The
design of Naga the White Serpent from Slayers, a tall, aggressive, busty
woman, helps define the character. But the lifeblood of Naga comes from
Maria Kawamura, the woman who provided the original Japanese-language voice
for the character. Several times during the Katuscon weekend, including
a Sunday afternoon discussion, Kawamura was asked by fans to recreate Naga's
distinctive, cackling laugh, and each time she went along and gave fans
a treat. "Naga" is a character with a lot of energy," Kawamura said. "She's
a big eater. She can control her own magic power. When I play that character,
I get some of that energy."
The
laugh, something of a Japanese "bad girl" tradition, is a case of an actor
literally reading the script she was handed, Kawamura said. She had played
nice girls in anime until she had a bad-girl role in Ultimate Superman
R who had a similar cackling laugh, and that performance earned Kawamura
the reputation as an actor who could produce that sound. When the producers
cast the roles in Slayers, "I got the part without an audition. The first
line I did for Slayers was the cackle." And the script called for that
exaggerated laugh, written out in the equivalent of "ho-ho-ho," so Kawamura
delivered the laugh heard round the world. When Kawamura performed the
laugh on Katsucon's final day, she jokingly warned fans that "You'll be
sorry later," but the fans still loved the laugh.
Kawamura's
road to the Naga character started with a teenaged goal to become an actor.
Her parents didn't want Maria to take acting lessons so she studied dance
and singing instead. But the change in her life came when a high school
classmate got a job at the fledgling Artland anime studio, and Kawamura
started hanging out at the office. Kawamura went on to attend a voice acting
school run by the Toei animation company, and got roles in the Dunbine
and L-Gaim anime to start her career. Kawamura's breakthrough role was
in the original Megazone, in which her character's first appearance on
screen was in the nude. "I wasn't planning for it to be that explicit,
but the animators drew it that way," Kawamura recalled.
The
design of Naga the White Serpent from Slayers, a tall, aggressive, busty
woman, helps define the character. But the lifeblood of Naga comes from
Maria Kawamura, the woman who provided the original Japanese-language voice
for the character. Several times during the Katuscon weekend, including
a Sunday afternoon discussion, Kawamura was asked by fans to recreate Naga's
distinctive, cackling laugh, and each time she went along and gave fans
a treat. "Naga" is a character with a lot of energy," Kawamura said. "She's
a big eater. She can control her own magic power. When I play that character,
I get some of that energy."
The
laugh, something of a Japanese "bad girl" tradition, is a case of an actor
literally reading the script she was handed, Kawamura said. She had played
nice girls in anime until she had a bad-girl role in Ultimate Superman
R who had a similar cackling laugh, and that performance earned Kawamura
the reputation as an actor who could produce that sound. When the producers
cast the roles in Slayers, "I got the part without an audition. The first
line I did for Slayers was the cackle." And the script called for that
exaggerated laugh, written out in the equivalent of "ho-ho-ho," so Kawamura
delivered the laugh heard round the world. When Kawamura performed the
laugh on Katsucon's final day, she jokingly warned fans that "You'll be
sorry later," but the fans still loved the laugh.
Kawamura's
road to the Naga character started with a teenaged goal to become an actor.
Her parents didn't want Maria to take acting lessons so she studied dance
and singing instead. But the change in her life came when a high school
classmate got a job at the fledgling Artland anime studio, and Kawamura
started hanging out at the office. Kawamura went on to attend a voice acting
school run by the Toei animation company, and got roles in the Dunbine
and L-Gaim anime to start her career. Kawamura's breakthrough role was
in the original Megazone, in which her character's first appearance on
screen was in the nude. "I wasn't planning for it to be that explicit,
but the animators drew it that way," Kawamura recalled.
