Tag Archives: voice actors

Anime Staff and Cast: Shame is Not in Their Vocabulary

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It was at New York Anime Festival 2009 where someone asked why the creator of Gundam Tomino Yoshiyuki would keep going back to the franchise after swearing it off every single time. Tomino’s response was simple.

“I had to pay the rent.”

And with that, Tomino exposed us to the REAL Anime Reality, as opposed to the one that exists on the fan level.

I’ve occasionally seen people ask about whether or not voice actors get embarrassed playing some raunchy roles or ones they might find objectionable. Similarly, people have wondered whether or not animators ever take issue with, say, making porn about middle schoolers. I bet you though that 9 times out of 10 the answer is “Sometimes, but money is money.” Sure, Inoue Kikuko forbids anyone from mentioning her “early” work, and many voice actors change their names when performing for erotic games (and then oddly enough decide to use their real names for when that erotic game gets a non-erotic anime adaptation), but I’m sure that if they had to go back they’d do it all over again.

Let’s look at one of the hit shows of this past year: Queen’s Blade. Now who in the world would agree to work on a show like this? Well you might be surprised. I’ll give you that quite a few of the staff worked on racy material before. Director Yoshimoto Kinji was the character designer on La Blue Girl and directed Legend of Lemnear. Key animator Umetsu Yasuomi is probably known best for his role as director and character designer in both Kite and Mezzo Forte. Fellow key animator Urushihara Satoshi is known for his erotic illustrations, as well as works such as Another Lady Innocent and Plastic Little. To no one’s surprise I’m sure, the character designer Rin Shin also has plenty of experience with 18+ works (Words Worth, La Blue Girl, Classmates).

But then you get to someone like the art director, Higashi Jun’ichi, and you see what he’s done.

“Art director on Cowboy Bebop?”

“Art director on THEY WERE 11?!”

That’s a whole lot of classiness to be injecting into this Boobs and Blades fanservice vehicle. Then you look back at the other staff. Yoshimoto Kinji may have quite a few “unsafe” titles under his belt, but he’s also worked on Riding Bean and Roujin Z (and also Genshiken 2 of all things). Umetsu is a legendary animator, key animating both openings and the ending to Zeta Gundam and lending his hand even today. Urushihara had his hand in Five Star Stories and Akira.

The voice cast is the same way. Queen’s Blade has one of the finest modern female voice casts ever assembled, with names such as Kawasumi Ayako (Lafiel in Crest of the Stars), Mizuhashi Kaori (Ogiue in Genshiken), Tanaka Rie (Lacus Clyne in Gundam SEED), Hirano Aya (Haruhi in Suzumiya Haruhi), and Kugimiya Rie (Alphonse Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist) all playing their own respective cleavage-shot-prone characters.

Keep in mind that I’m not saying that the people working on a show like Queen’s Blade don’t have integrity. They have plenty of it, seeing as how when you get past the, shall we say “awkward” premise, you have a show that’s well-animated and well-acted. After all, not just anybody could properly animate a slime girl’s acid-filled breasts bursting violently. But shame? Shame is a luxury.

In conclusion, I leave you with the words of one of the finest philosophers of the modern age.

“Get Money, Get Paid.”

THAT FAT GUY IS AMURO RAY

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When I first went to see Paprika in theaters, one thing that caught my attention was the voices. At first, I could not pinpoint them. Who is the main character? I know I’ve heard her voice before… And then it hit me: Hayashibara Megumi, that most prolific of 90s voice actors (who’s still doing work today and has recently written her own book), was the voice behind Paprika. Then another voice struck me. THAT FAT GUY IS AMURO RAY! I felt the desire to jump out of my seat and shout, “AHA!” but decided against it. Unfortunately for me though, I was not accompanied to the theater by any friends who were particularly into anime, so I could not share my discoveries at the time.

There are anime fans who have watched just as much if not more than I have, who are unable to pick up on a character being voiced by an actor from their favorite series, but there are also anime fans who have watched far less than me who are able to pick up on the subtle nuances of a voice and determine, despite any sort of wild differences in the voices used for the two characters, that the same actor plays these roles. And they’re not even always seiyuu otaku!

What is it that makes some people more able to recognize voice actors than others? I’m not applying this solely to Japanese seiyuu, but rather voice actors in general from Frank Welker to Kamiya Akira. I don’t consider myself to have a keen sense of hearing, so I can’t say I’m particularly tuned to any difficult-to-perceive aspects of voices, but when I do notice a recognizable voice, it generally has to do with something that one role has in common with another, even if those roles vary wildly. Of course, I don’t always get it right, and there are times when a voice hits me but I just cannot pinpoint it. I don’t know, I unfortunately do not have the proper vocabulary to explain it.

Perhaps someone with greater knowledge of voices and audio could explain better.

There’s Something “Different” About These Voice Actors…

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Back when the Soul Eater anime began airing, one of the big topics going around was Maka Albarn’s voice actor. Maka was Omigawa Chiaki’s first role in anime and it showed. Some called her voice work terrible or amateurish, I referred to it as a very natural-sounding voice. For those who haven’t heard it, when Maka speaks it sounds more like a young, soft-spoken narrator than it does a character in a show. However you judge it though, no one can deny that Maka’s voice was different from the usual.

At some point I decided to listen to the Soul Eater Web Radio Show (Maka Side), half curious, half wanting to practice listening comprehension for the JLPT2, and I was surprised to find out that Chiaki’s Maka voice is quite different from her everyday speaking voice. This meant that as natural and realistic-sounding as Maka’s voice is, it’s not just Chiaki speaking normally. I was impressed, but then I thought about how I wasn’t the best judge of Japanese voice acting, and a lot of the Maka voice’s detractors were Japanese people posting on 2ch and what-not. I’ve made progress over the years, but to really tell who’s good and who’s bad, I can’t do so with complete confidence still.

It was a few weeks after that when Anime World Order posted its review of Bubblegum Crisis. I had seen the show long ago, back when I barely knew anything about anime and my older brother knew guys in his high school who were willing to copy tapes for him, but it had been so long I barely remembered anything. I decided to re-watch the original Bubblegum Crisis, all of it, knowing that there was some bias for BGC among the AWO crew and not wanting to be too influenced by it.

Throughout the OVA series one voice really stood out among the rest: that of main character and most prominent Knight Saber Priss Asagiri. There was something about the way she intoned words, it almost reminded me of Jack King from Shin Getter Robo vs Neo Getter Robo. It sounded, felt different from the other voices which were all clearly talented but sort of blended together in the area known as “good,” like how Henri Cartier-Bresson may be one of the most talented photographers ever but his photographs were all good in the same exact way. It could be awkward at times, but Priss’s voice would always jump out. Then I looked up her voice actor, Oomori Kinuko and listened to the AWO episode (Part A) and found out that it was her one and only voice role, Kinuko being primarily a singer. “Oh,” I thought. And then I remembered Maka.

Maka and Priss’s voices are similar in many ways. Both are very noticeable when placed among their fellow cast members, and both have this style that really takes over a scene, for better or worse. When they talk, you notice. As such, both have this strange voiceover feel to them, where it sounds like they’re speaking directly to the audience rather than to other characters in their shows. Is this merely a product of lack of experience in voice acting? Did anime fans in 80s Japan have a field day with Kinuko’s voice work the way they do with Chiaki’s now? If more seiyuu sounded like Priss or Maka, would their lack of experience and/or talent stand out even more?

Peter Fernandez’s Accolades are Well-deserved: Voice Acting of Old

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Recently, I’ve been watching episodes of the original Speed Racer. Not Mach Go Go Go, and even if presented with the option, I would try to watch episodes of both. Speed Racer is one of those shows that attracted a lot of fans for a multitude of reasons, primarily the car, and having never really watched entire episodes of Speed Racer, I wanted to see what was, as the kids say, “up.”

In addition to the show aging surprisingly well, I noticed something somewhat peculiar about Speed Racer: its voice-acting is actually very good. These days, when the subject of older voice acting comes to mind, it’s usually the ridiculous dubs of 80s and 90s, or the transition away from Saban for the dub of Dragon Ball Z. Older dubs are associated with being poorly acted and often stilted, while newer dubs have a frequent problem of being too wooden or “sounding like anime dubs.” This isn’t the case with Speed Racer at all, and after seeing Peter Fernandez get congratulated so many times for his voice work as Speed,  I can finally see that he gets the credit he deserves, not to mention the rest of the cast including minor characters. It has the right amount of radio-show-style acting without going overboard like the old Symphony of the Night dub. Batman: The Animated Series’ voice actors were told to act out their roles as if they were in a radio show. Maybe there’s something to that after all, something that more dubs could learn to use.

I’ve seen a significantly older show receive a curiously impressive dub before in the form of Gigantor. Not a surprise to see that Fernandez had a role in the Gigantor dub as well. Is it just that he’s got talent and it bled through to everything else in recording? Perhaps, but there’s one factor which I think contributes to the quality of these old dubs, and it’s actually the result of a limitation.

In these old shows, especially with Gigantor which had a low budget even for its time. When Jimmy Sparks says a few lines, his mouth moves maybe 5 or 10 times. The voice actors did not try to match the lip flaps because that would have been impossible, and I think it’s this non-adherence to mouth movements which freed up the dubs to have more natural and vibrant-sounding characters, even if the dialogue itself was still kind of awkward in that stereotypical way everyone makes fun of Speed Racer for.

You can hear Peter Fernandez as a grown-up Spritle in that new Speed Racer cartoon, but I wouldn’t recommend watching it.

Dissidia: Final Fantasy has an AMAZING voice cast

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I’m not the biggest Final Fantasy fan, but watching the new trailer for the upcoming PSP crossover Final Fantasy fighting game, Dissidia, I came out completely blown away by the voice cast. It is one of the best voice casts you will EVER see in a video game, take my word for it.

I couldn’t find a single guide, so for my convenience and yours, here’s a list of all voices revealed so far. As more voices and characters are announced, I’ll continue to update this list.

By the way, the names are spelled as they are on the official site, so don’t complain that Kefka is Cefca, I’m just going by what’s there.

Last Updated 10/16/2008.

Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy): Seki Toshihiko (Legato Bluesummers, Trigun)

Frioniel (Final Fantasy II): Midorikawa Hikaru (Zelgadis, Slayers)

Onion Knight (Final Fantasy III): Fukuyama Jun (Lelouch Lamperouge, Code Geass)

Cecil Harvey (Final Fantasy IV): Hodoshima Shizuma (Jonouchi Hisashi, Boogiepop Phantom)

Butz Klauser (Final Fantasy V): Hoshi Souichirou (Kira Yamato, Gundam SEED)

Tina Branford (Final Fantasy VI): Fukui Yukari (Nia Teppelin, Tengen Toppa Gurren-Lagann)

Cloud (Final Fantasy VII): Sakurai Takahiro (Kururugi Suzaku, Code Geass)

Squall Leonhart (Final Fantasy VIII): Ishikawa Hideo (Uchiha Itachi, Naruto)

Zidane Tribal (Final Fantasy IX): Paku Romi (Edward Elric, Fullmetal Alchemist)

Tidus (Final Fantasy X): Morita Masakazu (Rail Tracer, Baccano!)

Shantotto (Final Fantasy XI): Hayashibara Megumi (Ayanami Rei, Neon Genesis Evangelion)

Cosmos (Dissidia Final Fantasy): Shimamoto Sumi (Nausicaä, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind)

Garland (Final Fantasy): Utsumi Kenji (Raoh, Hokuto no Ken)

Emperor of Palamecia (Final Fantasy II): Horiuchi Kenyuu (Jamil Neate, Gundam X)

Cloud of Darkness (Final Fantasy III): Ikeda Masako (Maetel, Galaxy Express 999)

Golbeza (Final Fantasy IV): Kaga Takeshi (Chairman Kaga, Iron Chef)

Exdeath (Final Fantasy V): Ishida Tarou (Count Cagliostro, Lupin III: Castle of Cagliostro)

Cefca Palazzo (Final Fantasy VI): Chiba Shigeru (Narrator, Hokuto no Ken)

Sephiroth (Final Fantasy VII): Morikawa Toshiyuki (Hayami Masumi, Glass Mask 2005)

Ultimecia (Final Fantasy VIII): Tanaka Atsuko (Kusanagi Motoko, Ghost in the Shell)

Kuja (Final Fantasy IX): Ishida Akira (Xelloss, Slayers)

Jecht (Final Fantasy X): Amada Masuo (Manev the Gale, Trigun)

Gabranth (Final Fantasy X): Ohtsuka Akio (Batou, Ghost in the Shell)

Chaos (Final Fantasy): Wakamoto Norio (Cell, Dragon Ball Z)

Narrator (Dissidia Final Fantasy): Sugawara Bunta (Kamaji, Spirited Away)

Updated for Dissidia Duodecim:

Kain Highwind (Final Fantasy IV): Yamadera Kouchi (Spike Spiegel, Cowboy Bebop)

Gilgamesh (Final Fantasy V): Nakai Kazuya (Mugen, Samurai Champloo)

Tifa Lockhart (Final Fantasy VII): Itou Ayumi (Tifa Lockhart, Final Fantasy: Advent Children)

Laguna Loire (Final Fantasy VIII): Hirata Hiroaki (Sanji, One Piece)

Prishe (Final Fantasy XI): Hirano Aya (Suzumiya Haruhi, Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi)

Lightning (Final Fantasy XII): Sakamoto Maaya (Kanzaki Hitomi, Vision of Escaflowne)

 

Genshiken 2: Post-Recording Thoughts from the Cast

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This is a translation of an interview at the official Genshiken site.

——————

These are comments from the main cast from post-recording for episode 12.

Please give your honest post-recording impressions on the end of this show!

Sasahara Kanji: Ohyama Takanori
When I first began to play Sasahara, the various directions Genshiken goes meant that I’d be a part of this for a long time, and thinking, “It’s over?” really makes me sad. Whenever I read the script, I feel like I’m about to cry.

Kohsaka Makoto: Saiga Mitsuki
It’s going to continue isn’t it?

Kasukabe Saki: Yukino Satsuki
At the time it felt like… “Ah!”

Madarame Harunobu: Hiyama Nobuyuki
Man, it was a blast!

Tanaka Souichirou: Seki Tomokazu
Whaaa, it’s over already? But we’re doing a 3rd one right?

Kugayama Mitsunori: Nomura Kenji
Somehow I-I’m really sad…

Ohno Kanako: Kawasumi Ayako
For this Genshiken series, I thought, “A lot of things happened, huh…”

Kuchiki Manabu: Ishida Akira
Ahh, it’s all over isn’t it. I’m glad that Sasahara managed to get a job.

Ogiue Chika: Mizuhashi Kaori
Eh? It’s over?

Angela: Kaida Yuki
Oh wow, there were so, so many things, and I mean that in a variety of ways. But… when I reflect on the mood of the project, I genuinely had a good time with a great studio.

Susanna: Goto Yuuko
I wanted to do more! Sorry, I actually just said how I really felt. But after Kujian, I really wanted to do Genshiken, so I’m happy that I was able to be in it.

Please tell us about the difficult parts of playing your character.

Sasahara Kanji: Ohyama Takanori
In [Genshiken] 2, well there’s the making of the doujinshi, his job hunt, those matters of love, so many things that it made me tremble, just having the right attitude to play such realistic parts in a lively manner.

Kohsaka Makoto: Saiga Mitsuki
I was always thinking, “I have to keep being the usual Kohsaka.”

Kasukabe Saki: Yukino Satsuki
English.

Madarame Harunobu: Hiyama Nobuyuki
I wasn’t sure when I should use Madarame’s inner voice!

Tanaka Souichirou: Seki Tomokazu
The kiss scene, and the boys’ love scene were difficult. There’s going to be a 3rd series, right?

Kugayama Mitsunori: Nomura Kenji
Well, it has to be his peculiar way of talking. It was difficult figuring out to what extent I should play it.

Ohno Kanako: Kawasumi Ayako
The English was…. (sweats) really tough.

Kuchiki Manabu: Ishida Akira
I didn’t have any samples to base such an all-out extreme character like this on, so the troublesome part was using my imagination to figure out how he would speak and act.

Ogiue Chika: Mizuhashi Kaori
The Tohoku dialect was tough…but now that I’m completely familiar with it, I have trouble speaking normally (laughs). I also had to take care not to make her too tsundere-esque. She’s a shy person after all.

Angela: Kaida Yuki
It’s obvious, but it’s the parts where I didn’t speak Japanese.
After that, it’s using certain vocabulary which I’ve never heard myself say. I thought, “Heeey, you’re a girl! Is it all right for you to say that?”

Susanna: Gotou Yuuko
She’s such an abrasive character, so I had to try hard not to shy away from her.
The difficult part was imitating the lines of anime characters. Other than that, nothing really.

There sure was a lot going on (laughs), but what do you think were the most impressive scenes in Genshiken 2?

Sasahara Kanji: Ohyama Takanori
Ogiue going to Comifest incognito, getting found out, running into Ohno and having her interest in yaoi doujinshi revealed and confirmed. Square mouth and swirly eyes, Ogiue’s panic attack had me laughing hard.

Kohsaka Makoto: Saiga Mitsuki
Whenever Kucchii appeared.

Kasukabe Saki: Yukino Satsuki
Madarame’s serious reflection at the graduation ceremony.

Madarame Harunobu: Hiyama Nobuyuki
Probably the criticism that we engendered because of “Madarame is a Total Bottom” (laughs)

Tanaka Souichirou: Seki Tomokazu
The kiss scene with Ohno. <3
Is it okay for us to be doing this when there’s a 3rd series to do?

Kugayama Mitsunori: Nomura Kenji
It has to be… Ogiue’s fantasy scene!
That BL was rather shocking!

Ohno Kanako: Kawasumi Ayako
The Ogiue’s fantasy episode was great.

Kuchiki Manabu: Ishida Akira
Ogiue going undercover for Comifest and being found out.

Ogiue Chika: Mizuhashi Kaori
-The Tanaka and Ohno become a couple episode
-The BL episode
-The reverse of the BL episode, where Ogiue became the fantasy instead (laughs). (And Ogiue’s disguise)
-A PORN GAME MAKER(Kohsaka)

Angela: Kaida Yuki
Before our appearance, I would hear about this scene and that scene, and they were truly strong scenes among a variety of strong scenes. Now after all this, I want to see all of them.

Susanna: Gotou Yuuko
The scene at Comiket where they first sell a copy of Ogiue’s book.
Those two are way too cute together.

Say something to the “Genshiken 2” characters!

Sasahara Kanji: Ohyama Takanori
Sasahara, I’m really glad you managed to find a job. Don’t give up and keep striving!
After that, keep following through on your genuine love for Ogiue!

Kohsaka Makoto: Saiga Mitsuki
Sasahara, congratulations on your job!

Kasukabe Saki: Yukino Satsuki
Madarame, find happiness!

Madarame Harunobu: Hiyama Nobuyuki
Make sure to become a productive member of society!

Tanaka Souichirou: Seki Tomokazu
Hey, guys, there’s going to a 3rd series right?

Kugayama Mitsunori: Nomura Kenji
Get a move on, Kugapii!

Ohno Kanako: Kawasumi Ayako
Sasayan, congratulations on your job! I’m really glad for you.

Kuchiki Manabu: Ishida Akira
You can only do whatever you want when you’re a student!
…Though recently I’ve seen people who’ve been ignoring that and doing it anyway.

Ogiue Chika: Mizuhashi Kaori
Everyone, you deserve a break!
All the things that happened to Sasahara this time, it was all really interesting!

Angela: Kaida Yuki
To Sue: That’s not fair! Please speak more English!

Susanna: Gotou Yuuko
Madarame, I love you!

You all had fun in post-recording, so please tell us what was most impressive about doing these episodes!

Sasahara Kanji: Ohyama Takanori
[Genshiken] 2, was pretty risque, or should I say, there were a lot of H-scenes, but for it to have become such a big topic of discussion, I’m glad we talked about it.

Kohsaka Makoto: Saiga Mitsuki
Every time we laughed, the laughter would never die down.
It’s because the writing would still always be there.

Kasukabe Saki: Yukino Satsuki
Everything about Ohyama

Madarame Harunobu: Hiyama Nobuyuki
I can’t just squeeze out one when there’s so many, but it would have to be the great atmosphere working at a fine place like this.

Tanaka Souichirou: Seki Tomokazu
Starting the kiss scene with Kawasumi. Did you figure?

Kugayama Mitsunori: Nomura Kenji
Man, there was so much that I’ve forgotten it all. Every time we’d have such entertaining conversations, though there’s also a lot of conversations I can’t tell you about…

Ohno Kanako: Kawasumi Ayako
Kuchiki’s ad-lib was really interesting every time.

Kuchiki Manabu: Ishida Akira
Finding out that there’s salt in chocolate.

Ogiue Chika: Mizuhashi Kaori
Generally speaking it was really fun being such close, intimate friends with everyone. The idle chatter was of course really fun, but nothing beats seeing everyone smiling while performing. I think this is an experience I’ll cherish.

Angela: Kaida Yuki
When Team America appeared, it was obvious that the members who spoke English and the ones who could only speak Japanese had obviously different airs about them. I’m jealous of those who got to speak Japanese. I hate them. (laughs)

Susanna: Gotou Yuuko
I thought, wow, Angela’s English is impressive.
The most impressive part is of course, the actual content of her lines.

Finally, let’s give a message to all the fans!

Sasahara Kanji: Ohyama Takanori
I truly thank you for sticking with Genshiken 2. I would be happy to be Sasahara again some day.

Kohsaka Makoto: Saiga Mitsuki
I really want to do Genshiken “3!”

Kasukabe Saki: Yukino Satsuki
Let’s do Genshiken 3!

Madarame Harunobu: Hiyama Nobuyuki
Anyway this looks like the end of the road!! …Though somehow it feels like more is going to happen so keep cheering on “Genshiken!”

Tanaka Souichirou: Seki Tomokazu
We’ll see you again in the 3rd!

Kugayama Mitsunori: Nomura Kenji
Should I say “I’m glad you enjoy it” or “I’m glad you enjoyed it?” It was all really interesting. Cheer for us!

Ohno Kanako: Kawasumi Ayako
I want to come back and do Genshiken 3. Please keep cheering for it!

Kuchiki Manabu: Ishida Akira
I’m grateful for your support in bringing Genshiken to its 2nd series. Thank you very much.

Ogiue Chika: Mizuhashi Kaori
Let’s do Genshiken 3!! (laughs) Im laughing but I’m actually serious!!

Angela: Kaida Yuki
Doing this was an incredibly precious personal experience for me. To all of you who watched Genshiken, I thought, “They’re real. There really are people who are moved by the events in this show,” and I’m glad to have been able to feel this way. …Um, I tried my best.

Susanna: Gotou Yuuko
This was a project where I sympathized with everyone and was utterly moved (laughs), and I would both laugh and cry. I’m glad that you were all able to enjoy it.

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