The Dub is surprisingly good to almost great (Review)
Katie Wetch as Alicia Glenfall: I was kind of "not feeling it" at first because her performance during Alicia's inner monologues was kind of flat to me, but she slowly won me over with everything else. She packed a hell of a punch during Alicia's emotional, funny, and dramatic moments and her banters with Klen was good. I might sound a bit nit-picky but she could expressed or exaggerated Alicia's "annoyance" with Klen a bit more during the early episodes. The Sub has a few areas I prefer over Katie but overall, she was a solid pick for Alicia and I'm curious to hear more of her next season this July.
Morgan Berry as Klen: Not surprised that a 11 year semi-veteran VA was invited to this show. She's one of the few VA's of the cast that I don't really have much to critique because comparing her voice to the Sub: It's pretty close IMO. If I were to nitpick, maybe she could've "exaggerated" more with Klen's snarkier moments. But that's a very minor nitpick because she was good overall and the next arc will really put her to the test (if you know you know Manga readers).
Sean Letourneau as Clevatess: Like Morgan I don't have much to critique for me. Sure between the Sub and Dub does sound noticeably different but Sean captured Clevatess's cold nature pretty well. Not much else to say.
Lara Woodhull as Baby Luna: Not surprised that the Voice Director hired a VA that's pretty experienced voicing child-like characters to voice a baby. I don't have much to say except she sounds fine, but some parts of the Sub performance sounded more "raw" to me.
Celeste Perez as Nelluru: Might be a hot take but I preferred Celeste over the Sub voice. Her performance as pre-reborn Nelluru was really damn good courtesy of her "altered" voice. And even after she's reborn Celeste didn't miss at all because she captured Nelluru's innocent and caring personality really well. Easily one of the 2 highlights of the cast for me but I'll get to the 2nd one last.
Cris George as Margo Glenfall: Decent overall, not much else to say.
Kelsey Cruz as Carme (honorable mention): I wasn't going to add this at first but when I thought about it, it was surprisingly good. The scene that made me add this was Klen's conversation with Carme about Nelluru that was the highlight of Kelsey's performance. She captured Carme's desperation really well.
Dio Garner as Gart: Like Cris he was decent overall. Can't really say more because he doesn't have much screen time.
Aaron Roberts as Rhode Royes: Gonna be blunt he was the weakest for me. Some moments were fine but some felt flat during Rhode's fights against Drel.
Kiba Walker as Meynard Swann: Gonna be honest, Kiba was really f#cking good. He captured Meynards slimy and aggressive personality really well.
Mallorie Rodak as Naie Chiffonlitis: Who would've thought that Frieren's Dub VA would be in this show. Like Cris and Dio she was fine but I'm curious to hear more of her next season because Naie will have more screen time.
Garrett Schenck as the King of Hiden and Molly Zhang as T'ala: I put these 2 together because this post is getting too long. Like Aaron was kind of flat for me as the King but Molly was solid as T'ala (especially during the scene where T'ala reunites with Luna).
Mike Smith as General Drel. Easily the 2nd highlight for me. His performance was really great capturing Drel's personality, his history with Margo, and his hatred against the Hero Legend. Not to mention his screams during Drel's brutal demise was raw and excellent. Man I wish he had more screen time during the 1st arc.
Props to Jad Saxton, the voice director, for directing the cast pretty well. Hopefully she'll return for Season 2.