Your Favorite Voice Actors and Seiyuu

[Zerdax]

For those who don't know, Seiyuu means "voice actors/actresses" in Japanese, and is a word that separates the Japanese voice actors/actresses from the American ones. So, if you watch a lot of anime, at least a few voices will sound familiar to you. You would want to read the credits (or something like that) to learn the cast. Do you have any favorite people who voiced your likable characters? I'll post mine later.

[Jolteon91]

Males:

1. Ono Daisuke
2. Miyano Mamoru
3. Nakamura Yuuichi
4. Sugita Tomakazu
5. Fukuyama Jun
6. Hirata Hiroaki
7. Midorikawa Hikaru
8. Seki Tomokazu
9. Kaji Yuki
10. Fujiwara Keiji

Females:

1. Kanazawa Hana
2. Toyosaki Aki
3. Tomatsu Haruka
4. Sawashiro Miyuki
5. Imai Asami
6. Nakahara Mai
7. Taketatsu Ayana
8. Hikasa Youko
9. Horie Yui
10. Kotubuki Minako

[Jb]

Not gonna lie, I watch ton of anime and they all sound the same to me unlike American VAs. Seems like too much effort to like a specific VA when you can't even understand the language in the first place.

[mephistopheles.]

i'm not to big on seiyuu. while there are about 20 people (probably more, i'm just pulling numbers out of my ass) i would recognise instantly, i don't know most their actual names, i just refer them as "omg it's x character from y anime!"

i must say that i loved practically every character i've seen so far that were voiced by kamiya hiroshi though (trafalgar law, izaya, itoshiki nozomu/zetsubou sensei, mephisto, araragi etc.), he has the perfect cocky voice.

[SmartD]

My favorite voice actors:
Veronica Taylor
Rachael Lillis
Dan Green
Lisa Ortiz
Ted Lewis
Marc Thompson
Bella Hudson

Just to name a few.

[Zerdax]

My favorite voice actors are Japanese and American.

Japanese:
1. Saori Goto
2. Jun Fukuyama
3. Katsuyuki Konishi
4. Mamoru Miyano
5. Nobuhiko Okamoto
6. Akira Ishida
7. Soichiro Hoshi
8. Yui Horie
9. Tetsuya Kakihara
10. Kana Hanazawa

American:
1. Brad Swaile
2. Laura Bailey
3. Christopher Sabat
4. Todd Haberkorn
5. J. Michael Tatum
6. Colleen Clinkenbeard
7. Stephanie Young
8. Cathy Weseluck
9. Patricia Drake
10. Chris Cason

[Charizard Champion#06]

I'm just going to vomit an unorganized list of names so get ready.

BLEAUGH- Miyuki Sawashiro, Crispin Freeman, Daisuke Ono, Johnny Yong Bosch, Kana Hanazawa, Luci Christian, Yui Horie, Monica Rial, Aki Toyosaki, Maxey Whitehead, Hiroshi Kamiya, Todd Haberkorn, Hiro Shimono, Greg Ayres, Eri Kitamura, J. Micheal Tatum, Kaori Mizuhashi, Kent Williams, Akio Ohtsuka, Colleen Clinkenbeard, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Caitlin Glass, Michelle Ruff, Kyle Hebert, Yuri Lowenthall, Asami Seto, Mamoru Miyano, Dan Green, Lisa Ortiz, Kanae Itou, Steve Blum, Patrick Seitz, Jun Fukuyama, Troy Baker, Liam O'Brien, Ai Nonaka, Quiton Flynn, Julie Ann Taylor, Romi Park, Wendee Lee, Kirk Thornton, Keiji Fujiwara, Vic Mignogna, Yuko Goto, Dave Mallow, Travis Willingham, Yuuichi Nakamura, Mai Makahara, Aya Hirano, Jamieson Price, Sam Regal, Daisuke Sakaguchi, Laura Bailey, David Hayter, Yukari Tamura, Ryou Hirohashi, Jay Hickman, Ben Pronsky, Illich Guardiola, Brad Swaille, Alessandro Juliani, Jouji Nakata, Chris Sabat, Mike Mcfarland, Chuck Huber, Kana Asumi, Junji Majima, Cho, Nobuyuki Hiyama, Yoshimasa Hosoya, Satomi Arai, Satomi Satou, Yukari Tamura, Masato Hagiwara, Tachiki Fumihiko, Youko Hisaka, Joseph Motiki, Hiromi Konno, Mioru Shiraishi, Jamie Marchi, Chris Ayres, Eric Stuart, Veronica Taylor, Rachael Lillis, Maddie Blaustein, Ted Lewis, Akemi Kanada, Ryohei Kimura, Bridget Hoffman, Katsuyuki Konishi, Doug Stone, Derek Stephen Prince, Takumi Yamazaki, Rie Kugumiya, Jeff Nimoy, Tomokazu Sugita -UUEAGH!!


I love me some voice actors. Most times when I start watching a new series I'll have to stop in the middle of the first few episodes because I "just have to know whose voice that is!" I can get most of these by name and nearly all of them just by hearing them do a few lines. I have a lot of fun figuring out who's who when I'm watching a show and sometimes wondering what some of their other characters would do in that situation.

[Bonetail]

I don't really bother to learn the VA but when I did check some out a couple days ago, I never realized that some people played the same voices of multiple characters that I actually like. They sound nothing alike! But anyways, the people I care for at this current time are:

Aki Toyosaki
Haruka Tomatsu
Ayana Taketatsu
Tomosa Murata

(So many letter "T"s!)

[Kutie Pie]

I don't really have favorites, since as long as they sounded convincing enough, I'll like them. I also haven't memorized names for the most part, but I can recognize some voices--sometimes. Like I was so proud of myself when I recognized Mai Nakahara in CLANNAD, and Yukari Tamura and Yui Horie in Kanon '06. English-wise, I was also happy when I recognized (from the dub of Higurashi) Megan Hollingshead (psychotic Nurse Joy for the win), and Karen Strassman and Patrick Seitz because both were in the English dub of Monster, only I didn't recognize this until while I was watching Higurashi with my brother some time after I finished the Monster dub.

The only one off the top of my head that I do love is Mewtwo's seiyuu, Masachika Ichimura. The first time I heard his voice in the Birth of Mewtwo CD Drama... *heavenly sigh*

Yup.

Males:
Nakamura Yuuichi

Females:
Tomatsu Haruka
Sawashiro Miyuki
Imai Asami

If you haven't already, look up Corpse Party for the PSP. They're in there, and they play amazing roles, as does Ikue Ohtani. Her role is freakin' amazing.

[voicerocker]

You can't watch western cartoons and not be a fan of Tom Kenny! : )

[Zerdax]

You can't watch western cartoons and not be a fan of Tom Kenny! : )

Well, we ain't talking about Western cartoons. Go away.

[ParaChomp]

Not gonna lie, I watch ton of anime and they all sound the same to me unlike American VAs. Seems like too much effort to like a specific VA when you can't even understand the language in the first place.

I never expected this from a diehard fan like you however I completely agree though I think it's more of the fact that we don't understand the language. On top of that, you're usually too busy paying attention to the bottom of the screen and catch only a taste of the emotion.

Well, we ain't talking about Western cartoons. Go away.

I'd like to object.

You can't watch western cartoons and not be a fan of Tom Kenny! : )

No less, he's barely in dub roles for Japanese cartoons and that's the subject at hand. The Internet is like the best volcano to catch some waves; make sure you bring the right equipment before you go lava surfing or you'll get burned BADLY.

As for me, probably Steve Blum, guy's an awesome voice actor and has a great range. Off topic but I also have to give him credit for his performances in American cartoons.

[Jb]

I never expected this from a diehard fan like you however I completely agree though I think it's more of the fact that we don't understand the language. On top of that, you're usually too busy paying attention to the bottom of the screen and catch only a taste of the emotion.

Perhaps. My stance on VA/Seiyuu's is that most people don't care for their talent, but more of the character they play. If they play a bunch of good characters, then people consider them a good VA. If they play boring, uninteresting characters, then no one cares about them. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there a few people that like the VA's themselves but this fame they get is clearly from the characters they play and not their voice talent.

[voicerocker]

Well, we ain't talking about Western cartoons. Go away.

The thread title simply says "Your Favorite Voice Actors and Seiyuu", so I see no reason why western cartoon voice actors can't be included or talked about as well. The only mention of anime made was referring to the meaning of the word "seiyuu". Besides, Tom Kenny has dubbed anime before: IGXP and Rave Master just off the top of my head. He was also the voice of the robot "D" of the final era of the original Toonami with TOM 4 and Flash. (may not be anime, but it's anime related)

No less, he's barely in dub roles for Japanese cartoons and that's the subject at hand. The Internet is like the best volcano to catch some waves; make sure you bring the right equipment before you go lava surfing or you'll get burned BADLY.

As for me, probably Steve Blum, guy's an awesome voice actor and has a great range. Off topic but I also have to give him credit for his performances in American cartoons.

Why is it so upsetting to include western cartoon voice actors in a discussion entitled "Your Favorite Voice Actors and Seiyuu"? Perhaps the name of this thread should be changed then to "Favorite ANIME voice actors". Though I don't see why it matters that much. There are many talented voice actors who don't work in anime dubbing. And anime is still cartoons at the end of the day.

I could be wrong, but I think Steve Blum has almost completely stopped working in anime dubs. He's been in so many western cartoons lately I doubt he's doing much anime dubbing anymore.

[Jb]

The thread title simply says "Your Favorite Voice Actors and Seiyuu", so I see no reason why western cartoon voice actors can't be included or talked about as well.

Because the rules say

Please discuss only Japanese-animation here.

As long as the western VA has worked dub anime then it's fine.

And anime is still cartoons at the end of the day.

You would think than in the anime section people would only discuss anime related things.

[TotalPotato]

Why is it so upsetting to include western cartoon voice actors in a discussion entitled "Your Favorite Voice Actors and Seiyuu"? Perhaps the name of this thread should be changed then to "Favorite ANIME voice actors".

Well, this is the Alternate Anime section, so every topic here is implicitly about anime. But as you said, Tom Kenny has voiced anime characters before, so there shouldn't be an issue there.

There have been very few times watching a subbed anime when I've thought "dang, that was some GREAT voice acting work". Usually what happens these days is that I think "hey, that's a great voice that I don't think I've heard before!" and look them up out of curiosity, but names don't tend to stick in my head.

I can only think of one anime where great voice acting has significantly improved my enjoyment of the show, and that's Hayate the Combat Butler. I thought every voice actor fit their character like a glove, and brought more colour to an already colourful group of characters. And no, I'm not just talking about their hair colours

[Zerdax]

Thank you, JB and TotalPotato, for putting an end to this dispute.

I could be wrong, but I think Steve Blum has almost completely stopped working in anime dubs. He's been in so many western cartoons lately I doubt he's doing much anime dubbing anymore.

Steve Blum is actually in the dub cast of Tiger & Bunny, so he's not retired from anime dubbing.

[font=calibri]i'm not to big on seiyuu. while there are about 20 people (probably more, i'm just pulling numbers out of my ass) i would recognise instantly, i don't know most their actual names, i just refer them as "omg it's x character from y anime!"font]

I just think it's better to refer the people, not just the sounds of their voices.

[Charizard Champion#06]

Perhaps. My stance on VA/Seiyuu's is that most people don't care for their talent, but more of the character they play. If they play a bunch of good characters, then people consider them a good VA. If they play boring, uninteresting characters, then no one cares about them. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there a few people that like the VA's themselves but this fame they get is clearly from the characters they play and not their voice talent.

I can kind of agree with this. How much I like a voice actor usually depends on if I like them as that character and if I like their voice. It's hard for me to judge if they're a good actor because I don't know much about good acting. I know what's bad acting, yeah, but amazing acting is a whole other story. I can kind of gauge it by how much I'm sucked into believing their performance, but that can also be dependent on other things going on while they act (mood, music, writing and dialogue).

Though there are some cases where I can tell (or think I can tell) that something's good acting. For example at the end of episode 22 of Steins;Gate. I don't speak Japanese. I'm not knowledgeable about acting. But to me I thought Mamoru Miyano's performance was incredible.

Thank you, JB and TotalPotato, for putting an end to this dispute.

I wouldn't count it as over. They just haven't replied.

[Jb]

I can kind of agree with this. How much I like a voice actor usually depends on if I like them as that character and if I like their voice. It's hard for me to judge if they're a good actor because I don't know much about good acting. I know what's bad acting, yeah, but amazing acting is a whole other story. I can kind of gauge it by how much I'm sucked into believing their performance, but that can also be dependent on other things going on while they act (mood, music, writing and dialogue).

Yeah. Kinda like Akio's (Ryotaro Okiayu) speech to Nagisa during the play. That was golden acting in my book, but other than that he sounds like the average character to me. I think mood plays a huge role on voice acting experience.

[Charizard Champion#06]

Yeah. Kinda like Akio's (Ryotaro Okiayu) speech to Nagisa during the play. That was golden acting in my book, but other than that he sounds like the average character to me. I think mood plays a huge role on voice acting experience.

Oh yeah, that was an incredible scene.