Feeling Awkward about English Voice Acting
- Thread starter plumtree
- Start date
- Aug 26, 2021
- 213
- 241
Voice Direction ! ! Script Guiding ! !
These Are What These Games Need ! ! ! ! ! ! I've Listened To Romance Eng Voice Lines In More Big And Professional Companies , They Were Very Good ! ! ! !
It's Just In The Western Space Indie / Amateur Visual Novel Circle There's Less Of A Job Culture Around Voice Acting In Doujin Spaces Compared To The Eastern Areas , That's What I Think Though . . . . .
A Thing That Could Compare To The NSFW ASMR Circle Is EN Vtubers , But That Seems More Off Script . . . . . .
These Are What These Games Need ! ! ! ! ! ! I've Listened To Romance Eng Voice Lines In More Big And Professional Companies , They Were Very Good ! ! ! !
It's Just In The Western Space Indie / Amateur Visual Novel Circle There's Less Of A Job Culture Around Voice Acting In Doujin Spaces Compared To The Eastern Areas , That's What I Think Though . . . . .
A Thing That Could Compare To The NSFW ASMR Circle Is EN Vtubers , But That Seems More Off Script . . . . . .
- Aug 11, 2013
- 23
- 11
Unlike in Japan, voice acting in the west (or at least the US where I'm from) has been treated as an "easier" or "lesser" art in the public consciousness for a long time. It's gotten better for sure, but it still persists in some areas--such as hollywood where the major voice acting roles in animated movies are not given to voice actors, but celebrities with little to no voice acting experience. (Meanwhile, in Japan, the voice actors are -also- celebrities in their own right.) The various meme videos that have emerged over the years showcasing the most awkward and awful english dubs with questionable translations haven't helped that perception, either.
However, one thing I have come to understand in recent years is that there are english voice actors just as talented and powerful as japanese ones. The "bad" japanese voice actors, which are just as plentiful as english ones, are never heard because those are never exported to a larger worldwide audience. We just know about more "bad" english voice acting because that media is more accessible to us and because voice acting was not valued for a long time, allowing more mediocre voice acting to be considered acceptable.
While I am normally a "subs over dubs" person when consuming Japanese media, to say that all English voice acting is inferior to the Japanese is just not true these days. Though voice acting consistency in the West still needs some work (in regards to keeping the same dub voice/tone for a character across different dubs).
However, one thing I have come to understand in recent years is that there are english voice actors just as talented and powerful as japanese ones. The "bad" japanese voice actors, which are just as plentiful as english ones, are never heard because those are never exported to a larger worldwide audience. We just know about more "bad" english voice acting because that media is more accessible to us and because voice acting was not valued for a long time, allowing more mediocre voice acting to be considered acceptable.
While I am normally a "subs over dubs" person when consuming Japanese media, to say that all English voice acting is inferior to the Japanese is just not true these days. Though voice acting consistency in the West still needs some work (in regards to keeping the same dub voice/tone for a character across different dubs).