Supernatural The Animation Why Jensen Ackles Only Voiced Dean For Two Episodes

Supernatural: The Animation – Why Jensen Ackles Only Voiced Dean For Two Episodes

Supernatural: The Animation condensed Sam and Dean Winchester’s story into a single anime season, but Jensen Ackles only voiced his character twice.

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Supernatural The Animation Why Jensen Ackles Only Voiced Dean For Two Episodes

Why was Jensen Ackles late to the Supernatural anime party? First airing in 2005, the tale of Sam and Dean Winchester quickly inspired a loyal following that took Supernatural to an impressive 15 seasons on US TV, but that popularity also carried the brothers onto international shores. In a collaboration between Eric Kripke and Madhouse (the anime studio responsible for Death Note and the acclaimed One-Punch Man season 1), Supernatural: The Animation premiered in Japan in 2011 and ran for a single 22-episode run that broadly covered the first two seasons of the main series.

For the original Japanese version, Supernatural: The Animation’s Sam and Dean Winchester were voiced by Yûya Uchida and Hiroki Touchi, respectively. The same actors dub Jensen and Jared when live-action Supernatural episodes arrive in Japan, but anime fans might know the pair better as One Piece’s Perospero and Bleach’s Ginjo. In an unusual move, the English dub of Supernatural: The Animation managed to land Jared Padalecki to voice Sam Winchester, remaining authentic to the proper series. The voice of Dean Winchester, on the other hand, was provided by Andrew Farrar, but after the first 20 episodes, Jensen Ackles took his rightful place, and played Dean in the two-part finale, uniting the usual actors in animated form.

The reason for Jensen’s absence throughout most of Supernatural: The Animation was nothing more than a scheduling conflict. Reports from 2011 when the project was first announced confirmed that Jared Padalecki signed up to the full episode count right from the start, but Jensen was only ever able to commit to two. Only then was a replacement found for the remainder of the season. Ackles has never confirmed exactly what kept him away from the Supernatural anime series. Around that time, the actor was lending his voice to a PSP title called The 3rd Birthday and, of course, filming Supernatural season 6. It’s possible that juggling Dean Winchester in animated and live-action forms wasn’t feasible for Jensen, whereas Jared had a little more time on his hands.

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Western reaction to Supernatural: The Animation was decidedly mixed. Compared to the main series, the anime takes itself far more seriously, but while some couldn’t get past the change of tone, others enjoyed the anime for what it was, and Madhouse’s slick animation certainly helped. Unfortunately, Dean’s change of voice was another obstacle that followers of the main series simply couldn’t get past. Andrew Farrar’s performance is by no means bad, but it lacks the harder edge that Dean is traditionally defined by, and the all-important dynamic between brothers changes as a result. There’s a noticeable improvement when Ackles arrives in time for the last two episodes, and Supernatural: The Animation immediately feels far more authentic.

The importance of voice acting is often underestimated, and casting the original actors is even more crucial in Supernatural’s case. The beating heart of the original TV show is Sam and Dean Winchester, and that largely comes from the on-screen chemistry between Jared and Jensen. Without this key ingredient, Supernatural simply isn’t the same, and certainly wouldn’t have lasted 15 seasons. Recasting Sam and Dean for the Japanese version can be forgiven, since neither Jared or Jensen are fluent in Japanese (presumably) but coming so close to having the proper voices for the English dub, only to be denied in 20 of the 22 episodes, perhaps explains why Supernatural’s anime is considered a cult curio than a must-see.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/supernatural-animation-show-jensen-ackles-dean-voice-two-episodes/

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