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| Tsutomu Kashiwakura |
Voice Actors As Fuu Kasumi -
Ayako Kawasumi in Japanese CastingDefinitely one of the most notable Seiyuu's around, you can Ayako's work in all sorts of productions, be it starring in the Fate/Stay Night Franchaise as Saber, in Kyoto Animation's Kyoukai No Kanata as Izumi Nase, or in one of Kyo Ani's earlier works such as Kanon - Though this time we'll be talking about her starring performance in Samurai Champloo.
Maybe it's because Samurai Champloo is an original anime, but Ayako really hits home with Fuu as her character. She's perfect for the spirited and occasionally diva like personality Fuu has, being that her cadence is often fast, relatively pitched in the upper mid range, and is dramatic in her sense of punctuation and although she has a mild sibilance to her voice, it's soft enough not sound raking in anyway whatsoever, but instead somewhat airy and sweet. Although she can be loud & rowdy in her efforts to get a handle on Jin & Mugen, her voice is still sweet and bodied in the lower mid range, as she can also sound charmingly casual, since her voice has an even set of harmonics, but is broad and dense enough that makes up for a lot of the body her voice has. I also really like how she has this cold dryness to her voice, that really suits of her more casual lines and dialogue. Though in the end, her real strength is in her diversity, as it really strengthens Fuu as a character, being that Ayako is adequately able to keep up with Fuu's whimsical and somewhat temperamental attitude by being able to voice her self in all sorts of ways, be it as a perky Diva who sounds like an annoying older sister, or a more solemn and serious attitude that's down to earth and fragile, or when letting her guard down and letting out a warm laugh. Overall a strong charismatic performance and a great casting selection.
Kari Wahlgren in English CastingKari's voice on the other hand is somewhat similar to Ayako's, but there certainly are discernible differences - For example while Ayako Kawasumi plays the tsundere routine quite a bit better, since her voice has more snap and bite, Kari Wahlgren's voice is rounder, as well as more projected and brightly energetic. Though perhaps the issue with most English dubs is how alot of the nuance and subtly from the original is somehow removed, the same is also true for Fuu's dub in English. I feel where Ayako's voicing of Fuu made her out to be a perplexing though spirited character, Kari Wahlgren's voice is more happy go lucky and simple. I enjoyed it quite a bit despite that however, because her voice is quite a bit more projected and coherent, as she always has a "presence" if you will in the situation or room she's in at a given time - As Ayako can sound in my opinion to complacent and passive at times, enough so that she's not able to have an effect on the given mood. However what's missing from Kari's performance is again, the subtleties of Ayako's cadence, pitch modulation & dynamics, as Kari's voice is not nearly as versatile as Ayako's performance, and as a result makes Fuu seem much more simplistic as a character. Still a good performance & casting selection here none the less.
Voice Actors As Mugen -
Kazuya Nakai in Japanese CastingDefinitely a highlight of the series, as Kazuya Nakai's voicing of Mugen is just as memorable and charismatic as his other roles - Being that he's also quite memorably the voice of Hijikata in Gintama, an instantly recognizable voice that I cherish. His role as the vagrant Mugen definitely has it's similarities, as his voice is dry and raspy as always, and his speech & temperament as crude as ever. To me, as much of a subjective anecdote this may be, I find Kazuya's voice nostalgic in his taunting low spoken voice, and as Mugen he's always antagonizing others and looking for a challenge, as his voice voice is sibilant and unyielding, with his reckless screams and sleazy attitude. Despite being somewhat of a challenged character, he's also somewhat of a lethargic character, as he's easy to give in to his impulses or material desires, and I find Kazuya's lazy though masculine way of speaking perfect for a character like Mugen. His voice is upper low mid range centric, with a small amount of low end, along with having a very dissonant and uneven set of harmonics that gives his voice that grit along with transient dynamics that are characteristic of Mugen's whimsical and unpredictable attitude. If I were to criticize anything though, sometimes I feel Kazuya's performance was a little overdone, and at other times, again his voice is somewhat hard to understand as it's not as coherent as it ought to be. Though overall I still liked Kazuya Nakai's voicing of Mugen quite a bit, and find him a pretty decent fit for the given role.
Steven Blum in English CastingA very familiar voice to many, as Steven Blum who also starred as Spike Spiegel in Cowboy Bebop, returns in another Shinichiro Watanabe classic, as Mugen in Samurai Champloo with a very similar voice non the less. Though I take issue with his voice here despite being good because, while fitting in a space opera like Cowboy Bebop, something set strictly within Japan in the Edo period is another story. Being that at times I found Blum's voice to be even more over done and cheesy than Kazuya Nakai's rendition, as it was something of a rare occurrence for me to actually find myself at odds with Nakai's performance. On the other hand while having some fantastic dialogue and more charisma in his performance at times, the other off colour moments kind of made me want to cringe instead, as he at times makes Mugen sound more like a comic book villain rather than a reckless vagabond baddass like he ought to be - Look no further than the first episode when Mugen starts "Counting" with another man's fingers. Though I will go on to say that it's something of a minor problem, as Steven Blum has some spectacular moments within the series as well, and is arguably more evocative and explosive in the most pivotal of moments. I like his voice because he of course projects his voice in a more resonant fashion, making for some more honest sounding dialogue, and although he doesn't sound as sadistic and rough as Kazuya's rendition, in contrast Steven Blum's voice is instead more smooth and sleazy, which adds a really nice touch when he's trying to provoke others. Though with some flaws, Steven Blum's rendition was still great none the less & a good fit overall for Mugen's role.
Voice Actors As Jin -
Ginpei Sato in Japanese CastingDefinitely another favourite voice of mine within Samurai Champloo, as I find Ginpei Sato's lightly spoken syllables and tone interesting, and fitting of Jin's calculating and observant attitude. His voice is somewhat more based in the low region, though he has a soft sibilance to his voice regarding his punctuation, that's characteristic to his monotonous way of speaking and generally impartial and detached attitude with his slow sense of cadence and soft punctuation. Though he does has this particular cold hardness to his voice that just beautifully fits with Jin's stoic demeanour. Sadly though, other than 3 other roles in anime, he has very few appearances in other series, which is unfortunate, because Ginpei Sato is seemingly a master at voicing more introverted & calculating characters, as I could even envision him playing roles similar to Arata in Chihayafuru, though that's neither here nor there. Without a doubt probably the most well dubbed character in both languages as both Genpei Sato & Kirk Thorton are masterful in their performance, as they sound quite similar to each other. Overall a fantastic performance & an excellent casting choice, very well done here.
Kirk Thornton in English CastingOn the other hand, Kirk Thorton also has a spectacular voicing of Jin as well - The difference mainly being that Kirk's voice is somewhat heavier, and darker in tone. In addition to this it makes him sound a bit less of a impartial and unaffected character, but more a character who seemingly has darker convictions and a sense of purpose. As his punctuation & dynamics have more emphasis in his speech, being that he's able to sound more daring when provoking others thanks to his voice being more focussed on the low end, whilst still sporting somewhat of a stoic attitude. Though in exchange, he doesn't sound a much of a calculating and introverted character as he does with Ginpei Sato. Without a doubt, Kirk Thorton's rendition is a masterful alternative to the original, that it is equally reminiscent of, though equally original and organic when voicing Jin as a character. In all, I think it's really down to preference on this one, as I personally find Kirk Thorton's more resonant and thicker voice to be just as attractive as the original by Ginpei Sato, because overall both dubs were excellently casted and performed respectively by to great VA's.
Segment Conclusion -
This time I didn't really want to go out of my way to extensively write the full yard about every other given voice actor within the series, due to how screen time is distributed throughout the series. Though trust me when I say that, despite being set in the historical Edo period strictly within Japan, I found the English dub to be surprisingly good otherwise and just as good of an alternative to the Original if that's your preference. Luckily for this anime, most of the given characters involved with Samurai Champloo are adults, so as you might imagine, it's definitely not as hard to cast their roles fittingly thanks to the abundance in the given age group, and to that effect it makes for a very charismatic and entertaining dub. The issue of course is details getting lost in translation being that, it's a natural inclination for the script writers and dubbing directors to want to match the syllables of the dialogue to match the onscreen lip movements, and of course this is were things always get a bit tricky, being that quite a bit of the literal meaning of the original script gets rewritten to synchronize the two. I know this is a little bit basic by now, but it's still important remember and acknowledge the compromises that have to be made. None the less, a fantastic dub in both Japanese & English
Sound Direction & General SFX
Despite having a pretty extensive sound track, that's also equally funky & noticeable, again Samurai Champloo really is a mix of both conservative practices, opting to keep things diegetic, while also mashing in provocative editing, both within the Visual & Sound department - And in that, while you might expect Samurai Champloo to be a pretty funky and provocative form a directors standpoint, a lot of the times it really isn't, as elements such as the dubbing & the temporal quality of the story are able to exist within a Vacuum for a fair amount of the time. In Samurai Champloo, many scenes play out with a very noticeable silence, not glossed over by any particular track or theme of music, instead the dubbing is isolated, with minimalistic and diegetic sound effects. So often times a scenes mood is carried by the performances of it's actors alone, regarding the visual body language of it's subjects and their voices - In that Samurai Champloo is actually objectively shot quite a bit of the time.
At the same token though, Watanabe's team also tends to sequence music when the main action escalates, or perhaps when an episodes story reaches a conclusion, so in a sense, it's pretty common for Watanabe's team to try to create and build a theme with corresponding actions before cueing in a track, instead of trying to ride on a specific track's sonic quality to create a scene or logical sequence of events. And throughout the series, you'll notice that it's somewhat of a pastime of Watanabe's to let composition elements such as his characters, the voice acting flourish within a vacuum, so that when his team does cue the track, you'll always be able to notice the actual edit - Being that Watanabe emphasizes a particular importance within that contrasting dynamic between the objective silence of a scene, then transitioning into a scene's subjectivity and mood captured by the given score. Watanabe's style thrives on the consonance and dissonance of these compositional elements, and the changing dynamics and momentum that they naturally bring about, though he's also willing to inject a little personality into these scenes as well, a signature of the charismatic style that he brings to the process.
Although perhaps not as funkily subjective as any given Shaft production, Samurai Champloo also does have it's fair share of non diegetic sound effects in addition to it's equally hip soundtrack, most notably their use of these Funky Rewind jump cuts reminiscent of "Scratching" back and forth on a vinyl turntable. However, since Samurai Champloo is historically set in the Edo period, as you can imagine it's not all too high fantasy, in fact it's quite the opposite, as most of Samurai Champloo's sound effects are able to be recorded faithfully, whether it's the clash of swords, the movement of wooden furniture or perhaps just the environmental sounds that being outdoors usually entails thanks to SFX engineers such as Naoto Yamatani & Shizuo Kurahashi - It's generally all there, as anything moving or clashing in high action scenes is recorded, as is the silence of the outdoors, when your able to hear the life of the forest and the environmental sounds that nature brings, as Watanabe's team pay a surprising amount of attention to the given environments acoustics as well, so you'll end up being able to discern the difference between varying environments and settings within the story. In the end, while not recorded with the most revealing equipment out there, Samurai Champloo does end up being a fairly purposeful and sound rich environment, being just as much of a mix of corresponding styles as the visual and text is, as the sound direction is no exception.
Editors Note - The next section is somewhat long, as I ended up finding myself doing somewhat of a pseudo review for each of the individual records, though I tried to keep it to the point, while still elaborating enough - Full Disclosure for those already tired of reading
At the same token though, Watanabe's team also tends to sequence music when the main action escalates, or perhaps when an episodes story reaches a conclusion, so in a sense, it's pretty common for Watanabe's team to try to create and build a theme with corresponding actions before cueing in a track, instead of trying to ride on a specific track's sonic quality to create a scene or logical sequence of events. And throughout the series, you'll notice that it's somewhat of a pastime of Watanabe's to let composition elements such as his characters, the voice acting flourish within a vacuum, so that when his team does cue the track, you'll always be able to notice the actual edit - Being that Watanabe emphasizes a particular importance within that contrasting dynamic between the objective silence of a scene, then transitioning into a scene's subjectivity and mood captured by the given score. Watanabe's style thrives on the consonance and dissonance of these compositional elements, and the changing dynamics and momentum that they naturally bring about, though he's also willing to inject a little personality into these scenes as well, a signature of the charismatic style that he brings to the process.
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| Shizuou Kurahashi |
Editors Note - The next section is somewhat long, as I ended up finding myself doing somewhat of a pseudo review for each of the individual records, though I tried to keep it to the point, while still elaborating enough - Full Disclosure for those already tired of reading
