Kenshin is NOT a woman!!!

[Falco53]

I've been holding this in for a long time, it's time to unleash it.

You can watch Rurouni Kenshin dubbed or subbed. Several people will ramble on and on about how great Kenshin's seiyuu is. But I have to let you people in on something:

KENSHIN'S SEIYUU IS A WOMAN

I am just sick and tired of hearing how great she is. She's female, and it shows. Her voice isn't even a voice that sounds like it might be male, she sounds dinstinctly female. Girly. I don't care if it's "artsy," men should sound like men.

"What? You're the legendary hitokiri? Shouldn't you have gotten married to some rich fella' by now?"

Let's see how many people I've ticked off.

[Jasdero]

o.o;;;;; Is that really... bad? *runs away* ((((((((((((((((( O_O)

[Hitokiri]

I think she actually does pulling off serious and funny Kenshin....plus you need that "innocent" type sound. Doesn't bother me a bit but however I know how you mean.

[Mave]

I could have been ticked off but I don't think it's something worth getting frustrated about. I'm not crazy about the seiyuu's voice but I think she does a pretty good job with her characters. In Kenshin's case, I think it's decent since she has a low pitched-voice anyway.

Sure it's fine to let out your frustration, but it's something you'll just have to get used to in anime/manga since quite a number of male characters have female seiyuus (Shinji, Quatre, Kurama, Soujirou etc.etc)

[Falco53]

^ And that is why I watch Ruruoni Kenshin in english.

[Raiden no Kishi]

::must watch RK subbed now:: ^_^

Rai

[Hitokiri]

I'm not trying to start a arguement but girls do guy characters in American as well.

Yahiko Myojins VA is Elyse Floyd who also know as Wendee Lee played Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop) and Twilight Suzuka (Outlaw Star). To me it doesn't matetr the gender of the voice actor/seiyuu but it does matter if they do a good job at it.

One female seiyuu that does a guy I love is Rie Kugimiya who plays Alphouse from FMA. I absoultely love how she did his voice.

[Raiden no Kishi]

Ash from Pokemon's voice is/was done by a woman. Same goes for (ugh) Bart Simpson.

Rai

[Hitokiri]

Ash from Pokemon's voice is/was done by a woman. Same goes for (ugh) Bart Simpson.

Rai

The first is a given (and is a reaaaalllly bad voice actor) however the latter is hard to believe. Most of the kids in the Dragon Ball series have women as thier voice actors. Like I said, it depends if they do a good job at the voice acting. If they make the character sound believeable and right with the character, doesnt matter to me what gender they are....unless a guy plays a girl part....deifently one with a high, hyper voice ::shivers::

[Cap'n Nick]

I recently learned that the Japanese voice actress that did Yuki from Fruits Basket also did Sailor Mercury. This amused me greatly.

[ZiP]

Sometimes I really do wish I could understand what you all are talking about...

[AngelSakura]

<<::must watch RK subbed now:: ^_^>>
Ditto, ditto.

Also, I don't particularly care who the voice actor for anyone is, as long as they can do their job well. I take pride in being able to recognize voice actors by ear (at least in dubs, I can't do Japanese ones).

[Kenshin17]

I agree with the above posters. Long as they nail the part they can be guy or girl. I also like identifying actors by ear. I am getting pretty good and know quite a few voice actorsa now.

As to Kenshin's japanese voice being done by a girl I was aware of that. I have the directors cut of Trust&Betrayal and it has interveiws with the Japanese voice actors. I haven't watched the subs yet so I can't say if I liked it or not. But as I stated if she nailed the part...

I can understand where your coming from though.

[Aka-chan]

I thought she did a really good job. Often, in the Japanese, women will voice for boys or young men, especially those who are still quite innocent. Kenshin's not exactly naive, but I thought she nailed the character.

[Azier the Swordsman]

I think Kenshin's VA did a great job. And I personally can't stand the dub, as the voice acting deliverence doesn't sound nearly as believable to me as the sub voices. (There are several voices in the dub that made me cringe.)

If you want to rant about how bad female voice actors are, I think you've picked the wrong character. Tip: Try Son Goku from the Japanese DBZ.

[Nate]

I recently learned that the Japanese voice actress that did Yuki from Fruits Basket also did Sailor Mercury. This amused me greatly.

Aya Hisakawa?

Yeah, she's great. She not only did Ami-chan and Yuki-kun, but she did Skuld from Ah! My Goddess, as well as Kero-chan's SD form in Cardcaptor Sakura (even though Keroberos is a male, and Kero-chan's true form has a different, male VA, Aya-san did a very good job).

In fact, her notable voice credits include:

Rem - Trigun

Rena - Star Ocean: The Second Story for PS1 (fun fact: you can actually hear her voice in the English version of the game! For whatever reason, the English VA for Rena never recorded a take for the Gravity Press spell, so if you have Rena cast that you hear Aya-san ^^)

Xianghua - Soul Calibur II (I KNEW I recognized that voice!)

Kurosawa Minamo - Azumanga Daioh

There's quite a few other noteworthy stuff, including Utena, Beyblade, Gunsmith Cats, and Voogie's Angels, but since I don't watch those...*shrugs*

Oh! *Realizes he must get back on topic*

Yeah, I don't see anything wrong with a character's voice being done by the opposite gender...unless it sounds REALLY bad, and a lot of the time it doesn't.

[Debitt]

Like everyone said, I hold nothing against any male anime character being played by a female. Usually they do a very good job, and they can capture their character well - one of my favorite seiyuu happens to be Paku Romi, who does voices overs for many many male characters (Ed from FMA, Heimdall from Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok, Ken Ichijouji from Digimon, Tao Ren from Shaman King)

[Falco53]

If you want to rant about how bad female voice actors are, I think you've picked the wrong character. Tip: Try Son Goku from the Japanese DBZ.

This isn't a rant against female voice actors/seiyuus, it's a rant against Kenshin sounding like a woman. Female VAs are absolutely essential... for women characters...

If DBZ didn't suck I'd try that out.

Often, in the Japanese, women will voice for boys or young men, especially those who are still quite innocent. Kenshin's not exactly naive, but I thought she nailed the character.

Often, in the American, women will voice for boys or young men. I don't have a problem with that. It's hard to find little boys that can actually act, and most men can't pull off a believable little boy voice.

But Kenshin is a grown man in his thirties...

I get kind of annoyed how so many people will think some voice-acting is good just because it's in a different language. A lot of seiyuus over-act very badly, but most people don't notice because of the language barrier, and say, "Ooh, emotion!"

[Debitt]

Personally I think that Kenshin's seiyuu fit him well, and this is coming from a girl who is well acquainted with the language. I do see what you're getting at, but I assure you it isn't the case for all people.

[Azier the Swordsman]

I get kind of annoyed how so many people will think some voice-acting is good just because it's in a different language. A lot of seiyuus over-act very badly, but most people don't notice because of the language barrier, and say, "Ooh, emotion!"

As a student of Japanese, I can safely say that the voice acting in Kenshin is very well acted.

[Arnobius]

Personally, I'm puzzled that anyone has an issue with the gender of a seiyuu. It's common for females to play the roles of younger males and do so well (Jean in Nadia was played by a woman).

As for Kenshin, the seiyuu was perfect for the role, able to switch from the absentminded hobo to the deadly swordsman at will. I think her work in the movie (unfortunately titled Samurai X: The Movie) was outstanding and her voice gave a convincing tone of "Don't [Bleep] with Me!" in the Battousai mode.

The dub, on the other hand was a terrible performance by all cast members, to my ears.

Better to have a quality actor of a different gender than a bad one of the correct gender...

EDIT: And I have studied the Japanese language, and have always preferred the original actor subbed than the dubbing actor. You CAN tell the difference in good/bad acting with a foreign language if you listen

[Tycho]

Wanna hear my take on this from the standpoint of someone who has studied japanese. Japanese women are a lot easier to understand than men. Men tend to speak very quickly and low. That's why you see a lot women newscasters.

Note: Above content is purely opinion and has no scientific fact.

[Heart of Sword]

especially those who are still quite innocent

Kenshin's not exactly innocent...though he does look it (sometimes o_o).

The voice in the Japanese version gave me nightmares.

[Mave]

Better to have a quality actor of a different gender than a bad one of the correct gender...

Yeah, you said it. You summed my thoughts in this topic in one great sentence.

[oro!]

But Kenshin is a grown man in his thirties...

In an exasperated tone: But he said he was 28! I personally like the English version of his voice better, but the Japanese is pretty good too! Don't go dissing the voice-actors! Yeah!

[Hitokiri]

Kenshin's not exactly innocent...though he does look it (sometimes o_o).

He isn't but he acts it. Meaning, in reality he isn't innocent cause all those ke killed but he puts on a innocent face...not to fool anybody but to surpress the the hitokiri (hee hee) inside of him. Thats what I got from it.

Which in turn, a female voice actor works perfectly for him.

I found his dubbed voice (done by Richard Hayworth who also does Legato Bluesummers from Trigun) done very well. I do miss the more audiable oro in Japanese.

[AngelSakura]

<<Aya Hisakawa?

Yeah, she's great. She not only did Ami-chan and Yuki-kun, but she did Skuld from Ah! My Goddess, as well as Kero-chan's SD form in Cardcaptor Sakura (even though Keroberos is a male, and Kero-chan's true form has a different, male VA, Aya-san did a very good job).

In fact, her notable voice credits include:

Rem - Trigun>>
You know what's funny? Johnny Yong Bosch, Vash's English VA, played Eriol in one or two Card Captor Sakura movies, and Vash's Japanese VA, Masaya Onasaka, played the big Kero-chan. *shrug*

[Falco53]

In an exasperated tone: But he said he was 28! I personally like the English version of his voice better, but the Japanese is pretty good too! Don't go dissing the voice-actors! Yeah!

Sorry, but does it make that much of a difference?

You people seem to be misunderstanding me. I am not saying that the seiyuu is bad, just a woman. I don't care how good the voice acting is, grown men should not sound like women. Try switching it around]a man[/I].

I long for the days when men were men and gals were gals...

[Hitokiri]

I'm not a huge support of Feminism or anything of the sort but that's kinda sexist, man.

Like I've said before, as long as they do a good job at what they do, doesn't bother me if it's a guy and girl. I will also quote what I said earlier about his "innocence".

He isn't but he acts it. Meaning, in reality he isn't innocent cause all those ke killed but he puts on a innocent face...not to fool anybody but to surpress the the hitokiri (hee hee) inside of him. Thats what I got from it.

Which in turn, a female voice actor works perfectly for him.

Heck, when I first heard Kenshin in Japanese, I thought the voice actor was a guy, until I saw a interview. A girl yes but she does a great job playing as a guy.

[Falco53]

^Yes, it is quite sexist to want men to sound like men. No girly men please.