On May 23rd, 2009, Funimation announced the official casting for its English dubbing of the first of the Rebuild of Evangelion films, “Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone“ (2007):
- Shinji Ikari – Spike Spencer
- Misato Katsuragi – Allison Keith-Shipp
- Ritsuko Akagi – Colleen Clinkenbeard
- Maya Ibuki – Catlin Glass
- Gendou Ikari – John Swasey
- Rei Ayanami – Brina Palencia
- Makoto Hyuga, EVA – Mike McFarland
- Koto Fuyutski – Kent Williams
- Kensuke Aida – Greg Ayers
- Toji Suzuhara – Justin Cook
- Shigeru Aoba – Phil Parsons
- Kiel Lorenze – Bill Jenkins
- Hikari Horaiki – Leah Cook
- Kaworu Nagisa – Jerry Jewell
- Yui Ikari – Stephanie Young
- Pen-Pen – Monica Rial
For those of you keeping count, though actress Amanda Wynn-Lee expressed earlier consistent interest in reprising Rei Ayanami, only Spike Spencer and Allison Keith-Shipp are returning from ADV Film’s dub of the original ’95-96 TV series. John Swasey, Monica Rial, and Greg Ayers performed replacement voices (Gendou Ikari, Maya Ibuki, and Kaworu Nagisa respectively) for ADV’s Director’s Cut, but the latter-two are playing different characters for Rebuild…
(Keith did not appear in Manga Entertainment’s dubs for the sequel films, “Evangelion Death and Rebirth” and “The End of Evangelion“, thus making Spencer the only consistent voice [thus far] for a single character in English dubbing. Ironically, all of the original Japanese seiyu voices returned for Rebuild of Evangelion.)
Shortly thereafter, the official dub trailer (see link below) was released on the film’s English site, www.Funimation.com/Evangelion.
Um…why Spencer again??? I have always said his Eva-dub was the worst-sounding of them all! It’s not that his performance was bad (and I haven’t heard him anywhere else, so nothing against him for those performances), but it was just that he never sounded like a depress 14yr-old kid is all, too nasal.
I am pleased, though, that Keith-Shipp is returning. Her voice was, I thought, the closest to Misato’s seiyu, Kotono Mitsuishi.
While I really enjoyed Tristan MacAvery’s interpretation of Gendou Ikari with the deeper voice, I haven’t had a chance to view the Director’s Cut ver. with John Swasey (the latter is reprising the character for Rebuild…), so I have no opinion there yet.
And as for replacing Wynn-Lee with another, it’s kinda hard to say since Rei doesn’t say much anyways, and she’s almost whisper-quiet when she does. My opinion there, as well, is on hold.
I can’t understand why it is I’m getting no feedback on this, but I might as well bring it up since I’m still interested in it…
“Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight” is finally getting a little respect from 4Kids TV/The CW4Kids, and has been moved to an hour-earlier time slot (10:30) on Saturday mornings; something that I had hoped for since it was good enough not to bunch it up against noontime crap that could potentially preempt it.
Unfortunately, I still cannot give you official Nielsen ratings on how well it is doing since I don’t know where to look for them myself! While I think it’s still a good show, can someone please tell me how it’s really doing, and if there is the possibility of more Kamen Rider series coming over!?
. . .
Be assured, however, that I will be covering several toys from Bandai America’s line-up, mostly related to Kamen Rider Torque ’cause I like him a lot. These should be in stores anytime now…
Oh, that reminds me…
On 4Kids TV’s homepage is a link to a section called Papercraft, where you can select, print-out, cut, and build your ‘favorite characters’ from their TV line-up. As of this posting, they now have four non-poseable figures from “Kamen Rider Dragon Knight“-
Guess which one I’m gonna build…? ^_^