 This is something
not seen at an anime convention since 1997: a panel discussion with members
of the Ranma 1/2 English-language voice cast. It's fitting that Aka-Kon
get this rare privilege, because the Ranma actors are based in Vancouver,
where the series' dubs are produced. From left to right, this group is
Paul Dobson, who plays Happosai, Richard Cox, the male Ranma, and Willow
Johnson, the voice of Kasumi Tendou. And, according to producer Toshifumi
Yoshida, these actors (and a surprising number of the Ranma cast) have
something else in common: they've all worked as voices in the My Little
Pony TV show. |
 Complaints
about voice acting go back to the days when Bud Collyer was cast as the
voice of Superman in 1930's radio shows. "If you've read a comic book,
everyone has an idea in their head of what the character's voice is like,
and that would ruin experience when you hear the voice in the cartoon,"
said Dobson. "For Happosai, obviously you're going to make it a bold voice.
Being that he's a pervert, you just do what comes naturally." Dobson likes
to listen to the original Japanese voice acting performance for his underwear-stealing
character to get an idea of how his reading should go. However, he doesn't
depend on the original's method of matching lines to "lip flaps," the sequences
when the on-screen characters' mouths are moving, because the Japanese
originals aren't too accurate. (Author's note; anime characters' faces
don't form words, but just open and close.) |
 Cox is the
second voice of the male Ranma. the first was a woman, Sarah Strange, and
Cox was the best match for his, uh, her voice. "I heard someone once say
you should start by deciding how the character should laugh and go from
there," Cox said. this actor's background was in the theater since childhood,
which helped get him for the loud performances of the Ranma series. "That
was pretty broad and it prepared you for anime and Ranma," Cox said about
the slapstick acting style required of Ranma actors. |
 Johnson is
the only only member of this changeable cast who has been with the Ranma
production since its beginning in the early 1990's. She said that her normal
speaking voice is close to Kasumi's anime voice. "I try to match it to
the Japanese actor who voiced her. She's a unique character," said Johnson.
None of these actors makes all of their living from the Ranma series, even
though there are a couple of years left before every last show is dubbed.
Watch closely and you'll see their faces pop up in the many TV shows and
movies produced in Vancouver to take advantage of the lower production
costs in Canada than in the U.S. |
