Forum - View topicWhy are mature male VAs being cast for prepubescent males in ENG versions of anime?
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Mr. Oshawott
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If you've been watching certain anime shows in English, you may have noticed that some of the boys have sounded 2.5 to 3x, perhaps even 3.5x, their age. So far, the shows that I know where boys and young teenagers have sounded too old for their ages are Doraemon, Ai Yori Aoshi (in the case of Young Kaoru), Digimon (Tamers Season), Negima, Sailor Moon, and Figure 17, which I've finished within midday.
I'm of the belief that if a male character is below 13 years of age, he should be played by a female seiyuu. If a male character is 14 years and up, that's where the mature male seiyuu are more apt (not always, but usually). So why is it that some studios cast mature male seiyuu for prepebuscent male characters? Not enough staff? Time constraints? All viewpoints are welcome! 
Edit: Made a slight change to the title to avoid further confusion. Edit 2: Made a correction to a misspelling within the title. Last edited by Mr. Oshawott on Sun Aug 30, 2015 12:15 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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nobahn
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FWIW, my opinion is that the studios in question don't give a flying f---. Animation is for children, and children don't care is probably what they're thinking.
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HyugaHinata
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Genetically, Asians (including males) have higher voices. So it's easier for them to play young males. Listen to Akira Ishida as Fisheye in Sailor Moon Super S, and compare that to his role as Gaara in Naruto, for example.
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Mr. Oshawott
Posts: 6773 |
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@nobahn
Yes, I find that that sort of mentality seems to fits the description of most studios wielding popular shounen anime shows. It's a harsh but unfortunate reality.
That is true in a general sense, but even with this factored in, I have yet to hear of a Japanese male seiyuu that has been cast for a male child character that's below 13. |
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Darkmagick
 SubscriberPosts: 463 |
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Gaara, who is, as noted above, voiced by male voice actor Akira Ishida, was 12 years old for the entirety of the arc he's introduced in. (I think he's 13 by the time he appears again?) To use another Naruto example, Sasuke is also voiced by a male voice actor, Noriaki Sugiyama, and he is also 12 for the majority of part 1. (The deep voice Sugiyama gives him is a joke fans often made about him in part 1.) Well, the voice fit much better after the time skip, when he was 15. |
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yuna49
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I'm confused. Is this a question about English dub actors playing boys? All the subsequent discussion has focused on Japanese actors. |
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Touma
 Posts: 2651 Location: Colorado, USA |
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I have watched each of those several times and I never noticed the voices sounding too old. Or if I did notice it did not make enough of an impression for me to remember it. I did think that Negi Springfield sounded off at first, but I believe that was because of the accent. Whatever it was I got used to it after the first episode or two. I will admit that I do not have much interest in male characters and probably do not pay much attention to the voices. All that I can say for sure is that what you are talking about has never bothered me. That is good for me, I guess. Another thing that might be a factor is that it has been several decades since I have actually talked to a real child. |
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Alan45
Village Elder Posts: 9836 Location: Virginia |
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I think some of the confusion is caused by the initial question using the Japanese term seiyuu when he is actually discussing English voice actors.
There is no consistency in this. A lot of younger male characters have been voiced by female voice actors over the years. As a result I would assume that it either involves specific limitations at a given studio or the personal preferences of the person making casting decisions. In the case of a character being shown at two different ages, they probably just didn't want to hire an additional actor. For what it is worth, my voice started changing in fifth grade and was fairly inconsistent for a year or so after that. A twelve year old speaking in a lower range is not that improbable. At that age how they talk is more important than range. Unfortunately a lot of relatively young anime characters speak and act more mature than they are. Negima is a good example. |
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Mr. Oshawott
Posts: 6773 |
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Yes, this thread is about mature male English seiyuu playing as boys. I was unaware if there was also true on the Japanese side, so I was offered an instance in response. My apologies for the confusion. 
I think it's not so much the English accent that's made Negi's voice so off-putting to some as it's his rasp that's been present within it. It seems that the reason Funimation decided to cast Greg Ayres as Negi was that they thought that with his voice being naturally higher than most other English seiyuu, he could still pitch his voice up to make it look as if it came from a boy. Unfortunately, the end result wasn't what they seemingly expected and, from what I've heard, there weren't many viewers that were thrilled with it. |
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Dessa
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While yes, it is common pretty much worldwide for female voice actors to voice young male child characters, the problem is, is that we're getting into teen/pre-teen characters. Though the age that puberty hits will vary from person to person (and therefore character to character), the general age range we're talking here (the thread seems to be focused on the 11-15ish range) is all fair game for puberty to hit, and, with it, the changes to a male voice.
IMO, this is precisely why female voice actors are inappropriate. Female voices are great for young characters, but once they get into the age range where puberty can hit at any time, a female voice starts sounding too feminine. It either makes the character sound younger than they are, or "too girly." The only options remaining, then, are to use male voices. Preferably, as was done with Fullmetal Alchemist, a child actor would be used, but there's a limit to how many child voice actors are available (remember: actors and actresses aren't necessarily voice actors and actresses), as well as limits to when and how long they can work, and I'm assuming the content they're allowed to work on (morally, at least, if not legally). So then, it leaves us with adult male actors. I'd actually bring up Weiß Kreuz and Jamie McGonnigal's performance of Omi as a good example of the hard work that goes into an adult male playing a younger male character. Omi is 17, but canonically a) looks younger, and b) can pull off female disguises. Not as much in the show itself, but in the blooper/gag reels, there are a number of times when Jamie's voice cracks, because he's having trouble keeping the right pitch. Also, can we not use a Japanese term for an English role? I read the title, and I was like "WTH? I didn't know that there were any Japanese voice actors being cast in English versions", because that's how it reads. |
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Mr. Oshawott
Posts: 6773 |
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Well, yes, young male voices do get deeper as they advance through puberty; however I've never heard of a case in which a young male below 13 years of age had a voice that already sounded like that of a 25 to 30-year-old.
If the male character is 14 years and above, then I agree; a male voice is better suited for him; if anything, a male voice is a guaranteed fit for male characters 16 and above.
Ah, yes, Aaron Dismuke as Alphonse Elric, I remember... He fared well as him during the initial season of Fullmetal Alchemist as a young kid... Another good [and extremely rare] instance of an anime show featuring a male child VA is Magical Stage Fancy Lala, in which Jeffrey Watson was a young kid when he was playing as Tarō Yoshida back then.
 Whoa, relax. I honestly didn't think my use of the term "seiyuu" would cause that much consternation among some. I figured since the term is so frequently used within ANN, most would already know which language of them I was referring to when I mentioned "English versions of Anime" in the title, but it seems I was wrong. Oh well...I'll be extra careful about using Japanese terms next time I try to start a topic...if ever.
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GalicianNightmare
Posts: 124 |
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I think we need some etymology lessons here. The term "seiyuu" (声優) comes from "koe no haiyuu" (声の優), the original term. The 声 character or koe can also be read as "sei." The term seiyuu wasn't used before Gundam and referred to a supermarket of some kind.
That aside, the term in English is used to refer solely Japanese VAs, since it's a Japanese word, hence why people are like "Huh, why is Oshawott using the term seiyuu for English dub VAs?" the Japanese use the term to refer to all voice actors, irrespective of their nationality. Sure many of you can say, "Most Japanese don't give a crap about foreign VAs" but that argument works the other way, since most Japanese couldn't give a crap about any voice actor, including their own. The term "seiyuu" rejects nationality in its original language. Oh, but if that isn't enough proof for you. From Crispin Freeman's Japanese wiki page
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nobahn
Subscriber Posts: 5120 |
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Don't sweat the small stuff! 
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Kruszer
 Posts: 7983 Location: Minnesota, USA |
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Consistency, and so they don't have to pay another actor for the same role? I don't know.
My personal preference is the opposite. I think it's strange to use someone else, especially if they're the wrong gender, to play the same character. |
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6867 Location: Kazune City |
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