Saber Marionette Dubbing Hanagata -- what worked for you?

I think I've probably mentioned this before somewhere, but I've never in such detail as I'm about to. While most of the characters in Saber Marionette J sound virtually the same (at least to me) from series to series (I can't tell the difference between Otaru's three dub voices, for example), I don't feel the same way about Hanagata's VAs. To me, each one approached the character from a completely different angle, choosing to emphasize certain aspects of Hanagata's character over others. While I prefer some actors' work to others, I think all are certainly interesting performances.

Sam Vincent (Hanagata in J): Vincent is an awesome VA, and he does some very strong work in this series. His Hanagata is surprisingly subtle and delicate, perhaps even a little feminine. However, this Hanagata is no shrinking rose. Vincent really pulls out all the stops for Hanagata's more melodramatic and angry moments, and yet, no matter how loudly Hanagata screams, his voice still retains a certain shy awkwardness. Fascinating.

Bob Marx (Hanagata in J Again): While I love Vincent's work, I think Bob Marx is actually my ultimate English Hanagata (mmhh... English Hanagata.... *smacks self*). Unlike Vincent's Hanagata, Marx's is earthy, loud, gruff and strangely flirtatious. While one could argue that Vincent's portrayal in J felt a little stereotypically femme at times, there is very little about Marx's Hanagata that seems femme. This Hanagata comes across as an entirely non-stereotypical oddball. I think Bob Marx does Koyasu proud here.

?? (Hanagata in J to X). For the life of me, I cannot figure out who plays Hanagata in this series! Maybe that's for the best, because I really don't care for this interpretation. like many of the voice work for J to X, it just seems bland, half-hearted and obvious, to say nothing of stereotypically gay and far more whiney than Hanagata ever was in the Japanese. This Hanagata is just too noisy and icky for me. Then again, Hanagata can be noisy and icky, too, so...

Well, that's my take on the English Hanagatas.

 

Interesting. I personaly don't care for the english SMJ dub at all, I watched the first 2 episodes, but found it was sucking my will to live and was forced to stop. I didn't really care much for Herr Vincent's portrayal of the feminine flower. It sounded too american to me, too heavily accented. Ah well, I like japanese, sue me.

 

This is what I think abou the Hanagata Dubs:

SMJ: I thought he did a pretty good job portraying Hanagata. Although its not as good as the original Japanese VA, it's still pretty good.

SMJ Again: Didn't really listen to the voice acting for this, so can't say much about it.

SMJ to X: This is one of the worst voice acting of Hanagata I heard. There is no enthusiasm, the voice actor didn't care how it came out, he sucked. He couldn't even the name right for Hanagata's song on episode 03, he sucks!

So overall I would say that SMJ had the best VA for Hanagata Dubbed.