New Voice Actors Discussion (READ FIRST POST BEFORE POSTING)

[Trainer Lisa]

But her acting is getting better. In her defense though, it is hard to talk in a voice that isn't your natural one and be able to yell and everything while still staying in that voice. Trust me, I've tried, so I think that's why she may sound unemotional at times, because if she yells or whatever she may not sound like a boy anymore or something. You know what I'm saying?

Yes, I know exactly what you mean, Trainer Rachel.

And after seeing todays new episodes and the special, I agree with you. Her acting is getting better.

However, I still don't see any emotion in there. And I'm not liking that one bit...... X_X

And that's the main problem here. She's not a proffesional voice actor.

Exactly.

And that makes me dislike her voice acting even more.

Her Ash voice just doesn't sound right. There's no emotion, and there isn't even a hint of Ash's original voice in there (like most of the other VAs tried to incorporate in their voices).


Also, I hate Sarah's reactions or "reacts" as they call them in the VA business. Every time Ash reacts to something, getting hurt, falling into a hole or something, those are terrible.


Veronica was DEFINITELY better at getting those right. I loved all of her reacts. They were great!!

If you just let anyone be a voice actor, then you're going to have a much lower quality than if you stick to professionals. This is especially important in such a big role.

That makes me wonder why Pokemon USA didn't approach Veronica Taylor in the first place.

They knew she'd be the BEST person to do Ash's voice. So why didn't they want her, or even try to get her?


That's one thing I don't understand about this whole VA situation. They never approached any of the original VAs. But why? What was their reasoning behind that?



Anyway, on another note, you know how Maddie said they should technically have her name in the credits because they've been using some of the Pokemon voices she did?

Well, they should have Veronica's name in the credits too. I'm watching "Green Guardian" on CN right now, and I'm pretty sure they used Diglet's original voice (which was done by Veronica).

 

[Habunake]

They would have tons of people in the credits then, as we would have to credit the Japanese VA who did Celebi, and then all the other Pokemon at the beginning who some I believed had Japanese VA's.

 

[Trainer Lisa]

Well, other than for Pikachu, they wouldn't need to credit any other Japanese voices.

I mean, 4Kids kept many Japanese Pokemon voices, but the only one they ever credited was Pikachu.


But if they're using the original VAs' Pokemon voices in there, then I think they should credit them somehow (like in the Additional Voices part or something).

 

[Habunake]

Why? I don't see why sound clips of a 4kids VA should have any more priority over a sound clip from the original.

 

[The Power of Pika]

No. No, no, no, no, no.

If you just let anyone be a voice actor, then you're going to have a much lower quality than if you stick to professionals. This is especially important in such a big role. There have to be standards and if you can't meet them then of course there will be critisism.

May I ask you how the professionals came into the industry in the first place. They had to start somewhere.

Also always sticking to professionals means less professionals in the future since no one new would be allowed in.

I do agree on one thing. On a cartoon that's been going on for years it is more advisable a professional takes the role. Though it's a business decision in the end. It's their choice.

 

[Trainer Lisa]

Why? I don't see why sound clips of a 4kids VA should have any more priority over a sound clip from the original.

No, it's not that, Habunake......

But in the movie audio commentaries, the director and producer mention that they always keep a Pokemon's voice if it meets either these two conditions:

1. If the Pokemon's name is the same in English and Japanese.

OR

2. If the Pokemon only makes a sound, and doesn't say its name.


So if they keep Japanese Pokemon voices that often, then not including the VAs in the credits makes sense to me (seeing as how, a particular Pokemon like that would not appear in every episode).



This was posted in another thread:

And a side note - it's weird hearing the Mastermind of Mirage Pokemon special right after that... I mean, the voices are quite different! (no, I'm not talking about the original, but the redubbed version - but the voices still sound quite a bit different than how they do in recent episodes). I mean, Sarah sounded A LOT more like a girl in that special. She's improved now in that instance.

I agree with you about the fact that, the new VAs sound different in terms of the special and the most recent episodes (when compared to the Mastermind redub).

However, I have to disagree with you about Sarah not sounding like a girl.



In my opinion, she has not improved in that area. In all the Battle Frontier episodes this far and even in the Deoxys special - whether she's trying to sound emotional in a scene or not, she STILL sounds like a girl no matter what.

I always hear this girl-like voice coming from Sarah.

I can definitely hear it in her Ash voice, and I hate it. It shouldn't be there!! X_X

 

[Lil Brother]

No, it's not that, Habunake......

But in the movie audio commentaries, the director and producer mention that they always keep a Pokemon's voice if it meets either these two conditions:

1. If the Pokemon's name is the same in English and Japanese.

OR

2. If the Pokemon only makes a sound, and doesn't say its name.

Unfortunately, they've ignored that rule several times...

Like Absol, for instance. It kept its original name and didn't say it's name in the original. But in the dub? "Absol. Absol."

 

[Daniel J]

Well after finally catching up on all the new stuff, I can say Sarah's Ash has come a long way.....

This was my first time seeing the Mastermind redub and Ash did sound way to girly, but when I watched the Deoyxis special and the other two episodes I clearly heard an improvment ^o^

Harleys new Va is ok, its not bad its just a bit different, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.

Everyone else was great so no problems their.

 

[Trainer Lisa]

Oh, cool. ^^

I didn't know about that, Lil Brother......


So apparently, 4Kids must've made an exception for Absol. And I'm sure they probably made other exceptions to that rule too.

But anyway, other than those exceptions, as far as I know that's generally how they did things with the Pokemon voices.




And on another note, I really do hope that when season 9 is over, they are able to get Veronica back on the show (and the other VAs too, if possible).

Seriously, I cannot stand Sarah's Ash voice.



Sure, I admit that it isn't as bad as the Kayze's Ash was in the original Mastermind.

And on the positive side, Sarah's Ash isn't painful on the ears, and Pokemon is still watchable with that voice. However, unfortunately for me, the voice is still bad enough to make me hate it.


But to be honest, Sarah isn't a professional VA, she doesn't sound anything like Veronica in terms of a sound-alike, she has no emotion (granted, she's getting a bit better, but she still can't do it for an entire episode), and she can't do reacts whatsoever.

Well, that pretty much sums up Sarah's Ash voice, in my opinion.

 

[Trainer Rachel]

Well, that pretty much sums up Sarah's Ash voice, in my opinion.

XD Lol, sorry, had to laugh at that (no, not at you, just the way you said it ^_^)

Well, sure, sometimes Sarah's voice is a bit girly, but I personally think she can sound like a boy... but I agree that it would be awesome to have Veronica back for season 10. Have you been able to contact her to see if she would come back if asked?

 

[Habunake]

Well, technically most boys Ash's age DO sounds somewhat like girls...

 

[Trainer Lisa]

Well, that might be true, Habunake......


But, I can tell you one thing, Veronica's Ash never sounded like a girl, ever.

I've seen every dubbed episode many times, and believe me, I would've heard it if that happened.

XD Lol, sorry, had to laugh at that (no, not at you, just the way you said it ^_^)

That's okay. ^^

Actually, I think I typed it that way on purpose, to see what everyone would say, and how you guys would react. XD

but I agree that it would be awesome to have Veronica back for season 10. Have you been able to contact her to see if she would come back if asked?

No, I haven't done that yet (but I plan to, very soon)......

I was actually waiting to see if she replied to my other email first. You see, I ususally give her a good amount of time to respond to one of my emails, before I send another one.

But I think I sent her that email last month.

And its been weeks, probably an entire month since then, and I still see no reply from her. I've come to the conclusion that she must've been busy with voice acting work, otherwise I'm sure she would've replied to that email I sent her.


Anyway though, I've waited long enough for a response from that email.

I think it's about time I sent her another message. And this one's gonna be very important, so I'll most likely get a reply.

 

[Luna Tiger]

But to be honest, Sarah isn't a professional VA, she doesn't sound anything like Veronica in terms of a sound-alike, she has no emotion (granted, she's getting a bit better, but she still can't do it for an entire episode), and she can't do reacts whatsoever.

Like I said, this seems to be her first role as a male character. And if she's not a professional VA in some degree, HOW did she land the lead female role in the to-be video game Witch Bullet?

She can obviously act. Acting's her profession. And actors themselves can obviously be VAs (the majority of KH1's human cast and less than half of KH2's human cast, Clancy Brown, Ron Perlman, so many others) because they can ACT, like they're suppose to; so where are your arguments now?

Maybe they didn't pick her to be Taylor's sound-a-like. Maybe they picked her because they couldn't find a more decent replacement. Maybe they picked her to breathe in a different life to him. Because he's not May, or Brock, or Misty, or any of the co-stars. He's ASH. The face of the darn franchise, right alongside Pikachu.

PUSA wasn't obligated to hire sound-a-likes; they did that for the old audience. That was a privilege for us. If they didn't get a Taylor sound-a-like, oh well. With Sarah's slow-but-sure improvement, I'm quite sure she'll be kept next season.

 

[Nando]

Yes, it is true that PUSA was not obligated to find a Veronica soundalike. But however, it is true that they were obligated---to old fans, new fans and everyone in between---to find the right actor for Ash.

Sarah Natochenny is not that actor.

Saying about her supposed "slow but steady" improvement (a concept I disagree with) is a very flimsy argument. In any other line of work, if you showed the amount of ineptitude that Sarah showed (and still shows imo) you would be fired before you could say "Lucario."

Sarah being fired from the show and replaced by someone who can actually take their job seriously will be enough for me to call a truce on PUSA. I'll even learn to like Jimmy Zoppi's voices for James and Meowth. Anything just to get rid of Sarah Natochenny. She is an utter joke.

 

[Trainer Lisa]

Like I said, this seems to be her first role as a male character. And if she's not a professional VA in some degree, HOW did she land the lead female role in the to-be video game Witch Bullet?

She can obviously act. Acting's her profession. And actors themselves can obviously be VAs (the majority of KH1's human cast and less than half of KH2's human cast, Clancy Brown, Ron Perlman, so many others) because they can ACT, like they're suppose to; so where are your arguments now?

Okay, so this is her first role as a male character, I can understand that. And that might explain why she can't get some of the emotion down or why she sounds too girly.

Anyway, there's no argument here.


Also, I can understand actors becoming voice actors. That's perfectly understandable.

No argument here either.

Maybe they didn't pick her to be Taylor's sound-a-like. Maybe they picked her because they couldn't find a more decent replacement. Maybe they picked her to breathe in a different life to him. Because he's not May, or Brock, or Misty, or any of the co-stars.

But that doesn't make any sense.

Pokemon USA told us (or did we just hear this officially from someone?) that they would hire sound-a-likes. So that's what I was expecting for Ash.

However, that is not what they gave us. So I guess your theory would make sense, that they hired her because they couldn't find a more decent replacement.


I wonder though, when they re-casted the original Mastermind Ash VA, did the thought of hiring Veronica Taylor for season 9 ever cross their mind? Even once? I would really like to know this, because wouldn't it make sense to hire back the original VA for Ash (other VAs aside)?

So, instead of doing something they knew would definitely work, they took a big chance with someone who we aren't sure of, and just assumed they would get the voice right.

Am I getting this right?

He's ASH. The face of the darn franchise, right alongside Pikachu.

You said it, right there. That's my main problem with Sarah Natochenny's Ash voice.


That voice is supposed to be Ash! But it doesn't sound like him!

Not to me anyway.


First of all, if it's supposed to be a sound-a-like voice (like they did with Brock's), then it sounds NOTHING like Ash's original voice! Second, overall, there is no emotion in any lines (except for a few)! And third, the reacts are done very poorly!! When Ash falls down and gets hurt, we should be able to hear that in his voice. But instead of hearing Ash-in-pain, I hear someone who sounds like they're reading a script.

I'm sorry but that is not the Ash I know and love. It just isn't. And it will never be, unless I see a HUGE improvement in Sarah within the next few weeks (unlikely, in my opinion).

With Sarah's slow-but-sure improvement, I'm quite sure she'll be kept next season.

And that's another problem.

Sarah's improvement may be slow, but we're not sure of it (well, I'm not sure of it anyway). We don't know for a fact that she will be much better, or could be much better. All we have so far are the current Battle Frontier episodes, the Mastermind redub, and the Deoxys special. That's all we have to go on right now.


I mean, we're probably half way (or more) through season 9, and so far Sarah still doesn't have the emotion down. Also, if she's trying to imitate Veronica, she's been doing a terrible job of if. Only with the most recent episodes has there been a few lines where she sounded even remotely close to the original Ash voice. But that's all there was, a few lines.

And in terms of emotion, I don't hear any, no matter which line is being said. Sarah just can't do Ash's emotions yet, and I have no idea if she will ever get those down.




EDIT:

Yes, it is true that PUSA was not obligated to find a Veronica soundalike. But however, it is true that they were obligated---to old fans, new fans and everyone in between---to find the right actor for Ash.

Sarah Natochenny is not that actor.

I completely agree with you there!!

That was very well said, TGB. ^^

Anything just to get rid of Sarah Natochenny. She is an utter joke.

Agreed.

And if Sarah doesn't improve, or get any better, I will completely agree with you here.


And by that, I mean be able to do a complete episode with MUCH emotion in Ash's voice, and then take the next step - do many episodes the same way - if I don't see this kind of improvement from Sarah sometime soon, I will have no choice but to completely agree with that statement from TGB.

 

[Habunake]

"Utter Joke" is a little harsh, no?

 

[Trainer Lisa]

Well, yeah it is a bit harsh, Habunake.

But hey, I said if she doesn't improve, in case you missed that......


She might. I don't know if she will or not.

But I think there's a good chance of Sarah improving, and reaching my expectations for the way I want Ash to sound.


I'm just fearing the worst right now, because the way I see things, Sarah's Ash doesn't sound anything like Veronica's Ash and I hate it. I couldn't even call that a main-character's-voice, that's why I've been saying it's generic.

 

[XD375]

Why complain about the new voices? In a way, the old VAs are still their. If it wasn't for them, the new ones wouldn't be a good as they are!

 

[FabuVinny]

I didn't understand a word of that...

 

[Cybersai]

The new voices are all fine, the only one that's still off is Ash. If it takes Sarah an entire season to get Ash's voice right, then so be it.

I bet she'll sound much better in the D/P saga than she does now.