ANIME AND MANGA
4-6-08: Appleseed Ex Machina DVD Review
by Sarah Hodge-Wetherbe
While in the middle of a conversation behind the scenes at anime Boston recently, I mentioned to a friend that I was a big fan of the work of Masamune Shirow, and they looked at me like I had just sprouted a Dragon Ball Z hairstyle.
“Really?” He said “I don’t know that many women that like his stuff!”
Granted, Shirow likes to draw his girls in fairly skimpy clothes. Major Kusanagi, of Ghost in the Shell, wears an outfit to work 2 steps removed from a bondage costume. Still, he has always written strong female characters and interesting plots, and so I can’t really say my experience with his work has lead me to the same conclusion as my friend. I think there’s plenty in Shirow’s worlds for women to enjoy.
Appleseed I think is the property that showcases this best. Deunan Knute, the main female protaganist, is one of the most likeable characters in anime. Funny, spunky, strong, and surprisingly tender at times, Deunan represents some of the best in anime characters….a Shonen girl who isn’t just eye candy.
The recent film Appleseed Ex Machina taps into that well, although not as well as it could. At its heart, it’s an unashamed action flick exsisting mainly to pound up the rock music while characters fight, shoot, and fly. But it’s a fun ride, and the fact that the movie doesn’t try to make itself more than that is actualy an assett.
Rather than make this a direct sequal, the film stands alone. It could be a sequal to the 2004 film Appleseed, but it also might simply stand alone as another telling of the story. This way, both fans of the first film, and those new to the franchise can both dive right in with no hesitation.
There is an underlying hint of character development that is handled much more evenly than the 2004 film. I was delighted to find that this film captured the romance between the two main characters, Deunan and Briareos perfectly. The manga was always an action book first, but Shirow always made it clear these two were lovers, and in a very sweet and amusing way: They mess with each other. Like real couples, they pick on each other, tease each other, but always in a way that makes it clear they love each other deeply. There are moments of serious romance, but most of it is handled in a light hearted manner.
Because Ex Machina has a subplot about a clone that looks exactly as Briareos did before he was made a cyborg, the serious side of their romance was the more common theme, but they did manage to catch the teasing aspect of their relationship in brilliant but simple moments. The relationship really becomes the core of the film, despite the shoot-em-ups and wild exposions, and that’s what makes this film a little something extra special.
Its far from perfect mind you. The plot to take over the world revolves around the idea that the people making it happen want perfect world peace, an end to suffering. But their plan results in huge violence, and terrible suffering and its all part of their design. Some of the love triangle between D, Bri, and the clone seems forced, and the minister of Olympus and her assistant seem very cold and uncaring even for clones. (Especialy clones that have been made to keep peace and life going).
The biggest complaint I have is the animation. It actualy seems worse in this than in the 2004 film. I kept thinking of the animation in the old TV series Reboot. Fortunatly the voice cast saves the characters from being un-emotional videogame clips by getting across in their performances what the animation lacks in facial expression.
Still, the film is very enjoyable, and if you’re good at saying “ah I’ll buy it just to keep the movie going” few of these bumps in the plot are going to bother you. With a soundtrack that fits the film very well, and characters that are well thought out for the most part, its an enjpyable sci-fi epic with a surprising heart.
There is rumor that an Appleseed TV series is in the works in Japan. I hope so. This property has a lot of potential to draw anime fans of many tastes together for one great story.
3 ½ out of 5 “Clones that look like my boyfriend before he turned into a big metal rabbit”
2-15-08: The Dreaming Volume 1 Review
by Sarah Hodge-Wetherbe
Tokyopop has made a name for itself in America as one of the largest Manga companies in the US. It has also become known for its expansion from providing solely Japanese Manga, to offering Manga style books from all over the world. This is an indirect result of their yearly “Rising Stars of Manga” contest that encourages amateur artists and writers from all over to submit short pieces for publication, and has led to many young would be manga-creators getting a green light to create their own books for the company.
Because of this, Tokyopop is partially responsible for a dividing line between Manga fans: Those who will try Manga style books from other countries, and those that declare manga to be Japanese only.
The term manga itself is defined, according to Webster’s online as “A Japanese Comic of Graphic Novel.” Yet one can’t ignore the influx of influence manga has on the comics of America.
There’s much debate on what to call American books done in a manga style. Manga? Post-Manga? Amerimanga? OEL (Original English Language) Manga? The debate rages.
This review will not try and sort out these conflicts. Its important to note that for the future, any Manga Style books that are created by artists outside Japan will be referred to in these reviews as “Manga-style” books. A bit term heavy, but until the comics community agrees on something better, there it stands.
The Dreaming is a manga style book created by Australian writer/artist Queenie Chan. The story takes place at an Australian boarding school, and tackles a very common theme in Australian storytelling: Schoolgirls disappearing into the bush.
Like Picnic at Hanging Rock, this is a low-grade gothic horror story. All the classic elements are here. A school laden with a curse that has something to do with twins. Two new students who just happen to be twins. Prophetic dreams. Séances. A student who goes missing in the middle of the night. Teachers and administrators who seem to be at this school for the sole purpose of dropping cryptic remarks and being harsh and unreasonable.
It’s not so much that the book is bad. It’s simply that there’s nothing very exciting or original about it. When reading it, it’s easy to imagine the story as a 1960’s hammer horror film. Fine if you want to MST3K it, not so good when you’re looking for a good thrill.
The atmosphere is there, and the artwork is passable in the manga style, but there’s no originality about it. The characters seem to have 3 facial expressions: Terrified, angry, or smiling. There’s nothing in between, every look seems to be pumped up a few notches of the volume to try and get a feeling across. Fine if the heroine is being chased by zombies, or laughing hysterically, but odd when she’s sitting in class.
There are some nice detailed touches in the art. Chan has a nice grasp on designing Victorian style clothing and atmosphere. Unfortunately so many of these touches are used to try and create a creepy environment and only come across as laughable. The paintings done by a former student of the same group of women (First at tea, and then in a later painting chasing one of their own with butcher knives) could have been very creepy set pieces, but instead come off as over the top and corny.
The characters unfortunately come across the same. Very few characters seem to do anything that’s not obviously in service of the story. The aunt that warns the girls not to tell anyone that they’re twins basically says “You absolutely must not tell….but don’t worry your pretty heads about it.” No person in their right mind would let an order like that go without question, but these characters only make the most basic of arguments before they drop the subject. One twin is over the top cheerful and needy to get along, the other is a mopey gothic girl that makes Beetlejuice’s Lydia look like a cheerleader. Neither comes off as very sympathetic. We aren’t given much time to know them before the scary dreams start, so when things start snowballing, we don’t really care what’s happening to them. The girl who goes missing shows some kindness, but in an odd aloof way that makes it hard to care about her, or be concerned when she vanishes.
Some of the touches, like the re-appearance of girls with no faces in the paintings, or girls in the dream sequences with blank eyes like marble statues, are eerie, but they’ve also been done before to death (Pun intended), and that makes them merely creepy rather than horrifying.
Other Aspects don’t make sense. The school has a strict policy of not allowing students into the bush at any time because of the past disappearances. And it’s pretty clear by the weird behaviors of the teachers that they believe that the students vanishing were anything but normal accidents or kidnappings. Something supernatural seems to be going on, and those in charge seem to know it. Near the end of volume 1, when a girl vanishes and history is repeating itself. Yet, the same faculty that has kittens when students are walking the halls at night, never mind going into the dreaded bush, allow these kids to join the search party and head into the woods in a group with no adults. It serves the events of the story, but makes no sense considering the behavior of the adults previously.
Horror can be done and done well by leaving a lot to the viewer’s imagination. The Blair Witch Project and The Last Broadcast both did this sort of horror well. In order to do it though, one has to be able to put a fresh spin on the idea, and Chan fails to do that.
Perhaps it’s just that this is volume one and she is getting her sails unfurled. Maybe the book will blossom into a real horror manga in the future. But for now, one gets the same sense from “The Dreaming” as from the pg-13 American versions of Japanese horror films: All Atmosphere and no bite.
2.5 Victorian Ghosts out of 5
1-7-08: Ark Angels Volumes 1 & 2 Review
by Sarah Hodge-Wetherbe
Manhwa (Korean-Comics) are getting as much buzz lately as their Japanese counterparts manga. Particularly with Tokyopop’s introduction of many manhwa titles into the American market. Books like Chronicles of the Cursed Sword and Faeries' Landing are just as well known as any manga.
Ark Angels is another of these manhwa. First published in america in 2005, Ark Angels tells the story of three magical-girl sisters that are a little more than human. Their father, Noah, has sent them to earth after God has made a deal with him. It seems that humans have been pushing the buttons of the almighty and many of the spirits of nature, planets, and other beings. With all the polution and abuse of the world, and the extinction of animals, many celestial beings think the universe and all the parrell worlds would be better off with no people.
Of course, not everyone agrees. Earth himself steps forward requesting one more chance for the humans. And the girls are chosen to go to earth through diffent periods of time and save the animals that are going extinct by bringing them on their fathers ark. (Which looks like a giant whale…don’t ask, I don’t know either.)
Their mission is judged by a clock. Each animal they save brings the hands back one minute. If they fail, the hands go toward Midnight one minute per vanished animal. If clock strikes midnight, human beings will be whiped out. Right now, its at 9 O’clock.
So we have Shem, the oldest sister, very bubbly and sweet. Hamu, the middle sister, beautiful but hot tempered. And then Japheth, the youngest who has to pretend to be a boy for reasons they don’t give in the first few issues.
Now the biblical influence on this story pretty much ends there. Ark Angels is a great example of the use of western archtypes in asian entertainment, much like the loose adpatation of christian themes in manga like Chrono Crusade.
The three girls travel through time (In each time period they have a limited amont of time to act or they are trapped in that time forever) while using our time as a home base. When they aren’t doing the magical girl thing and saving the animals, they go to highschool like normal girls (Well normal girls and a girl-pretending-to-be-a-boy).
One of the really charming things about the book is how the girls see animals and other parts of nature. To the girls, animals look like human beings. They are dressed in ways that suggest their animal heritage, and have features that suggest them as well (for example a bat person has large bat-wings on their back and pointed ears.) We as the reader see the animals both ways, switching back and forth as the situation calls for it.
All the spirits are shown this way too- The planets in the celestial court are people with planet like-features (Saturn has a headpeice that looks like rings) Plant spirits are people with flowers and vines and leaves on their bodies, etc. This makes it very easy for the reader to sympathise with the creatures, even some who may not be cute and cuddly in their animal forms.
Theres a lot of silly slapstick and jokes. Japanese style exaggerated features and visual gags make the feel of the book not too heavy handed. And the enviormental message is easy because the seriousness is ballanced by the fun and silliness of some of the stories.
Yet there are serious elements. One story dealing with a turtle made me tear up reading it. The emotional balance of the book is very well done.
Of course, we have mysterious beautiful boys that may be helping or hindering our heroines. They also may be possible love interests. By book 2 these mysteries are not yet cleared up, but they add to the overall feel of the book.
The only thing that seems to flaw this book is the predictability of some of the stories. Rarely do you really feel any tension for the characters, as its obvious things will work out for the better.
There are a few intense moments, including one where an evil ship-captain’s ghost is dragged to hell. (For what it is, its fairly tame, mostly a mass of arms coming out of a door that gab him and pull him in, to have the door slam shut.) Not very scary considering its hell, but still intense for any little ones who might be enchanted by the cute characters and charming aspects of the stories. Generaly the age rating on this is spot on: 13+.
Ark Angels is the sort of book you’ll love if you enjoyed things like Pretear and Sailor Moon.
4 out of 5 Turtle Princes
1-1-08: Mail Order Ninja Review
by Sarah Hodge-Wetherbe
One of the most difficult things a writer can try to do is a truly all ages book. Creating something that can keep the attention and interest of an 8 year old, a 16 year old, and a 30 year old is a feat worthy of the greatest magicians to ever walk the pages of mythology. It can be done however, when a story is well crafted and obviously well loved. A recent example of this in movie making was The Incredibles , an animated film that thrilled most of my 20 some odd friends, and the 10 year old kids coming into my library all at the same time.
Josh Elder attempts to tackle the same creation in his manga-style book Mail Order Ninja, and like the adventures of the earlier said superhero family, he succeeds with a funny and charming piece of work.
Mail Order Ninja is the story of young Timmy who like so many kids that love comics and all things geeky, isn’t exactly the big fish of his school. A bullying brute and his lackeys menace him. When they’re done with him, the spoiled rich girl that rules the school pushes him around.His best friend is the biggest nerd in school, his little sister sells his secrets and weaknesses to the big bad bully for a cut of his profit and his life is about two steps away from coma-inducing boredom.
All that changes however when he enters a contest and wins his very own Ninja, which arrives in a large mail order crate.
The book is set around the idea of “What would you do if you won your own ninja” and it wastes no time using the idea to its fullest extent.
Part of the charm of the story is the surreal world Timmy lives in. Mom and Dad react to said ninja as if he was a stray dog, finally agreeing to let Timmy keep him as long as he feeds and waters him. The school Bully has a license from the American Bullying Association. Timmy’s gym class starts doing the full ninja workout everyday. Jiro, our ninja, can sing like Barry Manilow and dance like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever. And when the spoiled rich girl, Felicity, decided to get her own Ninja to take over the city, things really get interesting.
The storyline is lighthearted and absurd, and kids will get a kick out of the concept. Who hasn’t wished as a kid they had someone bigger and stronger and tougher to protect them, and do things for them. And a real bond of friendship develops between Jiro and Timmy, so they seem more like best pals that owner and servant.
We even have a love story as Sarah Melton, Timmy’s teacher, falls for Jiro. This of course sets up a series of “Yuck, kissing stuff” jokes, but still manages to be sweet at the same time.
The style of the book is fast paced. Characters get introduction bios as they come into the book, and these add to the quirky humor. Much of the adult humor lays in the references to Disco, parodies of old 70’s and 80’s songs, and other subtle but noticeable tips of the hat for the older readers. But the story is well paced, and the characters funny enough to keep older kids and adults interested even without the big-kid jokes.
Elder also makes gentle fun of the anime and manga culture, the debate about the validity of manga-style American books, and even his own publishing company, Tokyopop. One never gets the feeling that these goofs are mean spirited, but rather are pokes from someone who loves these things as much as most of his readers do.
There are lots of inside joked for the geek-readers. Not just Manga and Anime references, but goofs on Kung Fu flicks, Sci-fi, American comics (Including an essay on which ninja’s are coolest by Charles Eastman-Laird… and if you don’t get that joke, think turtles.), and much more. The books really need to be read several times to catch all the references and visual gags, and that only adds to the readers enjoyment.
With lines like “Wussitude draws bullies like zombies to a Mensa convention”, Elder mixes geek culture with intelligent references in a hysterical mix appealing to both kids and adults.
Mail Order Ninja is layers on layers of fun. For any geek of any age. Books 1 and 2 flow into each other, with book 2 finishing the story arc. Book 3, one can assume, will start a new story. Try as I might, I can’t seem to find a release date for number 3, but that means you have plenty of time to get the full extent of the wonderful madness of volumes 1 and 2.
5 “Ninja Loving Sarah’s” out of 5
12-18-07: NY Anime Festival Report--Part 1
by Sarah Hodge-Wetherbe
Since sneaking into the convention scene in the 1980’s, Anime conventions have rapidly caught up to their fantasy/sci-fi counterparts, and then surpassed them. With little exception, most sci-fi cons are doing well if they boast 2000 people. Anime cons often top out at 5,000 or more.
The numbers aren’t yet in for the first New York Anime Festival, but its just this one fan’s guess that NYAF will quickly be pulling in statistics with the big dogs. As it should be, for the convention ran a grand show.
The first thing that struck me going into the Javits center is the sheer size of it. The layout is very different, but the sheer space reminds me of the Hynes convention center that is home to Anime Boston every spring.
A large space is a good thing in the sense it allows a con to have plenty of room to grow. A poorly designed space can be a problem though, if it makes for difficult travel by your attendees. Fortunately, the center is designed well, with a circular flow on the convention floor.
There was some early confusion on Friday as to where the panel rooms actually were. At first the con seemed to be just the dealers’ room. Signs were posted but were unclear about exactly where we were to go. The rooms are around on the other side of the hall, and it was tricky to see where at first. However once that was cleared up, it became obvious what the layout of the center was.
I also liked very much how the panel rooms were organized. Each room had a theme and all panels within that room fit the theme. There was a manga room, and anime room, an anime culture room, and an anime fandom room. Generally this made it much easier to find where a panel would be. A workshop on the history of Ninja? Go to the anime culture room.
It only got confusing with some of the industry and guest panels. Generally, companies that put out mostly anime would be featured in the anime room. Makes sense. But a panel about voice acting by the actor guests was in the anime culture room, not the anime room. That’s more of an industry panel, and should have been in the anime room. But generally, odd choices like that were minor and few.
The Screening rooms were arranged as well. All anime was screened in the room for the company that produced it. All live action film was screened in the, you guessed it, the live action video room. Want to see some Pumpkin Scissors? Head for the ADV video room.
Convention food is never cheep, but I have to give credit to the center for choosing vendors that may be charging eye popping prices, but at least produce excellent quality food for the pay. I can still smell the waffles….mmmmmmm.
Unfortunately I wasn’t able to make it down on Thursday, so I missed the Pre-con ICV2 conference. For some very good coverage of it, check out www.animenewsnetwork.com.
Friday afternoon, I attended the first industry panel: Manga Entertainment. Several big announcements occurred, including the release dates for the box sets of Noien and Tokko in February.
They will also be releasing a new anime in August called Straight Jacket. We were able to see a clip, and although there were no subtitles I was intrigued with what was presented. It seems to be a combination of a steam punk adventure, a horror story, with a dose of what appears to be ceremonial magic. A horrific monster is hunting a girl, something that looks like a man mutated into a giant slug squid. The heroes apparently gain mystical armor by having symbols painted on them, which turn into armor after they enter a steam powered machine. They use guns, but they also seem to use spells by invoking circles of magical symbols in the air. They have to save the girl, and appear to have the power to blow up huge buildings to do so. This is all my best guess from visuals, but it looks a bit like Full Metal Alchemist meets H.P Lovecraft.
They also announced in July of 2008 will be the release of Tokyo Zombie, described by one of the Manga/Starz Reps as a “Japanese Shaun of the Dead”.
The Manga Entertainment website has also undergone a complete redesign. Folks have a look at http://www.manga.com/ and check out the new features, including the ability to see previews, and even choose to pay-per-download episodes and series.
Del-Ray Publishing held a panel on Friday afternoon as well announcing some of their upcoming releases.
Some of the more interesting titles were Mao-Chan, with a release date of September 2008, a manga about a Japanese general’s adorable daughter who has to defend Japan against invading aliens that rely on their cuteness to win. Papillion follows, coming in October 2008. Created by Miwa Ueda, known for the hit Peach Girl, it’s the story of a shy girl who exists in the shadow of her popular and outgoing sister. Also in the fall, they will release the manga adaptation of the anime Gankutsuoh, itself based on “The Count of Monte Cristo”
The title I found most interesting however, is the summer 2008 release of “Me and The Devil Blues”. This is by Akira Hiramoto, and tells the story of blues legend Robert Johnson. The concept is that the ledged that Johnson made a pact with the devil to be a great blues musician is true, and takes the story from there. It’s an unexpected concept for a manga, and a real breath of fresh air. I’ll be looking forward to reading it next summer.
A few other titles that jumped out: Yozakura Quartet, described as a Japanese x-men, in spring of 2008. Also next spring, Hellgirl, a gothic horror manga. And in the same vein, Dark Wars, the tale of Dracula’s escape after the Bram Stoker novel to Japan, and the Meiji era warriors that battle him.
For the lovers of American fantasy, Terry Brook’s “Dark Wraith of Shannara” is also being adapted into a manga in Spring of 2008.
I ended my day by sitting in on Tom Wayland, and Michael Sinterniklass’ panel on voice acting. There were surprise guests: Lisa Ortiz (slayers, Pokemon), Jamie McGonnigal (Pokemon, Yu-gi-oh), and Rachel Lillis (Pokémon, Revolutionary Girl Utena).
Mike Sinterniklass is maybe best known in America as the voice of Dean Venture on the Venture brothers, and Tom Wayland has produced over 200 shows. So the panel was packed with people that really know the ins and outs of the business. Most of what was said is actually things I’ve heard before: You have to live where the work is, you have to have a demo that grabs attention and doesn’t let go, Make it professional and polished, make it funny. There were also some tricks I hadn’t heard….if a woman has to do a lot of high pitched screaming, picking a high note and “singing” the scream is easier on the throat. I also discovered Lisa Ortiz is a very funny woman.
The con ended at 7pm, very early for an anime convention, so it was back across the river for me to the hotel.
Check back in a few days for part two of Sarah's report!!
12-20-07: NY Anime Festival Report--Part 2
by Sarah Hodge-Wetherbe
Saturday
Saturday I attended the Media Blasters panel. Besides Anime, this company has brought things like Invader Zim to DVD for the home market. Their big announcement is that they are now delving into the world of video games as well as DVD’s.
This is also the company that brought back Voltron with the recent DVD release of the original show, and there were quite a few stories of finding old Voltron footage in the original studio building the American version was edited in.
Media Blasters is also co-producing live action films, with releases like Death Trance, Vs. and Machine Girl.
Two announcements at the panel peeked my interest. The company will be releasing “Go Lions” the original show that Voltron was assembled from. They will also be releasing the classic Osamu Tezuka anime “Phoenix” which deals with the quest for immortality and deep spiritual themes.
The crown Jewel of the Media Blasters announcements was the release of a free online game the company is adapting from its Japanese counterpart. Altril is an online card battle game with RPG elements. The game can be seen at http://www.alteil.com/, and soon will be taking registration for Beta Play. The artwork is beautiful, and the game seems structures around a combination of luck and strategy. There’s no downloading, everything is web-based. Perfect for those long workdays in the cubicle.
The rest of Saturday I actually spent walking around the dealers room, and observing the general crowds. One of the things I noticed right off, was the ease at which the “comic” fans and the “Anime/Manga” fans met. There’s speculation that there are hostilities between the two parties, but many stands were selling items from both, and the American comic book cosplayers were greeted warmly and admired as much as the Anime ones. I think the lines between factions of geek culture are blurring, and the NYAF seemed to reflect this well.
I also spent a fair amount of Saturday talking with the creator of the webcomic Dominic Deegan Orale for hire: Michael “Mookie” Terracciano. Mookie is always a great con guest, and a lot of fun to be around. I hope next year they’ll give him room more on the main floor, as I think the popularity of his webcomic should merit a little more profile than the table at the edge of the bathrooms, but its hard to miss Mookie no matter where he is. Friendly, funny, and charming, he attracts folks to his table with sheer personality. I got a great audio interview with him, which will be on the show in the near future, and I’d highly recommend his comic to anyone looking for a good fantasy story with a nice balance of laughs and drama. www.dominic-deegan.com/
Sunday
Sunday I was at the Javits bright an early with the hopes of being a contestant in “Who wants to be a Voice Actor.” As people started to gather for the contest, one of the things that delighted me was the lack of hostility between potential rivals. Everyone was in a good mood and encouraging each other. There were several hundred hopefuls gathered, and almost every person I spoke with was looking at it as an exciting and fun contest. People were helping each other run lines, and giving constructive but kind feedback to each other. Having been an amateur actor all my life, it was a wonderful experience to see so much support among these hopeful young actors.
Tom Wayland and Mike Sinterniklass ran the contest with a panel of guest judges: Jamie McGonnigal, Veronica Taylor (Best known as Ashe on Pokémon) and two actors who pioneered the anime voice acting community in America, Peter Fernandez (Speed Racer) and Corinne Orr (Trixie) both of the classic Speed Racer. The Grand Prize: A paid voice over part in a production by either Tom or Mike’s studios.
Contestants were picked at random from the pile of entry forms, and we watched as the first young actors approached the stage. Each person had one minute to perform a monologue of their choice, memorized or reading off a script. There were many talented actors, but early on we learned quickly a few things that one should not do at a voice acting contest.
Don’t rap. One of the contestants was a great rapper, very skilled, but rapping is not acting. I still have no idea if they can act. If the contest is for the next MC Chris, then go for it.
Several people chose to do a conversation with two characters in two different voices. This worked wonderfully for some: The young man that did the break up scene between the monarch and Dr. Girlfriend from Venture Brothers was spot on, and hysterical. But several actors did two characters, and sounded exactly the same doing both. If you’re going to do this kind of thing, make sure you are doing two very different voices. Otherwise, you’re only showing you have no range.
Make sure you’re close enough to the Mic for folks to hear you. A few people might have been genius actors, but I can’t tell. I couldn’t hear them.
I was shocked when my name was called. I chose to perform the Buttercup speech to Prince Humperdinck when she realizes he never sent the ships to find Wesley for her. It was a touch choice, because it’s a speech that needs to be done in an English accent, and a bad accent is death at an audition. But I went with it, deciding to work hardest on trying to get it down.
Listening back to the audio now, I slipped up a few times, but I feel it was a strong performance anyway. And apparently the judges agreed. I was called after the end of round one for round two.
I stood on stage with some of the most talented people I have seen in a long time. A young lady who’s audition piece was a child having a tantrum over a bear she wanted. Another young lady who sounded like she had just stepped off of a Broadway show. The talented young man who did the venture brothers piece. A young man who’s audition piece was an hysterical examination on how to pick up girls.
We were given copies of “The night before X-mass” and told we would have character types called out to us. Without stopping, we had to reads the lines in our assigned stanzas in that character.
And so it started. I was told to be a PMSing Disney Princess, a young earnest boy, Miss Alabama and a possessed grandmother. Others were given drag queens, aliens, prostitutes, etc. I was delighted at the skills of my fellow contestants, and found myself laughing at each and every one. Hearing it later on Youtube, I realized that most of the characters I got were in the same vocal type, and I didnt have a chance to show much of the range I'm capible of. Its just the luck of the draw, and I was cut and in my opinion, rightfuly so. Those chosen had shown great tallent and great ability.
Four out of us seven made it to the last round. But funny enough, I found I couldn’t be disappointed. I had stood side by side with great talent; I had been given the chance to perform in front of some of the greatest actors in the voice over field. It was an experience I couldn’t feel anything but delight in.
The last round was a chance for the final 4 to try and do some actual voice over just as they would if it was a studio. The process was fascinating.
And at the end, all the contestants warmly congratulated each other. The winning contestant, one of the young men, was cheered by the other six from round two, and the whole audience went wild. After it was all over, we exchanged cards, exchanged ideas and information for acting in the future. And several of the judges were kind enough to compliment the contestants that didn’t make the last round. This was a truly amazing experience.
In the end
It was a good con, especially for a first year one. I recommend it to anyone who wants to experience a well put together big city anime convention. I plan to be back next year…that is unless I’m busy putting my voice demo together….hey a girl can dream!