Feeling Awkward about English Voice Acting

[plumtree]

So, I have this problem with voiced OELVN otome (Seduce Me, Alaris, Criminally Yours , Celestial Crown etc) where I just can't take it seriously. This is not a dig at the skill of these extremely talented and hard-working voice actors btw. And no hate to anyone who enjoys them!

When I play voiced otome games in languages I'm not fluent in, I really enjoy the voice acting.

I think it adds to the experience...but with voiced OELVN hearing romantic lines makes me cringe I always have to turn the voices off. It's like I'm watching TV and someone does something embarassing and I feel embarrassed for them. Or seeing my friends do PDA with their partners

I can watched English dubbed romance anime just fine but my brain draws the line at otome apparently...

I'm just wondering if this happens to anyone else? And for people who are fluent in Japanese, Korean or Chinese and play otome with voice acting in those languages, do you ever feel that way? And does it differ based on whether those languages are your first/primary languages?

 

[Sacchie]

hmm I do personally feel most EN va are kinda awkward with this kind of games, I guess because the JP va market are just that much competitive, and the JP industries produce a looott of games like this, so the JP va are used to audition with this kind of settings..
but I do like when I hear Disney movie voiced by EN va.. they sound very natural and 'fitting' with the character and story..
maybe it's just this kind of games and culture are not that mainstream yet in the EN va industries.. so the atmosphere and technique are not yet that polished/competitive enough ＼（〇_ｏ）／

 

[Gremgrem]

I feel the same way you do! Understanding the english VA makes me cringe a bit inside sometimes and kinda break the immersion compared to the languages I don't understand.

 

[Shelia]

Actually, in all games—not just visual novels or otome games—I choose the voice acting that matches the country of origin. I probably remember too many instances of truly awful English dubbing from the days of niche J-RPGs on the PS2 ;).
It seems to me that English voice acting in games is generally of a higher quality now than it used to be, but despite that, Japanese somehow feels more fitting for this type of game.

 

[satory]

It's not an English-only thing, if you learn other languages, it will be the same with them. I turn English and Japanese voices off in romantic scenes because my brain cannot deal with it, but I can listen to Chinese, which I haven't studied

 

[AmnesiaArya]

Wow, this topic is really interesting. There have been discussions in the Chinese community before about whether there is a "mother tongue embarrassment" in otome games—basically, feeling awkward when the voice acting is in your native language. However, with the increase in Chinese-developed otome games, I've realized that the issue isn't native language dubbing itself, but rather the voice actors' skill level. Otome games place a strong emphasis on emotional expression, and female players tend to be more sensitive to emotions, so the delivery of the voice actors is crucial. The reason non-native dubbing often feels more fitting for the game is that when we listen to a non-native language, we need to mentally translate it first, which slightly weakens our perception of emotion. In fact, as more players become proficient in Japanese, they have also become able to evaluate the performances of Japanese voice actors in otome games, leading to criticism when certain voice actors underperform in specific titles. At the same time, the development of the otome game industry itself is very important. The better the industry grows, the faster local voice actors can master the techniques needed for this genre. This shows that whether native language dubbing feels awkward depends on the voice actors' delivery style as well as the maturity of the local otome game industry.

 

[801_9ma]

I personally have a hard time with English voice acting for anime-related media and I think it's because most of the time, I tend to have gripes with the voice direction. Voice acting in OELVNs doesn't bother me as much, even if at times I will raise an eyebrow at how a few lines are delivered here and there.

That being said, no matter the language, I will pause at romantic lines in VNs because my brain will short-circuit over them LMAO I wouldn't even say it's necessarily embarrassment on my end, just an "Oh, WOW" type of deal.

Then again, neither English nor Japanese are my native language. I'm trying to imagine what it would be like to play a VN that happened to be dubbed in my native language and not gonna lie, I think it'd result in me being so embarrassed you could probably fry an egg on my head.

 

[fr4pp3cinn]

Haha, I don't feel awkward about OELVN dubbing, but I do feel a bit embarrassed when I listen to (non-otoge) romantic scenes in my native language! I think it's because my first language feels more intimate to me, compared to the ones I learned later in life

I study Japanese (though I'm better at reading than listening, as I focused on reading), and except for suggestive scenes (like the ones in Rejet titles lmao) I don't really get embarrassed by them. Although the voice actor's ability does influence how "cringy" a scene may feel, it's never as embarrassing as my language ;b

 

[Marrychan]

I'm not particularly bothered, in fact I even have some reservations about OELVN dubbing? Let me explain... well, most small productions that add voice acting while the game is still in production have a high chance of problems. Your Boyfriend suffered from this; Peter's original voice actor had some issues with the creators and decided he wouldn't do voice acting anymore. They had to remove his voice from the entire game up to that point, and since it hadn't been officially released yet, that was that. When I asked Melancholy Marionette about his game Darling Duality, he said that for him the game would only be complete with voice acting and it was one of the few reasons that gave him the 'motivation' to write the game. I see it more as a headache sometimes than a helpful thing to have voice acting. Heart Cage was one that deeply bothered me because of the voice actors; the only voices I really liked were Sid and G#. I didn't feel like I wanted to rip my ear off. Enox was good until he started yelling in some parts, and I didn't even think Dane's voice was that good for dubbing; it was super boring listening to him do most of the talking. The sad part is that I enjoyed the game, but I feel like the voice acting hindered more than it helped in some aspects. And I have no problem with the language; Persona and Final Fantasy, I think, have some of the best voice acting in that regard. But I think the problem is that often in Otome Games, the creator hires someone to do the character's voice, and that person isn't even a voice actor, so the quality is always lower.

 

[Ruu17]

Lmao. I have a firm preference to play games / watch anime in their original language. Before, I just thought I prefer Japanese voice acting. But then when I checked out the Japanese dub of Mo Dao Zu Shi and tried playing Tears of Themis with Japanese voices, it gave me pause. Then I quickly put it back to their original language. Granted, I was just curious at that time. And that's where I realized it's not that I prefer Japanese voices, but that I simply prefer the original language it was made from.

A part of me does think personal language fluency has a slight influence though. To be honest, normal Japanese speaking doesn't sound like the voice acting done in anime / in games, where it's more exagerrated. So when there's English dub, you can feel how 'artificial' it sounds because people don't really speak that way in normal conversations either. But then, if you're fluent in Japanese, the anime culture is already so established that your brain just thinks 'Yeah, this is how anime voices SHOULD sound.' while in English, even if they tried to put a similar energy of exagerratedness, you just feel, 'Hey, that doesn't sound right!'

And then to compare, Korean and Chinese dubs tend to sound more natural, so when you switch to Japanese dub where the voice acting is exagerrated, you'll also get the feeling of 'Wait a minute... Why does this sound wrong?'.

Soooo yeah. For OELVN, it can be a lot of reasons. It could simply be that the game does not have really solid and professional voice acting(like, there's no sound director to give direction on how lines should be delivered, and lines are privately recorded by VAs. A lot of English VAs, especially for indie games, would do online auditions and those that get the part will record it on their own setup/studio). Or, if the VA work is actually okay, it could be that knowing the spoken language can make it more embarrassing especially for romance parts. It could also be that because the game tried too hard to be similar to Japanese games(be it art, dialogue, storytelling or characters), it's jarring and unnatural in English. Or it could be a combination of reasons, or something else. Lolol.

But just know it's not just you. But I honestly haven't played a lot of OELVN otome with English dubs myself.. On top of my head, I can only think of sakevisual's Jisei series(which I thought had decent voice acting), and that's not even an otome game but a mystery VN.

 

[vitanchlo]

I've noticed this too. I think it's because when people play a game and it has English audio they expect the VAs to speak naturally but instead a lot of VAs, professional or not, tend to mirror English Anime VA's voice acting which in turn is badly trying to emulate Japanese voice acting. The best dubs I've heard are when the VAs try to sound natural and I feel the same about voice acting in VNs. I know English VAs debunked this theory but if not this being the reason then why do they tend to sound like that...as in badly performing something where you can tell someone is reading from a script and you can tell they're trying to perform instead of performing? This actually goes for a lot of English voice acting right now outside of when they hire stage trained actors who actually know how to emote with their voice.

I also find that I don't like a lot of the voices the devs choose for the characters which I understand, I'm not the creative behind the characters but I can't help not liking something.

 

[nyao]

I personally believe it's because romantic content involving the viewer is taken way less seriously in English-speaking fandom. Even if their general performance is "good", they'll be lacking when it comes to convincingly portraying affection towards the viewer—which is ironic because a lot of them have this odd sense of "ownership" regarding the characters they voice and interact with their fans in such a way.

It's wild that some random guys posting free ASMR roleplay videos on YouTube might give me a better romance experience than professional voice actors.

 

[totallyamanda]

I'm in the same boat sadly. Not being fluent or not knowing the language at all, allows for more nuance in interpreting tone versus the dialogue itself. （˶′◡‵˶）

Western (especially Indies) sometimes go the route of using female voices for men that sounds like a woman (or a child) trying to sound like a man. Unless it ties directly to the character or their storyline, it's very jarring (in some cases) and pulls any immersion out of it so it's not that I get embarassed, but I seem to lack more enjoyment compared to its counterpart.

Completely agree with above, romance is completely treated like a joke or something they HAVE to do. (´ω｀。)

I want the enjoyment!!! ✧٩(•́⌄•́๑)و ✧

That's why I adore VAs who take their role seriously but not themselves. It allows themselves the freedom to sound silly or performing out of the norm to acquire the samples they need.

I do think "cringe" culture for western audiences lends itself to not having as many willing talented VA's as the trolling is relentless especially when it comes to queer games or by queer artists sadly. (｡•́︿•̀｡)

 

[Henriette]

I can relate too! I tend to turn off voiced lines for OELVN, because it can ruin the immersion for me when I play.

 

[plumtree]

Soooo yeah. For OELVN, it can be a lot of reasons. It could simply be that the game does not have really solid and professional voice acting(like, there's no sound director to give direction on how lines should be delivered, and lines are privately recorded by VAs.

This made me realise I've never thought about sound directors in relation to otome games. I've seen behind the scenes footage of sound directors interacting with voice actors in big animated movies and such but...

Like it just never occurred to me that it was required/necessary to have a person guiding the voice actors personally instead of just tossing a script with some vague notes on it. I guess some indie OELVN may not have the resources to hire a sound director or for thorough quality checking, especially since having voice acting at all is a cost in itself

 

[plumtree]

I'm not particularly bothered, in fact I even have some reservations about OELVN dubbing? Let me explain... well, most small productions that add voice acting while the game is still in production have a high chance of problems. Your Boyfriend suffered from this; Peter's original voice actor had some issues with the creators and decided he wouldn't do voice acting anymore. They had to remove his voice from the entire game up to that point, and since it hadn't been officially released yet, that was that.

Ooh yeah, I think some of these OELVN VAs also tend to have a slightly parasocial relationship with fans of the game, with the VAs kind of...roleplaying with fans(?) or borrowing the character's personality to like profit. Or saying or doing something else problematic and then getting removed to controversy,,,

 

[Ruu17]

This made me realise I've never thought about sound directors in relation to otome games. I've seen behind the scenes footage of sound directors interacting with voice actors in big animated movies and such but...

Like it just never occurred to me that it was required/necessary to have a person guiding the voice actors personally instead of just tossing a script with some vague notes on it. I guess some indie OELVN may not have the resources to hire a sound director or for thorough quality checking, especially since having voice acting at all is a cost in itself

Oh, haha. When I was a teenager, I was intrigued about VA work. Now, I never actually tried auditioning(or maybe I did...? Yeah, I think I did try once but never got a response. Lmao), but I've lurked and checked VA hiring in indie games out of curiosity before. A lot of them DO have general directions, like the voice pitch and characteristics(if they prefer certain accents or something and/or general vibe they're looking for). Some even request VAs to record in more than 1 different delivery of the same lines(because back then zoom and video calls weren't popular yet, so some would ask them to record more than 1 kind of delivery so they can pick and choose what to actually use).

But yeah, most of them will be recorded using the hired VA's studio(whether it's just in their room or if they go rent an actual studio) and the VA will just send the raw files to the devs to use(especially if it's indie where the dev is also the programmer and artist). A lot do have requirements about noise cancellation and minimal voice editing to keep things sounding 'consistent'(maybe no reverb, etc), but it wouldn't work so well if the devs just slap it into the game or they have no clue about sound editing(I've found games before that had characters speaking louder than others, and some had reverb/echo while other character voices were just natural with no reverb).

I'm not as familiar with how VA gigs go now though. But I think for indie games that cannot afford VAs to all record in person in the same studio, the process would still be similar. It just depends on how much they can dish out for voice acting.

 

[ringring677]

I totally agree. I think it's about what language you're most exposed to in terms of voice works. For instance, even in non otome games, I find myself switching to japanese voices in almost every games even when other languages like english, chinese or korean are available.
I mean the qualities are all great since they're voiced by pros, but I'm just more used to japanese voices. I look up other language voice actors online for like star rail characters for fun, but I still make my voice setting to japanese voices.

 

[shironyan]

Idk why, it feels so awkward for me if something with anime style is with English dub. No hate, i think i just not really used to it. I mean, English not my first language, but it's still does'nt sit right with me if i see something with anime style, but they speak English.
This is why i never played otome game with English dub. Its either JP/KR/CN for me.

 

[Taiyou]

I'm not a native english speaker but even then I have a hard time stomaching EN voice overs in otome games and it has mainly to do with delivery. I do feel like most VA's who have to voice romantic scenes are extremely awkward and it always takes me out of the scene. JP, even though I understand it, puts a lot of emphasis on tone and delivery for intimate scenes so it's never 'overdelivered' or 'underdelivered'. CN as well I love a lot but that's truly because I don't speak it unfortunately, so appealing voices are enough to win me over.

There are exceptions where I do prefer the EN VA more than the JP one, for example Zenos from FFXIV, love you toriumi but Luke Allen-Gale just hits differently.

 

[Nihilistic]

I think the reason we cringe or are uncomfortable with English voice acting is because the voices sound forced in my opinion. The voice actors try and appeal to certain genres of people and most people these days enjoy the "eboy" or "daddy" voices which sound horrific especially when it's outside the voice actors range.

Recently I can only find myself tolerating Witch hat atelier English voice acting and that one romance anime with the pink haired girl and stoic boy as they genuinely sound like they are having fun and aren't forcing their voices to appeal.

Also if I want some man heavy breathing at me in English I'd go to a night out

 

[Lynettee]

I don't feel comfortable. I think the only game where I haven't felt this uncomfortable is Heart Cage, and this doesn't apply to all the characters. English isn't my native language, and I don't have a problem with it making me cringe a little, but I feel like the English voice actors overact the scenes. ><

 

[Pandita]

I do like some English VA in the ASMR community, but when is about growls or the sound of them in the climax on their audios, I cringe. I don't know if is because the language, or because in Japanese sounds better and the seiyuus have more practice and sounds more professional. English is not my first language, but still sometimes makes me feel cringe. Specially when they calls the listener princess, sometimes is so awkward.

 

[koko36]

Honestly, I totally get why so many people feel that way, but since English is actually my third language, I think I get saved by that exact "translation filter" everyone is talking about! Because it's not my native tongue, that tiny bit of mental distance acts like a total shield against the cringe, so the romantic lines don't really short-circuit my brain the way they do for native speakers. For me, the bigger issue usually comes down to the production itself—since a lot of indie OELVNs are recorded by VAs working solo in home studios without a sound director to guide the delivery, you can definitely tell when someone is just reading from a script or forcing an awkward "eboy" archetype instead of acting naturally. It really shows how much of a difference both language fluency and industry maturity make when it comes to pulling you into the story