Interview with a FUNimation VA

By: The Great Saiyaman

For a while since I've started the website I've been in contact with various people who work at and have connections to FUNimation over time. However, recently one one of the VA's agreed to speak to me and participate in an interview to answer a few of my questions!

I'm not really sure if I can say the person's name or if I was even given permission to but in any case, they were nice enough to answer many of their questions and here they are. So fellow viewers, it is now that I proudly present to you- an interview with a FUNimation VA.

1. Is there anything you'd like to say about yourself to all the fans out there before we begin?

A. "I'm just really blessed to do what I really love to do. Thanks for being supportive."


2. Now then, how do you enjoy working at FUNimation and doing voices?

A. "It's a blast most of the time. It also can be difficult... trying to get the right read or match your words to the mouth flaps. A lot of times you don't know what the person sounded like before. So its not like you just react to the other person. Like actors are supposed to."


3. So what's the typical day at FUNimation like?

A. "Umm. It's changed alot since I started. I have to sign in now and wear a badge that says talent. I guess there are too many people working up there now. I used to know most everyone. Then, I say hi to the other directors (usually disturbing other sessions, I think i'm special or something) and go to the booth that I'm assigned, grab a script, step in, get levels adjusted and go."


4. How long does the average episode of DBZ or any other anime take to be dubbed? And is there ever any time difference depending on the anime or the episode itself?

A. "Depends!!"

And is there ever any time difference depending on the anime or the episode itself?

"Yeah...how many characters, what actors are recording...lots of fighting? Stuff like that all effects the time."


5. I understand that sometimes the voices of characters for several episodes are all done at once. (say, 5 episodes of Kurilin being voiced in one setting for example, assuming he says only a little in each of the 5 episodes) Since it's not done individually piece by piece in order like cartoons and animations produced in America, how exactly are they able to go back and forth and ultimately dub one episode? Do they just take all the various recordings and "mix" them together to get one final recording track that runs during the duration of the episode?

A. "Each episode is recorded on seperate tapes. When you switch episodes they switch tapes."

Do they just take all the various recordings and "mix" them together to get one final recording track that runs during the duration of the episode?

A. "Pretty much."


6. DBZ recently ended earlier this year. How do you feel about this? And did FUNimation do anything special to celebrate after dubbing the last episode of DBZ?

A. "Not that I know of."


7. Christmas is coming up, and I'd just like to say happy Christmas to you and anywhere else out. Anyway, I heard that last year FUNimation gave all of their staff presents. What kind of presents were they, and do you think this'll become an annual tradition?

A. "Happy Holidays to ya! I don't think I got one last year...I got a card. The first year they framed an autographed poster for everyone."


8. Speaking of gifts, I also heard that FUNimation awarded their VA's and staff who worked on Budokai with nice bonuses after the dubbing finished finished. One guy I know of spent his bonus to fix up his car. :) So how much they give you guys anyway?

A. "I'm gonna have to say something about these presents...again all I got was a copy. And I'd already bought one for my brother."


9. So what exactly was it like to work on the dubbing of Budokai and how was it different from the average episode?

A. "You didn't have to worry about mouth flaps. You have to win and die in the same day. That hurts the voice."


10. I recently got the chance to play DBZ Budokai 2 and I have to say, I'm very impressed with the dubbing quality. Last time for Budokai 1 they used a different team of writers than usual and had several Toei brass oversee the dubbing. So what was Budokai 2's dubbing like?

A. "I don't know anything about the writers ...other than Eric and Sonny, but even then I don't know what they write. Sorry, I don't have much insight."


11. I understand that original animation for TV pays $678.00 plus 10% for the agent. The session fee is paid for up to 2 voices in a single program or segments of programs over 10 minutes in length. Up to 3 voices may be performed per program. An additional 10% is paid for the 3rd voice. If more than 3 voices are performed actors are paid an additional session fee of $678.00. Residuals are based on producers optioned payment schedule, and they say that the real money comes from the residuals.

"Thats interesting...I wish I had done the original!"

Union dubbing for anime pays $60.00 per hour with a gaurantee of 2 hours work. I think there are limited residuals but not much. The work is 10 times harder than original animation due to matching sync. In original animation they animate to the soundtrack. Some say that due to the added difficulty of dubbing it should probably pay much more.

"I agree."

Anyway, for all those curious prospective va's out there, what kind of scale does FUNimation?

"No comment. (contract)"


12. So let's talk about the DBZ Redub a little bit. I know you can't really say anything about the music but aside from that what else can the fans expect from it?

"I'm not sure what to expect either."


13. Do you know if Christopher Neel Bligh will be one of the writers for it?

"I don't know that one either."


14. Recently it's been discovered that the cursing in the uncut-presented version of dub of DBZ has undergone censorship to make it less offensive to children and parents. What are your personal thoughts on this?

"It doesn't really matter to me either way. I say what's on the script and try to be as real as possible."


15. Have you seen the Japanese version of DBZ? If so, what are your thoughts on it?

"Nope."


16. So far since 1996 none of DBZ's original music has been used for any of the series except the first 3 movies. Many fans have been dismayed about the absence of the original soundtrack. What are your personal thoughts on the differences between the two soundtracks? And do you think there's any possiblility the original soundtrack may ever be used for any of the remaining DBZ and DBGT releases?

"I couldn't tell ya... I know most of the fans prefer the original. I say if that's what they want... keep the original."


17. Before voicing a character, do you do anything special to prepare yourself and your voice?

"Lots of water...usually do some vocal warmups ... I'm a singer, I'm supposed to do that anyway."


18. Of all of Funimation's voice directors Justin Cook is probably my favorite, followed by Mike McFarland. And I think Chris Sabat did a really nice job with Blue Gender too. Who else would say are really good directors?

"There are so many new guys... I like everybody... I really haven't worked with them enough to say. I don't go in as much as I used to."


19. FUNimation's releasing quite a few new series in 2004, among them Tenchi Muyo GXP, Kiddy Grade, Detective Conan and Sakura Wars. What should fans expect to look forward to from each of the new series? (note- feel free to plug your favorite series)

"Laura Baileys' new roomate is the lead for Kiddy Grade... I've heard that she is awesome and you don't hear the directors say that too often. I don't know that much about the others just yet, but I did play a murderer in one of the Conan episodes.

I guess only time will tell."


20. In some animes things are completely Americanized and other times they're left completely Japanese. Other times, it can be a mixture of the two of varying degrees. What level of Americanization do you feel is best for an anime?

"I can see and understand both sides."

And do you think it should differ depending on the anime itself?

"Yeah, probably."


21. It's oftentimes believed that all executive work at FUNimation is handled exclusively by Gen Fukunaga. However I understand that Daniel Cocanougher, as the person who funded the creation of FUNimation, actually has more power than Gen in many areas regarding the company. Do you know what it is Mr. Cocanougher's work entails?

"Have no clue... I can't even tell you what my work entails. (or would you even call it work... hmm?)"


22. Gen Fukunaga... I don't think there's any way I can ask about him without sounding rude. However, like Steve Harmon once said, he has a lot to own up to for how Dragon Ball Z's been treated in the States. So c'mon, be honest- what kind of a person is Gen really like?

"I've really only met him once. I pretty much only see the directors and maybe an actor that is leaving or coming in for their session."

Is he really as bad as everybody's made him out to be? Or has everybody been wrong about him and is he actually a really nice guy?

"He was pleasant to me. You'd have to ask Barry or someone higher up the ladder. "




And there you go! I'd first like to thank this person for agreeing to take the time to answer my questions. I'm not really an important guy, just your usual otaku and I think of this more as a generous service to all the many fans out there as opposed to some favor for me or something.

I would also like to thank those who submitted questions to me to use, mainly my fellow staff members and particulary crusaderoflight88. I mainly used my own questions but thanks everybody who helped me out.

As for the interview itself I'm pretty happy with how it came out. I don't really want to go over the response with a fine comb and "analyze" everything since that'd be very rude, but I will say that I found them very interesting, intelligent, informative and revealing. I will add though that this does give me a much better idea of what it's like being a VA and what it is they do. Mainly that most of them have almost nothing to do with scripts (meaning that that's not something most of them should be blamed for) and that the directors are the ones who mainly decide the voices at the end of the day after bringing out each perspective VA's voice talent, so I guess I now have more understanding and respect for what it is that VA's do.

Also, it's important that I point out that the only questions I've asked and had answered by this person thus far are the ones which you just read. I have many sources for information on FUNimation and I really don't want anyone to think that it's all from just this one person when in actuality there were some questions I asked this person that they chose to pass on. Also, the reason the interview came at a less climactic pause than a different question was probably because my last four questions had been about relations between FUNimation, the fans, and what FUNimation thought of Chris Psaros's DBZU and dbzoa.net (yeah, not really non-controversial stuff to say the least :P) but I guess the person wasn't really comfortable talking about that. Oh well, at least I tried so hey, you got to give me points there.

I also feel that it is important to mention that the appearance this person's interview here DOES NOT NECESSARILY SUGGEST THAT THEY SUPPORT OR ENDORSE THIS WEBSITE. I personally would love to hear their thoughts on it, or anyone else FUNimation's thoughts on it, even if they are completely and entirely against its very existence. Once again, I must stress that this site is for EVERYBODY'S opinions, US DBZ supporters, opponents, even FUNimation employees, and also everyone else inbetween. And if there are any other FUNimation employees reading this you're more than welcome to contact me and tell me what you think.

And finally, no, you can't have this person's name or e-mail address. You can guess as much as you like and I hope you enjoyed the interview but I'm not going to help you with that. And finally finally, big thanks to Chris Psaros and his interviewing of Ian Corlett and Peter Kelamis, which pretty much singlehandedly inspired me to seek out this interview and even helped shape some of the format of it as well. I've said it before and I'll say it again- Chris Psaros, you are the man, even now, and I guess you will be for a very long time as your site is still able to hold up so excellently even after all of these years and will probably continue to do so for a very long time to come.

Well, that's that. Who will I be interviewing next time? Stay tuned to find out!