Best and worst voice performances in the series

[Divine Past]

Is this the shit on BBS thread? Because boy do I have some things to get off my chest.....

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

Ha, BBS was pretty much our Prequel Trilogy. We have our midi-chlorians (Inheritance Ceremony), stiff and awkward dialogue (take a guess), equally stiff and awkward main characters, an ancient order of sword-wielding warriors that protect the world and have a master-apprentice hierarchy, and an evil old guy with yellow eyes (Xehanort) who lures the stupid young guy who can't get the title of master (Terra) with promises of power, respect, and a way to use an evil power to protect what matters/save loved ones, and the young guy goes along with this and ends up trying to murder his master/father figure in the end (Eraqus).

The similarities are Terra-fying.

They also both take wise figures and turn them into easily manipulated fools just to advance the plot. Also Vanitas=Darth Maul.
That pun, 7/13 IGN.

Does this mean KH3 will be Episode VIII and be a love letter to KH1?

 

[Launchpad]

Riku sounded dead for 50% of his lines in DDD. He was at his best in Re:CoM, but young David sounds livelier in general.

 

[Chuman]

Is this the shit on BBS thread? Because boy do I have some things to get off my chest.....

sure. in news season there is no syllabus.

 

[Chaser]

Most of the poor voice direction that disappoints me just comes from the English VA's trying to match one line of dialogue that's shorter in English when compared to it's Japanese counterpart, thereby increasing the amount of pauses in the middle of sentences. It's also why there are some odd lines out there, they tried to paraphrase the Japanese lines into an English sentence that matches the length of the Japanese script. Poor Re:Chain of Memories got it the worst since none of it was even attempted to line up the voices with the lip movements (Damn pre-rendered cutscenes).

Anyways, even though it's lip sync was terrible I enjoyed the Organization voices in Re:Chain of Memories. I thought each voice fit each character perfectly. Poor Mickey Mouse had the worst performance in the game but that's only because Wayne Allwine was very ill.

I also enjoyed the performances from the Trio in Birth by Sleep. I felt Willa really grew into the role of Aqua, a student who rigorously followed her Master's teachings and tried to do the right thing and follow the light, an incredibly ironic situation considering where she ended up. I can overlook any of Jason Dohring's performance just because he's a really rad guy and I enjoyed Terra. And now I always feel guilty about judging Jesse McCartney back in the KH2 days as a Disney Channel Pop Singer because he's one of the best voice actors in the game.

I also love Paul St. Peter. His voice is so soothing. I would buy audio books read by him because I love his voice. And James Patrick Stewart is great as Xigbar / Braig too. His surfer voice really creates a character I've not seen before in a video game and it's so unique that I see him in a bit of my television shows and don't recognise it's him (most recent was How To Get Away With Murder).

As for disappointing, I never really notice any disappointing performances just because I'm always excited to get a Kingdom Hearts game and I generally tend to overlook any issues, which then leads me to being confused as to why people have issues with some of the stuff in the game. I never really took notice of how bad Jasmine sounded in Kingdom Hearts 2, but I believe there's actually a story behind that?
I also never noticed how bad Aerith was in Kingdom Hearts 2 until years later where I started to notice how flat it is (still doesn't bother me that much.)

I guess I've generally not really been disappointed by any voices in the Kingdom Hearts series because I tend to overlook these issues and don't dissect it like some of the users do. I also vastly prefer the English dub to the Japanese dub so I've never been one to think the Japanese dub is superior.

But if I had to really stretch and find some voice actors to hate, it would be Shaun Fleming as Tidus and (bae) Dee Bradley Baker as Wakka. Those voices are just too different to their actual characters and I don't particularly enjoy them.

 

[Chuman]

holy shit you met jason dohring. that must have been a "rad experience". *shot*

 

[redcrown]

Riku sounded dead for 50% of his lines in DDD. He was at his best in Re:CoM, but young David sounds livelier in general.

I think it's supposed to be Riku sounding guilt ridden and down on himself for half the game. I actually thought DDD was his best performance, but that's just opinion.

I'll say that hearing the KH1 deadpan Riku then hearing emotive Re:com Riku was a little clashing. It sounds like he got younger between closing the door and waking up in the realm between. You could say it fit his character for both games but it still sounds like almost two different actors between them.

if I had to really stretch and find some voice actors to hate, it would be Shaun Fleming as Tidus and (bae) Dee Bradley Baker as Wakka. Those voices are just too different to their actual characters and I don't particularly enjoy them.

I loathed Tidus since his first sentence, and Wakka was just plain bad lol. Too bad this will always be my first impression of them.

"heey, wats happoning...man....."

 

[Theart]

^ Yeah, BBS was actually pretty great all things considered as far as the voice acting goes. Mark Hamill and Leonard Nimoy were phenomenal as Master Eraqus and Master Xehanort and the game was a great debut for Bret Iwan as the new voice of Mickey Mouse. Willa and Jason both were a bit rough at times, but grew into their roles overtime and had great moments through out the game. Beyond that, I'd say BBS was probably the high water mark of the mainstay VAs in the franchise for Jesse McCartney, Richard Epcar and especially Haley Joel Osment.

 

[Chaser]

and especially Haley Joel Osment.

I think what really helped that was he was actually getting the chance to voice an "of age" character. Every appearance since II has him trying to sound young whereas his Vanitas was older and darker, which work with his voice better. I hope that since now we're not going back to pre-KH2 Sora that HJO will give his best performance as Sora, since it's been proven he can excel in voice acting.

 

[Theart]

I think what really helped that was he was actually getting the chance to voice an "of age" character. Every appearance since II has him trying to sound young whereas his Vanitas was older and darker, which work with his voice better. I hope that since now we're not going back to pre-KH2 Sora that HJO will give his best performance as Sora, since it's been proven he can excel in voice acting.

I think that's part of it, but as an amateur actor/director myself... it's also just a lot more fun to play the villain. Especially since I can't think of any other case in HJO's career where he had the opportunity to play the villain before then. Sora, as much as I love the guy, is generally a pretty straight-forward character as a hero. His most 'interesting' moments as a character thus far have largely been in KH1, CoM and maybe DDD.

I'm sure Haley will rock it as Sora in KH3, especially since he's finally getting to voice him as an older character again, but the key element will have to be what Nomura and Co. bring to the character in the script.

 

[Smithee]

Some of my favorites have been Billy Zane, Paul St. Peter, Christopher Lee (R.I.P.), Mark Hamill, and Leonard Nimoy (R.I.P.).

P.S.: I still hate MX as a character, just not as a performance.

 

[VoidGear.]

^ Yeah, BBS was actually pretty great all things considered as far as the voice acting goes. Mark Hamill and Leonard Nimoy were phenomenal as Master Eraqus and Master Xehanort and the game was a great debut for Bret Iwan as the new voice of Mickey Mouse. Willa and Jason both were a bit rough at times, but grew into their roles overtime and had great moments through out the game. Beyond that, I'd say BBS was probably the high water mark of the mainstay VAs in the franchise for Jesse McCartney, Richard Epcar and especially Haley Joel Osment.

Problem is that while Hamill himself was good, Eraqus' lines were so downright stupid I couldn't even enjoy it properly. He didn't do a bad job ob how he said it, but seriously...
I'd totally agree on HJO tho. I don't think Sora will sound as dark, but also not as "forcedly high" as in, e.g., 3D. That was horrible.

 

[Chuman]

I think that's part of it, but as an amateur actor/director myself... it's also just a lot more fun to play the villain. Especially since I can't think of any other case in HJO's career where he had the opportunity to play the villain before then. Sora, as much as I love the guy, is generally a pretty straight-forward character as a hero. His most 'interesting' moments as a character thus far have largely been in KH1, CoM and maybe DDD.

I'm sure Haley will rock it as Sora in KH3, especially since he's finally getting to voice him as an older character again, but the key element will have to be what Nomura and Co. bring to the character in the script.

he played a villain in entourage if that counts

 

[Chaser]

Problem is that while Hamill himself was good, Eraqus' lines were so downright stupid I couldn't even enjoy it properly. He didn't do a bad job ob how he said it, but seriously...

Which probably circles back to localisation, which Jim Cummings confirmed that they paraphrase the Japanese dialogue through translation so they can try to match the dialogue with the lip movements. It's unfortunate that Eraqus had apparently been hit the hardest with this. I never really noticed any weird dialogue from him but I guess it's cause now I just skip the scenes so it's been a while since I've heard what he says.

 

[VoidGear.]

Which probably circles back to localisation, which Jim Cummings confirmed that they paraphrase the Japanese dialogue through translation so they can try to match the dialogue with the lip movements. It's unfortunate that Eraqus had apparently been hit the hardest with this. I never really noticed any weird dialogue from him but I guess it's cause now I just skip the scenes so it's been a while since I've heard what he says.

"Youuuu must exiiist nooo moooooooooore."
Or the way he says "Noo, he musn't!", when Ventus leaves the LoD.
Its like you say. It sounds strechted because they needed to match the lip synching, sadly. Doesn't make Hamill bad but makes it hard to listen to Eraqus without rolling one's eyes.

 

[Theart]

he played a villain in entourage if that counts

Was that before or after Haley recorded his dialogue for BBS though? Either way, the point is that Haley rarely ever plays that sort of role. That sort of opportunity is often exciting for an actor and lets them mix things up a bit.

Problem is that while Hamill himself was good, Eraqus' lines were so downright stupid I couldn't even enjoy it properly. He didn't do a bad job ob how he said it, but seriously...
I'd totally agree on HJO tho. I don't think Sora will sound as dark, but also not as "forcedly high" as in, e.g., 3D. That was horrible.

"Youuuu must exiiist nooo moooooooooore."
Or the way he says "Noo, he musn't!", when Ventus leaves the LoD.
Its like you say. It sounds strechted because they needed to match the lip synching, sadly. Doesn't make Hamill bad but makes it hard to listen to Eraqus without rolling one's eyes.

It sounds like your problem with Mark's performance of Eraqus is actually his inflections of the dialogue, not the actual dialogue itself. As you and Lunafreya both pointed out, this isn't Mark's fault, but he has to deliver the lines in such a way that it matches the mouth flaps in the cutscenes.

It's been awhile since I've replayed/rewatched the scenes in BBS, but I personally had no real problem with Mark as Eraqus all around. He gets a little cheesy at times (i.e. "Youuuuu must exiist noo moooore"), maybe, but this is Kingdom Hearts. It comes with the territory and I can't really think of any instances where Eraqus's dialogue was notably more hammy than from say Sora, Roxas or Xehanort (any incarnation).

 

[Chaser]

Was that before or after Haley recorded his dialogue for BBS though?

IMDB says he was in the Entourage movie last year, so 5 years after BBS.

 

[VoidGear.]

Was that before or after Haley recorded his dialogue for BBS though? Either way, the point is that Haley rarely ever plays that sort of role. That sort of opportunity is often exciting for an actor and lets them mix things up a bit.

He played an asshole who makes fun of people on the radio in Tusk.
But then again, that's a movie we should never talk about.

It sounds like your problem with Mark's performance of Eraqus is actually his inflections of the dialogue, not the actual dialogue itself. As you and Lunafreya both pointed out, this isn't Mark's fault, but he has to deliver the lines in such a way that it matches the mouth flaps in the cutscenes.

My problem is a) the dialogue and b) the way he has to make it sound by stretching it. Of course "his performance" as Eraqus is hereby not good in my opinion, but I know Hamill himself did great concerning how much shit they threw at him with this.

 

[Alpha Sonix]

I'll give a really underrated voice over that isn't really a big name for you. Meaghan Martin who voices Namine in Re: Chain of Memories. I was watching a stream recently of the game and it surprised me how well she did even given the awkwardness that surrounded the dubbing of that game. I'm not usually a fan of spaces in between words since it comes of as obvious that the voice actors are trying to match their voices to the characters' mouths and it kind of breaks the immersion a little for me because I know. If you listen to Namine's voice in Re:CoM though, even though it's still there, it kind of comes of as natural for her at the same time. I think Meaghan did a really good job for how she had to act it out, and Larxene's VA as well.

 

[BlackOsprey]

He played an asshole who makes fun of people on the radio in Tusk.
But then again, that's a movie we should never talk about.

Oh thanks, now you've got the image of Vanitas heckling the BBS trio over the radio in my head.

I can't believe that I forgot to mention Xigbar. That character's VA always sounds like he's having way too much fun every time he speaks. What a golden troll.