I used to think the sum of a person's experiences made them who they are. Since then I've come to realize it's not the experiences, but your perception of them that shapes you. These are my perceptions.
To end things on a positive note, I thought I would show a few of my favorite YouTube clips involving VAs at various conventions. Some are interesting, some are funny, but the one thing I learned from watching many of these clips is just how much a ham Vic Mignogna is. He tends to show up in clips even when I wasn't searching for him.
Anyway, let's get started.
Scott McNeil describes passing out in a VA booth.
Chris Ayres, Vic Mignogna and Lex Lang talk about being recognized as VAs on the street.
Johnny Yong Bosch recounts a day when his empty stomach got him into trouble.
Steve Blum is asked to say something to "Ed Elric" using Spike's voice from Cowboy Bebop. Vic answers "Spike" in an appropriately Ed-like fashion.
Steve and Vic teaming up again to present "Real Fans of Genius".
Yuri Lowenthal (Sasuke Uchiha) and Liam O'Brian (Gaara) are asked to say Naruto's trademark "Believe It!" line in their own character's voice. (Notice the enormous number of actors onstage. It's possible every VA in the country has done at least one voice for this show.)
Crispin Freeman answers a fan's question about who he would be in a Revolutionary Girl Utena roleplay (after having voiced Touga for the TV series.) For the record, Akio is a very...strange...man. Then again, RGU is a very strange anime.
Someone calls Vic on his cell phone and says a "Risembool Ranger" (a fan club member) wants to talk to him...then hands the phone to Travis Willingham (Roy Mustang).
That's all, folks. There are more, but I'll add them another time. The next time you hear from me, it may be from Irvine, CA.
Supposedly for a long time now, either Vic Mignogna (Ed Elric of Fullmetal Alchemist fame) has said he would like to play Tamaki Suou in the dubbed Ouran High School Host Club, or his fans have really wanted it--I'm not sure which. Judging from this YouTube clip, the truth is probably both:
At any rate, Funimation just released the cast list for the English dub of Ouran. Not only did Vic get the role, the show will also feature several other Fullmetal Alchemist alumns, the most notable being Travis Willingham (Roy Mustang) as Takashi Morinozuka...
Caitlin Glass (Winry Rockbell) as Haruhi Fujioka...
And Aaron Dismuke (Alphonse Elric) as Yasuchika Haninozuka.
Looks like it could be worth watching.
On a separate note, for some reason I found this hilarious. Several days ago I listed Ran "Aya" Fujimiya on my Top 8 list of anime characters. I'm not completely familiar with the Knight Hunters universe or even all of its characters, but I saw enough in Knight Hunters Eternity to appreciate the various facets of his personality. So a friend sends me a link to one of those random "Which character are you like?" quizzes online. Thinking it was a worthwhile way to waste five minutes of my entire lifetime, I took the quiz.
I'm not sure I've ever written a post heading like that...and I doubt I ever will again.
I, My, Me, Strawberry Eggs is a pretty screwball comedy as it is, but someone has finally uploaded the easter eggs (on the DVDs) that featured some interesting outtakes.
The first clip actually has a cute story behind it: apparently one of the dubbing producers was worried that Crispin Freeman would sound too much like the rather frightening Alucard (from Hellsing fame) for the more mild-mannered Hibiki.
Deciding to have a little fun with that idea (and give said producer a heart attack), Crispin recorded the following:
In the next clip there isn't supposed to be any audio when the guys are talking; it's revealed later that they're talking about one of them marrying someone they don't know when they actually love another woman. But this is, apparently, what VAs do when they're bored:
There were two others, but they don't make much sense if you haven't seen the show. All this does is make me more curious to hear the infamous X-rated contest between Crispin Freeman and Steve Blum.
After my last .hack post someone asked me how I could possibly sit through nearly three games worth of cutscenes and actually enjoy it. Well, first off, it's just something I do; I don't always have the time to play games I might like, and the storyline of a game is far more interesting to me than the actual gameplay semantics. I guess you could say I'm letting someone else do the work for me, so I can enjoy the parts of the game that I like to see.
Also, .hack//G.U. happened to have a cast list where I recognized roughly two out of every three voice actors. This is another activity I seem to enjoy--studying the variations in each voice and comparing them to other characters the actor's done.
Lastly, by the time the end of the second game rolled around, Sakaki did what I'm sure every player had been dying to do from the very beginning. You can find what I'm referring to in this clip, at exactly 1 minute and 42 seconds. I think it was worth sitting through all the games just to see that (although Haseo's more physical rebuke may come in a close second.) True, I could barely stand Sakaki, but if you had just seen all the cutscenes I did, you'd be cheering him on.
Finally, someone was able to tell off Atoli. Let the heavens rejoice.
On a side note, I forgot to mention that while all the .hack products have some pretty good music to accompany them, G.U. had some of the most amazing, haunting tracks I've ever heard. It fit the mood of the games perfectly. This page has a number of tracks you can preview before deciding if you want to buy the OST. Out of all the tracks, I happen to have five favorites, all of which are on the second CD. If you want to hear them, some kind person uploaded them onto YouTube. Starting with my utmost favorite:
Villains are necessary for any good story. If the hero has no one to oppose them and no obstacles in their path, the story gets boring quickly. I'm well aware of this, and fully respect the role of the villain and its place in storytelling. This generally holds true in the anime world as well. I can even admire the strength and determination of some villains (i.e. Sesshoumaru in Inuyasha), and find they add the necessary flavor to animes in order to create a good story.
Except for two.
To be honest, I'm still not entirely certain why I can't stand them. Other villains have done similar atrocities in various shows, and I don't seem to hate their very existence with every fiber in my soul like I do these two. It bothers me that it's difficult to figure out, since I'm usually good at understanding the reasons behind everything. And yet there it is...I even stopped watching one of the shows halfway through the series, which is absolutely unheard of for me, because I just couldn't stand the character anymore. Although I understand a little more about my reasons for it now, this is still a mystery.
(Note: the following contains spoilers, which you can read if you choose by highlighting them.)
The first comes from Descendants of Darkness. Dr. Muraki Kazutaka. The first image we see of him is inside a church, as he's kneeling. When he stands up to look at Tsuzuki, we see he's crying. With silver-blonde hair, reptilian eyes, and dressed in a white trench coat, our first glimpse of the character gives us the impression he's almost a sort of angel...and that may be why it's so creepy. Putting a reverse spin on the Dr. Jekyll tale, he masquerades as a humanitarian while killing without remorse (he's even shown to enjoy it) and relentlessly pursues Tsuzuki for a sinister purpose with truly sickening zeal. Yes, it's true he went insane long ago over something that wasn't his fault, but how many people become obsessive, mass-murdering doctors because of a tragic past? (And oddly enough...his blood type is A.)
The second is Light Yagami from the series that was never meant to be a hit, Death Note. I...don't even have any words for this one. Not much can be said about a college student with delusions of creating a new world by killing everyone who opposes him. The creators didn't even try to make him a sympathetic character, which I'm strangely grateful for. What grates on my nerves is the fact that, in Death Note, the villain wins. He puts on such a show of being the perfect student, and actually "assists" L in helping to find Kira, that no one ever suspects him until it's all over. I realize he gets his own come-uppance in the last episode, but by then it's far too late.
And because he's intelligent to an almost psychotic perfection, he always manages to turn things around in his favor. Hell, if he was a chess player, no one would remember the names of Bobby Fischer or Garry Kasparov because Light was always four, five or six steps ahead of the game. (And his blood type is A, too. Take that, anime universe.)
I won't look for a video for Light, because a) I can't be bothered and b) I really don't think he deserves a space on my blog. I only put up a video for Muraki because I collect Descendants of Darkness clips on YouTube like people collect baseball cards, and happened to have one handy. In fact, I believe the only reason I actually still like Descendants of Darkness is because Muraki doesn't win. I was fascinated by the cat-and-mouse game in Death Note, until the creators went too far.
And then I come across fans who seem to think that because Muraki is so sadistically evil he actually belongs with Tsuzuki. Further, there's an alarmingly large number of Death Note fans who believe Light and L should be together, so much so that there's fan-made manga and video games to showcase it.
...No.
.........
NO.
I do not, repeat, do not care what the "popular" belief among such fans is. These are the villains of the show, and for one good reason: THEY'RE SICK PEOPLE. Muraki terrified Tsuzuki constantly, mentally tortured him, drove him into a relapse of his self-destructive habits...and did even worse to Hisoka. And Light...well, he's just a self-righteous murdering bastard, who committed the ultimate sin in befriending--and betraying--L, all according to his twisted little plan.
And did anyone remind these fans that Muraki tried to kill Tsuzuki on more than one occasion? Not to mention Light actually succeeded in killing L. How in the hell do these fans automatically translate that into "relationship"?!
Before I started watching anime again and playing visual novels, I used to think I had no limit when it came to "dark" material. Thanks to shows like Blood + and Descendants of Darkness, and games like Kichiku Megane, I soon learned I was so very, very wrong.
I've learned my lesson, and figured from here on out I would be more careful with what I watch and/or play. Right?
...Right?
So when I see this opening theme for a visual novel, my exact first thought is, "Ooh. I wonder where I can buy it?"
I'm a 27-year-old writer and future voice actor. My interests range from theatre to physics and everything in between. These days I spend my time studying the work of various actors (both American and Japanese) to learn more about the craft.
