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Dagmusic Anime/Game Software Voice Acting Demo Reel

"Two hundred actors??!!  Working full time in Japan??!!"" My client couldn't believe his ears.  How can it be that there are so many talented actors and announcers working full time in Tokyo?  What could they possibly be doing?! We often hear this from Japanese production veterans.  They think about the  small handful of  great Japanese voice actors able to work full time in the US and UK and think it must be the same for Japan.

But English is a world language (much to the French's disgust!) and in rich economies like Japan, a desirable skill to have.  This need to keep learning English spawns a huge industry that keeps voice actors by the hundreds in full time work in Tokyo alone.  Materials have to be recorded for NHK educational shows, Bennesse, EEC, TOEIC and school and university textbooks- not to mention the massive game soft and anime industry and the booming Japanese domestic movie market.

That's why Dagmusic has a reliable pool of incredible voice talents to choose from for casting. 

But there is another important reason why so many actors are living and working here- they love Japanese food, beer and ...women!

- Donna Burke, Damgusic CEO

• Interview with Eric Kelso

  
  

  So Eric, how long have you been narrating in Tokyo?

  For 21 years now.

  So, what do you like about living in Japan?

  I like the fact that everyday I learn something new. Its fun and interesting living as a foreigner.  I couldn't get these experiences if I lived in my own country.  And I love Japanese food!

  So how did you become a narrator?

  Back in America, at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB), I studied film with an emphasis on directing and acting.  I really wanted to do voice acting work but I didn't want to do it in L.A.  I also wanted to travel and I was interested in Japanese culture, so I came here.

  21 years ago were things a little different to how they are now?

  Yes, back then there were very few English voice actors/narrators in Tokyo.

  I guess there was a lot of work?

  Yes loads!  The work back then was varied and I was able to build up experience very quickly.

  What type of things have you done in your career?

  Well I've done so many things.  TV, radio, promo videos, games, animation... Could you be more specific?

  How about your three top game software, animation titles, and CI logos?

  For game software I was the voice of "Jacky" in Virtual Fighter.  I covered the whole series from 1-5.  Another milestone was getting the opportunity to play "Paul Pheonix" in Tekken.  Other titles I have done are Shenmu 2 "Ren", F-Zero "Blue Falcon"/"Black Falcon", Glass Rose "Takashi" and Baten Kaitos "Kalas" and about 30 others.

  Wow! I used to play Tekken all the time....

  I've done animation voices including Disney Japan "Mulan", Universal Studios Japan "Woody Woodpecker", and I'm the voice of "Doraemon" for an English version of Doraemon.

  Doraemon, that's great!  Could you do the woody wood pecker voice?

  "..............."

  Spot on, hilarious!

  I've been on over 20 TV Commercials, including Sony, Mazda, Max Factor, TDK, Suntory, Morinaga, Hugo Boss, Bandai, Zima, DDI, Suzuki, Sunkist.

  Well, with all this experience, what would be your dream role?

  I guess my dream roll would be to have a regular role on the US animation series "The Simpsons." Best TV show ever! I usually get typecast as the hero, but I sort of like being the evil guy who wants world domination.

  Speaking of domination, what does the future of narration hold for Tokyo?

  There is amazing talent in Toyko.  It would be a waste of valuable company money in these tough times to fly to L.A when they could get a professional Tokyo-based voice actor/narrator within 10 miles of the studio!  I'm confident that voice over work in Tokyo will continue to grow and expand in areas such as game software and animation.

  
  

  You can find out more about Eric at http://www.erickelso.com/index.html
  Interview by Philip Madeley

  
  

  Interview With Annas Mirza

  
  

  What is your name, and tell us a little bit about yourself.

  My name is Annas Mirza, and I’m a student at Temple University Japan Campus. I currently study Business Administration but my passion is for the entertainment industry.

  Is this why you picked to intern at Dagmusic?

  [Laughs] You could say that. There’s also the fact that I would get to work with some of the best voice actors in this industry.

  Could you elaborate?

  Well, I have Donna Burke as a boss, and I thought she was brilliant in Silent Hill 2 and Silent Hill 3. I also got to work with Jeff Manning, and a few others that I hear often in some of my favorite games.

  So you’re familiar with the gaming industry?

  Of course! My goal is to one day direct, produce, and write games for a living. I look up to Hideo Kojima and Suda 51 as my role models. Of course, working with Donna Burke has been a massive inspiration on my life as well.

  Could you tell us what you did while at this internship?

  Well, I was responsible for the demo reel. This demo reel would showcase the voice talent that’s in Japan. I wrote the script, picked the videos to help light up the styles, recorded and directed the voice actors, and then mixed it all together. I guess you could say it was a small director/producer/writer role. Hah. My dream.

  What would you say was the best part of this job?

  Hands down it was learning how the industry works first hand from famous voice actors and actresses.

  Could you go into details?

  For example, I got to learn just what the voice actors do and some of the older projects. I found out one of my most prized game had two English voice versions. One was done in Japan and another was done in the States. I found out the Japanese produced one was much better.

  What about the worst part of this job?

  [Laughs] Sad that it’s finally over. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad it’s over. Just upset that I’m not working on even more projects.

  Is there anything you’d like to close with?

  This project was a blast. This might just be one of the best summers of my life and the stress of going to school, teaching English, and working on the project was voided realizing this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. This was the chance of a life time and I loved everyday of it.

  Thank you for your time.

  No problem! Thanks for having me!

• Interview with Jeff Manning

  
  

  Annas: Alright, so we got Jeff Manning here.

  Good afternoon.

  You have a huge list of roles you play.

  I do a lot of different voices, a lot of different characters.

  Do you like games more or anime, movies?

  Anything. I’m kind of a jack of all trades. Anything that’s a challenge. I enjoy the hysterical or the really bizarre roles better than the mainstream.

  So what defines challenging?

  Something that no one else seems to be able to do.

  What could that be?

  Oh I don’t know, like doing three for four different parts. Or even six different parts within the same show or the same game. Doing a young kid in high school and then doing an old ancient, old wizard. And then doing some kind of greek god and then doing a maybe a gangster. Just doing a lot of different roles. I variety of ages, a variety of styles. Someone who is strong, someone who is, you know, totally weak. Just different characters.

  What would be your favorite role?

  You know, I really can’t think. I’ve done everything. Good heavens, doing Ohta the reporter for the original Japanese Iron Cheif. The reason it was a challenge, because I had maybe 10 seconds to say 5 or 6 lines, and I had to get them out before the main narrator came back in. That was a challenge. I have the voice for the Aflac Duck for all of Japan. So I do everything from real people to animated characters. I enjoy anything that’s bizarre. Anything that’s not interesting. Just doing the hero roles, obviously, you’re involved more in an animation, you probably get paid more. But, it’s pretty standard stuff. You just use your own voice. I would rather be the monster or whoever is [dark laugh] chasing him. It would be much more fun.

  What kind of movies do you like?

  I’m kind of a science fiction freak. An adventure freak.

  Transformers?

  Transformers was fun. I enjoyed that. The new Star Trek movie came out and I liked that.

  Have you done anything for American companies?

  Yes. I’ve done things for Disney. I went to Los Angeles and did some of their “Fun With English” educational series in both English and Japanese and Spanish.

  Anything else?

  I’ve also done for Disney in Japanese.

  Like?

  [Laughs] Well Disney’s policy is to only use native speakers. But they had this one particular part that the studio here [Japan] thought that I would be good for, and I was extremely flattered that they thought that my Japanese or that my acting ability would be good enough to do. So we did “Stuart Little 2” in Japanese and I was the taxi driver at the end. They wanted me to do it in Japanese with a very foreign accent and also in Osaka dialect.

  Thank you very much.

  No, thank you.

  
  

  Interview by Annas Mirza

BBC Radio 4 Drama "A Tokyo Murder"

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