Regarding Steins;gate and the dubs available, there are actually 5 available, though for my sake, I'll only be covering the original Japanese and English dub - The two being the primary ones I actually watched. In my experience, the combination between Whitefox & Funimation have done a pretty great job with English dubbing thus far, and Steins;Gate is no exception. As the Japanese dub is of course pretty strong as well, so first I feel it appropriate to cover both dubs with some comparisons as well between the Va's casted as the same character.
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| Asami Imai |
Asami Imai in Japanese casting
You'll have to forgive me on this one, I'm really not familiar at all with any of her voice acting roles in other productions, so please forgive my lack of familiarity on my part. When compared to the english dub, Asami Imai's voice is far softer and delicate, and in general more girly. Although she is indeed able to voice a more confrontational as well as sarcastic Makise Kurisu as well. I initially really liked the Trina Nishimura's English rendition, though I slowly and full heartedly started to enjoy a slightly more soft spoken and polite Makise Kurisu as opposed to a more nasally and sarcastic version - Really just well done on Asami Imai's part, definitely a highlight of the Japanese dub casting.
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| Trina Nishimura |
Although I used to watch quite a bit of english dubbing, experience wise I have much more knowledge and hours behind Japanese dubbing than I do when it comes to english dub casting, because asides from the exception of some A-list productions, they mostly suck - especially the ones from Kyo Ani. However Trina Nishimura does an excellent job as Makise Kurisu, and if you want a more sarcastic, and perhaps confrontational Makise Kurisu, the english dub is the route you should take. It's personally pretty tough to say exactly which voice actress does a better job, because it's entirely down to your particular preference. Right now, I'm personally really feeling Asami Imai performance, however Trina Nishimura's performance in the english dub is excellent as well. Along with her snarky, and sarcastic attitude, her performance also contrasts her more vulnerable and fragile side as well - For me personally, it's just a matter of how I feel on any given day, when choosing which Dub to watch really. In short despite my personal preference, I'd like to say that both performances were pretty much even. Although I will say that, Trina's portrayal of Makise Kurisu, I feel, made her slightly less effeminate, and less of just being a love interest, and perhaps more of a buddy instead for Okabe, to help him solve and think problems through, taking a somewhat more dominant tone when in conversation with people like Okabe when compared to the Asami Imai's performance.
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| Mamoru Miyano |
Mamoru Miyano in Japanese casting
Very much am I growing increasingly familiar with Mamoru's work, watching his roles in Ajin or perhaps Chihayafuru or even Death Note, though this time as Okabe. You see, for me personally, his casting was a bit hit or miss. I'm not really feeling his performance when Okabe is doing his mad scientist "shtick" and laughs eccentrically. To me, he often always sounds too comical and stuffy, all in all he doesn't really sell it all that well either. On the other hand, when he's voicing a normal or maybe even a more serious Okabe, he does an excellent job - As his voice can be stern, desperate and is able to bring a certain amount of urgency to the table. In all a Good job, but his performance is still somewhat of a mixed bag. None the less, I still would have him casted as Okabe, because despite the issues in this case, the good surely out weighs the bad.
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| John Michael Tatum |
Easily the best performance in terms the of voice acting within Stiens;Gate . I think the fit is perfect, along with being serious, stern as well as sympathetic when he needs to be, he pulls off the "Mad Scientist" gimmick routine perfectly well, an in my opinion he sells it far better than Mamoru Miyano ever does, which to me is the decisive factor between the two va's. Mamoru Miyano's voice has a fuller and rounder tone when he voices Okabe, however when John does it, he sounds a little more mature, with a somewhat thinner and harder voice, when it comes to punctuation and such - In this he's effectively able to sound more geekier and that of a man child than Mamoru's rendition of Okabe is, so +1 on his part. A great performance by John Michael Tatum, I strongly believe, with his role as the main protagonist really lead the charge for an overall great performance when it came to the English dub cast.
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| Kana Hanazawa |
Kana Hanazawa in Japanese Casting
An industry veteran I'm quite familiar with , reprising many roles in Shaft productions such as in Nisekoi, The Monogatari series or even Sasami-san@Ganbaranai. Her roles also includes series such as A-1 pictures production Shinsekai Yori, PsychoPass as well as something like Angel Beats from PA works. This is were it sort of gets problematic as well though, you see my problem with her version of Shiina Mayuri is that her delivery always sounds timid and passive, and generally makes Shiina Mayuri's character seemingly too simplistic. Kana Hanazawa's performance here really lacks pretty much any sense of dynamics, urgency or diversity - which could have enhanced numerous scenes, which is exactly what had happened in the english dub. The issue here isn't her talent as a voice actress though, she's proven on multiple occasions that she can voice a character with more urgency as well as diversity, and have a more unstable voice that would demand more attention. Her role as Sengoku Nadeko is a prime example, or even her role as Maria Azikuzi in Shinsekai Yori. She is certainly able to be more dynamic and expressive, though for some reason she doesn't do it with Mayuri Shina, which I will probably point at the people responsible for the sound direction or perhaps the person responsible for the screenplay, rather than Kana Hanazawa herself. All in all I will say that when the dialogue or given scene doesn't require a sense of urgency, I do like her voice being timid, curios and perhaps a little bit more of a shy and polite sounding Mayuri. However, there's nothing really nothing to contrast it against since her performance remains essentially the same throughout the entire series, which includes the Movie and the OVA as well - In all quite disappointing.
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| Ashly Burch |
Where I actually like Ashly Burch's potrayal as Mayuri quite alot. Along with being able to actually pull off the curious and innocent moe like personality that Mayuri has in general, Ashly's performance can also be dynamic and confrontational, whilst making it actually believable. She can also put more emphasis on intonation and modulation in her lines when the scene calls for it. Unlike Kana Hanazawa's performance, Ashly can actually make Mayuri angry, furious and confrontational, to me that's a decisive factor in determining which performance was better. I like her performance far better than Kana Hanazawa's take of a incredibly passive and somewhat monotone Mayuri. Mayuri is already a simplistic character, so adding a bit more expressiveness and complexity in her delivery certainly would help fix some of her innate character issues. Overall when watching the English dub she seems far more of an enjoyable and interesting character. A great job and a noticeable improvement from the original dub.
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| Tomokazu Seki |
Tomokazu Seki in Japanese casting
Another disappointment here, where we have another industry veteran utilized in a distasteful manner. Here you have a great voice actor responsible for great performances in productions such as Psychopass, Fate/Stay Night UBW, or even something like Kanon. Indeed "Daru" supposed to be an Otaku and somewhat of a nerd, though for me I'm really not feeling the constantly stuffy and dopey sounding version of Daru as Tomakazu's performance really offers nothing else. Tomozaku Seki has proven himself to be a far more versatile and complex voice actor with other roles, why not here? A very odd performance here, the english dub being definitively better in this case.
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| Tyson Rineheart |
Another excellent performance on part of the english dub cast. Tyson's role as the larger and nerdy "Daru" was fantastic. His version of Daru had more girth and masculinity, Tomokazu Seki's performance felt like he was voicing someone who was overly obese and had diabetic problems in an entirely unconvincing fashion. This changed completely with Tyson's performance. Along potraying more girth and grit, overall, when voiced by Tyson, Daru actually seems like "one of the guys" and had his own cool flair, he didn't just seem like a nerdy Otaku sidekick, in the Enlgish Dub he instead is now a buddy, a friend, a pal - you get what I mean. He was also able to play a far better serious and stern, as well as a sympathetic Daru as well. A very large improvement from the original dub on Tyson's part, as he was able to sound more commanding and knowledgable.
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| Yukari Tamura |
Yukari Tamura in Japanese Casting
At first I was seemingly off put by the somewhat eccentric and somewhat sporty portrayal of Suzuha Amane - Though thankfully I've grown to really like Yukari Tamura's role as Suzuha Amane. In all, I'll always love more energetic performances with a good sense of dynamics and modulation, it just makes the character "Suzuha" to me, that much more enjoyable to watch. Since Suzuha is supposed to an athletic and sporty character, considering she's military coming from a post apocalyptic world, I do think this was a pretty good casting choice. If I had to complain about anything, it would probably be that sometimes, I would prefer Yukari Tamura's performance to be a bit more boyish and less effeminate when her dialogue is more upbeat and optimistic.
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| Cherami Leigh |
Quite the industry veteran when it comes to English dubs here in the anime community and she certainly does a great job voicing Suzuha in Steins;Gate. Like I've mentioned before, initially I was somewhat off put by the Tamura's performance, being that I felt her delivery when being upbeat and comical was somewhat over exaggerated and unconvincing, whereas with Cherami leigh's performance was more natural I found when it came to her more lax and upbeat dialogue and conversations with Okabe and such. Where I think that Tamura's version of Suzuha was perhaps ever so slightly too effeminate, and ever so slightly too exaggerated at times. Cherami Leigh's Suzuha was more boyish I felt, and had the same amount of energy in her voice while having a lighter, and slightly more nasalier tone to her voice. When it comes to more serious moments, or when Suzuha's dialogue is just seemingly normal and level headed, I actually like Tamura a little bit more when it came to the more serious dialogue and when she's was voicing herself normally, infact in episodes such as EP 23 I thought her voice was incredibly charming, with the right amount of optimism and flair. Cherami Leigh also does an great job in these situations as well so it's really hard to quantify which voice actor is better, because both of their performances overall were pretty darned solid.
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| Yü Kobayashi |
Voice Actors as Ruka Urushibara -
Yü Kobayashi in Japanese Casting
I'm quite fine with this casting choice as well, in fact I probably prefer Ruka Ushibara voiced in Japanese by Yü Kobayashi rather than the English dub that was offered. Ruka general is a pretty simple character to start off with, despite supposedly being a guy, Ruka Ushibara is portrayed as a very effeminate and shy character. None the less, a great job in playing the part, when it comes to being overwhelmed, over joyed or perhaps incredibly embarrassed, no issues here really. It's just a shame that once again, Ruka Ushibara doesn't really have much of a role at all in the story, and her character arc is only an episode long. I particularly am quite found of her performances in productions like Sora No Woto, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and the popular Attack on Titan. An interesting and well selected choice to cast Yü Kobayashi as Urushibara.
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| Lindsay Seidel |
I more or less feel the same when it comes to Lindsay Seidel's performance as compared to Yuu Kobayashi's performance. However, due to the different languages and such, being that Japanese rolls off the tongue quite a bit easier than english, Female voice actors will always seem more effeminate and generally will always have a sweeter tone in general, that seems to be the case here as well. If I had to chose, I would probably pick Yuu Kobayashi's performance over Linsay's, simply because to me, while having very similar performances, at times, Lindsay's performance was somewhat coy and unconvincing at times, trying a bit to hard trying to be overly feminine and shy, though that's just my opinion.
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| Haruko Momoi |
Voice Actors as Rumiho Akiha -
Haruko Momoi in Japanese Casting
Not to familiar in any of Haruko's roles in other production so I can't speak for them. However, when potraying a Maid that cosplays in a moe made cafe setting, I think she does a great job. I think Haruko's performance is playful enough when doing her "nyan nyans" and such, though contrasting that, she can make Rumiho sound sincere as well as sympathetic when the situation calls for it as well. Sadly, like quite a few supporting characters within Steins;Gate, she Rumiho doesn't get nearly enough story telling chops or screen time as Makise or Okabe receive.
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| Jad Saxton |
Jad herself is quite the veteran, and even despite not really watching all too many english dubs on my part, I have indeed watched her roles in series such as Death Parade, Terror in Resonance or more recently as Kana in Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon. Jad as Rumiho was a great fit, I mean, while moe is notoriously difficult to emulate in english, that doesn't necessarily mean that good casting choices can't be made, and that brings me to another point. You see, much of the "Nyan Nyan's" are substituted instead for a lively and cheeky performance from Jad Saxton. Though when Rumiho isn't doing her "routine" if you will, this is where I feel Jad's performance really shines. I think she does a handily better job at being more sincere and serious, whereas Haruko Momoi, never really quite breaks character when confronted with serious problems, instead she continues to potray Rumiho with that stuffy moe moe voice. To that respect, Jad's voice is a bit more light weight and less comical overall. Since she has a more of a sharper and lighter tone, she's able to better modulate her voice and be more dynamic as well, which is why I feel she's quite a bit better when it comes to more heated and confrontational scenes, or perhaps when she's upset, torn or in distress about something. On the flip side though, when Rumiho is emotional Jad Saxton's voice can be perhaps too shy, a bit awkward, and too timid, whereas Haruko's voice can seem fuller and sweeter at that. It's hard to say which performance is better so I won't. However I will say that Haruko's performance does moe moe better and generally has a fuller voice with more mid tones, whereas had Saxton's voice can sound a little too thin and timid, but at the same time can be far more dynamic and stern, and her voice can be just as energetic when the scenario calls for it as well.
Segment Conclusion -
As a closing note to this segment, I feel that the first question coming to your mind is "which Dub is Better" & "Which Dub Should I watch then?" Two simple questions but somewhat complicated answers. You see my impressions of the voice actors are just that - They are impressions, in other words, subjective. Though if you want my two cents on the matter, I personally feel that the english dub is somewhat more well rounded as a whole. Two major defining factors being the performances from the Japanese dub regarding Mayuri and Daru - They are clearly better voiced by the english cast. This is essential because the two are part of the 4 main characters within this series being that they receive the most screen time, I simply can't overlook the odd performances here. However, the Japanese cast absolutely still has especially notable performances as well, and I definitely enjoyed them both. Though in hindsight, I will say that I had somewhat of a better experience watching the English dub overall. My end suggestion to you is to purchase the Bluray online or perhaps through a local dealer, and you'll be privy to watch both dubs, in the order you like. I personally recommend the English dub first - which I normally don't do but the Funimation dub here is quite fantastic to say the least, though try not to miss out on some of the great performances on the Japanese dub as well
Oringinal Soundtrack & SFX - Thoughts & Impressions
The Op & Ed themes for me weren't really all that special, though not entirely bad. It's just that I wouldn't go out of my way to go out and buy a copy of the OST or anything like that. The compositions used to enhance more important moments however were serviceable enough and quite decent. Where If the situation called for it, Takeshi Abo certainly was able to enhance those more emotionally delicate scenarios quite well. However Sound Director Fusanabou Fujiyama often times utilizes silence far more than they incorporate non diegetic elements, so unlike something as playful the Monogatari series, you definitely are not as often privy to interesting vibes and what not. In all, music is cued quite subtly overall, though when a score is used it's done effectively. Ranging from small piano accompaniments, and general string sections, Which also including more unnerving compositions for those more oblique scenarios. |
| Takeshi Abo |
