Featured VA of the month!

[masamuneehs]

If you haven't, go visit the frontpage now!

www.gotwoot.net

You may notice a new featured article there, written by yours truly. Well, I've spoken to some of the admins and gotten the permission to make some posts on the frontpage, including this featured VA of the month deal.

However, I am at somewhat of a disadvantage when it comes to evaluating and assessing VA's because I don't speak Japanese. That means I can't catch things like accents, pronunciation and alot of other subtle nuiances.

So I'm looking for some help. Anyone around here who understands Japanese or might be able to help me, I'd really appreciate it. Obviously you'll got props on the main page, and perhaps even some goody from the mods/admins; hey, ya never know.

Also, feel free to post any suggestions for future VA's of the month here. What I can improve on, who you'd like to see, reactions to shit I said, etc.

@ Mods, sorry if this should be posted elsewhere. I didn't really think it belonged in General Anime or General Discussion, and I thought this section fit the bill best. Feel free to move it if you like.

[Kraco]

I don't have any particular suggestions, but it could be a good idea to feature male and female VAs by turns.

An awesome thing would be if you got a little server space from Gotwoot so that you could put up lets say three short samples from various different roles performed by the dude/damsel currently under inspection in your article. I'm sure you have a nice archive of anime you could use to rip a few seconds of memorable lines (or you could ask for them from people you know here). You could use the same server space perhaps all the time, if that's an issue, and so only the samples for the new article would be available. But generally speaking tiny wavs (or mp3s) of few seconds each would take insignificant amount of space (and bandwidth as I don't think tens of thousands of people would be clicking those links anyway).

I don't know if there could be any technical difficulties with such a thing, but with the gurus behind this site, I don't think that should be a problem.

Edit: Like now you had a row of those little pics of the role characters Shuuichi has had. Wouldn't it be 1337 if by clicking each image you would get a characteristic line from that particular character?

[AtHRunOwNZaLL]

I think you should do one on Akira Ishida.

I understand some of the basics of japanese but not enough to understand everything said in a big conversation, I think Psyke would be perfect for the job though.

[masamuneehs]

Guys I haven't gotten a whole lot of feedback on this new feature, and it really would be a great help to have someone who has at least a shred of knowledge of the Japanese language to just throw me a friggin bone here every now and then!

Please?

Next VA will indeed be a female. Haven't decided who...

[XanBcoo]

Do you have any in mind? I'd say you should either do Megumi Hayashibara (as an easy cop-out), Satsuki Yukino, Fumiko Orikasa, or Romi Paku.

Those are all pretty popular voices you could find a lot of info for. The last 3 have done or are doing current series. I don't know any Japanese though, so I can't help except for reccomendations. Good luck.

[Assassin]

I suggested this on irc, but i dont think wilik understood what i was trying to say, so i'll say it again.

Post you're VA article here in the announcements section (like make a thread solely for that purpose, no one else posts in it) cuz up at the front page not as many ppl will see it, and also it will get lost in a few days due to other announcements. Atleast here in the forums it will always be availeble.

[Kraco]

I don't think that solely is a good idea. Maybe both at the front page and here (or a link here to the front page). But you have to understand that it's quite different to have "just" a forum thread or a front page article.

[masamuneehs]

i'm doing this on the frontpage because we want to attract more regular traffic (aside from those who just come to find a AonE release) and lure new members into the forums.

I'll probably announce this month's featured VA later today.

[Assassin]

ya thats what wilik said to me too, but what im trying to say is, all your hardwork disappears soon as other announcements are put up. Even now, its 4th down on the list, and off screen when you initially enter the site. Not to mention, theres nothing to actually attract members/visitors to it either. The title "where have i heard that voice before" is hardly very catchy. At the very least there should be a seperate button at the top, or in the side bar. Some thing to let ppl know about it.

@Kraco:

I didn't mean solely in the forums. What i meant to say was, post it here in addition to putting it up on the front page. That way, those who are already members or are browsing the forums can also see it.

Edit:

I just realized its available under the "anime" category on the side bar of the main page. However, i clicked it simply out of curiosity. There still needs to be something that lets users and visitors know about the VA article.

[masamuneehs]

need some help with this month's featured VA. I'm doing Romi Paku and I sorta wanted to include something on her role in Samurai7 (Katsushiro Okamato).

If anyone who has seen that show (or Law of Ueki or Air Master) would be so kind to drop me some lines about her performance in those shows I'd be very grateful.

[masamuneehs]

shameless double post bump to announce the latest edition of GotVA?

Romi Paku on GotVA?

couldn't think up a clever joke/photoshop sketch for this one, but figure its been too long on the frontpage without an article not related to site maintenence/improvements.

edit: and i just noticed a typo but god damn am i tired...

[Augury]

Not sure if you intended for this setup, but your pictures of the anime characters that Romi Paku voices cuts into the navigation bar on the right and off of the "main" text area. If you made a line break after the third one or resized the pics the look wouldn't be as jarring.

This was an "okay" read, unfortunately though I've also seen FMA, Naruto, and Bleach like you so the only new information was most of the stuff at the bottom. A bit of a gripe here (or constructive criticism, depending on how you look at it) - although I myself think it's a bit unreasonable because of the effort you're putting into doing these articles in the first place - but I don't see the purpose of an article on VAs if the material covered is already known to most of the non-casual anime watchers. FMA, Naruto, and Bleach are three of the most popular shounen animes and anybody who has gone through a VA thread knows that Ed, Temari, and Hitsugaya are voiced by the same person. I think a focus on the lesser-known roles or side facts would boost your article considerably.

[masamuneehs]

i do appreciate the feedback augury. i sorta had a feeling this edition wasn't that hot...

and not knowing Japanese really sets me back a good bit too... I've asked for help before, but nobody seems to want to... I'd much rather do anime reviews, but figure the VAs don't get alot of coverage while anime blogs are everywhere.

and, once again, if you anyone thinks they could be a help, it'd be great to contact me!

[AtHRunOwNZaLL]

and not knowing Japanese really sets me back a good bit too... I've asked for help before, but nobody seems to want to...

and, once again, if you anyone thinks they could be a help, it'd be great to contact me!

i sent you a pm like 2 days ago.

[masamuneehs]

I went for a different approach for this month's Featured VA...

This time it's Akira Ishida (Athrun Zala, Gaara, among 100s of others)

Also has two sound clips of voices from him. Go read it now!

thanks to AthrunOwnzAll and sheva (Ikari on IRC) for their input.

[Kraco]

Wow... That was quite an article. Quite a chaotic article... But what it seemed to lack in formality it certainly gained in funniness. Better this way, becaus formal bits of information no doubt are found from many places, whereas articles like this aren't. For sure. And I'm glad you got in a couple of voice samples. That really connects the voice actor in question to the reality, as the faces change from series from series, but the core essence of the voice remains.

Good work. Probably took more effort than the previous ones, but it was worth it. The only thing that bothered me somewhat was the layout. Or to be blunt the lack of a clear layout...

[XanBcoo]

That was an awesome article. Really funny, and I love Akira Ishida. I know he's one of the more prollific and popular VAs out there (the quote in my sig actually refers to him), but I didn't know he played Luke Skywalker in the JP dub. Based on your description, I might have to see some episodes of SEED just to check out how he sounds in that. Judeau is also one of my favorite Ishida roles, so I'm glad he got mention.

Heh, you happened to pic the most homosexual line in Evangelion for that second voice clip...*shudder*

[Honoko]

I must wonder how much sleep deprivation played a factor in this one

[masamuneehs]

I must wonder how much sleep deprivation played a factor in this one

i did start working on it in a sleep deprived state, and it sorta took on a life of its own from there... i just wanted to make it funny, even if it's stuff only i thought was funny. One thing that I wonder is if people can see the image descriptions i typed in for the pics, as I wasn't able to and that was a semi-bummer.

Akira Ishida is fucking awesome. Judeau is 133tness, end of story. He did so damn well with Athrun, even though his performance in Destiny doesn't touch the job in the 1st SEED series and then he also does Gaara. I mean, goddamn can you get any better? I doubt it.

I also really respect that he's an 'all around' performer. I didn't mention it in the article but he's voiced EVERY role you can imagine. Men, women, kids, old men, screaming, calm, serious, goofy, everything. The guy can even fucking sing. You gotta giveit up for that.

also, Xan, lol at the quote. I remember watching that scene in Eva and I was like "Oh, my, fucking, homosexual, god" Seriously, Kaworu kicks ass but I mean it when I say that line is 'creeeepy'.

Oh yeah, i photoshopped soooo many pics for that article so you better like it!
and i'm fucking drunk right now!

[Knives122]

you killed Athrun, why......?