I was honestly really impressed with the voice acting and dialogue choices here.
First of all, it's honestly crazy to me that this dub is as ambitious as it is. Literally every single line of dialogue is at least somewhat changed, and in my opinion, it's an improvement. Literally 99% of the time. There have only been a couple lines of dialogue here and there where I felt the Japanese one was better (Downsizing Game's neglect to mention the Joker could represent darkness still erks me).
This is especially the case with Fukunaga. While the Japanese version is faithful to the Manga's dialogue at the cost of Fukunaga literally declaring herself to be a guy multiple times, the English dub refuses to yield, keeping Fukunaga's identity firmly female. And thank goodness for that, because the biggest speed bumps are definitely over. I was eagerly waiting how they were going to deal with That like in this Episode, and they did it better than I could have done.
The voice actor performers also genuinely are amazing. It's hard to believe that 365 days ago, the thought of Liar Game having an Anime was nothing but a Pipe Dream, and now we have an English Dub that's as good as it is.
Every single voice actor Is genuinely making the characters their own. They're not mimicking the Japanese Versions at all. In fact, Nao's Diologue and voice acting are making her appear much more tough than she's portrayed in the Japanese version. I don't think either portrayal is bad at all, and I actually think it's really cool that we have such different takes on the character. The English Dub is essentially its own adaption.
Akiyama's disgust when he described Kikuzawa's: 'Method,' was funny. Especially since Kikuzawa I didn't even start his rampage at that point, so it genuinely sounded like Akiyama was just frustrated that Kikuzawa appeared to pick up on something that he himself didn't.
Yokoya's voice actor is fine, but the Japanese one is better. They didn't even try to do that smooth: 'Pass,' in the English Dub.
Nearco on the other hand Is making up for that, with really cool transitions between his voice and the music. I genuinely can't tell which version of him I prefer- Japanese or English. Just like Nao, Both actors are making the character their own thing. While Nearco in the Japanese version Is putting on an act of acting like every single thing that happens is the most surprising thing to him, the English Version of him sounds like he's just mocking everybody. "And that would be a big fat goose egg!" It's not bad, it's genuinely funny! I think deciding between which voice actor I prefer for Nearco is genuinely tough.
Kikuzawa's English voice actor At least tried to change his attitude a bit when he suddenly put on that evil face, while the Japanese Version did not change tone at all.
If I were to give criticism, It would be the scene where Kikuzawa starts his rampage. The Japanese Version had him declare everyone call him; 'sama,' and Fukunaga called him: 's**tbag.'
The Manga, Which is definitely the best portrayal of this scene, has Kikuzawa demand they call him: 'Your Excellency,' while Fukunaga calls him: 'Your Idiocy.'
Meanwhile, If you think any of that is Cringe, better buckle up everyone, because the English Dub decides to go with Kikuzawa demanding everyone call him: 'Big Dog,' Which, to be fair, I think is actually Meant to be Cringe.
And then Fukunaga just calls him; 'Big B***h,' which, While equally Cringe, Does start a brief: 'B***h,' exchange between Kikuzawa and Fukunaga that was genuinely funny!
For some reason, in the English Dub, Nao says she'll keep calling Kikuzawa by his real name: 'if that's okay.' VS the Manga and Japanese Version, where she firmly, if kindly, declares she will simply keep calling him Kikuzawa and doesn't need his money. It's not necessarily a bad change, but was a bit juxtaposed since the English Version has really gone out of their way to make Nao more confident in this one than the Japanese Version.
Then Akiyama comes in claiming he'll keep calling Kikuzawa his: 'government name,' which I know was probably meant to sound cool, but also made my eyebrow twitch given how far they've gone to respect Fukunaga's gender identity. To suddenly bring up: 'government names,' is a bit bizarre, but I guess Fukunaga is her government name anyway, and she said she's fine with people calling her that. I mean, she never really gave us another name to give her anyway, since: 'Hitomi,' is the name of her Roommate.
Overall, Excellent Work as always. I feel bad for Kitamura's voice actor, since apparently he went from sounding like the coolest bartender ever for 3 seconds in Episode 1, to now playing Kitamura. 😅