×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
Convincing cross-gender VAs.




Anime News Network Forum Index -> General -> Anime
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Animeking1108



Joined: 26 Apr 2011
Posts: 1244
PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 5:10 pm Reply with quote
A pet peeve of mine in any media is when they get a woman to voice a male character, and they don't even try to sound masculine. It's sort of understandable when it's a little kid, but when they're teenagers/adults, it gets irritating. The most controversial example would be Masako Nazaowa as Goku. I asked myself many times why they couldn't find a male to voice him as an adult. I think the only time a male voiced Goku in Japanese was Kappei Yamaguchi in Dragonball Evolution. Yikes.

So the purpose of this thread is to go over the female VAs that can do a convincing male voice.

Maxey Whitehead- After Aaron Dismuke hit puberty, replacing Al in FMAB was inevitable. Whitehead definitely didn't disappoint. She managed to emulate Dismuke's voice rather convincingly.

Romi Paku- I didn't really watch the Japanese version of FMA, but I heard her performance as Tao Ren in Shaman King, and I thought she was decent.

Laura Bailey- While it's more noticeable with Shin-chan back when she started with Kid!Trunks in DBZ, she did a decent kid voice.

Kujira- Is she a post-op transvestite? There's no way I can listen to Orochimaru's voice and think to myself that she sounds like she was born with a vagina. That, or she's been smoking literally her whole life.

Wendy Powell- With Envy, she definitely did the androgynous homunculi justice. With her, it works since Envy's gender is unidentifiable, and she makes herself sound masculine enough to raise the question.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
dragon695



Joined: 28 Nov 2008
Posts: 1377
Location: Clemson, SC
PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 6:19 pm Reply with quote
Animeking1108 wrote:
A pet peeve of mine in any media is when they get a woman to voice a male character, and they don't even try to sound masculine. It's sort of understandable when it's a little kid, but when they're teenagers/adults, it gets irritating. The most controversial example would be Masako Nazaowa as Goku. I asked myself many times why they couldn't find a male to voice him as an adult. I think the only time a male voiced Goku in Japanese was Kappei Yamaguchi in Dragonball Evolution. Yikes.

What's wrong with being an effeminate male? Maybe Goku was bisexual.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
P€|\||§_|\/|ast@



Joined: 14 Feb 2006
Posts: 3498
Location: IN your nightmares
PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 7:40 pm Reply with quote
Animeking1108 wrote:
Kujira- Is she a post-op transvestite? There's no way I can listen to Orochimaru's voice and think to myself that she sounds like she was born with a vagina. That, or she's been smoking literally her whole life.
Correction, that would be post-op transexual. Anyway, Kujira isn't, she was born female, AFAIK.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail My Anime
yuna49



Joined: 27 Aug 2008
Posts: 3804
PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 8:00 pm Reply with quote
The talented Sawashiro Miyuki turned in an excellent performance as Kurenai Shinkurou in Kurenai. At the moment she's appearing in female roles, as Mine Fujiko in the Lupin III remake and as the candidate astronaut Serika in Uchuu Kyoudai. Both these roles sound very different from each other as well.

My favorite non-female Paku Romi role has to be her performance as the (male) chick with samurai aspirations in Higepiyo. The contrast between that performance and, say, Teresa in Claymore is startling.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Xanas



Joined: 27 Aug 2007
Posts: 2058
PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 8:08 pm Reply with quote
I can't believe you mentioned Orochimaru but not Naruto (Maile Flanagan) since you referenced that show. I honestly had no idea myself at least.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime
Yttrbio



Joined: 09 Jun 2011
Posts: 3652
PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 8:18 pm Reply with quote
Especially among Japanese VAs, some are "convincing" just in the sense that they don't even sound human. If your male character sounds like a male, good! If your male character sounds like a female, bad. But if you mention Kujira, where does "your male character sounds like a crocodile" fit? Does that count as convincing?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Key
Moderator


Joined: 03 Nov 2003
Posts: 18202
Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley)
PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 10:32 pm Reply with quote
Animeking1108 wrote:
Maxey Whitehead- After Aaron Dismuke hit puberty, replacing Al in FMAB was inevitable. Whitehead definitely didn't disappoint. She managed to emulate Dismuke's voice rather convincingly.


That isn't even one of her best renditions of a male character. See Baccano! and especially Romeo x Juliet for even better examples.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
EricJ



Joined: 03 Sep 2009
Posts: 876
PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 10:33 pm Reply with quote
And then, there was Sarah Strange (in the first three seasons of Viz's Ranma 1/2)...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Animeking1108



Joined: 26 Apr 2011
Posts: 1244
PostPosted: Sun Jun 10, 2012 10:48 pm Reply with quote
EricJ wrote:
And then, there was Sarah Strange (in the first three seasons of Viz's Ranma 1/2)...


Oh, yeah. I forgot her. I actually preferred her over Richard Cox. He just sounds too much like Inuyasha... You know, like every character Richard Cox voiced.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> General -> Anime All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group