The VARIED Voices of Sonic

[@blinxman4956]

The Japanese voice of Sonic, Junichi Kanemaru has been voicing the character since Sonic Adventure in 1998 for 25 years, meaning that in Japan, everyone knows his voice and his personality, I recommend checking out some of his lines and his English lines is stellar as he's also a teacher.

[@swr.nezumi]

i appreciate the blinx representation

[@SonicAndre2]

I’d also check out the music from his old album, Inspired Colors. He’s got a good singing voice.

[@lauraikoko]

for me,HE'S the voice i imagine when i read the comics and stuff,when i think of sonic's voice,i think of jun'ichi kanemaru

[@MRSHREKJR]

​@lauraikoko same the Japanese voice is SO much better than any of the English voice actors specially Roger

[@joeker5208]

He’s probably the most underrated voice of the character, given that the American fanbase rarely pays attention to the more Japanese elements of the series. Which is an absolute disgrace

[@JeremyHere24]

Roger has stated this sudden voice tonen change was decided by the voice directors

[@playerback7722]

Yep

[@matiosmenta]

It's always the voice directors, that's how voice acting works. That goes to every voice change to every single Sonic VA.

[@bryanblueblurhedgehog8899]

Voice director is always brings up for the problem

[@orangeslash1667]

@@matiosmenta Another example of wasted potential is the VA's for Shadow and Vector. Harry Mason From Silent Hill Shattered memories is what Shadow should sound like. (Blastoff) from Transformers Fall of Cypertron is what Vector should sound like.

[@maximyllion]

and it SUCKS

[@gameman5804]

To give Rodger credit as Sonic, his voice in Frontiers matched with the overall tone the rest of the game had.

[@Tozito911]

yeah! i liked this change (for this game, at least).

[@LannyLeArtist]

Roger*

[@FurryestX]

Yeah it fitted the overall mediocre tone of the game, its difficult to take it seriously when 06 or Unleash has better cutscenes, like Bruh

[@maryanneuduak7078]

We get it bruh​@@FurryestX

[@Hoardman]

06 has voice acting that is just as boring tho with the only exceptions being silver and amy.

[@CyberDaGamer]

Jason Griffith is easily the best Sonic voice in my opinion. He can pull off a cocky Sonic voice and he just has a good Sonic voice overall. In fact, every time I think of Sonic or try doing a Sonic impression, I think of Jason's Sonic voice.

[@sonicwithglasses131]

For me its either jason ryan or the jp actor

[@piotero2069]

Agreed!

[@awesomeocelot7475]

I totally Agree Jason just had that perfect sonic voice!

[@sliverstarX42]

When I hear Sonic's voice in my head, I hear Jason.

[@lancetristanwee8756]

For me, it's Roger. He can play just about any kind of Sonic, be they wisecracking to a bit more serious.

[@candybunny2462]

Never been a huge fan of Roger, but I liked him in Frontiers. Seeing a character who's usually fun and carefree be so somber and melancholic was interesting to see and I thought he did a good job portraying that. Jason will always be my favorite, though 👑

[@scpnoobers]

You never watched sonic boom

[@awesomeocelot7475]

Boom sonic was essentially a totally different character dude

[@AverageFreak13]

The day mike pollock stops voicing eggman is the day I go into a deep depression

[@Vivigreeny25]

Oh my god Eggman has a more I knickers voice than Sonic 😀

[@Smols828]

Mike is terrible person so idc

[@lich848]

​@@Smols828how?

[@yumyumbatteries]

It might seen crazy what I'm bout to say-

[@bryanferratt6598]

​@@Smols828OK, just stop ✋ 😒. I'm sick to death of people getting s*** on just because they said something stupid or something other people don't agree with online. Unless they've done something on the level of "Kevin Spacey" or "Amber Heard" you are not allowed to comment or talk about them in any capacity 🙄🙄😒😤😡.

[@zac9181]

I’m sad the man, the myth, the legend Ryan Drummond didn’t come back, but props to him for keeping his reputation instead of coming back to the blue rat.

[@SlickEvan]

Exactly this. As much as I wanted him back, I respect that he stuck to his morals and stayed with his union.

[@BinglesP]

Shame he got those allegations a while back that he committed adultery though

[@zac9181]

@@BinglesP Elaborate.

[@theliaminator01]

He told you he’s not a RAT, he’s a HEDGEHOG! XD

[@BinglesP]

​@@zac9181 Apparently there was a rumor that he had sex with a Sonic proshipper and it was adultery on his wife or something Idk the details though, and I really don't want to know them, so let's just leave it at that since he seems to have his name cleared currently anyway

[@NokaiGaming]

Glad I’m not the only one calling movie Sonic “Dewey Duck”

[@Skoufidios]

I'm still the only one who calls him "Leo"

[@K.Bbluesword]

Leo

[@chillihog1543]

Ben does love voicing blue characters beside Randy from that Disney XD show. No matter what character Ben voices act, still sounds the same childish cringe teenage va, even if he tries to sound different tho.

[@Skoufidios]

@@chillihog1543 Ben is just a more cartoony Tom Holland. Every single animated character he plays is just an animated version of himself from another universe

[@chillihog1543]

​@@SkoufidiosPretty much ya. He's basically the Patrick Warburton (A.k.a Kronk from Emperor's New Groove or Joe from Family Guy) but only voice quippy cool teen characters. Tbf I don't think Ben voiced an adult character but I think he could do a decent job at it. He does a good job giving a mature tone once Randy, Leo, and even Sonic royally screwed up that cost their family/friends in danger and learn that they need to grow up and start taking responsibility, which honestly I'm interested in how much Sonic will grow for Sonic Movie 3 and see how well Ben does at performing a still goofy Sonic but also more grown up version of him (Hopefully the writers strike will be over by then)

[@DeftestAphid2]

Im surprised you didnt talk about Roger Craig Smith in Boom. I think his portrayal for that version of Sonic was spot on.

[@just8or494]

He had great emotional range in boom

[@orangeslash1667]

@@just8or494 Roger is not a bad choice for Sonic, but he's using the wrong voice. What he needs to do is use his Forge voice from Wolverine and the X-men kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWKvaYZ8gaisjLs

[@just8or494]

@@orangeslash1667 I blame sega Because roger can make characters sound super cool, sega just makes him voice a walking meme lord with no emotional range, In boom he's fantastic though.

[@orangeslash1667]

@@just8or494 Another character with missed potential is Shadow. Kirk Thornton needs to sound like Harry Mason from Silent Hill Shuddered Memories. Instead he sounds too gruff.

[@just8or494]

@@orangeslash1667 what do you think about shadow as a character?

[@LiaManila]

The reason why Sonic Prime doesn’t have any of the actors from the games is because since it was produced in Cananda, it is required by law to primarily only use Canadian voice actors. While there are examples of American voice actors being Canadian productions, usually they only use voices actors from Canada EDIT: i have been informed that this is not required by law and that Canadian production companies get tax breaks for using an All Canadian voice cast.

[@PercyPanleo]

I thought that law wasn't passed until after season 1 of Prime was released. Either way though, it was probably more convenient to have more local actors for the production (Which is also the primary reason the actors got replaced in Sonic X)

[@PieStudios]

This is not true at all. Canadian production companies get tax breaks for using an all-Canadian voice cast. It’s not required by law.

[@LiaManila]

@@PieStudios Thank you for the correction. I will be editing my og comment to include that

[@PercyPanleo]

@@PieStudios it isn't? I thought there was some controversy either last year or earlier this year with the Canadian government passing a law like that

[@PieStudios]

@@PercyPanleo they might have been TRYING to do that, but at the moment it is not in their law.

[@JDWLegoLegendsYT]

You know I really wouldn't mind if Deven Mack voiced Sonic in the games because his voice for Sonic sounds pretty good and accurate to the best versions of Sonic's voice.

[@MadWinter889]

He's lowkey becoming my favourite Sonic.

[@chamila249]

I couldn’t agree more!

[@SlickEvan]

This. This, so much. He embraces so much of the best qualities of each Sonic actor, even sounding like them in certain moments.

[@Anonymys43]

I 100% agree

[@lancetristanwee8756]

I love Roger as the GOAT voice of Sonic, but if the time comes for him to step down, I can think of no one better than Deven Mack to replace him. Same goes with the rest of the Prime cast if the current VAs of the games retire.

[@AizakkuAnalysis]

I don't even know what I want for an iconic sonic voice anymore. I don't ever believe Sega is going to capture that magic again where I just say, "That's sonic!" Now that Nintendo has replaced Charles Martinet as the voice of Mario, it's clear to me that it can be done well. Since barely anyone could tell the voice was any different.

[@PercyPanleo]

Honestly with Charles Martinet at first I thought the difference was just because we were mostly getting reused voice lines from the Wii era for so long. The change is definitely more noticeable with Luigi's voice though

[@gabe5918]

@@PercyPanleoBruh that LM3 voice though. I grew up with Charles and absolutely get that age can affect your voice but HOLY DAMN Luigi’s voice in LM3 just sucks me outta the atmosphere so hard. Especially when he screams seeing King Boo again in 3.

[@Morbius-Tension]

Mario isn’t hard to voice since there isn’t really much voice work plus the fanbase won’t complain nearly as much as the sonic fanbase

[@xgaming2427]

Honestly I understand your opinion, but I actually kinda like Roger's take on Sonic. It's not amazing but Frontiers and Sonic Boom are prove that Roger can be a good Sonic when given the right script and good voice direction.

[@strawb2128]

Personally, Roger in the Boom cartoon is my favorite Sonic. I really do think Sega is just either terrible at giving direction, or maybe they're only giving him a few takes.

[@xgaming2427]

@@strawb2128 I'll go with the first one.

[@starfalchion4404]

I agree. Roger in Boom and Rise of the Wisps sounded perfect in my opinion. Not too high. Not too low. Natural and able to emote. The problem always seems to be the script and then the direction Jack Fletcher (who has been the voice director for all of the games since 2010) chooses to fit that script. It might not even be Fletcher’s fault because he’s probably also taking a lot of notes that SEGA gives him such us Frontiers where it feels they wanted to give him a deeper voice.

[@ZenithintheMaking]

Roger was at HIS BEST SONIC in Sonic Boom. It was so fun watching it 💯

[@lancetristanwee8756]

Roger can be any kind of Sonic. That's why he's the best Sonic. Most of the other VAs have a set persona.

[@jeffsketches]

Rogers impersonation on Ryan’s voice is incredible

[@tdproductions7532]

Genuinely shocked how close it sounded. Wish they stuck with it :/

[@orangeslash1667]

@@tdproductions7532 Here's why, when you listen Ryan's real voice it sounds older than Roger.

[@Somerandomsonicfan572]

*Sonic Ova left the chat*

[@XPool]

I FORGOT THE OVA!!!

[@Mr.IDK07]

​@@XPoolyou also forgot Junichi and the japanese voice for Sonic in the OVA

[@XPool]

@@Mr.IDK07 I had audio for him recorded in the script, but I felt it ruined the pacing and was mainly played off as a joke, and it was the only non-English voice in the video. So, I chose to remove it. If I ever release deleted segments of videos, it’ll definitely be there.

[@orangeslash1667]

@@XPool Roger is not a bad choice for Sonic, but he's using the wrong voice. What he needs to do is use his Forge voice from Wolverine and the X-men kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWKvaYZ8gaisjLs

[@robertlauncher]

Griffith is my favorite English game voice because as he got more relaxed in the role and began toning down the aggressive tough guy aspect, I found some of the same somewhat chill, loveable dorkiness we got out of Junichi Kanemaru. Especially in Black Knight, he’s like a near perfect translation of it there. I miss him honestly

[@deejay-1486]

Imo Jason in Unleashed and Black Knight is the best Sonic has ever sounded and his range of personality as well an that is the voice I think of when Sonic is brought up

[@NECROMAGICIAN666]

Sonic is literally unleashed Jason Griffith He is heroic, caring and reserved cocky but not annoying, he got very mature after the shadow the hedgehog game and yeah that’s growth and I like it Sonic is not goofy and dumb anymore

[@Anonymys43]

The hate for Roger is very concerning, his voice started to grow on me since he started voicing him in Colors, and he knocked his performance out of the park in Boom To say hes the worst sounding sonic ever is too much of a stretch And I've been playing Sonic games since the OG STH on the Genesis

[@fantasticbirdblue]

Roger is the BEST Sonic

[@lancetristanwee8756]

I will die on this hill that Roger’s the best Sonic ever.

[@yummerz6302]

I agree!! I also really like the voice direction of Sonic Frontiers! It really makes Sonic sound older and more "mature"? lol i dunno i guess to each their own

[@lancetristanwee8756]

Thanks for agreeing. Jason's always sounded kinda weird to me, somewhat monotone-ish. Ryan's second best for me. He nails the "teen with attitude" kind of voice, but I agree his voice direction's a little lackluster. Tbh, Roger and Deven Mack are tied for 1st place. I'd put Ben Schwartz in the same pedestal, but he's a different continuity, playing another take on Sonic. Say what you will on Roger; the fact that he can play a Sonic for any kind of story, be it a Colors-esque jokester, or being more serious and thoughtful like Forces and Frontiers, shows that the man has talent. That's why Roger is the best for me. The other Sonic VAs have a distinct but mostly consistent persona for their Sonics; Roger's Sonic can fill any role.

[@ClassicSonic-pe1sz]

Wow uhhh great, you are a old Sonic fan and have great opinions wow damn I have never seen that on a comment

[@MattD402]

What I have learnt from Sonic fans is that no matter who voices Sonic someone will always piss and moan about it. Here's my take on his voice, I don't care who voices him or what he sounds like I think each and every voice actor gave it their all and all brought their own unique takes on the character. In my opinion they're all good, I think that non of the actors deserve the shit they get because they didn't sound like the last guy who voiced him.

[@Joopitor]

Speak your shit

[@acethehedge449]

Facts

[@MandoMast]

Based and woke Sonic fan

[@liveelbaraka3371]

The Sonic movie voice is the only one that sicks ass!. He's supposed to be cool .. not sound like a sissy.(Ben Schwartz).

[@zeldeure1765]

Good take....but come on... The Superman Sonic?

[@nottoofast]

Frontiers Sonic is the best sounding voice Sonic’s had since 2009. I can’t see him using that voice once and never again. Gonna suck if it goes away in the next one.

[@Cejilmeister]

For the Twitter Takeover that year, Roger asked what voice he should use, and he was told, "Just do both."

[@nottoofast]

@@Cejilmeister I assume it depends on the tone and story of the project. “Funny Twitter Memes” and “Attempt at serious storytelling” might require different voices, no?

[@Tozito911]

the direction that they gave to roger in frontiers was perfect, and i hope they keep that tone.

[@ZenithintheMaking]

Let's be honest, that voice Roger did this time was good ONLY for the Frontiers' Sonic. Anywhere else it will not feel like Sonic whatsoever.

[@bryanblueblurhedgehog8899]

@@Cejilmeister both like boom and frontiers? Seems accurate that I would love to see how roger going to do both combined

[@katamari_]

imagine if chris pratt legitimately tried to voice sonic

[@bryanblueblurhedgehog8899]

He would be terrible, worse than roger. Not gonna lie

[@WiIliyum]

It’s a me a sonic

[@Ness199X]

​@@bryanblueblurhedgehog8899Roger isn't that bad imo

[@orangeslash1667]

@@bryanblueblurhedgehog8899 Roger is not a bad choice for Sonic, but he's using the wrong voice. What he needs to do is use his Forge voice from Wolverine and the X-men kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWKvaYZ8gaisjLs

[@Tozito911]

@@bryanblueblurhedgehog8899roger does the voice of sonic very well, dude.

[@Miju001]

6:10 THANK YOU! I haven't heard much of any Sonic voice actors (except Roger and Deven) but what I have heard of Jason has him do this all the time and it kind of drives me crazy

[@omegaproductions6660]

“Sonic and Sally have better chemistry than Sonic and Amy” I’M NOT ALOOOOONE

[@SPIDERKN1GHT0327]

My favorite Sonic voice right now has to be Devin Mack. His performance in Sonic Prime is ELITE. He's funny and cool but doesn't try to hard, and I just like the tone of it for Sonic. Its like Roger mixed with Ryan.

[@SPIDERKN1GHT0327]

@Neiheim90 its not enough cockiness to sound like Jaleel in my opinion, and I dont really hear jason in his voice like at all. But to beach his own

[@SaddieMoon]

18:37 Apparently, it hurts Roger’s voice to do a Ryan impression. (I think)

[@Off_lucci]

Personally I love Jason he can be chill cool cocky its perfect imo

[@mannysworld3713]

I ain't gonna lie when you showed that Roger doing a Ryan impression I almost choked

[@Benjawin6671]

Ikr. It just felt so right.

[@superluigi018]

Damn, Roger's Sonic really did a number on ya, huh?

[@Tozito911]

xpool doesn’t like good things apparently.

[@Anonymys43]

Yea the serious Roger hate is getting ridiculous, his performance in Boom is my favorite followed by Devon Mack's performance in Prime And this is coming from someone who first got introduced to the character in Sonic The Hedgehog on the Genesis

[@HerooftheWild]

​@@Anonymys43Roger doesn't deserve the hate he get, and this guy is just adding fuel to the fire I'm so sick of the Roger slander

[@DLGanimator]

What is going on here? The only way I can understand that people like roger the most is if he was their childhood sonic voice. If that is your childhood sonic voice, then I can respect that. But in honesty, he just doesn't fit the sonic voice. His voice should show off his personality. He is a symbolism of goodness, he is fast and powerful. He lives by his own feelings and helps people however he wants. He doesn't think of himself as a hero, he just does what he wants. He rarely makes jokes and he always loves to go on adventures. His voice should represent all of that, and roger's depressed voice in boom/frontiers, roger's "old man trying to be cool with kids,, voice in colors is not fitting at all. Roger is great, but the one's who tell him how he should sound are doing not so good job.

[@KOTSOSMC2002]

My top 3: 1. Frontiers Roger 2. Boom Roger 3. 2006/2009 Jason Griffith

[@grey-c8138]

Something to note about Roger's performance in Frontiers. At the beginning of the game, while his voice is definitely lower than usual, his delivery is still very in line with his previous outings. However, Sonic is slowly being overtaken by cyber corruption, and he sounds more and more tired and worn out as the game progresses as a way of reflecting that. Compare the clip at 15:10 in this video to when he says the same line to Amy at the start of the game and you'll see what I mean

[@Cejilmeister]

Your Roger take in Frontiers is spicy! Yeah, Roger is the most mixed out of the main Sonic VAs, I'll admit that, even if Sonic Colors DS was my first mainline Sonic game, and yeah, Lost World was pretty rough, but I think Frontiers was the best he ever sounded (as did all the other VAs). Sure, he could come off as more "normal", but that something that can be improved on as we saw in the Twitter Takeover that year. You made good points with, "A character should have a defining voice", but that's not full proof. Characters like Batman and Spiderman are super well known, yet there are so many voice actors/actors that did many different takes on them, and that's really cool to see. LandyRS is a VA who has a great take on Sonic in many fan projects, and he uses a voice of his own to do it. There's both pros and cons to having a similar voice and having some different takes as well. I do prefer Jason as my number one, but Roger is still a good voice for Sonic.

[@PAHG2]

L video, didn't mention Sonic's Schoolhouse... Anyways, now that the joke is done, it's time to get MY opinion on this... I like every Sonic VA, and never really thought about how different they are to each other because it's pretty easy for me to hear a character instead of a person, especially in media related to animation or games, no matter how the character sounds, acts, or is portrayed. (Also, as a Transformers fan, I'm just used to constantly changing voices of characters, so...)

[@airmann4673]

Deven Mack is the best sonic voice actor to me. I hope he does it for now on

[@mopeless]

OVA voice was too great to put in the video, would have been unfair to compare the others against it

[@kaxcommentssomethingREAL]

if younger Sonic had a voice, that's what i imagine him sounding like

[@orangeslash1667]

@@kaxcommentssomethingREAL Roger is not a bad choice for Sonic, but he's using the wrong voice. What he needs to do is use his Forge voice from Wolverine and the X-men kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWKvaYZ8gaisjLs

[@dermond]

The depressed Sonic voice in Frontiers is practically at the end game, when he is tired and consumed by the cyberspace, and in Sonic Boom Sonic ain't lazy, just apathic when someone don't catch him

[@Mr.Freeze420]

I LOVE how you referenced sonic zombies. Barely anybody knows what that is nowadays.

[@uniwiz666]

Damn Kinda disappointed you didn't even mention Martin Burke, the voice in the Sonic OVA He's top 3 for me, easy I legit think he's my favorite voice for classic Sonic

[@anaveragehedgehog]

I grew up with Roger Craig Smith honestly so he's my favorite 🗿

[@RenatoRevisadas]

Jason Griffith looks exactly like my barber and I love this fact

[@ChuckE.CheesesIllinois]

Junichi Kanemaru, who's been voicing the character for almost 25 years is still my favorite voice for Sonic, mostly because it's consistent. Tbh, i personally think he's the best Sonic voice and vastly superior to the English actors, i recommend hearing his lines

[@lauraikoko]

yeah true,in every single game from sonic adventure 1 to sonic unleashed(or black knight)junichi was the voice those games were written with in mind so his voice,junichi is the voice sonic is meant to have,and whenever the sonic VA discussion is brought up barely anyone mentions junichi

[@MR.NickyRZ_229]

Well, it's really the dubbing directors' fault, Roger Craig Smith said that the dubbing directors wanted him to do a more mature voice for Sonic's voice in the game Sonic Frontiers.

[@NightyBatsy]

4:53 i enjoy that, and also the japanese voice actors use English words, is really charming!

[@kaxcommentssomethingREAL]

fun fact (if you hadn't know): Sonic's Japanese voice actor is also known to be an English teacher! that explains why he likes to spice things up with his Sonic voice, his use of english phrases makes him stand out amongst many of gaming characters

[@ChuckE.CheesesIllinois]

​@@kaxcommentssomethingREAL you mean Japanese voice?

[@kaxcommentssomethingREAL]

@@ChuckE.CheesesIllinois thank you!

[@samuelanokye9073]

8:45 Thank you XPool. I'm glad someone out there knows my pain.

[@Matthasnocuts]

If Sonic could Sonic better than Sonic, would Sonic be a Sonic or would he be himself or would be someone else?

[@sonicjhiq]

Yes

[@robertlauncher]

Ben is my favorite Sonic voice. He gets the hyperactivity and snark down, and embraces the cheesiness in a way that’s fun instead of cynical, partly helped by the lack of a script that has to make fun of itself every other scene.

[@wyattdavis660]

Agreed

[@Jay_XP]

This was VERY Hooba Dooba of you, XPool.

[@Morbius-Tension]

Where is that from

[@crestofhonor2349]

At least Sonic's JP voice has had a consistent performance since SA1 and the entire cast hasn't been replaced like with the EN voice. I really like his JP voice and have liked it for a while. Now for english my favorites have always been Ryan Drummod and Jason Grifith. I'm with you, while Rodger is a great voice actor, he has never suited sonic outside of Sonic Boom for me. He works well in Boom due to the style of that show but I just don't like him in anything else. I don't get the praise for Sonic Frontier's Sonic voice and it's still not great

[@Tozito911]

wtf, xpool? roger in frontiers sounds so cool and mature! i know that sonic has to be cocky and all, but changing a little bit the personality is like a breeze of fresh air.

[@mr.smart75]

"MollyMcGee new VA of sonic" had me dead 😂 1:19

[@paoluxio]

the voice actor for sonic is Roger Craig Smith in Sonic Boom. His performance was better than any of the multiple performances from the other actors

[@ThunderTheYellowJolteon]

Max Mittleman: Am I a joke to yo- Oh, he's not a VA of Sonic. Not yet at least.

[@TheSalsaGuy216]

But he should’ve been

[@ThunderTheYellowJolteon]

@@TheSalsaGuy216 He should become the new VA of Sonic if Roger quits.

[@irontarkus6515]

I'm sorry, but I love the sound direction of frontiers since your able to take the game more seriously because of that. Feels like the characters are getting older and more mature.

[@SADHAD-t7t]

You must say the best roger craig smith line of sonic colors/colours is"no copyright law in the universe is gonna stop me

[@Morbius-Tension]

18:45 I’m crying right now at how much this made me laugh lol where is it from cuz I can picture boom sonic randomly saying this

[@LukeStation]

Finally. Squash and Stretch. WINNING. 🔥🔥🔥

[@FoogleFox]

Meanwhile Mario had the same voice actor for 30 years. Also great video!

[@CogitoErgoSumming]

7:44 HOLY SHIT SONIC ZOMBIES, HOOBA DOOBA

[@lordhanzoakablackjotaro]

12:11 Bruh So Everyone Forgot Randy C. 9th Grade Ninja 😭

[@SaddieMoon]

4:55 This was done because Iwata wanted to have Japanese lines in the English Dub. (I think)

[@scpnoobers]

I feel like Roger Craig Smith did his best performance in sonic boom (the show)

[@SKOT_3]

Ngl i actually really dig the deeper Roger voice. It helps that he fucking nails some of those scenes. Like the yell he does on the last boss in Final frontier is great. Wouldn't mind him developing that voice.

[@Francodoublage]

Meanwhile in french speaking countries, we have had several different voice actors as well, although not as many as the english ones. The first one (maybe there were some others before for small commercials but i can't be certain) was Olivier Korol. He was also the voice of Ed in Ed Edd 'n' Eddy and Muraï in Great Teacher Onizuka, and he voiced Sonic in the 90s cartoons, and also, funnily enough, in Wreck it Ralph 1 and 2, even tho he wasn't Sonic's official voice actor anymore. The second one is Alexandre Gillet, who's a big dubbing superstar over here. He voiced Frodo Baggins in Lord of the Rings, Tetsuo in Akira, Jesse in Breaking Bad, Ryan Gosling, Mark Wahlberg, he's the second voice of Captain America in the MCU... He first voiced Sonic in the french dub of Sonic X, which surprisingly enough was based on the original Japanese version and not the 4Kids version. Then less than 10 years later, Sega began to make Sonic games dubbed in French starting with Sonic Generations, and they were smart enough to get the whole french cast of Sonic X back, including Alexandre Gillet. And he still voices everyone's beloved hedgehog to this very day in various games and shows, including Sonic Prime (despite the english cast being replaced) and Sonic Colors Ultimate (despite base Sonic Colors having had no dub). Tho I gotta be honest, i'm not a huge fan of his recent performance in Sonic Frontiers... The third one is pretty controversial, and it's Malik Bentalha, who voiced him in the two Sonic movies. The reaso behind the controversy is that he's what we call a "star-talent", aka a celebrity invited directly by Paramount to voice the character solely for the purpose of selling more tickets. Which enraged the Sonic fans, because Bentalha isn't a voice actor, and also because they wanted Alexandre Gillet back (he admittedly recorded the first trailer before Paramount decided to replace him). Now even tho Bentalha isn't the best, he clearly isn't the worst either. He still managed to capture Sonic's personality, even with even very little voice acting experience. But the communication around it clearly didn't help, as there were interviews of him where he mistook Sonic's intro with the intro of Motus (a french TV game) and where he didn't know who Tails and Knuckles are. So the fandom was clearly not keen on watching the french dub. Some people even preferred watching the Québec dub where Sonic was voiced by Maël Davan-Soulas, who ironically was the first french voice of Captain America in the MCU before moving to Québec. Someone even created an edited version of the movie where the Québec voice was alongside the rest of the french cast. I think it's also worth mentioning that Sonic's cameo in OK KO Let's be heroes was voiced by a fourth voice actor, which is Jonathan Simon. He also did a good job, even if his take on Sonic is actually quite different than his predecessors. It's a bit sad they did not bother contacting Alexandre Gillet considering they got Roger Craig Smith back in the original version, but due to OK KO's dub being recorded in Belgium instead of France, I guess it must have been too complicated.

[@BinglesP]

Second time now that I've heard Sonic shared a voice actor with one of the Eds from Ed Edd n' Eddy. Weird how it keeps going back to them lmao

[@Amperedz19245]

Alexandre Gillet will alway be my Sonic (with Ryan and Jun'ichi) he is just so cool and he really succeeds at giving him this cool attitude (even after all this years) but I gotta say that the voice direction in Colors Ultimate was clearly mid, he sounded very sleepy and bored. Never played Frontiers tho.

[@SonicSelect1991]

I absolutely completely agree, except for the people who grew up with Roger, he's...OK, and I respect him because he, like you said, is truly an amazing VA! But seriously, Jason, Devin, and Ryan are my serious favorites! Thanks to them for bringing my absolute favorite character to life 💕

[@redblue4127]

8:17 million% agree. I'd be happy to just straight up take Devin since he's younger. Smarter decision imo

[@SuperSonicWarrior93]

Ryan Drummond is the definitive Sonic in my opinion.

[@SPIDERKN1GHT0327]

I feel like the only time Roger is above average with Sonic is when he played him in Sonic Boom. Because there, the humor and jokes were more cynical and less for a 6 year old to laugh at. And he just sounded and acted more chill than he did in the games. He was laid back, so for that version of Sonic, it works.

[@dylantails8768]

That Molly jar joke had me laughing every time, especially the last one.

[@CURSE_OF_RAH]

ive always loved ryan drummond. his voice is always what i think of when i think of sonics voice.

[@God-xd1wr]

The appeal of Sonic to me - and something they actually keep over in Japan - is that Sonic is a cocky teenager who loves the thrill of throwing himself into near-insurmountable challenges. Sega removed the character’s ages so it wouldn’t be too weird how “mature” everyone is in Frontiers but it’s still weird. Sonic’s a kid routinely charging at gods the size of countries with the tightest grin on his face, he’s not my dad.

[@LiivelyLulu]

My favourite voice actors for Sonic are Deven Mack and Roger Graig Smith. I'm surprised you didn't talk about Roger's voice in Sonic Boom. Also, Sonic was more immature in Sonic Prime because he was a dynamic character in the show, not a static one and by the end of the show, he was supposed to be much more mature. Now that season 3 is out, I think they nailed it. Definitely one of the best Sonic shows. Though the ending, not so much.

[@lancetristanwee8756]

Agreed. We need a either a REAL Sonic multiverse adventure, or just a show set in the main universe where Sonic and Co. go on adventures, and occasionally have arc stories in multipart episodes.

[@TheEnderman917]

I liked Roger's voice in Sonic Frontiers. Yes, it technically does sound less like the character, but at least he's doing his own thing, rather than trying to do a shallow impression of Ryan or Jason.

[@ganges2264]

whats funny is that roger himself seems to dislike the new voice for frontiers , he initially thought the directors were joking when they said he should go that deep

[@Amperedz19245]

That doesn't mean that he seems to dislike it. Did he shows this in idk an interview or in a convention ?

[@Back2TheOldDrawingBoard]

I honestly really like all of Sonic’s voices. I really don’t think you’re fair to Roger; you’re of course entitled to the opinion, but I think he’s really good. I think his voice is iconic as the longest running (English) voice of Sonic. Either he or Jason Griffith is my favorite. Has anyone really ever been confused by the different voices of Sonic? Cartoon characters are always changing voices. And it’s not Roger’s fault if the writing and direction is inconsistent. It has never been consistent for any of the voices, and I don’t think it really needs to be super consistent.

[@caity_strophic]

another sonic voice actor that i love that is also underrated is Martin Burke in Sonic OVA. ik its too high pitched but i love it for like a preteen sonic its just so cute

[@Eljaner_xd]

Fun fact:prime sonic It wouldn't exist if Sonic Boom had never been canceled for the reason that Sonic Boom originally introduced another dimension for the first time in a Sonic series. and why well uhhh because sonic prime yes we would already have sonic boom in that alternate universe

[@jeffreyugochukwu1942]

10:44 - 14:30 Update: since Sonic X Shadow Generations, Roger Craig Smith (and most of the post 4Kids Era cast of other characters) is here to stay as the blue blur :'D

[@Just-A-Clown111]

im glad someone finally mentioned how weird was the direction in SA2 hearing things like "SAYONARA" "yosh" or "kitsuuu" on an english dub was so cringe

[@sethzilla3586]

"Everything has an end" -sonic

[@maxwasson2000]

6:45 That's why he's the MVP!, That's why he's the GOAT! 9:04 Yeah, like you say right here Roger Craig Smith is a talented voice actor, who has had many memorable voice acting performances on his resume, but I don't think his Sonic voice really fits the character. 15:40 Even with Frontiers attempting to have a more serious tone like the 2000s Sonic games, Roger's Sonic just straight up sounds like Chris Redfield, Which I don't know if that's really any better than how he sounded before, but it's definitely not a Sonic voice. 18:04 Disagree with you on Prime, I actually think it's the best Sonic show since SatAM, and I do think Deven Mack has potential to be the next great Sonic voice with his voice being a mixture of Ryan, Jason, Roger, and Jaleel all at once.

[@razinha6486]

You say so much about Rogers voice being annoying but im ngl your voice gives the same shit from when he acted in lost world

[@TOM-ro7rt]

first half of this video was really well done but the second half was insufferable crying like a baby over roger

[@Unleash_YT]

You forgot Patrick Warburton!

[@FlipSide2025]

0:55 when i see this model, i hear roger. When i see sa1/2 models, i hear ryan. When i see a sonic 06 model, i hear jason

[@bryanblueblurhedgehog8899]

I agree with your suggestion on sonic's voice. The sonic voice supposed to be recognizable by previous actors instead of sounding on it's own like roger craig smith. No one knows if Roger's leaving the role of sonic because the evidence is clear that roger made that decision to leave since sega is trying to make change the direction after for what happen. I was expecting to see Max Mittelman should be next VA for Sonic but roger came back for the waste of time. At least Roger's still doing for the role of sonic just to get his job done along with the writing is changed because of frontiers, now he's improving for next decade, maybe less 5 or 10 years cause it depends on sega changes for voice actors being kept except Mike Pollock. Unless we have lucky that we got Ben Schwartz and Deven Mack

[@MarioSonicBee]

I genuinely think Max Mittelman would be the PERFECT voice for Sonic, he could definitely pull off the “teen with attitude and a heart of gold” thing amazingly. Roger though I think works well as a more “experienced, battle hardened hero” version of Sonic.

[@bryanblueblurhedgehog8899]

@@MarioSonicBee exactly, roger takes the character straight from what we seen before despite inspiring from IDW sonic to game sonic. Max in the other hand could take the character fresh with the cool attitude, charm and cocky like the previous actors. He could be successor of roger craig smith

[@orangeslash1667]

@@bryanblueblurhedgehog8899 Roger is not a bad choice for Sonic, but he's using the wrong voice. What he needs to do is use his Forge voice from Wolverine and the X-men kzbin.info/www/bejne/oWKvaYZ8gaisjLs.

[@trendysilver949]

there are certain points in the video where i thought roger was talking but it was actually you.

[@benjthewhite]

Jason is def the best imo. Particularly in Secret Rings, Black Knight and Unleashed

[@calebtrmtherubyminecart6664]

Jason will forever be my definitive Sonic voice. He’s just has the right tone of being cocky without it being too brash or annoying. Wish they brought him back for games, no offense Roger

[@kingdanett4043]

I will say though that I did start to really like Sonics voice near the end of Frontiers. It was one of those things where if he can let that voice brew even more it would be amazing. I've had a problem with Sonic not sounding serious in serious moments and even if most of the dialog is pretty poor there are some gems in there

[@AhFrick25]

I grew up with the 2000s to 2010s sonic voice actors, so I'm mostly used to Jason and Roger's voices.

[@Sangron64]

No mention of Junichi Kanemaru, Sonic japanese voice actor is pain for me, he is actually the best voice Sonic, not only cause it's consistent, but because I actually imagine Sonic sounding like that in japanese

[@peety0792]

Even if you are "not intrested in the mods", I still want you to cover srb2 mods

[@Sjono]

Happened to notice you neglected to mention Sonic’s voice in some early 90s commercials, the OVA film, & Sonic Schoolhouse

[@Temzy]

3:36 Nah this part was funny af 😂😂

[@TravistheDragon]

I literally had no idea Sonic’s voice from SegaSonic Cosmo Fighter sounded like that. Ew 🤮

[@bigsleeter]

why am i in jail what did i even do

[@matthewisguy7336]

10:22 “Gimme a break! What’s with all this drama?”

[@Raviolling]

Early in the 2010s from 2010-2012 Roger sounded so annoying. But when sonic boom came out!! GOD WAS HE AMAZING

[@sth5697]

0:10 the fact that I agree that Sonally has better chemistry means I understand

[@Lboogie0711]

Devon Mack is my favorite voice actor along with Jason Griffith and Jaleel White