Summary
- Bryan Cranston is an accomplished voice actor in addition to his on-screen roles, having provided English voice-overs for Japanese anime.
- He has played various characters in anime series and films, including Joseph "Joe" Thax in Eagle Riders , Isamu Alva Dyson in Macross Plus , Eddie Barrows in Armitage III , and Fei Long in Street Fighter II - The Animated Movie .
- Cranston's involvement in anime shows and movies has contributed to the popularity and success of these works, and he has played a role in introducing anime to Western audiences.
While Bryan Cranston is best known for his movie and television acting from major titles like Breaking Bad, Drive, and Malcolm in the Middle, the award-winning actor was an accomplished voice actor with a taste for plahying roles in cartoons, and interestingly enough, dubbing anime.
Like many young actors looking for their big break, Cranston nourished his early acting career by doing assorted odd jobs, including providing English voice-overs for Japanese anime. Since his first role in Kozo Morishita's Call of the Wild: Howl, an adaptation of the famous Jack London story, Cranston has provided his voice to well over ten anime series and films.
5 Eagle Riders (1996)
As Joseph "Joe" Thax
Cranston lent his voice to Joseph "Joe" Thax in Saban Entertainment's adaptation of Ippei Kuri's classic anime franchise Gatchaman. Thax is the second-in-command of a five-member team made up of specially powered young adults organized by the Global Security Council to take on the resurrected terrorist agency Galactor. Each team member's powers, which are activated via a special voice-activated bracelet, mimic the abilities of a specific bird. Thax's abilities give him the power and traits of a condor. He complements his fighting abilities with a razor sharp feather shuriken. Headstrong and cocky, he has no problem settling a problem with his fists, and is always ready to help his friends.
It shouldn't be a surprise that Eagle Riders sounds familiar. The first series in the franchise, Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, was adapted for Western audiences by Saban Entertainment in the 1970s as the popular afternoon cartoon Battle of the Planets, and was later re-adapted in the 1980s to the equally popular cartoon series G-Force. While both adaptations borrow heavily from the original Gatchaman, they also cut out parts but also added bits of original content to Americanize it. This was a technique that they also used on Eagle Riders. While only 13 episodes of Eagle Riders premiered in the U.S., they highlighted the perfection of the formula for how Americans would view anime for years to come.
4 Macross Plus (1994)
As Isamu Alva Dyson
In Shoji Kawamori and Shinichiro Watanabe's 1994 OVA Macross Plus, Cranston played Isamu Alva Dyson, a quick-to-anger military test pilot, whose lifelong rivalry with Guld Goa Bowman upends the Earth's testing program to develop the next generation of mech fighters. Their rivalry takes a turn for the worse when another childhood friend re-enters their lives, further exacerbating an already toxic environment. However, when an existential threat arises challenging the very existence of the Earth, both men are grudgingly able to forget their differences, combine forces, and come to humanity's rescue.
While the Macross Plus echos similar themes explored in other sci-fi anime, what sets it apart is its similarity in vibe and feel to another classic anime, Cowboy Bebop. This should come as no surprise, as both Kawamori and Watanabe were also involved with Cowboy Bebop, and the soundtracks for both anime were composed by anime legend Yoko Kanno. One can argue that Cowboy Bebop is the perfection of the style Kawamori, Watanabe, and Kanno began experimenting with in Macross Plus.
3 Armitage III (1995)
As Eddie Barrows
Cranston voices Eddie Barrows in both the OVA Armitage III, and its movie compilation, Armitage: Poly-Matrix. Eddie is a colleague of the primary characters in the series, Mars Police Department officers Naomi Armitage and Ross Sylibus. He's summoned to stop the killing of women who have recently been exposed as being highly sophisticated androids that are nearly identical to humans. Their investigation is thrown into chaos when it is revealed that Armitage herself is an android being targeted by the murderers.
While anime like Akira, Ghost in a Shell, and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners get props for having obvious cyberpunk influences, more than a few fans of the genre would argue that those series can't compare with Armitage III. The only difference is that Artmitage III wasn't marketing as hard as those others. Some of the issues that Armitage III explores are ignored and downplayed by other anime, such as should an android be considered human, and the question of why androids were created in the first place.
2 Dr. Slump (1997)
Contributed to multiple additional roles
Cranston voiced several roles in Akira Toriyama's pre-Dragon Ball series Dr. Slump, which follows the story of scientist and inventor Senbei Norimaki, who invents what he hopes to be the perfect kid, Arale, only to find that, despite her superhero abilities, she's still just a kid who needs the support and guidance of a parent. While the series included what has now become the iconic Toriyama action sequence, it mainly delved into Toriyama's signature humor that goes along with a somewhat kooky single dad trying to raise a super-powered daughter.
It can reasonably be argued that without Dr. Slump, it's unlikely the world would have ever been able to enjoy Dragon Ball. Dr. Slump, by all accounts, launched Toriyama's manga career, giving him the circumstances to create Goku. That is, Dragon Ball is Dr. Slump's creative progeny, and Cranston played a role in making it popular with Western audiences.
1 Street Fighter II – The Animated Movie (1994)
As Fei Long
In perhaps the most well-known anime in his voice-acting career, Cranston played the role of Fei Long in Gisaburo Sugii's 1994 film Street Fighter II. Fei Long, a character patterned after Bruce Lee, and the series protagonist Ryu face off in a challenge to see who is the better martial artist but eventually become friends. Interestingly, Cranston didn't use his name for this role, and is credited under the pseudonym Phil Williams.
The film was adapted from the immensely popular video game Street Fighter II, a follow-up to the original Street Fighter. However, despite the anime's "II" designation, it was the first film adaptation in the Street Fighter franchise. A few months after its release, the live-action Street Fighter film premiered, and enjoyed great commercial success.
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