in the sound booth at Bell Sound Studios, Hollywood
In the late 1990's I had a great voice acting gig playing a sexy space pirate. Ryoko was a serious warrior and a desperate lover. She could walk through walls and fly. She was silly, funny, romantic and fierce. One doesn't get a role like that every day. (If one did, one might wear out much too young.)
When I first accepted the part I had no idea the English dub of the anime series Tenchi Muyo!, of which Ryoko was a part, would become a cult classic, or that I'd still be getting fan mail 15 years later. "Tenchi" has a devoted fan base (many of whom hail from Ohio and/or the UK--why is that?) and the fans have been gracious and friendly over the years. They're my Facebook friends, my Twitter followers, my pen pals. And they know a lot more about Tenchi and Ryoko than I do.
On November 13th, I'll be appearing on a panel called The Ladies of Tenchi Muyo at Pacific Media Expo at the LAX Hilton. It's a reunion of sorts, although we "ladies" never actually recorded together in the sound booth. We voiced our parts separately and the engineers mixed us in post-production, like producers do with music tracks. But we acted together nonetheless. I always hoped the voices of the other actors would be recorded before I came to record mine. I considered myself lucky when I had their tracks to act with.
I could be wrong but it seems lately there's been a resurgence of interest in Tenchi Muyo. Just last week I recorded an interview for the online radio station 91.8TheFan. (The interview's not online yet. I'll let you know.)
If I were Brad Pitt or Lady Gaga I might get tired of fans, but mine don't count up into the millions and they're mostly not nuts or intrusive or rude. They're nice people who, in their youths, loved an anime cartoon and the character I played. Some of them tell me they chose careers in anime or voice-over because of it. What an honor it is to hear from them, and to know something I did was meaningful in their lives.
28 comments:
You know how much I wish I were there, Petrea. I hope somebody records the event and posts it for the slavering English and Ohioan fans. In the meantime I'll sit and wait for the 91.8TheFan interview to come on line and watch old clips on YouTube.
Very cool, almost as cool as that shot.
(Still waiting to hear your traffic report, though.)
Thanks, Dive. The convention people tell me it's possible (though not guaranteed) there will be something online afterward. Fingers crossed.
Karin, you remind me I should label the shot. I took it at Bell Sound in Hollywood. (We didn't record Tenchi there.)
Didn't someone say--yes, it was Ted. He said he has a recording of one of my Ventura County traffic reports. That's a long time ago!
Have fun.
Great fun--and glad you have a manageable fan base!!
Hee hee, Des. There must be 11 or 12 of them.
Who knew that you were a star before you were a star? Ya learn something new everyday. Do you get and residuals?
Well, let's see … England: precipitous decline in fortunes since the Thatcher Monster roamed = not much to do except watch animé on telly … Ohio: see Rock & Roll Hall of Fame once, seen a thousand times = what's on TV? Oh, hey, "Tenchi"!
Snark, please. I couldn't figure out how to make the post funny but feel free to make fun of me here.
That sounds like I'm petulant but I'm not. This one needs some jokes!
Ha! John summed up my life in Ohio pretty well.
I considered flying in for the convention very seriously, but unfortunately it's just not good timing. November is turning out to be an incredibly busy month. I just hope somebody brings a video camera.
Very much looking forward to that interview!
Julie, I admit I've been stalking 91.8thefan looking for my interview. Not that I'm eager or anything. They gave me some lame excuse about a blizzard and not having power for 5 days...
What pansies...
I'm assuming this isn't an LA-based radio station?
They're web-based, so the principals are all over the place. But I believe the producer is in Connecticut. Isn't that where the blizzard was?
That sounds like a lot of fun.
Yeah, what is it with Ohio? my online resume has me listed as being from Ohio; not that there's anything wrong with that.
It's because all the best people come from Ohio, PA.
So did you meet up (virtually speaking) with Dive because he was a fan? And has anyone ever said "you don't look like I imagined." Perhaps they don't say that when it's an animation?
Oh no, Bellis, I've Dive's fan. He is a fan only of aging, obscure rock stars.
Sometimes people say "I imagined you'd be younger."
What a wonderful story, Petrea!
"It's because all the best people come from Ohio, PA."
Truer words have never been spoken (or typed). ;)
Www.pansyradio.com!
Thanks, Laura!
Julie, I return the smiley face.
JS, they seem to be late in launching.
Very cool and fun! Have a good time on the panel.
Also, love your photo -- it's quite dramatic!
I love the photo, but am hanging my head that I don't know about the rest. Well you knew I was from the Deep South and seriously challenged.
V
I'm glad you like the photo. Thanks, Ms. M.
Virginia, it's not like this thing is world famous. It's a small, cult thing. Why would you know unless you were from Ohio? Or Slough?
Have fun!
Hi Petrea, I am one of those Ohio Tenchi fans ^_^ I'd be lying if I said that Tenchi didn't change my life. Your voice and the character Ryoko were the biggest part of that (All us fans at Tenchiforum.com too), unfortunately I couldn't make it out to LA (But man did I want to, lol).
I hope that at some point you can make it to a con on the east coast (Ohayocon would be a dream, but anywhere would be great for the fans out here).
I hope I didn't ramble on too long, but I hope your future endeavors are bright, and that one day we can all hear you again as Ryoko!
Thank you
Hi Dragon 123,
Thanks for your message. It awes me to hear how people connected to "Tenchi" and it was wonderful to talk directly to so many fans.
We had a great time at PMX. Some people asked for video of the "Ladies of Tenchi Muyo" and I just posted links on my facebook page today if you want to see it.
https://www.facebook.com/petreaburchard
Thanks for your good wishes!
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