In the States, there seems to be a strange, cult-ish fan following for American voice actors. Contrary to the past, when early anime conventions hosted a fair number of Japanese guests, today the Economics of Cheap dictate that instead of flying over Japanese voice actors (seiyuu) most conventions host a multitude of American-based dub voice actors. The American voice actors, in the past decade, seem to have accumulated an uncanny number of fangirls/boys that follow their every move. Anime News Networks‘ web comic, Anime News Nina, an occasional source of true-to-earth fandom critique, also identified the overzealous passion exuded by most contemporary fans in one comic at the beginning of Fall 2008.
I wonder if, due to greater access to online resources and subsequently to information straight out of Japan, American fans will begin to follow more news about Japanese seiyuu. This is not meant to be a foreshadowing of catastrophic events, in that the American dubbing industry will collapse in the next few years, but more a question as to whether anime fans today are throwing it back to their otaku roots and searching for every minutiae of news from overseas in the morass of infoporn on the Web. I wonder too if the popularity of American voice actors validates that the American dubbing industry will in fact not collapse and, while not necessarily thriving, is not doing that bad, because fans are buying media to follow voice actors. Otherwise, I can just give up and bow to the fact that fans are just rabid for anything, particularly signatures.
But if fans are actually going online to look at Japanese seiyuu activities, they would have in the past few weeks been caught up in the explosion of excitement that following Newtype Magazine’s announcement about the new Japanese voice acting cast for the new, second season of Full Metal Alchemist.
Via Moetron, the new list of characters up against the old cast looks like this:
Old:
Alphonse Elric: Rie Kugimiya
Edward Elric: Romi Paku
Fuhrer King Bradrey: Hidekatsu Shibata
Rose Tomas: Houko Kuwashima
Greed: Junichi Suwabe
Maes Hughes: Keiji Fujiwara
Alex Louis Armstrong: Kenji Utsumi
Shou Tucker: Makoto Nagai
Hoenheim Elric: Masashi Ebara
Envy: Mayumi Yamaguchi
Winry Rockbell: Megumi Toyoguchi
Riza Hawkeye: Michiko Neya
Pinako Rockbell: Miyoko Asou
Wrath: Nana Mizuki
Sheska: Naomi Wakabayashi
Scar: Ryotaro Okiayu
Izumi Curtis: Shoko Tsuda
Roy Mustang: Toru Ohkawa
Gluttony: Yasuhiro Takato
Juliet Douglas/Sloth: Yoshino Takamori
Lyra: Yumi Kakazu
Lust: Yuuko Satou
New:
Edward Elric: Paku Romi
Alphonse Elric: Kugimiya Rie
Winry: Takamoto Megumi (new)
Roy Mustang: Miki Shinichiro (new)
Riza Hawkeye: Orikasa Fumiko (new)
Alex Louis Armstrong: Utsumi Kenji
Maes Hughes: Fujiwara Keiji
Jean Havoc: Ueda Yuuji (new)
Vato Falman: Hamada Kenji (new)
Maria Ross: Nazuka Kaori (new)
King Bradley: Shibata Hidekatsu
Scar: Miyake Kenta (new)
Lust: Inoue Kikuko (new)
Gluttony: Shiratori Tetsu (new)
Envy: Takayama Minami (new)
Zolf J. Kimbley: Yoshino Hiroyuki
Isaac: Yamadera Kouichi
As is painfully evident, the cast of the Full Metal Alchemist series only retains four major characters. Of course, we must wait to see the results of (or to hear reasons for) the change. But in the meantime, I’d love to brood on a little thought that popped into my head one day: What about the American cast?
I hope I stressed firmly enough that the American fandom idolizes US-based voice actors. Full Metal Alchemist, which doesn’t necessarily rank as one of the shows fans necessarily must see, ranks as one of those series that has made a major impact on the American fandom, at least in the past five years. The army of Edward Elric cosplayers doesn’t do justice to the diehard voice actor fans, such as those members of the Full Metal Alchemist-specific fan clubs called the Risembool Rangers, the followers of Vic Mignogna (voice of Edward Elric), or the Miniskirt Army, the followers of Travis Willingham (voice of Roy Mustang). Both groups hold multiple, national meetings, especially at the many conventions spread out across the States. Clearly there’s going to be a throng of fanatical FMA celebrants at every convention this summer spouting about the announcement of the series’ next season. I don’t want to examine that though.
Instead, I want to throw out an observation: American voice actors have (except maybe in rare instances) not been matched up in the similar roles of the respective matching Japanese voice actors. Not a bold statement at all; in fact, it’s kind of obvious why American and Japanese voice actors don’t share the same roles, and that reason is ordinary personal characteristics. A director in America sees a role in a voice actor. It’s also probably common knowledge by now, with all the voice acting panels around at cons, that not many voice actors choose to watch the original Japanese animation before recording. So there’s an interesting dichotomy between the two regions of voice actors, because they act for the same cultural product but produce different performances. This has been a gripe of many anime fans, over the past who knows how many years, who want literal translation without American directorial creativity.
But what I do want to examine is a certain aesthetics of voice acting. My reaction might be a bit of a stretch, especially because (as I stated before) we haven’t been given a reason for the actor switch. But I hypothesize that a new team of Japanese voice actors means an entirely new performance of Full Metal Alchemist. That means while character designs remain the same, characters’ personalities may in fact change. So how will American dub companies compensate for new characterization in the second season? Nebs66 ruminates that “when FUNimation licenses this new series, I’m sure they’ll be more willing to stick to the original cast.” But looking at the prospect of new personalities, will the director of FMA 2 persuade the American cast to morph their voices, and consequently their characters’ personalities, as well?
And what would that mean for the American fans? True, Vic Mignogna might stay on to voice Edward Elric for another twenty-six (?) episodes, but with a new Japanese Roy Mustang, I wonder if Travis Willingham will be celebrated or criticizes if he reapproaches his role as Roy Mustang. I slyly grin when thinking that an American director could be so bold as to say that he also wants a new cast for the new season. Honestly, that would be an epic slap to the faces of a number of fans, especially those Miniskirt-ers. But I’m not out to be mean-hearted at all here. I just wonder if the aesthetic of a new Japanese voice could influence the American production/translation of the next Full Metal Alchemist. Or, at least, I wonder if the Japanese fan reaction will influence the politics of choosing the American voice acting cast as criticism roams around the Internet and slowly makes its way into the American dubbing studio.