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  1. #1

    Why do Japanese games keep using British actors?

    More and more Japanese made games that I am playing are using British actors. Basically every single character in Last Story had an accent, possibly not all British but certainly European. It wasnt so bad because its in a made up world and whose to say how those people speak, although still noticeable.

    Yet I also see games like Project Zero 2 about 2 Japanese girls and theyre both British! Like wtf. How hard is it to get someone who is asian to do the voices in English. Then theres Ni No Kuni a game that is supposed to take place in the USA and listen to them talk. BRITISH! More and more games are doing it too not just these, Im just using these as an example.

    So can someone explain to me whats the deal with it? Do the Japanese developers not realize things can be in English without having the person actually from England? This is once again nothing against English actors but it completely derives from the experience when the game is supposed to be taking place in the United States or Japan and everybody is using a damn British accent.

  2. #2
    Brewmaster Bladeface's Avatar
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    you do realize that almost all english voice-overs for games arent actually controlled by the japanese developers right?
    My channel: Shirgadirth I used to do let's play's but now I do reviews, but not very often. Far too busy from school. Also too poor to buy games :P

  3. #3
    Amazing levels of ignorance.

    I especially enjoyed the "maybe not all British but certainly European". I think if you can't tell an English accent from a French or German one, you should refrain from talking about other countries.

    On topic, perhaps they just prefer English accents?

  4. #4
    Bloodsail Admiral Horrid Crow's Avatar
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    Because British sounds better than American-English.
    What is worth fighting for?

  5. #5
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    British includes more than english.
    and consider localisation.

    and dragon ball

  6. #6
    Funny you should mention The Last Story. It was only released in the US because of fan demand, one of a handful of games to be released in English somewhere other than the US first.

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by Tya View Post
    Amazing levels of ignorance.

    I especially enjoyed the "maybe not all British but certainly European". I think if you can't tell an English accent from a French or German one, you should refrain from talking about other countries.

    On topic, perhaps they just prefer English accents?
    How is that ignorance. European is not just a few countries its a very large amount. Many of the actors certainly were British but I cant definitively say all of them were. There are around 30 countries in Europe, sorry if I cant recognize the accents of each one. Would you be able to tell what state an American is from based on their accent? I highly doubt it. Either way nothing is really coming close to answering the point of the question as to why they are British when the games arent taking place in Europe in general.

    ---------- Post added 2013-01-26 at 10:13 AM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Sangdraxx View Post
    Funny you should mention The Last Story. It was only released in the US because of fan demand, one of a handful of games to be released in English somewhere other than the US first.
    Last Story didnt bother me like I said. Its its own world so they can talk how they want. Its the others that make absolutely no sense and I'm wondering why they chose people with accents unrelated to where the game is taking place. If I made a Sherlock Holmes game I wouldnt hire voice actors from New York to do it.
    Last edited by Jibjabb; 2013-01-26 at 10:14 AM.

  8. #8
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    Have you ever heard an asian person trying to talk English? Yeah...

    Also, british voice actors sound better than the american ones

  9. #9
    Herald of the Titans -Ethos-'s Avatar
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    To answer your question in regards to Project Zero 2, i dont think its even been released in North America, if it has it was released in Aus and Europe first, so i presume the game was simply localised/dubbed in the UK.
    Last edited by -Ethos-; 2013-01-26 at 10:49 AM.

  10. #10
    Heh. This reminds me of when Onimusha 3 came out. My wife threw a huge fit when they got some other voice actor to do Jean Reno's lines in English. Plus the English voice actor was awful (as are most Capcom game dubs), and it's creepy seeing someone else's voice come from Jean Reno.

    Since games are usually dubbed in English in the country the English version is to be released in (North America or Europe) there probably isn't an abundance of Asian voice actors. And the odd thing being that what Asian actors there are will usually be American born and have a noticeably different accent than native speakers... Oh, and then there's the tendency to have them interchangeably play different Asian nationalities. Chinese actors playing Japanese characters and vice versa.

    Of course, we also have plenty of movies, games and cartoons where white actors of different nationalities play different nationalities. Often very badly...

    Sooo... I guess my point is that it's not a big deal and it happens in more places than you seem to realize.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by unholytestament View Post
    Sooo... I guess my point is that it's not a big deal and it happens in more places than you seem to realize.
    Usually when it happens IRL they try to mask it to make it to sound authentic. Dominic West (British actor) played a Baltimore cop in The Wire so well that you would have no idea he was British and honestly thought he was an American from Baltimore. Usually good voice actors can emulate other accents. These voice actors in these games aren't even trying lol. Still feels odd to me.

  12. #12
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    Actualy...

    When a media export leaves Japan, usually a company will dub it for the western markets. However, fun thing, when Japanese developers hire voice actors, they often look south. Australian can seem a bit british in many ways. I mean, there's the stereotypical aussie-backyard-redneck accent and then there's general australian. I'm quite sure if you invest a coupple of days going through alot of developer voiced, english spoken, video games and anime series from Japan, you'll notice alot of them are from Australia. Ofcourse it does not always apply, especially in these more modern times, but alot of people from my generation who liked anime at earlier ages will remember the australian accents often being very clear.

    I think the reasons were more geographical than anything back then. Today, it could just be a force of habit, despite ofcourse alot of Anime and Games are voiced by studios depending on market.

    Just wanted to throw that in there =)

  13. #13
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    They use British English for nobles and arictocratic characters. On the other hand they use cockney for some others like Yangus from DQVIII

  14. #14
    Herald of the Titans Mechazod's Avatar
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    Some games it fits, like the Fable and Dragon Quest/Warrior series. Then there's Ni No Kuni where I completely forgot the fact that the main character is actually a kid from the USA(or USAish land). That seems like a pretty big goof to make for the voice acting company to make. As much as I would like it to happen I know we will never be at a point where all games voice acting reflects the type/style of land/characters it takes place in, for example if I am playing a game that takes place strictly in Japan like The World Ends With You or Murumasa the Demon Blade, then I would expect that the characters would speak Japanese, however if say (and I know this will never happen) they made a 3D remake of EarthBound with voice acting, then I would expect the voices to be in a type of American-accent of English, to me it would ruin the immersion of listening to a Japanese voice over for the characters since it doesn't really reflect the world you are in, same if they used a British accent for the characters (with maybe a few exceptions for some where it may fit).

    Kind of off topic but what I always thought would be cool in the newer Street Fighter games where Ryu speaks it would of been nice from a background perspective if they could of gotten a Japanse voice actor to speak in English with a heavy accent when Ryu is talking to non-Japanese characters in the game, just to me that would seem more authentic. Even if the accent for the characters is somewhat cheesy (like Zangief) I still appreciate it when voice actors reflect the backgrounds of the character.
    Last edited by Mechazod; 2013-01-26 at 03:00 PM.

  15. #15
    Fluffy Kitten Remilia's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jibjabb View Post
    How hard is it to get someone who is asian to do the voices in English.
    Hard, trust me.

    Japanese being westernized = voice overs, translated text and some button changes cause we don't like to use O for confirm, we like X for some reason.

    Ask the people that do the VAs why they're European then.
    Welcome to the wonderful world of VAs! I hate dubs for a reason...

    The ones who dub it generally are not the ones who develop it.

  16. #16
    Fluffy Kitten Pendulous's Avatar
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    Maybe I'm playing the wrong games, but I haven't heard of this. Final Fantasy 10 feature John DiMaggio and Tara Strong, two of the best voice actors in North America. All the Japanese games I've played have had American (or at least American sounding) voice actors.

  17. #17
    I know for Xenoblade and Last Story the reason is they got localized in EU way before US got a hold of it. Personally, I like it much better, to me the accents fit much better, and it feels easier to listen to.


  18. #18
    Fluffy Kitten Remilia's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tommo View Post
    Im gona be honest the japanese are piss poor at making accents appropriate.

    In games and animes you either hear the most horrible english imaginable from a japanese voice actor, or they just say F it and make it in japanese instead.

    Ide say 1 of the only animes that make accents right is hetalia.
    Well, some games have it English from start like Dark Souls.

    And this is like the hyperbole version of Engrish.


  19. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by Horrid Crow View Post
    Because British sounds better than American-English.
    this made me throw up
    OT: dunno maybe old grudges?^^

  20. #20
    Quote Originally Posted by Jibjabb View Post
    Usually when it happens IRL they try to mask it to make it to sound authentic. Dominic West (British actor) played a Baltimore cop in The Wire so well that you would have no idea he was British and honestly thought he was an American from Baltimore. Usually good voice actors can emulate other accents. These voice actors in these games aren't even trying lol. Still feels odd to me.
    You just compared an award winning television show on a premium cable network to a video game.

    If your OP didn't give enough impression you weren't qualified to discuss this, then this post cinches it.

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