One of the best parts about any anime convention is the opportunity to attend a Q&A panel with the cast of a show! This year, at Anime Pasadena, four voice actors from the recent smash hit Kaiju No. 8 were present to discuss their experience working on the new anime series, which premiered in April of this year.
Convention Q&A
The panel, which took place on the Civic Stage at the Pasadena Convention center on Saturday November 3rd, included Nazeeh Tarsha, who voices the main protagonist Kafka Hibino, Adam McArthur, who voices his closest confidant Reno Ichikawa, Katelyn Barr, the English voice behind the tough and impressive captain of the Defense Force Mina Ashiro, and Landon McDonald, who voices Vice-captain Soshiro Hoshina.
To kick off the discussion, the guests were asked if they had had a chance to read the manga the show is based on, which is currently ongoing. Katelyn quickly stated that not only had she read it, but she binge read all of the volumes that had been released at the time before going in to record. According to her, it is rare for English dub voice actors to have the time to read the manga between being cast and recording lines.
Also, sometimes they may not even know what character they are recording for prior to walking in the door. Landon said he tries to stay caught up with the manga and that all of his favorite stuff with Hoshina is still to come. While Adam advised that he was a few chapters behind but still relatively caught up. On the other hand, Nazeeh claimed he was the slacker of the group, having read only as far as the first season of the show and saying he wants to be surprised about what’s to come.
Character Considerations
The next question was what kind of characteristics each of the guests on stage look for in a character when they audition. Right out the gate, Adam McArthur (who also voices Yuji Itadori in Jujutsu Kaisen), declared he likes voicing ‘the good boys’. He said it is almost a typecast at this point. He has found himself as the “president of the Good Boy’s Club” and that he is “not mad about that at all.” Although, while Landon said he is often cast as a villain, he does see a pattern in the good guys he does get to play. Drawing comparisons to Hoshina to his other role of Ranpo in Bungo Stray Dogs. Albeit, a little more physically gifted this time around.
Katelyn claims she is usually cast as a dragon (bonus points if it is a gay dragon) or “bad-ass assassin women with long dark hair”. She said she took one look at Mina and knew that was the character for her. Nazeeh said that as with many people in the arts, he used to audition for whatever came around, but more recently has gotten the chance to get a little more picky and go after characters with a little more range and dynamic energy. He noted that Kafka is a perfect example of what he looks for in that he has the ability to go from goofy and ridiculous to serious and grounded, letting Nazeeh have fun and play around with the voice of the character.
Character Development & Chemistry
At one point, Adam took the opportunity to discuss the friendship between his character Ichikawa and Nazeeh’s character Kafka. Adam explained that he has so far enjoyed that there is almost a symbiotic relationship there, with Ichikawa pushing Kafka to not give up on his dream to join the Defense Force and Kafka kind of nudging Ichikawa out of his shell to be more personable and to care about others around him.
Finally, Nazeeh was asked whether Kakfka should have stayed a member of the cleaning crew instead of trying one last time to join the Defense Force. After an emphatic “Eff no,” in response, he went on to say that he likes that Kafka teaches the real life lesson that if you don’t try, you will never know what is possible. He said, “There is a thing about becoming complacent that is just absolutely depressing,” and “everyone owes it to themselves to give the good old college try… why not give yourself the chance to find happiness.” Landon picked up from there and said this mindset is what makes Kafka such a unique protagonist, saying “He’s not a chosen one type, you know, he’s not overpowered from the beginning… he’s just somebody whose persistence and patience finally paid off, and that’s honestly inspiring.”
Closing Comments From the Cast
Overall it was an incredible panel with some really thought provoking questions and some great answers from the cast. Kaiju No. 8 is just getting started, so there are likely many more panels with the voice cast to look forward to in the future. For now, the first season of the anime is streaming on Crunchyroll, where you can hear the excellent voice talents of the four panelists in the English dub. A second season has already been announced and is expected to be released in 2025.
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