FFXII is, by several orders of magnitude, the best FF in terms of the English voice acting. Balthier and Fran are amongst my favourite voice performances ever. I don't understand Japanese so I can't comment on the quality really, but they sound decent too. But this is possibly the only game in existence where I'd prefer the English voices.
I love the fact that in the English dub every country has a distinct accent, and that adds a whole other dimension to things, like the Gabranth impersonating thing at the start or immediately knowing Balthier's from Archadia the moment he says anything.
I'm always amazed by Nicole Fantl's voice acting as Fran in this. That sort of strange, raspy and exotic accent that doesn't really relate to anything. It's odd because Fantl doesn't sound at all like this in real life so i'm wondering where she got the inspiration/idea for Fran's voice.
Abyss Walker his sexy arrogant charismatic hot dude and a great leader only can be made by Gideon emery. Hands down Balthier is the best character in FF till now. Only ff15 Nyx that come close to balthier voice and persona, both are charismatic even though they call themselves as a hero in the story Nyx lack of that arrogant personality(in good way like he is no 1 and he doesn't care anyone but actually hes care about them) Gideon hands is fit more than the jappanese one. IMO.
I don't find Balthier being arrogant at all. Maybe people mistaken his confidence with arrogance. arrogance means put oneself above anyone else, arrogant people always thinks that they are more valuable than the others. if Balthier was arrogant, he wouldn't care about the other friends like Ashe when she want to steal his ship, he wouldn't even let Vaan to board on his ship, he would want something from Ondore for having Ashe saved (more than good meal), he would care more about his popularity, rather than put it (his popularity) as a joke topic. and judging how important his role to the team, if Balthier was arrogant, he would be such pain in the ass, giving people hard time and Vaan will hate him. Balthier is confident.
Laurensius Satya it's okay buddy. i agree with you about him being the best character of ff. nowadays people care more about action than characteristic
Considering how Shakespearean this story kinda was, having a good chunk of the main case played by theater actors really worked out for this dub. This is probably one of the few JRPG's where I can accept that the English dub is more fitting than the original. And that's coming from a _dedicated_ sub guy, regardless of original language lol
@@Zhuravliov it's subjective but I feel since the English dub team, which consists of theater actor and actress being allowed to interpret the characters of the game as how they see most fitting and natural in accordance to the story and the inspiration of it, as supposed to just emulate their Japanese counterparts like how they did in FF13, really does elevate the English dub quality in Ff12
Why can't I copy paste my response? (sigh) Fascinating... So by my count I actually like most of the English cast, unusual. Nicole Fantl absolutely killed it as Fran, but Rika's Fran was actually completely different in tone. Hers was more mature and sounds like what I'd expect of a beautiful young woman over 60 years old (gotta love Viera aging). That said NIcole applied a definitively foreign almost alien accent to her that was absolutely perfect...I'm completely torn. I want to toggle both performances on the fly. Note Square give us cutscene replay in all future FF releases. Japanese Vaan sounds a little too adult, and Japanese Penelo sounds a bit too rough for the girl who wants to be a dancer. Verdict English. Balthier in English for me is the definitive Balthier. I like Japanese Ashe much better, while English Ashe sounds more lady-like, in Japanese she has more emotion and intensity, and the hot bloodedness that makes her. English Ashe was a bit too calm. Basche is great in both versions, with Japanese Basche sounding very samurai-like and English Basche sounding like a perfect knight. Larsa oddly sounds extremely similar in both versions and is great either way. (and going from Larsa's unbridled awesomeness to Hope in XIII was painful, hated that kid).
I think, only Ashe underperformed in English version. The rest of the cast have such distinctive and rich voices. Vaan, Balthier and my favorite - Fran. Actually, I adore Nicole Fantl's voice acting in this. Overall, after disastrous English dub of FFX, FFXII sounded absolutely astonishing.
The English voice acting of Final Fantasy XII is one of the best dubs of Final Fantasy games. XV is the only ff that can rival its voice acting quality. Fran's English voice actress sounds so sexy yet mysterious.
Wow, Japanese Balthier is as dull as death. However English Fran is by far my favourite in this game, I love how her voice makes her so enigmatic and that they didn't go with the typical mature sounding stereotype despite her age (although it still fits her, making her imo have the best voice in the Japanese version), she looks youthful so it's lovely that she sounds as such. What makes English so much better in this game is that the voice actors are able to cultivate a character based off an accent, whereas the Japanese don't really invest in that but are rather more emotive.
Vaan: English, youthful and vivacious Balthier: English, Goes with his Appearance and charm Fran: English, Calm and Intelligent Bashe: Both, English version sounds bold, japanese version sounds fearless Penelo: English, Playful and trustworthy. When I listen to her english voice it almost makes everything seem better. Larsa: English, Young and absolute. The "I'm young but i have power, and i know how to use it" kind of impression. Ashe: Both, independent and fustrated.
The voice acting and localization is so good because most of the characters, especially the Arcadia Judges, were all thespians and classically trained actors. Something I wish we'd see more of in RPGs.
Vaan : I liked both. Balthier : The English one seemed to have more expression in the way he talked; the accent seemed to also add into the factor. The Japanese one just seemed pretty plain. Kind of like a voice you could hear in just about any other typical anime or something. Fran : I like both... The Japanese one sounds pretty, and the English one makes her sound more like she belongs in a place like Eruyt Village. More... foreign-like.
"Fran and the rest of the Viera were written with an Icelandic dialect in mind, which raised some questions from Square Enix early in the process." "The raised dev-team eyebrows on Nicole Fantl were purely because the voice was so different from the Japanese, in a more markedly obvious way than our stylizations on the other accents affected the voices of characters like Ondore and Basch. It only took an explanation of our reasonings to sell the new take on the viera, though. Thumbs up to the FFXII dev team for being so open-minded. It's rare." From an interview with the FFXII localization team, "A Voice for Ivalice." Great read! if you're interested in their voice catsing process check it out.
Vaan: (Vann always bothered me but...) English Balthier: English!!!! Gideon Emery IS Balthier!! Seriously... he is a bit like his character in person. lol. A really amazing guy. Anyway! Fran: English, Both are good but Nicole I feel adds more mystery to Fran. Basch: English Ashe: English. Kari is an AMAZING person! I was lucky enough to spend a day with her for a high school project. She is really wonderful at her craft and I respect her a lot. Penelo: Both Larsa: Both
Larsa: Both versions are good. English voice fits his appearance, and make him look like a fearless warrior. Japanese version fits his age and childish character.
I must say that I prefer English far more than Japanese. It fits with the game and the personalities of the characters more. My favorites are probably Ashe, Vaan, Larsa, and Fran.
Ashe: Both are also good, yet I still prefer the english Penelo: Whoa, that a huge difference, they made her seem like a tom-boy in the japanese version dessho? Larsa: I love both, but the Japanese actually captures the child's tone, and serious and sophisticated tones of the english version...
English>Japanese Though I always prefer the Japanese dub. I preferred Ashe in Japanese only. I liked Penelo and Larsa in Japanese but their English voice is better.
i like the english one better :P i find the japanese voices for Vaan , Penelo and Balthier to rough/old... and maybe i find the english ones better cuz of the accents xD
sanji is quite an interesting one since he's courteous to ladies but isn't afraid to show his inner pervert. also he's the gentleman type of character so probably that's why balthier's va is the same in jp
This makes me feel so sad for Hirata Hiroaki, he's my favorite seiyuu but everybody dislikes him in this role lol...I mean, I agree that Balthier's English voice is perfect (sassy Fenris!!!!!!!!!!!) I just want to give Hirata a hug hahaha
The English voices sound so much better than the Japanese voices. I was disappointed with the English version of XIII because of how little emotion the English voice actors put into the performance, but this one will always be amazing.
***** I know this is a year old post, but I'd like to point out that when Lightning's VA started voicing her, she had just started her career in voice acting, so it was to be expected as being underwhelming, along with Hope's voice actor, who up until then had been voicing in Phineas and Ferb, so he didn't need to sound good for kids. Snow's voice actor was actually pretty good IMO, he put alot of personality into Snow's Character. Considering his VA was Troy Baker, this was to be expected, along with Serah's VA who has a lot of experience voice acting in anime. And may I just point out that Fang has the sexiest voice of all the characters. Caius also, but I'm straight enough to admit when men have attractive voices. If I came off as rude, I apoligize, but I couldn't help but point off these little tidbits.
Japanese Vaan sounds too old, Japanese Balthier sounds too serious, Japanese Ashelia sounds too wild and crazy and Japanese Larsa speaks a bit too quickly for somebody so dignified. The other Japanese voices are fine though. Although I much prefer the English voice actors.
I absolutely adore balthier's english voice, but I can't get over how everyone seems to love Fran's as well. I cannot STAND her voice. It makes me cringe so hard all my hair raises instantly.
I'm currently looking into the Japanese version because I can't stand Ashe gasping every other line. I'm pretty sure the Japanese version has more of the same but given my experience with anime it's usually much more natural in Japanese.
That statement essentially means "If I don't understand the idiosyncraices of a language, I can convince myself that people really sound that way". Regardless, Ashe's actress still has to meet the lip flaps the original japanese VA set.
Just to clarify I actually enjoyed 99% of Kari Wahlgren performance. Any problems I had with Ashe, particularly the English performance, were either a result of the character herself ("Don't Interupt" lol) or the direction given to the VA's (in this case the constant gasping). Obviously both of those aspects were beyond the VA's control. It might be unfair to English performances but in regards to Japanese performances, particularly when you don't speak the language you essentially get a chance to fill in a lot of the blanks. To be fair though a lot of them in the past have been worthy of the wooden and emotionless critques though I did not feel this game was one of them (it has gotten a lot better in recent years for most Japanese exports). In short for Japanse dubs most English audiences only need to focus on the inflection and tone of the voice rather than specifically what is being said. When you listen in your native language you're evaluating not only the tone but the semantics as well. It would be like if you had two chefs competing and one was judged solely on the foods appearance while the other was judged on the appearance as well as the taste. Again probably unfair but, thats the case for a lot of people such as myself. In the case of my critique of Ashe when Mie Sonozaki did the exact same gasp it was much easier to ignore because at that point its essentially being evaluated by the same part of the brain listening to the music. Ironically though FF12 was likely the toughest to follow with subs as my brother and I use to joke the script was essentially an SAT word prep guide. I mean does anyone know what an oubliette is? Well I DO. It's a dungeon thats only accessable through a hatch in the ceiling....thanks Squaresoft. I can't wait to use that in my next conversation. *Fran: Through the Oubliette, there's a way out.* Anyway to sum up I realize that in a lot of cases my perference towards Japanese dubs is unfair but at the end of the day its my preference and I can't exactly change it through rational thought and logic.
@magicicle Omg. I thought I was the only who thought this. I keep hearing Balthier, hes okay, but Basch I always like. He has nice abbs. =) Basch is hot indeed.
Fran's Japanese voice is the same actress that played Sailor Venus in the Japanese version of Sailor Moon... although it doesn't really sound like Venus... either she got older or she's just simply doing a different voice.
I like Balthier (hes greeeeat), Vaan (fits his age) and Penelo (japanese is not bad, but it doesn't sound as sweet as english) in English. Basch and Fran are good in both, and for Fran is a matter of taste, I liked the more mature voice in the japanese version, but the English one is very good. Ashe is great in japanese, and kind of loses emotions in the english version. I also played this in English ss a kid, so there's that. English wins!
I knew there was a connection between One Piece and this game somewhere. Oh Sanji.... you must be happy. Hee hee. I don't know how many times those hi-potions Larsa had kept me alive. Especially the X-Potions.
I've always enjoyed Gideon Emery's Balthier. But there's something about that Japanese voice...It just feels like the role of a pirate, coupled with that voice, fit to make one piece of coolness.
Vaan: Both,but I prefer hearing the Japanese version Balthier: Both,but I like the English one.. Fran: Japanese.Her voice fit with her appearance Basch: Both....For obvious reasons Ashe: Both are excellent..I like both of the voice Penelo: Japanese...cause she sounds freak when in English version Larsa:Japanese...That's make him fit to his age..The English version I like his way of talking..British accents...
okay... english voice over wins this one... although I always ALWAYS prefer japanese, the english vo is much more cooler for this one... although I hate Vaan, but his japanese voice doesn't really have any... oomph :P, I really LOVE balthier english voice although I am straight, he really sounds cool
Basch : For some reason, I think I like the English one better. :3 Ashe : Ohh, I like both the Japanese *and* English. ♥ Penelo : The English one sounds more childish, in a way, and it seems to fit her character. But I do like the Japanese voice too. ^ ^ Larsa : The English one sounds more royal-like [xD], so it definitely fits with his position. I lurrrv Larsa~ :]
WOw didn't heard the japanese voices and always liked the english one but if you compare it, the english one is very emotionless Oo Look on Ashe's japanese voice , full of emotions and the english one? nothing!
I prefer: Van = English. Balthier = Both are pretty good. Fran = Japanese Basch = English Ashe = English, her Japanese voice actor seemed too intense for her character. Penelo = Both, they suit her character. Larsa = English, although I do recognize his formality in Japanese by addressing himself as "boku."
I think one reason the English voices fit the characters better is because the game has a medieval-ish setting. I mean 10 had western and eastern qualities so both the English and Japanese suited the characters. At least that's what I think.
Balthier's English VA alone makes the English version better. He is just that much more badass! Also, Fran's (as well as the other Vierra) accent in the English version really adds to the notion that the Vierra are a different species than the Hume. It adds to the world's realism. Of course, she also sounds really sexy, but that's just a plus. =p
both are great imo Balthier and Vaan sound alot older in the Japanese VA larsa's Japanese VA is cute haha , aw too bad there wasn't an option to just have both in a toggle on/off kinda thing....like the .Hack games did. Maybe then there wouldn't be so much arguments over which is better.
OMG I just realized Balthier's japanese Voice is done by the seiyuu of Mutta (Uchuu Kyodai) and Kotetsu/Wild Tiger (Tiger and Bunny). :D They are all so great characters. ...But I still prefer Balthier's english voice, because that one makes him so much more sexy. :D
Final Fabtasy XII is one of the best voice acted games I've ever seen. Balthier voice acting is porbably the best I've ever heard---
The english one, or the Sanji voice?
then play life is strange , you WILL hear better voice acting
The most underrated FF, hands down. It also happens to be my favorite.
It is my favorite too
+Calbenmike Highly Enjoyable. Superior to XIII in my view. More like-able characters too. Actually, I'll double down superior to XIII in every way.
+Calbenmike Highly Enjoyable. Superior to XIII in my view. More like-able characters too. Actually, I'll double down superior to XIII in every way.
FFXII is, by several orders of magnitude, the best FF in terms of the English voice acting. Balthier and Fran are amongst my favourite voice performances ever. I don't understand Japanese so I can't comment on the quality really, but they sound decent too. But this is possibly the only game in existence where I'd prefer the English voices.
Don't forget Dr Cid's voice acting, it was on par with Balthier in my opinion.
what
lul
I prefer Japanese Vaan but not by much. They really voiced the crap out of this game in English though
I love the fact that in the English dub every country has a distinct accent, and that adds a whole other dimension to things, like the Gabranth impersonating thing at the start or immediately knowing Balthier's from Archadia the moment he says anything.
Fran English voice is perfect.
I'm always amazed by Nicole Fantl's voice acting as Fran in this. That sort of strange, raspy and exotic accent that doesn't really relate to anything. It's odd because Fantl doesn't sound at all like this in real life so i'm wondering where she got the inspiration/idea for Fran's voice.
It's apparently based on Bjork, and it's an attempt to make her sound completely unlike the human characters.
Her voice was mesmerizing.
English fran voice is magical
i really love fran's english voice
Balthier and Fran! Definitely sounds better in english. That smug and class from Balthier. XD
I prefer English. their character are shown better in english version.
and tbh, Hiroaki Hirata's voice doesn't show Balthier's character
Abyss Walker his sexy arrogant charismatic hot dude and a great leader only can be made by Gideon emery. Hands down Balthier is the best character in FF till now. Only ff15 Nyx that come close to balthier voice and persona, both are charismatic even though they call themselves as a hero in the story Nyx lack of that arrogant personality(in good way like he is no 1 and he doesn't care anyone but actually hes care about them) Gideon hands is fit more than the jappanese one. IMO.
I don't find Balthier being arrogant at all. Maybe people mistaken his confidence with arrogance. arrogance means put oneself above anyone else, arrogant people always thinks that they are more valuable than the others. if Balthier was arrogant, he wouldn't care about the other friends like Ashe when she want to steal his ship, he wouldn't even let Vaan to board on his ship, he would want something from Ondore for having Ashe saved (more than good meal), he would care more about his popularity, rather than put it (his popularity) as a joke topic. and judging how important his role to the team, if Balthier was arrogant, he would be such pain in the ass, giving people hard time and Vaan will hate him.
Balthier is confident.
yes sorry for my poor choice of words.
Laurensius Satya it's okay buddy. i agree with you about him being the best character of ff. nowadays people care more about action than characteristic
Fran's english voice is pure magic.
Funny how it seems the English voice actors actually got the characters better than the japanese seiyuus.
Icelandic i think.
It's a beautiful voice isnt it?
Are... Are you joking? How? How is that burry wheezy mispronouncing skank can be better than original? HOW?
Considering how Shakespearean this story kinda was, having a good chunk of the main case played by theater actors really worked out for this dub. This is probably one of the few JRPG's where I can accept that the English dub is more fitting than the original.
And that's coming from a _dedicated_ sub guy, regardless of original language lol
@@Zhuravliov it's subjective but I feel since the English dub team, which consists of theater actor and actress being allowed to interpret the characters of the game as how they see most fitting and natural in accordance to the story and the inspiration of it, as supposed to just emulate their Japanese counterparts like how they did in FF13, really does elevate the English dub quality in Ff12
They are not allowed. Characters were already written by authors and no one has any right to change what was intended.
Vaan 's japanese voice is pretty like the man who become Kamen Rider Grease and Ixa (1986)
This theatrical take on FF voice acting is the best, in my opinion. I wish they would take this approach for new games.
Only FF that i played that i actually prefer the english ver.
Why can't I copy paste my response? (sigh)
Fascinating...
So by my count I actually like most of the English cast, unusual. Nicole Fantl absolutely killed it as Fran, but Rika's Fran was actually completely different in tone. Hers was more mature and sounds like what I'd expect of a beautiful young woman over 60 years old (gotta love Viera aging). That said NIcole applied a definitively foreign almost alien accent to her that was absolutely perfect...I'm completely torn. I want to toggle both performances on the fly. Note Square give us cutscene replay in all future FF releases.
Japanese Vaan sounds a little too adult, and Japanese Penelo sounds a bit too rough for the girl who wants to be a dancer. Verdict English.
Balthier in English for me is the definitive Balthier.
I like Japanese Ashe much better, while English Ashe sounds more lady-like, in Japanese she has more emotion and intensity, and the hot bloodedness that makes her. English Ashe was a bit too calm.
Basche is great in both versions, with Japanese Basche sounding very samurai-like and English Basche sounding like a perfect knight.
Larsa oddly sounds extremely similar in both versions and is great either way. (and going from Larsa's unbridled awesomeness to Hope in XIII was painful, hated that kid).
Some people may shit on this game but there is one fact no one can deny:
This is the best english dubbed Final Fantasy up to date.
Fran's English voice!
What is that accent called even? It's super sexy!
+PopTartNeko Icelandic, apparently
Balthier's Japanese voice doesn't really suit him... but I can't help but do a little dance when I close my eyes 'cos all I hear is Sanji-kun ;D
Fran's English voice is just pure eargasm.
They really did a good job with the english voices for once
Balthier sounds so lame in japanese. His smug english voice tho :3
the English voice acting is perfect. All the characters have a distinctive accent.
I think, only Ashe underperformed in English version. The rest of the cast have such distinctive and rich voices. Vaan, Balthier and my favorite - Fran. Actually, I adore Nicole Fantl's voice acting in this. Overall, after disastrous English dub of FFX, FFXII sounded absolutely astonishing.
Marquis' voice actor is so goooooooooooooooooood! He could narate my whole life.
I'm glad you included Larsa as well. He's just an awesome character :)
The English voice acting of Final Fantasy XII is one of the best dubs of Final Fantasy games. XV is the only ff that can rival its voice acting quality.
Fran's English voice actress sounds so sexy yet mysterious.
i feel the main reason eng dub was better because of the accent matches well with the atmosphere/setting
That fact that English Larsa sounds 10 years older is what makes his VA so fken awesome, because he pulls it off so well.
and Larsa. Talk about a precocious little fellah. He talks like he is at least twice as old.
Wow, Japanese Balthier is as dull as death. However English Fran is by far my favourite in this game, I love how her voice makes her so enigmatic and that they didn't go with the typical mature sounding stereotype despite her age (although it still fits her, making her imo have the best voice in the Japanese version), she looks youthful so it's lovely that she sounds as such. What makes English so much better in this game is that the voice actors are able to cultivate a character based off an accent, whereas the Japanese don't really invest in that but are rather more emotive.
Vaan: English, youthful and vivacious
Balthier: English, Goes with his Appearance and charm
Fran: English, Calm and Intelligent
Bashe: Both, English version sounds bold, japanese version sounds fearless
Penelo: English, Playful and trustworthy. When I listen to her english voice it almost makes everything seem better.
Larsa: English, Young and absolute. The "I'm young but i have power, and i know how to use it" kind of impression.
Ashe: Both, independent and fustrated.
I like all of the English voices. Especially Fran's.
I LOVE Fran's voice. I find myself rushing to the cutscenes just so I can hear her talk.
Shame that sometimes the sound quality was weird, but yeah, the acting and writing were really great
Thank you for watching them :)
The voice acting and localization is so good because most of the characters, especially the Arcadia Judges, were all thespians and classically trained actors. Something I wish we'd see more of in RPGs.
Vaan : I liked both.
Balthier : The English one seemed to have more expression in the way he talked; the accent seemed to also add into the factor. The Japanese one just seemed pretty plain. Kind of like a voice you could hear in just about any other typical anime or something.
Fran : I like both... The Japanese one sounds pretty, and the English one makes her sound more like she belongs in a place like Eruyt Village. More... foreign-like.
Fran's Japanese voice is the same actress who voices Sailor Venus in Sailor Moon
"Fran and the rest of the Viera were written with an Icelandic dialect in mind, which raised some questions from Square Enix early in the process."
"The raised dev-team eyebrows on Nicole Fantl were purely because the voice was so different from the Japanese, in a more markedly obvious way than our stylizations on the other accents affected the voices of characters like Ondore and Basch. It only took an explanation of our reasonings to sell the new take on the viera, though. Thumbs up to the FFXII dev team for being so open-minded. It's rare."
From an interview with the FFXII localization team, "A Voice for Ivalice." Great read! if you're interested in their voice catsing process check it out.
Vaan: English!!
Balthier: Eh, English.
Fran: Japanese.
Basch: I'm okay with both.
Ashe: Japanese.
Penelo: English!
Larsa: Both..!
Now someone needs to do a video like this for Vossler, Gabranth, Reddas, Cid, Al-Cid, Ondore, and well, everyone else...
Vaan: (Vann always bothered me but...) English
Balthier: English!!!! Gideon Emery IS Balthier!! Seriously... he is a bit like his character in person. lol. A really amazing guy. Anyway!
Fran: English, Both are good but Nicole I feel adds more mystery to Fran.
Basch: English
Ashe: English. Kari is an AMAZING person! I was lucky enough to spend a day with her for a high school project. She is really wonderful at her craft and I respect her a lot.
Penelo: Both
Larsa: Both
Basch has always been my favorite FFXII character. I love the voice w/ him.
Larsa: Both versions are good. English voice fits his appearance, and make him look like a fearless warrior. Japanese version fits his age and childish character.
I must say that I prefer English far more than Japanese. It fits with the game and the personalities of the characters more. My favorites are probably Ashe, Vaan, Larsa, and Fran.
Best voice acting in a Final Fantasy game. Ever.
The english voice of Ashe is Karin from Shadow Hearts 2 :)
Ashe: Both are also good, yet I still prefer the english
Penelo: Whoa, that a huge difference, they made her seem like a tom-boy in the japanese version dessho?
Larsa: I love both, but the Japanese actually captures the child's tone, and serious and sophisticated tones of the english version...
vaan - english
balthier - english
fran - english
basch - english
ashe - japanese
penalo - japanese
larsa - english
I'm liking the english voice acting either more or just as much as the japanese for every character besides Vaan.. sadly Vaan is fucking everywhere
I love their voices. the accent. specially baltheir.
English>Japanese
Though I always prefer the Japanese dub. I preferred Ashe in Japanese only. I liked Penelo and Larsa in Japanese but their English voice is better.
Kari Wahlgren
i like the english one better :P
i find the japanese voices for Vaan , Penelo and Balthier to rough/old...
and maybe i find the english ones better cuz of the accents xD
+Gloomy bear funny thing is that balthier's japanese va is the same as sanji from one piece
Really? niceee
i never watched One Piece though.
sanji is quite an interesting one since he's courteous to ladies but isn't afraid to show his inner pervert. also he's the gentleman type of character so probably that's why balthier's va is the same in jp
Mind doing one for Gabranth as well?
Haruko was Ashe. Holy crap what a range.
This makes me feel so sad for Hirata Hiroaki, he's my favorite seiyuu but everybody dislikes him in this role lol...I mean, I agree that Balthier's English voice is perfect (sassy Fenris!!!!!!!!!!!) I just want to give Hirata a hug hahaha
Yes! Plus he's the Japanese Jack Sparrow so he basically earned his bachelor's in Piracy way before becoming a sky pirate lol (also, LAGUNA)
@Kirjava6 I meant XIII, I typed V out of habit.
The English voices sound so much better than the Japanese voices. I was disappointed with the English version of XIII because of how little emotion the English voice actors put into the performance, but this one will always be amazing.
***** I know this is a year old post, but I'd like to point out that when Lightning's VA started voicing her, she had just started her career in voice acting, so it was to be expected as being underwhelming, along with Hope's voice actor, who up until then had been voicing in Phineas and Ferb, so he didn't need to sound good for kids.
Snow's voice actor was actually pretty good IMO, he put alot of personality into Snow's Character. Considering his VA was Troy Baker, this was to be expected, along with Serah's VA who has a lot of experience voice acting in anime.
And may I just point out that Fang has the sexiest voice of all the characters. Caius also, but I'm straight enough to admit when men have attractive voices.
If I came off as rude, I apoligize, but I couldn't help but point off these little tidbits.
Nathaniel Ranney It's alright, but doesn't compare to English XII and Japanese XIII.
how do you get english subs with japanese dubs? I have the collectors edition.
Fran's japanese voice makes her look so old! ><
i love Fran's english voice. :3
Fran's JPN voice also plays Sailor Venus
Japanese Vaan sounds too old, Japanese Balthier sounds too serious, Japanese Ashelia sounds too wild and crazy and Japanese Larsa speaks a bit too quickly for somebody so dignified. The other Japanese voices are fine though. Although I much prefer the English voice actors.
Fran's voice is just unbelievable! So beautiful!
I absolutely adore balthier's english voice, but I can't get over how everyone seems to love Fran's as well. I cannot STAND her voice. It makes me cringe so hard all my hair raises instantly.
I could hear the emotion in ashe's japanese voice a lot more than English
I LOVE Balthier's dub voice. Balthier is the epitome of badassness.
Man i love Balthier voice xD
I'm still in love with Balthier's voice and everything about him, his english is so much better, that accent is just so sexy lol
I'd like to congratulate for both English and Japanese Voice cast of Final Fantasy XII for the excellent work well done
I'll never get over how beautiful Hiroaki Hirata's voice is... It makes me want to die.
I'm currently looking into the Japanese version because I can't stand Ashe gasping every other line. I'm pretty sure the Japanese version has more of the same but given my experience with anime it's usually much more natural in Japanese.
That statement essentially means "If I don't understand the idiosyncraices of a language, I can convince myself that people really sound that way". Regardless, Ashe's actress still has to meet the lip flaps the original japanese VA set.
Just to clarify I actually enjoyed 99% of
Kari Wahlgren performance. Any problems I had with Ashe, particularly the English performance, were either a result of the character herself ("Don't Interupt" lol) or the direction given to the VA's (in this case the constant gasping). Obviously both of those aspects were beyond the VA's control.
It might be unfair to English performances but in regards to Japanese performances, particularly when you don't speak the language you essentially get a chance to fill in a lot of the blanks. To be fair though a lot of them in the past have been worthy of the wooden and emotionless critques though I did not feel this game was one of them (it has gotten a lot better in recent years for most Japanese exports).
In short for Japanse dubs most English audiences only need to focus on the inflection and tone of the voice rather than specifically what is being said. When you listen in your native language you're evaluating not only the tone but the semantics as well. It would be like if you had two chefs competing and one was judged solely on the foods appearance while the other was judged on the appearance as well as the taste. Again probably unfair but, thats the case for a lot of people such as myself.
In the case of my critique of Ashe when Mie Sonozaki did the exact same gasp it was much easier to ignore because at that point its essentially being evaluated by the same part of the brain listening to the music.
Ironically though FF12 was likely the toughest to follow with subs as my brother and I use to joke the script was essentially an SAT word prep guide. I mean does anyone know what an oubliette is?
Well I DO. It's a dungeon thats only accessable through a hatch in the ceiling....thanks Squaresoft. I can't wait to use that in my next conversation.
*Fran: Through the Oubliette, there's a way out.*
Anyway to sum up I realize that in a lot of cases my perference towards Japanese dubs is unfair but at the end of the day its my preference and I can't exactly change it through rational thought and logic.
Fair enough I guess. Thanks for taking the time to explain to me, not a lot of people do that
@magicicle
Omg. I thought I was the only who thought this. I keep hearing Balthier, hes okay, but Basch I always like. He has nice abbs. =) Basch is hot indeed.
This is one of the rare situations where the English VA is better than Japanese VA.
Fran's Japanese voice is the same actress that played Sailor Venus in the Japanese version of Sailor Moon... although it doesn't really sound like Venus... either she got older or she's just simply doing a different voice.
I like Balthier (hes greeeeat), Vaan (fits his age) and Penelo (japanese is not bad, but it doesn't sound as sweet as english) in English.
Basch and Fran are good in both, and for Fran is a matter of taste, I liked the more mature voice in the japanese version, but the English one is very good.
Ashe is great in japanese, and kind of loses emotions in the english version.
I also played this in English ss a kid, so there's that.
English wins!
I knew there was a connection between One Piece and this game somewhere. Oh Sanji.... you must be happy.
Hee hee. I don't know how many times those hi-potions Larsa had kept me alive. Especially the X-Potions.
I've always enjoyed Gideon Emery's Balthier. But there's something about that Japanese voice...It just feels like the role of a pirate, coupled with that voice, fit to make one piece of coolness.
the guy that does vaan's voice does hope's voice in final fantasy xiii right?
English voices are so much better except for maybe the princess Ashe. It's also one of the best voice acting in Video game. Amazing.
Vaan: Both,but I prefer hearing the Japanese version
Balthier: Both,but I like the English one..
Fran: Japanese.Her voice fit with her appearance
Basch: Both....For obvious reasons
Ashe: Both are excellent..I like both of the voice
Penelo: Japanese...cause she sounds freak when in English version
Larsa:Japanese...That's make him fit to his age..The English version I like his way of talking..British accents...
okay... english voice over wins this one... although I always ALWAYS prefer japanese, the english vo is much more cooler for this one... although I hate Vaan, but his japanese voice doesn't really have any... oomph :P, I really LOVE balthier english voice although I am straight, he really sounds cool
sanji, caster, kiritsugu... who else is there? don't tell me one of the judge is actually char...
wow. I could listen to the english frans accent all day.
any one know what kind of accent that is?
Basch : For some reason, I think I like the English one better. :3
Ashe : Ohh, I like both the Japanese *and* English. ♥
Penelo : The English one sounds more childish, in a way, and it seems to fit her character. But I do like the Japanese voice too. ^ ^
Larsa : The English one sounds more royal-like [xD], so it definitely fits with his position. I lurrrv Larsa~ :]
WOw didn't heard the japanese voices and always liked the english one but if you compare it, the english one is very emotionless Oo Look on Ashe's japanese voice , full of emotions and the english one? nothing!
@thequeenundisputed Yeah, you go and think about that... *rolls eyes*
I prefer:
Van = English.
Balthier = Both are pretty good.
Fran = Japanese
Basch = English
Ashe = English, her Japanese voice actor seemed too intense for her character.
Penelo = Both, they suit her character.
Larsa = English, although I do recognize his formality in Japanese by addressing himself as "boku."
Basch...just...wow...
Gladiator right there.
Basch's Japanese voice actor raises the manly bar by several feet.
Gideon Emery has the coolest voice ever.
I never knew Kotetsu's voice from the Tiger & Bunny Anime can be so seductive! A natural Han Solo / James Bond personality combined is a bonus!
I think one reason the English voices fit the characters better is because the game has a medieval-ish setting. I mean 10 had western and eastern qualities so both the English and Japanese suited the characters. At least that's what I think.
I love Larsa's voice, Johnny McKeown, I really prefer him instead that Yuka Imai.. but I can't find any information about him on internet!!! =(
Balthier's English VA alone makes the English version better.
He is just that much more badass!
Also, Fran's (as well as the other Vierra) accent in the English version really adds to the notion that the Vierra are a different species than the Hume. It adds to the world's realism.
Of course, she also sounds really sexy, but that's just a plus. =p
almost a century i guess.
well, it's possible!
she said it herself, the time given for the Viera is long. lol
both are great imo
Balthier and Vaan sound alot older in the Japanese VA
larsa's Japanese VA is cute haha , aw too bad there wasn't an option to just have both in a toggle on/off kinda thing....like the .Hack games did. Maybe then there wouldn't be so much arguments over which is better.
OMG I just realized Balthier's japanese Voice is done by the seiyuu of Mutta (Uchuu Kyodai) and Kotetsu/Wild Tiger (Tiger and Bunny). :D They are all so great characters.
...But I still prefer Balthier's english voice, because that one makes him so much more sexy. :D
Larsa's japanese voice is the only one I like
Ashe's voice is done by Boa Hancock's from One Piece, right?