SIMONE MAXWELL: Why are you taping me?
KAGENAMI Q: It'd be cool to do a page where it's back and forth about our impressions of the voice actors after the first episode.
SM: They suck! [laughter]
KQ: Oh, c'mon, they didn't suck.
SM: No, they didn't. Heero's voice was too deep, though--too testosterone-laden. No 15-year-old boy has a voice that deep. No 15-year-old boy has a wife and kids and a mortgage to worry about. That guy sounds like he is a little bit whiskey-soaked.
KQ: I thought they tried to give him kind of a world-weary edge to his voice as the episode went on.
SM: Almost like they were going, "Ooh, listen, he's James Bond Jr.!", which is like, no, no, no...you almost expected him to say, "Shaken, not stirred." You know, and with this stuff--[in brainless-girl voice] "My name is Relena Dork-lian, what's your name?" [in James Bond voice] "Bond. James Bond." [back to normal voice] Maybe that's what they were intending to evoke.
I really do not like Duo's voice. I really wish they'd lose the surfer accent. The voice would be fine if they would lose the surfer accent.
KQ: I thought it was too deep. He suddenly came on there with this really deep voice...
SM: No, I didn't think it was too deep. I think he sounded appropriate and adolescent, but, [in a "surfer dude" voice] but he's got that surfer dude accent, dude! "C'mon over to my house and we'll surf the 'net, man! We can find some great porno sites!" [back to normal voice] Wufei's voice was pretty decent. They're using obviously the same voice actor that they used for Anubis in Ronin Warriors, except...
KQ: Really?
SM: Yes. Listen to him--it's the same guy, [in Anubis voice] except they're not making him sound quite so evil.
KQ: [in Anubis voice] Wufei is Anubis with half the evil!
SM: [in Dr. Evil voice] The Diet Coke of evil! [laughter] [back to normal voice] Trowa's voice is good, and Quat's voice is good, too.
KQ: Trowa's voice should've been on Duo, though.
SM: I think they were trying to make Trowa sound a little deadpan.
KQ: Well, I guess we're lucky--we could've had the same guy on Trowa and Duo, and one of them have a stupid accent!
SM: Count your blessings! At least they're using five separate voice actors. Quat's voice was well-done. He sounded like a guy; he didn't sound like a girl, which is my objection to the Japanese version.
KQ: He sounded better here than he did in Japanese, I think.
SM: Yes. And he actually sounds like he has morals and a conscience. You can hear the regret in his voice; it's like, "Hey, you should've surrendered. Lay down your weapons and I'll let you go."
Of course, it could go to hell after this! [laughter]
KQ: Well, they could've screwed up Quat really bad...
SM: They could've.
KQ: ...but they did a really good job!
SM: I was afraid they were going to make him sound like "The Little Prince." [in a little British-boy voice] "Lay down your weapons and I will not harm you..." [laughter] [back to normal voice] I thought Treize sounds like he's stoned, but, you know, I don't like the character anyway...
KQ: He had a voice completely unlike what I expected. I don't know what I expected, but...
SM: You were expecting Desslok's voice.
KQ: [laughter] You're right!
SM: [in Desslok voice] "Ganz, what are you so excited about?" [laughter]
KQ: But Treize had a much more normal voice, so that was kind of nice.
SM: I didn't think Zechs' voice was that bad.
KQ: I thought he sounded stupid.
SM: Well, he is stupid! [laughter]
KQ: I thought it was nice that Heero has a deeper voice than Zechs... [laughter]
SM: He's a guy that runs around in tight white britches and a tin can on his head.
KQ: I guess it is the voice of a man who would run around in tight white britches and a tin can on his head...
SM: There you go. I rest my case! [laughter] But anyway, I don't have any really major objections to the voices so far.
KQ: What did you think about Relena's voice?
SM: It's okay. The voice actress doesn't sound that skillfull, but--[in a lifeless voice] "Father, what's that?"--[back to normal voice] but, you know, there's actually far fewer skilled actresses than actors, I think.
Everybody gripes about the actresses in Sailor Moon. Actually, some of the girls in Sailor Moon do a pretty decent job. The girl that does Sailor Moon's voice does a good job, and I think the girl that does Sailor Jupiter does a good job. She has a good voice. She has, like, a husky voice, and she sounds like somebody who's five-foot-ten and coping with being five-foot-ten and a girl.
I understand that they actually replaced the actress who did Sailor Mars when they went into the second season, which we haven't seen in the States, and that the second girl for Sailor Mars just shat--just was like reading her lines.
It's going to be interesting to see what they do with the Wing voices. I'm concerned about what's going to go on with Lady Une. I don't know whether she's going to have, like, [in a deep voice] her one personality will be very butch, [in a ditzy girl voice] and the other one will be the fairy princess! [laughter] [back to normal voice] Which, obviously, would really suck.
KQ: You know what I really fear?
SM: What do you fear? Tell me what you fear!
KQ: Doctor J and Professor G and those guys...what are they going to do for those voices?
SM: [in a demented squeaky voice] They're all going to sound like this! [laughter]
KQ: They're going to sound like hand puppets!
SM: Cow and Chicken!
KQ: Yeah! The Red Guy!
SM: [in the Red Guy's voice] "Oh, Heero! Please, let me put an electrode in your scalp, Heero!" [laughter] [back to normal voice] Well, since they had all of Relena's little homeys, I think that they probably have a pretty good stable of voice actresses.
KQ: They all sounded different.
SM: Yeah, they all sounded different. I don't think that it's just like, "Okay, you and you, be six different girls each!" "What?!"
I just hope they do a good job with Noin. I really like the character, and I don't want her to sound stupid, because she's not stupid. That's going to be a problem, I think--none of the female characters are really stupid. Not even Relena; in spite of the fact that we don't really like her, she isn't stupid. And we don't want them to sound stupid, and that can be a problem.
That, I think, is maybe part of the problem with Duo; right now we think he sounds stupid. And like you said, today's is going to be a little bit of a painful episode to see.
But the voice acting overall is, like, a B-plus. It's not as bad as it could be. It could be much worse.
KQ: Would you even give it an A-minus?
SM: I probably would give it an A-minus.
KQ: I'd give it an A-minus after seeing Brain Powerd! Oh my gawd, ohhh...
SM: Yeah! We are lucky. And think about Star Blazers! Think about Star Blazers...
KQ: But I like Star Blazers.
SM: [suddenly spotting a college guy with a long ponytail and tight pants crossing the street] Ooh, look at that.
KQ & SM: Sayyyy....! [laughter]
KQ: ...So, A-minus?
SM: I'd say an A-minus, B-plus--depending on how generous I'm feeling at the moment.
KQ: At least they didn't have goofy accents like in Ronin Warriors.
SM: I was so scared! I thought that Brooklyn accent on Touma was the most inappropriate thing...
KQ: Who was the most ripe candidate for an outrageous accent in Wing, if it was going to happen?
SM: Quat or Wufei. [in Charlie Chan voice] "Ah, no tickee, no shirtee!" [back to normal voice] I think with Wufei, they're going for a little bit of Kwai Chang Kane out of Kung Fu. But, y'know, we've only heard him say one line, so we don't know for sure.
KQ: I was scared Trowa was going to have a Russian accent like the bear in that Bugs Bunny cartoon!
SM: [in Russian bear voice] "Haw-haw-haw! Come to Natasha now! Let me give you bear-hug with my Gundam!" [back to normal voice] Squish! [laughter] Oh, we're such a fun group...
KQ: Say something wacky to end it.
SM: [throwing a momentary spazz fit] UNGHAH!! [back to normal voice] Oh, now the guy in that car is wondering what's going on...oh great, it's a cop! Thank you so much!
Go to Chapter 3 "What Were They Thinking?!" (on Bad Accents from Star Blazers to Giant Robo, Tomino's Monkeywrench, Photoshopping Heero's Shorts, the Quest for Two-Flap Swear Words, Duo Gets His Gun, and Gundam Wing Episode 2)
Go to Chapter 4 "'Dickweed' Would Gladden My Heart" (on Duo's Vintage Vocabulary, Heero's Mysterious Dripping, "Instructor Noin" Meets "Inspector Gadget," and Gundam Wing Episode 3)
Go to Chapter 5 "There Should Be About 57 Dots Between the 'Umm' and the 'Okay'..." (on the appeal of Noin, how Sid & Marty Krofft swayed Wufei, crunchy fruity rebels, fear of Freeza, and Gundam Wing episodes 4, 5 and 6)
Go to Chapter 6 "The Hell With the New Possibilities--She Wants To Plook Heero!" (on the World's Smallest Violin, the Unfortunately-Named General That-Part-Of-Your-Nose, Ringo Starr Meets Turn A Gundam, Memories of Pleading For Heero's Medical Prognosis, and Gundam Wing Episodes 6 and 7)
Go to Chapter 7 "Why Don't You Gundams And The Colonies Get A Frickin' Room?" (on Zechs Failing Shop Class, Quatre Raberba Jonny Quest Winner, Simultaneous Possession By Dr. Evil, Heero's Difficulties With Modern Technology, Pagan's Surfing For Smut, and Gundam Wing Episode 17)
Go to Chapter 7.5 "Silence Nowwwwwwwwwwww!" (on Heero's Holster, Explaining Headcheese, Sally and Cher Po, the Gundam Wing Voice Actors Revealed, Kudos For Correspondents, and Gundam Wing Episode 20)
Go to Chapter 8 "God Forbid Little Kids Gets Ideas..." (on the Great Houdini vs. the God of Death, Keeping Duo from Damaging Impressionable Young Minds, Oz Fashion Don'ts, Duo's True-Life Nature Adventure, a Left Turn into Trigun, and Gundam Wing Episode 23)
Go to Chapter 9 "Stay Away From Those Oz Burritos!" (on the Gundam Wing Language Rules, the Great Destroyer Vs. Great Mazinger, Trowa Markets the Oz Viewmaster, the Omnipresent Mr. B Natural, and Gundam Wing Episode 24)
Go to Chapter 10 "I Don't Usually Use 'Clown' In That Context..." (on Epyon's Sex Appeal, Duo Hitting the [Soy] Sauce, Wasabi Wars, Catherine Gets a Trowagotchi, Evoking Bozo, More Language Rules, and Gundam Wing Episodes 36 and 37)
Go to Chapter 11 "Ralphie Does Not Want To Sit On Santa's Lap Any More..." (on Howdy Doody's Enduring Fashion Influence, the Real Reason the Cartoon Network Wanted Gundam Wing, Duo's Cheeks, Epyon Vs. Sam The Snowman, Feeling Bad For Freeza, Singing the Praises of "Pants," and Gundam Wing Episode 39)
Go to Chapter 12 "He's Not Having Mental Problems--He's Having an Epyon Moment!" (on Push-Up Bras of the Future, More Things To Put In Heero's Pants, Soulmates Zechs and Shatner, Epyon and Secretariat's Love Child, the Nice People at McFarlane Toys, Bandai-ing Dolls About, and Gundam Wing Episode 41)
Return to MIND EDUCATION: Kagenami Q's Gundam Wing Doujinshi Reference Digs
This page was created March 7, 2000. Last updated November 23, 2004.