Voice Compare » Akira » Tetsuo Shima
Comparision of the voice over actors who have been the voice of Tetsuo Shima with sound clips and images.
EDITOR'S OPINION
Tetsuo Shima, one of the most famed "Tragic Cases" in all of anime history.In the 1989 dub of the movie we have VA Jan Robson as Tetsuo and it doesn't seem to be THAT bad. (Granted the way he and the others pronounced "Kaneda" in the old dub did feel a bit awkward.)
However in the modern dub we have Joshua Seth as Tetsuo and this is quite possibly his finest performance. (But then again Joshua Seth did mention on how Tetsuo is quite a dream role of his and it showed and its one of the reasons why its a shame Joshua Seth is retired from voice acting.)
But while Jan Robson wasn't that bad I am definitely going with Joshua Seth here.
Pokejedservo
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said at 3:55 PM on Thu Feb 28 2013
Joshua Seth still impresses me when I watch this movie, and I've seen it about six times! He got everything right, the awkwardness, the sadness, anger, and the pain he went through at the climax. I think he was absolutely stunning and his Tetsuo is one of my favorite voice performances. I just hope that FUNimation keeps the Animaze dub and just remixes the music and sound effects on their upcoming re-release of the film. It would be tragic for Joshua Seth's best work to be lost to out of print copies of the film. I would love to meet this man someday.
Replysaid at 5:28 AM on Sat Jan 19 2013
I could easily understand why people think Tetsuo is one of Joshua Seth's best roles. I thought he did a great job IMO.
Replysaid at 4:23 PM on Sat May 19 2012
Rabson's line readings are stilted and unnatural.
Seth is WAY more natural and believable.
ReplySeth is WAY more natural and believable.
michaelkelley (Guest)
said at 9:29 PM on Mon Dec 6 2010
said at 9:29 PM on Mon Dec 6 2010
Joshua Seth was obviously the best thing about the 2001 English Dub..he spoke his lines with perfection..you can clearly hear in his voice all types of emotion throughout Akira..his performance was and still is grand to this day.
jont (Guest)
said at 2:16 AM on Fri Jul 23 2010
said at 2:16 AM on Fri Jul 23 2010
Two words: Joshua Seth. Jan may be a good actor, but he does absolutely no justice to Tetsuo; his psychotic moments are both overdone and totally ill-fitting, and his "whimpy" version is even worse, totally devoid of any genuine emotion.
Joshua nails this character from the beginning, plus he makes him sound more authentic and more dimensional; he is both far more natural and does a better job of displaying Tetsuo's sympathetic qualities, making it all the more terrifying when he goes crazy at the end. So Josh owns the role.
Joshua nails this character from the beginning, plus he makes him sound more authentic and more dimensional; he is both far more natural and does a better job of displaying Tetsuo's sympathetic qualities, making it all the more terrifying when he goes crazy at the end. So Josh owns the role.
chunkyfunkymonkey (Guest)
said at 5:04 PM on Tue Jul 13 2010
said at 5:04 PM on Tue Jul 13 2010
jan rabson had that psychotic voice thing goin when tetsuo goes psycho and when he regular old tetsuo joshua seth was a good wimpy voice for him
said at 7:26 PM on Sat May 8 2010
A bit mixed on this one. Jan completely fails at doing a wimpy kid like Tetsuo imo. However... that all changes when Tetsuo goes completely psycho during the second half of the movie, and Jan's overacting is so sinister, and fits so perfectly... Joshua on the other hand does a good job at being regular old Tetsuo, but he just wasn't convincing enough as a psychotic killer. So I'll have to give this to Jan
Replyjoshuaseth (Guest)
said at 7:49 PM on Tue Apr 20 2010
said at 7:49 PM on Tue Apr 20 2010
Jan was the original, that's just a fact. I always went for emotional realism when voicing my roles though, so what you're perceiving as "monotone" was just my being truthful to the scene as an actor. I was going for more realism.
I talk extensively about my experience voicing Tetsuo on the video at the bottom of this page btw: http://www.joshuaseth.com/voice-overs/
l8r,
Joshua Seth
I talk extensively about my experience voicing Tetsuo on the video at the bottom of this page btw: http://www.joshuaseth.com/voice-overs/
l8r,
Joshua Seth
mvx248 (Guest)
said at 11:47 AM on Sun Feb 21 2010
said at 11:47 AM on Sun Feb 21 2010
Joshua Seth would have been better if he wasn't so monotone. Instead, he brought the 2001 dub down. Jan Rabson put far more emotion and meance into the role.
charmainehugak (Guest)
said at 3:40 PM on Wed Nov 11 2009
said at 3:40 PM on Wed Nov 11 2009
id say joshua seth sounded awesome!!!!!!! so id have to go with him......
eddy (Guest)
said at 1:08 PM on Sun Aug 30 2009
said at 1:08 PM on Sun Aug 30 2009
Well, Joshua sounds more like a teenager, allright, but I must say that I've had both versions and the first one (so Jan), stays in my mind as the "original" one.
spike32 (Guest)
said at 12:48 PM on Sun Jul 19 2009
said at 12:48 PM on Sun Jul 19 2009
Joshua is better as john says, makes him sound more like a teenager. Also, I believe he makes him sound smoother like he's really talking, not reading lines.
john (Guest)
said at 8:13 PM on Sat Jul 18 2009
said at 8:13 PM on Sat Jul 18 2009
They are both pretty good but I prefer Joshua he sounds more like a teenager.
























said at 7:13 PM on Wed Mar 20 2013
Having seen both performances in their entirety- Joshua Seth cannot compare to Jan Rabson. Whether it be his non-reaction towards Takashi, his scolding of the clowns as they threaten to burn Kaneda's bike, his flat delivery after knocking back the soliders, or his fake screaming during the mutation sequence, Seth failed bring Tetsuo to life. Rabson put far more emotion, far more menace, and far more power into the role. When I hear Seth, I hear an actor. When I hear Rabson, I hear Tetsuo.
said at 4:15 PM on Sat Apr 20 2013
said at 7:53 AM on Sun Apr 21 2013
said at 12:43 PM on Wed May 8 2013
said at 10:43 PM on Mon May 13 2013
said at 2:04 AM on Fri May 17 2013
I actually preferred Seth after my initial viewing of the two dubs. Voice wise, he was spot on as Tetsuo. But once I got past the voices and started hearing the actual performances, it became evident that Seth was lacking in the emotion department. For me, the moment that demonstrated Seth couldn't deliver as Tetsuo was his mutation scene at the end. He was too relaxed, sounding merely surprised over what was happening to Tetsuo's body. With Rabson, he made certain the audience felt Tetsuo's pain; he even admits the mutation was a throat killer.
For those who have seen them, the two Akira dubs are polarizing affairs. Very few feel neutral about them, they both find their way on to best and worst dub lists. It really stems from the version you saw first and what you thought it of it.
said at 3:02 AM on Fri May 17 2013
Though I think we can agree that just because you see a particular version first, doesn't mean you automatically like it. At the time, I thought it made more sense to watch an 80s film with an 80s dub. Boy, was I wrong. I was enjoying the film itself very much, but it was clear that the voice performances I was hearing weren't very good. English anime dubs, as a whole, have improved tremendously since the 80s/early 90s with new technology, a better understanding of the material, and better voice actors, as well as a wider selection of talent of performers, writers, and directors willing to do this. I think Akira is a great representation of that. The newer dub just feels more "evolved", and so much more true to the source material, I enjoyed the film even more, and certainly had a better understanding of it as well. I think the 80s film COULD'VE been good under better circumstances. They had some great talent on board, and they really could've created a good product. But they didn't. It was a quick product with poor direction, strange casting, and weak writing rushed out the door to Hong Kong (literally). With such a huge film, being marketed as such, you'd think better care would've been put into the voice recording. The Animaze dub was created as a way to "fix" this. Whether the attempt was successful or not is up to you, but I think they ultimately succeeded extremely well. A lot of time and care was put into that dub with better writing, better casting, better direction, and (overall) better voice actors to essentially correct some of the key mistakes made in the previous production. The film deserved better, and I think it got it.
Of course there are those nostalgic for the both productions, and that's understandable. We still have no idea if FUNimation is going to include the original production on their 2014 re-release as a bonus feature, but it certainly would be an interesting feature to have for historical purposes, because like it or not, both English productions are very important pieces to not only the history of this very important film, but to English localizations of anime as a whole.