Kappei Yamaguchi coming to Otakon '08

TakinawaTonfa

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2008-05-23/otakon-to-feature-death-note-inu-yasha-yamaguchi

So yeah, Usopp's coming to Baltimore! Anyone else going?

Kingoffans

You lucky bastards better ask the right fuckin' questions>< Dammit, I'm jealous!!! Shit, I gotta think of some questions to ask this guy to pass on. This has gotta be a once-in-a-life time opportunity!!!

blendy

I saw the title "Kappei Yamaguchi coming to…" from the main page and was like, "Please be Otakon, please be Otakon...!" This is awesome! I don't know if I'm going to this year's Otakon yet, but if I go, I MUST hear him sing the Sogeking Theme Song. (Last year, Tomokazu Seki performed a ton of requests for the audience, so it might be possible.) Heck, even if I'm not there, somebody better ask him to sing it.

It seems like this year's Otakon is shaping up to be truly awesome. My hats off to them.

Generic_Soda

I'm going, sure, but I doubt I'll drop by where he's hanging out

tonitonichopper

@Kingoffans:

You lucky bastards better ask the right fuckin' questions>< Dammit, I'm jealous!!! Shit, I gotta think of some questions to ask this guy to pass on. This has gotta be a once-in-a-life time opportunity!!!

Once in a life time? I doubt it. I heard he is really annoying in person or something bad.

Shift

I may get to go if I can reconnect with my college's anime club. After voicing Usopp for a couple of fan projects, I'm definitely interested in meeting the original guy.

Buuhan1

@tonitonichopper:

Once in a life time? I doubt it. I heard he is really annoying in person or something bad.

I always hear he's a big pervert and he doesn't hide it no matter how large the group in the room with him is. Oh, and that he's annoying too. But those could be both in the same.

Kingoffans

He sounds like my kind of guy :D

Buuhan1

I sooo didn't see that coming!

Kirbopher

@Buuhan1:

I always hear he's a big pervert and he doesn't hide it no matter how large the group in the room with him is. Oh, and that he's annoying too. But those could be both in the same.

The same could be said for a certain popular voice actor over here, but he's got as big a cult as any seiyuu does, surprisingly enough :P

Quexinos

@Kingoffans:

He sounds like my kind of guy :D

HAHAHA that's funny XD

Yeah he sounds interesting. You guys who'll meet him are pretty lucky. I'm very curious to see how this turns out.

Buuhan1

@Kirbopher:

The same could be said for a certain popular voice actor over here, but he's got as big a cult as any seiyuu does, surprisingly enough :P

And who might this be? There's quite a lot, Vic Mignogna? Steve Blum? …Chris Sabat? XD

Kingoffans

@Buuhan1:

And who might this be? There's quite a lot, Vic Mignogna? Steve Blum? …Chris Sabat? XD

It's this guy:P

Thread over.

Andrew Bynum

@Kingoffans:

It's this guy:P

http://www.stars-portraits.com/images/portraits/stars/m/michael-jackson/michael-jackson-by-shierly85.jpg

Thread over.

That wasn't a very good joke at all.

Buuhan1

Is that a drawing? Someone actually spent time drawing him? Wow.

Kaba Kaba Fruit

Shit…if the guy slicked back his hair and added some eyeshadow, he would look almost like L! 0_0

But I got a feeling more people would be asking him to do L than Usopp.

Captain Shmeckie

@Buuhan1:

And who might this be? There's quite a lot, Vic Mignogna? Steve Blum? …Chris Sabat? XD

I'm curious about this as well. I doubt it's Mignogna; that guy's so nicey-nice and Christian (not that I dislike Christians, but the devout ones tend to be less pervy…) I doubt he's a pervy dickhead. As for Blum, he always seemed to toned-down and slightly meek in person. Curious as to who it is...

As for Otakon, dunno if I'll go. I tend to avoid it, mainly because it's in Baltimore, and I don't want to get shot. I especially don't want to get shot and have my bleeding corpse looked upon by a crowd of creepy-ass cosplayers, but that's a different matter altogether...

Though I don't doubt Yamaguchi's a pervy nutjob in person. The guy does do hentai, after all, and he's such an overactor, I doubt he's very civil outside of work. But, you never know... Still, I'd believe it.

Buuhan1

Yeah, most people are gonna ask him to do L. Maybe a few Inuyashas, there will be people who'll ask him to do Usopp. But I feel the weeaboo's are gonna be displeased by it. [/stereotyping]

Kingoffans

I'd love to hear his Kudo Shinichi :D

And I'm sure he's not as bad as you guys are making him out to be.

I mean look at me, I'm a pervert but I'm very civil in public and especially around my friends^^

Most of the time:ninja:

WRYYYYYY

That's really awesome!

I loved his voice work in Ranma 1/2, the Real Bout Fatal Fury games, etc.

Too bad I can't go to Otakon because I live in Ohio and have no real transportation. Ah well.

The Dude

@Kingoffans:

I mean look at me, I'm a pervert but I'm very civil in public and especially around my friends^^

kingoffans…...

Kirbopher

There's also a difference between "finding things hot", anime characters or otherwise, and being an ACTUAL pervert.

Captain Shmeckie

You still haven't answered our question, Kirbopher! Y'damn tease!

TakinawaTonfa

@Captain:

As for Otakon, dunno if I'll go. I tend to avoid it, mainly because it's in Baltimore, and I don't want to get shot. I especially don't want to get shot and have my bleeding corpse looked upon by a crowd of creepy-ass cosplayers, but that's a different matter altogether…

Well this is a little surprising to hear….

Really, the Inner Harbor is one of the much much nicer areas of Baltimore. And in the past three years I've attended I've yet to see anyone get shot around the convention center. (When it comes to nerdy anime fans, I honestly think locals really don't care :P )

Captain Shmeckie

Every time I've gone through Baltimore, I've always seen nothing but the Harbor area sandwitch between shitty, shitty neighborhoods. Then again, it could be just the "genius" shortcuts my pal Sam always insists on taking…

Mr. Truth

Not all of Baltimore is bad. If you know where to go, then it's really beautiful.

Looks at when this is happening
Darn it! This is in August, when I'll be up in Massachusetts. But I still feel great for those of you who are going to see Usopp, Inuyasha, and L.

Shift

So, I saw him. I stayed for the first 40 minutes (wanted to see Sinterniklaas, too), so I know what was asked as far as that. He talked a lot about his roles as Ranma/Inuyasha and L, but talked about Usopp a fair bit, as well. He said he likes to read OP in SJ, and then added in DB, Naruto and DN. One passage that stuck out to me was a question asked by a guy dressed as Luffy:

Luffy guy: Howdy!

KY: Oh, Luffy!

LG: If it's alright, could ask Usopp, what are the three most important things to become a brave warrior of the sea?

KY: 8000 henchmen… Great colleagues... And you, Luffy.

So, as far as those first 40 minutes are concerned, ask away!

Peal

Ugh, You know what sucks? I live right next to Baltimore, and I can't go. D:
I would've loved to meet him :/

Shift

Worry not; take heart in the fact that you likely wouldn't have met him even if you had gone. :P

What I mean is, the fans were pretty crazy about him. A line was going to be set up to let up to 25 folks ask questions (and autograph passed, to boot), and people kept jumping the gun until it was time, then made kind of a controlled mad dash. Unless you were right where the line was forming, or were terribly forceful, it'd almost be impossible to get a place. and autographs? Without a ticket, you'd have to give up at least an hour or two to get a chance, if you're lucky. That's how crazy things are at this thing.

blendy

Yeah, there was kind of a stampede to get in line for questions. I'd love to ask him to perform a line if I go to his panel again tomorrow, but I don't want to get trampled.

One Piece-related stuff I remember:

Usopp is one of the roles he has the most fun performing.
That "three things" question that Shift talked about. Also, he loves manga and reads One Piece, along with other Shounen Jump stuff.
Kappei said that all the One Piece voice actors are just like their characters (lol).
Oda, of course, wrote the lyrics to the Sogeking theme song, but it was Kappei who was asked to improvise and come up with the tune.
Someone asked Kappei if he'd ever cosplayed one of his characters; he said no but said he should try it. Then, he asked the audience who he should pick. Eventually, someone said Usopp; Kappei joked that he wasn't too keen on the idea because Usopp "likes to show a lot of skin."
For the very last question of the panel, a guy asked, "I've always wanted to meet a hero. So…could you tell me where Sniper Island is?" The translator looked super confused (granted, this was after someone asked if Kappei liked pancakes), but he asked him, and Kappei smiled. Then he did Sogeking's "it's inside your heart" line. A perfect last question.

By the way, did anyone else catch the JAM Project concert? Kitadani sung We Are!…it was fantastic. Tons of people were singing along. (Not to mention Cha-La Head-Cha-La...I can die happy.)

Cinder

That's pretty awesome! Glad you guys got to meet 'im in person. I could've sworn I saw a group photo consisting of him dressed up as L, as well as some other voice actors in Death Note, though!

Shift

Again, we didn't "meet" him per se; we saw him and heard him, but meeting, not so much.

As for the JAM concert, I couldn't really get into it after the first few songs, so I didn't stick around. Were there any other notable hits they sang there? (I was hoping for Sonic Drive, myself.)

Buuhan1

Lemme guess, everyone was screaming "L!!!" when he asked who he should cosplay.

Shift

Did they ask that? Don't remember. They did ask him to say some line from episode 6, though; "Bang", and something else.

blendy

@Shift:

As for the JAM concert, I couldn't really get into it after the first few songs, so I didn't stick around. Were there any other notable hits they sang there? (I was hoping for Sonic Drive, myself.)

I don't think they sang Sonic Drive, but they sang for at least two hours, so they got a lot of stuff in. It looks like they have a set list on the Otakon boards if you're curious about what you missed.

Also, I went back to his panel yesterday, and I'm glad I did. New One Piece stuff:

He sang the Sogeking theme song~! Apparently, it's the character song fans request from him the most. Since this was his first time in the States, he was happy to perform it for us.
Someone requested Usopp's rubber band attack, so he said: "You guys attack…I'll support from behind! Usopp Wago-----mu."
Someone asked if he had any crazy stories about working with the other OP voice actors. He said yes, but even if his panel was a day long, he wouldn't be able to tell all of them.
Someone asked him if it's disappointing not to be able to finish voicing a character (like when the anime stops before the manga ends, ala Ranma and Inuyasha). He said yes; he hopes that the OP anime continues so he can voice Usopp to the end.

Most of the other OP stuff was a repeat from yesterday, but it was worth going just for the Sogeking theme, since it's what I wanted to hear the most.

Luffy Batter

Please, Someone Tell Me Someone Caught That On Camera>

Buuhan1

Chances probably are no. :( Was the theme going in the background, or was he just singing to nothing?

The Dude

Here it is
9XgyDH6csvE

Shift

@blendy:

I don't think they sang Sonic Drive, but they sang for at least two hours, so they got a lot of stuff in. It looks like they have a set list on the Otakon boards if you're curious about what you missed.

Also, I went back to his panel yesterday, and I'm glad I did. New One Piece stuff:

He sang the Sogeking theme song~! Apparently, it's the character song fans request from him the most. Since this was his first time in the States, he was happy to perform it for us.

Someone requested Usopp's rubber band attack, so he said: "You guys attack…I'll support from behind! Usopp Wago-----mu."

Someone asked if he had any crazy stories about working with the other OP voice actors. He said yes, but even if his panel was a day long, he wouldn't be able to tell all of them.

Someone asked him if it's disappointing not to be able to finish voicing a character (like when the anime stops before the manga ends, ala Ranma and Inuyasha). He said yes; he hopes that the OP anime continues so he can voice Usopp to the end.

Most of the other OP stuff was a repeat from yesterday, but it was worth going just for the Sogeking theme, since it's what I wanted to hear the most.

Eh, I guess I'll live. For the most part, I guess their music isn't really my thing; the original We Are was never my favorite theme, for example. Glad to hear you liked it, though. :D

And glad to hear about the OP love from Yamaguchi. I couldn't go on Saturday, but I did see someone taping it on Friday, so it's possible they taped Saturday, as well.

EDIT: Oh hey, there it is!

Doctor-san

@The:

Here it is
9XgyDH6csvE

Do you have more videos you can show us? puppydogeyes

Luffy Batter

@The:

Here it is
9XgyDH6csvE

OMGO_O

That was pure awesomeness.

Sano

That was awesome!! xD

Buuhan1

Haha, sounded like he got tongue tied during it.

animegirl_117

.< That was so cool!

Captain Shmeckie

He looks like a skinnier Yanro from Shin Chan, now.

megakazul

Bwahaha, my life is one fourth complete now!

I went to his Friday panel, but skipped the Saturday one so I could line up early for the autographs. As a result, I missed the Sogeking song but yeah,
Whoooooooo

His "What's up doc?" line was pretty memorable too! XD

Kaba Kaba Fruit

@blendy:

Someone requested Usopp's rubber band attack, so he said: "You guys attack…I'll support from behind! Usopp Wago-----mu."

Dammit! I wanted to hear Usopp AAAAaaaaaaAAaaaAaahhhhh!!!!