Been a while since my last rant right?
Well, there has been an issue plaguing my mind about the new upcoming Sword Art Online. Now those of you who follow SAO will know that the next season is called Gun Gale Online and instead of emphasizing swords (SAO) or magic (ALO), it will focus primarily on guns. Suppose that's where the title comes from. That's not really the issue here, it's Kirito and his new avatar!
Those who follow the manga (I don't) or read whispers on the Internet (I do) will know that once Kirito logs into GGO in the new season, his avatar will be involved in a sort of 'accident' and come out as looking very (let's say that for emphasis) VERY female instead of male. That's all good, but what about the voice over artist?
Up till this point, Bryce Papenbrook has voiced Kirito in both his Sword Art Online and Alfheim Online adventures, but it is going to sound really freaking weird, not to mention uncomfortable, if he also voices a character that 'looks' that female! The pic above makes female-Kirito look kinda tomboyish (which isn't really a surprise), but Papenbrook has a really raspy voice when he voices Kirito. It would fit better to get in a female voice over artist to voice Kirito while he's in-game and get Papenbrook to voice him offline.
The problem comes in when I realize that because I don't read the manga, I don't know how much time Kirito spends offline in GGO and I don't want to be deprived of Papenbrook's awesome dub, but I don't want to cringe every time I hear GGO Kirito speak. If GGO is anything like Alfheim Online and feel free to put it in the comments to either confirm or put me right, then Kirito will spend a fair amount of time offline cuddling with Asuna or reporting his status to Kikuoka Seijirou (the detective who asks him to investigate). That I can live with I guess, even if it isn't 100% Papenbrook.
Then there are people who insist that the male voice should be done on both on-and-offline forms. Seriously people? How long into episode one will you get before you realize that this guy's voice coming out of a female mouth just isn't working? Five minutes? My bet is on one minute. The Japanese dub isn't much help either as the series hasn't aired yet and no 'secondary' voice have been announced. We'll just have to wait and see.
Me personally? I'd much rather two voice over artists, but that's just me. What's your take?
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