Install the app
How to install the app on iOS

Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.

Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.

Feeling Awkward about English Voice Acting

Personally I do think that there is a problem with a lot of English voice acting direction. I play Love and Deepspace in English, and a lot of the times, Xavier or Zayne's voice acting sounds very stilted and unnatural. It got better for the voice acting of the LI as the game went on, but the voice acting for the side characters and the mobs are so atrocious with only a few rare exceptions.

Regarding the "playing otomes with your native language dub", I play Light and Night in Chinese, and I think the voice acting is wonderful (however, the community has been up in arms about Charlie's dub for a while now, which is, again, a mixture of poor vocal performance by the voice actor AND some fault on the vocal directors for not making him redo his cuts/performances).
 
  • Like
Reactions: Sphyixz and NotMyCupOfTea
For commercially published otome games with English voice-overs + other languages - I found them strange to listen to (this goes for Love and Deepspace, Light and Night - for instance).

Which is strange since other indie otome games I can think with English voice overs sound great like Galen Games' Deliver Us From Evil, SugarScript's Cute Demon Crashers (R18).
 
baybridge said:
For commercially published otome games with English voice-overs + other languages - I found them strange to listen to (this goes for Love and Deepspace, Light and Night - for instance).

Which is strange since other indie otome games I can think with English voice overs sound great like Galen Games' Deliver Us From Evil, SugarScript's Cute Demon Crashers (R18).
Click to expand...
I'm curious, which version of Light and Night are you playing? I've never really listened to the other dubs before.
 
baybridge said:
The South-east Asia version! - there is a trailer released:)
Click to expand...
My oshis are Evan and Sariel, so this is a bit.... HAHAH

Evan became such a posh man? He no longer gives off the kind ceo/superior kind of vibe that made him very easy to talk to.

And Sariel, oh he's so aggressive? But in the way where he doesn't feel powerful the way he does in the story, sort of like a young man rather than a war god if that makes sense?
 
koko36 said:
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.
Click to expand...
It's typically not the romantic lines that make people cringe but the way the lines are performed. You can tell they're trying to act and can tell they're putting on a voice. Voice Direction can sound terrible even in AA or AAA games so personally I think it's more on the VAs (though I'm heavily biased because most English VAs who are cast in VNs I think shouldn't have even been hired on and or their vocal delivery is always bad).

And I think of this for the majority of English voice acting right now. It isn't limited to VNs or indie games. That's why more and more games are hiring actors (specifically stage trained) instead as they can usually emote a lot better than VAs can...which is ironic.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: RoseGold, Snowcrow, Darmian and 3 others
vitanchlo said:
It's typically not the romantic lines that make people cringe but the way the lines are performed. You can tell they're trying to act and can tell they're putting on a voice. Voice Direction can sound terrible even in AA or AAA games so personally I think it's more on the VAs (though I'm heavily biased because most English VAs who are cast in VNs I think shouldn't have even been hired on and or their vocal delivery is always bad).

And I think of this for the majority of English voice acting right now. It isn't limited to VNs or indie games. That's why more and more games are hiring actors (specifically stage trained) instead as they can usually emote a lot better than VAs can...which is ironic.
Click to expand...

I agree with this, but I will add this: Usually it seems that even if they are good at voice acting, the character that they are playing is unfit.

Whether it's because the voice doesn't suit the character or because the voice actor can't connect with the character they're portraying, this is equally the fault of many parties. Unfortunately, it's most noticeable in indie games (they have limitations that large developers don't).
 
  • Like
Reactions: Darmian
I laughed. English can be really unpleasant to listen to sometimes; it's less acceptable than Japanese.
 
English dubbing is very considerate to English players, but I am used to listening to Japanese pronunciation and matching the text content, so that I can better understand and enjoy the original artistic mood and meaning of the work.

After all, the translation does not restore the plot 100%, but more or less beautified. At least the Japanese voice interpreted by Japanese voice actors can better represent the characters themselves. :wink:
 
vitanchlo said:
It's typically not the romantic lines that make people cringe but the way the lines are performed. You can tell they're trying to act and can tell they're putting on a voice. Voice Direction can sound terrible even in AA or AAA games so personally I think it's more on the VAs (though I'm heavily biased because most English VAs who are cast in VNs I think shouldn't have even been hired on and or their vocal delivery is always bad).
Click to expand...
I completely agree with this. It's not so much a language issue rather than an acting quality one. I've noticed that am completely fine with romance lines when the voice acting sound natural (the first example that came to mind are the romance scenes in BG3), but I really can't handle the cringe when you can hear the VA overacting.
I think the worst is when they try to do the manly man/ shadow daddy voice and you can tell they are trying their hardest to lower their voice - it gives me the ick so bad, I always tun it off.
 
I feel exactly the same way. Whenever I hear voice acting in my native language—or any language I'm fluent in—I just can't fully immerse myself. It makes me cringe a little too. But when it's in English (I'm not a native English speaker) or Japanese, I actually really enjoy the voice acting, and it adds so much to the experience.

I wonder if it's because otome games and VNs tend to have a lot of lines that are much more romantic or dramatic than what you'd normally hear in real life. When I understand every word immediately in my native language, those kinds of lines just hit differently. Maybe it's because they're so different from the way people actually talk in real life, so hearing them in my native language makes them feel a little awkward. Or maybe fully understanding all the romantic lines just makes me feel a bit shy. 😅

So yeah, I definitely relate. I always keep the voices set to Japanese.
 
  • Like
Reactions: dark.moon
I think can be related to two things, one the direction behind, if there are no good instructions the voice actors will have to add what they think about the scenes, and sometimes they don't have enough experience to do it. Then, you got the language that you understand, in romantic scenes it can be more embarrassing to hear, a natural reaction, and if the acting is average well haha
 
  • Like
Reactions: dark.moon
To be honest, I'm not sure whether most of the English voice actors participating in otome games are genuinely motivated to be involved. It wasn't a realistic voice, but more like reading a school textbook, and I rarely played an otome game dubbed only in English all the way through.
 
Yeah, there's been a notable change both in EN voice direction in recent years, I feel. I like the older anime dubs, but modern ones I feel are... eh. I'm pretty sure English dub actors are being paid less in comparison to voice actors in any originally-in-English works, which might affect the quality. And the localization being a factor as well, since it might change the script.

On a side note, there's been some English VAs that's been acting very unprofessionally on social media and people taking their words and headcanons as bible, which adds to a lot of the awkwardness I feel towards modern English dubs lol. I'm also not much into them marketing themselves as the character they voiced and taking unrightful ownership/authority of them either. It really sucks that they usually never get consequences or at least a stern talking to for this.
 
  • Like
Reactions: baybridge
dogiwall said:
On a side note, there's been some English VAs that's been acting very unprofessionally on social media
Click to expand...
That is so true, it's pretty crazy how unprofessional some VAs are, it's the reason I just can't get into EN ones besides very few minor exceptions.

I also feel the romance as a genre is being insanely underestimated by the industry in general, thus not a lot of care is put into proper voice direction. After all this is "just the silly genre for those silly women."
 
  • Like
Reactions: dogiwall
I'd go for an original voices any time it's available. As was stated, in dub actors sometimes go overboard too much, and it sounds really forced. There are some exceptions, but for any media I'll search for original, with subtitles. Bless those people who make undubs.)
 
Yeah, I generally don't find myself to be a fan of most English VA work so I stick with JP.. There is usually way more awkwardness in line delivery or I'll have personal dislike of ways of speaking... With English games, I end up preferring to mute the voice acting.
 
Most English VA work doesn't appeal to me, the only English VA I can listen is Love & Deepspace characters. It doesn't sound awkward and have it's charms
 
I think the issue is that EN voice actors, the good kind*, are very very expensive - and that budget is very rarely given to otome. and when it is, it's budget thats better spent elsewhere. The cheap voice actors are, well, not great, usually... I have no issue with romantic lines, but bad (or even mediocre, or, like, close to /good/) is a total turn-off.

(*Maybe I can't tell what a bad japanese voice actor sounds like, though. I imagine it's different when you know the language.)
 
I've noticed that, sometimes, the problem comes from the process of recording rather than the VA not being good. I believe that in many cases they do not use a studio, instead the audio is recorded by the VA individually and then sent for approval. So, actors receive little to no direction and the audio quality fluctuates a lot. It makes sense in cases of indie games and such, but it is very notable and ends up lacking compared to how they record in Japan.
 
imo sometimes english VAs try to make their acting a bit anime-ish resulting in awkward line deliveries so i feel like that is the problem for me TT
 
I don't like English VAs in the gacha games. But when it's indie game, I really like it!
 
I feel the same way, english va are more awkward when hearing it. I'm fine hearing it for other game though.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back