Forum - View topic

NEWS: Bryce Papenbrook, Cherami Leigh Lead Sword Art Online Dub Cast

There are issues with SAO, no question, but it's far from "TEH WORST THING EVAR." Ahhh, but haters gonna hate. lmao

getchman wrote:

Echo_City wrote: From spirited (and rather annoying) Gaige to the ultimate Waifu. How the mighty have fallen but what if this is a role she wanted to play?

That's irrelevant. It is still a huge step down to go from voicing true characters to giving some semblance of life to a fetishistic "cardboard cutout". If she wanted to play the character for reasons besides getting paid/furthering her career then that's her prerogative but I will never understand it as I can't imagine anyone wanting to be Asuna. Be with her, ahem, sure, I can understand that though it appeals not to me. In fact, if she were to honestly divulge that there had been something more than paying the bills or bolstering her "resume" behind her decision to voice Asuna then I would hold out hope as long as possible that she did it on false pretense, that Bang/Zoom (et al) lied to her about the nature of Asuna.

I have to agree with the other posters: there were roles in the SAO more suited for Cherami's "typecast", roles that actually came closer to being characters as opposed to Asuna, the"Waifu's waifu", the most pathetic, static & lifeless piece of fetish bait I can recall ever seeing in anime.

Maybe Cherami will make Asuna less horrendous to experience. It would take a Stephen Foster level rewrite to make her into a real character (as he did with Orphen) but it could be done. Naturally I don't expect that it will be done.

Perhaps we'll get some hilarious extras with great outtakes fueled by the cast's disdain for Asuna? Of course as they're Bang/Zoom extras they won't be on the DVD/BD and will only appear at con panels but hey, that's something and I'm so desperately searching for a silver lining in all this.

Quote:

That's irrelevant. It is still a huge step down to go from voicing true characters to giving some semblance of life to a fetishistic "cardboard cutout".

I love how you say this when she played Yoshika from god damn Strike Witches, who is probably someone you'd consider to be even more of a "fetishistic cardboard cutout" than Asuna (though Yoshika isn't).

The problem with Yoshika's dub voice is that she sounds like a "fetishistic cardboard cutout" because of the direction the dub took.

Quote:

The problem with Yoshika's dub voice is that she sounds like a "fetishistic cardboard cutout" because of the direction the dub took.

No, uh, she sounded like that because Strikw Witches is what happens when you take a bunch of fetishy cookie-cutter characters and you actually care to develop them into people.

But every single witch is targeted directly at a particular otaku fetish, and that should be blatantly obvious.

PurpleWarrior13 wrote:

For the record, Cherami mentioned on Facebook that she's looking forward to be working on the show. Whether it's an honest answer or not is up to you, but that's what she said. She has also most definitely worked on more shallow characters in the past (Strike Witches comes to mind).

That's not an answer to the question per se. Effectively she said "I'm looking forward to getting paid and furthering my resume." She did not directly and definitively comment on her actual thoughts concerning the "character" of Asuna, at least not in what you have relayed; what she said does not shed any light on whether or not she finds the demure doormat that is Asuna to be repugnant.

Cherami has voiced shallow characters before, sure. However those characters--key word--were worlds above Asuna who is much closer to being a macguffin, a macguffin that has disturbingly high appeal to a certain, apparently large, subset of anime fans in Japan, than a bona fide character. I saw the whole horrid experience of the show and Asuna was a much more of a thing than a person.

Quote:

So it's easier for you to accept that she had absolutely no idea what she was getting herself into and will soon regret being chosen for this role soon after recording and there is no possible way she might actually like the show and hoped she would be able to voice Asuna one day?

Close, but no cigar. I'm also not sure that you worded what I have quoted to convey what you intended it to as you say, definitively & without attributing it to what you (would mistakenly) believe to be what I am "accepting", therein that there is no possible way that Cherami could like SAO or hope that she could voice Asuna. That bit is clearly false, though I almost wish it weren't.

I'd like to believe that I expressed that I hope that Cherami either wanted Asuna solely for mercenary & career advancement reasons and considered the "gag factor" of Asuna to be irrelevant (which is, again, her prerogative but I'd say it's a bit tragic) or that she wanted those 2 things but also was duped by being told that Asuna was what she is not:a genuine character.

I'm conflicted: I like Cherami's previous work and would like for her to continue voicing in anime and getting paid but I'm not sure that I really want her to go against her Funimation "typecast" so and be known as the voice of the Most Waifu-est Waifu Known To Man as I both find Asuna to be repugnant and don't know what the ramifications of her being attached to such a well known role will be. Will it typecast her as the Waifu in the eyes (ears?) of casting directors? Will I personally ever be able to hear her as a character with soul and backbone and not have the experienced ruined for me because she'll sound like the doormat that was Asuna? As a fan, I am compelled to wonder.