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I say this as someone who has studied and analyzed the character for roughly 16 years. And yes, I am serious, and no, I am not trolling. I genuinely don't like Nerbern's for a few reasons.
And if it might just pour oil over the fire now that it's started, I'll say that despite Lance Bass barely having any voice over work in animated productions (as said on the Simpsons, etc.), he is better than Newbern and might be better than Hoechlin as well. I've thought about this a lot (as well as studied)- his bass voice in a lot of his obscure songs where he is the forefront or where his distinct bass is evident sounds really good, and THAT DOES translate over well into Sephiroth's portrayal in Kingdom Hearts 1, even though, yes, it is being supported by the echo that enhances the voice. I think even without the echo, it is, in fact, a rather good voice. (It does help that the lines are interesting, too, to be honest.). It is expressive and sophisticated as book-reading/mural sighting knowledgeable Sephiroth should be whilst still remaining deep enough for the character and being at roughly the right age.
I think people misunderstand who and what Sephiroth is supposed to be, which is progressively becoming more obvious to me as I look at former properties from Square-Enix, before Final Fantasy VII was released.
Sephiroth is a blended product of a villain, with multiple connections/ possible sources, which (and I suspect) Live A Live actually (even) has something to do with him, possibly. It is THAT diverse. Only a handful, namely Chaos/Garland (the double-set of pauldrons on the shoulders) and Golbez (deep voice chosen by Takashi Tokita in the Japanese, notably) influence Sephiroth's character to where it is plausible that he should a have a deep voice based on.
Another thing, which disturbs me is how much Sephiroth laughs in the original game- in the original he laughs approximately 9-15 times, depending on whether you could the cut content or not. But let's say even if he laughs 9 times over the course of the entire game, that's roughly once per scene (5 during the whirlwind maze sequence). When I look at the FFVII film, he laughs once during the entire film, and it's a faint chuckle. Maybe three times tops in Crisis Core. He's doesn't do it much, and it disturbs me a lot- it's one of the few character traits that I remember the most from Sephiroth in the original, and it pushes the narrative that some part of him is crazy, imo.
My point is why a deep voice should be chosen to depict insanity- it feels a little off to me. I know that they chose Toshiyuki Morikawa for the role, who has a deep voice and is older than the character is, but he also voices John Wick and Obi-Wan Kenobi in his voice over roles- I feel like he has better control over his voice and knows how to express himself like Jim Cummings.
Why people cling to a deep (and old) voice without any depth (monotone) is strange to me (I can stomach Hayden Christensen's monotone for Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels better by comparison since the age is more accurate and use of the voice is more expressive, despite being monotone)- I don't think that Sephiroth is supposed to be Kratos from the God of War series, with a deep voice (and even there, especially in God of War IV, he is envisioned with a degree of complexity and expressive quality). While Sephiroth boasts an impressive set of pectoral muscles which makes the deep voice make sense, I feel like a lot of people think that a "tough" voice is better than a "meaningful" voice, which really, really disturbs me.
I've been turned off by Newbern's voice from the very beginning, it struck me as being too old and just not into the character enough. We are talking about a lich king here. Should Sauron be voiced by George Newbern? Think about it.
And if it might just pour oil over the fire now that it's started, I'll say that despite Lance Bass barely having any voice over work in animated productions (as said on the Simpsons, etc.), he is better than Newbern and might be better than Hoechlin as well. I've thought about this a lot (as well as studied)- his bass voice in a lot of his obscure songs where he is the forefront or where his distinct bass is evident sounds really good, and THAT DOES translate over well into Sephiroth's portrayal in Kingdom Hearts 1, even though, yes, it is being supported by the echo that enhances the voice. I think even without the echo, it is, in fact, a rather good voice. (It does help that the lines are interesting, too, to be honest.). It is expressive and sophisticated as book-reading/mural sighting knowledgeable Sephiroth should be whilst still remaining deep enough for the character and being at roughly the right age.
I think people misunderstand who and what Sephiroth is supposed to be, which is progressively becoming more obvious to me as I look at former properties from Square-Enix, before Final Fantasy VII was released.
Sephiroth is a blended product of a villain, with multiple connections/ possible sources, which (and I suspect) Live A Live actually (even) has something to do with him, possibly. It is THAT diverse. Only a handful, namely Chaos/Garland (the double-set of pauldrons on the shoulders) and Golbez (deep voice chosen by Takashi Tokita in the Japanese, notably) influence Sephiroth's character to where it is plausible that he should a have a deep voice based on.
Another thing, which disturbs me is how much Sephiroth laughs in the original game- in the original he laughs approximately 9-15 times, depending on whether you could the cut content or not. But let's say even if he laughs 9 times over the course of the entire game, that's roughly once per scene (5 during the whirlwind maze sequence). When I look at the FFVII film, he laughs once during the entire film, and it's a faint chuckle. Maybe three times tops in Crisis Core. He's doesn't do it much, and it disturbs me a lot- it's one of the few character traits that I remember the most from Sephiroth in the original, and it pushes the narrative that some part of him is crazy, imo.
My point is why a deep voice should be chosen to depict insanity- it feels a little off to me. I know that they chose Toshiyuki Morikawa for the role, who has a deep voice and is older than the character is, but he also voices John Wick and Obi-Wan Kenobi in his voice over roles- I feel like he has better control over his voice and knows how to express himself like Jim Cummings.
Why people cling to a deep (and old) voice without any depth (monotone) is strange to me (I can stomach Hayden Christensen's monotone for Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels better by comparison since the age is more accurate and use of the voice is more expressive, despite being monotone)- I don't think that Sephiroth is supposed to be Kratos from the God of War series, with a deep voice (and even there, especially in God of War IV, he is envisioned with a degree of complexity and expressive quality). While Sephiroth boasts an impressive set of pectoral muscles which makes the deep voice make sense, I feel like a lot of people think that a "tough" voice is better than a "meaningful" voice, which really, really disturbs me.
I've been turned off by Newbern's voice from the very beginning, it struck me as being too old and just not into the character enough. We are talking about a lich king here. Should Sauron be voiced by George Newbern? Think about it.