For
most actors, anime is about the roles they play. For fans, anime is
about characters and stories. For Crispin Freeman, anime is about the
Asian philosophy of life. Freeman sees that world view in the series in
which he has roles, such as Wolf's Rain. Literal-minded viewers see a
story about human wolves, but Freeman sees a fresh variation on the
story of the visionary who sees a new life and wants to bring others
with him on that journey to a changed existance - more Buddha than
Moses in this case. Freeman also sees echoes of the traditional
five-person team that's part of Japanese series from sentai to anime,
although Wolf's Rain has a deeper philosophy than the TV hero and robot
shows.
As
befits an actor-philosopher, Freeman wanted the role of the visionary
wolf-human in Wolf's Rain, but ended up with the role of the rebel
instead. "I wanted to express myself as Kiba, but they're going to cast
me as Sume," Freeman reasoned. "I really identified as Kiba because
Kiba's the prophet. Kiba sees the wastelans and is corageous enough to
say, `We're going for it.' That sort of sense of phophecy is the kind
of thing that drives Miyazaki to do what he does." Freeman finds that
the Eastern philosophy in anime is deep, but misunderstood, especially
by literal-minded westerners who see the world in black and white
instead of ambiguous shades of grey.
Freeman's
acting and speaking has changed in the last few years because his voice
has become deeper. Most fans saw the transition when they compared
Freeman's voice work in Chobits and Hellsing. "Mine has gotten deeper
because I've been working on it. "I've been trying to find how Steve
Blum does that flutter thing," joked Freeman. More seriously, he said
"It's a skill. It's like stretching your muscles and becoming limber."
The world is going to hear a lot of that limber, deep voice when Rave
Master hits the Cartoon Network and the newest version of Ghost in the
Shell is released.
For
most actors, anime is about the roles they play. For fans, anime is
about characters and stories. For Crispin Freeman, anime is about the
Asian philosophy of life. Freeman sees that world view in the series in
which he has roles, such as Wolf's Rain. Literal-minded viewers see a
story about human wolves, but Freeman sees a fresh variation on the
story of the visionary who sees a new life and wants to bring others
with him on that journey to a changed existance - more Buddha than
Moses in this case. Freeman also sees echoes of the traditional
five-person team that's part of Japanese series from sentai to anime,
although Wolf's Rain has a deeper philosophy than the TV hero and robot
shows.
As
befits an actor-philosopher, Freeman wanted the role of the visionary
wolf-human in Wolf's Rain, but ended up with the role of the rebel
instead. "I wanted to express myself as Kiba, but they're going to cast
me as Sume," Freeman reasoned. "I really identified as Kiba because
Kiba's the prophet. Kiba sees the wastelans and is corageous enough to
say, `We're going for it.' That sort of sense of phophecy is the kind
of thing that drives Miyazaki to do what he does." Freeman finds that
the Eastern philosophy in anime is deep, but misunderstood, especially
by literal-minded westerners who see the world in black and white
instead of ambiguous shades of grey.
Freeman's
acting and speaking has changed in the last few years because his voice
has become deeper. Most fans saw the transition when they compared
Freeman's voice work in Chobits and Hellsing. "Mine has gotten deeper
because I've been working on it. "I've been trying to find how Steve
Blum does that flutter thing," joked Freeman. More seriously, he said
"It's a skill. It's like stretching your muscles and becoming limber."
The world is going to hear a lot of that limber, deep voice when Rave
Master hits the Cartoon Network and the newest version of Ghost in the
Shell is released.
