Hi there. I do not know if this should be in here or just the regular Advent Children forum but I did not see this subject in here so I thought I would ask... is everyone really upset with the way Mena Suvari portrayed Aeris? I have seen many comments on different forums being very upset with the way she sounded and I just wanted to get opinions.

Personally I liked her voice better then Mandy Moore's, not because I thought Mandy did a terrible job, but that when I listened to her I felt I was listening to Mandy Moore play Aeris not Aeris speaking. Mena actually sounded more like I pictured Aeris to sound so I was pretty happy with her. Agree? Disagree?

I think there's already a topic about this.. but Mena didn't work for me. I mean she did an alright job, but nothing compared to her Japanese voice actress. Her voice sounds airy, and too.. I dunno.. light? :lol: It just sounded fake to me.

It could be worse, but it couldn've been better.

Oh! I apologize if this is already been discussed. I would like to see the Japanese version and be able to compare. I have heard many good things about those Voice Actors.

Same here! I LOVED Aeris's Japanese voice actress. Simply heavenly sounding.... ^_^

I'm disappointed that Square couldn't find someone better than Mena to do Aeris. Why couldn't they get someone with more experience? It's such a waste to have a great movie and then spoil it with poor voice acting. Well, I guess Aerith's voice in Advent Children wasn't as bad as in KH2, but Mena is no way close to capturing Aeris' voice as compared to her Japanese voice actor. Seriously, that little laugh at the flowerfield scene... How does Maaya pull it off? Now those are the finer details that Mena just can't measure up to.

Of course Maaya does the best but between Mena and Mandy I would choose Mandy. Mena sounded almost like a robot sometimes and she sounded so air headed as well, and I didn't like that.

I liked her voice for Aerith. What I think was the problem, is that unlike Maaya (who has been Aerith like forever), she hasn't had someone to tell her how to do Aerith. Maaya has been able to work directly with SE (Jp), while Mena hasn't (and it is the first time she has done Aerith).

I think that if there's another chance for her to do Aerith, and has someone to guide her in performing Aerith, it'll be a whole another story.

I liked her, but at some parts I felt she could have done a bit better. The one part that I didn't like so much was when the water droplet hits the pool of water and you hear her say "Lets go...Cloud." To me, she sounds almost...bored. Maaya on the other hand, said that line just right. And while I know that Mena may not have the voice acting experience like Maaya, I still think she could've done better.

The flower field scene turned out very well! That was the scene I was most worried about for Aerith. But Mena really did a nice job with that. The only part like I said I had a problem with was that one line. But other then that, she did OK

That part always bugs me when I watch that scene. It was so poorly delivered and flat.

I didn't like Mena's voice at all but she could've done worse. I hope she doesn't do Aerith's voice in Crisis Core.

Personally, I did enjoy her performance, and although I do prefer Maaya Sakamoto (who is, on a side note, wicked talented and perfect for the part of Aerith :woot: ), I thought the majority of Mena's lines were very well done. The flower field scene in AC and the conversation between Aerith and Cloud in KH2 are my favorite scenes as far as Mena's portrayal of Aerith goes. Coincidentally, those are my favorite scenes featuring Mr. Burton as Cloud. They both have their rather flat moments as voice actors, but together they just clicked so eerily well. :fangirl:

But even though I don't like to compare the Japanese VAs to the English VAs because of the language barrier, I'll admit, in comparison to Maaya's delivery of it... the "Let's go, Cloud," line was a little bit less gripping for me. Maaya gave it just the perfect tone and emotion for the line to stick out in the audience's memory, and I don't think it could have been delivered any better. So for someone with no voice acting experience, Mena definitley had a hard act to follow. :( But that doesn't mean I didn't like her delivery. Hell, I don't care if it's Maaya or Mena, hearing Aerith say "let's go" to Cloud never gets old for me. :lol:

That's why I said that if she (Mena) had someone to guide her on how to perform Aerith, it would be a whole new story. I like her voice for Aerith, but her performance can improve a lot.

I hope SE(NA) will give her and the other VA's someone to guide them in the performance, someone that tells exmplains them the personalities of the characters and the situations that they are going through. Maybe for Crisis Core.

Mena's voice was ok...but the "hikari" and "kawaii-innocence" there was far off...gone?! Maaya Sakamoto's voice is completely innocent, just Aerith is portrayed. Mena needs to sound innocent and more like add the hikariness (made the word up). I wonder if Maaya can speak English. So she can replace Mena!

I like it actually. She fit Aerith for me. But I did like Mandy Moore alot better. But really if I had to choose, it would be her Japanese Seiyuu. If only she knew English. But for me, I hate how se was too.....bleh I guess. Mena seemed really bored...really. But Steve bruton is sexy...and did a great Cloud. lol.

I think Maaya knows a little English. She has quite a few English songs on her albums, and performs them very well. So perhaps, they'll consider it. Honestly though, I doubt they'll use Mena for CC, as the characters are quite a bit younger.

Ughhh. My ears bled at the sound of Mena Suvari as Aerith. Aerith's character, IMO, was much more than just the martyr who was full of serenity and ethereal love for all. She was stubborn, playful, quirky, and fun-loving. I felt that while Mena's voice acting grasped the deeper side of Aerith (that being the martyr who can't hate), it completely missed the traits I listed above. Where was the funny, spirited Aerith from the game we all came to love? I think that since it's been so long since FFVII was released, a lot of people only remember Aerith for the empathetic, angelic side of her since that's what's most associated with her death. That's the side that Mena got. But Mena as Aerith didn't vociferate the rest of Aerith's character that I liked a lot.

Great thoughts! I hadn't really thought about it that way, but I think you are right about needing to show all of Aeris' personality. However I will say that to me Aeris' role in general in AC seemed to give her less of oportunity to show that side of her due to the circumstances going on around her.

But as you stated for those few moments that there was an opportunity to show those aspects of Aeris Mena probably could have done more. I need to see the Japanese version!

I did not like Mena's performance for Aerith, i cried when i heard her, i was like "GAH! Kill me now!" i know i am mean but seriously she did not give Aerith life, no personality you just couldn't see her. Am i making sense to anyone? If only they got Bridget Hoffman, gah everytime i hear her VA work in animes i always scream saying "that is Aerith!" If you watched the english version of Ah! My Goddess the movie and you hear belldandy you will agree, especially since belldandy reminds me of Aerith. Or i am just being a total fangirl and wished that was her voice. Sigh oh well. I am done ranting. =P
Sorry for the crazy ranting with no explanation.

The only work I've seen of Bridget was her VA for KOSMOS from Xenosaga ep.1 but when the character shows emotion I could proabably see her as Aerith. =D

Mena Suvari did alright...But i liked the Japanese version of Aerith's voice better.

No. Mena. Suvari. For. Aerith. Bad. No. Mandy. Moore. Was. Better. Japanese. Aerith. Kicked. Some. Butt.

That about sums up my thoughts. xD Pretty much, Mena sucked. NO personality whatsoever. Just "Ahhhh I am soooo ethereal and spiritish and so holyyy and my voice is flawless and emotionless like a rooboot" xD I enjoyed Mandy Moore in the first Kingdom Hearts, she did quite a nice job. And the Japanese Aerith was AMAZING! ^_^ So cute and playful! :D Like Aerith is supposed to be.

And have you noticed that they've NEVER spoken Aerith's name aloud in any game with voices? Never ONCE was it said in KH, The cutscene ended and Squa-"Leon" called out "Aerith!" in a text bubble, not in KH2, either, though I think they said it in a text bubble...And in AC, they mention her as....Well...."Her, You, She....etc" xD What is this aversion to Aerith's NAME!?!!? Not even MENA says it in her interview thing on the AC bonus disk, while Steve and Rachael both say their character's names. Although, I did hear Mr. English Director on the bonus disk talking to Steve/Mena during the flowerfield scene and he said..."It's like he doesn't realize Aerith is there, but there's someone there." Or something. HE at least said Aerith. O_o Not Aeris, Aerith. xD YES, pronounced "air-ith' xD

Yes she did. She was talking about having fun and trying to ease into it "because thats what Aerith's all about." But I know what you mean Lute. I thought for sure they'd say it at least once in AC, and maybe in KH (but all we got was a text bubble <_< ) My personal thought is because of the two different versions of her name. But that could be totally wrong XD.

I wish I could remember how her name sounded, I'll have to watch it again. I might be completely of base here but even though it's Aerith I thought I read that when the japanese say her name it still sounds like an "S' at the end of it...can someone verify how her name is suppose to be pronounced...

I thought the whole reason they changed it to Aeris was due to either the best way to say it in English.... or was it possibly a mistake in the translation :unsure: I think there was something similiar that happened when translating Terra's name in FFVI right? I think I am just confusing myself so I am going to stop now, but if someone could help me out I would very much appreciate it.

On a personal note I always thought the name Aeris was so lovely so that is why I always you that version, it also might have to do with that was the way she was introduced to me orginally so that's what I'm used to.

Ohh! I thought she said "That's what my character's all about." Or something. xD Maybe I forgot. >_< Aerith needs to be SPOKEN! We, the fanbase, need the pronunciation cleared up.

And I dunno, maybe SE has an aversion to speaking her holy name! xD

*tries to use what she learned in Japanese class*

Her name in Romanji Japanese is Earisu, pronounced: A-ah-ri(li)-sue when spoken syllable for syllable. It's probably where AeriTH comes from, because the 'su' in Japanese is spoken very quick and short (almost like a lisp) and is pretty equivalent to the English 'th' or, even more close, the 's'. Most importantly though, AeriTH would be closest to the Romanji spelling of the name: Earisu.

As for AeriS, well, I think its primary focus is just on how the name is pronounced and doesn't really take into consideration the Romanji spelling of it. I also heard it was changed from 'th' to 's' in the NA version because it's simply easier and better sounding, in the English language, to pronounce it as Aeris rather than AeriTH.

To sum it all up, I guess one is about both the Romanji spelling AND how it sounds, while the other one is simply about pronunciation. Of course, Aerith would be closer to how it's pronounced AND spelled in Japanese. Correct me if I'm wrong please, someone. ^^

Thanks so much HD...I see there is another thread that has also discussed this...hey took a poll on Aeris or Aerith and it seems there was no complete conclusion there..i kept reading differences in opinion but I just glanced so I could have missed something -_- but I don't think we have a true conclusion yet to the discussion yet on either of the threads :lol:

You're welcome. I had a hard time trying to explain it...and it came out rather confusing. Personally, I don't think there's a right or wrong name. It's really just preferences...Aeris, being easier to pronounce in the English language, while Aerith, taking into consideration its Romanji spelling.

:giggle:
Meh...I vote for Earisu and Kuraudo. Those are TEH true names :P

Just to add something, sorry for the following off-topicness, in latin:

Claudo (clausus): To confine, shut up, close, blockade, besiege.
Claudus: lame.

Pretty much as Cloud, huh?

Mena's voice was...icky. They could have come up with such a better actress than that. In KH2 I thought Aerith had been replaced by Aerithbot 3000 or something. But I do think from KH2 to AC she did a much better job. Still not as good as her Japanese voice, but better, at least.

I don't think maybe people would be able to match Maaya-chin's brilliance in playing Aerith (with that angelic, pure voice of hers) but Mena Suvari didn't even come close to portraying that playful innocence that Aerith should have. Mandy Moore did much better and I wish they had been able to keep her as Aer-chan.

Sadly, Mena Suvari's Aerith, to me, sounded painfully mediocre and ingenuine. Especially that... giggle. Very forced and a just little bit creepy.

I agree, but Mena did try her best. I think she was in those American Pie movies :ermm: (off topic a bit lol). And Mena does do the voice of Aerith in Crisis Core, hopefully she does better :)

Just to update from from my earlier posts, I finally saw some of the Japanese version and I was able to to see and hear what many of you have been saying. I agree with you as well. I still don't hate Mena's VA and honestly she seemed to improve from KH to AC by a large margin but I do like the Japanese actress' version of Aeris more. All I can hope for is that if she continues to be Aeris' voice for projects, then hopefully she will continue to improve. Maybe she can watch the Japanese version and take some notes :P

Edit: So I was on IMDb.com (Internet Movie Data Base) and it said that Maaya speaks fluent English. :unsure: Um then why didn't they have her just do both versions. If this is already known by everyone I apologize.

But with it being established that she does such a great job it does leave me a little baffled. Did they want someone with possible name recognition for the US, I mean cause Mena isn't that well known is she? Well maybe the website is wrong but I thought most of their information was pretty accurate. Oh well it just threw me a little. :blush:

Really? I didn't know Maaya spoke fluent english! :ermm: But that's good to hear :) And yeah I wonder why she didn't do both versions. But I guess SE had their reasons for Mena to do the voice in the English version.

As a Maaya stalk--er, fan, I know she does speak English. A while back at some American Con she was talking English and interacting with the crowd, although I didn't know she was fluent. The last time I heard her speak English, she still had a bit of an accent, so maybe that's why they chose not to give her the English part.

I've really come to like Mena's AC Aeris voice. It's very sweet sounding, although I wish she would have shown a bit more Aeris-ish spunk when it came to "This kid is a little to big for me". It came out bland-sounding.

I thought she sounded kind of bland on a few scenes and I wanted to hear that little laugh when Aerith said "by whom"

I didn't really like Mena as her i thought her voice was just too high you know? i mean i just i don't know there was just something that bothered me to me it was the pitch and it just didn't feel right hearing her speak i was actually kind of dissapointed

I thought she did a good job * Smiles * !!
I like Aerith alot so I guess it doesn't matter too much as
long as the voice fits her face. ( If that makes any sense at all )

I myself think she did a good job at it. I mean, I'm sure she tried her best. I've worked as a voice actress before and it's not as easy as it looks. The only fault I've encountered in Mena Suvari's voice acting job has something to do with a lack of emotion in some of the lines. It's like she's just saying the lines for the sake of saying them and not for the sake of expressing the personality character at the same time while citing the lines.

No I liked her Voice in AC I just didn't like how Mena acted for Kingdom Hearts II.
But I thought Both voices were good for Aerith.

But my favorite Voice for Aerith is Maaya Sakamoto's,I love her she is my favorite Japanese Singer .Her voice was exactly how I pictured it <3Im so happy that she played Aerith and not some other girl .plus nomura said that Maaya got all her lines in One try =)
But I'll say I like Mena's voice because she was really into the role ,and mandy moore kinda seemed like she just wanted the money.I would rather have a bad voice actor that loves the role,then have a perfect voice were the actor hates the role or doesn't know anything about it.
Just my opinion though :cleris:

Same here. I really hated the way she sounded in KHII, it was like wtf?? Really awkward voice, there was no emotion at all. But in AC she sounded wonderful! I don't quite get how that could be, but I'm very happy with Mena's voice in the movie, it was very lovely and sounded pretty.

Yea But in like one scene(in KHII) she did good,and I think it was the scene Where she says "Sora!" or was it "watch out!"
Im not sure its during the part in radiant Garden...Squall ,Yuffie ,and Aerith are all in some cave like path......