Anime Know-How: Voice Acting 101

In the world of animation, voice acting is the key to success. A film with gorgeous art can only be taken so far; It takes a cast of well-trained actors with emotional pitches to make an average animated movie a classic. Even crudely drawn animation can nabs itself lifelong fans if it has the voice acting to back it up, and U.S. fans have seen such happen with shows like Beevus & Butthead. However, when it comes to anime, the world of voice acting is a little bit different.

Really, when it comes down to it, dubbing for anime can be a lot harder than any other animated pursuit.

Japanese Anime Voice Acting

Voice acting in Japan is often a staple part of an actor's resume. With so much anime being churned out abroad, the foreign market is inundated with animated series which need talent to give it life. However, when it comes to anime, voice actors have an added challenge as opposed to other animation subgenres. Rather than performing lines in post-production or even mid-production, anime voice actors are often required to give their lines with no animation for reference. Many stars are simply given a photo reference of their character, a script, and are told to give the dialogue a go in their studio's recording booth.

In Japan, there are training avenues to follow if you specifically want to do voice acting. There are trade and acting schools which cater to that work force specifically, and the training is definitely needed. For voice actors in Japan, the celebrity culture surrounding their work is similar to that of western TV stars. The popularity of anime abroad is high enough that even behind-the-scenes talent can become tabloid fodder, and anime studios are always looking to hire the industry's next up-and-coming talent.

U.S. Anime Voice Acting

When an anime is brought over to the U.S. for English dubbing, the voice acting process becomes a bit more complicated. The original series was made abroad for foreign audiences, and studios must westernize titles for their U.S. release. This process not only includes creating English dialogue but it also asks studios to smooth over idioms or pop culture references which might be missed by a U.S. audience.

For voice actors, many of the industry's top talents in the U.S. come from classically trained backgrounds. Voice acting for anime is not considered a director career path for many; Instead, talent often ends up tackling anime jobs alongside live-action roles. However, there are some stars like Vic Mignogna and Chris Sabat have made full-on careers out of anime voice acting.

For actors who do anime dubbing, the process they face whilst recording lines is different from their Japanese counterparts. On the plus side, the U.S. talent has access to a title's animation since the series has already aired abroad. However, they are forced to match their dialogue exactly with the animation's lip-flaps. The words which a U.S. anime voice actor speaks must match up with how the anime character's lips move, and that task is easier said than done.

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