#also just fun to hear JYB when you also hear him as the protagonist

[fellhellion]

tbh I’ve never really had adachi brainworms in the way other folks have but I do find it incredibly funny how he’s like these annoying hicks keep trying to interact with me and show care, and the narration is like <- despite his complaints, adachi looks kind of happy

[mugionthewater]

Ranking the V3 dub cast against their original DR roles!

Erika Harlacher (Kaede Akamatsu - Kyoko Kirigiri)

I’m not a huge fan of Erika Harlacher’s outing as Kirigiri- she sounds vaguely congested and doesn’t come close to conveying the iciness that should seem the obvious fit for a character like her. Kaede, on the other hand, is earnest and soulful and it comes across well in the dub. It’s a role that plays much more to her strengths, I think, and I’m happy she came back for a more flattering performance!

Kaede > Kirigiri

 Grant George (Shuichi Saihara – Leon Kuwata)

I’ve seen Grant George’s turn as Shuichi Saihara compared unfavorably to someone’s voiceover in a car commercial, which is honestly fair. It sticks out in the emotional monologues in the class trials, but a year later it’s that horrible generic “ah, um” voice clip that gets used approximately 5,000 times in the dub that keeps me up at night. It’s almost enough to forget he did a pretty solid job as Leon in 2014. Leon’s probably the least challenging role in the franchise, admittedly, but he played a solid douchey teenager with an entertaining breakdown.

Leon > Saihara

 Lucien Dodge (Kiibo – Hifumi Yamada)

A tossup here. Both roles are perfectly competent at what they are. The nasally voice for Hifumi was probably more demanding, but the Kiibo voice does a good job combining the Shounen protagonist with the robophobia conscious rigidity.

Kiibo > Hifumi, if only because casting recasting Lucien Dodge as the real Justice Robo was brilliant

 Kyle Herbert (Kaito Momota – Kazuichi Soda)

Kyle Herbert as Kazuichi is pathetic, emasculated, and screechy, so it’s pretty much perfect. It’s all the weirder he plays Kaito as a middle-aged smoker dad. It doesn’t come close to matching the energy of Kaito’s Japanese voice. Another pretty clear winner.

Kazuichi > Kaito

 Erica Mendez (Maki Harukawa – Nagisa Momoe)

An anomalous recast considering Nagisa isn’t in V3 but they invited her back with the other recast voices anyways. Maybe Erica Mendez is just a really cool person and NISA wanted to hang out with her more? In any case, she’s good as Maki and I don’t have much to say here.

Maki > Nagisa

 Johnny Yong Bosch (Rantaro Amami - Hajime Hinata)

Not an interpretation for Rantaro Amami I was expecting; I don’t associate JYB with deeper bad boy voices and he’s a character type I’d expect a softer and lighter brand of mysteriousness for. But I liked dub Amami quite a bit. I’m still going to give the edge to his role as Hinata, since he fits him perfectly and is easily the best protagonist dub voice NISA has given us.

Hinata > Amami

 Kira Buckland (Kirumi Tojo – Hiyoko Saionji)

Of all the recast voices in this game, Kira Buckland showed off the most range with her roles. Hiyoko’s original Japanese voice and the English dub version are both pretty stock voices for that character type, but Buckland as Kirumi gets to show off maturity, warmth, and distance that I never would have expected from someone who voiced Hiyoko. If I had to cast one VA from this game, I’d want her since I’m pretty sure she could do anything.

Kirumi > Hiyoko

 Chris Tergliafera (Ryoma Hoshi – Gundam Tanaka)

So this guy is perfect in both roles and I don’t understand why his behindthevoiceactors.com profile isn’t bigger. Tergliafera can do deep very well and he was a good hire for NISA. I’m going to give the edge to his take as Gundam since that voice role is much hammier and much more memorable for it, showing off comic chops along with the sexiness, but he nails the somber moments with Hoshi and it could go either way.

Gundam > Hoshi

 Wendee Lee (Miu Iruma – Akane Owari)

Akane and Iruma are two character types who could have ended up with very similar voice performances, but Wendee Lee as Akane sounds oddly flat while Lee as Iruma is the exact level of hammy, vulgar, and cartoonish that I could hope for. It’s not hard to guess which role she probably had more fun with.

Iruma > Akane

Kaiji Tang (Gonta Gokuhara – Yasuhiro Hagakure)

Now this one is just disappointing. Kaiji Tang is great and one of my favorite dub voices in the first game, but compared to his natural comic lightness as Hagakure his Gonta sounds like he’s reading from a script the whole time. Reading the dumb Tarzan text was probably as awkward for him as it was for all of us, but it’s still disappointing.

Hagakure > Gonta

 Dorothy Elias-Fahn (Tsumugi Shirogane – Sayaka Maizono – Chihiro Fujisaki)

Our only triple cast! I kind of wish it was a more exciting vocal trio than this one. She’s fine but forgettable as Chihiro (it’s just kind of stuffy), perfectly competent at delivering an American approximation of the Kirby voice as Sayaka, and totally baffling as Tsumugi for a bunch of reasons. First of all, Tsumugi’s whole schtick is being plain; she didn’t need any kind of affect, especially not one as suspicious as the sugary helium voice. Secondly, it was probably more of a strain on the vocal cords to keep that up for six whole class trials. And thirdly, it’s just kind of obnoxious to listen to. What gives, NISA?

Sayaka > Chihiro > Tsumugi

 Derek Stephen Prince (Kokichi Oma – Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu)

(remember when English speakers saw the dub tease and got outraged hearing Oma’s voice saying “Kayayday” thinking they had recast Bryce Papenbrook? That poor man)

Another case where the voice actor is very good at both roles. DSP as Oma is probably more nuanced, since he has to be playful and trollish but also bring a hard edge when he needs to, and the angry rasp he gives Kuzuryu fits perfectly and adds a lot to the SDR2 dub. I’m going to give it to his role in as Kuzuryu just because Oma’s “neeheehee!” voice clip in V3 is horrible.

Kuzuryu > Oma

 Todd Haberkorn (Korekiyo Shinguji – Teruteru Hanamura)

So I think Todd Haberkorn’s voice is incredibly distinctive and I have very particular associations with him as a VA (I mostly know him as the lead in Rosario + Vampire, because I am the worst). Him playing a gag character like Hanamura was entirely within my expectations and is something he’s generally very good at doing. Korekiyo is the exact opposite character type and I busted a gut as soon as I heard it. Korekiyo is a better character when you don’t take him too seriously, and Haberkorn is good with the lines. I’m still more of a fan of him as Hanamura, since the garbled southern accent at the class trial breakdown is much more fun than the sister class trial breakdown, which no VA can probably save.

Hanamura > Korekiyo

 Julie Ann Taylor (Tenko Chabashira - Ibuki Mioda)

Julie Ann Taylor gives basically the same performance for both characters, but it’s a choice that makes sense considering Ibuki and Tenko have a very similar energy. Ibuki is slightly zingier and gets more memorable voice quips, but it’s another one that could go either way.

Ibuki > Tenko

 Marieve Herington (Angie Yonaga – Celestia Ludenberg)

Celes’s wacky French accent? Perfect, amazing, a hilarious and entirely appropriate addition to her character and possibly the best adaptational decision NISA made. Angie’s extremely similar wacky accent? Kind of lazy and highlights the racist parts of her character. Granted, it was probably hard to win with that one, but still. Boo.

Celestia > Angie

 Christine Marie Cabanos (Himiko Yumeno - Chiaki Nanami)

Christine Marie Cabanos as Himiko is my favorite dub voice in V3. She captures the laziness of the Japanese VA so well, nailing the gag of it but also nailing the emotional moments when it counts. What makes it great is knowing about Cabanos’s other work and how ultra-feminine magical girl types like Chiaki and Madoka Kaname are in her usual wheelhouse. Playing a character like Himiko must have been refreshing and it shows.

Himiko > Chiaki