Faye is chaotic, dangerous, a sex bomb, funny, in control, and clueless, usually all within the same episode. Faye Valentine will always be my favorite role of hers. I had no idea about any of that when I first watched Bebop, and it wouldn’t matter anyway. Wendee Lee started voice acting with Robotech (as “bridge bunny” Vanessa Leeds)-which gives extra bonus points from me-and is still working today reprising her Naruto character Moegi. Speaking of Ein-the data dog Corgi-one of the producers’ dogs provides the vocals for him. I can still see why Ed would rub people the wrong way, but without Fahn we wouldn’t be hit in the feels when Ed and Ein leave the ship near the end of the series. Considering she gets lines like “Hot dog bun, not too young,” that’s quite an accomplishment. Fahn manages to sell the near-alien character’s oddness without being too precious or disconnected. Melissa Fahn is the wacky child techno-genius “Radical” Edward. I bet Blum doesn’t have to do auditions after this. You know when Spike’s all bravado or when he’s playing weak to be underestimated by the other guy. The subtle line deliveries explain how Spike is uncharacteristically scared, or if he’s amused by his situation. His Spike is restrained and guarded in the most intriguing ways. Watanabe was successful in making the controlled chaotic loner Spike into the coolest of the cool, and Blum made sure to make that happen. Yet he’ll be most remembered by a generation as Spike. He’s been Marvel’s Wolverine, Zeb on Star Wars Rebels, Roger on The Big O, Starscream on Transformers: Prime, Cartoon Network’s Toonami robot, and the high profile list goes on and on. Show creator Shinichiro Watanabe wanted Spike Spiegel to be the coolest cool guy ever, and Steve Blum nailed it. It felt like realistic voice work for the grand majority of the time. Here, the show took itself seriously, but not too seriously. Not to mention this was one of the first anime dubs that veered away from the silly over-dramatic dubbing style derisively known as Bad Anime Acting-seen in shows such as Dragon Ball Z. This must have been a dream job for the voice actors because of all the extremes they were expected to reach. No matter the tone, the characters never feel like they’re not themselves. I’m constantly impressed by the dub cast’s ability to anchor this anime series in a consistency despite the fact its 26 episodes can range from as dark as it gets to full-on goofy parody. And that comes down evenly on the excellence of the writing and the voice actors. may be all about dealing with themes of failure, but it is nothing but a success. The fact that such a silly parody can get at your heartstrings-and make you root for a bumbling villain to get his life together enough to be good enough for his supervillain wife-is testament to how real the characters on Venture Bros. You know, considering they’re dressed in superhero costumes and belong to hero or villain guilds. But then over the seasons the characters change over time, and react as emotionally real as possible. The fact all these characters have such distinct dialogue and speech patterns is a feat by itself. Choice guest spots-such as Stephen Colbert as the Grand Galactic Inquisitor (“Ignore me!”)-round out one of the best casts in all of animation.īut the bulk of the main voices comes from Publick (Hank Venture, Henchman 24, The Monarch, and Sergeant Hatred, etc.) or Hammer (Billy Quizboy, Henchman 21, Doctor Girlfriend, among others). Michael Sinterniklaas as Dean Venture, and Mia Barron as assassin Molotov Cocktease, are also essential cast members. I’ve tried to mimic every character’s voice, even Patrick Warburton’s Brock Samson, Steven Ratazzi’s Doctor Orpheus, and James Urbaniak’s Doctor Rusty Venture. Which is, for my money, the most quotable cartoon ever. Jackson Publick (stage name for Chris McCulloch) and Doc (Eric) Hammer may not do much in other spheres-aside from McCulloch voicing all five heads of Hiram McDaniels for Welcome To Night Vale-but that’s because they’re too busy writing, producing, and recording voices for their Adult Swim show Venture Bros.
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