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Does kairi’s new voice ruin her character for you?



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Foxycian

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I feel like she just doesn't fit as kairi, i love alyson voice with Xion it is fitting but isn't suitable for kairi, it just doesn't, kairi in kh1 had that tomboy attitude she deserved a voice similar to hayden at least, kairi isn't soft so why does kairi sound like hmmm how to say the word...like a girl! yea im aware she's a girl xD but i mean kairi sounded soo Good as hayden and it's not nostalgia speaking, alyson just made kairi look shy whenever she talks and that's xion way of talking not kairi, kairi never been shy from what i remember when she speaks, oh well it's my opinion alyson is good as xion but can’t say the same with kairi at least not until I see more of her.
 
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Oracle Spockanort

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I only dislike that Hayden wasn’t asked if she wanted to come back or not. I liked Alyson’s performance, although I like her much better as Xion.
 

Riku/Sora-Rule

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I disagree. after hearing her several times, It is what it is. if Hayden isn't asked back or can't, it's whatever. Alyson does a decent job imo. I think it boils down to Kairi not given nearly enough in the script, and tbh the blending and mixing of all sounds is mediocre at times. It's funny how you say she was good as Xion, when that character was meant to be voiced by Hayden. I'd attribute it to the producers and directors. when KH2 was releasing they did behind the scenes with several voice actors and Hayden had a segment talking about being asked to lighten her voice. It's possible they wanted it slightly deeper as she's aged a bit along with Riku and Sora. With Kairi, I'm in the same boat as Namine. Brittany Snow was completely replaced by Meghan Jette Martin and fills in just fine. Its nowhere near as bad and jarring as Ansem SoD going from Billy Zane to Richard Epcar. (Zane will always be the superior to me) And let's not even mention Master Xehanort hahaha
 

Sora2016

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Yeah idk I really think its the script more than her. I thought she did great in the secret forest.
 

Elysium

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1. I like Stoner as a voice actress.
2. I found the fact that Hayden wasn't even asked disrespectful, but that doesn't have any bearing on my opinion of Stoner's performance as Kairi.

With that said, Stoner as Kairi just didn't work for me. I wouldn't go so far as to say she ruined the character for me since I didn't care for Kairi anyway. I just couldn't get used to the change. Not quite as bad as the change from Billy Zane to whoever his replacement was, but not good either. I hope nothing like this ever happens to Sora or Riku. :x
 

Riku/Sora-Rule

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1. I like Stoner as a voice actress.
2. I found the fact that Hayden wasn't even asked disrespectful, but that doesn't have any bearing on my opinion of Stoner's performance as Kairi.

With that said, Stoner as Kairi just didn't work for me. I wouldn't go so far as to say she ruined the character for me since I didn't care for Kairi anyway. I just couldn't get used to the change. Not quite as bad as the change from Billy Zane to whoever his replacement was, but not good either. I hope nothing like this ever happens to Sora or Riku. :x

RICHARD EPCAR...........ear bleeding performance lol
 

DizneyXBirds95

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jarring as Ansem SoD going from Billy Zane to Richard Epcar. (Zane will always be the superior to me)
Although I respect you prefer Billy Zane over Richard, I feel that the whole want of "Billy Zane needs to come back to voice Ansem" get's repetitive and old real quick 16-17 years later. It still baffles me why the VAST majority of the fandom just continue to want Billy zane back if he hasn't returned to voice him since the first game it's right on par on "Donald not being useful in combat" or "the 100 Acre Wood should be forgotten in KH".

I mean I don't many people complaining about the actors who voiced Leon and Yuffie in the first game being recast in KH2 or Brittney Snow who voiced Namine in KH2 being recast in later installments.

If you love Billy over Richard that's great it's your call and opinion, but frankly you need to let this issue go already. :/
 

disney233

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Although I respect you prefer Billy Zane over Richard, I feel that the whole want of "Billy Zane needs to come back to voice Ansem" get's repetitive and old real quick 16-17 years later. It still baffles me why the VAST majority of the fandom just continue to want Billy zane back if he hasn't returned to voice him since the first game it's right on par on "Donald not being useful in combat" or "the 100 Acre Wood should be forgotten in KH".

I mean I don't many people complaining about the actors who voiced Leon and Yuffie in the first game being recast in KH2 or Brittney Snow who voiced Namine in KH2 being recast in later installments.

If you love Billy over Richard that's great it's your call and opinion, but frankly you need to let this issue go already. :/

There are many 'issues' I've noticed that no one in this community will ever let go. Further reasons why I'm close to steering away from it.
 

Riku/Sora-Rule

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Although I respect you prefer Billy Zane over Richard, I feel that the whole want of "Billy Zane needs to come back to voice Ansem" get's repetitive and old real quick 16-17 years later. It still baffles me why the VAST majority of the fandom just continue to want Billy zane back if he hasn't returned to voice him since the first game it's right on par on "Donald not being useful in combat" or "the 100 Acre Wood should be forgotten in KH".

I mean I don't many people complaining about the actors who voiced Leon and Yuffie in the first game being recast in KH2 or Brittney Snow who voiced Namine in KH2 being recast in later installments.

If you love Billy over Richard that's great it's your call and opinion, but frankly you need to let this issue go already. :/

Those are all very different comparisons though. You didn't mention Areith's voice actor switch which was terribly changed. Leon and Yuffie really needed to be matched side by side to tell the difference, which wasn't much. In terms of Zane, I state that he was just naturally dark and evil while it's clear Epcar is trying way too hard to sound dark and evil. Plus the weird fact that Square pulled a clip AND audio from KH1 for the Memory Archive, even though they re-dubbed some of his lines with Epcar in KH2. I have every right to state that I prefer one voice actor to another. Actually, me and my friends constantly talk about how we HATE the voice actor who took over for Wayne Allwine in the official Disney cannon, Bret Iwan.

Telling me to "let this issue go already" is downright condescending. Obviously these forums aren't going to reach those in charge of making the games, and make a change like that, but we are allowed to make our opinions public and known. We don't need people telling us we can't say them. Especially when I say things like, "TO ME" I'm not saying he's the greatest, and not telling anyone to think like me, as you are doing. If you have an issue with this being repeated, either ignore it, or state your opinion and not talk down to people.
 

Wallflower3582

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I really agree. Kairi is too shy in 2 and 3. They created a beautiful character in KH1 who could hold her own in a group of boys, and Hayden did a great job bringing that personality to life. Stoner makes her sound too soft and dainty, and I don't necessarily think that's her fault, she just doesn't fit Kairi. I agree she's great as Xion, but Xion was always shy and reserved so that works really well for her. I'm mostly disappointed in the writing of Kairi's character though, cos long gone are the days where I would expect her to get all up in Sora's face and say "It's my lucky charm. Be sure to bring it back to me!" Honestly, I trust Kairi in the hands of fan-fic writers more than SE at this point.
 
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Wishful thinking that im hoping that 0.2 and kh3 were a one package thing and hope they actually ask Hayden for the next game.... Alyson in kh3 over 0.2 was ...better but when Alyson is voicing Kairi she seems to swap between different voices and at times when no one was visually on screen i was like......oh....ohhh thats Kairi speaking....i forgot. Her Xion voice is way better than her Kairi voice....i wouldnt want Kairi to sound like xion even though yes i know the original in Japan is both voiced by Risa Uchida. If anything I would have thought Xion should sound like Kairi not the other way around.
 

Alpha Baymax

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Honestly, I often hate it when a primary character has their voice actor changed. It just breaks the believability of a character to me when you can immediately tell that it is not the same voice, even worse is when the original voice actor gave a better performance than the replacement.

The only time in which I was 100% okay with the voice actor change was Ansem the Wise and Hayner, Pence and Olette. They sound just like how they did from Kingdom Hearts II. Brittany Snow as Namine is arguably the only instance in which the replacement voice actor sounded better.
 

DarkosOverlord

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It's like others have said. I don't "fault" Stoner for any failings Kairi had, she put up a believable and adequate performance.
It's just a shame because Panettiere managed to give Kairi that pep Stoner's Kairi lacks.
 
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Sephiroth0812

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What ruined Kairi's character was certainly the script and the way the character was used and not the voice actress.

That's all I'm gonna say on the matter.
 

SuperSaiyanSora

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What ruined Kairi's character was certainly the script and the way the character was used and not the voice actress.

That's all I'm gonna say on the matter.

Yeah, I agree. There's really only so much the actor or actress can do with what they're given. I feel like it would've been great to get Hayden back, but it's crazy to say that Alyson is the reason why Kairi is "ruined". It's not like they got someone like say, Nicki Minaj to be Kairi or Kevin Hart to be Donald. It still relatively fits.
 

DizneyXBirds95

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You didn't mention Areith's voice actor switch which was terribly changed.
I didn't have to list her because I'm aware that the majority of the fandom didn't like Mena Suvari's voice on Aerith in KH2 because it was quiet, bland and monotonous than Mandy Moore's take in the first game.

And I already state my opinion and respect your opinion as well, but to be frank, I have to disagree with some of you on bashing Richard Epcars Ansem. While he sounds very "forced" in certain installments since he took over in KH2 I wouldn't put him in the level as Mena Suvari's role as Aerith.
 
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Honestly, I often hate it when a primary character has their voice actor changed. It just breaks the believability of a character to me when you can immediately tell that it is not the same voice, even worse is when the original voice actor gave a better performance than the replacement.

The only time in which I was 100% okay with the voice actor change was Ansem the Wise and Hayner, Pence and Olette. They sound just like how they did from Kingdom Hearts II. Brittany Snow as Namine is arguably the only instance in which the replacement voice actor sounded better.

I agree with you on changing main characters voices... which is why its hard to let go them not asking for Hayden back and still stupidly hope they reconsider.
I dont mind the new voices for Hayner, Pence an Olette but i could tell straight away they were different...Pence i think was the one who sounded the most like his old self from memory

I also agree that Richard as Ansem has gotten a lot better in later installments, it wasn't good when he tried to copy Billy that probably made it worse... that might have only worked if his voice sounded like how Billy portrayed Ansem
 
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Tbh I never felt Kairi had a distinct voice or character so I didn't notice the change in her voice actress. I also thought Xion never really stood out from being another Kairi-look alike so maybe that's why I didn't notice it.

I also thought Kairi was a disappointment throughout the series so I wouldn't blame that on Ms. Stoner's performance.
 

Elysium

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I dont mind the new voices for Hayner, Pence an Olette but i could tell straight away they were different...Pence i think was the one who sounded the most like his old self from memory
I agree. I was able to get over those voice changes (mostly because they have very little presence in 3), but Hayner and Olette had distinctive voices in KH2. It's immediately obvious they've changed. I was sad to hear about Hayner's re-cast in particular. He was great in KH2.

Xehanort and Ansem the Wise are also obvious, but the original voice actors died, so it couldn't be helped. *shrug* Aerith's recast was definitely as terrible as Epcar.
 

Foxycian

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What ruined Kairi's character was certainly the script and the way the character was used and not the voice actress.

That's all I'm gonna say on the matter.

well ofc the script is what ruined her but still the voice actor didn't do kairi justice, kairi and xion have different personalitiesand while playing i couldn't help but think they are one and the same... when usually kairi stands out from her strong personality just like bbs and kh1 and even kh2 she just wasn't this softie while talking.
 
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