relic2279

I see you created maddoxreddit 2 years ago, did you just create it for the hell of it, or do you actually lurk on reddit from time to time?

Thanks for doing this! Quick question. Japan made a version of Paranormal Activity called "Paranormal Activity 2: Tokyo Night". Were you involved in anyway with the production?

Thanks for answering; I think this is why, in large part, the U.S voice acting industry isn't remotely similar to Japan's. Japan's VA industry is more of an extension of of other industries, like the Music and Idol industry as there's a lot of crossover. Nana Mizuki is/was a famous singer and then from there, started doing some voice acting too. Now she's a arguably as well-known for her voice acting (Hinata from Naruto, Fate in Nanoha, Moka from Rosario Vampire, etc).

I think a lot of voice actors get into VA because it's also a stepping stone to other industries, like music & even acting.

With the voice acting industry as big as it is in Japan (not just anime & radio shows, but think about all the imported foreign media [Hollywood films, TV shows like Game of thrones, etc] that needs dubbed), there's a much larger talent pool to choose from. Which such a huge pool, and idols themselves wanting to do something other than "be cute", it's no wonder the competition is pretty fierce -- the production companies can afford to be more 'picky'. I personally think the competition breeds better voice actors, and as a result Japan's VA industry is peerless at the moment.

Do voice actors debut from an agency, connect with fans, etc?

Yeah, they typically get announced with the show's reveal. "We're releasing Dragon Ball Z and here is the voice acting line up: ...." Then the VA will get on twitter and start chatting about it... Sometimes, though not often, a character is developed with a particular voice actress or actor in mind.