England's Voice Actor and 2 Seconds of America

[americanheroal.livejournal.com]

So Scott Freeman landed the role of Arthur Kirkland. This is Scott's first major roll and has been working as a background voice actor for a while with Funimation.

Youtube and FB is buzzing with comments and opinions and so it's our turn. What do you think of the English voice for England? (Or "Bri'en" as America seems to call him)

By the way, if you enjoy watching Hetalia online then I suggest you get the DVDs. It chalk full of extras including interviews with the Japanese voice actors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR6gyYMUESE

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_moenokori/]

I feel...well, I adore America's VA (thus far), and I agree with what was said previously, that he had a good accent going on on his grump.

Even if he sounds overly gay, isn't that the way we want him? XD??

(And I'm gonna be all over those DVDs when they come out!!)

[diana-lucifera.livejournal.com]

What do I even say about this? XD I've watched it, like, ten times, and every time I end up laughing harder! Honestly, I do wish they'd pick a different clip to premier with, since this is really not England at his usual, however... it's just so hilarious! I'm seriously loving the dub script.

The voice itself is all right. Still rather softer than I'd like, and yeah, the accent does kind of wander, but I don't think it's bad. The "Britain" thing does bother me, though. Honestly, England has the same amount of syllables, and I feel like it would have been the better choice. If we're translating verbatim, it should be at least be UK... Well, I'll probably get used to it, I guess.

Also, America's VA and I are going to get married married married.

[liete.livejournal.com]

Eh, not really feeling it. I don't think it's terrible or anything like that, but he definitely sounds like an American doing a not so great attempt at an English accent.

But in all I think they picked a pretty bad clip to showcase his voice, so I'm not going to pass any real judgment until I hear more.

[colevic.livejournal.com]

Okay, I was really worried about America's voice, but I LOVE IT. From what I hear so far, it's not an obnoxiously overdone, high-pitched voice like the Japanese voice actor for America. THANK YOU FUNIMATION.

And as for England? Different from what I expected, but that scene just made it totally better. xD His laugh is so much win.

[kilehye.livejournal.com]

It'll grow on me, probably. The first time I watch any of these clips, I get really disappointed. But when I watch them a second time, third time, I start to like it all a bit more.
I guess it's just the fact that it's all new, it's all so different from the Japanese voices, that it just sounds awkward at first. >.<

I also find it rather weird how they're changing a lot of the script too, seemingly for no reason.. some of it's great, very funny (I love the murder comment), but some is just downright weird (..mint bunny?).

[ricecakespwn.livejournal.com]

I also find it rather weird how they're changing a lot of the script too, seemingly for no reason.. some of it's great, very funny (I love the murder comment), but some is just downright weird (..mint bunny?).


This. I just hope they don't change too much of the script (in a bad way) ;u;

[yugikitsune.livejournal.com]

"Lets have no murders this time round, ok!" Laughed my ass off.

I like England's voice so far but I'd like to hear more of him being his typical grumpy self.

Anyone besides me think that America sounds a little like Brock from Pokemon?

[nightwingale.livejournal.com]

I kind of like the dub on England's voice, but it still feels like it is too early to judge at this point. I do like mint bunny, or any of the fairytale creatures. ^^

[sephydark]

England's accent here really grates on my ears. It's just so obviously fake, and fake accents bother me a lot. As for the rest of his voice, he sounds really gay, but then again it does fit the way he's acting in this scene... I will probably have to wait for more scenes with him before I pass final judgment.

[fix-chan.livejournal.com]

I may have to kill myself...also, I don't I know single person who talks like that AND I'M ENGLISH!! Jesus, we basically all angry drunks...why isn't he more angry...

[helisse.livejournal.com]

Seconding like whoa. His accent is faker than Paris Hilton's boobs.

[laurelancalime.livejournal.com]

I know what you mean, I hope to god that I don't sound like that to americans lmao

[fix-chan.livejournal.com]

HELL YEAH!! Jesus, I'm sure they could have got a British voice actor to do this. Hell I'd go and do it so that sounded more realistic and I'm a girl. It'd be better than that.

[ekazoo.livejournal.com]

LOL er this dub is about stereotypical accents, not 100% accurate ones. I don't know anyone who talks like that either, but I do know that this accent is a stereotypical one.

He's not angry/gruff/similar to the Japanese version because that's not a stereotype. A camp sounding posh accent however is a stereotype.

[helisse.livejournal.com]

Only it doesn't sound posh. Or English. Just fake. And it's slipping halfway through the video, I hope it gets better in actual episodes.

[ekazoo.livejournal.com]

Oh I thought it sounded posh! I'm English and I thought it sounded English.... I do think that this was probably the worst clip to use to showcase his accent though; he's just being incredibly dorky rather than speaking normally. I don't know if you heard his line in the dub clip of the first episode, but his voice is clearly posh there. The accent is spot on as well.

Even if he wasn't super super posh, he was still posher than 99% of English people's accents lol. Personally if they had gone OTT with the poshness I wouldn't have been pleased.

[fix-chan.livejournal.com]

that's not stereotypical, it's just bad. If it was going to be stereotypical it wouldn't be gay. And his voice is much deeper, and it just sounds more grumpy in the original, at least to me, in this he just sounds like a pansy. They could at least made him sound like John Cleese or something, that would have fitted him much better. Also magic, flying mint bunny wtf!? Seriously, that's just gay.

[ekazoo.livejournal.com]

...but a gay sounding voice is a stereotype. Have you seen Little Britain? The Prime Minister's assistant who late goes on to be the Prime Minister in a later series is over the top gay like this, because it's a stereotype. Then there's the whole "I'm not gay; I'm just British!" saying. As far as I'm aware there is no stereotype for British people to sound angry or gruff. Also, these VAs are not paid to impersonate the Japanese VAs. Um, he is rather camp in canon though: the magical creatures, him actions in the 'Can't escape from Italy' strip.... he is very camp lol. IMO this voice suits him better than a deeper one, because of the stereotype for British people's voices and his character in canon.

[fix-chan.livejournal.com]

The sterotypes on little britain are not stereotypes of all british people and Sebastian is really bad example for that, seriously. I don't see what is wrong with just getting a British person to do the voice, it isn't that hard to find British voice actors. I think his voice in the original is perfect. I always pictured him having a voice like John Cleese in the manga, being annoyed at America and France all the time in that amazingly British way that John Cleese has. And that "I'm not British, I'm gay" appeared because of bad voice acting and should not be the be all and end all of British accents. Plus I live in probably one of the poshest places in the UK and no one sounds like that.

[ekazoo.livejournal.com]

The reason they made him like that was partly because of the stereotype, though. I've also seen it used on the Simpsons. Um, it is hard to find British voice actors. If anyone has a career in voice acting in general here, then it's a sure shot that they are into doing voices for movies and not anime. People who voice act for movies get paid a lot more than for anime. It is very expensive to hire people from overseas because Funimation is based in Texas. In a perfect world they would've got people from each and every country to do the voices- but this is unrealistic and just not possible on their budget. The anime industry is worth a lot less right now, so instead they looked to save money by using American voice actors to do the accents. I adore his voice in the original, but this one was a lot closer to the one I imagined for him when I read the manga, because of the stereotypes it has. I'm not sure if that was from 'bad voice acting', and it's something that a lot of people have said and used. I can't actually think of another significant stereotype for British accents other than gay sounding and very posh. I also live in the UK and yeah, no one speaks like that where I live either.... but of course no one sounds like that, it's a stereotype therefore it is most likely to be untrue. Again, stereotypes =/= accurate.

Ears.... Bleeding...

[otoshigo.livejournal.com]

Oh dear God, can I claw my ears out now? o___o

To be fair, I fundamentally hate dubs (which is why I'm surprised that I actually like America's voice) but ENGLAND~!!!

First of all... BRITAIN?????? WTF????

Second, HE SOUNDS LIKE JAMES FROM POKEMON!!!! *insert obscenity* DDDD8

I'm just going to crawl into a hole and listen to John Oliver, Rupert Everett, Hugh Grant and Colin Firth talk and try to forget I ever watched that vid. (I would add David Tennant, Craig Ferguson, Colin Farrel and Sean Connery to that list as well, but they don't have English accents. Because England is ENGLISH. Although I'm confused about Pierce Brosnan.)

The only plus to this is that the dialogue is hilarious, but that doesn't help much if I can't listen to it... -___-

Re: Ears.... Bleeding...

[fix-chan.livejournal.com]

I love you. I hate dubs, and that is almost as bad as the Helsing dub (lol at the regional British accents in that).

And yeah, wtf is with calling him Britain. Calling him Britain is just the same as calling him England. The whole UK is not Britain, I think the Irish and the Scots would have a fit if you said that to them.

Re: Ears.... Bleeding...

[the-potomac.livejournal.com]

And don't forget the Welsh! :D

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[chairofbusby.livejournal.com]

I hate it.

And since i've already had enough wank about my own opinion on this dub. That is all I have to say.