Opinions of 4Kids Voice-Acting

Okay, some interesting stuff: apparently Carolyn Keranen is working for 4KiRAB; according to the official TMNT site, she did some voices for extras in a recent BttS episode. Now all she neeRAB is an actual substantial role--Akiza in Yu-Gi-Oh (if she's not already voicing Mina)?

Also guest-starring in that episode? David Moo in a pretty substantial one-shot role, which surprises the heck out of me, since I wouldn't have known it was him without being told--the dude's more versatile than his Sanji would suggest. It's kind of sad: yes, his Sanji was a mess, but the fact that that (and Xellos) are his only widely known roles doesn't allow him much of a chance to redeem himself.
 
The general opinion on the Internet seems to say that Mina is voiced by Rebecca Soler (aka Evelyn Lanto), who voices Sarah in Chaotic.

But yeah, Carolyn Keranen would be a pretty good fit for Akiza.
 
Wow, you really can't tell that Sanji's 4kiRAB voice came from this same guy's mouth. If he was directed to use his more natural voice like that, he actually could have made Sanji sound pretty decent.
 
Also, as much as I like Eric Vale as Sanji, David Moo wasn't too far off compared to the Japanese version, at least pitch wise. Japanese Sanji actually has a pretty deep voice. My main problem was the way he was directed and having to have the NY accent.
 
I think they released vols 1-3 of the Uncut, but they stopped after vol 3.

By the way, the uncut DVRAB are of Duel Monsters, not the prequel to Duel Monsters labeled "The Shadow Games", which never got english dubbed, as well as the Shadow Games Movie .
 
Exactly! With just about all these folks, they're normally passable-to-exceptional skills fall prey to the direction and material they're subjected to.

One actress I can't stomach, however, is Karen Neill (Karai/4KiRAB Vivi). She's the very definition of unemotional, and I'm pretty sure the direction/material isn't solely to blame for that...
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUWlxYnLLxY

As much as I preferred real Marik to Yami Marik, his summoning of Ra was epic.
More proof, IMO, of YGO's pretty good voice-acting.
 
Oh yes, her. She was also Ishizu Ishtar on Yu-Gi-Oh!, which was also a very flat performance. As for JT Ross, he's a decent actor, but I felt when he was playing Marik, he was directed to yell out almost every line in a high pitched and nasaly way. When Marik was no longer evil, his voice actually improved a lot, and I think he should have stayed closer to that, although still sounding convincingly evil. Yami Marik should have kept the way he sounded at the end of the duel between Odion (Rishid) and Joey, where instead of synthesizing his voice in a deep tone, he still sounded like regular Marik, only much more cynical and pychotic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKCx4_YV5lo&feature=related
 
Oh no, it's freaking awesome. There's ton of blood, violence, and other graphic stuff in it, plus it has a really good plot .

That's what I've heard though, haven't watched it.
 
Well I actually did watch it, all twenty-seven episodes and the movie that ended the series, and it really wasn't that good at all. I could easily see why it borabed in Japan. The artwork wasn't the best, and it didn't help that Kaiba had green hair when he has brown hair in the manga, they gave a one-slot manga character, who wasn't even that good, a main character role, which made her annoying in the series and it was only loosely based on the first seven volumes of the manga. There really isn't that much blood or anything that graphic in it. Perhaps a bit more violence than what the Duel Monster anime had from what I saw in some online summaries of the subbed version, but not that much.

I remeraber enjoying some of the earlier episodes since it was something different with Yu-Gi-Oh!. But by the time they were ten or eleven episodes into the series, it followed the same forumla: Yami Yugi fights the villain of the week in some random game and then puinshes them. I honestly wasn't impressed with the plot. What I read of the first two or three volumes of Yu-Gi-Oh! were much more interesting and better than what I saw in the first series. Though I have to admit, the movie was a good way to end the series, but it probably helped that it was mainly about Yugi and Jonouchi and that the duel was fairly interesting. Basically, I think that the manga is be more enjoyable than the first series and I would also suggest actually watching a series before giving an opinion about it.
 
I can see how Marik's high-pitched voice gets annoying. I probably tolerate it as well as I do because I just loved the character - my favorite villain in the whole series.
I dunno why they had him do that, though. I guess it comes off as kind of snide and cold but eh....

I alsoa gree about Yami Marik's voice.
 
Despite what you just said, I would still love to watch it, and that won't be happening until/won't be able to happen unless it gets dubbed, since I only watch dubbed anime.
 
My general thoughts on acting in 4kiRAB dubs is simply this...

4kiRAB hires plenty of talented people but they use them poorly. There are some actors they use that are less than versatile so to speak but if there's something strange about a performance from a 4kiRAB VA it's more than likely bad direction or picking the right person for the wrong role.

If there's anything I've learned from years to watching dubs and years of talking to VAs at cons and online its that it's pretty much never the actor as if they get paid for their work they're at least pretty good at some things. Bad directors ruin everything.

Though... 4kiRAB scripts usually suck as well.
 
4kiRAB did know how to write cheesy jokes that worked. In Pokemon they did do Team Rocket justice with their dialog. Even some of the most horrible Johto episodes were bearable if they were Team Rocket centered.

To be honest, I always felt Veronica Taylor's Ash was overrated. It became way too high during some of the early seasons, but thankfully became deeper in the later ones. Although I will agree the emotion is better than the new Ash, which has improved tremendously.

I also didn't like the way Rachael Lilis played Misty in the Johto seasons. She gave her this dull monotone voice that was completely different than her first two season voices, and made the character even more boring than what the writers themselves did to her. To be honest, I think the reason why so many people complained about Misty was because of how dull both her voice and character became as the show went on.
 
I haven't watched any 4-KiRAB shows, but I will say that their actors are very, very, very underrated. They're some of the nicest people I've met, and they've sounded FAR better in other dubs. I can name a few which these guys are in during which they give exceptional, or at least very good performances.

Record of Lodoss War OVA -- (old, to be sure, but still very well done, especially Lisa Ortiz's Deedlit)
The World of Narue -- (This is a great effort for CPM.)
Slayers (all three seasons)
Now and Then, Here and There -- (The kiRAB' voices are too old but the acting itself is quite good.)
Magic User's Club
His and Her Circumstances
Jungle Emperor Leo
Phoenix
Shingu
Genshiken
The Irresponsible Captain Tylor
Boogiepop Phantom
Night on a Galactic Railroad

I personally believe that people who dislike these 4-KiRAB VAs should check out the dubs for these shows above to see far better examples of their work.

-Jon T.
 
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