If you're to pick the cast to dub Anime in English...?

This in light with the recent re-dubs of certain anime titles, and my routine back up of all my anime DVD's which all contain dual audio. I know that some are not real fans of anime being dubbed in English, but over the past years, voice acting in the English dubbed Anime industry had been from good to getting better and better. With a few people from the forum here already know I am so fangirling over certain voice actors now, I guess it's about time I post a topic that suits this. This is also my first time posting a new topic here, since all I have been doing is reply to existing ones.

This applies to shows that already have existing dubs. Let's say if you're the one who's to pick the cast for your favorite dubbed anime, who will you pick and why?

This also applies to anime which are never dubbed, but if you are to pick the cast to voice the characters, who will you pick and why?

Will share my thoughts later. :D

franticfranz wrote:This in light with the recent re-dubs of certain anime titles, and my routine back up of all my anime DVD's which all contain dual audio. I know that some are not real fans of anime being dubbed in English, but over the past years, voice acting in the English dubbed Anime industry had been from good to getting better and better. With a few people from the forum here already know I am so fangirling over certain voice actors now, I guess it's about time I post a topic that suits this. This is also my first time posting a new topic here, since all I have been doing is reply to existing ones.

This applies to shows that already have existing dubs. Let's say if you're the one who's to pick the cast for your favorite dubbed anime, who will you pick and why?

This also applies to anime which are never dubbed, but if you are to pick the cast to voice the characters, who will you pick and why?

Will share my thoughts later. :D

Excellent topic, Franny! Well, I think it would be best for me to start out with the obvious. 2016 has been quite a good year for anime so far, with titles like Phantasy Star Online 2: The Animation and Muv-Luv Schwarzesmarken. It would be logical to start with PSO2 first.


Itsuki Tachibana - Johnny Yong Bosch (originally voiced by Shouta Aoi)

Why: This former Power Ranger and now voice actor, is effective in playing the everyday male character. He sounds like a young, male protagonist would sound in any given situation. Take that with a grain of salt, since Johnny doesn't have a lot of range, per se. I just think he does the young and confused male character nicely. Or a character that acts as a support or awkward friend to his female counterpart. Johnny pulled this off smoothly as the new Artemis in Viz Media's Sailor Moon dub. Granted, Artemis is a cat, but the foundation of the friendzoned male character are there.

Rina Izumi - Carrie Keranen (originally voiced by Ayaka Suwa)

Why: Rina is a character who is both a wise online gamer and an elegant, traditional Japanese girl who happens to be Kaichou. To sell the revered veteran player, as well as the beautiful and feminine student council president, Carrie Keranen comes to mind. Carrie brought a commanding presence to the role of Satsuki Kiryuuin in Aniplex's Kill La Kill. But, her range doesn't just stop there. She can also convey a lot of mysterious, passive aggressiveness; whilst maintaining her dignity with a cup of tea in Puella Magi Madoka Magica. I heard her performance as Mami Tomoe way before Satsuki, and they sound like completely entities. It's a testament to her skill of taking her performance from one extreme to the other.

Aika Suzuki - Cristina Vee (originally voiced by Mao Ichimichi aka M.A.O )

Why: Does Cristina even need an introduction or reason? Though Cristina has the biggest "queer lisp" since Barbara Radecki's Sailor Neptune (from the Cloverway dub), she is without a doubt, THE quintessential voice actress for beautiful, mysterious characters with an agenda. Aika spends the majority of PSO2: The Animation fighting an evil force solo. When she does interact with the people of Seiga Academy, she is unaware of how Earthlings live and function as a society. So, she's like this fish-out-of-water weirdo who is attempting to fit in, while fighting back dark forces in secret. This is right up Cristina's alley! From the cutesy voicing of K-On!'s Azusa (Azu-nyan~) to the legendary Homura Akemi of Madoka fame and Rei Hino from Sailor Moon, she is brilliant as selling the angry, frustrated and gorgeous female character who carries the heaviest burden. Cristina literally reaches the depths of her soul with these characters. Just look at her footage in the recording booth. If the voice director wasn't present, she would be left in her own world. Fantastic actress and the perfect choice to voice AiAi.

Luu Sky Sapphire wrote:

Excellent topic, Franny! Well, I think it would be best for me to start out with the obvious. 2016 has been quite a good year for anime so far, with titles like Phantasy Star Online 2: The Animation and Muv-Luv Schwarzesmarken. It would be logical to start with PSO2 first.

Itsuki Tachibana - Johnny Yong Bosch (originally voiced by Shouta Aoi)

Why: This former Power Ranger and now voice actor, is effective in playing the everyday male character. He sounds like a young, male protagonist would sound in any given situation. Take that with a grain of salt, since Johnny doesn't have a lot of range, per se. I just think he does the young and confused male character nicely. Or a character that acts as a support or awkward friend to his female counterpart. Johnny pulled this off smoothly as the new Artemis in Viz Media's Sailor Moon dub. Granted, Artemis is a cat, but the foundation of the friendzoned male character are there.

Rina Izumi - Carrie Keranen (originally voiced by Ayaka Suwa)

Why: Rina is a character who is both a wise online gamer and an elegant, traditional Japanese girl who happens to be Kaichou. To sell the revered veteran player, as well as the beautiful and feminine student council president, Carrie Keranen comes to mind. Carrie brought a commanding presence to the role of Satsuki Kiryuuin in Aniplex's Kill La Kill. But, her range doesn't just stop there. She can also convey a lot of mysterious, passive aggressiveness; whilst maintaining her dignity with a cup of tea in Puella Magi Madoka Magica. I heard her performance as Mami Tomoe way before Satsuki, and they sound like completely entities. It's a testament to her skill of taking her performance from one extreme to the other.

Aika Suzuki - Cristina Vee (originally voiced by Mao Ichimichi aka M.A.O )

Why: Does Cristina even need an introduction or reason? Though Cristina has the biggest "queer lisp" since Barbara Radecki's Sailor Neptune (from the Cloverway dub), she is without a doubt, THE quintessential voice actress for beautiful, mysterious characters with an agenda. Aika spends the majority of PSO2: The Animation fighting an evil force solo. When she does interact with the people of Seiga Academy, she is unaware of how Earthlings live and function as a society. So, she's like this fish-out-of-water weirdo who is attempting to fit in, while fighting back dark forces in secret. This is right up Cristina's alley! From the cutesy voicing of K-On!'s Azusa (Azu-nyan~) to the legendary Homura Akemi of Madoka fame and Rei Hino from Sailor Moon, she is brilliant as selling the angry, frustrated and gorgeous female character who carries the heaviest burden. Cristina literally reaches the depths of her soul with these characters. Just look at her footage in the recording booth. If the voice director wasn't present, she would be left in her own world. Fantastic actress and the perfect choice to voice AiAi.

Nice choices, Luu-san. I honestly have not watched Phantasy Star Online 2 completely. Damn work schedules! Anyway, I am posting my fantasy English dub for one of my favorite Anime. Also worked by the same people that did Puella Magi Madoka Magica, am talking about Hidamari Sketch.



Yuno - Xanthe Yunth (originally voiced by Kana Asumi) - I think Xanthe fits the character perfectly. She also voiced Nagisa Momoe in the English dub of PMMM Rebellion, which is of course, another Shaft/Aniplex anime. You may end up imagining hearing a bit of Ui Hirasawa, but then Xanthe does a great job for the characters she had voiced so far. :D

Miyako - Luci Christian (originally voiced by Kaori Mizuhashi) - I picked Luci because she's so hilarious, specially in the Conversations with SSS bonus content from the English release of Madlax. And Miyako being the comic relief in the show, it will be awesome if Luci voices her! :D

Sae - Laura Bailey (originally voiced by Ryoko Shintani) - because Sae does seem to have the same personality as Nodoka Manabe from K-On! which is yet again, dubbed by Bang Zoom! Laura also voiced Nodoka so I really think she'd the best voice actor for Sae.

Hiro - Shelby Lindley (originally voiced by Yuki Goto) - because I feel that she has that elegant aura in her, minus the weight consciousness thing. But the latter is gonna be funny if Shelby acts that aspect of Hiro's character. She voiced Tsumugi Kotubuki (again, K-On!) and Shelby voicing Hiro will mean lots of fun! :D

And Luu-san... Azusa was voiced by Christine Marie Cabanos. Mio was the one VEE over at K-On!. :D

franticfranz wrote:
And Luu-san... Azusa was voiced by Christine Marie Cabanos. Mio was the one VEE over at K-On!. :D

That's right! I got them mixed up, somehow. In my defense, Azu-nyan and Mio-chan are so similar; being the girl everyone wants to touch on K-On! LOL! I'm just the Mugi type, watching the yuri from afar~

Hidamari Sketch is pretty good! Haven't watched it since the latest series a few years ago. I can get behind Laura Bailey as Sae. Sae has two, sometimes three sides to her personality and Laura is perfect at changing the tone of her voice. She can go from girly Tohru Honda from Fruits Basket one minute and belt out passion-filled cries as Helena Harper from the horrible Resident Evil 6. Although admittedly, I only own that piece of shit for the character of Helena and Laura's incredible performance. Hear the difference yourself:




Hope you get to catch up on Phantasy Star Online 2: The Animation! It's not a true MUST-SEE legend like Moon, HiME/Otome or Madoka. It's just a simplistic and enjoyable slice of life with Sega's classic MMORPG series serving as a backdrop to fun and interesting characters. I recommend it for it's simplicity and AiAi (Aika) being my new obsession. XD

More fantasy dub casting coming in my next post! Beware~

This started when Luu-san posted a video of FUNimation's English dub of Citrus. It's kinda surprising they're doing the dub while the series is still on air. I will remain focused on the Japanese audio as I like it better.

Seriously, it'd be a different story if people from BangZoom or Viz Media did the dub. I'd even fangirl over it.

Anyway, should I be given choice to choose the English cast, here are my bets:

The Aihara Sisters



Yuzu Aihara should be voiced by Marieve Herington. Yes, that Marieve who voiced Honoka Kosaka of LoveLive! by NIS America. Majority of the VA's there are from BangZoom and Viz Media, so it's quite a good dub for me. What's more, Marieve has this thing that'll make one say "Yeah, she'd do that character good."

She was able to paint the uber-enthusiastic Honoka, which I do imagine as an English speaking Emitsun (Emi Nitta). So having her voice Yuzu would be really good. :)

Mei Aihara should be voiced by Cristina Vee. Need I say more? Well, for those who haven't noticed, Mei's seiyuu (Minami Tsuda)sounds like Homura Akemi's seiyuu (Chiwa Saito) when her voice is toned down. And since Mei is mysterious character just like Cristina Vee's other character (Homura), she's the best one to voice this Aihara. As in, totally!

The rest of the cast



Harumin should be voiced by Sarah Williams. I do think with her having voiced Sayaka in Madoka Magica would make her the perfect bestie!



Momokino or Curls should be voiced by Christine Marie Cabanos. Nagging characters actually fit her. I can imagine her shouting "Yuzu Aihara!!" already. Gosh, that'd be awesome.

Matsuri (although she hasn't appeared yet) should be voiced by someone who has done antagonistic roles. Erica Mendez would fit this character. Nico nico-nii from LoveLive! (who she also voiced) was first antagonistic about the newly formed idol group in their school and seemingly didn't want competition.

Spoiler:

So I think Erica would fit in voicing this character.

I am currently not interested with FUNimation's dub atm because the Japanese one is already awesome. Then again, if the people above did the voices, I might change my mind. :D

franticfranz wrote:This started when Luu-san posted a video of FUNimation's English dub of Citrus. It's kinda surprising they're doing the dub while the series is still on air. I will remain focused on the Japanese audio as I like it better.

Seriously, it'd be a different story if people from BangZoom or Viz Media did the dub. I'd even fangirl over it.

FUNimation tends to rush on licensing shows. It also shows in the dubbing, which I took the time in watching, regardless of being inferior to the Japanese original. It's a same, because they've got some great new talent on board with Citrus. They're just not right for THESE roles. Like you said on Facebook, I wish Viz Media got a hold of the series instead. Cristina Vee would have NAILED Mei. A toned down Minami Tsuda does sound like Chiwa-san! and  Anybody who has listened to her as Homura Akemi and Rei Hino/Sailor Mars knows I'm right! Miss Vee can sell directness, assertiveness, vulnerability and femininity with her roles.



Yuzu Aihara - When you're looking for unique tone of voices, one needs to search for someone versatile. One of the best at voice toning, and great adjustments in pitch is Amanda C. Miller. You know her as Viz Media's Sailor Jupiter/Makoto Kino, and various other female and male voices throughout anime and video games. Here is a video demo of her awesome work:



I feel she would nail Yuzucchi's accent. Listen to how different each of her characters sound. Different pitch, different gender...no matter what, Amanda can do it effortlessly. If she were told by the voice director to say "Mei" in the exact same way Ayana Taketatsu, she would capture it perfectly! It's amazing how Amanda, who's naturally deep voiced (I am in LOVE with her laid back tone of speak) can hit high pitch so easily. My voice would crack! Perfect for the eccentric, passionate Yuzu.





It took me a long time to think about who I would choose for Harumin and Momoko, but Franny won me over with her choices! There's no arguing Christine Marie Cabanos as Momoko. Take the serious tone of her performance as Sailor Saturn in the Viz dub (for all serious Momo scenes with Mei) and mix that with her over the top performances as Mako from Kill la Kill (perfect energy for Momokino's comedy scenes with Yuzu).

Then we have Sarah Williams for Harumin. <3 I would also recommend Cherami Leigh, who voiced Aino Minako/Sailor Venus in the Viz dub, since she has great spunk, and that "supportive friend" tone of voice during heavy scenes. Listen to both Sarah and Cherami below, because I feel they both would capture the fun energy of Harumin. Yukiyo Fujii has great radiance in the Citrus anime, and I know these two can do her character justice!

Sarah Williams as Sayaka Miki from Madoka


Cherami Leigh as Lucy from Fairy Tail and Sailor Venus

franticfranz wrote:
I am currently not interested with FUNimation's dub atm because the Japanese one is already awesome. Then again, if the people above did the voices, I might change my mind. :D

Same here! But guess what? FUNimation didn't take our brilliant casting decisions seriously. Thus, we stick to the Japanese original only. As it is...Ayana Taketatsu IS Yuzu Aihara.
Minami Tsuda IS Mei Aihara. Yukiyo Fujii IS Harumi Taniguchi. Yurika Kubo IS Himeko Momokino. End of story!