Tomoko
Kawakami, the Japanese-language voice of Utena and Noelle, had a busy and
adventuresome Friday at Anime Expo. It started with an appearance on a
panel discussion with Utena creator Kunihiko Ikuhara (who noted that he
preferred "Girl's Revolution Utena" as the English-language name of that
series). Kawakami performed her "for the revolution of the world" line
from Utena in Japanese and English to applause from the audience, even
though the fans had to give her a quick English lesson so she'd be able
to deliver the line in that language. "It's so embarrassing, doing that
in front of the director," she joked.
A
fan wanted to know if Kawakami had more fun recording the TV version of
Utena or the movie Utena. "The most fun was the tv series, because there
are a lot more scenes in the TV series where I got to play around - but
the movie Utena was fun, too," she replied. Seeing that the fans enjoyed
her energetic nature, she asked "Am I funny?" The fans broke out in an
unanimous "kawaii," as in cute, and she smiled. Other fans asked if Kawakami
would ever want to voice Utena in English. "If I were to do it in English
it would be three times as long as the original, because I talk so slow,"
she answered.
Later
in the day, Kawakami was part of a rare meeting of Japanese-language and
English-language actors who have the same role in an anime series. To the
left of Kawakami is Diana Kou, who is the English-language voice of Noelle
in I'm Gonna Be an Angel. "when I had to deliver the lines, I though I
would imitate her in the best way I could," Kou said. Kawakami was curious
about her North American counterpart. "What did you thing about Noelle,"
Kawakami asked Kou. "Did you think she was strange?" "I thought she was
cute and spontaneous," Kou replied. "She's more than a blonde little girl
who wants to be an angel - she has more depth than that." Kawakami added,
"Noelle's energy is part of her character and that is how I act it, but
the emotion comes from myself."
Tomoko
Kawakami, the Japanese-language voice of Utena and Noelle, had a busy and
adventuresome Friday at Anime Expo. It started with an appearance on a
panel discussion with Utena creator Kunihiko Ikuhara (who noted that he
preferred "Girl's Revolution Utena" as the English-language name of that
series). Kawakami performed her "for the revolution of the world" line
from Utena in Japanese and English to applause from the audience, even
though the fans had to give her a quick English lesson so she'd be able
to deliver the line in that language. "It's so embarrassing, doing that
in front of the director," she joked.
A
fan wanted to know if Kawakami had more fun recording the TV version of
Utena or the movie Utena. "The most fun was the tv series, because there
are a lot more scenes in the TV series where I got to play around - but
the movie Utena was fun, too," she replied. Seeing that the fans enjoyed
her energetic nature, she asked "Am I funny?" The fans broke out in an
unanimous "kawaii," as in cute, and she smiled. Other fans asked if Kawakami
would ever want to voice Utena in English. "If I were to do it in English
it would be three times as long as the original, because I talk so slow,"
she answered.
Later
in the day, Kawakami was part of a rare meeting of Japanese-language and
English-language actors who have the same role in an anime series. To the
left of Kawakami is Diana Kou, who is the English-language voice of Noelle
in I'm Gonna Be an Angel. "when I had to deliver the lines, I though I
would imitate her in the best way I could," Kou said. Kawakami was curious
about her North American counterpart. "What did you thing about Noelle,"
Kawakami asked Kou. "Did you think she was strange?" "I thought she was
cute and spontaneous," Kou replied. "She's more than a blonde little girl
who wants to be an angel - she has more depth than that." Kawakami added,
"Noelle's energy is part of her character and that is how I act it, but
the emotion comes from myself."
