Voice

the art of speaking

Jin was voiced by two men -- Sato Ginpei and Kirk Thornton. Here is a bit of information on each man, as well as my personal comments on their roles as Jin.

sato ginpei

Sato Ginpei (佐藤 銀平) is a relatively obscure seiyuu; with the exception of Jin his roles have been mainly limited to small ones in productions such as Claymore and FFVII: Last Order. I find this to be a real shame, since Mr. Sato is truly a master at what he does. As Jin, he speaks with soft inflections to convey the true meaning of the words he's saying, all the while maintaining the character's stoic personality. His voice acting gives a fantastic sense of who Jin is just by hearing him, managing to hit the right balance between non-emotion and emotion. I hope that Sato-san acquires more big roles in the future!

Kirk Thornton

Kirk Thornton apparently has the most credits of any male voice actor, evidenced by the huge list of roles to his name. Notable roles include parts in Kingdom Hearts II, Tales of the Abyss, Gungrave, .hack//, Wolf's Rain and Cowboy Bebop the Movie: Knockin' on Heaven's Door. He is known for playing male characters with a tendency towards grouchiness and/or a tough personality.

He's a good voice actor. However, I'll be honest -- I didn't like his role as Jin. Before you label me a dub-basher, I admit that I am attached to Mr. Sato as Jin, so that may affect my opinion. I think that Mr. Thornton's voice is a little too gruff, lacking the subtle inflections that made Sato's acting so fitting of the character. It made Jin sound too tough even in situations where he softened up a little, such as when he was talking with Shino.

Otherwise, I thought the dub of Samurai Champloo was very well done. I prefer the Japanese version, but allow me to say this -- the scripting and translation are great, and Mugen is brilliant. The slang and casual cussing might be a little out of place for 1600's Japan, but they fit his character to a tee. Plus, he's voiced by VA veteran Steve Blum, who executes the role fantastically. It's worth watching the dub just to see the English Mugen.

...In retrospect, the only part of the dub I didn't like was Jin. Such is life.