The Voice of Seto: An Editorial
Having been in the business of using my voice in school choruses for about seven consecutive years, I’ve learned to notice things about the performance of the voice actors in my favorite animes, just from knowing how my own voice works and operates under certain conditions. Therefore, I feel that I can write this with some degree of knowing what the hell I’m talking about.
Warning: Henceforth (love that word LOL), all information and observations will be opinion-based only. This is coming only from a college student who has been in school choruses for seven years, not a person who has seriously studied the inner workings of the human voice for that long. In short: Don’t take what I say as solid fact, but filter it through your own perceptions and see what you think.
As some of you might know, Eric Stuart, the English voice of Seto Kaiba, has done some previous work on shows like Pokemon (I was surprised to learn that he did both the voice of Brock and the voice of James, since the two characterizations sounded vastly different in pitch and tamber).
Personally, I like his characterization of Kaiba---it sounds more natural to his own vocal range than some of his previous work. The characterization of Brock sounded at times like a Second Bass trying to be a Second Tenor in the choir----the voice sounded incredibly strained. Trying to hit higher notes in the choir, like trying to make your voice sound higher, makes the vocal quality sound contrived. Also, it can hurt and strip away the vocal chords over time. Lately, I have noticed that Stuart is playing Brock’s voice a bit lower-pitched---perhaps the strain finally got to the voice quality? I don’t know for sure, of course. But I do tend to notice that the vocal range of First to Second Bass (the lowest two voice parts in the chorus) seem to fit Stuart’s own natural vocal range better. Whereas the characterization of Brock seems to be strained, the characterizations of James and Kaiba seem to be more natural----the voice resonates in the chest rather than strains from the throat.
I’ve read the opinion that the characterization of Seto Kaiba sounds like “Evil Brock.” I just have to laugh out loud at that one----that’s the most creative term I’ve ever heard! Personally, I like the way Kaiba talks----the characterization combines the melodic-tambered voice that Stuart used as James and the slightly rougher voice of Brock into a very nice blend. *shivers* Ooh. Very nice.
*LOL I had to say that----as a woman whose primary learning ability lies in her ability to hear, I respond more to auditory things than I do visual. Therefore, I’m far more interested in a man if his voice is sexy than if he’s got a sexy body. Though Kaiba sho’ ain’t lacking in the latter category… ;) *
Also, I can tell that Stuart, like me, is highly susceptible to respiratory and vocal illnesses, such as bronchitis and severe laryngitis. How do I know all that? You have only to listen to Kaiba in the episode “The Past Is Present,” when he receives Obelisk the Tormentor from Ishizu. To most people, it sounds like his voice has been purposefully made a little more raspy. To me, his voice sounds like a voice in the third week of recovery from either severe or total laryngitis----i.e., he either lost most of his voice or he lost it completely. Knowing how my own voice works (and knowing that I also easily come down with such illnesses), I know that my voice sounds similarly after about three weeks of having laryngitis (DAMN that illness! I hate it!). Usually it takes my voice about four full weeks to recover all vocal function completely (including whispering, which is actually rougher on the voice than singing or talking. Go figure, huh?).
I can also tell you when in the year the different story arcs were dubbed by listening to Kaiba’s voice (always an enjoyable activity hehehe). You might notice that Kaiba’s voice sounds MUCH different in Duelist Kingdom than in Battle City (and especially in “Noah’s Arc”, or Virtual Realm). That’s because Duelist Kingdom was dubbed in the middle of summer, and Battle City and Virtual Realm were dubbed in late fall through the middle of winter.
You might ask, “OK, how the hell does CuriousLittleBird know that? Only the people who dubbed the anime would know for sure.” Of course they would----this is only based on my perceptions, so I’m allowed to be wrong. Hehehe gotta cover my ass somehow…lol! Anyway, you also might wonder how the seasons would affect vocal quality. Hopefully, I can explain it well (my brain is on a roll, so if I lose you, I’m really, really sorry…)
The human voice responds to temperatures and weather. If it’s a hot, humid and/or rainy day outside, the voice will sound a little more relaxed and a little tiny bit lazy at times. To singers, this translates into the voice being slightly flat or under pitch, but to normal speaking voices, it only lowers the pitch a bit. In Duelist Kingdom, Kaiba’s voice is exactly that---lower-pitched and more relaxed.
However, if it’s a bitterly cold, icy or snowy day outside, the voice will sound tighter and more strained, due to muscles constricting because of the temperature. To singers, this is close to optimum conditions, because the voice is more accurate and on-pitch, but the vocal chords do need more warmup time than normal (naturally, since it’s cold outside). In late Battle City and during the Virtual Realm arc, Kaiba’s voice has gotten more and more strained-sounding. This could be due to the temperatures and weather, or it could also be due to trying to fight off another round of laryngitis (and consequently be out of work for a few weeks!). I know how my own voice sounded in ninth grade when I tried to fight through a terrible, nasty cold, and it ended up settling in my throat and chest for almost three weeks. My voice sounded like the female equivalent of Kaiba’s----it felt like it was so tight with congestion that I couldn’t talk much at all. And I’m sure that’s much more than you needed to know, but oh well. I tried to sing through the illness, but my voice sounded so incredibly different (and very odd at times) that I had to let it rest for two weeks. (A little anecdote: It really sucks when you’re sitting in chorus class and can’t sing worth a damn…you feel so left out.)
Anyways, I think Seto’s voice characterization is overall very well-suited to the part. Personally, I love when Kaiba gets all quietly threatening, ‘cause his voice takes on the melodic tone then, and I like that. w00t!
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