Japanese and English Sonic comparison

Something I wanted to do for a while. I adore japanese dub and wish that more people were familiar with it. This comparison wasn't made to offend english dub or anyone who likes it.
Correct translation from japanese scripts (Cutscenes, dialogues, etc.): • Playlist
Upd. Unfortunately this channel was deleted due to copyright claims!:( You can still find some reuploads on KZbin by searching Japanese cutscenes with subtitles.
Clips used in this were borrowed from these channels: Windii Gitlord, TheRealSonicFan, Sonic Overtime, BlazetheCat130, Gamer's Little Playground, InbetweenGamer
Retranslated mods:
Sonic Adventure DX - gamebanana.com/gamefiles/6536
Sonic Adventure 2 - gamebanana.com/gamefiles/7122
0:00 - Intro
0:13 - Sonic Adventure
3:58 - Sonic Adventure 2
11:08 - Sonic the Hedgehog 2006
14:59 - Sonic Unleashed/World Adventure
17:34 - Sonic Colors
21:05 - Sonic Lost World
25:14 - Outro

[@aoitsuki45]

I need to clarify some things for you guys. First of, Sonic adventure games were compared in different version simply because all footages were taken from youtube. The only good footage with japanese dub was the dreamcast one, every english dub footages were dx version. It’s not a big deal, since there’s just some graphic differences. Video is about translation&voice acting comparison only. Second, Big doesn't just appears in the Japanese version of sa2, he does in English too. It's a little cameo that appears throughout cutscenes if you press some button in the right time. It was a thing in the japanese footage I used, but wasn't in the english one. Some people don't understand why some games weren't included, but please read the text at the very beginning of the video to know why that is. If you have some other questions that I've missed, please ask down below this comment. Thanks.

[@mdalsted]

It should be noted that Big didn't appear in the Battle version of SA2.

[@lemonadesnake]

“Some” THERE ARE TONS OF DIFFERENCES

[@papermarioparty08]

I'm pretty sure you could've just taken the Japanese footage of Sonic Adventure and replaced the audio with the English dub.

[@TuxerTuxar]

@@mdalsted Only his cameos and multiplayer appearence were removed, his appearnces in the cutscenes remained, with the cameos being re-added in the 2012 re-release of the game for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC

[@mdalsted]

@@TuxerTuxar He wasn't in the GameCube version, not even in the cutscenes, that's what I was referring to. I remember that distinctly.

[@lolstationvita5922]

*Japanese Sonic:* Nice guy *American Sonic:* Badass guy So much differences in character's personality.

[@meleter8107]

@@personguy2262 because, in essence, it is a very similar difference. However, I think it is a bit less intentional here.

[@gabrielgarcia579]

Duh, i hate the english dub its so goofy and forced.

[@slwoo7432]

I honestly prefer the American one because the Japanese one feels to generic like “looks it’s eggman” vs “wow it’s a giant talking egg” the second one is gonna still in my head more basically the American dubs is wayyyyyy more memorable than the Japanese one IMO

[@milesprower6110]

I really can't keep up with the english dub side changing voices, I really liked the Unleashed one. After that one, I prefer japanese voice above the rest, and way more than the actual one It stays loyal to the character

[@BlastKetchup]

@@gabrielgarcia579 I'll maKe You EaT Those WorDS.. yeah i kinda agree with you, sonic especially sounds goofy sometimes

[@theotherjared9824]

Junichi kanemaru is a certified English teacher in Japan. The many English phrases he throws in and the fact that they are all grammatically correct with decent pronunciation is him flexing on the player.

[@playerback7722]

Nice. I'm proud of him

[@psychie8625]

You ever think he'd voice Sonic in the English version of a game?

[@Silver-Riders]

@@psychie8625 doubt it sense it sound a bit weird no offense or anything to him

[@zigzoinks5493]

@@psychie8625 That would be pretty cool.

[@omarpikm2101]

Big Flex

[@zenophobia8348]

I like how the japanese sonic says goodbye in spanish at the end and the english says goodbye in japanese at the end thats pretty creative.

[@spicybreadproductions1972]

@Harry Clayton you again of all places? Damn, you're persistent.

[@orionpaxx9236]

Which part??

[@spicybreadproductions1972]

@@orionpaxx9236 when does Sonic say "Sayonara" in SA2? That's when.

[@SonicMaster2022]

I guess Japanese Sonic speaks Spanish too: and English Sonic speaks Japanese.

[@Sydney_Angelyt]

@GHZ J2691 if only that was reality

[@Lill0fD]

I really preferred the Japanese version of 'This robot isn't bad.' The way Amy was calm about it and Sonic's slow trust in her words was just... nice.

[@brialex217]

agree

[@ksonarigathanksc3893]

2:57

[@lizziewalker7844]

Late to the party but I like that Sonic was much less offensive about Amy in general with the direct Japanese translation.

[@yay29823]

Late but I like how Sonic was like "I understand :)" In the Japanese one and in the other one he is just like "Whatever you say I don't care 🤷‍♀️" I added the 'I don't care' because that's the vibes I'm getting

[@blitz4506]

@@yay29823 frr though I still like them both

[@psychie8625]

Chip in Japan actually has an appropriate voice. It's kinda crazy that Junichi Kanemaru has been voicing Sonic almost as long as Charles Martinet has been voicing Mario.

[@lance2580]

Whose idea at SEGA was it cast a guy to voice a character like Chip? Imagine if SEGA hired a guy to voice Tails. That would suck.

[@psychie8625]

@@lance2580 And by guy, you mean an adult guy. Prior to the 4Kids era, the only media where Tails was voiced by a girl was the Sonic OVA. In all other media before Sonic X, male children would voice Tails.

[@psychie8625]

@TruSandwich I'm not completely sure why the switch to the 4Kids actors was made. Perhaps it was a money-saving measure? Or maybe it had to do with Deem Bristow's death (original voice of Eggman). Apparently Ryan Drummond was supposed to come back for Colors and onward, but... Behind the scenes payment complications. Honestly, I don't think I want to see Ryan Drummond come back. If the radio drama is any indication, he lost his touch.

[@chubbyfug4601]

@TruSandwich ikr why isn’t anyone bothered by this lol imagine if bugs bunny had this problem

[@chubbyfug4601]

@TruSandwich yeah and they all do a great job at it I myself can’t do his voice it’s to high pitched

[@NezumiVA]

People are missing the point of this comparison that I think really gets to the heart of the writing in the earlier 3D titles. This isn't just a comparison of voice performances, but the overall writing and direction of Sonic's character. The Japanese Sonic has always seemed so much more earnest and sincere to me, even if he's a little bit of a dork. He's got a heart of gold, he's a really sweet guy! The english scripts have always skewed him so much more sarcastic and snarky, and while I don't necessarily think that's _bad_ it's also why we have such ice cold takes as jokes about Sonic hating his friends and so on, which he clearly doesn't.

[@kennyr1161]

I'm sorry I don't want to play a generic anime sonic. Soni'c attitude is the main reason he is so appealing to us.

[@eway44]

@@kennyr1161 I actually prefer "generic" sonic

[@kennyr1161]

@@eway44 So you prefer forces sonic?

[@eway44]

Never said that. Sonic shows NO signs of having been tortured and treats the avatar like charters treat Mary Sues. I like seeing Sonic feel emotions.

[@DylanYoshi]

I don't really agree, Japanese Sonic sounds very snarky, he reminds me a lot of Lupin III. He does tone down the snark during more serious moments, which the English actors aren't as good at, but most of the time both actors come off as snarky.

[@jamiegioca9448]

FUN FACT: Originally, the US VAs had to translate Japanese. During the 2010s, it was the other way around

[@BardockSkywalker]

Yeah, Because The Writers Were Western... But Did It HAD To Be The Pontaff Duo?!

[@jamiegioca9448]

@@BardockSkywalker IKR

[@lance2580]

More fuel to add to the fire that is the hatred of _Sonic Free Riders._

[@rainpooper7088]

@@lance2580 I will continue to call Free Riders the worst Sonic story until the very end. No matter how much the writing in games like Shadow and 06 or Lost World and Forces screwed up, at least there was some kind of underlying potential in them somewhere. The story in Free Riders is just a miserable experience from start to finish with nothing salvageable in it. There isn’t much of a plot, all of the characters are flanderized or unlikable or both and the dialogue presentation is complete garbage, especially since the first two Riders games had actual cutscenes instead of this talking head garbage. To any Sonic Riders fans who were looking forward to this game as a faithful continuation of the first two, I‘m so sorry.

[@lance2580]

@@rainpooper7088 _Sonic Free Riders_ is so bad, nobody has even bothered to record footage of the Japanese cutscenes. Now we'll never know how the localization team did damage control for (Ken P. & Waren Graff's first and) the worst story in the series.

[@mrtable2861]

8:35 The worst part about that line being changed from "stubborness is my saving grace" to just "I die hard" is that it screws up a line in Sonic Heroes. There, during the cutscene where Team Sonic meets Team Dark, Sonic calls back to that line and says "seems like stubborness is a saving grace for both of us". However, since the English version just said "I die hard" and since the translators didn't seem to get that it was a callback, the reference was lost and instead Sonic says "talk about being stubborn and full of surprises". Which makes no sense and seems like a really weird thing to say to your friend who came back to life.

[@freakyfunkyflux]

I actually quite like the "i die hard" line, it just feels snappier and fits quite well with his english portrayal. i feel like if we had gotten that line to be the original "stubbornness is my saving grace" line, it would seem out of place amongst the other english lines. it might be possible to shorten it down a bit and still use the word "stubborn", though it might be hard to make it snappy like "i die hard". thats just my take on that though. i think its possible that the original translation of "stubborness is my saving grace" in the japanese dub of sa2 was forgotten by the time heroes rolled around, so when they had to do the english dub for heroes and got to the line "talk about being stubborn and full of surprises", its possible they were like "i have no idea what this is supposed to mean??" which is honestly reasonable lol. so they probably just kept it because they couldnt figure out what else to put there because they didnt know it was a reference. in hindsight though, this is actually quite easy to fix if we really wanted to. instead of referencing the "stubborness is my saving grace", we could instead reference "I found you faker" or "what you see is what you get! just a guy that loves adventure!" so it could go something like this: Shadow: "look, its that hedgehog..." Rouge: "wonder what the big rush is all about? betcha those guys will end up getting in my way and making trouble." Knuckles: "hey, isnt that..." Tails: "Sonic!" Sonic(!!edited line!!): "well what do ya know, he's still a faker!" Rouge: "long time no see, boys! too bad you had to come all this way for nothing! we'll take it from here. (and the rest of the cutscene plays out as normal lol, i just wanted to give the context for the fix i came up with)

[@mrtable2861]

@@freakyfunkyflux I mean I'm not asking for a word-for-word literal translation, but something like "I'm too stubborn to die" or whatever would've been better than just "I die hard", which honestly doesn't have nearly as much impact as a display of confidence (and it's not that snappy either, just sounds generic to me). As for your other suggestion on how they could've done the callback (assuming they could've even figure out that it was one), I heavily disagree. The whole point of that line was that Sonic quickly reflects on how both him and Shadow went through something that should've killed them but they're still alive. That's the whole reason why he's acting so chill when seeing that the guy whom he thought died and bid farewell to actually came back to life. Because he went through something like that too. Making a callback to when he and Shadow were calling each other "fakers" would've not only been out of place and nonsensical (like why would he say that at this point, beyond just making a callback) but it would've made Sonic look even more like a weird insensitive jerk, who doesn't care about how his friend *came back from the dead*, than "lol, stubborness and surprises".

[@freakyfunkyflux]

@@mrtable2861 @Mr table i acknowledge your thoughts on this situation, and i hear your criticisms of my original comment. You make some good points, you go into heavier detail on the context of the situations than i did. I do still hold most of my original opinions on this situation, but that doesn't invalidate your opinions on this either and i do think your suggestion of "i'm too stubborn to die" is really good, it solves both problems that you had brought up originally.

[@chaoswind5042]

Oh my god, really? I remember hearing that line and Heroes and never understanding who he was talking to or why... Huh, that's actually really cool.

[@withyouxxx]

the english dub tried to call back on "surprises" from sa2 shadow to heroes sonic tho which i find better that sonic calling back on shadow instead of himself. And context wise it made completely sense since they both in a "reborn" circumstances where sa2 sonic almost die in the capsule and heroes was shadow "saved" by eggman

[@JupiterMuffles]

I prefer the Japanese voices, buuuuut "Way to go Knucklehead" is always a classic

[@JupiterMuffles]

@willyd I love this era of voice actors over the others in terms of the English ones. If the delivery wasn't so awkward, I'd keep it on English...that or switch back and forth

[@icecreamchief5417]

I prefer the Japanese dialogue, something about it just sounds better? Though I am still a little biased towards Sonic's wisecracks

[@doctahwahwee5032]

"LOOK! IT'S A GIANT TALKING EGG!"

[@mutsuloveproductions9695]

In my humble but correct opinion, I prefer the English voices better.

[@doctahwahwee5032]

@@mutsuloveproductions9695 yeah they Just sound more "Sonic" to me

[@jakighcolburnchannel3584]

While the Japanese version makes more sense asking knuckles if he’s simple minded, I easily prefer the English version since Knuckles should’ve already learned his lesson and yet was tricked again, so Sonic had EVERY right to call him a knucklehead for getting tricked

[@mlb12041998]

Knuckles was always alone until he met Eggman, Sonic, and Tails. Eggman being the first person he ever interacted with he wouldn't be able to detect deceit as easy as an emerald. Not to mention Sonic and Knuckles having conflicting personas and goals makes it easier for him to unintentionally do Eggman's bidding. As you see in Sonic 3&K and Adventure they both have a stake in protecting the Chaos Emeralds however, as I said their goals are different. Knuckles isn't trusting of anyone particularly with possessing the Emeralds. Sonic may have helped him once and Eggman may have lied to him once but that doesn't mean either of them wouldn't do the opposite the next time. This is only the second time, canonically, they've all interacted and Knuckles' social skills couldn't have improved that much as he was alone again after Sonic 3&K. After the fight with Chaos 2 and discussion with Eggman he ponders the truthfulness of the Doctor's claim. Then he concludes that he should investigate just in case. This shows that Knuckles is a competent and fairly prudent guy. P.S. Sonic isn't the type of guy who holds something against someone. He understands why you did what you did and leaves the issue be. He may give you advice or poke fun at your shortcoming yet he will not scold you.

[@mikeshepard2024]

@@mlb12041998 This post is written well although Sonic and Knuckles did interact in Triple Trouble, Sonic The Fighters and so forth so this is actually the 3rd time Knuckles has been tricked by Eggman after Sonic 3 & K and Triple Trouble

[@mlb12041998]

@@mikeshepard2024 that's why I mentioned canon. There is nothing to suggest that the Game Gear and spin-off games prior to Adventure are canon.

[@mikeshepard2024]

@@mlb12041998 Your qualifying statement is fair enough and then one of the people at Sega came out and said that everything in the games is canon or to similar effect. FWIW while the Sonic continuity is notorious, its canonicity is alright for the most part. A few retcons have begun to pop up in the meta-era such as Classic Sonic coming from a different dimension. Anyway, I digress. Thanks for your original post

[@mlb12041998]

@@mikeshepard2024 do you know who that is?

[@Thatsmashguy27]

JP: What are you doing?! US: S O M E T H I N G B U G G I N Y O U ?

[@nuttiemations]

Ok but for real Japanese Tails' voice is frickin' adorable 🥺

[@blu_rayx2844]

It is!

[@mason2978]

the japanese sa1 and sa2 is a kid, his current female one has been voicing since Heroes/X

[@Sparrows1121]

But there is something iconic when Tails says "My power is failing". That is always stuck in my head when i screw up as Tails

[@afriend9428]

*jes Can Wii keep him?*

[@starryskies113]

@@afriend9428o

[@suckapunch565]

English Dr. Robotnik: My name is Dr. Robotnik! Not Eggman! Japanese Dr.Eggman: “I am the E.G.G.M.A.N! That’s what I am, I am the E.G.G.M.A.N! I have the master plan!”

[@hubcrow]

Because he was always called eggman in japan ever since sonic 1 Robotnivk was just a localization thing

[@tidepoolclipper8657]

Presumably due to legal issues involving the Beetles song "I am the Wulrus", they changed his name to Robotnik outside of Japan. By the time of Adventure, it was decided to make the Japanese continuity the default globally. Because of that, they introduced the name Eggman as an insult for the English version. In universe; regardless, Eggman proudly adopts his nickname to ensure Sonic and his friends can no longer use it as an insult. Especially with Robotnik having become his family name.

[@lance2580]

@@tidepoolclipper8657 I mean, we have to assume that Eggman must have adopted that name by the events of _Sonic the Hedgehog 2,_ since the usage of name, "Eggman", can be seen in Wing Fortress Zone.

[@tidepoolclipper8657]

@@lance2580 They forgot to change the name on the ship. Canonically in the former North American continuity, the name Robotnik would be on ship instead. Not the only time they forgot to change something, as they forgot to change a forward-facing Eggman sprite during the Flying Battery boss fight. That was supposed to be Egg Robo instead for Knuckles's version of the fight.

[@WeskerSega]

@@tidepoolclipper8657 At that time, none of Japanese developed Sonic titles had "Robotnik" references in-game. Normally the character's name wasn't even represented in-game, but when it was, he always was "Eggman", no matter the regional release of the game. Just check Sonic Drift 2, it was released for the Game Gear outside Japan with a clear unmodified "Eggman" naming for the character. These references were mostly changed for boxes descriptions and manual booklets, but never ever in-game, bar from the obvious Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine localization of Puyo Puyo because that was especifically targeted for the west. If I'm not mistaken, the first Japanese developed titles to account for the localized name in-game were Sonic the Fighters (even though they mistyped it into "Dr. Robotonic") and the North American version of Sonic the Hedgehog's Gameworld for the Sega Pico were they got it right, all of them being released in 1996.

[@goldenhydreigon4727]

Ngl, I really love how Griffith does Werehog Sonic's voice. Its like he took the normal Sonic voice but added some of the edge and gruffness of his Shadow voice.

[@lance2580]

Fun fact; Jason Griffith had strep throat during the development of _Sonic Unleashed,_ and used it to create the Werehog's voice.

[@goldenhydreigon4727]

@@lance2580 Hence why he's the best Sonic voice actor

[@KhaosKontroller]

I love how he says "hey...lemme go"

[@UndertakerU2ber]

@@lance2580 OoooooooooOOOOOFFFFFFF… That must have felt like absolute torture to push through all of that. He may have a bit of a stigma attached to his name for being a “4Kids” actor, but he’s real professional in my book after hearing that…

[@krisjolt]

@@goldenhydreigon4727 Jun'ichi Kanemaru is the best. Ryan Drummond and Roger Craig Smith is also better. No, don't try changing my mind

[@theacepony3270]

Okay, Sonic complimenting Tails leading to Tails getting shy over the sudden praise is so adorable to me. The English making it to where Sonic tries to get full credit and Tails shutting it down by boasting his own accomplishments doesn't feel right. I see what they were doing, but it makes Sonic come across more cocky and mean in the english imo.

[@JulioCesar-ps1ot]

He is supposed to be a jerk

[@theacepony3270]

@@JulioCesar-ps1ot Sonic is suppose to be cocky and charming, but not mean. Maybe to the enemies, but not to Tails. I get that the developers wanted Sonic cockiness to be more noticeable and Tails have more of a backbone towards Sonic. It just doesn't feel right to me considering how their characters were before this. I ain't hating characterization. I just don't think it worked here. The Japanese VO seems to keep it like it was usually. Sonic is cocky, but acknowledges Tails' efforts. Tails is shy and looks up to Sonic, but he also does a lot to help and doesn't put himself down. Japanese is united friends. English is best friends that are constantly taking shots at one another. Japanese feels more fitting for them to me.

[@sky-sx5gt]

Ikr?

[@theacepony3270]

@@kennyr1161 just cause he acknowledges his friends efforts and doesn't try to steal credit, doesnt mean he is a generic anime protagonist

[@DylanYoshi]

@@theacepony3270 You can prefer whichever version you want, but I do want to make sure it's clear that Colors was written in English first and then localized into Japanese, not the other way around.

[@gamesandluigifan7152]

6:03 No wonder the lines ended up overlapping, when they just gave Shadow another sentence

[@qlowquest]

It’s more like american shadow talks way too slow compared to the japanese one

[@saadsami8860]

​@@qlowquestyah it is

[@TheCreationOfDread]

Shadow when he sees the scenes: Maybe I didnt talk fast enough!(A play on "Maybe I didnt try hard enough!")

[@an0rangutan]

It's interesting how In the Japanese dub of SA2 Sonic says "I am who I am" and later says "He was who he was" when referring to Shadow. And then in Shadow the Hedgehog, the theme of the game is "I am (all of me)" which somewhat continues that line of thinking.

[@ahmedelged4894]

"It's all an endless loop..."

[@ginogatash4030]

Yeah that was a nice little touch, the English dub doesn't always have the best acting or audio mixing, but they did a pretty good job with the localization, tho I wish English Sonic retained a little more of the chill the Japanese VA had.

[@pufflord_gamesonicsoloesyo2365]

Hold on, so does that mean the line from Sonic Youth, "I am who I am with you" is a reference to that? Hmm

[@sanglish18]

Yeah, the localization didn't realized and changed to "What you see is what you get...", and missed the reference that would come later on. Or they would have to change the ending to something like "What he were is what it was(?)" idk if that even grammatically correct or makes sense lol

[@Dreq458]

@@sanglish18 "who we saw was who we got: a brave and heroic hedgehog-" yeah, fuck it. that would've been a clunky line. yea

[@Trigos211]

10:16 "Adiós... Shadow The Hedgehog" I love how respectful Sonic sounds there.

[@AmenKing1999]

2:15 I like how in Japanese version, Sonic chose to have a date with Amy, while in English dub, he just finds her a pain.

[@patrickdixon7202]

Both languages, he goes after Amy for her safety.

[@BagleNinja]

Me when I lie

[@Alzter0]

15:15 I was NOT prepared for that scream it's so perfect wtf

[@sirkingpinmonroe4439]

I like how Ryan Drummond's Sonic voice in a way is more closer to Junichi Kanemaru's Sonic voice. Pretty good translation.

[@Thegrappler2003]

Yeah is kinda similar, that's why i think he's best the voice actor of Sonic in English.

[@DipperPines1986]

I think Ben Schwartz's Sonic voice is even more closer to Junichi Kanemaru's Sonic voice.

[@peepsg]

I always think Ryan Drummond is more closer to Japanese actor

[@Sparrows1121]

I think he was the best in Sonic Heroes, but i liked him in Adventure 1 and 2 aswell

[@lauraikoko]

@@DipperPines1986yeah he feels a lot less cocky and effortlessly powerful but more relaxed and chill like how japanese sonic is

[@dominicimeandomino7578]

Comparing the interactions with Sonic and Tails in Sonic Colors really surprised me with how different it was. Actually a lot was different in the games written by Pontaff, they actually seem like themselves in the Japanese versions.

[@grayson8633]

I have more than a half a mind to play them all in Japanese

[@etherealhatred]

And it's more evident on the final scene Both Sonic and Tails cheer themselves for rescuing the Wisps and Sonic doesn't exclude Tails while he's having some modesty Meanwhile US script it's just a bland competition so the viewer don't forget that Tails did something on the game

[@MagillanicaLouM]

@Xavior yeah it's different vibes but both work with the characters

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

Colors was okay. Lost World however was MISERABLE.

[@williamw8774]

Lost World JP: Wow Tails, sorry for worrying, i knew you could do it. Lost World Eng: No one cares about what you did before, just say its good.

[@makotoyuki345]

The power of voice direction in the Japanese version Never take it for granted

[@BitchChill]

Makoto yuki from Persona 3

[@EternityVoid_]

Aren't you suppose to be sealed or Sega and Atlus pulled some strings.

[@RubyTheWitchRTW]

He just got done dancing

[@slwoo7432]

I actually prefer the English script

[@vgames9207]

they really need to redub the english version of SA2, because sometimes the voice direction is just awful, just campare the Japanese version to the english version when talis calls sonic to tell me that eggman has amy held captive, "Japanese sonic, whats wrong talis!!? whats ups with amy!!? talis!!" "english sonic, huh? i didn't get that talis? what happend to amy? talis?"

[@Nathanieltan100]

Jun'ichi Kanemaru's voice performance of Sonic the Hedgehog sounds charming and sweet. He fits the character perfectly. Why? Better voice delivery. Speaking Engrish. Not only that, he has been voicing Sonic for 22 years now since Sonic Adventure in December 1998, the same goes for Knuckles' JP VA, Nobutoshi Canna. Amy's JP VA? Almost. It's because the female character was voiced by Emi Motoi in only one Sonic game released in 2000, Sonic Shuffle. Taeko Kawata voiced Amy for 20 years (SA in 1998, 2001 onwards; starting in SA2) since Sonic Adventure. They are now still active for more than 20 years. Roger Craig Smith departs the role of Sonic on 28 January 2021. He's the longest English VAs of Sonic the Hedgehog. The new Sonic animated series Sonic Prime will be released in 2022. It's not going to be easy to find the right voice role for Sonic after Roger left the voice role. For Sonic's VA in Japanese and English, I choose Jun'ichi Kanemaru (in the Japanese dub) because I really like his voice of the blue hedgehog so much. The way Sonic laughs and chuckles, I find him very charming. I'm glad to see Jun'ichi continues voicing Sonic for more than 20 years except for the live-action movie in 2020. Jun'ichi did not voice Sonic in the live-action movie, to me, it's because of the character design. Yup! That's all I know. Aoi Tsuki, thank you very much for uploading this comparison.

[@aoitsuki45]

As I heard, in the movie every character were voiced by japanese celebrities for the marketings.

[@DeanBrosOfficial]

I think the only English voice actor that could properly deliver Jun'ichi Kanemaru's voice in an English perspective would be Todd Haberkorn. The man's cockiness and charming tone as he voiced Natsu in Fairy Tail felt total Sonic vibes, just take away the growl he gave and that's an adult Sonic voice. It's a shame Sega of America has no idea what to do and where to go with sonic's voice.

[@bluekel615]

This deserves more likes

[@hydrochloric007]

No wonder he's never left his role!

[@firestar4407]

Here's a suggestion, bring back Ryan Drummond or Jason Griffith. There's no need to search for another voice actor.

[@PUCHY2009]

6:45 Japanese: screaming when a friend is in danger, trying to figure out what's going on English: I can't hear the sound well in the customer center

[@Explicyo]

Does anyone notice the incredibly clever writing, "I can kill two birds with one stone". And he's literally using one stone to solve the problem. (stone = emerald)

[@eniryuuoke7446]

🤯 I feel like dummy because I just realized that

[@Springlolbit]

Me after hearing the word “kill” in English sonic after watching 4kids sonic x dub

[@CarvedDaWarped]

For as long as I seen cutscenes of this game on KZbin. I think.

[@bea_chan]

Junichi does Sonic so fucking well. From well-done softness for emotional moments to absolutely kickass screams, he can do it all. Tozomaki did a good job with the werehog for a while, but in the end, none can compare to the man, the myth, the legend himself.

[@bea_chan]

My bad. Tomokazu.

[@patrickdixon7202]

He's mid.

[@cheerful_crop_circle]

​@@patrickdixon7202Stop

[@bea_chan]

​@@patrickdixon7202who are you talking about because if it's junichi i have no choice but to flame you

[@kanabro]

It's funny how japanese voicer of Sonic is still voicing Sonic for years, more than Roger

[@kratosgow342]

Japanese VA industry is a lot more loyal when it come to voice role and they rarely get recast unless it’s absolute necessary (most likely due to being inactive) heck even some role whose VA passed away they refused to recast to find new VA

[@slwoo7432]

It’s because sega main headquarters is in Japan so there more money there to pay the guys

[@kratosgow342]

@@slwoo7432 not really it's because cultural different in the industry

[@slwoo7432]

kratosgow342 It’s kinda both

[@OutlawzNT]

Are we gonna ignore the fact that Sonic was just chilling in the Windows XP background image? 11:45

[@UltraGamerAustin]

SonicXP

[@HyperStormH]

i definitely prefer the japanese dialogue. sonic sounds more heroic and confident.

[@eway44]

Me too

[@mr.bisness7617]

I actually disagree for the first couple games! This could just be me but in the English version he actually insults eggman and teases knuckels more! English sonic seems more like the cocky sonic that i always preferred, plus sonic needs more character flaws and sonic being cocky and teasing alot of people adds more character!

[@HHHH_cool]

it feels like anime sonic

[@spiritofcynder3516]

Nah, the English gives him more personality

[@thesmilingman7576]

@@mr.bisness7617 yes but that doesn't mean that should be his only traits

[@HorrorTroll2611]

Japanese voice: At 10:18, Junichi said “Adios” (a Spanish word, mean “Goodbye”). English voice: While at 11:03, he said “Sayonara” (a Japanese word, mean “Goodbye”) Lmao?

[@someguylostontheinternet4504]

I mean, maybe saying Adios in Japan and Sayonara in Western Countries is just a cultural thing?

[@imagiguard]

I've read somewhere that they changed it because "adios" would be too familiar for Latin diaspora communities in the USA. Don't know how true it is, though.

[@someguylostontheinternet4504]

​@@LuucasIckie But don't English people study Spanish at school?

[@LambdaBelmont]

@@LuucasIckie Spanish...isn't even a mexican thing specifically. It's spoken all across central and south America, not to mention...you know, SPAIN? I'm sure it's more so meant to sound cooler in the English dub.

[@Tunes5995]

They dod that in sa2 as well

[@jacobstewart5512]

1:18 I love how the Japanese version is more of a teasing interaction than it is in English.

[@pedronerd8116]

The japanese one sounds so more natural..... But I like the American one, basic as much. Oh! And the "fake hedgehog" lines are EPIC

[@PepsiMan666]

Reminder that for Wreck it Ralph, Kanemaru had the writers change Sonic's dialogue to sound more authentic.

[@danielmayonaka8818]

Sonic in Japanese dub: (Serious) Eggman...! >:| Sonic in English dub: Look! It's a giant talking egg! xD

[@kratosgow342]

I think because at the time the western audience only know Eggman as Robotnik while in Japan he been know as Eggman since Sonic 1 in SA they decided to make Eggman as universal name so they have to tweak dialogues from Japanese ver to introduced the name proper as an insult in this case

[@estrepitolaovejanegra]

@@kratosgow342 It seems strange to me that in Japan they did not say robotnik once to eggman once it was established that his real name is Ivo robotnik

[@kratosgow342]

@@estrepitolaovejanegra yeah they made Robotnik as his real name in SA but Sonic always called him Eggman so that’s why there’s no change

[@ginogatash4030]

@@estrepitolaovejanegra the Japanese always called him Eggman, so that's probably why the characters don't ever really call him Robotnik.

[@whatshappeninganymore2473]

6:41 The added chuckle from Ryan Drummond makes this interaction 1000x better

[@trevinodude]

While I do love what Ryan, Jason, and Roger has brought to the character in English with their voice acting, I really love how consistent Junichi Kanemaru is as Sonic in Japan, Japanese Sonic still got it after all this time, makes me wonder what kind of performances we could have gotten in Ryan or Jason stayed on as long (Roger stayed for 10 years, and while the scripts weren’t always the greatest, Roger’s actual voice acting was pretty great throughout his run IMO... but seriously Sega has to tone down the ‘Hahaha I make constant jokes’ factor of modern Sonic, it’s a bit much currently, I wonder how the new English Sonic will do. Hopefully it’s someone who will knock it out of the park!) Edit: Since we know Roger stuck around after all, let’s hope newer games going forward will give the man a better written character to work with! He’s been Sonic for 10+ years now, the man deserves a fair shot to have the emotional range Ryan and Jason was allowed to have in their eras!!

[@trevinodude]

@Scarlet Dani Ikr. I hope they give Roger better written scripts this time though since he’s staying around after all. 😂😂 Roger deserves better if he willingly decided to stay in the role of Sonic longer.

[@blazingtrs6348]

@@trevinodude i always thought roger was a good voice for sonic (although im more partial jason) he just never had the chance to portray sonic in a game with good writing (hopefully frontiers fixes that)

[@trevinodude]

@@blazingtrs6348 Hopefully. I think Roger’s voice is a good one for Sonic, but the scripts he has been given hasn’t done him any favors… except for the ones he had in the Sonic Boom cartoon, but Boom Sonic is a very different character than Mainline Sonic.

[@supersmashmaster43]

Israel Trevino Jr yeah in Sonic boom roger is perfect for how sonic is supposed to be there. The games over the past decade haven’t done justice for him, as the writing has seemed like a joke compared to the older games. I hope we get to see a different side of roger’s sonic in frontiers.

[@lordscrubbinton858]

Sonic Frontiers seems to have answered your prayers

[@quillquail]

19:08 idk why but the “what about soccer?” line is actually making me laugh LMAO idk I think it’s cute much better than the english Edit: OML and in the next cutscene sonic and tails are complementing each other instead of sounding like asshats 😭

[@spiderzsonic6581]

I don't understand...

[@E-6481]

I actually prefer the Japanese version of sonic adventure. Sonic is characterized far better than the English version. The best example being the couple service scene, JP sonic seems actually concerned for Amy’s safety, while EN sonic seems more annoyed by her presence.

[@YophiGames]

In the English dub's defense, they had to translate the Japanese version and had less of a knowledge of Sonic's personality. So the voice actors didn't have much to go by outside of a script and an English director who wasn't in tune with the Japanese dialogue 😂.

[@SportsFan838]

I mean Amy does stalk him a lot. So it is justifiable that he would be annoyed.

[@tealover70]

@@YophiGamesyeah this is the most reasonable explanation

[@bxnnx.]

no

[@E-6481]

@@bxnnx. ok

[@prodkenny302]

Junuichi and Ryan sounded like mirror images of eachother in their languages. Having the snappy attitude Sonic once had. Still like Jason’s voice as a close second.

[@etherealhatred]

You know, I never realized how beautiful and emotional the soundtrack on Lost World could be, it's funny how the voice delivery can affect so much in a game, those moments when Sonic is losing his friends one by one and then he realizes he's all alone and that he couldn't save anybody we're truly engaging on the Japanese dub, but I can't say the same on the US one, I haven't even noticed the music at the background until now, to me that just says a lot on the quality of the voice acting between one country and another

[@vgames9207]

yea, the story in lost world is way better in the Japanese dub.

[@genyakozlov1316]

Lost World has one of the best stories in the franchise, both Japanese and English. It made me feel more emotions than Adventure 2 ever could, not as much as the ending of 06 but still a lot.

[@etherealhatred]

@@genyakozlov1316 big yikes

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

Please, Lost World was "I'm 14 and this is deep," in its purest form

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

@@vgames9207 It's the same thing with slightly more tolerable dialogue in certain scenes

[@SONICBOOM1889]

Fun Fact: The Japanese voice for Silver also voices Jotaro Kujo in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure.

[@stefanoguerraayala1585]

Wtf. xDDDD

[@poweroffriendship2.0]

Sonic's Bizzare Adventure: Silver Wind

[@FSMassy]

yare yare daze

[@coconutgun325]

"SONIC!!" "SILVER!!"

[@3px6gamer28]

20:27 really nice in Japanese he gives a thank you to tails American- I don't remember you fighting any insane ronots

[@someotherstranger]

In terms of writing, I'm pretty split between the English and Japanese versions of SA1 and SA2. I like some of the snark that came with the English versions, but the Japanese versions seem to better convey some the heavier emotional moments (like Sonic telling Tikal why they shouldn't seal Chaos again). In terms of voice acting for SA1 and SA2, while I love the English VAs, the Japanese VAs are more consistent and generally have better line delivery. Though the English cast did pretty well considering they had to voice the entirety of their SA2 lines without context... which explains some of the clunky delivery at times. XD The Modern-era games though? Japanese VAs and scripts all the way.

[@tidepoolclipper8657]

While some of the Japanese VAs are great (like with Sonic and Vector); many I find to be forgettable (like with Knuckles and Tails). If there was any Japanese performance I straight up don't like with this series, it would be with Charmy.

[@someotherstranger]

​@@tidepoolclipper8657 I just gave Charmy's JP voice a listen and I definitely agree. Oof.

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

I mostly agree with this.

[@bakedbeans5494]

@@AkameGaKillfan777 Looks like I found two idiots.

[@Vman82]

12:47 The "don't be late" scene is so much more savage in Japanese lmao

[@Springlolbit]

It’s literally the same

[@tetrisamateur4238]

it legit has the same dialogue bro

[@folo7595]

@@tetrisamateur4238 im sayin like wdym more savage💀

[@77Productions77]

… it’s the same shit bro lol

[@dragon-kun199]

kisama is the aggressive way to say you in japanese it is more savage, just nt way more.

[@omarpikm2101]

I want Japanese Eggman to say "I'VE COME TO MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT"

[@stardust_sonic]

He'd probably reply "Please don't ask me to fill a character's mouth with profanity." just like Mike Pollock.

[@lance2580]

@@stardust_sonic I mean, I remember playing _Sonic Adventure_ with the Retranslated Mod, and Japanese Eggman did say "damn" a few times. Most notably, in the cutscene before the fight with the Egg Viper, as well as the one before Tails' Speed Highway. However, those lines were voiced by Chikao Ōtsuka. After he passed away in 2015, Nakamura Kōtarō voices Eggman in Japan, but I don't recall any scripts of _Sonic_ games after _Rise of Lyric_ where Eggman says words like, "damn". Another thing to note is how complex a translation of Eggman's announcement would be.

[@RenShinomiya121]

@@lance2580 I want the entire Eggman's Announcement script be spoken in broken engrish. Just because.

[@ChuckE.CheesesIllinois]

Sorry to disappoint you, but the original Japanese Eggman voice actor died

[@alanashy3514]

I want japanese chip (which is a female) to say ''want some chocolate''

[@eway44]

The scene in lost world where Tails is captured is MUCH better in Japanese

[@tidepoolclipper8657]

Better, but I wouldn't say it's that much better. The only truly distracting line in the English version is "oh, those rotten sneaky...". Otherwise, the context between the two scripts is mostly the same. If anything, there is a much bigger problem with the fact that Tails can act downright aggressive to Sonic in the English version (Eggman is one thing; he honestly does deserve that treatment to some extent unlike with Sonic) and even then, that is still better than what happened to Tails in Sonic Forces in both languages (ironic too, as Sega of Japan treated Tails better in Lost World than they did in Unleashed or Forces).

[@eway44]

Yeah the whole thing is better in Japanese

[@DemonDethchase]

When compared to the Jun'ichi in that scene, hearing Roger's whinny delivery makes me think "we did twenty takes, and THAT was the best one."

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

@@tidepoolclipper8657 Not really

[@rosssgull8587]

20:17 - Japanese Sonic was so nice)) More nice, than American

[@tidepoolclipper8657]

There are times where the US script changes work, like with Sonic labeling Knuckles as a Knucklehead or even "you actually thought you could defeat me by transforming into a monster?!". With the opposite of that, the Japanese script can't always save the story. Sonic Force's story even in the Japan version is quite undesirable. Especially with it having turned out that it was indeed Sega of Japan who decided to water down Tails big time in Forces (they also didn't treat him that well in Unleashed).

[@ivanelugo]

I wish that in Sonic Unleashed they had put that at the beginning after Apotos you go to Angel Island to see if the Master Emerald could regenerate the Chaos Emeralds powers as same we can use Tails and Knuckles as a minigame or something

[@tidepoolclipper8657]

@Siper I personally find he is slowly starting to become burned out. To me, his output for IDW Sonic hasn't been as good as his best stuff for Archie Sonic. Besides, he doesn't exactly get Shadow. So sadly, the characters still won't be entirely free from flanderization (especially since contrary to what the fanbase loves to make it seem, flanderization didn't magically begin with Colors). Not to mention he can do jack squat about the decisions Sega of Japan's writers (which still haven't gone through any sort of reform yet) nor Ilzuka's nonsensical mandates.

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

@@tidepoolclipper8657 In one of RadicalSoda's videos he mentions how Shadow is portrayed badly in one of the comics. Though I think Ken Penders might still be the biggest obstacle, unless Paramount rightfully screws him over in a lawsuit.

[@superjames23]

@@AkameGaKillfan777 I think I saw that video, wasn’t like a SEGA mandante to make Shadow like that or something and that Ian Flynn was forced to do that.

[@sonicwithglasses131]

@@superjames23 the thing about that is shadow is the same shadow he was in sonic adventure 2, sonic heroes, and sonic 06 in the japan ersion of the games

[@manimanistatue]

Unleashed was localised well, in general Jason gave Sonic his JP “kind” side while also being cool I think

[@canned-confusion7950]

sonic calling knuckles a knuckle head is a welcome change

[@lightgivemepower6425]

He's always called him that since 1998... Unless you count the comics.

[@blu_rayx2844]

What's with your pfp

[@ducko3484]

@@blu_rayx2844 what? it is just luigo, mari's "little" brother, there is nothing wrong with him

[@jkilolboom9295]

American sonic has more of an ego that’s Japanese sonic

[@NicolasMendoula]

It's not just Sonic 😂

[@Discontinued71]

4:20 if you look at Japanese version you can see big edit: this is my first comment with this much likes so thank you so much

[@shadowcentral7598]

BLUE FROGGY HERE I COME!!

[@omarpikm2101]

why is he there

[@RedTsarOldChannel-INACTIVE]

@@omarpikm2101 Just to make a cameo. He also makes appearances in some other cutscenes, running from the GUN truck in a sidewalk (right side) in City Escape and fishing in Metal Harbour.

[@omarpikm2101]

why is he there

[@shadowcentral7598]

@@omarpikm2101 he bout to catch red , blue , yellow , fat , pink , black , white froggy

[@shageta456]

I didn't know Sonic had 2 different voice actors in Japanese for Unleashed. Here I was thinking that Junichi Kanemaru voiced both normal Sonic and the Werehog all this time.

[@eronbardiqi5286]

This is why Junichi Kanemaru is my favourite sonic voice actor. He just fits sonic perfectly.

[@mee091000]

Ryan Drummond and Jason Griffith are such a good Sonics man. It's pretty rare when both the subs and dubs are equally good.

[@TheWeirdRealm]

Its really interesting reading so many comments saying they feel Japanese Sonic doesn't have attitude and is a bit generic. While it's undeniable, he has a very strong version of that iconic 90s tude in English. A form of attitude is still very much present in the original versions. There are countless line reads by Jun'ichi (JP Sonic) in this video alone that are utterly drenched in smug, sometimes even way more than English at times. (The "treasure hunter" scene with Knuckles in SA2 is a great example.) And in those cases, Drummond sounds almost like a robot. It's expected that most people aren't picking up on this because of the immense language barrier. I dont blame anyone at all for this. (literally who expects anyone from another country or language to fully understand the nuance of the source acting lol) Especially since most are focusing in on the sound of the voices and the lines rather than the acting itself. The other cases of difference are due to straight-up bad localization and dubbing. Like Sonic, seemingly not caring about Amy at times in English, and like many have pointed out in Japanese, he is much more brotherly to Tails. In a much more supportive way. Also, all of the serious scenes are just that in Japanese, actually serious. He has a much wider range of expression and even thoight process in the JP version of these games. Yet still, I absolutely love the English versions of SA/SA2. It's just something about how over the top and out of left field everyone acts. It's full of cheesy, jank, and charming personality. My friends and I have been quoting so many of these line reads for years, and that's probably not stopping any time soon. I love it. I just love these games.

[@cheerful_crop_circle]

So Japanese is better?

[@flashlightpaul1432]

I know for a fact that the English version of the Zeena scene in Lost World was better, The Japanese version was just “I’m going to give my all against you.” but in the English version Sonic straight up roasts Zeena and I love it. That scene was better in English imo.

[@mr.bisness7617]

First time i saw that i actually laughed out loud, its the one good thing from lost world!

[@bakusatsugo2057]

the Japanese Sonic when it comes to Amy has the typical personality of a harem anime protagonist, Meanwhile the American one reacts the same as the fandom everytime Amy appears 2:31 XD

[@esztervarga5431]

That's because they are a couple. Only US refuse it. The Japanese always seen them as a couple. Indeed Saga said they made her for him because they wanted to give a girlfriend for Sonic. They also made their relationship to be funny like Pucca and Garu from South Korea. This type of thing is popular in East. US doesn't like this type of romantic relationship so they made their own version while ruined Amy.. Because they need to change everything what they don't like... The US hate her, so they treat her like a trush and made Sally to replicate her. The real Amy is different than what the US showed you. What I really like is what happened in Sonic X which was the close to the game and Saga was in there too. Plus came from Japan as well. In the end of season 2 Sonic told her he loves her. And this also hinted multiple times in the show. They even showed that time to time.

[@bakusatsugo2057]

@@esztervarga5431 Sonic X's Amy is my least favorite version along with the one from Sonic Battle xd The version of the IDW comics seems to me the only time that the character is not annoying, I think that the relationship that Sega had begun to form between Sonic and Blaze in the first games was better, they had many more things in common

[@BJSolar02]

​@@bakusatsugo2057 Yeah, because they're practically the same person. Blaze is literally the Sonic of her dimension, so of course she's going to have a lot of common with Sonic. To me, it'll just feel like Sonic is dating himself

[@digitaltailsmon4096]

I love how each actor seems to have a different side of the character (be it Ryan having the energy, Jason having the kindness, and Roger having the cockiness) while the Japanese actor has always had a mix of the three depending on some scripts. I’m also still mad I never figured he wasn’t just the Japanese voice of the character in X till very later on.

[@Dark_Mario_Bros.]

I like how in the japenese scene Amy said she felt sonic's presence 16:06

[@Giran_0]

The Japanese one feels more real and coherent

[@IceisNice_FollowingChrist]

ikr

[@mlpluss9939]

@rami4470 rami4470 what about the people in Japan and don’t go calling someone out just cause they have their own opinion

[@AkameGaKillfan777]

In Colors onward

[@vgames9207]

sonic character is way more consistent in The Japanese version.

[@pumpkincakeee]

I like the sassy remarks of sonic in the dub lol

[@desmondmalone438]

Me too it was my childhood man

[@TheTMSxGaming]

Technically they’re both dubs lol

[@pumpkincakeee]

@@TheTMSxGaming not really

[@kiawilliamson5417]

@@pumpkincakeee ?

[@TheTMSxGaming]

@@pumpkincakeee really really

[@AceTechn0]

6:53 all I can see here is tails saying “you have to put the piss rock in the nuclear reactor” and Sonic saying “What! What did you just say to me!?” it doesn’t help that I’ve only seen the snapcube versions of these cutscenes, and come on, it fits so well with the animations

[@Anarqism]

I HAVE TO PUT THE WHAT IN THE WHAT NOW

[@user-se4tl2xj2c]

I just want to do justice to Shadow the Hedgehog in the same regard: the English version of the script suffers greatly from a poor translation from Japanese original. Many faults that attributed to writers are actually not theirs but translators'. For example, one of the most infamous/meme'd line in the game: "This is like taking candy from a baby, which is FINE by me" - is not about bullying kids, mind you. The japanese line is something like: "Whoa. They just put a Chaos Emerald here without any protection for me to take it without any problem - and I'm okay with that" - which supposed to imply that Shadow is not a try-harder anymore and doesn't have a need to prove anything to anyone, so he's fine with doing things the easiest and shortest way as long as an option is presented.

[@aoitsuki45]

Да, перевод в шзх действительно удивительная штука. Надо будет обязательно сделать и такое сравнение тоже:)

[@user-se4tl2xj2c]

@@aoitsuki45 ловлю на слове! (блин, как неожиданно было ответ на русском получить)

[@leandroxbl1]

Eggman US Version: *I miss my wife Tails*

[@Iasa2]

I miss her a lot I’ll be back

[@lance2580]

Thank you for making this video! Rarely do I actually find people documenting the discrepancies between the Japanese and English media of _Sonic the Hedgehog._ Localization problems have been a problem since the beginning of this franchise, and they keep occurring to this day. Back in the days of the SEGA Genesis, the Japanese manuals had all of this cool lore that the English manuals threw away, screwing everyone's understanding of the present and future games. Cybershell definitely missed his chance to comment on the differences between the Japanese lore and the American lore in his "Japanese Sonic vs. American Sonic" video.

[@ivanelugo]

Japanese: "Miracle planet appears the last month of every year over Never Lake, Eggman chains the planet and transform it on a fortress to seek the Time Stones, Sonic ventures into the planet to foil his plans and Amy went because her tarot cards told her that he will find her love over there" American: "Little planet appears the last month of every year over Never Lake, Sonic and Princess Sally went to check it, Sonic want to try to use the Time Stones power but then Princess Sally is kidnapped by Dr. Robotnik and his robots and convert Little Planet into his fortress and seek the Time Stones to conquer Mobius with them, so Sonic had to find them first"

[@vgames9207]

sonic has some of the worst localization ever, i mean shadows story and character makes no sense half the time, and the game shadow the hedgehog makes no sense whats so ever.

[@chriscoughs5774]

I think I prefer the Japanese voice actors in most of the Japanese script, but I love some of the American Sonic lines. It would be cool if it could all fuse in some way LOL.

[@bakedbeans5494]

🤡

[@kitten.5906]

Tbh, it feels so weird seeing a sonic series being dubbed in japanese even tho its originally from japan, somehow ever since sonic boom exist, it felt like sonic is basically a western show now

[@SportsFan838]

I feel the same way. Hell even Sonic's design reminds me more of a western cartoon character.

[@deejayrodion]

Fr I feel like it's a Japanese media that wants to be American, which it kinda is I suppose

[@cbonde101]

2:50 A rare instance of Sonic actually sounding like a teenager, in Japanese.

[@0vxx]

3:31 ah yes, the game where sonic actually cared about things, unlike today’s sonic

[@alieneko_nyo]

1:26 u-URUSAAAI!! >A

[@Godfreyalipio10]

20:57 i like how tails said "oh no wait that was me"

[@strawberrymolk]

5:40 the moment we’re all here for

[@OmarGalal423]

Japanese: Respectful 😇 English: Disrespectful😈

[@J03L157]

Junichi will always and forever be the real sonic, he still keeps his attitude but he feels more earnest and is a bit of a dork sometimes but still has that same heart of gold. I also love how he can perfectly switch from snarky sonic and into a more serious sonic during important scenes, like when in Sonic X he turns into Dark Sonic.

[@Kusanagi_Sans]

11:06 funny how the japanese version said "adios" while the english version said "sayonara"

[@Sharff514]

Its kind of impressive how differently they made the script over here while still getting the same message across

[@DaSheepKiller]

In Japanese, he says "Adios, Shadow The Hedgehog." In English, he says "Sayonara, Shadow The Hedgehog." So in Spanish, does he say "Goodbye, Shadow The Hedgehog."?

[@spiderzsonic6581]

Sonic adventure 2 don't has a spanish dub

[@DaSheepKiller]

@@spiderzsonic6581 Didn't know that, but it was just a joke anyway

[@url0c4ll3ttuc3]

Ya He did say Goodbye Shadow The Hedgehog (According to translation)

[@diyamondsbreakers2344]

The closest to a Spanish dub of SA2 was the Sonic X series And if i'm not incorrect at least in the Latín Spanish dub, Sonic says: Sayonara, Sombra el Erizo "Sayonara, Shadow The Hedgehog"

[@KW-12]

Goodbye Sombra el Erizo

[@NiGHTSaturn]

I love them both. Junichi and Ryan complement each other so well. I guess the American team wanted to give Sonic a lot more edge in the dialog. The Japanese version is true to Sonic's character though... So caring hahaha.

[@jkrunch2166]

I loved in Adventure how Robotnik got upset when Sonic referred to him as Eggman... only for all his machines to have the "egg" prefix. As a kid I found that hilarious, and wish they kept that, at least for the west. Ah well.

[@itachisusanoo3689]

Is it just me who hears more buzz in the background from the english version? Perhaps it was just captured less effectively

[@LongSinceDead1]

Yeah possibly a lower budget recording setup

[@hiddenflare6169]

@@LongSinceDead1 Likely with no food too. You should probably get out of here.

[@tyshco2969]

@@hiddenflare6169 And run because it’s better.

[@netako]

Sega's first English dubs were *really* rough up until the early-mid 2000s, the difference between the first two Adventure games and Heroes in terms of sound quality is clearly noticeable.

[@kokichioma1901]

4:47 BLAM! I told you! I was gonna break free!

[@gorb9944]

I'm not hating on the English VAs but Japanese VAs give such accurate emotion in their performances while it just sounds so bland in English. That's always been a problem in a lot of media but just sad I don't get to hear that same emotion

[@amb3rrif1c]

Voice direction goes a LONG way. Like, ppl hate on Jason Griffith, for example, but I’d say he got a lot better by the end of his tenure as Sonic & improved voice direction (post-06) was surely a big hand in that. Tho I must admit RCS might b my least favorite Sonic bc, even if a Sonic game has good voice direction, I feel like RCS’s performances as Sonic put a lot of emphasis on the hedgehog’s wisecracking side (which I find honestly becomes too much w/ RCS) and discard the fact that Sonic isn’t JUST a wisecracking hedgehog so the overall portrayals suffer no matter what to me

[@tealover70]

Exactly.. some lines are extremely awkward at times.

[@gorb9944]

@@amb3rrif1c yeah he for sure gets more of a bad wrap than it’s worth, English VAs tend to falter more when dubbing over other languages which is understandable but I feel like it should be more advanced towards Japanese dubs at this point. Chadwick Boseman had a beautiful voice and Richard Steven Horvitz is a legend.

[@AkibaMomoro]

I think my favorite Japanese line was the SA2 lines between shadow and sonic. The "I'm Sonic the Hedgehog" in Japanese dub sound so much more fitting for the plot progress, character interaction, and overall just energy that fits that scene

[@Sawcybui]

I know people don't like how sonic was more cocky in the american version, but that's the reason I like him so much. It's what made him stand out against other protagonists. It's his charm for me.

[@Sawcybui]

But needless to say, they overdid it in the meta era

[@galten7361]

Sonic not making quips like he's an MCU protagonist doesn't mean he isn't cheeky.

[@numburger]

Although Drummond is my favorite *English* voice actor, Kanemaru has to be my favorite overall. Dude did so well his first game that he's still Sonic's Japanese VA 20+ years later. Also, the fact that he speaks some English and uses 俺 (ore: the informal way if saying "I") instead of 私 (watashi: the formal way of saying "I") both fit Sonic so damn well.

[@heavensgate2245]

Characters in Japanese media rarely get their VA's changed, mostly if the previous actor died or they did something illegal, so Kanemaru still being Sonic's VA after 20 years was to be expected

[@artism9780]

Did you know that the English voice of Elise is Gretchen in Mean Girls and the first voice actor for Meg in Family Guy before Mika Kunis took over?

[@xX_Moonluster_Xx]

Honestly, I really like Japanese Sonic a lot better than English Sonic. The JP VA makes him sound a lot more...charming? I don't know if that's quite the word, but I really like listening to it.

[@sondradaviss2667]

Yeah like Sonic is a charming character right

[@xX_Moonluster_Xx]

@@sondradaviss2667 take your pissy attitude elsewhere?

[@ANTHONYACUNA1]

@@xX_Moonluster_Xx lol

[@amb3rrif1c]

Charisma might b the word ur looking for? Charming kinda works too honestly

[@kyleco9149]

He sounds just as cocky but alot more kinder and nice

[@BladerKev]

11:14 One!

[@siyahseeker]

Japanese Sonic: Very kind but still against evil American Sonic: A jerk at times Edit: after Boom, he's gotten better.

[@tomaszgoral8154]

Sonic JP: oh look it's dr.eggman Eggman JP: YES Sonic US: *proceeds to bully Robotnik with Eggman* Eggman US: No please stop I'm Dr.Robotnik a genius!!! ;_;

[@YamiSuzume]

1:17 Sonic: Got tricked again? Japanese Knuckels: *being tsundere* English Knuckes: No, u!

[@soulless9081]

The transition from Robotnik to Eggman is pretty great. He just totally adopts the title and runs with it. Now what, Hedgehog?

[@eldesk0noci2]

11:50 “One!”

[@bottomtext593]

JP Sonic: Its you... Eggman! ENG Sonic: hEy lOoK a GiAnT tAlKiNG eGg! 🥚 🤪

[@ayumi63173]

Yeah... Sonic is a badass guy

[@KeltkeGH]

English way more iconic

[@Shaprite]

I like how Sonic has more of an attitude in the English version. That's the Sonic we grew up with.

[@quantum1189]

16:07 Wait, so you are telling me that all this time she could feel when he was nearby and in Shadow's and Silver's cases she just jumped into the wagon because of the somewhat resembling spines?

[@friskycalibri2293]

Yup.

[@tidepoolclipper8657]

I can see why they replaced it in the English version. That line just raises more questions in regards to what happened with her first time encountering Shadow and Silver. Not to mention it's never explained HOW she can sense where Sonic is. The only explanations I can think of is that after Sonic saved her, she either somehow developed the natural talent of knowing where her crush is or they unintentionally formed a small time soul connection with each other; most fans would prefer the former explanation or a different one altogether. Otherwise, we still don't fully known how mobian bodies work. Ironically, Amy actually just simply used tarrot cards to point herself towards the direction of Little Planet in the past; though not only do Sonic fans often forget she was once a tarrot card reader but so do Sega themselves. The line they replaced it with in the English version make more sense in context. She ironically did have the right person and she DID see Sonic from a distance, but made the mistake of assuming she came across a different person once she saws Sonic in his new form close enough.

[@quantum1189]

@@tidepoolclipper8657 Problem is, Sega remembers that Amy is capable of doing fortune reading, according to her 25th anniversary short manga in the JP Sonic website, but since this is fiction, I assume that maybe fortune and tarot cards and all that stuff are actual powers, powers that have yet to be SEEN in a mainline game.

[@ivanelugo]

@@tidepoolclipper8657 or maybe she is a hedgehog sensor but she thinks she can sense Sonic only xD

[@ivanelugo]

@@quantum1189 on the 30 anniversary they do a picture where she is reading the cards to Mighty

[@AquaBlueTea]

Seems like Junichi always has better voice direction. Great delivery in almost every game. I say “almost” because to me at times it seems he’s sometimes a little too mellow when performing scene that are more high energy. In terms of best voice imo, I have to give it to Junichi. He’s great, watching this video makes me want to experience every Sonic game I’ve played in Japanese. And just a random note: Jason was the closest in sounding like a English version of Junichi. And that’s awesome because Jason is my favorite Sonic voice. Clearly Jason didn’t show much of what he could do in 06 but once you get to Unleashed and Black Knight, that’s where he truly shines as the voice of Sonic The Hedgehog and the best (in terms of English) to do it. I’m definitely not knocking the performances of Roger and Ryan. I like them for what I believe they were best at: For Roger, he was the Sonic with the most personality, and for Ryan, he was the most energetic and adventurous feeling. Now my feelings for Jason is he was the best in terms of overall character. In my eyes, Jason is the voice of a Sonic that’s more experienced and has been doing the hero gig for awhile. I also think Jason has the better tone of voice than Ryan and Roger. But yea, that wraps up my thoughts

[@kennyr1161]

Thet "most personality" and most "energetic and adventurous" clashes with each other.

[@tek3576]

Jason is nowhere near Junichis voice in terms of quality. It's far more annoying

[@AquaBlueTea]

@@tek3576 I completely disagree

[@spinceiling7442]

Jason is nothing like Junichi. I'd say Ryan was most similar

[@AquaBlueTea]

@@spinceiling7442 I definitely can’t hear Junichi in Ryan at all except for the final scene in SA2 where he says “sayonara Shadow The Hedgehog”