Voice acting the entirety of Katawa Shoujo?

A forum for general discussion of the game: Open to all punters


Arcinae
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2016 4:38 pm

Voice acting the entirety of Katawa Shoujo?

Post by Arcinae »

I was curious, it doesn't seemed like people have tried to undertake the task before, is it because 4 Leaf has explicitly stated to keep it as is? Or is it just that people are too lazy

The following of this game feels dedicated enough that if done with volunteers, a fan voice acting doesn't seem out of practicality.

Does anyone know anything about this?
User avatar
Dannflor
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2016 3:04 am
Location: Oregon - Raining

Re: Voice acting the entirety of Katawa Shoujo?

Post by Dannflor »

There have been various attempts in the past.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8ICJ1 ... KC0GUUkOjA

This is one I know of that is still being worked on, they are currently on Emi's route:

I don't know of anyone who has managed to dub the whole game though. Either the project takes too long, or it's too hard to find quality voice actors, or the project gets stuck in developmental hell. I don't think it's an impossible feat but has it's issues. For one, everyone has a different idea on what the voices should sound like.

It's something I'd like to see done and finished at some point in the future, even if it had subpar acting, just for the novelty.
Rin > Lilly > Hanako > Shizune > Emi

Kenji's Destiny - A One-Shot
Arcinae
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2016 4:38 pm

Re: Voice acting the entirety of Katawa Shoujo?

Post by Arcinae »

Yeah, whenever reading a book, everyone has different ideas of what the characters sound in their head, like Emi sounds sort of like Taiga in my head.

The episodes of the dub seem to come out sporadically at best however.
User avatar
Mirage_GSM
Posts: 6212
Joined: Mon Jun 28, 2010 2:24 am
Location: Germany

Re: Voice acting the entirety of Katawa Shoujo?

Post by Mirage_GSM »

There are a few projects of the sort, and I even had a look at a few of them out of some kind of morbid curiosity, but I never stuck around longer than two or three minutes...

Never understood the use of such a thing either.

I do get audiobooks - you can listen to them while you're on the road via an MP3-Player - but for a VN you have to be at your computer anyway, so where's the advantage of having someone read the thing to you?
Emi > Misha > Hanako > Lilly > Rin > Shizune

My collected KS-Fan Fictions: Mirage's Myths
griffon8 wrote:Kosher, just because sex is your answer to everything doesn't mean that sex is the answer to everything.
Sore wa himitsu desu.
User avatar
emmjay
Posts: 472
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2013 6:14 am
Location: Western North Carolina, physically at least

Re: Voice acting the entirety of Katawa Shoujo?

Post by emmjay »

Mirage_GSM wrote:There are a few projects of the sort, and I even had a look at a few of them out of some kind of morbid curiosity, but I never stuck around longer than two or three minutes...

Never understood the use of such a thing either.

I do get audiobooks - you can listen to them while you're on the road via an MP3-Player - but for a VN you have to be at your computer anyway, so where's the advantage of having someone read the thing to you?
There's also the Shizune issue...
Yuuko > Akira > Miki > Meiko > Sae.

Some one-shots I've written (Updated 7/29/2017)
User avatar
Oddball
Posts: 3026
Joined: Wed Feb 29, 2012 2:05 pm

Re: Voice acting the entirety of Katawa Shoujo?

Post by Oddball »

I find a lot of attempts tend to give Kenji a winey voice too, and that's just not how I pictured him. To me, he sounds like a perfectly average (and maybe even cool) guy until you realize exactly what it is he's talking about.
Not Dead Yet
User avatar
Shockproof Jamo
Posts: 156
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:30 pm

Re: Voice acting the entirety of Katawa Shoujo?

Post by Shockproof Jamo »

emmjay wrote:There's also the Shizune issue...
Echo filters. You know the effect in TV-shows and movies where we can hear a character's thoughts, even though the character actually does not speak? Shizune would still have a voice actress, but add an echo filter to her recordings to indicate that it's actually her thoughts that we're hearing, and not necessarily something that comes trough her lips.
User avatar
Dannflor
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2016 3:04 am
Location: Oregon - Raining

Re: Voice acting the entirety of Katawa Shoujo?

Post by Dannflor »

Oddball wrote:I find a lot of attempts tend to give Kenji a winey voice too, and that's just not how I pictured him. To me, he sounds like a perfectly average (and maybe even cool) guy until you realize exactly what it is he's talking about.
That's another problem in general. People are always going to complain about the voice actors chosen even if they are high in quality. When people read through the novel on their own, they come up with their own voices. It's impossible to satisfy what everyone came up with in their head the first time they played the game.
Rin > Lilly > Hanako > Shizune > Emi

Kenji's Destiny - A One-Shot
User avatar
Oddball
Posts: 3026
Joined: Wed Feb 29, 2012 2:05 pm

Re: Voice acting the entirety of Katawa Shoujo?

Post by Oddball »

Shockproof Jamo wrote:
emmjay wrote:There's also the Shizune issue...
Echo filters. You know the effect in TV-shows and movies where we can hear a character's thoughts, even though the character actually does not speak? Shizune would still have a voice actress, but add an echo filter to her recordings to indicate that it's actually her thoughts that we're hearing, and not necessarily something that comes trough her lips.
So would you do the same for Hisao when he uses sign?
Not Dead Yet
User avatar
Shockproof Jamo
Posts: 156
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:30 pm

Re: Voice acting the entirety of Katawa Shoujo?

Post by Shockproof Jamo »

Oddball wrote:So would you do the same for Hisao when he uses sign?
Yes. I see no reason why it wouldn't work the same for Hisao as well. We would hear the voice actor's normal, unfiltered voice during his discussions with non-hearing impaired characters. Then, when he starts signing with Shizune, the echo filter would kick in, indicating that he doesn't actually speak out loud, but rather would just be thinking all the things that he wants to sign to her.

It could also work the same way for Misha, where needed.
User avatar
emmjay
Posts: 472
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2013 6:14 am
Location: Western North Carolina, physically at least

Re: Voice acting the entirety of Katawa Shoujo?

Post by emmjay »

Rather than an echo filter (which I would use for Hisao's narration), what I would suggest would be a filter to make signed words sound like a text-to-speech device or program. (You know, like a deaf person might use.)
Yuuko > Akira > Miki > Meiko > Sae.

Some one-shots I've written (Updated 7/29/2017)
User avatar
Shockproof Jamo
Posts: 156
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2009 9:30 pm

Re: Voice acting the entirety of Katawa Shoujo?

Post by Shockproof Jamo »

emmjay wrote:a text-to-speech device
Ungh. Sounds tacky to me. That would make her sound like a robot. Not to mention the sound effect would hurt the mood of the scene. Now, maybe, if Shizune would actually use a device like that. But she doesn't, so this would really throw off her character.
Ploggs
Posts: 6
Joined: Thu Dec 25, 2014 1:42 am

Re: Voice acting the entirety of Katawa Shoujo?

Post by Ploggs »

emmjay wrote:Rather than an echo filter (which I would use for Hisao's narration), what I would suggest would be a filter to make signed words sound like a text-to-speech device or program. (You know, like a deaf person might use.)
I wouldn't be too into that. It makes sense in a way that there isn't as much inflection conveyed through sign language when compared to vocals (then again, I know nothing about sign language). However I think it'd take a lot of the emotion away from her dialogue, most of which can be garnered through context.

Now I'm wondering about Hisao's narration through an echo line. Would it be distracting, given how much he narrates? Is it better/worse than just normal audio?
User avatar
emmjay
Posts: 472
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2013 6:14 am
Location: Western North Carolina, physically at least

Re: Voice acting the entirety of Katawa Shoujo?

Post by emmjay »

Ploggs wrote:
emmjay wrote:Rather than an echo filter (which I would use for Hisao's narration), what I would suggest would be a filter to make signed words sound like a text-to-speech device or program. (You know, like a deaf person might use.)
I wouldn't be too into that. It makes sense in a way that there isn't as much inflection conveyed through sign language when compared to vocals (then again, I know nothing about sign language). However I think it'd take a lot of the emotion away from her dialogue, most of which can be garnered through context.

Now I'm wondering about Hisao's narration through an echo line. Would it be distracting, given how much he narrates? Is it better/worse than just normal audio?
Well, I don't know about you, but I'd want some way to distinguish between when he's thinking and when he's talking out loud.
Yuuko > Akira > Miki > Meiko > Sae.

Some one-shots I've written (Updated 7/29/2017)
User avatar
Mirage_GSM
Posts: 6212
Joined: Mon Jun 28, 2010 2:24 am
Location: Germany

Re: Voice acting the entirety of Katawa Shoujo?

Post by Mirage_GSM »

Well, I don't know about you, but I'd want some way to distinguish between when he's thinking and when he's talking out loud.
It's called accentuation, and professional voice actors (ideally) learn to do that.
Emi > Misha > Hanako > Lilly > Rin > Shizune

My collected KS-Fan Fictions: Mirage's Myths
griffon8 wrote:Kosher, just because sex is your answer to everything doesn't mean that sex is the answer to everything.
Sore wa himitsu desu.
Post Reply