FE9 Cutscene Voice Acting

[Anacybele]

I guess you could consider that a valid argument if you ignore the facts that he mumbled too much (mostly in PoR), did the battle grunts poorly, and his accent was awful.

Then again, you can't really expect too much from someone whose primary profession is supposedly an athlete, and had never before done anything involving acting or voice acting (IMDB shows a couple of unknown films and shorts since FE).

I find that hard to believe. Why would they hire someone who has absolutely NO experience acting? That's just stupid. And I didn't think he mumbled. I could hear him loud and clearly. Also, I heard a normal American accent. I didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

[TheGhosteon]

I dunno if this makes me weird, but I tolerate Ike's voice. Maybe it's because I play Brawl and main him, so I'm used to hearing his voice a lot...

Edited August 31, 2012 by TheGhosteon

[Dr. Silent]

I wanted to cry too. Except it was for how horrible it was. You can have your own opinion, but I think that voice clip is notorious for the community of an example how NOT to sound when your father is in your arms dying.

I found the part where Greil actually dies to be more emotional. He was still alive when the cut-scene ended.

I find that hard to believe. Why would they hire someone who has absolutely NO experience acting?

Budgeting reasons, probably. Plus the fact that Fire Emblem is a relatively unknown series that mostly maintains a cult following.

Also, I heard a normal American accent. I didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

That's exactly what's wrong with it. I said it on the first page,American accents simply don't work in the fantasy genre (with one or two exceptions, but Fire Emblem certainly isn't one of them). Some Americans might not find it such a big deal, which I'm guessing is where you come in. But there's a very good reason Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones etc don't feature American accents - it just doesn't seem believable or right.

For the record, I don't have anything against American accents or anything. Like any accent, they shouldn't be used where they don't work, and they don't work in Fire Emblem.

[Anacybele]

Well, I personally had no problems with hearing American accents in Fire Emblem. It's true that Europe was where all the medieval stuff took place, but still. When I first saw Ike, for example, I couldn't imagine him speaking British English at all. It just wouldn't fit him.

Maybe I'm just too used to hearing my own accent. Who knows.

[Shotguner159]

When I first saw Ike, for example, I couldn't imagine him speaking British English at all.

There are many accents in Scotland, Wales, England and Ireland. Which of the many accents could you not imagine Ike having?

Edited August 31, 2012 by Shotguner159

[Dr. Silent]

I'm from Wales, and usually dialogue presents itself in my head as somewhere between Welsh and English. Naturally, as a University student, I have a very weak accent so I guess that's where it fits in.

In general, when people read dialogue it subconsciously presents itself in their mind with their own accent or something similar.

But when it comes to acting/voice acting, to me there are certain ones that work.

Edited September 1, 2012 by Dr. Silent

[Lord Raven]

Jason Adkins had good grunts in brawl. I like his voice but his acting is spotty...

Still though, anacybele the primary reason you probably want to help Ike is because you are probably desperately in love with him and not because of his VAing.

Edited September 2, 2012 by Lord Raven

[Anacybele]

There are many accents in Scotland, Wales, England and Ireland. Which of the many accents could you not imagine Ike having?

I've only heard Scottish and England accents, neither of which I can imagine Ike having. Especially the former.

[Loki Laufeyson]

So many different accents in Britain alone. Id actually imagine everyone in Crimea having a more um...Welsh sounding accent. Daein having a more northern one, Begnion having RP (although theres a couple of smallfolk in Begnion that have more cockney texts), Goldoa and the bird tribe islands having a kind of Estuary sounding accent (or just southron England). Gallia though...totes a more Scottish sounding accent with a brogue. Serenes herons sounding really fancy.

Yar.

[Paper Jam]

I've said it before and I'll say it again - American accents and historic-style fantasy simply don't work, and it always ends up sounding awful

Well, Warcraft III seemed to pull it off.

Or was that one of the few exceptions you mentioned?

[BrightBow]

It always bugged more then anything else in RD voice acting that they left the grunts undubbed. Not just in the English one but in all the pal languages as well. The dissonance between Rolf's English and Japanese voice was particular noticeable and made the dub feel particular cheap to me.

What I am saying is that I am surprised that people always seem to discuss pretty much anything about the voices except this.

Am I really the only one bothered by that particular aspect of the dub?

Edited September 4, 2012 by BrightBow

[Dr. Silent]

Well, Warcraft III seemed to pull it off.

Or was that one of the few exceptions you mentioned?

Nope, not played that. I was thinking more along the lines of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. American accents worked fine in it, even if one or two lines ("dilly dally shilly shally", for example) were a bit crap (more to do with stupid dialogue rather than accents...I mean, if I were a voice actor, I'd cringe at saying "dilly dally shilly shally" in what is supposed to be a serious conversation). Of course, the reason I think American accents worked fine is because it has a more or less modern setting.

[Rapier]

I won't mention FE9's voice acting because I played it on an emulator that could hardly run the game itself (because of my notebook), but I kinda liked FE10's voice acting... which is nice, since I usually dislike it. It's one of the games that I wouldn't mind playing with voice acting. Rolf's voice is to be expected from someone of his age (he's still over nine thousand times better than Gohan's). Mia's voice is the only one that would bother me, I think (I don't remember Mist clearly).

If FE13 is going to have voice actors, I hope they don't screw up (or add a 'no voices' option).

[SPSEliwoodGabriel]

I love both- Japanese because, well, it's Japanese, but with the English version, despite its narm-tastic voice acting, there was something in it that attracts me to it, and I'm not sure exactly what. Was it because the narm reminded me of my own awkwardness in life? I can't really tell.

But, if there's something to be said... Jason Adkins can do hot-blooded if you listen closely to his work in Brawl and ignore the whole "You'll get no sympathy from me" and...

Actually, there seems to be more than one meaning to "I fight for my friends." Obviously, everyone thinks of the whole "He's fighting to protect them". But has anyone noticed the "I fight instead of my friends because they're end up making you a smear of red on the ground" implication?

[Loki Laufeyson]

I'm not sure exactly what

Camp value!

[Anacybele]

You know, speaking of Brawl Ike, I never did understand people's beef with his phrases of "I fight for my friends" and "You'll get no sympathy from me." Those are things that Ike would definitely say, cause he's Ike. He's the blunt, straight-to-the-point mercenary who does anything to protect those he cares about. So of course he fights for his friends and won't give any sympathy to his enemies. I personally really like those phrases for that.

Edited September 5, 2012 by Anacybele

[Lord Raven]

It's the way it's said, he sounds like either he's a cheesy hero or he's reading it off a teleprompter or something. He just sounds sort of stupid.

[shadowofchaos]

You know, speaking of Brawl Ike, I never did understand people's beef with his phrases of "I fight for my friends" and "You'll get no sympathy from me." Those are things that Ike would definitely say, cause he's Ike.

Not the point.

It's called "localization."

"I fight for my friends" is a horrible way to translate: 守るべき者のため戦うだけだ！

The way he says it is just awkward... even for people who just speak English. I know you like Ike and all, but completely refusing to even just TRY to be objective about the voice acting instead of having a "Oh they did a good job because it's Ike" mindset all the time.

You can like it, you can dislike it... but always saying "cause he's Ike and it fits" doesn't really show anything BESIDES you like Ike the CHARACTER.

Edited September 5, 2012 by shadowofchaos

[Lord Raven]

Is that line like... "For all I must protect, I mustn't lose!" cause that's what one of Roy's lines translated to, and I think some of the Japanese is common to both.

Ike's Japanese voice in Brawl was way better btw, it was way more intense than Adkins. I was satisfied with Atkin's grunts and the way he said "Aether" though... Great Aether was lame though and so were the win quotes.

[shadowofchaos]

Is that line like... "For all I must protect, I mustn't lose!" cause that's what one of Roy's lines translated to, and I think some of the Japanese is common to both.

Ike's Japanese voice in Brawl was way better btw, it was way more intense than Adkins. I was satisfied with Atkin's grunts and the way he said "Aether" though... Great Aether was lame though and so were the win quotes.

It's pretty much what Roy says, but without the "lose" part. He just addresses "I fight only for those in need of protecting" type feeling. "Friends" is one way of translating it, but the translation was just horrendous on his lines in general. I mean sure, literal Japanese is even more horrendous, but "I fight for my friends" isn't much better.

[Lord Raven]

Yeah I just remember hearing some of the Japanese for both and it sounded similar. I generally dislike Japanese VA's but Ike's lines were fantastic in Japanese brawl.

[Loki Laufeyson]

I fight for my friends" is a horrible way to translate: 守るべき者のため戦うだけだ!

What is this meaning....

Oh nevermind.

[Samias]

I didn't think the lines in Brawl were that bad. The game is pretty silly, but the problem is, the lines didn't have any CONVICTION behind the cheesiness. It was lame, flat, and not even heroic sounding. Adkins can do better than that, even if he's not the greatest, but it felt like they took his first take or something. On the other hand, I think his battle grunts and stuff are all fine and that's what you hear the most, so it's not really a huge deal. But I cringe every time I hear "I fight for my friends" like Ike is bored out of his mind. "You'll get no sympathy from me" is a little better, if only because the tone sounds like Adkins actually woke up.

As for FE9 English vs FE10 English, I kinda wish they'd kept whoever they had for Mist in 9 for 10. Mist's voice in 9 doesn't fit the the facial acting, but I think that's a failing of the script that doesn't capture the same expression as the Japanese line did. Her voice does fit her age group. What happened to her in FE10 was just... bad. She's got the worst voice in the game. Overall I don't really mind how narmy the voices come across in both games, because the narm is kinda fun, but I really disliked Mist's voice in 10 and that really stood out for me.

[Anacybele]

I know you like Ike and all, but completely refusing to even just TRY to be objective about the voice acting instead of having a "Oh they did a good job because it's Ike" mindset all the time.

You can like it, you can dislike it... but always saying "cause he's Ike and it fits" doesn't really show anything BESIDES you like Ike the CHARACTER.

Okay, first of all, I've liked Ike's lines in Brawl since before I even played Fire Emblem. So I can't possibly be biased on this opinion. I played Brawl before FE, so yeah.

Second, did I not say earlier that Adkins didn't do EVERY damned line perfectly? He did mess up a few in FE9, if you ask me.

My opinions on Adkins's voice acting has nothing to do with Ike being my favorite character. In fact, his English voice is one of the reasons I like him.

Edited September 5, 2012 by Anacybele

[Lord Raven]

Adkins has only a few lines to do. If he doesn't do "every" line perfectly, then it looks a lot worse on him when he screws up a line. In this case he's screwed up more or less a quarter of his total lines and because he hasn't done many lines as a whole, it sticks out a lot.