Forum - View topicHey, Answerman! [2009-12-18]
|
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 Next Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
21stcenturydigitalboy
 Posts: 103 Location: Virginia Beach, Virginia |
|
|||||||||
|
Rie Kugimiya is one of my favorite seiyuu personally. Yeah, she's annoying as Louise and not great as Shana, but I like her as Nagi and both Taiga and Kagura are in my opinion some of the best roles in anime that I've heard. Taiga would not be the character at all if it weren't for Kugimiya (I see that the comic author doesn't like Taiga, though. She happens to be my alltime favorite anime character, and you definitely shouldn't take that to mean I'm inexperienced, since it'd be untrue.) I always go back to her performance in the first episode where she showed that while she was violent, she had a very misunderstood and annoyed way of speaking and she conveyed this while also pretending to have a cold. I think it was superbly done. And Kagura is just a masterpiece in voice acting, as is any of the roles in Gintama.
Just my thoughts. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
leafy sea dragon
 Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
|
|||||||||
|
There's another major reason why you have women doing the voices for boys in cartoons: It's a very large amount of trouble to maintain child actors. They need to go to school, do their homework, and other required kid things that adults don't have to do, which makes their availability difficult. (Well, more so than adults anyway.) For shows that use unionized actors, the unions have a lot of restrictions on what a child actor can or can't do, which can pretty often get in the way of creativity. And children usually haven't had the sort of acting lessons and certainly not the many years of experience adults have, so on average, you tend to get inferior acting that can pretty often sound like someone reading off of a script without any flourishes.
THAT, I'd bet, is partially the reason why people became fans of Aaron Dismuke so rapidly. It's very rare that you can have a child voice a starring role in a TV program with a regular schedule and have him or her sound convincing enough to make you forget there's someone supplying the words in the character's mouth. Notice that the Peanuts animated productions are predominantly sporadic TV specials with irregularly produced episodes of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show, and that Ike from South Park is voiced by three kids in Bigger, Longer, Uncut. You'll find that Slappy Squirrel in Animaniacs speaks a lot more than Skippy Squirrel and that Tails in Sonic Heroes sounds like he's reading off of a history textbook in class, trembling the whole time. The hassle dealing with a child actor is so immense that studios will almost always find a woman to portray kids in a cartoon rather than go for authenticity. A kid playing a kid is typically done out of novelty (as with the examples above) or because of a nearly unlimited budget (as with Alexander Gould in Finding Nemo).
I first heard her playing Blaze the Cat in the Sonic games and I really like what she did there. She gave it her all during the time before SEGA got a reshuffling of the people in charge and told everybody to shape up or ship out. It also sounds absolutely nothing like the 4Kids Monkey D. Luffy. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
|
|||||||||
I agree with you in principle. The number of Ecchi shows being produced is quite frankly Not a Good Look. We want quality shows, and yet it seems all the Otaku want are new Moe girls to masturbate to. Heck, lately even Gundam has sexualised its female cast, and I'm talking about the canon Anime shows, not doujinshi. Sexualisation of characters has permeated the Mecha genre (the bastion of boring military Otaku rather than the outspoken Ecchi Otaku), which would have been sort of unthinkable twenty to thirty years back. But, that kind of worldview isn't quite as complete as we would like to think. For better or worse (okay, worse), the types of Anime that are profitable are the cheaply-made but highly-selling Moe titles, and Ecchi must be close behind. The industry needs those titles (or at least the money made from merchandising those titles) to fund the "good" Anime. So yeah, we can complain about "the rise of Moe", and how it is "suffocating the quality shows", but we need them, at least for the time being. Blame the currently shallow Japanese consumer base or the idiotic Secondly, I don't know how much Anime you watched this year Brian but there WERE great titles made this year. Kimi ni Todoke, Bakemonogatari, Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, and Eden of the East. All are fantastic shows in my opinion, and quite a few people share that opinion too. Bakemonogatari had record-breaking sales, Eden of the East has garnered strong praise from many quarters. We see Sturgeon's Law in full action; yes, plenty of crap is still being made, but we also get a gem or two every season. A single great show is enough to make a season successful, and we are meeting that quota precisely. Anime is in a slump, that's what everyone keeps saying. And maybe it is; I became a fan pretty much when the bubble burst back in 2005/2006, so I have to rely on what other people say regarding the nature of the fandom before then. However, despite all that, I currently see enough quality shows coming out to make my being a fan worthwhile (even if we excluded the amazing back catalogue of shows). It isn't all doom and gloom; Anime is "in serious trouble" and it can still produce a show like Tokyo Magnitude 8.0. If the successful year of 2009 was an example of Anime being lost in the wilderness, then I just cannot imagine how awesome it will be when Anime reaches the next promised land. Hallelujah. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Seraphim_Alchemist
 Posts: 114 Location: Camuy, P.R. (US) |
|
|||||||||
|
I find it fascinating how the voice over world works on people's minds. I've always thought that thanks to hearing it in english, people can note how cheestastic anime can be most of the time due to it's faithful scripts.
buuut on to the matter at hand, I don't have a problem with people sounding the same since most of the roles require ACTING over Presence... but If I had to pick any high squealing done on the Japanese front really gets on my nerves so I don't like hearing subbed anime. While on the states I somewhat dislike the NY talent pool for some reason. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
Reaper gI
Posts: 299 Location: UK |
|
|||||||||
Erm Gundam has been doing that for ages. I don't spot anything particularly new in 00, its not a kids show so why can't charcters have adult relationships. Moe shows are not (for the big selling ones at least) cheaply made, you think otaku will buy shows that have errors in them (bearing in mind the huge cost). We've never had large numbers of good shows being produced, just the odd one every 2-3 years. Modern fandom looking at an individual season to have lots of original content will obviously be disapointed. Especialy given how infrequent original anime works are, how many shows do you see that are not based on a manga/game/ light novel. Of those the novel will lead to more original animation as it has less ilustration to give a fixed impression of how a scene has to look, see Bakemongatari for actually using this freedom (though it is still a moe harem). |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
Stretch24
Posts: 107 Location: Ohio |
|
|||||||||
|
Brian wrote:
Honestly, I thought that Brian was being sarcastic when he wrote this, but as I read on and he went into more and more detail, I realized that he was quite serious. I got this mistaken feeling because my impression of Studio Ghibli is one of an outfit which is outstanding largely because it doesn't try to please the greatest possible number of people (and make the greatest possible quantity of Yen) all over the world. My impression of Ghibli was of a unit which instead tries to turn out the best anime it is capable of, even if that means that the finished product is uninteresting to a lot of unimaginitive people. In short, Ghibli is good because it put quality ahead of quantity. I wonder, does Miyazaki want to be more popular worldwide, if that would demand making some major changes to the anime which he creates? |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
|
|||||||||
Nope, it hasn't. Not to the degree seen in the last two timelines (CC is a possible third, depends on your views). I'm referring to the naked people in the CE's OPs, and how the bridge bunnies in AD were solely there for that one episode when they were on a boat. So shallow.
Wrong again. Very wrong. Moe and Ecchi shows are often made for peanuts, and it shows. Heck, I don't watch a lot of those sorts of shows and I still know how lazily and/or poorly made they are. Next you'll be telling me that pornography is well-made and better-acted because if it wasn't then people wouldn't be able to "enjoy" it. Gah.
So you believe the number of good shows is, at most, say sixteen strong?* That's crazy talk. I believe there are far more than sixteen great shows out there, let alone sixteen good ones. I really cannot take you seriously if you believe Anime is that bad. Why are you even a fan in the first place if you believe that only a small amount of good Anime exists? * 40 years divided by the average of "2-3", which is 2.5. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
writerpatrick
 Posts: 672 Location: Canada |
|
|||||||||
|
I liked Nemo, although I suspect the reference in the article is towards it's commercial failure.
What we need is another Rankin Bass. They successfully managed to combine the talents of anime companies with western stories. But that was back in the 60s and 70s so it's understandable if they would be forgotten. Animators of the company they worked with went on to found Ghibli. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
Reaper gI
Posts: 299 Location: UK |
|
|||||||||
Thanks for clarity on which bits you meant, I don't see abstract nudity as being sexualising. Boat ep I can see more so.
Did I say Ecchi shows weren't cheap. Most moe stuff will at least stay on model and give its characters a suitable wardrobe (that's much better than most shounen). I may simply be subconsciously avoiding the ones that are truly bad as purely unintersting though.
I was focusing on original anime and probably should have used a superlative with the good. Plenty of shows are watchable and enjoyable. Few I would recomend to people who don't know the genre/media at all, i.e. are good as film/TV in general rather than as good within anime. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
The Ramblin' Wreck
 Posts: 924 Location: Teaching Robot Women How To Love |
|
|||||||||
|
As it stands, Studio Ghibil will likely die with Miyazaki. They probably do need the collaboration input/funding to help keep the Studio going into the future.
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
Ryo Hazuki
Posts: 363 Location: Finland |
|
|||||||||
|
This might be a very unpopular opinion but I certainly wouldn't want Disney or even Pixar influencing Studio Ghibli. Do you think Sosuke's mother would have grabbed a beer while being frustrated under American exec influence or school girls talked about periods in Only Yesterday or other similar little but important details that make Ghibli's movies what they are? I like Disney's classics for almost entirely different reasons than Ghibli's and even Pixar's movies feel a bit sanitazed and clean compared to Ghibli.
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
chrisb
 Subscriber Posts: 618 Location: USA |
|
|||||||||
|
Is it really that hard to get real kids to do voices in anime? I imagine it'd be easier with teenagers. The recent Final Fantasies use real teen actors with Vincent Martella and Bobby Edner. As did Read or Die TV which had a fantastic dub thanks to the kids. Chowder on Cartoon Network's youngest characters are voiced by little kids as well. Infinite Ryvius had a huge amount of teenage actors to go with the mainly teenage cast so it ended up sounding more realistic to me.
Ocean Group seems to use a lot of young actors in their production like Andrew Francis in Escaflowne and a good amount of actors in X-Men Evolution, and more recently Shin's voice actor in NANA. The main reason for that huge amount of titles I listed was just to try and show that it does work. I figure it's not that hard if a lot of other shows are doing it. The only voice actors I found that can do younger sounding voices are Laura Bailey (Kodocha), Mona Marshall (Digimon) and Rachael Lillis (Utena.) Disney does it best with their celebs voices in Disney/Kingdom Hearts/Ghibli releases. edit: more titles popped into my head. Last edited by chrisb on Sat Dec 19, 2009 12:02 pm; edited 2 times in total |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
KrisEllieOphi
 Posts: 111 Location: Texas |
|
|||||||||
|
1) There ARE great anime being produced! Shows like the brilliant Nodame Cantabile and the wonderful Allison & Lilia...yet they remain unlicensed. While mediocre shows like Strike Witches get licensed instead. It's so disappointing. At least they brought over Spice & Wolf, so it's not totally hopeless.
2) To the person who hates women voicing male characters.... You should hear Maaya Sakamoto voice Ciel Phantomhive in Kuroshitsuji. She's fantastic. Though she's hardly middle aged, if THAT is your complaint. In America, Mona Marshall, who was born in '47, voices many young male characters very well. 3) I don't mind Vic, as Mari does, but I do think he's been miscast a few times. He's great as Ed, he's great as Fai...he fell flat as Tamaki for me. His fans though...man they're insane. I actually saw him walking through a convention once with a retinue of screaming young girls tailing after him. 4) 99% of the time I can't stand Greg Ayres. The only, ONLY time I felt he did a good job, was in Beck Mongolian Chop Squad. I was blown away that he could actually sing rather well, and the character came out pretty well too. 5) I don't like Todd Haberkorn, either. To be fair, he does play annoying characters. But that doesn't mean his voice should be unbearable to listen to. 6) I enjoy Johnny Yong Bosch for the most part. And he's a delight in person. But...I did not enjoy him in Trigun. But since the entire cast of Trigun was awful, I blame bad directing here. Because he's great in other things I've seen him in. 7) For kicks, some of my least favorite English dubbings, as a whole, are: Gunslinger Girl, Chrno Crusade, AIR, Romeo X Juliet (which is about the most badly miscast show I've ever seen), Nana, Trigun, and Fruits Basket (though to be fair, I didn't like the Japanese voices, either). |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
seryass
Posts: 27 |
|
|||||||||
For the most part I agree with your post wholeheartedly. I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of Mona Marshall as when she does voice male roles they are always the same and I find it annoying after a while. She especially grated on me when ironically she played an actual female character, Ryoko, in the third Tenchi OVA. The issue I have with women playing male roles is a bit more specific. Generally I don't mind it when they play younger roles since at that age a boy's voice wouldn't have broken anyway. I do prefer actual kids playing their respective gender roles as is the case with Hiro and Kisa in the Fruits Basket dub but I don't mind older women playing them. The problem I have is when women play older male characters. There is simply no need for it. Mona Marshall again springs to mind in Suikoden Tactics as the main character Kyril who I think should have been voiced by a male seiyuu (and I do realise that he was played by a female in both versions - I mean he should have been voiced by a male in both too). Likewise we have Yuki Souma in Fruits Basket. It's silly to have Aya Hisakawa play the role when a male seiyuu could have just as easily done it (Daisuke Kishio springs to mind for one). That's one of the reasons I prefer the dub to the sub (which is rare in my case nowadays). One of the few female seiyuu that I feel portrayed a boy convincingly was Junko Minagawa in He is my Master. The show itself was abysmal and the main character was extremely irritating but I have to admit she did a very good job voicing him. At first I even thought it might have been a male seiyuu. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
4nBlue
|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group