Child Voice Actors

So how come there are so few child voice actors for anime? It's probably because you don't have to pay for as many voice actors, but a lot of western animated shows have child voice actors. Take Avatar: The Last Airbender for example. Most of the kids were voiced by kids. Why do these shows go through the trouble of getting child voice actors than anime shows? It's not like their in short supply (maybe they are in Japan, but that's a different issue), and it's way more pleasing to the ears to hear a little boy voice act for a little boy than an adult man.

The few young voice actors I can think of for anime shows were Alphonse's voice actor for the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime, Raven from Zoids: Chaotic Century and if my memory is correct, Yomi's son from Yu Yu Hakusho.

^ Kugimiya Rie did Al and she's no child.

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A lot of girls can get the point across of sounding like little boys. Rina Satou the voice of Negi Springfield, Rie Kugimiya the voice of Al in FMA, Masako Nozawa (who is 74 atm) the voice of Goku, Gohan, Goten etc, and so on.

English does this too like the voice english voice for Gohan and such. Child Labor Laws are a bitch.

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It's also worth noting that the voice actors for the leads of Hourou Musuko and Rin in Usagi Drop are actual children. See also, very young voice actresses like Ogura Yui, Hidaka Rina, Touyama Nao.

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It happens, but it is rather unusual.

One current example is Matsuura Ayu, who plays Rin in Usagi Drop, and just passed her 10th birthday.

And of course "Child Actors" grow up, and cease to be Child Actors. Yuuki Aoi, under her real name, Yabusaki Aoi, played Marika in Aishiteruze Baby when she was 12. Now at the age of 19 she's one of the new breakout Seiyuu, perhaps best known for headlining the most successful show of last few years, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica

I was talking about his english voice actor

Ah, no wonder. I thought Hourou's lead actor sounded stiff. Rin is absolutely adorable though.

You need to make that clear. You can't just say "voice actor" and not indicate whether you are discussing English dub V As, or Japanese Seiyuu.

Well, like what Setsuna said, make that clear next time.

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I generally expect Voice Actor to refer to dub and Seiyu to japanese.

edited 31st Jul '11 8:38:02 PM by toalordsothe

CAUSE EVERY GIRL IS CRAZY 'BOUT A SHARP DRESSED MAN

Not everyone uses that convention though.

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It would certainly make things a lot simpler.

I know. I myself use that convention and wish everyone else did. :3

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I use VA for both....

As for why there are hardly any child VA's for anime...I guess adults are easier to work with. They have more talent and probably other conveniences. Also, since female VA's can do voices for little girls and little boys just fine, I guess it's just move convenient to hire them.

Many people did not even know that Naruto is voiced by a chick. So if the audience couldn't tell, I think she did a good enough job even if she isn't a little boy herself.

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I think this partly applies to western industry as well. I remember an adult woman did the voice for some annoying fat kid in King Of The Hills.

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It would be nice if Voice Actors was organized as such too.

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Well, in the first Fullmetal Alchemist anime, they famously cast actual child Aaron Dismuke as Al. And, for consistency, they cast a few other child actors in child roles, although Nina was played by non-child Brina Palencia.

edited 31st Jul '11 9:15:58 PM by Sporkaganza

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ok, for clarity, the discussion can be about both english and japanese voice actors. the child voice actors that i mentioned referred to their english voice actors, though.

Considering the restrictions currently faced by the English dubbing industry, child actors are going to be a luxury they most likely cannot afford.

Simple: Japanese can sound like children even when they're 50 years old.

Oh wait, we're talking about American V As. Because the American voice acting scene is a bunch of dirty hobos who weren't talented enough to make it as actors so they stuck with voicing chinese cartoons. A bit exaggerated of course, but... I doubt the dubbing industry is successfull enough (financially) to be able to afford picking out high-profile voice actors or make children voice children for every anime they dub.

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Ridiculous! You need to be an established actor before a dubbing studio will even consider letting you audition.

That was the single weakest point of the Death Note dub - whatever shrill thirty-year-old woman did the voice-over of the five-year-old girl in episode thirty completely ruined the poignancy.

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The usual reasons given (actually already mentioned) are that 1) children are harder to handle than adults and 2) children grow out of their voice roles. Remember Daniel Radcliffe's voice in the...second, or was it third, movie?

But if they were in short supply in Japan, wouldn't that be a reason to use adult V As instead?

Children have a tendency to grow up, and for boys, especially, this means changes to the voice, which means producers are taking a risk if they hire a child rather than a woman to play a young boy.

Especially if it's a long-running series.