The cast as it appeared in the credits:
Lok Lambert - Yuri Lowenthal (L.A.)
Sophie Casterwill - Rebecca Soler (N.Y.)
Dante Vale - Marc Thompson (N.Y.)
Zhalia Moon - Karen Strassman (L.A.)
Cherit - Marc Thompson (N.Y)
Defoe - Kirk Thornton (L.A.)
Grier - Richard Epcar (L.A.)
The Professor - Herb Lawrence (N.Y.)
Lassimmer (Sp?) - Maddie Blaustein (N.Y.)
Voice Directors - Mike Sisterniklaas (N.Y), Marc Diraison (N.Y.)
Definitively a co-production. I feel it must be a bittersweet experience for the NY actors--jobs are already harder to come by than in other places, so having to share the playground with people who are not starving for it must sting a bit, even if they get to work with some different people Still, can't say I fault the vocal variety. And who knows, maybe we'll get some New York people on some L.A. dubs next. And of course, it means that if Lok gets some evil-twin kind of character, Michael just has to voice him now.
On that note, I also heard some recognizable VA's--Diraison as the lead suit, and David Zen Mansley, I think, as the narrator in the opening.
I'm super-glad the theme remained untouched, and I like the fact that it has actual credits in it--toons that do that (
Robotech being most memorable) always feel more epic, to me.
As for the episode itself...iffy. Very little weight to it, particularly after Lok and Sophie separated. Things seemed to be happening too fast to have too much impact. Still, I liked what I got from the characters (Sophie and Dante, mainly), and the plot and atmosphere, while not quite original, is of the sort we don't get much in cartoons anymore, so I'll definitively be sticking to it.
My thoughts on the characters:
Lok: Typical protagonist, although I do like that his "thing" is supposed to be puzzles, and I liked his rapport with Sophie.
Sophie: Her I liked, then again, she's got brains, looks, and an accent. What's not to like?
Dante: Need to see more. Liked him fine, though.
Cherrit: One thing came to mind: "Chaaaarlie...! You're the Banana King, Charlie!"--and it doesn't even sound much like 'em. Gah!
Defoe: Liked him--really sells "middle management". Plus, he reminds me of a Captain Planet villain, which is good.
Grier: There's stiff, and then there's
stiff--lets hope he shows some more sides quickly.