Anime Dubbed voices too overused?

[Rhys Mayiessen]

[color=seagreen]Do you ever find that the voices of English dubbed anime are repeated in a lot of them? I admitt I don't watch a lot of anime only because there isn't a lot on tv and I don't feel like buying $45 dollar DVDs with only 5 epps on it.

I really like the anime Escaflowne, and I've just resently started to watch Inuyasha which I really like now as well. A lot of the voice in these animes are repeated. For example Sango has the same voice as Hitomi, Naraku has the same voice as Folken, Van has the same voice as Moriku. Uh I forget many of the others but they are repeated a lot which kind of gets annoying after awhile. So do you ever find this in other animes?[/color]

[Dagger]

Oh, yes. To say that the English voice actress Wendee Lee (Faye from Cowboy Bebop, Charlotte from Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust) has a part in just about every anime ever released in North America would only be a slight exaggeration. David Lucas (Spike from Cowboy Bebop, Gene from Outlaw Star, Roger from Big O) also plays a ridiculous number of starring roles.

The more popular VAs simply tend to attract numerous parts. Also, voice actors and actresses are usually attached to a specific company (such as Bandai, ADV, or FUNimation). They'll often be featured in many of their company's works. For example, Yu Yu Hakusho and Dragonball Z have both been licensed by FUNimation; these two series share many English VAs.

~Dagger~

[The Mac Attack]

I was thinking the exact same thing (at least I think I am)! ADV repeat alot of their voice actors over differing series.

For example, one of the first anime's I watched was Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 where an association between Spike Spencer's voice and Mackey was established. Later on I watched Orphen where the same voice was used again for Majic. Now I've started watching Evangelion and am being forced to make a third association to Spencer through Shinji.

I've also recently started watching Gasaraki, another ADV dub. It's difficult to remember some characters, so I just call them by their equivalents in Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 e.g. I can hear a Mason and a Linna amongst them.

These initial associations I made can sort of ruin the anime experience. For quite some time I thought Dortin (from Orphen) was female as he was voiced by Hillary Haag, withwhom I'd already established a connection as being Nene (BGCT2040).

So to answer your question, yes I do find this in other animes.

[ChibiHorsewoman]

[color=violet]Kouga from InuYasha has the same north american voice actor as Duo Maxwell from Gundam Wing (which makes it worth watching.
I also think some of the Japanese seiyuus (is that the right word?) are a bit over used. For example Araki Kae, who did the voice for ChibiUsa/SailorChibiMoon in Bishoujo senshi SailorMoon also did the voice of Yuki Miaka from Fushigi Yugi. And she did Tsukino Usagi/SailorMoon's voice a few times when Kitono Mitsiushi was out sick.[/color]

[Jinzouningen17]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by ChibiHorsewoman [/i]
[B][color=violet]Kouga from InuYasha has the same north american voice actor as Duo Maxwell from Gundam Wing[/color] [/B][/QUOTE]
Ah, you're talkin about Mr. Scott McNeil. He also did Piccolo, Nappa, and Jeice's voice in the first 2 seasons of DBZ, Jetfire and Thrust in Transformers Armada, Gutsman in Megaman NT Warrior, Dinobot, Rattrap, and Waspinator in Beast Wars, and plenty of others.

But you gotta understand that he's with Ocean Group, and they dub the majority of the anime's here in the states and Canada(although Armada and Beast Wars arent really considered an anime, but thats besides the point.)

[Solo Tremaine]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by The Mac Attack [/i]
[B]I've also recently started watching Gasaraki, another ADV dub. It's difficult to remember some characters, so I just call them by their equivalents in Bubblegum Crisis Tokyo 2040 e.g. I can hear a Mason and a Linna amongst them.

These initial associations I made can sort of ruin the anime experience. For quite some time I thought Dortin (from Orphen) was female as he was voiced by Hillary Haag, withwhom I'd already established a connection as being Nene (BGCT2040).[/B][/QUOTE]
[COLOR=#503F86]A great deal of these voices are in RahXephon as well. I saw BGCT2040 before RahXephon, and as you said the associations I had with the voices ruined the new experience- as it wasn't a truely 'original' character as such, they tend to seem rather lackluster and boring. But RahXephon has a good story, so it's forgiven and I'm still going to watch it ^_^

The worst thing for me is watching something I really enjoy (like Digimon or Yu-Gi-Oh), only to find those voices in another programme I don't like, such as Ultimate Muscle or Flint the Time Detective. Hearing Gomamon's voice come from Flint is deeply distracting, and I think damaging to Gomamon's career :p. I've heard Brock/Kaiba's voice in at least... five or so different animes. The only exception I know to this is the BeyBlade dub, the voices of which I've never heard in anything else ever again. Although that might not be too bad a thing...

But the companies who specialise in voice actors do huge amounts of things anyway- I read in an interview by Spike's voice actor (agh, people are going to kill me for not knowing his name. It's on the tip of my tongue >_<; ) that he does TV and radio announcements, voices in video games, hundreds of things. So it's not just anime, really.

I just wish the UK had a half-decent company that would licence anime dubs. The UK DBZ dub is appalling, so I hear. And I guess that goes to show that different isn't always better. In terms of merketing, it's probably a better step for a company to hire voice actors that are decent, do a good job and that people will like to listen to than a small company that nobody's heard of that has little talent in it.[/COLOR]

[Dagger]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Solo Tremaine [/i]
[B][COLOR=#503F86]A great deal of these voices are in RahXephon as well. I saw BGCT2040 before RahXephon, and as you said the associations I had with the voices ruined the new experience- as it wasn't a truely 'original' character as such, they tend to seem rather lackluster and boring. But RahXephon has a good story, so it's forgiven and I'm still going to watch it ^_^[/COLOR] [/B][/QUOTE]

RahXephon and Full Metal Panic (both ADV series) also share many of the same VAs. For example, Ayato and Sousuke are both played by Chris Patton. He's a decent actor with impressive dramatic range, but I was underwhelmed by his performances in those particular series. His Ayato was far too young and volatile (whereas that character's Japanese seiyuu came across as being calmer and more mature); Sousuke sounded like a goofball, not an accomplished military professional.

Other than that, though, I thought that RahXephon's dub was exceptional. Certain voices did get a little annoying after a while, but nearly all of the supporting characters were well cast--especially Haruka, Itsuki, Makoto, and Megumi.

~Dagger~

[ChibiHorsewoman]

[COLOR=deeppink]SailorMoon reused quite a few voices.
In particular, Ikuko Mama's dub voice when CWi did S and Ss seasons. The lady also did the voice of Michelle/Sailor Neptune.
The lady who did the voice of Zoisite also did the voice of Emerald.
In the original Keiko Han did the voice of Luna and the voice of Queen BEryl.
But if you want to talk about overuse of Dub VA, look no further than the Swedish Sailor Moon dub.
A few VA's do duel rolls (ie Annelie BErg who voices SailorMoon and Petz) but a few work overtime.
[b]Irene Lindh[/b]-SailorJupiter, Queen Beryl, Miss H. and Ikuko Mama
[b]Charlotte Ardai-Jennerfors[/b]-Queen Serenity, SailorVenus, An, and Calaveras
[b]Staffan Hallerstam[/b] Artemis, Nephrite, prince Demando, Kenji-papa, and Rei's Grandpa
[b]Anna Norberg[/b]-Naru, queen Metallia, Cooan, and Esmeraude
[b]Olav F Andersen[/b]-Jadeite, Kunzite, Ail, Rubeus,and Saffir (this guy is also the translater)
[b]Sanna Ekman[/b]-Zoisite, Beruche, and youma
[b]Dick Eriksson[/b]-Motoki, Shingo, Yuuichirou, and Wiseman (he also does Ash's voice in Sweden's Pokemon dub)
Falls over and dies from typing[/COLOR]

[Solo Tremaine]

[COLOR=#503F86]Mind you, it's not just the dubs- I noticed looking through the extras on one of the BGCT2040 DVDs that the Japanese voice actors were in all sorts of other series: Gundam, Escaflowne... the Japanese might be thinking the same thing, but it's harder for us to differentiate between different voices from other cultures because we're not accustomed to how they speak.

EDIT: *reads below* Whoops ^_^; I missed your bit about that in the post above, Chibi. Sorry about that, heh.[/COLOR]

[ChibiHorsewoman]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Solo Tremaine [/i]
[B][COLOR=#503F86]Mind you, it's not just the dubs- I noticed looking through the extras on one of the BGCT2040 DVDs that the Japanese voice actors were in all sorts of other series: Gundam, Escaflowne... the Japanese might be thinking the same thing, but it's harder for us to differentiate between different voices from other cultures because we're not accustomed to how they speak.[/COLOR] [/B][/QUOTE]
[color=violet]I don't know about you but I have a sneaking suspicion that the Seiyuu for Artemis in SailorMoon also does Xellos' voice in Slayers Try. And I mean the original.
Also, as I've said before:
Keiko Han did the voice of Luna and Queen Beryl
and Kae Araki did the voice of ChibiUsa, SailorMoon.Usagi and Yuki Miaka.[/color]

[the_fizz]

[color=royalblue]I have found a web-site that will give you the listing of [b]Every Show[/b] a voice actor has ever done.

[url]www.tvtome.com[/url]

Use the search box to find your favorites or browse through the list of '[b]all shows[/b]' for the show you want. It will give you the actors name and just about anything you could want or need on your favorite shows. It gives alot of info in different areas of the shows also.
Dates,
Times,
Bloopers,
Episode listings,
Ect?
Just look yourself.
I how it had a lot of news that I could not fine anywhere else.
THE FIZZ[/color]:wigout:

[Oukan05]

That's true. There are a lot of anime shows with the same actors/actresses doing the voices. I can name a couple.

First, you have Sousuke(Full Metal Panic)/ Muilfuille(Sorecerer Hunters). Both are played by the same guy. I've met him. Believe me, he's funny.

And yes, Scott McNeil does play Kouga, Piccolo, Duo, and other characters. I knew Kouga sounded familiar with Duo's voice.
Also, there's Brock (Pokemon)/ Gailiar or something from the Slayers: Try again (the blonde dude). I'm sorry about the misspell.

Most importantly, there are characters with the same voices in the same show; that's the disadvantage in knowing who plays who. For example, in Pokemon, voice actress Veronica Taylor not only plays Ash, but she plays Delia (Mom), Diglet and/or it's evolve form (forgot the name), and other pokemon. Also, the same person who played Misty plays Jesse too. Last but not least, the voice actor of Brock plays the voice of James. I myself didn't know that. That's the only anime I know with the same voices in one show. There maybe others I hadn't seen with this phenomenon.

This is pretty cool though. It goes to show you how hard it is being a voice actor. These people sure do role play a lot; and that's hard work for their voices. "Drink a lot of water!!!":gulp:

[Rhys Mayiessen]

[color=seagreen]Haha I never knew so many people would answer to this thread^^ Since I don't watch a lot of anime (I wish there was more older ones here in Canada) I don't know of half the anime you talk about. Though I know that the Ocean Group did do Inuyasha and Escaflowne, and the voice actors came from there. Its located in Vancouver I think, at least that's what the credits say^^;; Haha maybe they can't find any more talented people to play the parts. It would be interesting if they had a variety though.[/color]

[Flashlight]

Umm, I'd just like to add that though you can encounter the same VA's a lot in different series, the same goes for japanese too. It's just less noticable because you can't really understand the language, so it's hard to tell if you've heard a voice or not before (Or how to differentiate between the voices, they can all sound the same!).

I really like it when I watch a dub and recognize one of the voice actors, it helps bring me into the show because I'm already familiar with it in some sense. But, I suppose it could get annoying if the VA's don't change their voices much and it sounds exactly like all the other characters they've done. :)

[pbfrontmanvdp]

True, even though i think Steve Blum has a great voice for any character, he is used way to much. He has the starring role in at least 18 animes and guest starts in just as many. My RM and I think its funny when we are watching a new anime that we just bought or whatever and we try to guess if any of the voice actors are Steve Blum.....most of the time it is. Same thing goes along for a lot of the other dub voices actors in anime, but why would companies choose different voice actors??? The ones you see most often as a voice dub actors should be in as many as they possibly can since they usually can fit any type of character role. Sure they overuse them, but why ruin a good successful way of selling anime the easiest in the U.S..

[duorocks17]

I don't know if this is true for anyone else, but all the Japenese voices sound the same to me! Even if they are a different person, it sounds the same. Maybe it's just the language, i don't know...
I find that sometimes i end up just watching the show becuase it has a certain voice in it. I mean the same guy who did Tai's voice in the orginial digimon did the voice for what was his name in Cyborg 009. Good voices make the anime good. At least that's my opinion.