Why do Japanese games so very often have these high-pitched girl voices?

[Frindis]

Like this one for context:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXL2Pvb2ww0
(I guess one could argue that some of them actually are just girls, but then there are also some more female-looking, and they also sound the same.

Do you guys think I am correct in believing it mostly has to do with how anime series often do the same thing, and game developers probably just adapted this type of voice? Maybe it is more of a cultural thing (like the Kawai culture) , or perhaps it is just a language barrier of sorts? Probably a mix of them all. I do know that females in Japan speak in a more high-pitched voice and often it seems to have to do with politeness and in such amplifying gratitude, etc.

It just sounds weird to me, and while I do enjoy some games with Japanese text/voice, I do find myself turning the voice down/off occasionally.

 

[Pifanjr]

From what I understand it is indeed just cultural. Certain voices are associated with certain character traits and the higher pitched ones are generally associated with a character being young and/or naive. Combine that with the fact that Japanese voice acting is generally exaggerated and it can get a bit much sometimes if you're not used to it.

 

[Colif]

it could be its an accurate portrait of Japanese women

The lowdown on the high-pitched tone adopted by Japanese women | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis

You should have asked Google, you not first to ask this question

 

[Lutfij]

I watch a lot of anime...so I suppose I'm technically immune to what you're perceiving.

 

[Colif]

I watch a lot of anime...so I suppose I'm technically immune to what you're perceiving.

Godzilla cartoons are hardly a good guide to how they sound

 

[Frindis]

You should have asked Google, you not first to ask this question

I could, but where is the fun in that

 

[Lutfij]

Godzilla cartoons are hardly a good guide to how they sound

There are a number of Go'jeera anime's out there. If you're referring to this one;

Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

then I had trouble listening to one particular character due to her shrieks, I'm not kidding about that. I'm fairly tolerant to high pitched voices but this one character was a little too much. I can't recall the character but she was part of the outer space crew. An example would be Riruka from Bleach;

View: https://youtu.be/g4lFCXLqul0

it's the character with pink hair.

 

[Frindis]

From what I understand it is indeed just cultural. Certain voices are associated with certain character traits and the higher pitched ones are generally associated with a character being young and/or naive. Combine that with the fact that Japanese voice acting is generally exaggerated and it can get a bit much sometimes if you're not used to it.

I find that interesting because if you look at Japanese movies for example, a lot have adapted western themes, and the other way around, so one would think that a high-pitched voice that perhaps would be seen as slightly more annoying in games, would have been more toned down to better please the western audience.

Another annoying example I remembered is from Genshin Impact (Chinese game) I enjoyed parts of the game (exploration was very nice), but the voices, not so much.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5id7K0Le1Qg

 

[Lutfij]

I can't say about cultural assimilation, though I've been watching anime since 1998. Ahem ahem, so I can relate to this;

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRTa55521Cw

if you didn't catch it, it's how the mouth's movements have no relation to the words coming out of said mouth, LOL...you can tell it was a parody on English dubbing,

 

[Frindis]

Here: A nice contrast between the older woman and her younger self in voice from Cowboy Bebop. So it IS possible to make it less annoying, and if I remember correctly, you'll also find these more down-to-earth/normal-sounding voices in the Studio Ghibli movies. At least I can't remember ever being annoyed by the voices in any of those movies, even the lalalala song did not annoy me.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QW9ml97UXjs

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qx2b-nK_Q8o

 

[Frindis]

@Lutfij The one you mentioned + The Jetsons, Cow and Chicken, Two Stupid Dogs, Space Ghost, Johnny Bravo, Captain Planet, Ren and Stimpy, Captain Caveman, Powerpuff girls, Samurai Jack and I am Weasel are some of the ones I used to watch as a kid. Good Cartoon Network memories

 

[Lutfij]

I get it! Apparently I can't tolerate the squeaky voice either...similar to how I can't tolerate Linus' voice either

I have to watch CowBoy Bebop! If you love that anime, you should watch this too;

Lazaro (TV Series 2025) ⭐ 7.0 | Animation, Action, Adventure

24m | TV-MA

www.imdb.com

same guys behind the Animatrix and CowBoy Bebop. Oh, have you seen Samurai Champloo?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq6EYcpWB_c

Nujabes(R.I.P) was killer on the OST department.

Dude, you just listed all the cartoons out of my childhood! 🤗 The good old times! 🤍 sigh... now I wish I didn't grow up, LOL

 

[Frindis]

@Lutfij Not seen Samurai Champloo or Lazaro, so I'll take a look at those later to see if they pique my interest. I thought I had seen the Champloo, but it turns out it was instead Afro Samurai. Thank you for the tips

 

[Lutfij]

Lazaro
I dunno why it's showing up as Lazaro on the site's preview here but it's supposed to be Lazarus. I watched 5 episodes before I got busy but I've also been watching Dandadan and have Spy X Hunter as well as Demon Slayer on my to watch list.

Samurai Champloo has the same stylization as Afro Samurai. Also another good anime, IMHO! Besides, anything Samuel L Jackson is in, makes it 10 times more epic, LOL! I want to go watch S.W.A.T now.

Don't mention it, my dude!
👊

Space Ghost
oi, @Frindis did you watch The Brak show?

Mr. Bawk Ba Gawk (episode)

Mr. Bawk Ba Gawk, also known as B.J. and the Brak, is the first episode of the first season of The Brak Show. It aired on December 21, 2000 on Cartoon Network and on October 7, 2001 on Adult Swim. Zorak convinces Brak into stealing Jerkwater High School's chicken mascot before a big football...

brak.fandom.com

 

[dxchase]

Watched Lazaro, i liked it! It was not as good as Animatrix nor Cowboy Bebop, though beating Cowboy Bebop was going to be impossible anyways.

 

[Lutfij]

Watched Lazaro, i liked it! It was not as good as Animatrix nor Cowboy Bebop, though beating Cowboy Bebop was going to be impossible anyways.

100% Agreed! I'm sure you've seen this;

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GwE0wwMmKE


I should finish watching the rest of the episodes on Lazarus!

 

[Colif]

I mostly missed anime so I can't really comment.

About only one I saw was

Space Battleship Yamato - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

And not the movie version... old TV version dubbed into English

This is being obsessed

Oh, and this one that I only remembered when I saw video title

 

[Lutfij]

^ I need to watch that too...LOL. Also, those models, FOOOOF!

 

[Colif]

I was thinking, its strange there aren't any official games for that... I see it as mods in a lot.

Then I looked

recreation of laserdisc game, but its the same sort of reaction game as Dragons Lair.

More recent game

also a PS1/PS2 series of 3 games

Feels like a lost opportunity... I mean, even a game like Stellaris would be close enough... oh wait

Steam Workshop::Space Battleship Yamato

steamcommunity.com

13000 Posts, time to retire (jokes)