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Amy Howard (left) and Tiffany Grant represent two generations of American
anime voice acting. Howard was the voice of Nova in Star Blazers, the U.S.
version of Space Cruiser Yamato. Grant, the first voice actor hired by
AD Vision, has handled several roles - including Langley in Evangelion
(was that really Tiffany in the Langley plug suit in the A-Kon 9 cosplay?)
and Raina in Guy. |
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Howard tells the story of how she leapt at the chance to dub Nova's
voice for the chance to get on television. After handling the dozens of
episodes, she moved on to other jobs, losing track of the Star Blazers
cast and crew. Howard admits she didn't know that the old show still had
a following and that video tapes of the episodes were being sold. None
of that meant any money for Howard - there were no acting credits and no
resudials on the non-union show - but it drew her new fame when anime fans
realized she was still active. Howard now is a frequent guest at conventions
such as A-Kon. |
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Grant didn't know there was such a thing as anime fandom when she took
the AD Vision dubbing job; she was just looking for acting work. Her friends
knew even less about fandom. "When I started and I said `anime,' people
said `What's that? Do you do it in Japanese?' The only reference for them
is Sailor Moon. Now, I say `anime' and they say `Oh, like Sailor Moon!'" |
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Grant is as animated in the recording booth as the characters on the
screen. She needs to talk with her hands to get the proper delivery of
here character's lines. The AD Vision booth in Houston often has props
inside such as toy guns so the actors can get into their characters' portrayal,
and "We do some pretty wierd stuff." Along with acting with her hands,
Grant has to stand when she delivers her lines. |
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Howard recalled how the lines she was given didn't always match the
amount of time her character's mouth moved on screen. "I'd say `Captain,
enemy ships approaching on the radar,' but the little mouths kept moving.
Sometimes we'd get silly and add things like `By the way, what's for dinner?'" |
