Anime Revolution 2012

The weekend before last, August 17th - 19th was the very first Anime Revolution. It was a year in the making and packed with panels, interactive games and events. 

Panels covered topics such as:

 The Brony Panelwhich spoke about being an adult male fan of the My Little Ponies.

Transformers Timelinewhich aimed to clear up how Transformers came to be, what happened to them after the movie, and why Japan gets more toys than Canada.

Pokemon Theories: trying to make sense of what is exactly going on in Pokemon.

Con Ettiquette which consisted almost entirely of a power point presentation instructing people how to wash themselves daily with the occasional tip like ”please remove your wings in large crowds” or “respect the personal space bubble."

And many more.

So many people came decked out in incredibly interesting and mostly home-made costumes. If you’re like me, and have spent the last three days before Halloween almost every year frantically sewing and gluing a costume together that in the end maybe ten people actually “get” without you explaining it to them, you know how much goes into getting a costume just right. And you know the joy of anyone recognizing it.  So it is awesome to have a whole convention full of just that.

		The convention ran three days at the Vancouver Convention Centre, and from day one there were lines out the door full of anime fans waiting eagerly to get in and an excited roar of what people wanted to see....

Cosplay is not merely an expression of fandom, but really connecting with an art that you love, and connecting with others who love it too. It is an art of taking a character and bringing them into reality. (That said, if I cover this next year, I am SO dressing up. It looks like fun.)

In between panels you could also stop into the non-stop anime viewing room or you could stay for hours in the Games Room, which featured a Pokemon Master Tournament and a Magic: The Gathering tournament all three days.  There was also an NES (original Nintendo!) Super NES and a few other fun old video game systems hooked up, so you could really release your inner classic game nerd here.

Anime Revolution managed to snag several really neat guests for panels and autograph sessions such as Nakata Jouji (voice of Hellsing,) Angela Melick (creator of Wasted Talent,) several of the voice actors from Sailor Moon, and Matthew Erickson (voice of Shinn form Gundam Seed, Trunks in Dragon Ball GT, some other, and my personal favorite, Nobuo on Nana.) I used to work with Matthew, so I thought I’d catch up with him and the world of voice dubs.

Matthew Erickson does his best anime faces 

Matthew, what has been your favorite project to work on so far?

Well, for character my favorite would be Van Flyheight from Zoids.  It’s a nostalgic spot for me because it was my first lead character in a major series.  It was great because I have a younger nephew and sometimes with anime the content is such that you can’t always show it to young kids.  Zoids I could show to my younger nephew.

As for the series: Nana.  It is a well-written, interesting story.  And Nobu is very much like me.  Eight out of ten characters I am cast in the director kind of picks like that. Nobu is a bit of a geek, likes music, and doesn’t really know his way around the ladies. Most of my characters are geeks who don’t know their way around the ladies.

How did you get into voice acting?

I was just out of acting school and heard about an audition.  I went in and got a small part.  I did incidental roles for a bit, then booked a major role in Ceres.

There are always differences between the original anime and the dubbed versions.  Why do you think those changes are made?

Typically, some things just don’t translate well.  Real hardcore anime fans will talk about how “everything’s been changed,” but it’s there to make the show more accessible to a western audience.  To be honest, I think before there was more need to have a translation not only of words but of ideas. Western culture is now more influenced by Japanese culture.  Especially with some of the more sophisticated shows, the audience is more educated in and aware of Japanese culture.  In 11 years I have noticed a huge merging of ideas.  I remember reading scripts before and having a director say it won’t go over because the ideas don’t translate.  Now that cultures are merging something very distinct may stay in.

Why not just make subtitled shows?

I think firstly, there is no way the USA or Canada would air it.  With dubs there is more exposure and more kids can watch, which is fantastic.  It would be impossible for most kids to watch shows with subs.

Have you been to many conventions like this?

My first was 5-6 years ago, and it was a culture shock.  I like cartoons, and it’s nice to see adults not only like it, but love it.  Two years ago me and my wife wore a two-person Star Wars AT-AT walker outfit.  We spent two weeks making it. It was awesome. She was the head and I was the butt, so I couldn’t see anything and walked around with my head cricked to the side.  It was so much fun.  I love when people dress in cosplay as characters I’ve voiced.  That’s my favorite.

Matthew and his wife at a previous convention.  She took fans' programs through the front and Matthew was signing them on her back and spitting them out the license plate / butt flap

 Be sure to check out the convention next year!