| The Lost Series, Part 2: The Voices |
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When I decided to create “YGO Uncensored” I hoped to create enough of an interest in an uncut version of the show that sooner or later someone would have to notice. My main goal is to get the first 27 episodes licensed and released here in America on dual language DVD’s. But I remember someone saying that a good way to help get what you want released, you have to tell the companies how you would want it to be released. So in this new editorial series I’m planning on giving all interested companies some “suggestions” on how the show should be handled. Part 2 of this series isn’t really that important to the distributing of the show in any way. In all honesty I don’t care how FUNimation/4Kids dubs the first 27 episodes, I mainly want the subtitled version.
I mean, most serious anime fans simply want the show subtitled in the first place, many of them simply don’t care for the dubs. I’m one of those people, but after hours of complaining to my friend about the current voices of the character’s he said, “Well Kevin, if those actor’s aren’t making you happy then who would you hire?” Needless to say this got me to thinking, and before you know it that thinking inspired me to write this editorial. So now I present to you a totally useless editorial to our cause, but a fun editorial.
Pualina didn’t make a very good young Dente (“Dragon Ball Z”). Her voices for kids are VERY soft spoken, and she always portrays the kids she plays as sounding more timid and shy then they are probably supposed to sound! Yet it’s this softness that would fit perfectly for Yugi. Yugi in the first 27 episodes has a particularly soft voice, and sounds very timid throughout the entire show. With the way Pualina portrayed Dente from “Dragon Ball Z,” I am convinced she would make a GREAT Yugi!
Andrew Francis has never been the most respected voice actor in the anime community. Francis has been known for his high pitched voice that sounds like a ten year old (And let’s face it, he “was” ten when he did most of his recording). When I heard him play the psychotic Dilandau in the dub of “Escaflowne” I nearly died! This was NOT at all what I was expecting! A ten year old cannot make a psychotic voice that was required for this character. Yet when he made the “Escaflowne” movie his voice had obviously cracked (AKA, he went through puberty), and NOW he sounded the way Dilandau was supposed to sound: Psychotic and evil! Why do I bring up his role in “Escaflowne?” Because Dilandau was supposed to sound like an evil guy, Dark Yugi is also supposed to sound like an evil guy.
I believe Andrew would be the perfect person to do Dark Yugi’s voice because of this. Because not only does he have this evil sounding voice now, but because he’s not very old he also sounds like a teenager. This is important, as Dark Yugi needs to sound like an evil being, yet because he lives inside a young boys body he needs to sound reasonably young too. Really, this isn’t rocket science people: Yugi is young, thus Dark Yugi is supposed to sound reasonably young too. And no he’s not supposed to sound like the 30-year-old dork that Dan Green portrays him as! So even if a company that dubs this show only listens to ONE of my recommendations I would like it to be this one!
I don’t have as much of a problem with Amy Birnbaum’s performance for Tea, it’s just that not only does it just not sound quite right, but if the company who hopefully dubs this intends to hire a new voice cast, then it would probably cause some weird contract complication with the other studio. So with that I think Rachiel Lillis would be a great replacement. Not only is she a talented actress, but also I feel as though she would make a better Anzu then Amy Birnbaum would. I mean she’s to anime what Mel Blanc was to American cartoons: They both seem to have 1000 voices under their belt. Don’t believe me? Just watch “Utena,” “Slayers,” “Pokemon,” “Now And Then, Here And There,” and “Rayearth” to see what I mean. Any one of those voices would probably be perfect for Anzu, but knowing Rachiel she’d probably give Anzu a unique voice of her own.
I’m going to be blunt: I HATE Wayne Grayson’s Joey voice! It’s wrong, it sounds totally unnatural, and it’s also just an annoying voice. With that said if another company dubs this series I would like then to consider replacing Grayson with someone who would be more natural for the role. Although I can think of lot’s of regular Joe’s who would be able to do this role, my vote would probably go to Eric Johnson. Despite the fact that FUNimation’s dub of “Dragon Ball Z” was (And still is come to think of it) total crap, I was always amazed that there was at least one outstanding voice that managed to find it’s way into the character of Trunks. Eric is simply the best teenager voice in the anime business at the time. It sounds totally natural and realistic, and yet he’s never hired for many other projects…other then for a few FUNimation series. Eric is a great actor with a natural sounding voice that would be perfect for Jounochi, and if this series is ever dubbed I would like the producer’s to greatly consider hiring Eric for the part here.
The current voice of Tristan has come a long way since the show started, but it still sounds forced. And if it sounds forced, then it is flawed. And while I believe that any regular teenagers could pull this role off, my vote will go to Michael Reisz because we know he can act. I’m not sure if he is a teen or not, but he’s done good teenage voices in the past, so I don’t see why he couldn’t do it here. But really, this role isn’t my biggest concern since finding a good voice for Honda wouldn’t be too hard.
My statement about Lillis can be found up in the Anzu section. Lillis is a great multi-voice actress, and I think she could pull off voicing both Anzu and Miho perfectly.
As “The Digimon Emperor” in season two of “Digimon,” Derek was arguably the best actor of the season. The new cast wasn’t as good the previous seasons cast, but whoever cast Derek as Ken knew what they were doing. As a villain Derek sounded as evil as he was threatening. He gave Ken a great voice that made you fear him, hate him, and truly believe he was an evil guy. However (Spoilers ahead) once Ken turned to the good side, Derek kept the same voice, yet now Ken sounded weak, scared, and vulnerable. The same voice, two different feeling you get from that voice from different points in the show, and one great voice. Not only can I imagine Ken’s voice as Kaiba’s, but also Kaiba’s voice needs to sound as nice as it needs to sound evil.
You can’t have Kaiba sounding like a bad guy right off the bat because that would ruin some of the suspense behind the character. When Kaiba first shows up he’s a nice guy, he treats people kindly, and he even invites Yugi and his friends over to his HOUSE of all things! At first you feel as though Kaiba is going to be a good guy, it’s only later on you realize Kaiba isn’t as innocent as he pretends to be. I believe that Derek Stephen Prince would be the perfect choice to voice Kaiba…although I have gotten more used to Eric Stuarts portrayal, but I believe Derek would be a better choice.
Seriously, you don’t even need to recommend an actor for an old guy. Just go to a retirement home and ask an old man if he wants to do a voice in a cartoon for a little extra cash. Simple huh?
Mona Marshall has always portrayed kids as real kids. She makes them sound real, act real, and everything. To me she’s the ideal person to voice Bakura…although I wouldn’t object to going to an acting school and grabbing a real life 10 year old to voice Bakura either.
The main reason I’d pick Michael Lindsay to voice Evil Bakura is because his voice sounds so much like the Japanese Bakura it’s not funny. And since this guy has proven to be a very good anime voice actor he would be perfect for Evil Bakura. Heck he’d even work as Evil Bakura in the current dub…although we all know that it’s too much to ask 4Kids to provide a GOOD voice for their sorry dub!
NEXT TIME: There's this little thing everyone's talking about called "Shonen Jump," which is supposed to be the best thing to happen to "Yu-Gi-Oh!" since it came ot America. I say we take a look at that magazine and find out if that's true! |
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