Favorite Shinji's Voice?

[MissDeamy]

I am pretty sure there is a discussion about the Eva character's voice actors somewhere but I just want to specifically talk about Shinji's voice. Why? Because as I said before I am a Rare Shinji Ikari Fan aren't I?

The three main voices I wanna talk about are these lovely people:
Casey Mongillo
Spike Spencer
Megumi Ogata

I know lots of people like the Sub more than the dub but I won't get into that because that's not why I am writing this I just want to know which one of those three you prefer the most because I like to hear different opinions and not just think about my own, ya know?

For me, I like Casey Mongillo. I think Casey does a good job voicing Shinji in the Nexflix dub because well to me I actually can see Shinji having Casey's voice plus Shinji sounds like he is actually 14 years old. Don't get me wrong, I know people have grown up with Spike Spencer's voice for Shinji and I get that, I haven't watched the OG dub so I know I am just being biased here. However, I did watch the End of Evangelion with the OG dub, why? Cause my Cousin told me Shinji says the famous line "I'm f**ked up" in the OG dub and not in the Netflix Dub. Again Spike Spencer isn't that bad, if anything yeah I can slightly see Shinji having that voice the small problem is that it kinda makes it sound like Shinji is a little bit older. I don't know it's probably just me.

In the end, I think Casey Mongillo did a good job voicing Shinji so I had to say that the Netflix dub is my favorite voice for Shinji. Again I know people don't like the Netflix dub and that's okay.

You don't have to agree with me, everyone has their own preference. I am just curious about other people's preferences, which one do you like and why?

[Blockio]

The original, as far as I'm concerned. Megumi Ogata is simply the best VA out of those three, and received the best voice direction for their performance; I do not believe there is much competition there.

[MissDeamy]

The original, as far as I'm concerned. Megumi Ogata is simply the best VA out of those three, and received the best voice direction for their performance; I do not believe there is much competition there.

Yeah, most people that I asked outside of the internet have said that Megumi Ogata is the best VA for Shinji and I agree. Meanwhile, others said they grew up with the OG dub with Spike Spencer. I know I said I like Casey's VA for Shinji but I kinda like all three just preferred Casey cause I watched the Netflix dub first. I wish I watched the sub first cause Megumi Ogata does a wonderful job as Shinji, I mean I did eventually rewatched the whole series again sub lol

Thank you for answering tho! :]

[MsenjaKagami]

Yeah i think it's kinda unfair to try and really do a competition between either Spencer or Mongillo's performance against Ogata's. Like they do the best they can I think, and I'm not a sub elitist or whatever, but I do find that as time goes on, Megumi Ogata's is just so definitive to Shinji that I don't think I could be convinced that any other performance could top it.
That aside though, I think i do have to say that between Spike and Casey's performances, I actually do prefer Casey's despite first watching the show with Spike's. Idk, something about how Casey's actually makes Shinji sound the right age and how their performance does sound a lot like how Ogata's but in English I think just makes it fit better with what I imagine Shinji sounding like. Also aside from Keith-Shipp's Misato and arguably Grant's Asuka, I think the Netflix casts voices just fit the characters better (even if maybe the script leaves a bit to be desired)

[MissDeamy]

Yeah i think it's kinda unfair to try and really do a competition between either Spencer or Mongillo's performance against Ogata's. Like they do the best they can I think, and I'm not a sub elitist or whatever, but I do find that as time goes on, Megumi Ogata's is just so definitive to Shinji that I don't think I could be convinced that any other performance could top it.

I definitely agree, my apologies.
I wish I didn't add Megumi Ogata's name and just asked which dub Shinji VA is people's favorite because yeah I now see it's kinda an unfair question since Megumi Ogata is most favorite among the fandom. My intentions weren't really to make it a competition, I'm just curious.

That aside though, I think i do have to say that between Spike and Casey's performances, I actually do prefer Casey's despite first watching the show with Spike's. Idk, something about how Casey's actually makes Shinji sound the right age and how their performance does sound a lot like how Ogata's but in English I think just makes it fit better with what I imagine Shinji sounding like. Also aside from Keith-Shipp's Misato and arguably Grant's Asuka, I think the Netflix casts voices just fit the characters better (even if maybe the script leaves a bit to be desired)

I am glad to know that I am not the only one who sees Casey fit the role of Shinji. I mean don't get me wrong Spike was okay, but hearing Casey's voice onto Shinji sounds perfect to me, at least. I enjoy his voice as Shinji, which is why it's my own favorite, I even met Casey themselves and got two autographs from them, one a drawing I made for them to sign and another a print I bought from them.

[CoolJosh2002]

Guess I'll be the odd one out so far then lol

Between Spencer and Mongillo, for me it's Spencer. Personally, Mongillo was one of the worst parts of the redub for me. That's not to say the whole performance is bad, because it's not, but most of the time their performance amounts to, a singular tone that just sounds bored most of the time, Shinji isn't the only character affected by this awkward direction either, I think Lindbeck's Ritsuko is worse in the regard of using a singular tone of voice and never changing it for the situation required. Nevermind the fact that I think the decision to go with a voice that sounds more feminine and not like a boy going through puberty is not the right one. I don't think it's all rough, when Casey gets mad as Shinji I think it's closer to that tone of voice that Casey should've used the whole run imo, and is just in general some of the best work Casey has done with the character, I just think that tone of voice would've been better, not angry all the time though. Then again, I think the directing in the redub in general was below average, and the performances certainly suffered for it imo. At the end of the day, I don't think any character except for Toji, was any better in the redub than the original dub, but that's just me. A lot of them sit at about the same level.

Spencer I think simply has a better tone of voice for the character. I mean the man has played him for the longest time besides Ogata herself. Shinji feels closer to what a 14 year old boy would sound like (it's not perfect, Ogata is closest, yet even she can sound too young at times.) I also thought Spike was one of the better actors at the beginning of ADV's dub, he's not perfect, none of them were (Except for maybe Tristan MacAvery as Gendo) but he certainly had a better grasp on the character than a couple of the other cast members early on, that doesn't mean it stopped even Spike from having some very ham-worthy deliveries. (WHY IS IT SO DARK IN HERE? etc.).

I dunno, it's just disappointing to me that many newer members of the fandom outright won't give the original ADV dub a fair shot, the amount of times I've seen someone say they have no clue why some of us prefer ADV's dub over VSI's and then also go on to say that they haven't even seen all of ADV's dub is aggravating. It doesn't help that Khara is actively burying the existence of the original ADV and even Funimation's rebuild dubs as well, in regards to how they mandated the Blu-Ray releases, it certainly could've been handled much better than what it was.

In short neither dub is perfect. ADV's is all over the place in quality but has higher high's imo, while VSI's is much more consistent, but sits pretty much right in between ADV's highs and lows. If that makes sense. I just wish more people would actually give the original a chance beyond the first couple episodes.

I guess rant over lol

Bring on the pitchforks I guess

[agentlouisiana1]

honestly i quite like the original english dub of Shinji although i do personally prefer the netflix dub. yeah, i'm weird like that.