Forum - View topicExcel Saga
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ryotaru
Posts: 2 |
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Does anyone know why ADV changed the voice actress for Excel midway through the series?
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Cassandra
 Posts: 1356 Location: Birdsboro, PA |
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Jessica Calvello was unable to complete the series.
From the ADV news archives: "Yes, it is true that Jessica Calvello has decided not to finish recording the part of Excel in Excel Saga. This is not a situation that any of us here at ADV are happy with, myself least of all, and we went to great lengths to find some schedule adjustment that would allow her to complete the series. In the end, however, we had to accede to her wishes to proceed with recording the show without her. Although this may be hard for some fans to understand, the potential for stress or strain to one's vocal chords can weigh heavily on an actor or singer. No one knows Jessica and her voice better than Jessica. In the end it was Jessica's decision to make as to whether or not she wanted to continue, just as it has always been her decision. We respect that. As most of you also know, Jessica was my personal choice for the role of Excel, and I have been dead set on having her from the beginning, even though we all knew it would mean flying her from New York to Houston twice per volume in order to make her participation even possible. Losing her now, after we had achieved such great work on the first three volumes of Excel Saga, is therefore particularly bitter, but Excel Saga is far more than the story of one character, and the rest of the cast will remain unchanged. From all of the reviews I have read, and all of the comments that have been forwarded to me personally, I think it is fair to say that the general consensus has been that EVERYONE in the cast has done a fantastic job; and while all of us will miss Jessica greatly, it makes far more sense to continue with a new Excel rather than stop the whole project once Jessica informed us that she would rather not continue. To do otherwise would be to deprive everyone of the work of a great many other extremely talented actors who have performed miracles in making the English version of Excel Saga, once known as “the show that could not be dubbed,” into the amazing success it has been. And, indeed, Jessica has given them her blessing to continue. With that in mind, we are now in the final stages of re-casting and I believe we have found someone who will be able to step into the admittedly big shoes filled first by Kotono Mitsuishi and then by Jessica. Will her performance be the same as Jessica's? No, of course not... for the same reason that Jessica's performance was different from Kotono's even though she (Jessica) insisted on trying to re-create Kotono's performance exactly, down to the sound of each individual nonsense sound. Every actor is different and even though they may be reading the same lines, they are re-filtered through that actor's own personal tastes and experiences. Just as Jessica brought a more hyper sense of franticness to Excel, the new Excel will doubtless bring her own flavor to the role, and as a director I refuse to try and make her performance an exact slavish copy of Jessica's, just as I allowed Jessica to follow her own path to finding the inner Excel. All I ask is for you, as fans, to give the new Excel a fair listen before deciding whether she is "better" or "worse" than Ms. Calvello. And I do acknowledge, that as a fan, this kind of objectivity is hard to achieve. When the Japanese voice of Lupin was recast a number of years ago, I found it hard at first to adjust to the change, and who among us hasn't gotten involved in that ancient argument as to who was the "better" James Bond... Connery, Moore, Dalton, Brosnan, Lazenby...? In the end, such arguments are often pointless, since without that succession of actors there would have been no further Bond films for the world to enjoy once Connery retired, no further Tarzans after Elmo Lincoln, no new Sherlock Holmes and so on. Such is the case now. Ms. Calvello has decided not to continue with ES, so it is up to the rest of us to accept her decision and continue onwards. Life has given us a lemon, but I think we still have the ingredients for some really great lemonade." |
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ryotaru
Posts: 2 |
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Thanks Cassandra!
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Kain
Posts: 34 |
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Too summarize, Mitsuishi Kotono (an elite seiyuu) > second-tier American voice actor
;) |
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garry
Former ANN Editor
 Posts: 120 |
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Back into your hole, you pedant, you fanboy!
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SuperSkylineGTR
 Posts: 471 Location: Chicago, IL |
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[quote="Cassandra"] "Life has given us a lemon, but I think we still have the ingredients for some really great lemonade."[/quote]
I sure hope so, I just started investing in this series. |
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Aya Reiko
 Posts: 166 Location: Nowhere and Somewhere |
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I think calling her "second-tier" is giving her more credit than she deserves. |
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Case
Posts: 1016 |
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I'd like to see either one of you get hired to scream like that all day. 
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thebaron
Posts: 149 |
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Yeah, but correct on the matter. I don't know how anyone stands dubs and wish anime cons would stop wasting guest space for the american voice acters. |
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Aaron White
Old Regular
Posts: 1365 Location: Birmingham, Alabama |
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Snide comments about all dubs and dub actors without justification=lame-ass attempt to cop a superior attitude without working for it.
Okay, that's a wee bit snide, but really; in these days when the original japanese directors are increasingly expressing preference for the English dubs (Wings of Honneamise, Cowboy Bebop,) collaborating on the dubs (Utena) and even choosing english dub actors to play the original roles (Vamp Hunt D Bloodlust) dubs and dub actors can't be dismissed so easily. Dissing them and downing their talents without justification is too cheap to pass. |
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Cassandra
Posts: 1356 Location: Birdsboro, PA |
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I wish people who know nothing about running a con would stop pretending they know anything about how one works. |
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garry
Former ANN Editor
Posts: 120 |
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CON CHAIR APPRECIATION POST! WOOOOO!
Who here's a con chair? Who here stacks chairs? Say it loud and proud! |
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Kain
Posts: 34 |
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Case: Which is exactly why I'm not a voice actor... or an NBA player... or play the violin. I go with my strengths :)
Aaron White: Unfortunately, Darwin's laws apply in the great world of voice acting. Fierce competition + high demand = separating the wheat from the chaffe. Until the United States views animation as a serious art medium that is on the same plane as live-action shows and not a child-placating alternative, there is no real incentive for the greatest trained vocalists in the Western world to make voice acting their highest priority... thereby diluting the talent pool. I've been a fan of Mitsuishi Kotono for nearly a decade now, and Excel's dub voice (from what I heard and compared) just doesn't hold a candle to the original. I reserve the right to retract my statements when I honestly believe American voice actors have equalled or bettered their Japanese counterparts. /me waits in anticipation. |
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Aya Reiko
Posts: 166 Location: Nowhere and Somewhere |
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Screach is more like it. And whoever said that screaching to the point of damaging your vocal chords was ever necessary? |
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Aya Reiko
Posts: 166 Location: Nowhere and Somewhere |
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I almost couldn't have said it better myself. Almost, but I think there's a little more to this. There are several rungs in the Voice Acting ladder, dub VA being on the very bottom. The more money/effort involved, the better quality of actors/actresses we get. |
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