The Dub Voices Options

[Shiidou Hikaru]

The english dubs of MKR come up short in a lot of ways. The translation isn't really that bad, although I'll never know how they came up with "Rune God", but the casting of the voice actors really did it in, for me anyways. Of the three Magic Knights the only voice they got right was Fuu's. Umi's while not right, I can get used to her sounding like Kiyone from Tenchi Muyo (same VA). However, poor Hikaru. Her voice was cast way, way off. Not that I have anything against Julie Maddelina, I loved her as Mayuka in Daughter of Darkness, her voice simply does not fit Hikaru's character.



Mayuka was a cute, playful character and Julie's child voice reflects those properties very well. Hikaru however, aside from a few scene in episode 1, isn't a cute, playful character at all. For most of the first season, Hikaru is a rather determined and serious young lady on a quest. Her desire to have the Magic Knights succeed on their mission is very strong. The second season goes even further, presenting Hikaru as an emotionally traumatized and grief-stricken young lady. I call her a young lady, because these are mature themes being presented, not children's games. And that essentially is the crux of the issue - Hikaru's character required a more mature presentation, not that of a child.



Unfortunately, that was one casting mistake that should have not been made, Hikaru is a central character, even more so in the second season. Not getting her right ruins the whole show, sad to say. Even though they did quite a few things right with the dubs, one big wrong was all it took.

Hikaru-chan's Magic Knight Rayearth Message Board

[Haichan]

Hmm...I've only watched the series in English. (the friend that owns this stuff doesn't like subtitles.. ) although...Hikaru's voice did grate...and I've heard her sing. And if the voice seiyuus are the same for the OAVs then yes...it was wrong for the dubb. (too me...it was too much Mayuka and Sakuya(Tenchi in Tokyo)



Ferio sounded funny too....o_o and I did watch part of his thing in Japanese.



What about OAV dubbing? It was pretty bad too....I weeped for Ferio's voice...heh. and added the Rayearth OAV to the list of things I refuse to watch dubbed due to bad voices.....

[yuzuki chan17]

*shudders* Ferio's voice in the OAV was the worst. One minute his voice was low... the next high.. *cringes* I will also never forget how in the OAV, he says "Here's the plan" with that voice of his! eeeeshh... talk about bad dubbing x_x



But... you haven't heard the worst until you watch Tokyo Babylon in english and hear Hokuto talk

Yuzuki - *kills ears*

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No matter how hard the past was

Or if you have been lost

I can see a small light

I'm sure it's not an illusion

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[xSweetAmberx]

I have to say the I didn't really like Lafargas voice. It just some how I felt that it didn't fit on the outlook....

Cross my heart hope not to die

Swallow evil, ride the sky

Lose myself in a crowded room

You fool, you fool, it will be here soon

My History Forum

[Shiidou Hikaru]

The guy who did Lafarga's English voice has been around and I've hear him in many different anime dubs. To me that's part of the problem, the voice is too familiar and not original enough.



I found out somewhere, in an interview I think, that instead of Julie Maddelina they almost used "a well known VA that does the Pokemon show" for Hikaru's voice. That could only mean either Veronica Taylor or Rachel Lillis, both of which would have been a vast improvement. I know that Rachel Lillis is very talented and would have done an excellent job, however I would be quite disappointed to hear Hikaru sound like Jessie from Team Rocket. O.o;;

Hikaru-chan's Magic Knight Rayearth Message Board

[Itena]

More necroposting!

The dub, I'm not even going to expose myself to it. Yes, I'm one of those hardcore subbing fans. Plus the fact that MKR is an older show, and therefore old dubbing gives off warning flags for me. I'm not saying it's as bad as, say, Sailor Moon's(that is the number one worst dub in the entire history of dubbing o.o'''), but dubs with the earlier anime tend to suck bad. Probably because they were more on convenience rather than respecting the original; but again I don't expose myself to dubs, so maybe it's just Sailor Moon, I don't know. XD;;;

....

I'm hardcore with a lot of things, aren't I?

[Yuki Fukurou]

I found the dubbing in MKR all right. Though I agree with the old post that yuzuki-chan made about Ferio's OAV voice. It was weird. Though when I listened to the OAV in Japanese, my speculation was that the seiyuu's were the same for the anime series as well.

Oh...and...as a small sidestory, when Shiro-kun and I attended last year's anime expo, we watched a show called anime idol, in which contestants show their stuff in both singing and voice acting. And...during the show, I think it was Johnny Young Bosch who mentioned about the voice actress who did several anime characters including Umi and the female character from Cowboy Bebop whose name escapes me (even though I've only seen the trailer).

[Itena]

Yeah, um why in the world did they hire different voice actors for the OAV? That doesn't make much sense at all to me... Of course, if I were to ask the people who dubbed it, they might have an answer...

[LantisEscudo]

They have a different set of voice actors because a different company licensed/dubbed it. The TV series was licensed by Media Blasters and dubbed by BangZoom! Entertainment, while the OVAs were licensed by Manga Entertainment and dubbed by Skypilot Entertainment.

[Itena]

..I see, but unless they're some kind of a contract in the way, I don't see how they can just go and hire the same people anyways o.o; Then again, that might be considered some kind of copyright infringement, so I understand now.

[Yuki Fukurou]

They have a different set of voice actors because a different company licensed/dubbed it. The TV series was licensed by Media Blasters and dubbed by BangZoom! Entertainment, while the OVAs were licensed by Manga Entertainment and dubbed by Skypilot Entertainment.

Heh...I figured I knew what company licensed the series and OVA, but I didn't know who dubbed them. Now I know. LOL.

[LantisEscudo]

Well, part of being able to hire the same group of VAs is based on location. IIRC, Manga is based in Chicago, as was Skypilot (who apparently aren't around under that name any more), while Media Blasters is based in New York City, and BangZoom! is in California.

Most times when you see a split property, where one licensor gets part of a show and another gets a different part (Kenshin/Samurai X, Ah! My Goddess OVA/Movie/TV/TV2, etc.), you usually see a different set of voice actors for each licensor. There's been a couple instances where a sequel season of something has gotten picked up by a different company and the original cast has been maintained, but not very often and only in the past couple years.

[Haine-chan]

I haven't seen the Japanese version but in my opinion I think Hikaru's voice was really fitting. I liked Umi's voice as well...at first Fuu's voice was sort of unsettling with me but i eventually grew to it.

[Shiidou Hikaru]

I agree that Wendee Lee was a good match for Umi. She really brought a lot of energy and experience to the role and really did the best of the three main leads. I still laugh when Umi has to go fight the Djinn spirits in season 2, she is such a funny character! Since the time that I'd made the original post, I've watched MKR a number of times and eventually I did get used to Julie Maddelina and Ellen Gerstall as Hikaru and Fuu so I'm okay with them now.