… it’s probably the super overdue July 4th Voice Actor post,

that thing’s been cooking since last year…

Remind me again, why did I spare you from the Akira Ishida Massacre of Spring ’06?

I thought it was because you needed someone to co-host this article with…

Shut up and go make sure the grill’s clean, I’m starting the show …lousy, s$31 talking blondes…

… …*spits on a burger earmarked for Masa*

Anywho… it certainly has been awhile, but to make up for it, I’m doing a super 4th of July GotVA? BBQ Extravaganza, featuring four reputed voice actors from the other side of the pond. Now, I know there’s a lot of hard feelings out there in the anime community about English dubbing. “Don’t capture the essence of the Japanese” “Censor everything” “Voices just don’t fit”. Well, you know what? Dubbed anime still brings new fans into the fold, and for that it’s a good thing. Hell, I remember being a kid and watching DragonballZ on Saturday mornings and thinking it was the BOMB! And that was in English. Okay, well, I see our first guest arriving, and it’s none other than the most awesome Steven Jay Blum!

Is this the right place? I got some really shitty directions from my friend, David Lucas.

That name sounds familiar… I think I sent out an invitation to that guy too, and to ‘Brandon Jeremy’. I’m surprised you got here so fast, word is that you aren’t exactly a big anime fan.

Well, that’s actually true. I have a deep respect for all kinds of animation (it is how I’ve made my living), but I’m not exactly a huge anime nut…

… …*spits on a burger earmarked for Blum*

And, uh, I talked to David, said he couldn’t make it. My sons Brandon or Jeremy also.

Well, your resume does include alot of video game, American cartoon and Japanese anime… There’s more roles here than I could list off in the whole article. I think that makes you something like the king of all-time appearances for voice-actors, and yes, I am counting all your aliases.

Aliases? I don’t know what you’re talking about…

I see your fear of the unions runs deep, and I don’t blame you, a man’s got to. Props to you… er, to David Lucas and all the rest for still sticking it to those bastards and doing the non-union jobs too. By the way, what was your favorite role?

Without a doubt it was Spike Spiegel, from Cowboy Bebop. I loved doing the cool, smoking-gun badass; it was like a dream role. Spike allowed me to express the most depth and inner torment. Very complicated soul, very subtle and challenging to voice.

And you made a couple friends from all those hours in the studio, didn’t you, Steve?

I see the south Californians are both on schedule. Funny, I thought you types were all about being fashionably late! Oh yes, this is the beautiful, talented Mrs. Wendee Lee, folks. She voiced Faye Valentine, working alongside Steve Blum in Cowboy Bebop, which, I will add, is my favorite dubbed anime.

Oh, masa, stop! I’m married you know… though I suspect that wouldn’t stop you… But, yes, I really enjoy bringing foreign works into English, film and anime. Oh, and I believe I beat Steve here, unless he’s been in over 200 English dubs…

Hey! Woman! Why don’t you quit your boastin’ and get your ass back here in the kitchen where you belong! You think I’m busting my ass over these burgers for fun?

Judeau, on pain of death, shut the hell up before I put you IN the burgers… Er… that is, my associate does bring up an interesting theme that I know you’re passionate about, Mrs. Lee. Some women have a problem with anime because they say it demeans and objectifies women as subservient sexual objects. I know this isn’t exactly fare for a barbeque, but in the spirit of Independence Day, do you have any thoughts on that? I mean, is anime sexist?

“Absolutely! It’s totally sexist, and I would have to say that’s in part because of its audience, young guys! So what can you do? Once in a while a cool title comes along that’s centered around the female view, but then again that generally means plenty of T&A and skimpy costumes. That’s always difficult as a woman. Not to mention the amazingly super-human anime babe anatomy we’re expected to somehow live up to in real life. That can be a bit much! But the guys dig it… My question is how does one get a bod like that?!”

Unlike Steve here, I am fascinated with Japanese culture, including anime. I really have been meaning to visit Japan…

Honey, you really should! One day I’ll try to get my husband, Matt, to fly us both out there while he’s ass-raping… I mean licensing, an anime…

Oh, Tiffany Grant! So~ glad you could make it! Ms. Grant here did a fairly mediocre job at voicing Asuka in the dub of Neon Genesis Evangelion. She was also in the dub of Noir, which I hate. But, but, please do have a seat, Mrs. Grant…

…um… okay… *she sits*

NOW JUDEAU! NOW!!!

Wh- ERM, ERM~~~~~!!

BITCH! Let’s see your bone headed husband try to ‘buy you out of’ this one This is what happens, Tiffany! This is what happens when you *&%% a fansubber in the ass!

Oh my goodness! What is going on?! Masa, what is this?

Please don’t be alarmed, Wendee. It’s alright, Wendee! It’s alright. … Now, it turns out I did have an ulterior motive inviting you all here. Part of it is to celebrate your fine work as pure-blooded American voice actors, truly two great testaments to this great nation! However, as you yourself have no doubt witnessed first hand, that very industry is being throttled by the godless infidels of the licensing companies like the one Mrs. Grant’s husband heads. For a voice actress to share her bed with that scum! That licensing scum…. constantly plaguing hard-working fansubbers who EAGERLY provide quality translations of anime and asking, asking for what? For nothing! They give their blood, sweat and cup of noodle tears for FREE, for FREE, Wendee! And isn’t that what we’re all here for to celebrate today? Freedom? Isn’t it, Wendee?! ISN’T IT!?!

This is what happens when you *&%% a fansubber in the ass, Tiffany! THIS is what happens, Tiffany!

But!- Oh, but this is- I don’t know! I thought this was supposed to be just a nice BBQ!

- But don’t you see Wendee? It can’t just remain a BBQ! No! Must I remind you, on this day, this glorious day of all days? A BBQ? Did our founding fathers sit down with the British and ask for their freedom over burgers and hot dogs? Did Washington cross the Delwarare on a Foreman %@$!ing Grill, Wendee? Did they all take the day off from work and get wasted on! NO! They didn’t have that luxury! They were fighting a war! A glorious war against tyranny! Against tyranny! They fought for freedoms that these sniveling, money-grubbing, tea-swilling LICENSORS want to take away from us, Wendee! And the CENSORSHIP! The licensors, Tiffany’s husband and the whole lot of them are trying to take away our RIGHT TO FREE SPEECH! Our first, numero uno amendment! And, and not just that! Oh, Wendee, don’t you see? Don’t you see that they’d just as soon tar and feather the whole lot of you, you voice actors, you backbone of anime, if they could figure out a way to get little robots to voice their characters for you? Like that little bastard TOM on Toonami… taking Moltar’s spot, I’ll never forgive him…

…er.. I actually voice TOM on Toonami…

Don’t push it, dude. He’s only sparing you because of Cowboy Bebop and – TIFFANY! Is that a cellphone I see? Oh you foolish, foolish girl. Didn’t I tell you what would happen if you tried to be brave? -er, yeah and the Orochimaru work, bang up job, by the way… But I wouldn’t push him right now… he’s ill.

jesus, and I thought the goons the unions hired were scary…

And now we will hold Mrs. Tiffany Grant hostage, holding the entire licensing dictatorship paralyzed in fear that next will be their wives or their children. And the fansubbers will never recieve another C&D and there will be no more censorship! MWHAHAHA!!

Hey, um! Sorry I’m late… Is this the BB… Why is Tiffany Grant blindfolded, covered in teriyaki sauce and crying?

OMG! It’s David Kaye! OMFG! I can’t believe you actually came!

Wait a minute, masa! What is this? That guy’s a freakin Canadian! What’s he doing at our Fourth of July BBQ?! I thought you were a patriot!

It’s alright Judeau. He is, in fact, the fourth guest, and for a very good reason. Long have I enjoyed this man’s work, as he is one of the best English voice actors, in my humble opinion. I remember in college, a whole group of people would get together and get high and watch the Adult Swim lineup on Cartoon Network. And they’d watch that poorly drawn Aqua Teen and those other shows, but I was always surprised, because they’d also watch some of the anime. And you know why they did? It was that bastardly show ‘Inuyasha’ and the voice acting is some of the worst I’ve ever heard in my life. And these kids would sit there and laugh, LAUGH at how bad the voices were. Kagome would snivel, Inuyasha would grunt like he was constipated, and they all laughed, saying, “This shit is for kids!” “How can anyone seriously watch this?!” “The Japanese are retarded.” Oh, and they’d laugh and laugh at that horrible dub, but, whenever Mr. Kaye’s character would come on screen, all of a sudden things would change. He voiced Sesshomaru, and he’d come on screen and with a deep and eerily calm voice say stuff like, “I will personally see to it that he never breathes again.” And the laughter would stop! And sometimes one of the watchers, these people who were so sure anime was pathetic, they’d comment, “Man that guy is some kind of badass.” And all because of Mr. Kaye here!

But… granted, he is a good voice actor… But I thought today was supposed to be about America?

Ah, Judeau, how little you know. For Mr. Kaye is perhaps the most patriotic of guests I could have called here today! He, this man, Canadian though he may be, is responsible for one of the greatest cornerstones of America, a pillar of patirotism that has long stood tall and defined the very essence of America!

Not Thomas Jefferson

Not even George Washington!

Not even joint-smoking bald eagle!

Yes! Indeed, David Kaye, in his very first cartoon voice acting role, nonetheless, was the heart and soul and brain of G.I. Joe, General Hawk! And for this he should be honored and greeted by all Americans as if he were their own! And now you know, Judeau, and knowing… knowing is half the battle!

Notes: Among his many aliases, Steve Blum goes under ‘David Lucas’ and ‘Brandon Jonathan’, the last being the combination of his two sons’ names. Mr. Blum is the second most prolific male American voice actor of all time. He prefers to work from home, so he can ‘work in his underwear’. He was born and raised in Santa Monica.

Mrs. Wendee Lee also does foreign films, American films (Austin Powers for one) and video games. She was a dance instructor for many years and her favorite artist is Leonardo Davinci.

Noteable roles for:
Steven Blum – “K.T.” (Initial D), Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop), Kazuma (s-CRY-ed), Roger Smith (The Big O), Darcia (Wolf’s Rain), Vincent Valentine (FF7: Advent Children), Orochimaru and Zabuza (Naruto) – also served as a script adapter for the dubbed Naruto

Wendee Lee –
Xinghua and Seung Mina (Soul Caliber), Kei (Akira), Ururu and Tatsuki (Bleach), Takako Shimizu (Chobits), Faye Valentine (Cowboy Bebop), Yui Hongo (Fusigi Yuugi), 5 roles in GTO, Kaolla Su (Love Hina), Suzuka (Outlaw Star), Fee Carmichael (Planetes), 4 roles in Scrapped Princess, Kiyone (Tenchi Muyos), Haruhi (Haruhi), Yahiko (Rurouni Kenshin)

also did Voice Direction for dubbed Bleach, Director for Outlaw Star, ADR Director for numerous Love Hina’s and Wild Arms 4.

Tiffany Grant –
Kaorin (Azumanga Daioh), Kome (Blue Seed), Yu Inagawa (Comic Party Revolution), Asuka (Neon Genesis Evangelion), Altena (Noir), Kim Hotaru (RahXephon), Haruka (Sister Princess)

David Kaye –
F’ him, he’s Canadian. Worse, his favorite anime is Pokemon, no joke.
… seriously though… Captain Hawk (G.I. Joe), Megatron (Beast Wars, Transformers Cybertron, Transformer Energon, Transformers Armada), Sesshomaru (Inuyasha), Clank (Rachet and Clank), Soun Tendo (Ranma 1/2), Treize (Gundam Wing)

GotWoot? in no way condones the kidnapping of anybody, even $@#!-smoking licensing company executives or their families…

Random rant:
It’s been a while since I’ve been able to add a Ayu release to Baka-Updates, since several admins of Baka-Updates are also part of Ayu…BEAT YA TO IT!

Interesting tidbit:
The long-dead manga scanlation group of Inane seems to be revived! They released 6 chapters of stuff for the first time in like half a year. For all of you guys who don’t know, they used to be among the top scanlators of Naruto.

That’s it for today!

As promised, I asked about AonE doing the Naruto movies. As of right now, chances are looking *very* good that we’ll be subbing them. (No guarantees of course, but we’ll try our hardest!) The situation *could* change if something drastic happened to the key staff on the Naruto project…

Nothing has changed on our position with the second season. Too bad~

Also, in light of some comments of that sad news post that you can read further down:
We thank you guys for all those comments about being sad that we’re done with subbing Naruto. Too bad we’re not going to continue…Anyways, there was also some concern about DDD. You know, if you really wanna help us out, we could use some new blood, so if you think you can join the fansub team, join the IRC channel and message an op.
As for the other Naruto movies, I have no information at this time, but I’ll look into it for you guys.

Dear AonE fans,

After fansubbing Naruto for over 4 years, we regret to inform everyone that we will not be continuing with the series past season one (episode 220). This is for a variety of reasons but the main being that subbing the show is just no longer fun for a lot of the staff members. The show is also a tremendous use of resources for AonE which is hurting our other shows. Naruto Shippuden is not the only show that we are “dropping”, we will also not be continuing with the Gundam SEED Destiny Special Editions. We will however be subbing the Stargazer OVAs. We ARE still subbing Daa! Daa! Daa!, so do not fear DDD fans.

By making these sacrifices, we can better concentrate on our current shows as well as possibly a new one that we are interested in. We will be doing everything possible to catch up on our backload and finish some old shows (BBB, SnS III, etc) before the next season begins.

These decisions have not come easy. There have been many heated discussions behind the scenes. We are facing an evolving fansubbing world, and unless we consolidate our resources we will be unable to keep up.

We are still recruiting for staff members, particularly Translators, QC, and TSers. Please see us on IRC in #aone-recruit (on irc.rizon.net) and private message an op.

Regardless of the show, AonE will continue to provide high quality fansubs for everyone to enjoy. Thank you for all your support!

AonE Staff

Discuss.

Now, I daresay that most of us here know (all too well) what filler is, but for the uninformed, the term refers to non-canonical material introduced to fill space and keep viewers watching, while waiting for the manga artist to get enough plot advanced to continue the canonical plot at a good pace. With very few exceptions, you don’t see filler in shorter series.

But how did this practice come about, you may be wondering to yourself as you slog through yet another “country of tea” or “country of rice” arc of Naruto, waiting for them to get back to the manga story and return to decent production values and reasonably well-crafted and well-told stories instead of the putrid effluent you’ve gotten tired of watching over the last two years. Even worse, how did it get so acceptable as to infect not one but two high-rated shounen action series?

Consider back to the days of Dragon Ball Z. Now, Toriyama had been producing Dragon Ball manga since the mid-1980′s, and the original Dragon Ball TV series is largely free of filler, but Dragon Ball Z resorted to it. Look at the Frieza saga, and you see this horrible pacing (several episodes of screaming and powering up, and very little else) which happened when the series caught up with the manga. That arc singlehandedly destroyed the good name of the series. Anime producers learned that nobody really likes that crap, and generally abandoned the practice of artificially slowing down the series by tying a 22-minute episode to a single 20-page chapter of manga.

So then they came up with a clever idea: introduce non-canonical action, stuff that doesn’t really matter or count, but buys the mangaka some time. And the Garlic Jr. saga (also horrible) came about. You’re really damned if you do, damned if you don’t… but a bit less so for inserting filler instead of slowing the series down.

But sometimes that idea backfires, especially if the filler is particularly bad. Rurouni Kenshin is the classic example of this: The first episode up through about episode 63 (the end of the Kyoto arc) is canonical, manga-sourced material. Then, at the end of that sequence, the cast takes a slow stroll back home, visits some hot springs, and then gets embroiled in these really incredibly stupid Geomancer and Christians arcs. Now, the Christians arc is … tolerable. It’s not great, but it’s tolerable. But the Geomancer arc is arguably the worst thing to happen to a reasonably good series since … well, ever. Faced with the declining popularity of the show, the tv stations cancelled it before it could pull itself out of the ratings nosedive that the poorly-constructed filler brought about.

The lesson here: if you’re going to have to use filler, you need to at least make it entertaining and well-crafted. Doing things that are clearly outside of the scope of how the universe should behave (geomancers, bounto, meteorite-chakra) are bad ideas, they make viewers forget to suspend their disbelief, and really snap them out of the show, and then they get tired of it and go watch something else.

But there’s another way you could go: the Hunter x Hunter route. Togashi was drawing HxH as the show aired, and after 62 episodes, the series caught up with the manga, and left the story in a place where you couldn’t really just transplant the characters into non-canonical story. And you also couldn’t jump ahead of the manga, because of possible story conflicts that would occur. So they just stopped doing the TV show, and released a couple of OVA series to finish out the pending parts of the plot (up through the end of the Greed Island arc). Good thing, too, ’cause Togashi’s been pretty slow about drawing the rest of the series, spending large amounts of time on sick leave for some unspecified reason. It’s best, if a series isn’t going to see itself through to completion in an animated for, just to engage in the Fremen “Philosophy of the Knife” — that is, if it doesn’t look like it’s going to end, cut it off, then you can say “there, it ends here.” Or, to put it another way, choose how to end it before the fans and the studio lose interest and force it down on a bad note.

But with Naruto and Bleach, there’s hope. The fillers will eventually end. Hopefully sooner rather than later. The upcoming manga is already comfortably ahead of the anime in both cases. Naruto bought nearly 2 more years for Kishimoto to finish more storyline, and he’s made regular, consistent, somewhat exciting progress. Manga-readers can’t wait to see that stuff animated. Similarly, Kubo’s got some interesting stuff going on in Bleach, and again manga-readers can’t wait to see it come to life.

Naruto and Bleach can get away with it, because they’ve been extremely well-received in general. But their ratings are still suffering, and filler isn’t sustainable forever. Both series have learned from past mistakes though, and while it’s generally crappy (ie: Bleach spending a full episode having the crew frantically running away from water), it’s still better than destroying good material by catching up to the manga and wrecking the pacing of the show.

Still, this stuff is there for a reason, and that reason is that the TV production began “too early” on both shows, to capitalize on the popularity of the manga. But that’s really not a fair evaluation: if Naruto had been started in 2004 instead of 2002, there would have been no need for filler at this point, but there would also have been no huge groundswell of anime fandom that resulted from it, the market as a whole would be smaller and the world would be a different place.

Was it the right decision to walk the filler-littered path? Probably, in the case of Naruto and Bleach. But it’s certainly a dangerous one.

Good stories take time to put together, and it’s hard to tell an epic over a decade when you’re publishing a chapter a week… a lot of planning and preparation has to go into it, to decide exactly where the series is going and how it’s getting there. Authors like Stephen King can pull it off (with his Dark Tower series spanning 1982-2004), and Rowling’s story of the 6-ish years of planning and writing she put into the first book in the Harry Potter series are a bit telling of how that can be done too. But both King and Rowling only have to publish a total of 7 times, they can sit on their storylines and ruminate for months, revising the story, weaving later hints at the story into earlier parts. By publishing as they go, manga authors have a lot less of that flexibility — they can’t go back after chapter 20, and insert pages into chapter 2.

Moreover, good storytellers deserve our support, whether they be bomb-droppers like King and Rowling or incremental builders like Kishimoto and Kubo. So, while it’s disheartening to watch the things we enjoy slide downhill, have faith that the stuff that’s coming up is going to be worth the wait.

======================================
Update to address some of the things that have been commented on:

Yes, you’re right, a year and a half is not 2 years (unless you’re rounding pretty coarsely :p). However, any guesses as to the end of the Naruto filler are also pure speculation at this point. It’s not over yet. Maybe it’ll be over this week, maybe it’ll be over this season, maybe it won’t. They very well COULD make another season worth of filler and get away with it.

Dragon Ball Z’s poor pacing in the Frieza saga indeed did not kill the series, but it DID wreck its reputation among anyone turning even the mildest critical eye at the show. Drooling fanboys will be happy as long as there’s pretty colors and some semblance of fighting, and if that’s the only market you’re able to keep happy, at least it’s a lucrative enough one in Japan (and the US, I might add) to keep the show on the air. The thing is, if you mention DBZ to anyone, ANYONE in the US who hasn’t really given it more of a chance than it probably deserved in the first place, the first thing they’ll think of isn’t the series’ profuse “redemption” and “karmic atonement” themes, but the screaming and powering up. The show lived, but the reputation of the show died.

Stopping the airing of the show is likewise a bad idea. When you do that, you automatically lose an embedded, habitual viewer base. Yes, the TV studios are out to make money, and as long as the show is profitable, they’ll make their money. But more than that, when a show stops airing, it’s extremely unlikely that the show will ever air again. The ONLY examples I can think of are Family Guy and Futurama — american shows largely killed by Fox’s poor scheduling practices, and largely revived by their extremely vigorous DVD sales pointing to an eager marketplace. However, the other canonical example would again be Ruroni Kenshin, which ended up with another substantial story arc that never got animated and never will. Further, HxH has another several volumes worth of manga drawn, but there haven’t even been credible rumors of another series in production to address those.

But the only things that have successfully done that have been episodic in nature. The Hunter X Hunter experiment, while it sold some dvds and tapes, is largely a failure — even with a successful OVA, nobody in the production chain is going to make nearly the revenues that a successful TV show (with all the trappings: merchandizing, accessorizing, advertising, movie spinoffs) would make. When it was airing, the TV show generalized to virtually all of East Asia (at least, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore), and on into several arab nations too. The OVAs simply aren’t going to get that level of penetration, no matter what they do, because of all the new licenses that would have to be hammered out for every locale.

Even though the Naruto fillers are decidedly causing some people to lose interest in the series, they’re still making substantial amounts of money, keeping up the feeling of continuity for the viewers, and generally working out for everyone involved. While the latest movie didn’t stay in the top couple of movies in Japan very long, it did make it into the top 5 (if I remember correctly, I haven’t found a source for that) — not a bad achievement, but a complete failure compared to the stellar performance of the first two movies.

And now ANN has actually taken those titles off of their site! As such this post is altered to fit their current information and really doesn’t offer up any hope at all of the end of Naruto fillers… so who knows how long they’ll continue… wtf?

for the love of humanity can’t it just end already?!

original post (behind the cut):

This could be a pre-mature crying of wolf, but recent releases of upcoming episode titles of Naruto have strongly supported that the wretched fillers will in fact be ending in the near future. The following is a prospective list of titles for upcoming Naruto episodes from Anime News Network, whom I trust. (obviously i was wrong here…)

Like I said, ANN is a pretty trustworthy source, and I pray they’re right on this (or I’m going to look like one big ass clown for posting this…)

The fillers really put Naruto on the back-burner for me, serving up mediocre episodes over and over again that I just couldn’t stand to watch after awhile. I know that others, especially those following the manga, are as eager as I am to see Naruto get back on track and start being awesome again.

Well, that’s about it. I’m sure most people reading this have already seen the topic on it in our forums, but I felt this was frontpage worthy news.

For more discussion of the end of Naruto filler episodes, see the forum thread:

http://forums.gotwoot.net/showthread.php?t=13449&page=18

You can expect delays on most of our projects, specially Naruto, since its entire folder on the ftp was wiped clean.

Needless to say, months of hard work have gone down the drain because of someone’s immaturity. We’re still waiting to see what actions Rizon management will take on this matter.

*UPDATE*

TheWGP has been fired/banned from Rizon by the Rizon management. We’re satisfied with this outcome and consider this issue closed.

We’d like to thank the Rizon management for their swift and appropriate action in this matter.

Now that that’s out of the way, we are now working on getting the projects back up to speed somehow.

Hey now, there’s no need to shout at me. And you’re in it. (And I’m a sword, awesome!)

I’m… in it? (hey why am i all grainy all of a sudden?)

Yes, you are in it. Rather you are it… well your VA is.

… Oh… I guess I am… Kickass! So who am I in real life?

I was getting to that. You are:

AKIRA ISHIDA!

Hey, why do I look so damn retarded?!?!1 What’s up with my eyes?

Dude you need to chill out. That’s what you look like…
…you’re just in SEED Mode…

And why and how did I come to go SEED Mode?! (I look retarded like that…)

Well, if we’d ever actually been explained that in either of the Gundam SEED series, maybe I’d have an answer for you. But your retard of a creator, HeWhoShallNotBeNamed, never really got around to addressing how people go SEED, or who can go SEED, or why it gives you incredible power, or why it changes the person’s eyes, or what it even is or-

Is this another one of your rants about why Fukuda sucks c***?

… … Yes (and I said he shall not be named!)

Can we please get to the point of this thing? This is taking forever

Yeah, come on. I have places to go, people to kill, sand castles to build.

This is even more pathetic than Shinji Ikari without his Prozac…

Look at me, I am wearing a monocle!

Wtf?! Where’d all these people come from?!

… looks like the rest of Ishida’s characters got tired of waiting for their turn to speak… Thank god I only bothered to DL pics of some of them… The guy has voiced well over 100 characters, no joke, and almost half of them have had important roles. He’s even done videogames and dubs for movies (they picked him to do Luke Skywalker, Luke friggin Skywalker!) That may give you a hint how big of a star this guy is.

Hey, I’m Luke Skywalker and I came to save you!

Thanks Gaara. That could have gotten annoying fast.

It’s what I do.

…. moving right along… Anyhow, Akira Ishida is a pretty big star, especially as of recently. As you already might have gathered he voiced Athrun Zala from the most recent Gundam series, SEED and SEED Destiny. Athrun had a big part in both series, and Ishida put in some really high quality work. A voice like that has to have a wide range, screaming, crying, serious, joking, and some of Ishida’s performances in SEED were among the best moments in the entire show. Won’t put in spoilers here, but Athrun had some very emotional scenes in SEED that were done excellently. In particular he does the ‘screaming madly while crying’ and the ‘depressed/indignant’ (both being very separate and different states) to the T.
.
Ishida also voices the widely popular (and totally bats*** insane) Gaara of the Desert from Naruto. Ishida’s work on Gaara is top-notch. Early on he has a very ‘emotionless killer’ voice, but as the character grows Ishida subtly adds in other tones, but without making it seem like a total change in character or out of place. The creepy voice he uses for Gaara fits the character perfectly.

.
Speaking of creepy, today we have a special new addition for you all, an actual sound clip from one of his roles! Ishida has not only done recent popular roles. The clips we have for you are from his role as Kaworu from the much famed, loved, hated, (whatever you think of Eva you have to admit its impact on anime has been huge) Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Could you just let them listen to my beautiful voice already? And why not give them a bigger picture of my oh-so-sexy self?

That’s Kaworu. He was actually a really interesting and nice-guy (very, very, very nice…) character in Eva, but several years of being worshiped by blood-drinking cults of yaoi fangirls has made him a little spoiled and conceited…

Why haven’t I gotten a speaking line in so long?!?!11 I’m obviously the most important character here!

Sad how wealth and fame can ruin a person. (even fictional ones)

Well said Judeau. Almost makes me glad that your anime (Berserk) never got too much attention. Yours was a real good role for Ishida too, casual and friendly, but with some really powerful and well-delivered lines, especially in the last episode.

Why thank you masa! (and did you mention to tell them that the Berserk manga is the absolute most godly manga ever? Which the anime hardly does justice to…)

Justice! Hey that’s the name of my Gundam!

Hey Assrun, shouldn’t you be out somewhere whoring the Gundam name to sell more model kits of your crappy Gundam or something like that? (and yes Judeau, the Berserk manga is without a doubt the epitome of manga.)

What did u jut say about my Gundam!?!11

Why do I feel like the focus isn’t where its supposed to be here? Romi Paku got a perfectly respectable article written on her… *sighs*

I believe you just made a grammar error. It should be it’s, rather than its. I know because I wear a monocle and am smart and stuff. Oh, I’m Cho Hakkai from Gensomaiden Saiyuki: Journey to the West. I’m a rather calm and intellectual character that Ishida also voices, but masa never really liked the show so he’s-

Focusing on the characters that deserve the spotlight. Thank you, I am speaking again. Yes, you’re welcome. Another pic of me? Of course, you can never get too much Kaworu. Hey, isn’t there supposed to be a sound clip of me sometime soon?

He insulted my Gundam! What kind of anime fan r u anyhow? Don’t you know how r0xorz I am!!11

I. Want. To. Kill. Something…

Phew, finally made it! Hey all I’m Sasuke (no, not that one) from Samurai Deeper Kyo. Nice to-

Sasuke? Sasuke must die!

Regardless of your error in judgment, I’m glad he’s gone. More spotlight for me.

Mecha bishounen are all the same. Nothing compared to monster anime bish

And WHO the f*** are you?

He’s Xelloss from Slayers Next (and some other Slayers series). I’m Chrono from Chrono Crusade. Ishida also voiced us. We heard there was going to be a feature on our VA and didn’t want all the spoiled mecha whiners to steal the spotlight. We came with Sasuke from SDK… Speaking of, where is Sasuke?

Talk bad about mecha again and you’ll be joining him!

Dude if I wanted s*** from you I’d squeeze your head.

ARR!!

Dude you just totally stole my kill!

Can we just roll that sound clip already? This is getting out of hand. If you forgot, it’s a short clip from Kaworu in Evangelion. In English the line is “I think I was born to meet you.” (you have no idea how many different versions of the translation I found… that about sums it up though.) “Akira Ishida-Kaworu- sound byte’

Music to your ears isn’t it? I am surely Ishida’s defining role! Don’t you have another of me?

Actually yes, I do. This one is a clip of you and another character in Eva. The first, lower voice that speaks for most of it is Ishida’s Kaworu, and the higher-pitched responses (they’re one word repetitions of words Kaworu just said, asked in a question) are someone else.

kaworu sound byte

If you can’t tell why I’m being so cryptic it’s because while that sound byte doesn’t contain a ‘spoiler’ per se, it is an important dialogue part from late in the series. Those of you who want to know what it says can feel free to e-mail me or sign up on the forums and send me a Private Message there. Here’s a hint, it’s super creepy…

Creepy! How dare you call me creepy! I was just- Hey! What the F*** did you do to my beautiful face?! You didn’t even bother to match the eyes up properly! This is an outrage!

Kaworu I think you’re done here… (and I can give SEED eyes to whomever I please)

No! No no no no no! I will not accept this! I’m beautiful I don’t need to take this s*** from someone who’s probably a fat, pimply 30+ virgin living in his parents house! I’m a star! I-

Gaara, sic ‘em.

Hey, no, wait! I’ll be good I- Oh, hey is that a new pic of me there? Lookin good Kaworu! Hey, wait a second my eyes are supposed to be red! Those are still those stupid SEE-

Sweet, sweet massacre…

(remind me not to piss that guy off, ever…)

That just goes to show… You need to buy my Gundam model kit!

Oh no, not this again… I can’t imagine Amuro Ray being like this…

Can I kill him?

You want to try it buddy?!1

I will have order! Do you know how much trouble I’m going to be in with the bandwidth I’m probably blowing on this thing?!

But he insulted my Gundam!

And I want to use his bones for my sandcastle I’ve been looking for a femur about that size…

Can I get some lines here please? … … … Alex Dino is such a gay name…

WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!

SILENCE! I SWEAR I’M ABOUT TO KILL ALL OF YOU!

…………

(Kill me? Hah, I’d totally kick his ass!)

…

Wait? You heard that?!

Gaara look at me, I’m an ancient burning samurai sword, in SEED mode nonetheless. Yes I heard that. Goodbye.

Now we will continue this article in an orderly fashion! Next person to let out so much as a peep can kiss their ass goodbye!

Good! Now, as I was saying, Akira Ishida is also an interesting individual. Among his hobbies are-

ACHOO!

… … Was that second shot even necessary?

Alex Dino is a perfectly good alias. You hear me? No, no you don’t CUZ UR F*** DEAD! I F*** PWNED YOUR MONOCLE WEARING ASS!

… you don’t get laid enough do you?

Guys don’t push it. There’s a reason you’re both still alive and the others are dead…

So I can promote my Model Kits! Coming out next month is-

…

The correct answer was: we’re still alive cuz you’re playing favorites?

Bingo. Out of all those characters you (and then) Athrun are my favorites of the one Ishida’s voiced.

Damn it feels good to be number one! Hey, I think that third episode of Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya is finally done DLing. Wanna go watch it?

Yeah why not. This month’s article is all f**** up anyway…

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… … are they gone? … … And no more SEED eyes! Phew… Well, for those of you who managed to stick around, here’s some actual info about me!

Like was said, I’ve voiced hundreds of characters. Anime, movies, video games, I’ve even sung in an OVA theme song and performed in a musical! Yeah, I’m sorta a big deal.

But at the same time I often try not to let my characters ‘steal’ the show. I just do the role the artist had in mind, even if that character has potential to dominate every scene. I’ve been told I compliment the other characters on screen very well while still doing the job with my character (Xellos, Hellsing Next- Hakkai, Saiyuki).

Another reoccurring trait in most of my characters is that I have them speak politely, even in tense/dramatic situations. This is actually sort of funny because it takes a ridiculously long time to say things formally in Japanese!
Funny enough, I’ve often been paired up with Hoshi Soichiro in numerous animes where he plays my friend/companion. Me and him have been (Me on the left/Soichiro on the right): Athrun/Kira, Gundam SEED. Hakkai/Goku, Saiyuki. Inumaru/Sano Seiichirou, Law of Ueki. Naoji/Camus, Meine Liebe. Kai/Ran, Sukisho. Dunno why we always get paired together like that… well guess it’s bound to happen when you’re in as many animes as I’ve been.

I’ve also been in: Blood+ (Joel), Cyborg 009 (Apollo), D.N.Angel (Satoshi Hiwatari), Gunparade March (Atsushi Hayami), Kiddy Grade (Un-oh), Mai-Hime (Nagi Homura), Mai-Otome (Nagi Artai), Sailor Moon SuperS (Fisheye), as well as many many more!
Oh, I also have a sound byte on my website! Masa has no idea what I’m saying in it though. http://www.mausu.net/talent/tpdb_view.cgi?UID=76 Click the button below my pic to listen!

Finally! If any of you are cute single women in the Japan area (preferably with blue eyes, my favorite color) we can go for a romantic dinner of curry rice and I can drive you around on my hot motorcycle. Oh and if you taste or smell like peaches that’s only an added bonus… (I loooove peaches! Millions of peaches, peaches for me, millions of peaches, peaches for free~~)
(props to Athrun0wnzall -dude i totally made fun of your favorite character though!- and sheva for their input)