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I was 8 when Sailor Moon S dub started airing, I definitely noticed that Serena and Amy sounded different but didn't have any strong reactions to the different voices. For some reason it didn't really click with me that Mina sounded different (and now sounded like Raye in the Lost Episodes) I was more distracted by how dumb Mina had gotten. Which obviously was more about the direction the show took her in S than anything Optimum did. I guess the ditzier portrayal from Emilie Barlow worked with the now dumber Minako in S that it felt like a natural transition for how she talked?
I honestly didn't know about the Tracey to Terri thing until I was 12. Yeah in hindsight the change is pretty noticeable but they sound close enough that, as a kid, it was believable enough to think that it was the same voice just matured or whatever.
Amara and Michelle had the same voice actors in the S tv series and S and SuperS movies so I'm not sure why you mentioned them. The only real change was Sarah LaFluer deepening her voice for the tv series when Optimum realized Amara was supposed to be an androgynous character that could be confused for a boy
I honestly didn't know about the Tracey to Terri thing until I was 12. Yeah in hindsight the change is pretty noticeable but they sound close enough that, as a kid, it was believable enough to think that it was the same voice just matured or whatever.
Amara and Michelle had the same voice actors in the S tv series and S and SuperS movies so I'm not sure why you mentioned them. The only real change was Sarah LaFluer deepening her voice for the tv series when Optimum realized Amara was supposed to be an androgynous character that could be confused for a boy
I didn't realize there was a voice switch until I rewatched the entire series back in 2017 (I went with the 90s dub for nostalgic reasons). I first watched it on toonami back in the late 90s (98/99 I think) when S was airing reruns. When I rewatched (and checking out random clips on youtube) it I definitely noticed the difference. There was this one video titled something like meatball head won't shut up or something like and I was appalled on how terrible Usagi's voice sounded compared to how she sounded in the first two seasons since that clip was either from S or SuperS, I can't really recall. Lol.
I was 10 years old and hype as [BLEEP] for the new season to start. I immediately noticed the new title screen and hated it, as the one DiC always used with the moon and falling stars always put me in a good mood. Once Serena opened her mouth me and my sister looked at each other in disgust trying to stop the bleeding from out ears, wondering what the hell happened to Serena's voice. We thought Amy was just as bad, but Amy is a soft and mellow character so even with a bad voice actress she still felt a little like Amy. Serena just didn't feel like Serena anymore, and it felt like we were watching a completely different show. Mina's voice change was decent since she at least sounded like a normal human teenage girl, but she lacked that coolness Stephanie Morganstern had.
I can't really comment on Uranus and Neptune, since I had only seen the SuperS (and R) movie right before the S season started. I was so lost watching the SuperS movie wondering why everything was so different from the show that I didn't have time to even think about their voices. I do recall running into the S movie at K-Mart while the season was still airing and I spent the entire car ride praying that it had the old voices and music. It felt like Christmas morning listening to Terri Hawkes, Karen Bernstein, Stephanie Morganstern, and the DiC music again.
We were also stunned by the music and did not like it at all. We thought the chorus during the henshins and attacks was so corny and we missed the magical feel of the DiC soundtrack.
The whole vibe of the show changed, but I stayed loyal to it as I was intrigued by Uranus and Neptune, the heart crystals storyline, and wondering if Sailor Moon would transform into her new outfit that I was so curious about from the SuperS movie. My sister stopped watching sometime half way through. To be fair, I was always the much bigger fan of the two and she watched mostly in passing.
I can't really comment on Uranus and Neptune, since I had only seen the SuperS (and R) movie right before the S season started. I was so lost watching the SuperS movie wondering why everything was so different from the show that I didn't have time to even think about their voices. I do recall running into the S movie at K-Mart while the season was still airing and I spent the entire car ride praying that it had the old voices and music. It felt like Christmas morning listening to Terri Hawkes, Karen Bernstein, Stephanie Morganstern, and the DiC music again.
We were also stunned by the music and did not like it at all. We thought the chorus during the henshins and attacks was so corny and we missed the magical feel of the DiC soundtrack.
The whole vibe of the show changed, but I stayed loyal to it as I was intrigued by Uranus and Neptune, the heart crystals storyline, and wondering if Sailor Moon would transform into her new outfit that I was so curious about from the SuperS movie. My sister stopped watching sometime half way through. To be fair, I was always the much bigger fan of the two and she watched mostly in passing.
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For me, the transition from Tracey Moore to Terri Hawkes was enjoyable because both really suited Serena although I do wish Tracey stayed for the show's entire run just so we could've seen how her portrayal of Serena would've changed along side Serena/Usagi's character development.
The transition from the DiC to CWi dub was really harsh for me when I decided to watch the Optimum dub back in 2012 as a kid, I was practically jumping through hoops from how badly I disliked the voice replacements for Serena, Amy and Mina. Thankfully as I grew older, I came to appreciate and have fondness over Linda Ballantyne, Liza Balkan and Emilie Barlow's portrayals of Serena, Amy and Mina. Although, I am curious how the CWi dub would've faired if, just like casting Emilie as Mina, the casting directors decided to take a new direction for the voices of Serena and Amy instead casting actors trying to imitate the previous voices. Ironically, I had the opposite reaction for Chibiusa/Rini, casting Stephanie Beard to replace Tracey Hoyt as Rini was the best thing the CWi dub did.
Honestly, I really enjoyed Barbara Redecki as Michelle, she brought a certain "je ne sais quoi" to the character. Meanwhile, Sarah LaFluer had what it took to make a good portrayal for Amara but her stiff and stilted voice acting was not it.
Also, when it came time to watching the CWi dub, I ended up missing the DiC BGM. Like, I love the original Japanese BGM but the background music Bob Summers composed really gave the DiC dub that Saturday morning cartoon twang that is just so fun and campy to witness and would have suited the CWi dub even more so.
The transition from the DiC to CWi dub was really harsh for me when I decided to watch the Optimum dub back in 2012 as a kid, I was practically jumping through hoops from how badly I disliked the voice replacements for Serena, Amy and Mina. Thankfully as I grew older, I came to appreciate and have fondness over Linda Ballantyne, Liza Balkan and Emilie Barlow's portrayals of Serena, Amy and Mina. Although, I am curious how the CWi dub would've faired if, just like casting Emilie as Mina, the casting directors decided to take a new direction for the voices of Serena and Amy instead casting actors trying to imitate the previous voices. Ironically, I had the opposite reaction for Chibiusa/Rini, casting Stephanie Beard to replace Tracey Hoyt as Rini was the best thing the CWi dub did.
Honestly, I really enjoyed Barbara Redecki as Michelle, she brought a certain "je ne sais quoi" to the character. Meanwhile, Sarah LaFluer had what it took to make a good portrayal for Amara but her stiff and stilted voice acting was not it.
Also, when it came time to watching the CWi dub, I ended up missing the DiC BGM. Like, I love the original Japanese BGM but the background music Bob Summers composed really gave the DiC dub that Saturday morning cartoon twang that is just so fun and campy to witness and would have suited the CWi dub even more so.
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It's interesting that when Cloverway took charge of the Brazilian dub in R and changed the whole cast, people felt the same way about "Serena." I still feel, as lots of fans do.
She suddenly changed from a charismatic, sweet young girl to someone extra noisy and annoying. Her replacement actress said she never understood why she was picked, because she thought her acting style didn't sound close to the audio she was hearing during recording sessions (the Mexican dub). I wonder if Cloverway asked her to sound goofy like Linda did? It was back in 2000, around the same time S and Supers got an English dub.
Notice that both dubs were produced using the Latin American Spanish dub as the source material. While Marli Bortoletto (Classic) sounded more cheering and alive than Paty Acevedo (Mexican voice actress), and deepened her voice during speech/battle scenes, Daniella Piquet (R-Stars) went the full goofy route and rarely sounded serious when it was needed. It was like she was ignoring Paty's work (which sounded A LOT more tedious than it should, IMO) while recording. Not simply trying to improve its weak points, like the previous actress did.
She also mentioned the Mexican dub was "unreliable", and that she never heard the Japanese original. This makes me think Cloverway asked her to go a different route, just like Terri and Linda went.
She suddenly changed from a charismatic, sweet young girl to someone extra noisy and annoying. Her replacement actress said she never understood why she was picked, because she thought her acting style didn't sound close to the audio she was hearing during recording sessions (the Mexican dub). I wonder if Cloverway asked her to sound goofy like Linda did? It was back in 2000, around the same time S and Supers got an English dub.
Notice that both dubs were produced using the Latin American Spanish dub as the source material. While Marli Bortoletto (Classic) sounded more cheering and alive than Paty Acevedo (Mexican voice actress), and deepened her voice during speech/battle scenes, Daniella Piquet (R-Stars) went the full goofy route and rarely sounded serious when it was needed. It was like she was ignoring Paty's work (which sounded A LOT more tedious than it should, IMO) while recording. Not simply trying to improve its weak points, like the previous actress did.
She also mentioned the Mexican dub was "unreliable", and that she never heard the Japanese original. This makes me think Cloverway asked her to go a different route, just like Terri and Linda went.
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By the time the S dub came out, I had seen the movies in Japanese, which I almost immediately preferred. There was no awkward transition for me, all the voices "clicked" right away. When the S movie dub came out, it was weird hearing the Outers' English voices. Uranus sounded way too high pitched and goofy, Neptune was Serena's mom, and Pluto was also way too high pitched. I couldn't even tell Pluto had the same actress from the R dub.
The premiere for S was a really big deal for me. I was 10 years old at the time, and the general consensus was that S would never been dubbed in English. My jaw dropped when I saw the TV promos and one of the things I was most excited about was the new voice for Serena. I'm in the minority here, but I was never crazy about Terri, especially after I heard Kotono's performance. As an adult I appreciate Terri a lot more, and I think it's incredible she made her take on Serena so iconic. That being said, I still prefer Tracey and Linda. The two clips of Linda saying "Got it!" and "Just how many of us are there?" from the promos gave me the impression either Tracey came back or they got someone who sounded like her.
When S premiered, I was so excited. I immediately recognized the original music and was overjoyed. I actually liked all of the new voices. I didn't hate Linda the same way so many other people did. Now when I watch the episodes, I admit she sounded a bit rough, and definitely not age appropriate. But neither did Terri. Though I still think Linda did a better job than Terri in terms of serious scenes and she got really good by SS. Emilie Barlow's voice fit better with Mina than it ever did with Raye. I had nothing against Stephanie, but I really liked Emilie's performance. I liked Amara and Michelle's voices. I know Sarah can sound a bit wooden at times, but I think her voice fit. Barbara was great as Michelle, but it's still distracting that she uses the same voice for Ikuko.
So yeah, I didn't initially have a "bad reaction" to the CWI dub, in terms of the original music and voice changes. The things I didn't like where the weird script inconsistencies, random edits and making Amara and Michelle cousins. Otherwise I liked the CWI dub and preferred to the DIC one for awhile.
The premiere for S was a really big deal for me. I was 10 years old at the time, and the general consensus was that S would never been dubbed in English. My jaw dropped when I saw the TV promos and one of the things I was most excited about was the new voice for Serena. I'm in the minority here, but I was never crazy about Terri, especially after I heard Kotono's performance. As an adult I appreciate Terri a lot more, and I think it's incredible she made her take on Serena so iconic. That being said, I still prefer Tracey and Linda. The two clips of Linda saying "Got it!" and "Just how many of us are there?" from the promos gave me the impression either Tracey came back or they got someone who sounded like her.
When S premiered, I was so excited. I immediately recognized the original music and was overjoyed. I actually liked all of the new voices. I didn't hate Linda the same way so many other people did. Now when I watch the episodes, I admit she sounded a bit rough, and definitely not age appropriate. But neither did Terri. Though I still think Linda did a better job than Terri in terms of serious scenes and she got really good by SS. Emilie Barlow's voice fit better with Mina than it ever did with Raye. I had nothing against Stephanie, but I really liked Emilie's performance. I liked Amara and Michelle's voices. I know Sarah can sound a bit wooden at times, but I think her voice fit. Barbara was great as Michelle, but it's still distracting that she uses the same voice for Ikuko.
So yeah, I didn't initially have a "bad reaction" to the CWI dub, in terms of the original music and voice changes. The things I didn't like where the weird script inconsistencies, random edits and making Amara and Michelle cousins. Otherwise I liked the CWI dub and preferred to the DIC one for awhile.
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I noticed the change immediately when I watched the first episode. But I think the music was what caught me off guard more than the voices. I honestly wasn’t sure if I was gonna like it.
But then when I saw the next episode, I fell in love with Arisawa’s score. Especially with Moon’s Cosmic transformation. The classic DiC Dub transformation theme was very fitting with Sailor Moon’s first two transformations, but with S, the transformation is way more fun and vibrant. The new music fit better that it was so weird to watch the dubbed S movie with the old DiC cues.
Also I think while DiC overall is a more consistent and better dub than Cloverway, I don’t think their dubbing style - which felt more Saturday Morning cartoon-esque - would have worked with a season like S. After all, the third season is where the show felt like it was maturing a bit… I think the difference in vibe kinda worked for me as a kid.
But then when I saw the next episode, I fell in love with Arisawa’s score. Especially with Moon’s Cosmic transformation. The classic DiC Dub transformation theme was very fitting with Sailor Moon’s first two transformations, but with S, the transformation is way more fun and vibrant. The new music fit better that it was so weird to watch the dubbed S movie with the old DiC cues.
Also I think while DiC overall is a more consistent and better dub than Cloverway, I don’t think their dubbing style - which felt more Saturday Morning cartoon-esque - would have worked with a season like S. After all, the third season is where the show felt like it was maturing a bit… I think the difference in vibe kinda worked for me as a kid.
I've always wondered about this. Sabrina Grdevich sounded much better in R than in the movies and it seemed she at least tried to give us a controlled and composed voice similar to the original. However, she sounded like a ditzy bimbo in the movies.
I also remember hearing those two lines in the promos and didn't even realize it was a different voice. I've grown to appreciate Linda, but she was just too inconsistent for me. She was a great Princess Serenity and decent as Sailor Moon, but was way too deranged as Serena for me. One of my favorite things about Usagi/Serena is how comical and klutzy she is, which Tracey and Terri nailed. Linda unfortunately sounded unhinged when taking on those scenes.
I also remember hearing those two lines in the promos and didn't even realize it was a different voice. I've grown to appreciate Linda, but she was just too inconsistent for me. She was a great Princess Serenity and decent as Sailor Moon, but was way too deranged as Serena for me. One of my favorite things about Usagi/Serena is how comical and klutzy she is, which Tracey and Terri nailed. Linda unfortunately sounded unhinged when taking on those scenes.
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My theory about this inconsistent quality in the DiC/CWi cast deliveries is because they weren't used to dubbing, just original voice acting for North American cartoons. When there was no direction to guide them through the scenes or the schedule was rushed, they didn't know what to do with their characters just looking at the screen and their lines.
This happens a lot in countries with big dubbing industries. Here in Brazil, deadlines are usually tight (not CWI S/SuperS tight, but still tight) and the actors who succeed in this business are usually the ones who understand their scenes watching them one, two times and record their lines soon after. But they have been doing this for decades, the people involved in the old English dub of SM weren't.
This happens a lot in countries with big dubbing industries. Here in Brazil, deadlines are usually tight (not CWI S/SuperS tight, but still tight) and the actors who succeed in this business are usually the ones who understand their scenes watching them one, two times and record their lines soon after. But they have been doing this for decades, the people involved in the old English dub of SM weren't.
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I disagree. Maybe at first, but eventually she nailed it. There's that one scene where Serena is talking to Yoshiki Usui. I can't really describe it, but her acting in that scene made me realize why I loved her so much as Serena. She nailed the balance between "goofy" and "sweet" Serena. The problem I have with Terri is that she was always goofy. Even when she tried to be serious (like when she was Princess Serenity), it was hard to take her seriously because her fake accent just sounded so goofy.
Crud... I went to watch some episodes from the Toonami airings that were on Archive and they were taken down. Anyone save them?
I can agree with that. Terri was cringe as Princess Serenity in the revelation episode and the Silver Millenium episode. She sounded good in the Classic finale and in the R movie climax since she didn't do that posh accent [BLEEP]. Of course, it's ultimately about direction.
Scenes like this is ultimately why I can't fully enjoy Linda as Serena. This is also in SuperS, after Linda had improved significantly. Even at her worst, Terri still sounded like a human being. When Linda goes off it's just straight manic, lol.
But we'll agree to disagree
I can agree with that. Terri was cringe as Princess Serenity in the revelation episode and the Silver Millenium episode. She sounded good in the Classic finale and in the R movie climax since she didn't do that posh accent [BLEEP]. Of course, it's ultimately about direction.
Scenes like this is ultimately why I can't fully enjoy Linda as Serena. This is also in SuperS, after Linda had improved significantly. Even at her worst, Terri still sounded like a human being. When Linda goes off it's just straight manic, lol.
But we'll agree to disagree
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The script and voice directing were atrocious. I think the voice actors are fine , they just were in bad company. Viz did a decent job for an English version , but let’s be honest- nothing tops the Japanese version.
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Crud... I went to watch some episodes from the Toonami airings that were on Archive and they were taken down. Anyone save them?
I can agree with that. Terri was cringe as Princess Serenity in the revelation episode and the Silver Millenium episode. She sounded good in the Classic finale and in the R movie climax since she didn't do that posh accent [BLEEP]. Of course, it's ultimately about direction.
Scenes like this is ultimately why I can't fully enjoy Linda as Serena. This is also in SuperS, after Linda had improved significantly. Even at her worst, Terri still sounded like a human being. When Linda goes off it's just straight manic, lol.
But we'll agree to disagree
I can agree with that. Terri was cringe as Princess Serenity in the revelation episode and the Silver Millenium episode. She sounded good in the Classic finale and in the R movie climax since she didn't do that posh accent [BLEEP]. Of course, it's ultimately about direction.
Scenes like this is ultimately why I can't fully enjoy Linda as Serena. This is also in SuperS, after Linda had improved significantly. Even at her worst, Terri still sounded like a human being. When Linda goes off it's just straight manic, lol.
But we'll agree to disagree
I'm pretty sure lots of people tried to tell her "Serena" wasn't supposed to sound like a woman in her 40s. In this particular scene, she would sound old even if she was portraying Neo Queen Serenity.
International fans usually go after Linda when they want to mock the old English dub. When they talk about Terri, I always say she did a good job even though her voice did have nothing to do with Usagi's original voice, but Linda... I keep my mouth shut. I can't see how she nailed anything, the free fall scene in SuperS sounded like a NatGeo voiceover.
To me, the highlights in the S/SS dub are Emilie Barlow and Stephanie Beard. I would choose them anytime over their Viz counterparts.
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I guess we should rename this thread the "Let's all bash Linda." 
It kills me that it's over 20 years later and people still won't give this woman a break. Linda had big shoes to fill, had to take flack from her voice director, strained her voice, try to live up to the expectations of fans and still has to be the center of everyone's ridicule with the original dub. I understand if you didn't like her performance but you guys really dig in. Granted, I probably like Linda more than most fans but every dub discussion shouldn't immediately got to "wow Linda is the worst ever." It's especially ridiculous when people praise Terri's screeching but suddenly hate Linda doing anything similar.
It kills me that it's over 20 years later and people still won't give this woman a break. Linda had big shoes to fill, had to take flack from her voice director, strained her voice, try to live up to the expectations of fans and still has to be the center of everyone's ridicule with the original dub. I understand if you didn't like her performance but you guys really dig in. Granted, I probably like Linda more than most fans but every dub discussion shouldn't immediately got to "wow Linda is the worst ever." It's especially ridiculous when people praise Terri's screeching but suddenly hate Linda doing anything similar.
I guess we should rename this thread the "Let's all bash Linda."
It kills me that it's over 20 years later and people still won't give this woman a break. Linda had big shoes to fill, had to take flack from her voice director, strained her voice, try to live up to the expectations of fans and still has to be the center of everyone's ridicule with the original dub. I understand if you didn't like her performance but you guys really dig in. Granted, I probably like Linda more than most fans but every dub discussion shouldn't immediately got to "wow Linda is the worst ever." It's especially ridiculous when people praise Terri's screeching but suddenly hate Linda doing anything similar.
It kills me that it's over 20 years later and people still won't give this woman a break. Linda had big shoes to fill, had to take flack from her voice director, strained her voice, try to live up to the expectations of fans and still has to be the center of everyone's ridicule with the original dub. I understand if you didn't like her performance but you guys really dig in. Granted, I probably like Linda more than most fans but every dub discussion shouldn't immediately got to "wow Linda is the worst ever." It's especially ridiculous when people praise Terri's screeching but suddenly hate Linda doing anything similar.
And the reason people don't go after Terri as much for screeching is because she was doing her own thing. Not trying to emulate anyone's else work while recording 80+ episodes during 2 months. Anyone would get in trouble working in these conditions.
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I think Linda Ballatyne did as well as she could have with the deck stacked completely against her: An incompetent voice director, being miscast, being told to just imitate Terri Hawkes (remember how awful the Funimation cast sounded in season 3 of Dragon Ball Z when they were instructed to imitate the Ocean Group?), plus Hawkes had roughly 5 years to cement herself as THE voice of Sailor Moon in English. All things considered she did a perfectly adequate job. I can think of far worse recast. And she really was able to sell the emotion when she needed to like in episode 125 or episode 110