Actors
and dub directors Talisen Jaffe (left) and Christopher Ayres (right)
are working on some major dub projects that you'll have a chance to buy
in the upcoming months. Most fans will be aware that Jaffe has reunited
the dub cast from the first animated Hellsing series for a dub of the
second series from Geneon. Only the most hardcore fans are likely to
have heard of Ayres' dub project for ADV Films, Daikon Brothers. But
each project has its own goals and complexity, and fans got a chance to
learn about the projects on Oni-Con's closing day.
Hellsing
Ultimate is going to have the same dub actors as the first series, but
the animation is going to follow the original manga, while the first
Hellsing series set off in a different direction. That means a
different emphasis for Jaffe's dub direction. Jaffe saw the first
Hellsing series as something resembling a classic U.S. horror movie
such as the 1930's Dracula from Universal. "We were going for the sound
of Bela Lugosi -- sex and blood," Jaffe said. But Hellsing Ultimate
treats its characters differently, starting with the humorous asides
taken from Kouta Hirano's manga. "Arucard gets to be funny every now
and then. He's less bored. He's enjoying his life more, or unlife."
Arucard's Catholic counterpart, Father Alexander Anderson, also has a
different outlook. "He's so violent and so comfortable with his
violence. He's a lot more chilled out." Those differences have led
Jaffe to use a different kind of Dracula as his inspiration, the Hammer
films produced in Great Britain and featuring Christopher Lee. Jaffe
also has another challenge; Hellsing Ultimate remains in production in
Japan, and the dub production at the time of Oni-Con was one episode
behind the Japanese episode production. Jaffe confirms that all but a
couple of the original series' dub cast will appear in Helling
Ultimate, but he's looking forward to some of the new voices,
especially the actor who will play Major Montana Max. As with the first
Hellsing series, Jaffe reached into the deep pool of British expatriate
actors in the Los Angeles area to fill Hellsing Ultimate's roles, which
means the accents you hear in the new dub will be authentic.
The
title "Daikon Brothers" might be unfamiliar to most fans, but the name
of its creator will be recognized -- Shinichi "Nabeshin" Watanabe, the
force behind Excel Saga and Puny Puny Poemy. The new series is
Watanabe's follow-up to those earlier series, and by most indications
it's more extreme than the other two shows, both in production and
politics. Where Daikon Brothers departs from the previous series is how
it uses music. Like the original Silly Symphonies and the Mighty Mouse
theatrical shorts, Watanabe's new series is as much a musical as an
animated cartoon. Each 25-minute episode has around ten full songs, and
all of those songs had to be translated and dubbed for the ADV Films
English-language version. That's where Christopher Ayres cames in; he
was selected as the dub's director because of his extensive experience
directing musical stage shows in the Houston area. Daikon requires its
actors to be singers, and Ayres has cast musical theater performers as
Daikon's actors. Since many veterans of Houston's musical theaters have
been recruited as ADV dub actors in recent years, that means some names
familiar to dub fans will be the leads -- Chris Patton, Luci Christian
and Ayres' brother Greg Ayres. These actors haven't been heard by most
dub fans as singers, so Daikon is going to give viewers a chance to
hear the other side of these performers. The rest of the dub roles also
will be filled by strong singers, Ayres said, including other musical
stage veterans. He chose not to double-cast any roles and not have one
person read a character's speaking lines while another person sings the
character's songs, feeling that doesn't sound right. And ADV managed to
get the original instrumental and background tracks for all of the
music, which means the dub songs will be a perfect match.
Actors
and dub directors Talisen Jaffe (left) and Christopher Ayres (right)
are working on some major dub projects that you'll have a chance to buy
in the upcoming months. Most fans will be aware that Jaffe has reunited
the dub cast from the first animated Hellsing series for a dub of the
second series from Geneon. Only the most hardcore fans are likely to
have heard of Ayres' dub project for ADV Films, Daikon Brothers. But
each project has its own goals and complexity, and fans got a chance to
learn about the projects on Oni-Con's closing day.
Hellsing
Ultimate is going to have the same dub actors as the first series, but
the animation is going to follow the original manga, while the first
Hellsing series set off in a different direction. That means a
different emphasis for Jaffe's dub direction. Jaffe saw the first
Hellsing series as something resembling a classic U.S. horror movie
such as the 1930's Dracula from Universal. "We were going for the sound
of Bela Lugosi -- sex and blood," Jaffe said. But Hellsing Ultimate
treats its characters differently, starting with the humorous asides
taken from Kouta Hirano's manga. "Arucard gets to be funny every now
and then. He's less bored. He's enjoying his life more, or unlife."
Arucard's Catholic counterpart, Father Alexander Anderson, also has a
different outlook. "He's so violent and so comfortable with his
violence. He's a lot more chilled out." Those differences have led
Jaffe to use a different kind of Dracula as his inspiration, the Hammer
films produced in Great Britain and featuring Christopher Lee. Jaffe
also has another challenge; Hellsing Ultimate remains in production in
Japan, and the dub production at the time of Oni-Con was one episode
behind the Japanese episode production. Jaffe confirms that all but a
couple of the original series' dub cast will appear in Helling
Ultimate, but he's looking forward to some of the new voices,
especially the actor who will play Major Montana Max. As with the first
Hellsing series, Jaffe reached into the deep pool of British expatriate
actors in the Los Angeles area to fill Hellsing Ultimate's roles, which
means the accents you hear in the new dub will be authentic.
The
title "Daikon Brothers" might be unfamiliar to most fans, but the name
of its creator will be recognized -- Shinichi "Nabeshin" Watanabe, the
force behind Excel Saga and Puny Puny Poemy. The new series is
Watanabe's follow-up to those earlier series, and by most indications
it's more extreme than the other two shows, both in production and
politics. Where Daikon Brothers departs from the previous series is how
it uses music. Like the original Silly Symphonies and the Mighty Mouse
theatrical shorts, Watanabe's new series is as much a musical as an
animated cartoon. Each 25-minute episode has around ten full songs, and
all of those songs had to be translated and dubbed for the ADV Films
English-language version. That's where Christopher Ayres cames in; he
was selected as the dub's director because of his extensive experience
directing musical stage shows in the Houston area. Daikon requires its
actors to be singers, and Ayres has cast musical theater performers as
Daikon's actors. Since many veterans of Houston's musical theaters have
been recruited as ADV dub actors in recent years, that means some names
familiar to dub fans will be the leads -- Chris Patton, Luci Christian
and Ayres' brother Greg Ayres. These actors haven't been heard by most
dub fans as singers, so Daikon is going to give viewers a chance to
hear the other side of these performers. The rest of the dub roles also
will be filled by strong singers, Ayres said, including other musical
stage veterans. He chose not to double-cast any roles and not have one
person read a character's speaking lines while another person sings the
character's songs, feeling that doesn't sound right. And ADV managed to
get the original instrumental and background tracks for all of the
music, which means the dub songs will be a perfect match.
