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Anime North - People and Sights Page 2 of 3 Previous Page Next Page Amanda and husband Jason Lee were on hand to again speak about the long road toward dubbing the Neon Genesis Evangelion films into English, and said there's a good chance that the first DVD of those dubs will be released around the time of the third anniversary of Manga Entertainment's announcing they had the rights to the films (which happened at Anime Expo in July of 1999). Between anime projects, Jason Lee stays busy as a video editor for game shows. Don't laugh: editing any kind of film and video can be more important than the direction of the show, and the best editors have the talent to set an entertaining pace for an otherwise boring show. Masutani Tayuki of Osamu Tezuka Pros. appeared at the convention's brief opening cermonies, and sang the theme sgon from Tetsuwan Atom, the anime series known as Astro Boy to English-speaking fans. The Tezuka representative promised Anime North fans that they would have a chance to see the newest version of Astro Boy, the 40th anniversary anime, at the convention on Sunday. Jupe turned from fan to staffer at Anime North, and worked way too hard. After ushering guests of honor around Toronto for several days, she wanted to pause to rest her sore feet, but there was always more to do. Here's the beginning of a big hallway display for the model-selling branch of Bandai. Note that the Canadian Bandai representative on the right is wearing a Toronto Maple Leafs shirt, common in a town where the team was in the Stanley Cup semifinals. The last time this page encountered actor and voice talent David Kaye, he was addressing an enthusiatic crowd of Ranma 1/2 fans at Katsucon. Kaye's appearance at Anime North came  a few months after he and Viz Video wrapped production on the final episodes of Ranma to be dubbed into English (ironically, Kay had to complete one dubbing session on Sept. 11, 2001). Completing Ranma doesn't mean that Kay is finished with anime dubbing, since he has a role in the Viz dub of Inu-Yasha. And Kaye's acting career continues with the successful X-Men animation, which happens to feature many of the Ranma cast. None of this would have happened had Kaye not taken acting lessons to improve his voice skills when he was a disc jockey, taken acting lessons and taken a coach's suggestion to try out for a dub role. On the right in the previous image is actor Scott McNeil, who in this image shows how he was was flabbergasted by this gift from a fan, which featured his best-known roles from Gundam Wing and X-Men. Of all of the Anime North guests who were on hand at the reception, McNeil was the most popular, surrounded by a group of teen girls who followed him around the reception room and posed for countless pictures with the actor. McNeil even was interviewed by a Toronto television station, which was treated to his energetic, always-on improvisational style. Page 2 of 3 Previous Page Next Page Memorial Day Weekend