Voice Acting comparison

[SohCahToa]

Yeah, yeah, I know. Don't bother saying it: "English is trash, Japanese VA is default, why do you want to change it, it defaults to Japanese and it's set in Sengoku Japan why would they speak English yadda yadda" Please don't sing the same chorus that gets sung every time this topic is brought up.

I want to know how you feel about specific character voice acting comparisons. If you think the entire English/Italian/French/German/Spanish audio is trash by default, for whatever reason, please don't bother commenting. I want to know what characters are worth switching the language and listening to a few lines in another language for variety.

I switched between them out of curiosity to see how the different characters sounded in my native language vs Japanese, and I have to say, I don't mind Sekiro's voice in English, though it is better in Japanese, but Emma and Kuro are both admittedly pretty bad VA performances. Not as bad as Gyoubu's German dub, but still bad enough to realize you were missing out by listening to Emma and Kuro's dialogue in English vs. Japanese.

Gyoubu's English performance is, by a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ country mile, FAR better than any other language, including the Japanese VA, though the Japanese comes as a close second, with Spanish amusingly coming in third for the "MEEEY LLAMOOOO" they should have fired the German Gyoubu VA though.

I really expected English Emma to also sound like a professional woman in her early/mid 30s, as in the Japanese, but she sounded much older and more bored in the English. I only switched to Kuro for a short time during the dialogue in Ashina Castle when he and Sekiro discuss the Sakura tree, and I had to switch back to Japanese because it just sounded too immature. Kuro in the Japanese gives me the impression of this kid who understands the responsibility he has, or at least the gravity of the situation (I'm slowly learning the lore, I'm not hugely well-versed on it) but is still in the dark/confused about many things going on, whereas the English Kuro VA lost all of the sense of responsibility, and just sounded like a kid speaking the lines.

I haven't yet had a chance to listen to the Sculptor or Isshin, but I've heard from some people that Isshin's English VA is pretty good. I like his Japanese, though, so I probably won't change it for the playthrough, just listen to see how it sounds.

So what do you think? Anyone enjoy any characters non-Japanese VA?

[L9 dorothea]

kuro is better in japanese because you cant tell the gender from the voice at all and i love that. the voice actor in english doesnt even try. she just straight up talks normally

[SohCahToa]

Originally posted by namelesa's mommy:

kuro is better in japanese because you cant tell the gender from the voice at all and i love that. the voice actor in english doesnt even try. she just straight up talks normally

You know, I never actually thought about that! I just recently got up to the Divine Child of Rejuvenation, and it took me half of the conversation to realize it was a girl, and it made me remark upon how similar boys and girls are before puberty, though I always knew Kuro was a boy because it's made clear early in the game. It had never occurred to me that the VA for Kuro would be a girl, too. That was clever of the creators.

[Dusk of Oolacile]

To me, everyone in the Japanese dub sounds like a grumpy old grandpa. I have a feeling people only prefer it because of the "you must watch anime with subs" meme.

[SohCahToa]

Originally posted by Dusk of Oolacile:

To me, everyone in the Japanese dub sounds like a grumpy old grandpa. I have a feeling people only prefer it because of the "you must watch anime with subs" meme.

Well, I wouldn't say it's the only reason. Japanese Emma sounds more like what you'd expect her character to sound like. Someone who's youthful enough to engage in the world around her, but mature enough to take her craft and services seriously. Her English voice actor gives the impression of a librarian or studious type who has retreated from active participation in the world in the way an older person might.

I do get what you're getting at with sounding grumpy old grandpa, but a lot of the English VA are guilty of that, too.

[L9 dorothea]

Originally posted by Unfortunate Observer:

Originally posted by namelesa's mommy:

kuro is better in japanese because you cant tell the gender from the voice at all and i love that. the voice actor in english doesnt even try. she just straight up talks normally

You know, I never actually thought about that! I just recently got up to the Divine Child of Rejuvenation, and it took me half of the conversation to realize it was a girl, and it made me remark upon how similar boys and girls are before puberty, though I always knew Kuro was a boy because it's made clear early in the game. It had never occurred to me that the VA for Kuro would be a girl, too. That was clever of the creators.

i had to google it to find out no joke

Originally posted by ;2792747775844946483:

To me, everyone in the Japanese dub sounds like a grumpy old grandpa. I have a feeling people only prefer it because of the "you must watch anime with subs" meme.

to me i just prefer japanese in every way because its more emotions and sincere, but sometimes english dubs are amazing too

Originally posted by Unfortunate Observer:

Originally posted by Dusk of Oolacile:

To me, everyone in the Japanese dub sounds like a grumpy old grandpa. I have a feeling people only prefer it because of the "you must watch anime with subs" meme.

Well, I wouldn't say it's the only reason. Japanese Emma sounds more like what you'd expect her character to sound like. Someone who's youthful enough to engage in the world around her, but mature enough to take her craft and services seriously. Her English voice actor gives the impression of a librarian or studious type who has retreated from active participation in the world in the way an older person might.

I do get what you're getting at with sounding grumpy old grandpa, but a lot of the English VA are guilty of that, too.

who knows maybe they hired the same actor as the one they used for emma in ds3

[SohCahToa]

Originally posted by namelesa's mommy:

who knows maybe they hired the same actor as the one they used for emma in ds3

lmao that's clever. They should have used Anri's voice. Not Anri of Astora, Anri Okita :')

[SohCahToa]

I went back and listened to the German versions of the characters, and Emma fits absolutely perfectly. I wouldn't say it's better, but it's arguably on par with the Japanese. Definitely better than English.

[Clail]

I think the english voice actors are amazing personally. On par with any other game by From software.
Rolling with japanese voices is really just for max immersion.