Should Nomura Have Telephoned Hayden?

[Chaser]

Alyson Stoner is a renowned actress and a long-time voice actor. It's been 12 years since Re:CoM so please, put some respect on her name rather than referring to her as "this new girl."

The thought of Nomura picking up the phone and calling Haley and David being like "Gang, clear your calendar. It's game voicing time" was amusing, so thank you for that.

But in all seriousness, we don't know the circumstances around why they chose to not bring Hayden back. After DDD, they might have decided they wanted some consistency with Kairi's voice. Hayden could have turned down 2.8, with the contract for 2.8 saying that they would reprise the role for 3. They could have contacted Hayden's manager who turned it down without discussing it with Hayden. Or they could have just not bothered and went with the more consistent person.

I'm not here to tell anyone who they should prefer or that if someone who prefers Hayden is wrong. Hayden gave two fantastic performances in Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts 2 (I can't really judge her performance based off of 2 lines in the other two games). Alyson has as well, across the HD movies and the various games she was in.

I just hope that no one goes extreme and threatens Alyson or anything over her being what seems to be the full time voice of Kairi and Xion now. You might think harassing someone over voice acting is an extreme reaction, and it is, but after the creative director at Insomniac Games got death threats over changing Peter Parker's face, Laura Bailey getting awful messages and death threats over The Last of Us 2, and various female streamers receive threats of various levels (and even stalking), I don't want gamers to do to Alyson or Hayden what gamers have done to a lot of people in the industry, especially towards women. (I know, I know. "Chaser, that's such a serious thing to mention in this thread." Yeah, cause this shit happens and it's absolutely serious. Don't attack a person just because you prefer someone else.)

 

[Deliverance]

Voice direction is kind of a moot point since both of them received the same general direction. If KH2 & 3 Kairi are the result of each respective actress doing a “princessy” voice, then clearly the difference is the natural quality of their voices. Hayden’s just happens to be better.

A animal, regardless how small, will defend itself when backed into a corner against whatever is attacking it. That does not necessarily make the animal amazing. That's survival instincts. KH2 Kairi squaring off against Saix and two Berserker Nobodies does not make her a better portrayal then Kairi actually fighting in KH3.

Lmao And some animals, regardless of how small the threat actually is, will instinctively choose flight over fight. Kairi wasn’t backed into a corner and she wasn’t attacked. Saix offered a peaceful resolution. She could’ve run away, but instead she told him to screw himself and got ready to fight. That alone makes her better than the version that talked a big game only to be effortlessly kidnapped and killed.

 

[Idreamaboutcats]

I have to say, I’m surprised OP liked the idea of Hayden getting a callback, as Alyson was the definitive VA for Xion since she voiced the character first, although only due to Hayden’s busy schedule rather than a proper audition or talent scouting.

Then again, Alyson was already a former child star who was employed with Disney Channel before, so no surprise there. When the original is unavailable, get the nearest most convenient thing.

Honestly, I have mixed feelings about it.

If they wanted Kairi to sound more princess-y and airy, they got it right with Alyson. Alyson’s Kairi sounds really young, to put it nicely.

I was a little put off that they didn’t at least call Hayden though. Alyson’s fine, but I couldn’t help but feel annoyed at the lack of consistency, like “if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.” Hayden was available, why not at least call, especially since it’s a numbered title. I guess it’s probably because of convenience, since Alyson was always more available. Whatever it is, I hope they stick to one once and for all. The game was famous for having a star-studded cast (remember when Aerith was voiced by Mandy Moore?). It took time but at least Alyson has some fame now, so I can let go with that.

 

[Audo]

That alone makes her better than the version that talked a big game only to be effortlessly kidnapped and killed.

kairi is kidnapped or almost kidnapped like 3 times in kh2 alone bro

 

[Absent]

Honestly with all the sh!t that happened and didn’t happened to Kairi, I forgot that she had two VAs.

 

[Face My Fears]

Alyson is perfect as Xion. I just don't think she works well as Kairi. The scene when the heartless storm takes her away and she screams "Sora!" is what really does it for me. She sounds so helpless and weak. Even though they demanded Hayden sound more princessy, she was able to maintain that energy and spunk that Kairi always had. It's just weird that in the games that Kairi is finally able to fight, they have her sounding so light and princessy. The voice just doesn't match what she's doing. I also feel bad because Hayden owned Kairi and now she was robbed of the role just when Kairi actually got stuff to do.

 

[Idreamaboutcats]

Can’t have it both ways.

There’s a reason the JP VAs are the same. Xion’s supposed to be the “most precious memory” of Sora, which is of course, Kairi. They have the same face, and inevitably the same voice, so, yeah…it’s a given that Kairi and Xion would share the same English VA too, no matter who it may be.

Nothing can be done about it though. If that’s the way they want it, it’s fine. I’m more annoyed about Aerith than I am about Kairi, and even that’s more of a “why did they replace a famous star with someone lesser known” than actual opinion on Mena Suvari’s deliverance of Aerith, so yeah, live and let live, I guess.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

Can’t have it both ways.

There’s a reason the JP VAs are the same. Xion’s supposed to be the “most precious memory” of Sora, which is of course, Kairi. They have the same face, and inevitably the same voice, so, yeah…it’s a given that Kairi and Xion would share the same English VA too, no matter who it may be.

Nothing can be done about it though. If that’s the way they want it, it’s fine. I’m more annoyed about Aerith than I am about Kairi, and even that’s more of a “why did they replace a famous star with someone lesser known” than actual opinion on Mena Suvari’s deliverance of Aerith, so yeah, live and let live, I guess.

Is Mena Suvari really famous at this point? Andrea Bowen’s voiced Aerith since Crisis Core made her the de-facto Aerith voice.

 

[Noivern]

I'm not going to go into the discussion of VA and stuff. I'm not a native speaker and I did not notice all of those peculiar things you people have mentioned about either VA, nor did I even really notice Xehanort went through 3 VA's, I barely pay that much attention to the voice itself as long as the performace is adequate (and since, again, I'm not a native speaker even thought I'm fluent in english, I really do not care that much about english dubs as much as others lol, although I prefeer my KH to be in Eng since it's how I have always played)

I'm just going to say: chill. Voice Acting is a lot more complex than what it seems and some of the critics I'm reading here about specific voice lines and such are most likely not the fault of the VA but the ones directing the dub.

Of course, each actor does give their flavor to a role and sometimes can get invested, going as far as following the franchise and learning about the characters themselves either from being a fan and/or being active with the fanbase, and thus they know more about the playerbase's preferences when it comes down to how a character should sound.

But most often than not, what will make a good or bad dub is the peeps in charge of directing them. KH as a franchise isn't really know for giving that much care to the localization as we would like to (minus the Disney stuff because.. yeah.), and Kairi has never really gotten that much attention before, so I'd say MoM might be the first time where they actually bother to give us a proper version of hers.

 

[rokudamia2]

At this point hoping for Hayden to come back is like hoping for Billy Zane to come back. Its unlikely.

Is Mena Suvari really famous at this point? Andrea Bowen’s voiced Aerith since Crisis Core made her the de-facto Aerith voice.

While your right about this so far. I do wonder if this will still be the case the next time the ffvii cast show up. Considering how well received remake's voice acting was.

 

[Idreamaboutcats]

Is Mena Suvari really famous at this point? Andrea Bowen’s voiced Aerith since Crisis Core made her the de-facto Aerith voice.

Exactly. At that time I heard Aerith talk and thought “who are you, and tf are you doing not sounding like a famous award-winning actress-singer?”

Though I meant that as what I felt at that point in time, obviously not now since it’s been a long time. Andrea Bowen’s nice. I liked how they finally made Aerith cuss in the remake, and she delivered Aerith’s sass so well that even though I still think she’s still “sweet like cherry cough syrup”, she has spunk, at least on the reaction videos I’ve watched (still avoiding the game because LTD).

I kinda have to wonder though, is that SAG-AFTRA thing still going on or did it finally blow over?

Edit: Fuck, I mean Briana White! I’ll own up to that mistake. Thanks mod. I remembered she had a new VA in 7R but my brain must be lagging or something. I got confused for a sec there. But yeah, Mandy Moore was a great Aerith by virtue of being famous already and her voice was expressive. Andrea Bowen had good delivery, and I liked her especially at Crisis Core. Briana really pulled the punches with Aerith’s sass.

 

[Oracle Spockanort]

While your right about this so far. I do wonder if this will still be the case the next time the ffvii cast show up. Considering how well received remake's voice acting was.

Honestly, I think it’ll end up being a case-by-case situation. If they had any intentions of using Briana White, I don’t imagine they would have bothered calling Andrea in for ReMind.

They probably want to keep that distinction between Remake and everything else.

 

[Deliverance]

kairi is kidnapped or almost kidnapped like 3 times in kh2 alone bro

At least Sora didn’t die as a result.

 

[Idreamaboutcats]

See edit above because I'm dumb as hell and forgot Briana's name even though blah blah blah reasons...

Honestly it's not even so much of the problem of who or how the voice is as much as how they wrote her as a character. Even then the secret ending of III had Sora and Riku in it and no Kairi in sight, despite the two already having an adventure together near the end of II and all of DDD.

They really just need better writing, voice deliverance and tone can come second at this point.

 

[the red monster]

I never actually noticed the difference between the two.
i'll just say i think alyson did pretty good job in KH3 and it clicked well enough for me, especially with the battle quotes.
the one i have problem with is riku voice actor, he sounds really off in KH3 and melody of memory is not different which is concerning. dark riku was on point tho.

 

[Face My Fears]

Can’t have it both ways.

There’s a reason the JP VAs are the same. Xion’s supposed to be the “most precious memory” of Sora, which is of course, Kairi. They have the same face, and inevitably the same voice, so, yeah…it’s a given that Kairi and Xion would share the same English VA too, no matter who it may be.

Nothing can be done about it though. If that’s the way they want it, it’s fine. I’m more annoyed about Aerith than I am about Kairi, and even that’s more of a “why did they replace a famous star with someone lesser known” than actual opinion on Mena Suvari’s deliverance of Aerith, so yeah, live and let live, I guess.

What do you mean I can't have it both ways?

Xion is HER OWN PERSON. Kingdom Hearts isn't some low budget, bargain bin game. Disney can afford to pay for a voice actor to be one character only. I liked that Hayden was Kairi and Alyson was Xion, and Alyson does Xion perfectly. I just don't think she's right for Kairi, and I just feel it's unfair that when Kairi finally gets the focus, Hayden doesn't get even a phone call.

I don't know why death threats and stalking was brought up, but all I'm saying is that I prefer Hayden over Alyson and was kind of expecting for a numbered title - with a huge budget and overflowing with nostalgia - Disney would cough up the dough to pay Hayden or at least have the decency to pick up the phone and dial her number since she was there on Day 1.

 

[The_Echo]

the one i have problem with is riku voice actor, he sounds really off in KH3 and melody of memory is not different which is concerning. dark riku was on point tho.

That one's 100% on the voice director. Riku's been voiced by David Gallagher for the entire series, and like you say, Dark Riku was perfect.
Who knows what the hell is wrong with the voice director that he thinks Riku needs to sound like he's having trouble reading the script.

 

[Face My Fears]

That one's 100% on the voice director. Riku's been voiced by David Gallagher for the entire series, and like you say, Dark Riku was perfect.
Who knows what the hell is wrong with the voice director that he thinks Riku needs to sound like he's having trouble reading the script.

Can Nomura fire SENA (whatever that is) and the voice director? I remember reading/hearing in interviews that they were very specific and involved in getting the voice work down perfectly - which showed in previous numbered titles. How is it that for the numbered title with the biggest budget, the biggest hype, and the biggest cast, the voice director blew it? He didn't even call Hayden!

 

[Chaser]

Can Nomura fire SENA (whatever that is) and the voice director?

I don’t think Nomura can fire the entire North American branch of Square Enix.

 

[palizinhas]

Xion and Kairi canonically have the same voice - Roxas compares Kairi's voice in his dream to Xion's in one of his diary entries. And of course they have the same va in Japanese and English in all the KH games they both spoke in. Before KH3 came out people liked to think that they would have Hayden playing Kairi and Alyson playing Xion, but I don't think that was ever considered.