Praise the gods!! A decent Funimation dub, as well as great original Japanese dub. As general rule of thumb, it's generally true that English dubs are often much better when the intended cast is either more mature or the general setting is far more international, rather than being more of a Japanese set anime. If you compare Attack on Titan to Jormungand, or Steins;Gate to Clannad, you'll see this Iron rule remains true. In my eyes, English dubs for anything moe or highschool related should be Forbidden - No I'm not joking, licensing companies such as Sentai & Funimation suck out loud at portraying younger adolescents. For the majority, the Funimation casting was solid all round, however in the most pivotal & intense moments, even despite a great performance by Alex Organ playing Decim or Jad Saxton playing Nona, one or two roles just didn't seem right, and when emotions got heated, I feel some voice actors just botched it in a really unconvincing fashion - I found my self just saying "Darn! Could've been better", because I actually initially found my self liking Jamie Marchie's dubbing in the first few episodes, but then, like many others on the cast, she started yelling, where her composure and convincing appeal just went out the window, where the Japanese cast more often than not was just more on point for those definitive moments.
Voice Actors As Decim -
Tomoaki Maeno in Japanese CastingTomoaki Maeno's voice is a night & day difference between Alex Organ's voice, being that Tomoaki Maeno's voice here was far deeper & bodied. When I first listened to him I was off put a little, since for a guy who's a tad bit bit slim, I didn't expect to hear such a deeply weighted voice, I thinks it's actually quite difficult in general to find someone with as deep of a voice we heard with his rendition of Decim. Though in time I got used to it & grew to appreciate that depth, along side his more polite and short spoken lines. I feel his vocal composure was rock solid, and perfectly lived up to his role to being an emotionless husk. He makes Decim sound so unaffected and stable, which is a good thing. Though, on occasion he's still able to emphasize surprise & a just a little bit of emotion along the way as well. Being a rather simplistic character, Tomaki Maeno easily fulfilled his role as Decim. Just a good casting choice & performance.
Alex Organ in English CastingOn the other Alex organ's voice of course is quite a bit lighter, and just about as still and indifferent as Tomoaki's renditions sounds. However he does still have a fairly postured voice, it's just he also has more of a sibilant sense of punctuation and a faster cadence. Despite that, his voice will never as so much distract you outright like Tomoaki Maeno's voice may, as his voice is just that deep, as well as just being courser and more bodied. Also in the most climatic of moments, Decim's struggle to put a finger on his emotions and his grunts of pain are just more impactful & hard hitting because of this, whereas we only hear Alex just quietly "panting" in the background. A close one, though due to Tomoaki's better performance in these pivotal moments, in addition to being just about as good as Alex Organ in more casual one's I got to hand it to Tomoaki Maeno's rendition her. A decent performance, though falling short of the original Japanese Dub in the most pivotal of moments, still quite a good casting selection & performance.
Voice Actors As The Black Haired Assistant -
Asami Seto In Japanese CastingI'm not gonna lie, Asami Seto is one of my favourite new seiyuu's of all time (Especially from her role as Chihaya Ayase in Chihayafuru), along with Sora Aniyama, and Ishikawa Yui, without fail, Asami Seto always is just able sell a moment in time, with fragility and heartfelt expression, words that just pierce the soul. She's got the whole package, from more causal & silly banter when amicably talking with Decim or Nona, to her catharticly heated confrontations, to the hot tears, masterful pacing & stuttering of her words when crying, struggling to get each syllable of her tongue, or just her simple demeanour when asking questions - Truly, truly a masterful and evocative voice actress. Almost a near perfect casting choice, I almost can't think of another voice actress that'd be better suited for the bill, as her performance is just breath taking, and sometime heart stopping, always delivering just at the right moments.
Jamie Marchie in English CastingNow, how about Jamie's dub? Well, I mean when you already have a seiyuu that good already I mean... Well for starters Jamie actually does a fantastic job throughout the majority of the show, she sounds pretty much equally as good as Asami Seto on her more played down lines, Except when she raises her voice and acts up in pivotal moments. In such scenarios her composure.. Just breaks, I mean my issue with her voice in these scenarios is that she always lets out these odd, lower toned resonances that don't match her usual voice - It really is like she just playing a character and can't maintain her usual voice/character when having to raise her voice and express her dynamics. It's almost like she plays two characters instead of one - That's how much continuity gap there exist that breaks between her voice and how juxtaposed it sounds. I have to say, while very good in any other scenario, it's a failure on her part when not being able to capitalize in the most pivotal of moments within the show. It was so distracting, I found myself cringing & laughing instead of crying and sobbing like I was supposed to..
Voice Actors As Nona -
Rumi Ookubo in Japanese CastingI loved Nona's character & part of that reason was Rumi Ookubo's great voice acting, definitely being a favourite of mine. In fact I think she'd make a great tsundere character, being that Rumi Ookubo has that classic roughness to her voice, combined with her fluid and dynamic sense of modulation that just feels like she's weaving the words with her tongue, with just the right amount of harshness and sweetness at that. Her voice is confident & "above" others so to speak, while her words can generally be piercing and sibilant, she can also sound detached & listless, which kind of caught me by surprise. She definitely reminds me of other seiyuu's such as Yuu Shimamura responsible for roles such as Annie Leonhart in Attack on Titan & Akane in the Kubikiri Cycle or perhaps Saki Fujita's role as Ymir in Attack on Titan. It's just Rumi Ooukuba's voice sounds a bit smaller & nasal sounding, but in a good way, being that Nona has a relatively small stature. It's just their way of words, and how they weave/modulate their words & dynamics with a fluid string of harshness and sweetness, and there indifferent way of posturing - Suffice to say I love it, and I always will because it's just add's a needed amount of complexity to Nona's character, even despite not knowing all to much about her. A definite highlight in my experience with Death Parade and a fantastic casting choice.
Jad Saxton in English CastingJad Saxton's rendition is pretty much just as good, though her tone is more composed and listless, being somewhat similar to the way Rumi Ooukuba does it, however in Jad's case, since she's more collected, I find that her expository dialogue sounds more clearly established & contemplative, as well as just being a bit easier to understand. Suffice to say, she just has a slightly different air to the way she speaks. When comparing the two, I only think she falls short of Rumi's rendition when Nona's get violent or when she raises her voice, because there's just some classics in their and I love when Rumi raises her voice with such a great sense of dynamics and modulation - Jad Saxton's rendition on the other hand just doesn't have the same effect. Close, very close, but in the end for me I've gotta pick Rumi Ookubo's rendition for Nona's occasionally violence & yelling, it really is just hard to miss, however it's just down to preference eon this one. You personally may find Jad Saxton's more collected and composed dialogue more appealing then the later, I mean even I like both of their voices so who knows right?
Voice Actors As Ginti -
Yoshimasa Hosoya in Japanese CastingYou can't have a cocky hothead without Yoshimasa Hosoya voicing him can you? nope, why? Cause he's just that good at it, & I continue to grow familiar with his voice thanks to his voice thanks to his work on Attack on Titan as Reiner Braun, Kids on the Slope (Sakemichi No Apollon) as Sentaro & even Chihayafuru as Arata. Yoshimasa as usual is sounding reckless as he is manly as possible. With a deep resonant voice, that's quick tempered & prone to provocation, even if Yoshimasa keeps playing virtually the same character for the third time I really couldn't care less, because he just embodies these kinds of characters just so darned well. Yoshimasa just does a great job voicing himself with adequate amount of girth as Ginti. Yoshimasa did an excellent job portraying himself as casual and collected, whilst sounding daring and ready for a challenge, though on occasion his voice sound a hair too forceful and deep at times. However he was able to have a commanding performance with confidence and gritty resonance, having a strong sense of dynamics and punctuation. As always, a great performance.
Robert Mcollum in English CastingWell whataya' know, guess who's on the English dubbing side of things, Robert Mcollum. A decent performance by Robert McCollum, as his voice is more lighter and rad, and ready for a challenge as well. Being that, despite sounding similar, Yoshimasa had a more resonant and fuller tone, whilst making better use of his punctuation of words, dynamics and modulation. However Yoshimasa's voice can, at times sound a bit to deep or a bit to overdone if that's not your preference. In the end Robert's voice was more toned down and composed, where I feel sometimes perhaps his voice is more fitting for Ginti's role, & when it comes down to it, it's just a matter of preference for this one, as even I can't really definitively discern which is actually better. Though I will say Yoshimasa has a couple of scenes were his dialogue is just a bit funnier in the way he voices Ginti either getting upset, embarrassed or beaten to a pulp by Nona, as well as being better at acting up and reacting in violent manner. But really, the choice is between either wanting a moderately bulkier and punctual Ginti, or a more composed and toned down version, with a lighter and "rad" way with his words.
Voice Actors As Quin -
Ryoko Shiraishi in Japanese CastingQuinn is definitely a character I was curious about at first being that I was wondering who the Quinn was in the "Quinn Decim" bar. It turns out she's actually a pretty amicable and lax personality, & I find that Ryoko Shiraishi does an excellent job in portraying her casually aloof personality. Her voice has more of a presence in the mid range, with the a stuffier set of harmonics, and a lax sense of modulation and dynamics, often sounding slightly irresponsible, but somehow reassuring and amicable. I like a lot how she postures as a relatively silly person, though is shown to be experienced and mature when conversing in more serious matters with Nona, though still manages to be cheery and jovial in most situations. Tis' a shame that Yuzuru Tachikawa wasn't able to work in more development & general screen time for characters I'm fond of such as Quinn. None the less, for the time I did spent watching her Involvement within the story I enjoyed - A good casting choice and a amicable performance.
Anastasia Munoz in English CastingI felt that Anastasia's role as Koko Heckmatyar was just perfect, though even despite liking her casual & daring tone, I just feel that while it fits, I sense that the originally more lax & subdued Quinn was something that was a little missing. Being that Anatastia's voicing is even more cheerful, in that she has a leaner set of harmonics and generally a higher pitched voice and faster cadence. I really do like her voice, and in the end I can get use to it, it's just I kinda feel the Funimation dub sorta somewhat betrays the original, but then again I guess that just gives me more reason to enjoy both as separate items, because I also do like a more energetic voicing of Quinn that that has more flair, and of course while as a result of adding her own personality to the role, some of Quinn's Original character is lost as a result. A good casting choice & as always I love Anastasia's work on this one as well.
Voice Actors As Oculus -
Tessyo Genda in Japanese CastingI kind I feel oddly about both the English & Japanese dub when it comes to Oculus, though in the end I still kinda prefer Tessyo Genda's rendition, and here I'll tell you why. Starting from the visual component, Oculus looks relatively old and scrawny, though it's somewhat juxtaposed with a voice that sounds like it's coming someone with a build that's bulkier, who seems to be more or a middle aged man as opposed to someone of Oculus's build & age. His voice isn't exactly extravagant, but he is able to sound casual, collected and at times his supposed age, whilst being able to sound manipulative & intimidating when he needs too. While not feeling entirely positive about Tessyo Genda's fit for his role as Oculus, with time his voice proved to be something that I just needed to get used to, as he does a pretty decent job in expressing Oculus's more reluctantly casual side, whilst being able to sound steadfast & firm in confrontation. For said reasons I found myself much preferring his rendition to the alternative provided by Jeremy Schwartz & I'll get to that shortly.
Jeremy Shwartz in English CastingJeremy's voice on the other hand I felt amplified this problem of sounding juxtaposed to his role as Oculus. Where Tessyo Genda sounded more stiff & firm in his punctuation, Jeremy offered an (I feel) unneeded amount satire, often always sounding passive aggressive & condescending. Where I actually started to miss how Oculus's role was more fundamentally at it's core more aloof, & just lax and casual. I welcome variation when it comes to dubbing, but to a point - You see, for me I feel it's quite important to preserve the fundamental core aspects about what embodied the original, & spice things up on the other end on that particular foundation. His voice is actually quite familiar to me, though I can't remember or figure out why, it's just that he sounds so much like a comic book villain or the cliche of that one shady or suspicious ally. Either way it was just too much a distraction for me due to my distastefully vague familiarity with his kind of voice. Also being that I just don't find he fits the role all to well.
Segment Conclusion -
Yeah, yeah it may seem like I sort of came off as a "Japanese Dub is always better" elitist, though I assure that's only the case when it comes to moe moe type anime, or in any case where the cast is suppose to be adolescent. I'll tell you right now that the English dub is actually very charming & decent, particularly Jad Saxton's role as Nona, or even Alex Organ's role as Decim. But you have to stop & look at the Japanese casting side of things too, & thanks to the combination of veteran's and rookie's alike, the Japanese casting is just more well suited for Death Parade overall. When it comes to the visitors/players at the Quinn Decim however, both dubs are actually more or less a good fit & well casted, however when the nominal level of speaking rises above regular speaking level to more dynamic & confrontational dialogue or sometimes screaming, I just find that the English dub, once again kind of comes off as distractingly cheesy. I don't know but that's I feel about it in the end.
Original Soundtrack & SFX - Thoughts & Impressions
The soundtrack composed by Yuuki Hayashi is actually quite decent, offering selections of a more jazz influenced sound, with instruments such as the harp, upright bass & the sax, along with some more orchestral & symphonic selections with the traditional piano & string section, with instruments such as the violin. Also sporting some progressively unnerving and psychedelic tracks with synth and electronic drum kits and making a staple out of the harp & piano accompaniments that you can find throughout the series. The best I've heard? no, doesn't need to be for a 12 episode series, however it's impactful at delivering at right moments when sequenced in a timely fashion for the most climatic & pivotal of scenes. Not to mention the opening theme song performance by BRADIO was drop dead gorgeous, as Yuzuru Tachikawa truly has real a talent for storyboarding some awesome opening themes, & you can bet I'll looking forward to more of his work from here on out.
Though diving more into the sound component of things, Sound director Satoshi Motoyama & Tomoji Furuya work on Death parade was decent. Though a drama series, Death Parade is actually decently sound rich when it comes to accompanying sound effects and such, particularly when it comes to the various games Quinn Decim visitors play, whether it be colliding billiard balls or the long roll of a bowling ball down wooden lanes - It's definitely all there. Not to mention the choreography of voice actors was great & the sound editing while not the most noticeable, was subtly effective in it's own way, when cuing or cutting music or adding complimentary sound effects, it's pretty effectively standard stuff exhibited here.
