Some Japanese dub suggestions for Hade II based on its Early Access

There are 2 official statements to make here: on the on hand, Supergaint Games is in the “bigger, badder” sequel business now; on the other, I have probably become a loyalist to that studio. Hades II came out as Early Access surprisingly but not that surprisingly in an, er shall we say, interesting week. After all, it’s not every week yours truly have the impulse to throw a succession of four FUs at both Xbox and Playstation, Nic Cage’s first scene as Sean Archer in Face/Off style. Ah, the nature of industry! It just contains too much bullshit so when there are products one like, those should really be treasured.

And for a product yours truly see as “anime enough”, thinking about a Japanese language dub is one way to treasure it. In the week before time of writing, I had 22 runs of the game about going into the underworld. I got as far as the final boss of the third area and counted 14 new NPCs with the 14^th still not identified. So, with the new player character on top, let this pipe dream commerce.

1. Miss Video Game Twenty Twenty-four

Asami Seto as Melinoe

This is a voice viewers of Giantbomb would have some similarity with. Ms. Seto played Reina the new girl in Tekken 8. With that game’s insistence of Japanese character speaking Japanese, that’s the voice we all hear when we watch Grubb playing the game. The 31 years old lass was also the Name Shift Up chose for their console debut Stellar Blade, as she voiced Eve in what formerly known as Project Eve.

Hades sequel features the more-uptight-than-his-brother Melinoe as its player character, a type Ms. Seto flourishes in. As a lazy ass, yours truly do find a certain softly spoken uptightness charming. Ms. Seto provided such quality in 2021’s Scarlet Nexus, voicing player character Kasane Randall, a nature-born pain-in-the-behind according to IGN Japan. Well, I really would love to hear her voice in a different sexy game than something not managed to sell a PS5 to me.

2. Witch with aibs

Yoshiko Sakakibara as Hecate

Hades II was announced along with Bayonetta Origin: Cereza and the Lost Demon during Keighley’s 2022. This is a casting choice because those 2 “young witch in the woods” games were almost inseparable. Ms. Sakakibara voiced the final boss Morgan in Platinum’s latest, the character there is of course a witch ready to throw down. Hecate is Melinoe’s mentor and serves as the final boss of Hades II’s first area, this feels like a no-brainer to me.

3. The two faces of a ghost

Haruka Tomatsu as Dora

Of all them ladies riding that Tsuntera wave of later aughts, Haruka Tomatsu is about the closest in age to yours truly. I think she can do Dora’s spoopy haunting and the lay-about maid attitude well.

4. Odie goes Ora

Daisuke Ono as Odysseus

Like Iliad ends then Odyssey begins, the resident mortal of Hades II changes from Achilles to Odysseus. And I strongly suspect that Jen Zee and friends based this character’s look on one of the earlier Jojos, back when Araki drew lads with boarder shoulders. Odysseus looks like Joseph Joestar in his forties if you ask me. So why cast Mr. Ono Daisuke, who voiced Joesph’s grandson Jotaro Kujo as a middle-age father to a teenage daughter in Star Ocean?

5 From discord to retribution

M.A.O as Nemesis

Pretty people in heavy armor are what Saint Seiya sold on. And it’s only to have one cast member from that franchise here. M.A.O or Mao Ichimichi voiced the goddess of discord Iris in one of the spinoffs. Somehow, Ms. Ichimichi is the only one I can hear in my head. Perhaps Kushana in Nauccica of the Valley of Wind is key here, since I imagined M.A.O as the armored warrior princes before while aforementioned Sakakibara voiced her in that Hayao Miyazaki picture. Nemesis is like Thanatos in the first game as she would have “see who can kill more” standoff with Mel and the player character keeps warning her about not caught be Hecate.

6 Doom doom DOOM

Kensho Ono as Moros

For the other child of Nyx, I imagine him with another voice of Jojo. This time the slimer GioGio of Golden Wind, Mr. Kensho Ono. This younger Ono and the voice I imagine for Thanatos, Natsuki Hanae do seem like brothers in arms in the field of voice acting. Well, they did voice rivals in Aldnoah Zero a full decade ago, it’s time for them to voice brothers.

7. Laboring Weaver

Sumie Uesaka as Arachne

Ah, yes the poor lass who got turned into a spider by Athena after a weave off. Aoi Yuki would be fitting for this one for she was in an Iseikai where she played a human turned into spider, but Ms. Yuki is one of two voices for Chaos in my book. So, from that same Iseikai show, here is Sumie Uesaka who played the Dark Lord also happened to be an ancient spider queen there, Shelob and Sauron in one if you may. Ms. Uesaka plays her majoring in Russian up as part of her personality and somehow that country’s history in the twentieth century got played up. Fitting given Arachne in Hades II is a member of laboring class seeing player character as one of nicer ones among the rich and powerful.

8. Idealized Masculinity

Takuya Eguchi as Apollo

With Artemis returning and Apollo appearing, this Olympian twins are present in Hades II’s Early Access. For the sun god, I introduce to you a frequent collaborator of Saori Hayami, Takuya Eguchi. The most recent and noticeable role Mr. Eguchi would be callsign Twilight in Spy Family, that book/show’s titular spy and family man. It’s just funny for me to see Hayami and Eguchi go through the arc of playing lovers, playing couple then playing siblings.

9. Rider Moon

Kotone Miishi as Selene

How can we discuss magic girl and moon without thinking about Sailor Moon. Or at least the one and only Japanese for the iconic and titular character. Ms. Miishi had been the voice of Sailor Moon/Usagi Tsukino since the very beginning and is about only returning member of Crystal. Having her voicing Selene a moon goddess is just putting the name Selena back in.

10. Like Mother, like Daughter

Kikuko Inoue as Hestia

Yours truly simply cannot do Japanese dubbing fantasy booking without a Hideo Kojima collaborator or two. Kikuko Inoue had the longest collaboration with the famous video game director, from playing his dream girl in Policenauts to sharing his dream of playing with Linsay Waganer “sack puppets” digitally in Death Stranding. However, the joke above is referring another 2019 game Ms. Inoue was a cast member.

In Fire Emblem Three Houses, Inoue voiced a character mostly known as Rhea, the Japanese pronunciation of which might be the same as “Lea”. But they chose the more divine spelling with letters, r, h, e and a. In Greek myth, Rhea is the spouse of Chronos and mother of several Olympians. You might heard of them: Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, Hera and last but not least Hestia. Inoue’s radio voice of kind granny nowadays will be fitting for this round and soft-edged goddess of flame. After all, there is always the threat of “burn’m all” underneath the kind appearance.

11. Like my forge?

Daisuke Namikawa as Hephaestus

Daisuke Namikawa started voice acting early, as a lad whose pitch had not been lowered kind of early. Among his involvement in video games, the biggest one is probably Persona 4. Mr. Namikawa played a recurring blacksmith in Kimetsu no Yaiba, forgers of many titular demon slaying blades. Only fair he plays the god who Romans called Vulcan.

12. Vision for one, flower for all.

Akira Ishida or Jun Fukuyama as Narcissus

From the voice of one Persona player character to another, I was debating with myself as whether Darren Korb’s latest voiceover should be dubbed by 3’s Akira Ishida or 5’s Jun Fukuyama. The latter’s voice can be the embodiment of narcissism however the former is more fitting for pretty boy. I lay towards the former since hearing Ishida’s triple casting in Persona 3 made me think he is more fitting. Maybe change would be made after the art is locked.

13. Homicidal Rocker

Ikumi Hasekawa as Scylla

Now we come to a Japanese actor who did dib into foreign to Japan indie game, as Ms. Hasekawa was cast in Opus: Echo Starsong’s enhanced edition. But to play this clam I only put down twice, Ms. Hasekawa’s performance in comic book adaptions is key. She played outgoing vocalist Ikuyo Kita in Bochi the Rock and some homicidal mage in Freien the Slayer. Combined those 2, you pretty much got Scylla, the vocalist of rock band Scylla and the Sirens. Also the final boss of the second area in Hades II, filling the “THAT MOTHEREFFER” provoking shoes left by Thesus.

14. “Major” Time

Banjo Ginga as Chronos

Let’s close out with a Hideo Kojima collaborator, or Metal Gear Solid series cast member might be more fitting for this old gentleman. Mr. Ginga played Liquid Snake, Major Zero and Liquid Ocelot throughout MGS series. I was careful not to include old timers in those fantasy bookings, but Mr. Ginga would appear in Atlus’ Metaphor so here he is.

While I am still to fight Chronos in the game as the time of writing, the Titan of time himself would appear occasionally as the first area is clear. First as a shape of old man with a cane and neat haircut, the character does look like Major Zero in Snake Eater, so it would only be fitting.