Like I said above, a voice actor can really make a character come to life. The right line delivery, inflection and pacing can really work wonders when building a story. Voice acting should pull you into the story and make the character believable. Further still, there are some top-tier voice actors that really reach out of the TV and make you fall in love with their approach.
For me, Mamimi from FLCL is one of those character portrayals. The voice work is done by Jennifer Sekiguchi. While Mamimi may not be the biggest character in FLCL, her line delivery really makes the character stand out. She has such a cute, innocent, and a little bit deadpan delivery that absolutely nails the type of character that Mamimi is. There's a lot of great voice acting in FLCL, but it's Sekiguchi's work that has really stuck with me. Some might say that her work has given me a little bit of a crush on Mamimi!
What voice actors from anime really make you smile? We're talking about characters that wouldn't be the same without a specific voice actor tied to them. What voice portrayals really seal the deal for you?
Rica Matsumoto, the Japanese voice of Ash Ketchum. She sings many of the show's theme songs and was also in Jam Project. I love her!
ReplyDeleteMaile Flannigan as Naruto, Johnny Yong Bosch as Ichigo, Yuri Lowenthal as Sasuke, Kate Higgins as Sakura and Vic Micnogna as Edward.
ReplyDeleteLaura Bailey as Lust in FMA
ReplyDeleteMichelle Ruff as Mitsuki in Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure
Junichi Suwabe as Grimmjow in Bleach
Kikuko Inoue is THE definitive voice actress for me. She is the one who caused me to switch over from English dubs to subs and realize just how great Japanese voice acting is.
ReplyDeleteJohnny Yong Bosch is one of my voice actor man-crushes. I loved him from Power Rangers and will continue to love all the great voice work that he does.
Ryusei Nakao is the Japanese voice actor for Freeza in DragonBall Z. And wow, there is a WORLD of difference between the English and Japanese voices for Freeza. If you haven't heard his Japanese voice for Freeza, look it up and I dare you not to swoon over his smoothness and cockiness.
Kana Hanazawa. I swear she can voice almost any character and I will just love it! I would marry her just for her voice.
ReplyDeleteNakahara Mai voiced Rena from Higurashi, Nagisa from Clannad and Teana from Nanoha StrikerS. She's really the reason I was pulled in so deep due to how well she did Rena.
ReplyDeleteI have to mention Horie Yui as well. If you don't know who she is and you watch subs...shame on you. You should at least know her voice once you put a name to it. She's very good at the soothing and panic roles.
In the past couple years, Aoi Yuki has popped up on my radar. I first heard her in Yumeiro Pâtissière. What surprised me was the next time I heard her was in Shinkyoku Sōkai Polyphonica Crimson S in which the character type she was did a complete flip. From the kind and clusmy Amano to this sadistic evil character. Next she was Noel Kannagi from Sora no Woto. A lot of character changes that she fit perfectly into. A good one indeed.
Anime of my Post (2nd): Zettai Karen Children. More of a kids show but fun for all. Uses a premise similar to Powerpuff Girls but there are a lot of Espers rather than just three.
I can think of a couple of voice actors that I enjoy listening to, but I think J. Michael Tatum (Scar in FMA:BroHo, Kyoya in OHSHC, Sebastian in Black Butler) is my favourite. He's awesome at playing suave, confident characters.
ReplyDeleteNr. 1: Takahiro Sakurai. His Voice Acting in Junjou Romantica (Misaki) is the best i've ever heard~<3
ReplyDeleteNr. 2: Romi Park. Her voice is so unique, and she does Edward Elric (fullmetal alchemist) so amazingly~
Nr. 3: Rica Matsumoto. I started loving the Pkmn Anime much more when i saw the Japanese version. I actually like Ash now!