One of the highlights of Trigun is its great cast of voice actors, both in Japanese and English, which is indeed a very rare occurrence. For some odd reason, Pioneer chooses not to list which actor does which character, they just add the whole English cast as one big blurb at the end of the credits. Which I think is an insult because their actors did an absolutely superb job with the dubbing. So here's a little chart of their names matched up with the characters. If you can help me fill in any of the blanks, or you come across any mistakes, please let me know.
| Character | Japanese Seiyuu | English VA |
| Vash the stampede | Onosaka Masaya- Jadeite, Keroberos, some guys in Slam Dunk | Johnny Yong Bosch- Adam Park, the Green/Black Power Ranger |
| Meryl Stryfe | Tsuru Hiromi- Bulma, Ukyou | Dorothy Melendrez- Kaoru from Rurouni Kenshin (I like her a LOT better as Meryl; Kaoru needs to lay off that helium) |
| Milly Thompson | Yukino Satsuki- Sylia, Higurashi Kagome, and multiples in Love Hina | Lia Sargent- Jinnai Nanami, Soi, Marine, Chun-li, Judy from Beop, and directed a lot of the Trigun episodes (SakuraCon's bio) |
| Nicholas D. Wolfwood | Hayami Sho- Capt. Yamamoto, Muraki Kazutaka | Jeff Nimoy- some voices in Digimon (namely, "Get outta my tree!!") |
| Rem Sayblem | Hisakawa Aya- Sailor Mercury, Kero-chan, Kaoru Miki, Skuld | Bridget Hoffman- Miaka, Fuu, Dominique (Bouncer) |
| Legato Bluesummers | Seki Toshihiko- Duo, Mousse, Dom | Sparky (Sean) Thorton- Hotohori, Blackjack |
| Millions Knives | Furusawa Tohru- Nakago | ? |
| Kaite/Kite/kid in eps. 7,8 | Matsumoto Rika- Satoshi, Nataku (X), Raishinshi | Mona Marshall- Ascot, Chuuei (?), Izzy |
Contributors:
Neko,
Schu-kins,
Jeff,
Zach- Thank you all for
your help! ^_^
Content Differences Between the Two
For the most part the dub follows the subtitled script. They
added in little bits here and there to the script, but it was mostly funny
and didn't change the original meaning of anything. I'm guessing the changes
were made so it'd be easier to understand certain parts and to make it easier
for the English actors to match up with the animation. These being two very
valid reasons, and since it was all and all very well done, I have no complaints.
In fact, Pioneer adds more details to the scenes by adding in background
conversation and noises. It just makes it come alive more, hm?
One thing they did alter a bit was that they create an emphasis
on the MerylxVash thing. Well, they didn't put it on Vash's part, they used
Meryl, who gets a little extra worried and sensitive at times (like in episode
12) when she was more non-personal towards him in the original.
My Preference
This is like anathema for me to say it, but I actually
prefer the dubbed to the subtitled version. I get the feeling that the original
recording was done a little hastily, the voices don't always match the animation,
and some lines I felt could've been delivered better. Or maybe it's just
watching it less that two-feet away on a computer screen that makes you notice
these things. ^_^; I watch the DVD on my computer when I'm making the
screencaps.
Whether the original could've used extra work or not, the dubbed
version is great. Pioneer usually produces dubs that are a bit above average,
but Trigun is currently my favorite anime dub out of all of them. The delivery
is practically perfect, and the casting was great. Some of them might have
sounded a bit different from the original (like Wolfwood), but they still
defined the character.
But still, there are times when I'd rather watch the subbed
version. Some reasons for that are Seki Toshihiko, Hisakawa Aya, and Matsumoto
Rika. Those three are some of my favorite seiyuu, and I love hearing them
in any role. The dub voices for Legato and Rem are good, but the VA for Kaite,
though a good actor, was a pretty terrible singer. It um... hurt my ears
when she (I'm assuming it's a she) cranked out Sound Life. ^_^;
And one more little bonus for the dub, since most of the names
are in English (well, at least in a language that's not Japanese), the
actors don't have any trouble with pronounciations. Badly spoken names in
most dubs usually detract greatly from the overall quality. At the same time,
it's a little odd to hear them say "Vash the Stampede" every five seconds
in Japanese, it sounds kinda funny. And of course, there's the infamous
"Urufuudo".
Random Note
Skarloey sent me
an email with the following tidbits. Ever notice that the insurance girls
bear names similar to those of American singers?
Milly Thompson - Lily Thompson
Meryl Stryfe - Meryl Streep
An odd little thing you really would notice, but then again, Wolfwood's name
was based on a combo of a British cinematographer and an Osaka
rock group.... (thanks to the
Hastily Assembled
NDW Shrine)