Akira - Kaori

Ah Kaori, poor Kaori easily a prominent example of a "Woobie" in a known anime movie. In the 1989 Streamline dub of the movie she was voiced by Veteran Anime Dub VA Barbara Goodson and I must say I was pleasantly surprised. Her voice was rather fitting and the performance didn't seem too bad to me either. (In fact I will say that Barbara Goodson's work as Kaori was one of the better performances in the Streamline dub.) In the modern 2001 version she was voiced by the rather renowned Michelle Ruff. And while Michelle can do more that she is well known for doing cutesy higher voices well and this is no exception. And of course I certainly have no problem with Michelle Ruff's performance as well. Overall I am not quite sure here as both did well IMO.

[Pokejedservo]

I like Michelle a bit better because she sounds younger and more innocent.

Talented though Barbara Goodson may be, I think Michelle Ruff ultimately wins out, because she sounds both more natural and more naive.

I never got the vibe that Ruff's Kaori cared about Tetsuo. I was kind of happy when her Kaori got crushed.