Day 3 at Anime Boston was definitely the slowest day of the weekend, but the roundup panels were definitely worth the trip for the day, full of industry insider tidbits, playful banter between colleagues, and, at times, surprisingly heartfelt points of discussion.
Voice Actor Roundup: Richard Epcar, Tom Wayland, Sean Schemmel, Brina Palencia, Chris Ayres, Greg Ayres, J. Michael Tatum, Trina Nishimura, and Spike Spencer were all in attendance for the voice actor roundup. This panel just felt like an extension of all the other voice actor panels I attended over the first two days, with the audience asking questions and the actors answering, though the banter among the large group was fun to witness. It’s obvious these people are good friends from the way they get along; it’s nice to see the anime community, fans and actors alike, coming together in an atmosphere like this and just having a laid-back good time.
There were some fun questions from the audience, like what color crayon all the of the actors thought they would be. Greg Ayres declared he’d be any color of the rainbow while Sean Schemmel joked he’d be Greg’s hair (which was a mixture of pink and purple). Greg also said he’d be the bluntest crayon in the box while Spike Spencer joked he’d be the crayon that was always missing. Another fan requested that J. Michael Tatum, as Black Butler’s Sebastian, propose to fellow Black Butler lead Ciel Phantomhive, as played by Brina Palencia. After a good round of laughter, Tatum got on one knee and the two acted out the humorous scene to great applause.
Director’s Roundtable: Richard Epcar, Tom Wayland, Sean Schemmel, Brina Palencia, Chris Ayres, and J. Michael Tatum all attended the director’s roundtable which ended up being much more informative and interesting than I had initially expected. More than any of the other panels I attended this weekend, this roundtable worked like a discussion between the panelists. The audience only ended up asking about three or four questions during the hour because the panelists kept playing off one another, adding to each other’s answers and having serious discussions about directing others, directing themselves, fan reaction to work, their directing philosophies, etc. Chris Ayres and J. Michael Tatum, for instance, were adamantly against directing themselves in a show while Richard Epcar and Tom Wayland discussed how much they enjoyed directing themselves. A fascinating discussion about the merits and drawbacks of being the final arbiter of line readings followed.
My favorite part of the panel, though, had to be when the panelists discussed how directors should always take the flak from fans for bad dubs rather than the actors. The actors, they said, are only reading the lines as the director wants them to; it is the director’s vision for the series and they have the final say on the acting choices that go into the polished product. Because of that, the panelists said, fans shouldn’t take out their dislike on the actor, but the director. Unfortunately, the actor is the most readily available party for fans to take out any frustration, but it is misdirected.
Overall: Anime Boston ended up being a good time. Though the industry presence was minimal, FUNimation had a good showing. Adam Sheehan told us at FUNi’s dealer booth today that their interactive “FUNimation.com Presents” panel on Friday had been an experiment, and he’d been concerned about how well it would go over; he was pleased to hear we had enjoyed it immensely. There were some impressive cosplayers, though the overwhelming favorite of the weekend seemed to be the pink ball gown Ciel wears when he cross-dresses in episode 4 of Black Butler. The voice actors, though, were the absolute highlight of the weekend. Good showing, Anime Boston, but let’s hope the industry continues to improve so the professional presences will increase for future cons.
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