Heihachi Mishima

@HylianBelmont I think, while I want to avoid going down that path again, my issue with people saying "Kevin's too deep" is the (& call me crazy, but) the stereotype of "high Asian voices". Japanese Heihachi is similarly deep as KMR, you can tell from the clips on this site. It's especially evident in The Motion Picture, where there's more dialogue.

I still agree Jamieson Price is the best here, yeah, but it's moreso the attitude & delivery.

Also I have to say I thought John Paul Shepard, while definitely a lighter voice, carried a lot of Heihachi's attributes well. Not my favorite or anything, but as much I espoused the merits of KMR (casting-wise), I thought JPS was quite fitting despite being pretty atypical.

(On another note, I think Michael Ironside or especially Clancy Brown would be awesome as Heihachi.)

@huzaifa_ahmed Clancy Brown would probably be just as solid yeah.

I suppose it's another case where I just think they overdid it on the deepness just a little bit for this particular character is all. I feel the same way about JP Xander's voice as well, as much as I like that performance regardless.

@NitroEX I know it's been said below, but man oh man, would Clancy Brown or Paul st. Peter be such great VAs for this character. Was also maybe thinking JK Simmons or Lance Henriksen.

For future Japanese casts, probably Shozo Iizuka (Nappa), Ryuzaburo Otomo (Dabra), or Masaharu Sato (Roshi) would be very good as Heihachi.

@GreenGoblin75 Yeah, I agree. A lot of folks find that KMR is too deep, but Daisuke Gori was actually a bass, just like KMR is. Japanese is spoken much lighter than English, which is why it often sounds lighter.

But I'm gonna say that Jamieson sounds fairly close to Ishizuka, & KMR sounds like Gori.

That being said, I'm not sure exactly why Ishizuka replaced so many of Gori's roles after his death.

I figure Tessho Genda, Ryuzaburo Otomo, or other basses would be a better fit.

Maybe Banjo Ginga?

@huzaifa_ahmed
Yeah, I thought KMR's deepness was fitting.

@GreenGoblin75 I know I'm repeating myself, but I'm not really sure why they lightened his voice lighter on.

@huzaifa_ahmed

I think you're getting too hung up on the whole vocal timbre thing. Daisuke Gori's voice for Heihachi has a very gruff and aged sound to it. Because of how accustomed I am to his voice, it's what I think of when I hear Heihachi. KMR's voice is fine by its own merits, but I just prefer the gruffer approach that Jamieson Price takes, as it means he better captures the spirit of what I expect from Heihachi.

@NCZ Oh, that's a good point. Yeah, I agree that Jamieson's performance is better, though it's probably in part due to the material in the movie versus KMR's guest appearance in a game.

BUT, I was moreso thinking of the switch to the notably lighter Unsho Ishizuka after Gori died, & similarly in the dub to Jamieson Price.

There are various other Japanese basses I can think of, Ryuzaburo Otomo, Tessho Genda, Banjo Ginga (who's even deeper), Kenta Miyake.

In SoCal dubbing circles, we have...perhaps Paul st Peter & Richard Epcar? Damn, even that's stretching it, goes to show how limited dubbing circles are, sadly.

My point, anyhow, is...I know that Namco Bandai isn't exactly Disney Character Voices...but I think there's something to be said for consistency.

@huzaifa_ahmed

Heihachi was actually made younger in Tag 2, when Ishizuka took over (due to a potion, and you're still WAY too hung up on this whole timbre thing. It shouldn't make or break a performance that a VA is one octave lower than some other VA because every person sounds different from one another. It's an unhealthy and unrealistic mentality to have.

@NCZ There is in no way any sort of blame on the VA's for sounding different. It's just a rather notable pitch difference, that IMO should be taken into account when casting a replacement actor.

Remember when Travis Willingham in Persona 3's dub was replaced by Bryce Papenbrook?

* Cool stylistic change, which fit the chibi nature, but the original (I mean the primary, Japanese production) wasn't like that, & * I'm pretty sure there's a reason for it. *

* & as I said, Bryce did an *awesome* job with the performance, & it was quite the awesome out-of-box casting for him.

BUT IMO, at least when dubbing a character (which, to be clear, isn't what you're defending), you've got to keep the sort of voice the original production staff found befitting of the character.


Your point about the story of Tekken reminds me that I spend far more time on voice compares than actual entertainment.

But, when criticizing Ishizuka's replacement of Heihachi, I was ALSO considering Mr. Satan.

Gori-san unfortunately stuck himself in the middle of the show's airing.

* Thus, the replacement with Ishizuka's voice causes a noticeable pitch difference DURING the run of the show, & THAT was my main issue.

On the other extreme, though, how would you feel if we cast more male/female shared characters?

That's to say, Todd Haberkorn/Spike Spencer play female roles, & the likes of Deborah Strang & Mary McGlynn play male roles?

Is timbre really not an issue?

@huzaifa_ahmed "that IMO should be taken into account when casting a replacement actor."

I'm sorry, replacement actor?

@huzaifa_ahmed

There is a big difference between "actor 1 has a deep voice and smooth delivery and typically plays characters that require such a portrayal, and is replaced by actor 2 who has a noticeably higher and raspier voice and is now playing a character where he sounds totally out of his comfort zone" and "actor 1 who is well-known for his gruff performances has a deep voice and actor 2 who is also known for his gruff performances has a marginally less deep voice". It comes off as unnecessarily pedantic and while obviously timbre is a factor in any performance, boiling it down to just that as the sole make-or-break factor is missing the forest for the trees.

@NCZ You know what, I re-listened to Gori & then the SCII dub, & I do see your point. KMR's voice, while close to Gori, lacks a lot of the aggression that Gori (& Price) put into it. I voted for Jamieson.

That being said...I suppose I just wanted to play Devil's Advocate in this case, to point out that KMR isn't actually TOO deep, it's his Performance# that #matters.

Although, I DO think that vocal consistency matters in Japanese media, just because it doesn't refresh as often as the way Marvel/DC refreshes.

& I'll take this to the MGS compares when I get done playing them/watching them in Japanese.

@Zillah Just clearing out my old messages, but in no way was I dissing Ishizuka or Price as actors. By replacement actors, I just meant "actor who replaced other actor in a character". Yeah we have people like Matt Mercer replacing Troy Baker regularly, but there's nothing inherently wrong with those actors who do that.

For the record, I think both the dub & the Japanese track's post-Gori replacements are fine. Having only casually played Tekken a few times.

@NCZ By the looks of it, this conversation went a bit all over the place.

@OmeedMirVA He was one of my first ideal choices to playing Heihachi at one point.

@OmeedMirVA Chris Rager has too much of a southern drawl. It's in no way fitting for a character like Heihachi.

@NitroEX I did notice you said something similar on Kazuya's accent. On that note, Jamieson Price's voice, while the casting is surreally good, but the performance overall could be a lot gruffer.

Many fans of the Japanese version, appreciate that in the dub, Mr. Satan's voice is quite similar & personally, it's a memorable voice that is a perfect fit to who that character is. Itd be erroneous to entirely presume that they're copying the FUNi dub, because Jamieson is a natural fit for Satan, but to casual fans of DB, as well as fans of anime with attachment to the dub, this may not occur to them & they'll presume it's an impression of the FUNi dub - when it's quite possibly just a "good voice for Satan".

@OmeedMirVA oh, retrospective irony.

@Shaun Ince 1.5 years old, but I find that in terms of depth:

JPS

Jamieson/Unsho


Daisuke Gori
KMR (though he is a larger guy with much more resonance due to his size)

@huzaifa_ahmed Yeah, that actually makes sense.

@pete Victor Stone*

@pete This has actually been disputed for quite some time now, and I do believe Victor Stone could very well be a KMR alias. However, there's absolutely nothing anyone could find that can confirm this.

@pokemastanumba1

A couple of days ago, TheVengeanceKnight found something that proved it is indeed KMR and that he used "Victor Stone" as a pseudonym.

@Anicomicgeek HA! CALLED IT!

@Aussieroth *spits water*

@Anicomicgeek I'd like to see that evidence trail.

@ninjinister

I did read the interview where he said it was him doing the vocie once, but I can't seem to find it now.

@ninjinister The comments have since been removed, but it was on a podcast where KMR spoke about the name.