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The shiny, energetic voices of Japanese actors captivate many anime fans in the U.S., even though most of those fans understand no more than a few words of Japanese and speak only English. In particular, the female voices hold the greatest attraction with their timbres and cadences, which sound so exotically attractive. Rio Natsuki, one of the top actors from the AIC studio, was a welcome guest at Katsucon. |
| The high emotions associated with anime drive actors to some intense performances in the recording booth. Natsuki said she has to emote, but she also has to be still: there's not much room in the small booths, and any movement might be picked up by the microphones. Voice directors push actors to energetic performances, take after take: Natsuki said one director left her crying after demanding 19 takes! |  |
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In the never-ending sub-versus dub battle among anime fans, Natsuki has an opinion - of sorts. She was fascinated to learn of the number of Americans who would rather hear anime in its original language. And, Natsuki said that she prefers to see American movies in English, although those films usually are dubbed - by some of the same voice actors that work on anime. |
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Katsucon Day 1 |
| Katsucon Day 2 | |
| Katsucon Day 3 |