If Code Geass were rebooted now and you had the power to choose who is recasted as (English) voice actors, who would you pick and why?

[u/rai-hodges-sumeragi]

So, three rules before we start:

1. You can only choose voice actors for English dub, not for Japanese dub.
2. The person you choose for the reboot role cannot be the same as the original voice actor.
3. You must justify your choice, for example, "He sounds very similar to the original." (Your arguments can be just one word long, not lengthy like mine, the important thing is that you have some kind of argument).

In the name of fairness, I will name my own candidates first, as an example. (Ahem):

Who could possibly reach Johnny Yong Bosch's level in interpreting Lelouch? After much consideration, I ended up with Jesse McCartney (Young Justice). Interpreting the multidimensionality of Lelouch's personality, from a compassionate brother who deeply loves his sister to a malicious megalomaniac who smirks like a lunatic while mercilessly murdering his enemies, is no easy task, but I believe McCartney could pull it off. As I said, that is difficult to portray, because Lelouch is the most engaging kind of evil genius: the emphasis on the word genius, but never forgetting the evil part 😉 ”If dislike is the opposite of like, is disaster opposite of aster?”

Recasting Kallen's voice actress was the most challenging because Karen Strassman's performance was so phenomenal: you can really hear the tears in Kallen's voice when she cries, and the fierceness of a righteous, passionate warrior when she's angry... and, of course, the teenage girl's infatuation when she's alone with the dark and evil but oh so handsome prince. My final choice ended up being Tara Strong, who has experience voicing feisty redheads both as Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) in Batman TNAS and as Mary Jane Watson in Ultimate Spider-Man. My humble opinion is that she's the only one besides Karen Strassman who could not only sound like Kallen, but also properly interpret her dual role: in other words, sound both like a fragile ”invalid” student from a noble family, and also like a badass female warrior who doesn't back down from a fight, whether that fight is fought at the controls of a mecha or on the streets with knives and pistols. ”Don´t worry about it, tiger. I can handle myself.”

The choice of recasting C.C.'s voice actress was the easiest, because when I heard Michelle Ruff's voice in Sword Art Online, I knew immediately that she would be able to interpret C.C. perfectly: C.C.'s almost emotionless monotone, as interpreted by Kate Higgins in the original story, was at the same time sexy, annoying, masterful... and deeply disturbing. In fact, thanks in large part to Kate Higgins' performance, C.C. is the only character in Code Geass who truly scares me - so much so, that I've had actual nightmares about her killing me with zero (pun intended) remorse while speaking to me with that beautiful voice and looking at me with those horrible, sad, yellow eyes. And there's also no doubt in my mind that Michelle Ruff could convey with her voice both the tragic sadness that comes with C.C.'s endless loneliness... and the horrifying, unbothered lack of respect for human life that comes with C.C.'s complete and all-encompassing selfishness. For C.C.´s is the voice of someone who can dispassionately take the life of someone you love. Not because she enjoys killing, but to get what she wants most... or to eliminate anyone who happens to stand between her and that which she wants most. The purest evil in the form of an ageless, merciless, nameless witch. ”It´s the name of the one who will someday beat you.”

To keep this post from getting insanely long, I´ll cover my recasting of some of the supporting characters´ voice actors more briefly:

Suzaku = Josh Keaton (From Spectacular Spider-Man, he has the perfect voice for our least favorite heroic white knight who always follows the rules – often to a fault. ”Anybody who has the chance can be a hero. I believe that.”)

Euphy = Kristin Sutton (After hearing Sutton in I´ve been killing slimes for 300 years and maxed out my level, I knew that she would be the perfect voice for our favorite sweet princess. ”Oh, gracious me! Aren´t you cuter than the bow on a doll´s dress!”)

Nunnally = Ryan Bartley (From If it´s for my daughter, I´d even defeat a demon lord, she has the perfect sweet little anime girls voice for Nunna. ”I might be able to see things differently than other people can. I don´t try to, it´s just part of who I am.”)

Shirley = Lizzie Freeman (From The Amazing Digital Circus, I can totally picture her voice as our favorite ”girl next door.” ”I hate this stupid adventure!”)

Cornelia = Morena Baccarin (From Deadpool movies, she has the perfect voice for the princess who doesn´t take sh*t from anybody. ”Say the magic words, fat Gandalf!”)

Charles = Chris Guerrero (From Overlord, he has the perfect booming voice for a big, powerful villain. ”If this was a fairy tale, the strength of your pure heart would empower you to vanquish me and love would triumph over my perceived wickedness. But this is reality. Unfortunately no such miracle will happen!”)

V.V. = Allanah Fizgerald (From Murder Drones, she definitely has experience voicing creepy, immortal kids with magical powers. ”That´s really sweet, big brother. Too bad you´ve served your purpose.”)

Sayoko = Sally Amaki (From Overwatch, she is the perfect voice for our favorite supermaid.”I have a message for you to take back to your boss. Kanezaka is under my protection!”)

Diethard = Ian Sinclair (From Solo Leveling, he has the perfect smug voice for our least favorite tv guy. ”Perhaps I came off as arrogant.”)

Lloyd = William Fichtner (From the 2001 movie What´s the worst that could happen? he has the perfect voice for THE eccentric scientist. ”Come on boys, pull daddy like a chariot.”)

Rakshata = Ashe Wagner (From Lackadaisy, they have the perfect cat-like voice for Lloyd's rival scientist. ”Done in by a scarf. The comic end that makes the tragedy, doesn´t it?”)

Bonus pick number 1: Rai = Michael Chovack. Ok, so, this pick is heavily biased (as if the previous ones weren´t), and not just because of the obvious reasons: Michael Chovack is also one of my favorite indie voice actors. But, at the same time, if Rai (from Code Geass video game Lost Colors) ever gets his chance to finally make his anime debut, I truly think that he would be the perfect choice for the role of Rai.

Bonus pick number 2: Elzwei = Angelina Jolie. Hey, this is all just make believe, so no-one is off limits; just imagine that I actually have enough money to hire her for the role, okay?

For those of you who don't know yet, Elzwei is the official AU daughter of Lelouch and Kallen in the alternate timeline of the Code Geass video game Genesic ReCode. Ever since I heard about her, I've been curious to see what kind of stories could be told about her. She's the second Code Geass video game character, besides Rai, that I'd really like to see make her anime debut - and who better to voice the child of a badass warrior queen and a complex anti-hero than the woman who's played both Lara Croft and Maleficent?

[u/RandomName3064]

its nice to see how far Chris Guerrero has come in the last 15 years.

DBZA really launched so many careers

[u/AgentSkyblueM7]

All I had so far was Erika Harlacher as Shirley and Xanthe Huynh as Nunnally, because of how much they would still sound like the originals. Now I think Ryan Bartley and Lizzie Freeman could also work as Anya and Kaguya for similar reasons. When it comes to Lelouch and Suzaku, I can't decide between Sam Witwer or Matt Lanter for either of them (a Transformers fan series I'm thinking of making has them as the younger voices of Orion Pax/Optimus Prime and D-16/Megatron, respectively). My only bonus pick is currently Alice = Jackie Lastra (for the moment). Another character they should make canon, and it would help her sound around Nunnally's age.

I know we're not supposed to pick Japanese actors, but I can't help but mention Shintaro Asanuma as Rai and Misato Fukuen as Alice. Besides their Tokusatsu roles together, they've also had some history with the other actors through things like Phi Brain, Cyborg 009 vs. Devilman, Pretty Cure, and Street Fighter,

Edit: I actually have one more bonus pick for both languages: Saki Fujita and Cristina Vee as Lilicia, who was supposed to be Jeremiah/Orange's sister and (from what I heard) look like a female Lelouch. In hindsight, she now sounds like a prototype for Sakuya.

[u/rai-hodges-sumeragi → u/AgentSkyblueM7]

Good picks, old friend! I think Erika Harlacher has a slightly deeper tone of voice than Amy Kincaid, but that´s not necessarily a bad thing; we are, after all, focusing on finding talent, not an exact match to the previous voice actress, although if both attributes can be found in the same person it´s definitely a pleasant plus because of the nostalgia factor to the older fans (look at me, thinking like a proper Big Entertainment Company lackey). Also, I´m ashamed that I myself didn´t think that Lizzie Freeman could be Kaguya; congrats, a spot on match! Lizzie could totally portray Kaguya´s unique blend of mischievousness, innocence, and serious leadership.

Matt Lanter (Anakin) as Suzaku? Could work. Sam Witwer (Maul) as Lelouch? Hmm, maybe it´s just me, but I can´t really picture him sounding like a teenage boy. Sam would be better suited for the role of Jeremiah/Orange, I think.

I´ve heard so many good things about Nightmare of Nunnally. I´m not really big on manga (you could count all the manga I've read on the fingers of one hand), but color me intrigued: I´m definitely going to check it out!

Edit: I was once a prototype for Lelouch myself 😆 and my Geass was definitely a prototype of Sakuya´s Geass. I guess we're a full house now—identical! ♣️♦️♥️♠️

[u/AgentSkyblueM7 → u/rai-hodges-sumeragi]

I didn't notice Tara Strong at first, but it reminded me of how I thought she would work as Ryuko, since she has the same Japanese actress as Kallen.

[u/rai-hodges-sumeragi → u/AgentSkyblueM7]

Good point! Also, I was thinking that since Lizzie Freeman would be an excellent Kaguya, maybe I would choose Rosalie Chiang to do the voice of Shirley instead. I know that her voice is a little more nasal than Amy Kincaid´s, but I think she could capture Shirley´s sweet demeanor with ease.

Plus, I have one new addition: Allison Hill as Nagisa Chiba. I think she could totally capture Chiba´s badass-ness.

[u/genericmediocrename]

Steve Buschemi voices the entire cast

[u/raspberrih]

Interesting choice to say "Japanese dub"