Kurama

Comparision of the voice over actors who have been the voice of Kurama with sound clips and images.

Created by Pokejedservo on Mon Mar 22 2010, 15 Comments, Add Comment

Special thanks to Satoshi for additional sound clips.

Yu Yu Hakusho: Poltergeist Report (1998)

Hideo Seaver

Yu Yu Hakusho: The Golden Seal (1998)

David Hayter

Yu Yu Hakusho (2002)

John Burgmeier

Yu Yu Hakusho (2002)

Candice Moore

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CatsTuxedo
said at 12:15 AM on Mon Jul 16 2012

The ability of a voice actress to sound convincingly male rests not in superficial elements like their gender or the language that they speak but by their own individual talent. I'm certain there's an English-speaking actress out there that can live up to or even surpass Megumi Ogata's original performance, but until one of that sort comes along, my vote for Candice will have to stick.

PsychicVoiceSpy
said at 11:44 AM on Tue Mar 26 2013

2 Shout Outs!

@CatsTuxedo I love the FUNi dub for Yu Yu Hakusho and I am in no way a strict purist to the exact original Japanese version's intentions... but this time I have to agree. I sorta like John Burgmeier in the role, but his delivery just sounds flat, boring, and a little out of place in most cases. Making Kurama sound more young and feminine than the others is what helps him stand out. John Burgmeier on the other hand just makes him sound stiff and pretentious, IMO.

I don't agree with you that only a voice actress could make this character work as there are some male VA's out there that could pull this character off, IMO. But I must agree that a more feminine approach to the character is needed.

Seandream91
said at 2:32 AM on Sun Jun 9 2013

@PsychicVoiceSpy boring and flat not at all he sounded very convincing as kurama and fit his personality well and he never sounded pretentious unless he had sarcastic dialogue john was perfect for the role the seiyuu i was never that fond of because while the attempt was to make herva convincing male i never quite believed her performance at all

PsychicVoiceSpy
said at 8:15 PM on Sun Jun 9 2013

@Seandream91 I watched some episodes of the show just a few months back, and yes, I thought he at least made him sound boring and somewhat passionless. I just couldn't really enjoy his performance, and the scenes where he was worrying for his mother sounded unnatural and stilted, I didn't get a strong sense of urgency or genuineness when he was afraid for her life.

I can tell he's trying, but the tone and inflection he goes for just doesn't fit. I don't know, it's hard for me to put it into words, but I don't feel he did the character proper justice and someone else should have been cast in the part. I love Chuck, Chris, and Justin in their parts, but I feel that John Burgmeier's performance doesn't deserve as much of the praise it gets.

He did sound pretty cool as Yoko Kurama though, I'll say that much.

Seandream91
said at 1:06 AM on Thu Jun 13 2013

1 Shout Out!

@PsychicVoiceSpy to each his own i guess i thought he was great in the role but you cant please everyone

PsychicVoiceSpy
said at 12:00 AM on Wed Jun 19 2013

@Seandream91 I will admit, his acting got better later on, and John has a way of screaming that makes it sound like he's truly in pain, so he has some pluses to his performance. I believe he's easily the best person to play the character so far and I even voted for him, but I do have my issues with it at the same time. Ah well.

Galactic_Cyrus
said at 6:12 PM on Sat Dec 24 2011

1 Shout Out!

John Burgmeier best captured the character, though Hideo Seaver sounds very close. Solid Snake does not work for Kurama, neither does Candice Moore's forced voice performance.

purplewarrior (Guest)
said at 4:02 PM on Sat Jan 15 2011

Well Candice Moore proved that a female voice does NOT work for this character in English! Seriously, that was really bad casting, and she sounds horrible in the role! I'm sure the female voice worked better in Japanese (it was Megumi Ogata, of course it worked!), but all 3 of the male actors do a MUCH MUCH MUCH better job in English. Male voice actors can sound feminine enough too, and I think John Burgmeier captured this greatly! I don't know why the Japanese insist on casting women as full grown men. It just sounds awkward. Young boys though, I understand!

satoshi
said at 5:54 AM on Sat Jan 15 2011

Well uh speaking of female VAs... Candice Moore from the animax dub now added

CatsTuxedo
said at 8:10 PM on Wed Jan 12 2011

As the character was originally voiced by a female seiyu (Megumi Ogata) to accentuate his feminity, I'm afraid I can't really go with any of these choices. IMO, this character only works if a female voice actor is at the helm, and having an adult male voice him just eliminates the feminine charm that the Japanese production team worked for.

shuichikurama (Guest)
said at 10:05 PM on Mon Jan 10 2011

"but......but.....but........ it was all covered by.....WATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" oh god hideo was the worst... john is the best

amy6000 (Guest)
said at 10:39 PM on Sat Aug 28 2010

ok kurama is my favorite charecter and i think the only one who fit in was john

anyakurama (Guest)
said at 11:15 AM on Mon Aug 9 2010

The second guy to play Kurama wasn't the best. I prefer the otehr two.

beyblade0sakura (Guest)
said at 7:39 PM on Sat Mar 27 2010

I agree. I like John Burgmeier's voice the best.