Just got back from Jetstream…...
Geez, I haven't seen early One Piece stuff in forever! Sean Schemmel was perfect as Helmeppo, so it kinda pisses me off knowing that 4Kids cut out the Coby-Meppo sidestory, because it would've been cool to hear Helmeppo's character development occur in English. Also, I agree that Bella, or Erica, or whatever the hell her name is, was much better as Luffy when she first started out (i.e. NO UNNECESSARY SCREECHING). However, she seemed to be a bit too soft-spoken, and THAT'S why I found Coleen's Luffy voice to be so good in the few samples she's done, because it's not screechy, like 4Kids Luffy eventually became, but it's also a bit more gruff and raspy, making it more masculine-sounding!
Only one VA didn't suffer from the curse of getting worse as time went on, and that's Kerry Williams. Her Nami started out with an almost Valley Girl-esque accent, which vanished in favor of this squeakiness that sometimes sounded like her Tiff voice from Kirby, until she finally found an ideal voice.
Honestly, I'm gonna miss most of the 4Kids VAs in the dub. I still imagine the characters with voices of my own choosing when I'm reading the manga, but I've grown so used to them that I actually hate to see most of them go... except for Jason Griffith, who can go screw himself! He overacts as Usopp, making the most ridiculous sounds and exaggerated screams! Also, he's helping Sega contribute to the downfall of Sonic the Hedgehog with his lackluster performances! Why the hell does he do such good work in Sonic X, but he sucks donkey turds in the Sonic games AND as Usopp?! Honestly, man, his life must suck, knowing that he has both the One Piece fandom and the Sonic fandom wanting his ass on a silver platter!
Okay, that's enough of that.