I know that Brittney Marie Karbowski has starred in almost all Senati filmworks and Funimation anime that is released.
I think that Cynthia Martiniz should star in more anime, not just Sentai filmworks, but she should do voicework for Funimation as well. I know that nearly half the voice actors for Sentai filmworks also work for Funimation because both companies are located in Texas.
I hope this could happen
I think “starred in” is the wrong term. Brittany Karbowski has been in a lot of dubs, but I would hardly say “almost all” of them. Not to mention, she really hasn’t had that many lead roles.
I’ll take this opportunity to chime in on my displeasure at the frequent use of Karbowski in dubs. She’s instantly recognizable, and unlike other fairly ubiquitous actors who are also instantly recognizable like Greg Ayres, Chris Patton, Shelley Calene-Black or Hilary Haag, I find it possible to hear “too much” of her. I don’t want to say that I don’t like her as that would be false but I would like to her her used more sparingly in main casts. I haven’t counted but I have the impression that Karbowski has had main roles in more dubs since Gilgamesh than those other actors have had. She also seems to play a similar character IMO. I’m also convinced that she is “better” in Sentai/ADV dubs than in Funimation dubs, but that’s the power of Sentai.
I wonder when that live action film she has in her con bio will debut, it is slated for 2012 and there isn’t much of that left 
On topic, I agree that Cynthia Martinez is great. She was hilarious in the ROFL-fest that was Infinite Stratos (2nd funniest character IMO) and she was a large part of why I bought the 2nd half of TWGOK. She kept me going through the WTF-fest that was The Book of Bantorra and its slapdash plot. Interestingly enough, one of the most infuriating characters in that series was, IMO, voiced by Britney Karbowski. Maybe I don’t care for Karbowski as much as other actresses/actors who are frequently used and instantly identifiable as the character that I remember her playing often is one that irks me? Time for some armchair psychology. ROFL.
Cynthia Martinez is vocally distinctive (and yet I don’t mind), and she’s listed as being February in Coyote Ragtime Show. I remember that show, and how Stephen Foster made it great, but I don’t remember her voice in it. That’s strange to me.
Um,… whatever.
I’m curious: Why’d you weigh in if you’ve got no opinion on the subject?
That said, you’ve reminded me that I forgot a very important element in my original post:
TL;DR:
- Karbowski:overused and "underawesome"
- Martinez:underused and "overawesome"
Thx for the reminder B)
Karbowski is no more overused that any of the other VAs that do work for both Sentai and Funimation: Lucy Christian, Monical Rial, Greg Ayers, etc.
Again remeber, Funi dubs everything, well at least 99%, so they have to churn out those dubs quickly as possible; so they’re going to uae VAs who can get the job done with as little “hand-holding” and “prodding” as possible.
There are three camps of VAs:
Those that do dub work for Sentai only(for now}.
Those that do dub work for Funi only{for now}.
And those that work for both.
Maybe the reason you find one VA oversued and the other underused is because one does work for both while the other does not.
I’m just not a raging Karbowski fan and her presence in so many works breaks immersion for me because of that and as I associate her with her typecasted character* which causes cognitive dissonance when she’s voicing something like The Computer (operator) in Towanoquon instead of her usual Fuko-esque character.
Karbowski is the only frequently used actor that’s come up so far in this thread that causes a knee-jerk, immersion-breaking reaction with me. It might be the typecasting, it might be the voice, but it is certainly there and it is there often, so I say she’s overused. Actors like Monica Rial are just so awesome that I either get the doublethink going or I don’t care that it’s obviously Monica Rial and I’ve heard her as a bazillion other characters. That said, Monica also lacks the gravitation towards a certain type of character that I perceive Karbowski as having.
[quote]
Again remeber, Funi dubs everything, well at least 99%, so they have to churn out those dubs quickly as possible; so they’re going to uae VAs who can get the job done with as little “hand-holding” and “prodding” as possible.
There are three camps of VAs:
Those that do dub work for Sentai only.
Those that do dub work for Funi only.
And those that work for both.[/quote]
I think there are more camps than 3.
There are plenty of voice actors in anime who work for neither company.
Which camp would you put someone like Hilary Haag or Shelly Calene-Black in? Actors like that blur those lines.
Than it sounds like you just don’t like Brittany’s voice. And that’s fine and all: I’ve heard/read people say the same thing bout other VAs from all over the R1 dubbing industry, no big deal.
And yes, there are more VAs who don’t work for Sentai/Funi, I was typing bout specifically bout the Sentai/Funi thing since that’s what the OP was about, hence the 3 camp thing. Next time all be clearer just for you. :huh:
Hillary and Shelley, well since the majority, not all, a good mid 95% of it at least, of their VA work has been with Sentai I’d put them in
[size=5]Camp Sentai[/size]
But that’s not really the issue for me.
To elaborate: Karbowski’s role in Blue Drop sounds identical to her role in Infinte Stratos which bears eerily resemblance to her role in Towanoquon. Most of her other roles sound like Fuko, her first role. Again, this creates immersion problems. Other well-known voice actors have very identifiable voices but yet manage to make the characters they play feel “different” even though they largely sound the same. Karbowski doesn’t do that, not in my opinon, and that’s my issue. She’s giving the character a voice, but not a soul, but that’s getting too far into the wishy-washy world of art critiquing for a numbers guy like myself to stomach.
…I’d appreciate that.
I’m also pondering the hilarious thought induced into my mind by the OP: what if all the Sentai Karbowski roles had been done instead by Martinez? Suddenly Needless just got a lot funnier…and weirder :laugh:
Speaking of Sentai voice actors : whatever happened to Serena Varghese ? It seems she hasn’t done any work for Sentai *(or anyone else according to her ANN page ) * in the past year. She was mostly cast in secondary roles but I think she’s one of the VA whose voice is immediately recognizable. She did a great job as Yun-Yun in Canaan.
You mean the voice actor with that harsh sounding high pitched voice? She doesn’t seem to star in many anime, compared to Brittany who stars in most anime.
Are you talking about Martinez or Varghese?
I’m talking about Varghese.
I also think Cynthia Martinez should also be used more as well.
[quote=“spaceshotx7” post=128464]I’m talking about Varghese.
I also think Cynthia Martinez should also be used more as well.[/quote]
Glad I didn’t assume then lol.
You know, I had almost forgotten about Varghese. Wasn’t she the narrator in ghost hound? I could look at ann but where’s the fun in that lol.
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