Childish and whiny female anime voices
*Side rant: Im currently watching My happy marriage. Am I the only one that finds the Female MC Miyos voice annoying as hell especially in the english dub version? I find it frustrating that even in the moments where shes determined and confident her voice is still whiny. I personally dont think the character development is well presented through Miyos way of speech. Like will this girl say one solid sentence without looking around or whining just once? PLEASE\*. I do understand Miyo isn’t a full grown woman but even her younger sister doesnt sound this childish/whiny when shes distraught. I know its not the voice actresses actual voice because there are moments where it sounds fine but the majority of time she just makes Miyo super whiny.*
**TLDR**: I notice in a lot of animes as long as the female character is either shy/unsure/introverted most of the time their voices are made to be whiny… like you can be all those things without the whiny voice or it just straight up sounds like a childs voice even if the character is an adult. Sometimes its done even when the character is confident and strong… its 2027 can we please stop with the infantilisation of women in anime??? WHO WANTS THAT??
**Why do you think animes do this sort of thing? Whats your take on this?**
**TLDR**: I notice in a lot of animes as long as the female character is either shy/unsure/introverted most of the time their voices are made to be whiny… like you can be all those things without the whiny voice or it just straight up sounds like a childs voice even if the character is an adult. Sometimes its done even when the character is confident and strong… its 2027 can we please stop with the infantilisation of women in anime??? WHO WANTS THAT??
**Why do you think animes do this sort of thing? Whats your take on this?**
Commentaires
Japan.
Japan wants that.
Then it’s probably down to wanting to imitate the original Japanese, I guess? As someone who watches mainly subs, I’m not familiar with English dubs and the English VA scene.
If you want less of that uncanny dissonance, stick to foreign languages or to the more serious animes (how good is the dub in Apothecary Diaries? I bet Mao sounds serious in both languages).
Maybe it’s the different cultures but a good portion of the sub female voices I have heard in anime’s sound suppressed?
You’d get a much better representation of normal spoken Japanese from live action dramas and movies. Or for ease of access, look up Japanese YouTubers.
Hell, look up Japanese voice actors doing interviews etc… as themselves. Some sound very different from their characters. Others are closer. But “anime Japanese” is totally a thing that people pick up on.
I like to watch funny Japanese compilations from like reality shows etc and thought none of the women I heard in those sound anything like that. So it looks like this sort of thing is mainly targeted at anime’s? It just throws me off a bit because some animes will have rather mature themes or jokes and there will still be characters with overly childish voices, I guess its like a kink thing at the end of the day?
Anime is often supposed to be larger-than-life. It's deliberately overacted and hammy, where a degree of exaggeration is layered on top of everything. And when you combine that with Japanese ideas of beauty and femininity, the worship of "youthfulness" and the preference for "cuteness" as a sign of youthfulness... Well, you get higher-pitched voices for female characters, especially when they're in the main cast and are supposed to embody the "virtue of youthful beauty".
Also, if I may throw in a personal anecdote. I find myself speaking in a higher register than I normally do when I am speaking in Japanese while excited. Might just be the excitement part and not the Japanese part, might be purely a "me" thing. But if you put me in an anime and make me overact my emotional state, I might sound weird too.
I find that I naturally speak in a lower pitch in English than in the other languages I speak. If a girl is raised in Japan with all its ideals it might be that more women naturally take to the higher pitch due to it being seen as more polite proper and lady like etc.?
I do agree that animes do exaggerate for effect. Sometimes I wish I could find more that are more realistic and suitable for my tastes. I guess I just have to continue digging for the gold nuggets.
I really like that in the more recent anime productions we can see more boundary pushing and I guess more western humour? Im not sure if its because the anime producers are appreciating the love from outside Japan or if western things are so heavily rubbing off onto Japan in general that its now their thing and their humour too?
Drives me absolutely insane but can't really do anything about it other than vent.