With
Serial Experiment Lain, Niea Under Seven, Haibane-Renmei and
Technolyze, animator Yoshitoshi Abe has risen from the status of a
character designer to become a distinctive storyteller. Actor Carrie
Savage has been placed in the service of those stories with her dub
roles in Abe series, including the lead role of Rakka in Haibane. Abe's
female leads have become complex characters, moving from strength to
doubt, from satisfaction to insecurity, and Savage has worked hard to
make sure the English-speaking audience understands Rakka's
personality. "For Rakka, it was more difficult because she didn't know
who she was," Savage told an Anime Detour panel. "I think there was a
little more fluctuation in how she sounded because she was so lost in
who she was."
One
of the ironies of Haibane, with its ensemble of young actors, is that
those actors rarely met during the dubbing process. Even after the
release of the entire series in English, the lead cast members are
pretty much strangers to each other. That happened because the cost
members recorded their lines in separate sessions. Savage was brought in by director Jonathan
Klein of New Generation Pictures as the first cast member to record her
dialogue. "I have to imagine how the other actors are going to sound
and the attitude they will take when they're speaking," she said. In
the dubbing of Haibane, Savage took some emotional cues from the sound
of the Japanese actors, but that could only go so far, so she depended
on Klein's direction and her own gut instinct.
The
series' title can be translated as "Charcoal Feather Federation" for
the color of the wings that sprout from the backs of the lead
characters. The scene where Rakka's wings emerge in a burst of blood
was one of Savage's favorite scenes for its emotional intensity,
despite its performance difficulties. "I couldn't believe it was so
graphic," Savage recalled. That scene requires piteous screams from
Rakka, and those sounds were hard to produce for an actor who can be
reserved in her real life. "I got a little shy about it. After I
do it a couple of time I can do it again...I have to get over this
timidness as an actress. You're going over everything that's in that
character's heart, but there are so many things to think about...after
doing it a hundred times, those tears can run a little bit dry."
With
Serial Experiment Lain, Niea Under Seven, Haibane-Renmei and
Technolyze, animator Yoshitoshi Abe has risen from the status of a
character designer to become a distinctive storyteller. Actor Carrie
Savage has been placed in the service of those stories with her dub
roles in Abe series, including the lead role of Rakka in Haibane. Abe's
female leads have become complex characters, moving from strength to
doubt, from satisfaction to insecurity, and Savage has worked hard to
make sure the English-speaking audience understands Rakka's
personality. "For Rakka, it was more difficult because she didn't know
who she was," Savage told an Anime Detour panel. "I think there was a
little more fluctuation in how she sounded because she was so lost in
who she was."
One
of the ironies of Haibane, with its ensemble of young actors, is that
those actors rarely met during the dubbing process. Even after the
release of the entire series in English, the lead cast members are
pretty much strangers to each other. That happened because the cost
members recorded their lines in separate sessions. Savage was brought in by director Jonathan
Klein of New Generation Pictures as the first cast member to record her
dialogue. "I have to imagine how the other actors are going to sound
and the attitude they will take when they're speaking," she said. In
the dubbing of Haibane, Savage took some emotional cues from the sound
of the Japanese actors, but that could only go so far, so she depended
on Klein's direction and her own gut instinct.
The
series' title can be translated as "Charcoal Feather Federation" for
the color of the wings that sprout from the backs of the lead
characters. The scene where Rakka's wings emerge in a burst of blood
was one of Savage's favorite scenes for its emotional intensity,
despite its performance difficulties. "I couldn't believe it was so
graphic," Savage recalled. That scene requires piteous screams from
Rakka, and those sounds were hard to produce for an actor who can be
reserved in her real life. "I got a little shy about it. After I
do it a couple of time I can do it again...I have to get over this
timidness as an actress. You're going over everything that's in that
character's heart, but there are so many things to think about...after
doing it a hundred times, those tears can run a little bit dry."
