoing the sensory comparisons, but it's really the best way I can think of to describe them. Miki's done a number of big-brother-type roles: Shannon of Scrapped Princess, Keisuke of Fushigi Yuugi, Allen of Escaflowne, Yamino of Matantei Loki Ragnarok. He's also sometimes a playboy, as in Youji of Weiss Kreuz and Kurz of Full Metal Panic. He's not too good on range, but his normal voice is so wonderful it's difficult to find that a fault.

7. Hiro Yuuki- His feathery voice is really pleasant to listen to. Claude from Star Ocean EX, Omi from Weiss Kreuz. Soft, light, and often cute.


As for good voice actor stories? It's hearsay, but supposedly once during a Weiss concert Koyasu grabbed Seki's ass mid-song. Given the amount of yaoirific roles the both of them have played over the years (often in such a context as to be paired with each other,) this of course set fangirls squealing 'round the world.

Also, in the Japanese Weiss Kreuz DVDs, there were tapes of the radio shows Koyasu, Seki, Miki, and Yuuki put on. As I recall, Koyasu was holding a stuffed giraffe, Miki a bright red rubber hammer (a la Kodocha,) and Yuuki a paper fan. Seki didn't have anything, but continually cracked bad jokes and was bapped on the head by hammer and fan alike for his troubles. ^^

[Crystal Zeal]

Ooh, I definetly have to agree with Hikaru Midorikawa (and, of course, Megumi Hayashibara). I nearly cried when I heard that I had missed his performance at Otakon. x.x

[Lina Darkstar]

Would you BELIEVE that Tomokazu Seki's going to Expo? That makes me sad, because I'm not. And no Japanese VAs at Otakon. :(

[Black Angel]

Since I tend to prefer understanding what the characters are saying when I watch my anime (without reading words at the bottom of the screen and missing all the action), I only have one Japanese VA on this list, and only because I think she is too spectacularly good not to name, even if I do have to put up with subtitles for it.

And no, I have had no interesting encounters with voice actors. That could be because I never have and most likely never will go to a con, but we won't get into that.

#10) Eric Vale (Yuji from Blue Gender, Sakyo from YuYu Hakusho) - He can voice a sadistic villain and a cowardly hero and make both of them convincing. He seems like a pretty talented guy.

#10) Peggy Patterson (Miyuki from YuYu Hakusho) - Yes, I couldn't decide on a number ten slot, so I have two here. Not a very famous one here. Has this tough and condescending voice that I just like. And you can tell that too, since I went to the trouble of finding out who she was in the first place.

#9) Whoever it was that voice acted Count D in Petshop of Horrors - And no, I don't mean the one who did it on the tape, because I know who that is. And he didn't do Count D that well anyway. I'm talking about the one who did it in the advertisement. In the advertisement from Petshop of Horrors on my Vampire Hunter D tape, the person who does the voice of Count D has this androgynous, silky voice that would have been not only perfectly suited to the part, but also wonderful to just listen to. If I knew his/her name (since I honestly have no clue), that person would probably be higher on my list. As it is, I don't think my number two spot should be someone whom I don't even know the name of.

#8) David Kaye (Sesshoumaru from Inuyasha) - Same reasons as John Knox pretty much. He has the flat, even, tough voice of a badass.

#7) David Lucas (Spike from Cowboy Bebop...and pretty much anything with voices, really) - He'd be higher on the list, if I didn't see him voice acting an equal number of characters that his voice doesn't fit. And voice-wise, he really isn't my favorites, but he's one of the best, undeniably. And I will never be convinced that anyone could voice act Spike better than him. He's one of the many reasons why I think the English dub CB is better than it was in Japanese, the only exception being Faye (although Wendee Lee still did a pretty good job).

#6) Terry Roberts (Aoshi Shinomori from Rurouni Kenshin) - Aoshi is probably my favorite character in the show, and Terry Roberts' voice just fits him like a glove. I'm not sure how well he could voice any non bishy-looking character though, which is why he isn't higher on the list.

#5) Richard Hayworth (Kenshin from Rurouni Kenshin, Legato from Trigun, etc.) - Considering that he voices pretty much all of my favorite characters, it's hard not to like him. He can play both the good guy and the crazy and/or condescending villain extremely well.

#4) John Burgmeier (Kurama from YuYu Hakusho, and possibly Zhange He from Dynasty Warriors 4 (I don't know, since VAs aren't named in the credits) - I know he does stuff in DB also, but I can't pick him out. Voice-wise, I probably like him more than I like Justin Cook, but he doesn't seem to convey emotion nearly as well). I actually think all the YYH voice actors are good, but I can't really list them all since this is a list of favorites.

#3) Megumi Hayashibara (Faye from Cowboy Bebop JP, young Genkai from YuYu Hakusho JP) - I actually only picked up her name because I read Lina's post. Before that, she was just 'that woman who does Faye in the Japanese version of Cowboy Bebop'. I don't know what to say, really. Her voice is just...I don't know. Suffice it to say that I've watched the Japanese CB many times just to hear it. I'm not really familiar with anything else she has done, so I can't attest to how big her range is, but Faye's voice alone is enough to get her the spot up here. I suppose I could say that I'm sure she did a better Pai than the English VA, but that wouldn't really be much of a compliment. I think I could have done a better Pai than the English VA, and I don't typically have very much faith in my abilities to voice act a Tibetan woman.

#2) Justin Cook (Yusuke from YuYu Hakusho) - Not quite sure that he sounds like a fourteen year old, but he does the voice so well that I can't help but like him.

#1) George C. Cole (Vicious from Cowbow Bebop, Nolly from Wolf's Rain) - This guy just has the most amazing voice I have ever heard. It's so dark and intimidating, but unlike other voices of the same sort, George C. Cole is capable of being believably emotional when the situation demands it. If I knew anything else he voice acted in other than what I named above, I would buy it just to hear him.

[Gust]

Black Angel, on Jun 30 2004, 01:07 AM, said:

Since I tend to prefer understanding what the characters are saying when I watch my anime (without reading words at the bottom of the screen and missing all the action)

Take this from someone who's been reading subtitles since he was about six years old. (Dubbing is evil 99% of the time.)

You don't miss out on the action just because you're also reading subtitles. No.

Though of course, since subtitles can rarely cover the entirety of what is being said without becoming troublesome (It'd be nice if subtitles could translate every single word of dialogue, but if subtitles somehow mutate and grow beyond two lines of text on the bottom, that's just too much.), I do admit that it can be nice to know the language that's actually being spoken. So whatever.

[Cobra]

I have a theory that the less well-done dubs such as Inu Yasha have a specific problem: They don't translate the subtleties of the Japanese language well, and instead turn the subtleties into blatant exposition. How many times while watching Inu Yasha have you heard a character say or think something that the audience already knows quite clearly? Why would the character have to announce their discovery when it's obvious that they have discovered whatever, and the audience already knows what it is? My guess is that in the Japanese dialogue, such revelatios are more implied than blatant. Either that or the translators are trying to sync the times of both voices by filling the US version with redundant information.

Then again, I've never watched subbed Inu Yasha, so I can't really be certain. I just know that Richard Cox hasn't really mastered a wide range of emotions, since he sounds the same, whether he's Inu Yasha or Kai from Mobile Suit Gundam.

[Motoss]

My favorite would have to be Steven Blum, the guy who does Spike in Bebop. He's done a SHITLOAD of other stuff, and I like the way his voice sounds.


The worst is definitely whoever does Excel's voice in Excel Saga. Can you say MIND-GRATING?

[Cobra]

I wouldn't have it any other way. I mean, it's freaking EXCEL SAGA! Next you're gonna hate the Martians for saying Puchu Puchu!

[Minmei]

Heh, heh! Richard Cox! </random immature moment>

Oh, and... heh, heh! French Tickner! </not-so-random immature moment>