Only a few hours old, the news from Anime News Network
ADR Director – Eric P. Sherman
Haruhi Suzumiya – Wendee Lee
Mikuru Asahina – Stephanie Sheh
Yuki Nagato – Michelle Ruff
Kyon – Crispin Freeman
Itsuki Koizumi – Johnny Yong Bosch
Ryouko Asakura - Bridget Hoffman
Tsuruya-san – Kari Wahlgren
It’s a very experienced cast, and they’ve all done a number of Bandai titles before. However, if you follow the link to Wendee Lee, you’ll see what has prompted complaints from some of the series’ fans: several members of the cast are a bit too experienced; in short, they’ve all done so many roles, they’ll sound like characters we know from other series. There’s something to be said either way for experienced vs. unknown VA’s. It will be interesting to see how well they work out, but I’m a sub, not a dub guy.
Wait, that sounded kinky….
*shrug* If the dubbed voices ever come out of the surround sound system at The Pond, I’ll be shocked and outraged.
I can’t remember the last time I listened to a dub without wanting to shove an icepick in my ear. Cowboy Bebop on CN, perhaps.
Speaking as one of the benighted dub listeners, Michelle Ruff is very talented and quite chameleonic. She did both Saga from “Sugar” and Kanoe from “Hanaukyo.” That’s a pretty good range.
Oh, and points for Eric Sherman–he directed the dub for “Vandread.”
I guess one advantage of being a sub watcher is not having to worry about stuff like this. Having an A-list cast does make me somewhat more eager to hear the final product, though.
I’ll probably listen to the dub for an episode or two, just to get a feel for what it’s like, but I can’t see how you could dredge Hollywood for the best talent available and come up with better VA’s than the seiyuu that defined the roles.
Funny, Wendee Lee did in fact do Faye Valentine in Cowboy Bebop. I recognize all of them, though.
It’s funny when you can pick out a voice you know, though. I was playing Company of Heroes on the PC a while back, and when the narration started I thought ‘World War II, narrated by Spike Speigel!’