With only two main characters and a supporting cast that individually don't get much screen time at all, I find myself at odds on how to actually go about reviewing this as there's very few characters in this series that actually have a noticeable impact on the series let alone screen time. So for now I thought it'd be best to only cover the one's who were notable and got enough screen time, as well as other characters who clearly will be quite important later on in the story as season 2 rolls out. While the original dub is actually quite good, I can't however really say the same for the English Bang Zoom dub for two very very important reasons. However on the bright side, for being a comedy the staff including sound director Shoji Hata definitely without a doubt for the most part found some absolute perfect fits while selecting cast members, as the personality displayed for each really matches the intent and purpose of the original text, staying true and preserving the integrity of each of the given characters.For the most part the English dub is quite good all round and has it's moments if we consider just about everybody in the cast who had a part in it, however of course the fatal flaws of the English dub and the nature of the given screen time and the amount of reoccurring characters makes it quite awful in reality.
Voice Actors As Saitama -
Makoto Furukawa In Japanese CastingI think one of the most notable things about the original dub is the fact that Makoto Furukawa pretty much nailed Saitama's character as a pretty nerdy, indifferent and unassuming character. Having a voice that's somewhat nasally and suspiciously soft spoken it really does works wonders with the core aspects of the series in addition to the more awkward and comedic events surrounding his misunderstood character. It's that expectation gap between how he acts and sounds compared to what he's actually capable of that makes Makoto Furukawa perfect for the role. He's great at capturing Saitama's whimsical and indifferent attitude while being able to sell his more eccentric and maniacal episodes of immaturity with faster cadence and articulation in these scenarios. Really it's how unpredictable and unassuming he portrays Saitama that gives the story such an entertaining dynamic. In that his voice is moderately thin and often monotone in the way he speaks, and it's really that characteristic lack of modulation or hard dictation that makes his character seem like such a wild contradiction between what we actually expect, which of course is the whole point.
Max Mittleman in English CastingOn the flip side however with Max Mittleman, he probably makes for the second worst part about the English dub. In that the way he voices Saitama really inherently betrays who the character originally is, and the small nuances that Makoto Furukawa was able to achieve that added so much more context to the dynamic of the story was pretty much scrapped entirely in the Bang Zoom dub. In that Makoto's rendition was far more whimsical and unassuming, Max's however is quite a bit more assertive and stoic, as his deeper and more stern voice lacks that characteristic nerdy and fickle trait that was so well done by the former. As his voice betrays not only what character is about, but the entire spin on the story and what it has to offer - Which is a complete nerdy and unassuming looser (in a good way) being able to kill anything in one shot. The whole point of the story operates on that specific contradiction and expectation gap, which sadly is quite nonexistent. I won't say that Max is a bad voice actor or anything, however it goes without saying that this was a terrible casting selection.
Voice Actors As Genos -
Kaito Ishikawa In Japanese CastingWith Kaito Ishikawa casted as Genos I genuinely couldn't ask for a better man for the job, bar none because he's just so perfect for the role. For me it's really that incredibly stern and rigid voice of his that lacks emotion and sympathy that's really able to sell Genos as a cyborg, as his dictation is absolutely rock solid and intimidating in almost everyway. In that ideally you want him to sound somewhat robotic, not only for the more confrontational sequences but also for the gags as well. Being that he plays the banana man a lot despite being so serious most of the time, and thanks to Kaito Ishikawa he's able to sell that particularly naive and narrow-minded part of Genos as one of his most notable and memorable quirks as a character. He's perfect for the role and this was an absolutely fabulous casting choice.
Zach Aguilar in English CastingThe first time I heard his voice I was like "NOPE, just NOPE, NO thanks", If Max Mittleman wasn't a bad enough casting choice meet Zach Aguilar, as he absolutely RUINS Genos! With a voice so annoying and obnoxious sounding it makes me actually want to punch my god damned screen. In that when you're coming from such a fantastic dub from the original, who Genos was initially voiced by Kaito Ishikawa who absolutely nailed the role to this? It's absolutely disgraceful, just god awful, truly bad, just as bad as some of Attack On Titan's funimation dub castings. And people wonder why some anime are not as well received internationally than at home in Japan, it's really these discrepancies in quality that I'd argue creates divisions between fan bases on whether they actually enjoyed a show or not, in that even for me bad voice acting can really be a huge turn off, possibly being a deciding factor on whether I'd actually watch a show or not. The thing here is that One Punch Man is not even a moe or an anime with young characters at all, so it's not like you could use those excuses either. In that Zach Aguilar's rendition of Genos sounds so unconvincingly fake & amateur that to even take it seriously by going over the details is a joke within it self. Once again just plain awful, especially in comparison to the rendition of Kaito Ishikawa with a voice that had far more force, depth and sibilance to actually sound intimidating.
Voice Actors As Bang -
Kazuhiro Yamaji in Japanese CastingSince I feel that Bang played one of the important roles in the series asides from the main characters, it thought it'd be appropriate to go over his role as well, in that Kazuhiro Yamaji offered quite a convincing and fitting depiction of the old timer. Though he played somewhat more of a minor role, I still do think it's worth mentioning because the amount of careful nuance he emphasizes, as his voice sounds chopped up and smokey, though has a very nice low resonance to it as well in addition to a more measured cadence that's akin to older folks. It's a pretty good performance as Kazuhiro Yamaji does a good job in portraying his more stoic and subtle character with a sense of pride. A good casting selection.
John Demita in English Casting
Here John Demita's rendition was actually quite decent and fitting of the character, however his voice is quite a bit more dramatic with extra smokey low overtones and resonance to his voice. They key differences being here is that Kazuhiro Yamaji's voice is noticeably more lax and subtle, whereas John's is quite a bit more direct, in addition to having a more deeper and bodied voice as well. Though I feel that Kazuhiro Yamaji still accomplishes the same, without loosing the subtle and lax character that Bang has. In the end because of this I still do think that the Kazuhiro's rendition was mildly better, though this time his casting selection was quite decent and fitting of the role.
Voice Actors As Tatsumaki -
Aoi Yuuki in Japanese CastingWhile I do think that the original dub is better overall, that's not to say that I don't have issues with it either & here my feelings are somewhat mixed on the matter, as I find that Aoi Yuuki's portrayal of Tatsumaki irks me quite a bit for whatever reason. That being because I just find her voice to be odd in the sense that I just don't feel like it's quite the right match, at least in my opinion. I mean sure Aoi Yuuki does have the flair and sass for the role, with a voice just as strident and sibilant as her personality is impatient and prickly. However there's really just something about the way she's voiced that's off putting, in that I really do think it's both a combination between her character just not being written all that well, and how they went about choreographing each scene and line involving her. In short I found her performance to be over the top and cheesily written, really just seeming like an act in how over exaggerated and cartoonish her character can be at times, which is the last thing you want your viewer to feel. With the way she's written and the way she's portrayed is somewhat facile and surface level, really being the type of character you can understand just with a short glimpse, and as you might imagine that really doesn't go so far as to spur the imagination to any extent. However this really isn't a matter of passion or the lack of effort, because you can tell how much work she puts into her dynamics and modulating her tone, but for such a flat character I guess it really wasn't enough, even if her voice does in fact match Tatsumaki's smaller frame and appearance somewhat.
Marieve Herington in English CastingOn the English cast however, I actually quite like Marieve Herington as Tatsumaki. In that I feel she has a particular sense of tact and subtlety in her voice that the original dub doesn't offer. While her voice is not nearly as strident and thin sounding for executing those sassier and eccentric lines, in exchange I feel we're given quite a bit more middle, more moderation in how she's voiced, and as a result she's seems quite a bit less distracting and quite frankly less annoying, and as a byproduct we actually begin to see why her character can potentially be interesting. Her voice itself is noticeably softer and less sibilant, though she also has much more body and resonance to her voice as well, and I feel that her cadence in particular is far more coherent and nuanced in it's complexity. Where on the other hand I think Aoi Yuuki's rendition is quite a bit more simplistic, though I definitely do think that she does quite a good job in pulling off the diva routine, in the end I just don't feel that her portrayal alludes to or offers much else. As I think her portrayal somewhat lacks diversity in it's nuance, in that most of the time she's just bickering and screaming at rate of a thousand syllables a second, which of course grows monotonous and tiresome. Quite pleasantly surprised here as I for the most part enjoyed her role in the show and her selection in general.
Voice Actors As Sonic -
Yuki Kaji in Japanese CastingThough limited in his role, I actually think he's one of the more entertaining characters of the series, and he seems to stick around long enough that I suspect he'll continue to be a part of the story in the future. As Yuki Kaji is great in capturing Sonic's self indulgent and cocky behaviour, that's also twisted and eccentric in his own way. He's a pretty good voice actor, as I've also appreciate his work in productions such as Shingeki No Kyojin as Eren and Shinsekai Yori as Satoru. His voice is quite quite bodied and resonant in the lower register, as his progressive sense of modulation and dynamics is excellent in selling his more stubborn and cocky lines, and with his cadence and dictation he does the more crazed and eccentric one's quite well. However comparatively speaking for a guy to have a relatively small build with that deep of a voice is a bit off putting, though it none the less still fits as he definitely is able to sell his character with a sense of charisma that indefinitely helps the more comedic aspects of the series and gags he's often associated with. A good casting selection and performance.
Erik Kimerer in English CastingHowever on the other hand Erik Kimerer offers an equally compelling alternative, as his rendition is more effeminate, sly and somewhat creepier - Which also goes more hand in hand with Sonic's smaller build, something that's a bit more of an issue with Yuki Kaji's potrayal of Sonic. His voice is quite fitting of his appearance as he really does sound more like a teenager which Sonic does as well. However he's still able portray the character's indulgent and eccentric side with a lighter voice that still has enough low end, but is able to put just as much of a spin on those creepier and disturbing lines. However I will say that since Yuki Kaji has a deeper voice with a resonance that has more of a fluctuating quality in his modulation, these lines do sound quite a but more disturbing and convincing than the former, as his voice is quite a bit more animated rather than his stoic counter part with Erik's rendition. Definitely more of a close call as I think this is more down to preference, which goes without saying that this was also quite a good casting selection and performance by Erik Kimerer.
Voice Actors As Mumen Rider -
Yuuichi Nakamura in Japanese CastingThough one of the weakest hero's in the story, I actually think he's one of the more important supporting characters in exchange, in that he's less of a hero and more so your typical cliché hometown average Joe, that has a lot of "heart" (or rather school boy heroics) as opposed to awesome power, which is quite the contrast since he's pretty much the opposite of Saitama. Suffice to say I got a few laughs out of it, being that despite his courage he does get slapped and pushed around a lot to pretty comedic effect, even despite all the emotional music and corny lines. He's really quite fitting for the role as he has so much experience being casted as stock main protagonists such as Tomoya in Clannad and Gray Fullbuster in Fairy Tale. In that he's able to put quite a lot of passion in his cheesy heroic lines and completely sells his moral and just attitude with his gritty and dynamic voice when in desperation, that's thin and stern enough to match his appearance. Quite well casted and performed despite being a minor role in the series.
Robbie Daymond in English CastingThough decent Robbie Daymond's voice just isn't urgent enough in displaying desperation in the more pivotal moments, as his voice is softer and not nearly as abrasive and dynamic as Yuichi Nakamura was able to pull it off. However both of them still offer similar portrayals, it's just that I think with Yuichi Nakamura's slightly harder and deeper voice, really made for a more convincing Mumen Rider. However I will say for the majority of other scenes his somewhat dorkier voice with a slightly awkward lisp/sibilance is definitely fitting for his rather meek appearance and personality. While somewhat overshadowed by the dub that proceeded him, Robbie Daymond was still a decent casting selection and performed ok as well.
Segment Conclusion -
Though I think the main roles in the English Dub we're completely botched (Something you absolutely can't have) the supporting cast oddly enough was definitely quite good, as there's plenty of other minor roles in the English dub that we're very respectable. However it goes without saying that Kaito Ishikawa & Makoto Furukawa were far better than their english dub counterparts, and in general was better casted overall. In that I feel the original dub stayed true and preserved the integrity of the characters from the original text of the manga, whereas the dub completely went out of it's way to convolute it, changing the most important core aspects and dynamics of the series, which really was a big fat no no.
Original Soundtrack & SFX - Thoughts & Impressions
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| Shoji Hata [Sound Director] |
With the film grammar of this series being rather biased and subjective with non diegetic dialogue and music in addition to the comical SFX played a huge role in providing a narrative and setting the tone. With a hero themed story, sound director Shoji Hata and the composer Makoto Miyazaki did a nice job in both sequencing and providing music that was edgy and thrilling enough to match the tempo of the story's numerous confrontational sequences, while also transitioning gears for the more dry and comedic aspects of the series. The music itself often consists of alternative and progressive rock tracks which undoubtedly goes hand in hand with the action packed nature of the series. In that the sound effects and the use of non diegetic dialogue is also quite comical and exaggerated, not only being limited to just providing diegetic sound information, but also for cueing the impulse of the scene, such as surprise or laughter. However when it comes to "Mise en Scene" or rather diegetic sound information, One Punch Man is definitely not a film tier production with A class standards for providing contextual sound information - So no you won't be able to hear a complex level of mastering regarding the acoustic and environmental information of a scene in addition to layered editing techniques or patterns, as the series is a pretty standard job with everything mostly being microphone in and microphone out.
Addendum
After watching One Punch Man once more and reviewing it in extensive detail this time, despite the flaws the show never fails as a pretty solid and entertaining show that anybody could easily pick and understand it's more indulgent themes and sense of entertainment. However, while I think One Punch man is a pretty great comedy with a very ambitious staff regarding it's animation department, One Punch Man will still be retired from the WoF due to some of the various flaws mentioned earlier that I had to take into consideration during the review. Basically the series lacks quite a bit of substance regarding it's character story in particular, and comparatively speaking aspects such as the cinematography & sound design really we're not on par with other entries currently on the list, with a deciding factor being that the soundtrack in particular wasn't nearly as developed, layered and well used on other Wof entries such as The Monogatari Series or perhaps Kara No Kyoukai.Though One Punch Man will none the less receive a warm recommendation and will be moved to the Stuff We Like Page for those of you who'd like an unexpectedly witty action comedy, with the all the absurdity and shattering of expectations you could ask for in a rather casual, but silly story that almost comes off as a parody for the genre.
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Article Contents - Comments Section
- Plot | Narrative | Character Aspects
- Production Aspects [Cinematography | Animation | Art Direction]
- Voice Actor Choreography | Sound Effects & Original Soundtrack | Addendum
