In
2005, Anime Expo was the site for the announcement of Hellsing
Ultimate, an animated series that was intended to closely follow the
Hellsing manga from artist Kouta Hirano. In 2006, the same convention
was the site for the announcement that the Hellsing Ultimate dub would
feature most of the cast from the first animated series, including
Cripsin Freeman as Arucard. The veteran actor credits fans for
providing the push that led to the decision for he and the other actors
to return. "I had to explain to the fans that was not up to me,"
Freeman said, mentioning he reaches those fans through a Yahoo Group.
"I said if you want me back you have the power. Write Geneon a letter."
It was more than one letter; those fans mounted online petitions, and
the rights holders got the message and called the first dub cast back.
So, Freeman got his wish and will revisit that vampire role. "I'd like
to get another crack at doing that, and four years later we get to do
those characters over again. It is different," he said, referring to
the plans to keep the second series closer to the darker, violent, more
intense story told in Hirano's manga. "While we're playing the same
characters, the plot is different. It's like walking though your
grandmother's house with someone else's furniture in it. We have to
make sure we're coming to it with fresh ears and eyes and we're not
mimicking what we did in the past. It's going to be a very different
experience."
So
how does Arucard (and Touga from Revolutionary Girl Utena) turn out to
be the latest voice of Superman as well? It's all in the way you handle
the audition. Freeman was called to audition for roles in the
forthcoming Justice League Heroes video game, and read for J'onn
J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter. He was called back for a second round of
auditions and read for the Martian role again, but then the producers
asked him to read Superman's lines, and decided to give him that role.
(Kari Wahlgren, Haruhara Haruko in FLCL, will play Zatanna in the same
game.) "How does it feel to play Superman? it feels pretty good," he
said. Freeman, who has discussed the Asian sensibilities in anime
storytelling, enjoys those stories because they demand exceptional
involvement from the audience. "I want stories that are emotionally
dangerous stories that have some meat on them - that's why people are
attracted to anime. I want America in general to see animated
storytelling as a medium that can handle any kind of storytelling. I
think it's great that there is an audience for mature animated
storytelling."
In
2005, Anime Expo was the site for the announcement of Hellsing
Ultimate, an animated series that was intended to closely follow the
Hellsing manga from artist Kouta Hirano. In 2006, the same convention
was the site for the announcement that the Hellsing Ultimate dub would
feature most of the cast from the first animated series, including
Cripsin Freeman as Arucard. The veteran actor credits fans for
providing the push that led to the decision for he and the other actors
to return. "I had to explain to the fans that was not up to me,"
Freeman said, mentioning he reaches those fans through a Yahoo Group.
"I said if you want me back you have the power. Write Geneon a letter."
It was more than one letter; those fans mounted online petitions, and
the rights holders got the message and called the first dub cast back.
So, Freeman got his wish and will revisit that vampire role. "I'd like
to get another crack at doing that, and four years later we get to do
those characters over again. It is different," he said, referring to
the plans to keep the second series closer to the darker, violent, more
intense story told in Hirano's manga. "While we're playing the same
characters, the plot is different. It's like walking though your
grandmother's house with someone else's furniture in it. We have to
make sure we're coming to it with fresh ears and eyes and we're not
mimicking what we did in the past. It's going to be a very different
experience."
So
how does Arucard (and Touga from Revolutionary Girl Utena) turn out to
be the latest voice of Superman as well? It's all in the way you handle
the audition. Freeman was called to audition for roles in the
forthcoming Justice League Heroes video game, and read for J'onn
J'onzz, the Martian Manhunter. He was called back for a second round of
auditions and read for the Martian role again, but then the producers
asked him to read Superman's lines, and decided to give him that role.
(Kari Wahlgren, Haruhara Haruko in FLCL, will play Zatanna in the same
game.) "How does it feel to play Superman? it feels pretty good," he
said. Freeman, who has discussed the Asian sensibilities in anime
storytelling, enjoys those stories because they demand exceptional
involvement from the audience. "I want stories that are emotionally
dangerous stories that have some meat on them - that's why people are
attracted to anime. I want America in general to see animated
storytelling as a medium that can handle any kind of storytelling. I
think it's great that there is an audience for mature animated
storytelling."
