These *very* gifted individuals give Gundam Wing life and make the show complete. Despite the portion of the Gundam fans who disapprove of these seiyuus' performance, I still believe they deserve the praise and recognition they've rightfully earned with their hard works and diligence in finishing the entire GW series + the three additional GW Endless Waltz episodes. Most of these voice actors are very experienced professionals who have became the forerunners of the anime voice-acting industry over the past years.
Their career time spans longer than most people think and the talents and skills they've compiled in all these years definitely show through their performances. On the other hand, some people may dismiss this whole matter with a sneer of contempt, saying the shows are nothing but cartoons and kiddy stuff anyway. However, I should think anyone who grew up without at least a tiny bit of these "cartoons" are pretty childhood deprived. No matter what genre these shows belong to, from Animaniacs, to the classic Looney Toons, from the Simpsons to those all too familiar Saturday Morning cartoons, and from Robotech to Gundam Wing, without these incredible voices to actually animate the characters and to give flesh and blood to these shows, the animation themselves will indeed be hollow and dead. Now I'm sure
that would not be a problem with younger viewers who concentrate more on the actions and the eye candies in a show, and don't necessarily truly appreciate the job of the voice actors behind the scene.
But the undeniable fact is that an important part of the show is lost with the negligence of these viewers. Consequently the viewers are deprived of both intellectual and emotional feedback from the shows, which in turn, prevents their understanding and exploration of the deeper meanings a story could possess. While some shows may be graphically enriching and eye pleasing, human's got five senses after all. Just try and turn off the volume, and right there in front of you is a dead piece of entertainment no matter how good it may look. It may be true in some cases of anime shows, that the original voices are better than the dubbed ones. But keep in mind the various styles with which the voice-acting element can be approached with, and therefore, the standards these performances should be judged at should also be adjusted accordingly.
I conform myself neither as a pro-sub nor a pro-dub, in that I try to look at the situation from different and realistic perspectives. To say realistic, I don't speak Japanese, and I doubt I'd want to miss out on a great anime before the subbed version is released, just for keeping up with the stubborn belief of "sub good, dub bad". It's a lot more fun keeping myself open to both sides and to compare the different methods and approaches the seiyuus used in portraying a character. I must admit that much can be altered in the original shows during this process(ex:CCSakura), but set aside the censorship for a moment where at times the characterizations of the characters are changed dramatically, the materials that *are* allowed to be seen on the screen are kept as close to the original version as possible with the best effort from the hard work of these voice actors. This is what they do, and if they get the part, they are most likely among the best in their trade. Whether it was by luck, or by being at the right place, at the right time, meeting the right people, these voice actors are chosen to be qualified for the job because they have the necessary talent and skills in the field. And finally, just for this quality alone, they deserve a special place in the heart of the fans, and I know, they do in mine.
Here are some photos of the voice actors for the main characters (i.e. the Gundam pilots) from Gundam Wing, I was only able to find the official website of Trowa's seiyuu, and I'm sure most of you already know who he is^^. Contact me if you know the official sites of any of the other voice actors. So far only the five major seiyuus are here, more will be added soon(including the all famous Brian Drummond who did both Zech's voice and Vegeta's voice from DBZ, and also Relena's seiyuu who's also the voice for ChiChi in DBZ).
If you want to show your support for these talented individuals, or just want to express your encouragement by saying a job well done, send your words to:
Brad Swaile
c/o Tarlington Talent Inc.
Suite 609, 525 Seymour Street
Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6B 3H7
Ted Cole
c/o Northern Exposure Talent Management Group
Suite 6, 1155 Melville Street
Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6E 4C4
Scott McNeil
c/o Loren Levitt and Associates, 3rd Floor, Suite 300
1525 West 8th Avenue
Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6J 1T5
Kirby Morrow's major roles besides Trowa from GundamW+Endless Waltz, also include Van Fanel from Escaflowne, Son Goku from DBZ(earlier episodes way before Freeza and the Cell Saga, ex: "The Tree of Might", where I think he's way more suited for the part than the guy who succeeded him, actually Goku sounded a little *too* cute, it hurt my ears^^, but then again, who could possibly be cuter than Goku?), Michelangelo*sigh* from Mutant Teenage Ninja Turtles(Kirby totally aced that role! awsome job!^^)and many others. Click his photo to visit his official homepage.
Oh yeah and then there's Scott McNeil, who may be the most talented, diverse, well-rounded and humorous guy out there in the dubbing industry. If you are a DBZ fan, you might have noticed the unique voice of the Namak Piccolo, if you've ever wondered who's the brilliant guy doing his voice, well heh, take a wild guess^_~.
There's no doubt about it, Heero's voice-actor rocks! Although he may have sounded a lot older than a 15 year old(as is also in the case of Duo^^;;;), he did make Heero sound very kawaii and carried the charm of the perfect soldier through his voice:) Click Heero's photo to hear audio clip from the scene where Heero introduces himself to the students at Relena's school.
Besides Chang Wufei, Ted Cole also did the voice for Yumcha from DBZ in earlier episolds (ex: "The Tree of Might"). Believe me, he laughed a whole lot more than he did in Gundam Wing(Wufei laughing? highly unlikelyU_u). Yamcha had to put up with Bulma a lot in those early episodes, he sounded mostly like a goof ball, but nevertheless, a very adorable goof ball.
Brad also performed Mousse(sp?)'s role from Ranma 1/2.
The voice actress for Relena(photo coming soon) is also the voice for ChiChi right now in DBZ:D *Gohan! Go to your room and study right this instant!* *Oh Gohan, my poor baby!!! Battling those big horrible monsters out there like that!!! wahhh!!!* *It's your bad influence Goku!! I don't want our son to turn out like some brainless muscle head, is that so wrong??!!!* *You think I don't know my own son??!!?? Do you think Gohan's going to get into a good school just by saving the world??!?? You think Gohan's going to get a good job just by saving the world??!!?? HUH?!!!!!!!(that's ChiChi sculding her daddy for lecturing to her about her son^^)* *My gohan is going to become a great scholar someday, arn't you Gohan?*
and so on and so on, a perky mother with a tremendous love for her family, Goku is sure lucky to have her as a wife and Gohan, indeed became a scholar at the end:) Although I am still a little puzzled about Relena's personality in GW, I definately support the role of ChiChi in DBZ for being the perfect wife and mom. Plus she looks so cute when she's angry at Goku or Gohan. Brilliant job on the seiyuu's part, this voice actress is just plain awsome!
And here's something you might not have expected, the voice-actress who does Noin(photo coming soon) also does Gohan in Dragonball Z, *Aw mom, can I??? please???? It'll be just for a little while, I promise!(that's either him wanting to play with his pet dragon Pikerous or go train with his dad or go fishing^^* *Dad I'm too scared to do this alone...* *No!! Krillin!!!* *Dont'..hurt..my..dad!* *Stop it!!!! I said, stop it!!!!!!* *I realize my hidden power now, and I think my dad and Piccolo knew about it all along.*(KingKai and Guru back on Namak knew about it too btw) *But once this power is released, I won't be able to control it! I will end up killing you Cell!* *16 was an android and I let him die..* *No more! I can't stand and watch anymore, I'm not gonna be scared anymore!!!* *I will never forgive you for what you've done, Cell!!!* *Is that all you've got, Cell?* from a child to a man in blink of a time, with abilities and courage far surpassing those of Trunks, Vegeta and finally his father, Gohan became the greatest saiyan warrior there ever was and there ever will be. His long and winding road of transition toward maturity is amazingly well portrayed through by Gohan's voice-actress. I simply love it and I believe no one will be able to substitute for her, absolutely no one. Gohan forever :)
NOTE: photos of the voice actors (c)animerica, may not be the most current ones available.
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