Considering the voice acting business can often draw from a number of pools of talent, it's rare to see any role go to a one off actor who maybe turned up in the office at the right time.
This is a tribute to them.
Some ground rules, the entries on the list have to have been main characters and not had any other named anime character on their resume, background characters are exempt as are American cartoon roles.
No hentai roles.
Honorable Mention: Maile Flanagan as Naruto Uzumaki from Naruto
I so wanted to put her down but she plays a named character in Astroboy, pretty good to net Naruto after only one other role though
10. Purva Bedi as Rion Aida from Agent Aika
The persistent assistant of Agent Aika, the performance lacks some emotion but Purva did a good job with what was otherwise a unique script.
9. Lindsay Doleshal and Shana McClendon as Nina Kirov and Miyuki Ayanokouji from Debutante Detective Corp
ADVfilms had to dig deep to make up numbers for bigger casts in their earliest runs but it is surprising these two didn't get any more roles especially when there were worst actors who did get more roles.
8. Lori Young as Lorna Endou from Ex-Driver
Lorna is one of favourite characters and Lori did a solid job working off the actress behind Lisa.
7. Sarah Strange as Ranma Saotome from Ranma 1/2
Sarah played Ranma for the movies, OVA episodes and half the TV series, at times you wouldn't even guess Ranma to have a female voice actor.
6. Julia Reyna Kato as Mirai Ozora from Moldiver
My inspiration for this list having just reviewed this. While l often call this performance very Nickelodeon, I couldn't ask for a better choice.
5. David Thund as Signal from Twin Signal
I have no idea where this guy came from but in one OVA he owned his whole performance and yet he's nowhere to be found afterwards.
4. Jessica Nigri as Super Sonico from SoniAmi Super Sonico The Animation
Better known for Cosplay and playing Cinder in RWBY, Jessica was a surprise pick for Sonico considering the character is to Nitroplus what Miku is to Vocaloid, so to see Sonico be voiced well in English is welcome.
3. Brennan MacKenzie and J.Patrick Lawlor as Rally Vincent and Bean Bandit from Riding Bean
Riding Bean is my highest rated OVA so to see two unknowns pull off a pleasant Rally Vincent and an Elvis like Bean Bandit is quite a feat.
2. Ellen Gerstell as Mihoshi Kuramitsu from Tenchi Muyo
Tenchi Muyo's cast had some big 80s and 90s names of cartoons among it's books with Ellen having previously been cast in JEM and the Dragon's Lair cartoon. Out of all the one off roles, Mihoshi is the best.
1. Pretty Much the Entire Cast of Miami Guns
All but two actors in this anime have never done any voice works, not before or after. Considering that the ambitious Anime Nation were hoping to ride the success of Excel Saga with this title, what we got was actually surprisingly well acted for a cast of nobodies, Yao's actress is having a ball in this. Miami Guns is a pretty terrible anime but it's fun trash anime at it's finest.
I'm back after my break and of course over the festive period there have been a metric ton of Christmas Specials as per usual, in this feature I'll cover my favorites along with a few I'm not so fond of, as a bonus anything I mention whether it be...
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Lets face it Anime is weird and first impressions of any series makes for some funny stories, so today I'll be showing you some of my favorite stories over the many years of anime watching.
I do not count shows where I saw a trailer first.
10. "Hold on a minute, isn't that supposed to be Amy?"
This was my reaction to the Sonic the Hedgehog movie, having previously seen all the cartoons it came as quite a shock when the only female character is a catgirl, rather than Amy, Sally Acorn or a character that looked more animal like.
Significance: My first encounter with a Catgirl and the video trailer of Dirty Pair Flash led me into the anime world.
9. "Rave Master wasn't that good, there is no way on earth this will be good"
My sister first informed me of Fairy Tail and this was my reaction but thanks to natural curiosity I ended up watching possibly the worlds greatest anime.
Significance: I owe a number of shows a re-watch with Rave Master on top of that list.
8. "That's supposed to be a manga art style? it will never last"
Yet sadly Bleach is still going and while it started good has since remained a franchise zombie over a year after it's end was announced.
Significance: Taught me that it's not a good idea to collect a long series.
7. "I don't follow what's going on but the giant combat robots look awesome"
This was my opinion of Gundam Wing during Cartoon Network's promotional clips of episode 1 & 2. I didn't understand what the characters were saying but screw that there is a giant robot with a beam scythe.
Significance: I ultimately declared Transformers as utter rubbish.
6. "Okay we have transgender orange ninjas and lazily choreographed fights"
What I thought of Naruto after seeing a couple of scenes in an AMV, but it wasn't until I saw Rock Lee vs Gaara that Naruto became awesome.
Significance: Dragonballz had finally been surpassed.
5. "We have a guy in a suit, a pointy nosed man with a catapult, a guy who can stretch his limbs, a guy with three swords, one of which is in his mouth and we have a girl to make up the bunch; oh and a ship is somehow plummeting down a water slide; is this about pirates or do these characters just travel on a ship?"
Another show I first saw as an AMV, and yes to someone whose grown up on the Captain Hook school of piracy, it didn't look like what it really was.
Significance: Stereotyping is not required for a good series.
4. "That was hilarious, what the hell did I just watch?"
Try and describe episode 1 of Excel Saga with nothing to go on but the box art. Go on give it a try, film your reaction for more effect.
Significance: I seem to be immune to weird now.
3. "Wait a minute did Washu do what I think she just did?"
One show I watched a lot with my older sister was Tenchi Muyo and being older and wiser meant she was far more well informed than I was so she showed me some scenes cut from the Cartoon Network broadcast and.....
Significance: First realized this anime stuff is not for kids.
2. "I want that ice cream, the one with the orange balls with stars on" & "Why is there two versions of the same character on this video?"
Back in the 90s on regular holidays to Spain, Dragonballz was broadcasting and it never clicked in my young head that the image I was looking at was Goku & Gohan and not two Gokus. I never did get Dragonball ice cream, no longer exists now.
Significance: Toss up between this and number 1 as my first ever anime experience.
1. "There is a giant Panda throwing buckets & kettles at me which somehow causes me to transform between color schemes and movement, after collecting certain items a girl runs into me and the level is complete, there is a portrait with an unusual art style and the next level begins"
What I just described is a Ranma 1/2 game on the Gameboy, I've owned a Gameboy since 1992 and I'm convinced it still works. One of my games was a Ranma 1/2 game on a flash card which at the time were sort of legal in Europe but not so much anymore.
Significance: Understood the existence of Japan and it's products.
So those are just some of the stories from a lifetime of anime, I would love to hear some more stories, so don't be afraid to post comments.
