Voice acting is an art that has been widely understated for a craft that brings people of all ages to laugh, cry and feel pumped about life through animation. What better way to understand more about voice acting than from experienced ones who have recently starred in the all-new hit anime series Kaiju No. 8. CGMagazine had the chance to speak with the English dub voice actors for the series: Nazeeh Tarsha (as Kafka Hibino/Kaiju No. 8), Adam McArthur (as Reno Ichikawa) and Abigail Blythe (as Kikoru Shinomiya).
These voice actors have various experiences in the voice acting industry like Tarsha voicing Aza Chobei in Hell’s Paradise, or the popular Genshin Impact character Alhaitham. McArthur has been in the industry for some time but has recently been voicing the iconic character Yuji Itadori from the smash-hit anime Jujutsu Kaisen. Finally, Blythe has been growing her voice acting chops as Eternity Devil in the popular anime Chainsaw Man, and playing Pipi Barlier in the famous rom-com anime based on the light novel of the same name, I’m in Love with the Villainess.
As this inaugural season is about halfway through its season one run, fans have been waiting for this manga to be adapted into an anime series for a while. I love the series for the fact that it deals with themes of second chances, friendship and perseverance. And most importantly, the protagonist is past his prime years (in his thirties), but that does not stop him from chasing his dreams! Tarsha, McArthur, and Blythe had a tough challenge in bringing these main characters to life. We discussed how they got tapped on to Kaiju No. 8, how awesome the intro/outro music is, and what makes Kaiju No. 8 so special.
To kick things off, what drew each of you to the Kaiju No. 8 series?
Nazeeh Tarsha: Everything. It’s got heart. It’s got zany, wacky adventures. It covers everything that you want in a show between the serious and the fun, and it’s just big giant monsters half the time. What more do you want in the show?
Abigail Blythe: I would say the character design, and then past that, the monster design is so cool. A lot of the times what draws me to a show are the characters themselves and their relationships with them—their own self and each other. And I think Kaiju No. 8 has really great fleshed out characters and a wide range of them—even ones that we haven’t seen yet. That was really exciting to me when I first picked up the manga.
Adam McArthur: I think the feel of this show is so amazing. Not only do you have what Abigail said [with] great characters [as] signs you’ve got a great story, but also everything is operating together and firing on all cylinders. The music is amazing. Our intro and outro for season one is so good: YUNGBLUD [and] One Republic. What more could you ask for the music in the show? Just everything really just comes together and creates this…I don’t know. I’m having so much fun. I’m a huge fan. We’re all so lucky.
Yes! And speaking on the intro and outro songs. For me, I think “Nobody” is really a summer bop. Every time an episode ends, I’m like ‘Alright, let’s go’.
Adam McArthur: I actually love that! So I’ll be driving around and I’ll be like, ‘Hey, Siri, play Nobody by One Republic from Kaiju No. 8′, and it’s playing Nobody by One Republic from Kaiju No. 8. It literally says ‘From Kaiju No. 8′ every time, which is just epic. (McArthur’s phone picks up the command) Oh, wait, sorry. My phone heard me. (Everyone erupts laughing) I was like, ‘why is it playing the song?’ Sorry, Siri, go back to sleep.
And there’s so many great themes, as we have already mentioned. There’s this summer of youth vibes, the power of friendship and camaraderie. There’s the camaraderie between Kafka and his friends and how far they’re willing to go. It becomes a point with Kafka where he is willing to become a monster to save his friends, forcing himself to go out there and do that. Those concepts connected with me. So, what parts resonated with each of you all in a similar sense?
Nazeeh Tarsha: Yeah, absolutely. I’ve told my closest friends time and time again, I’m ride or die. And that’s essentially what Kafka is. He’s with his friends to the very end anytime they need him. He’s there even when they don’t ask for it. He feels this obligation, this loyalty because there’s this closeness and this tie that brings them together.
For fun, which of you would do the best in the Defense Force training in Kaiju No. 8?
Nazeeh Tarsha: I’m going to give it to Abigail.
Abigail Blythe: You mean Adam that’s done all the martial arts training.
Nazeeh Tarsha: No, no…
Abigail Blythe: I mean…I’m a rock climber and I’m a weightlifter, but I think Adam and I would go toe-to-toe.
Adam McArthur: You would throw me. You would rock climb around me.
Abigail Blythe: I think we can go toe-to-toe, Adam. (Ponders swiftly) But I think Nazeeh you underestimate yourself.
Nazeeh Tarsha: No, no…
Abigail Blythe: I think you’d tell a joke then somebody would be laughing so hard that they just fall over.
Nazeeh Tarsha: Much like Kafka, my age and my gut, they say otherwise.
Abigail Blythe: Yeah, and you can transform into a kaiju.
Nazeeh Tarsha: (Everyone laughs) Yeah, be right back. Let me go ahead and get a giant mutating bug inside of my system.
Oh man, I feel that. All jokes aside, I think one of the two of my favourite scenes is the moment when Reno first sees Kafka turn into a kaiju—that’s hilarious. The other one I really enjoyed was when Kafka, Reno and Kikoru first meet together in that parking lot, like the chemistry was so good. From scenes like that, what makes a good scene partner?
Adam McArthur: That’s a really interestingly worded question, ‘what makes a great scene partner?’ I think the writing of the show does a lot for us, which is awesome. But I also think that casting has done an amazing job. Abigail is amazing, Nazeeh is amazing. So when you’re in scenes with these people, you’re given a lot of things that you can play off of, which is really fun. So yeah, it’s a testament to my co-actors here who are phenomenal.
Abigail Blythe: Absolutely. It depends on when your schedule is sometimes. You’ll go into the booth and be the first person to record sometimes, [or] you’ll be the last person. So, if I have other people to bounce off of, it’s really nice because I get to hear the finished product of Shawn’s (Kaiju No. 8 ADR Director Shawn Gann) direction for that session. And get to see his vision for what he wants, how he wants the episode to be set or the scene to be set. And so it’s really nice being able to play off of those performances when I can.
Nazeeh Tarsha: One thing that I think makes a fantastic scene partner is a person playing off of a person who makes strong choices. There are many ways to read a line; most people do it the safe way. There’s the stereotypical line read that most people will probably do. But something that Adam and Abigail do phenomenally is they are able to give a read that’s just a little different than other folks.
And that’s the reason why they got cast in their roles. So the ability to make your performance stand out and give something for your scene partner to be able to play off of like, ‘Oh, I did not expect that read. All right, let’s do this.’
That makes a lot of sense. On the same topic of voice recording, how has the latest Crunchyroll live broadcasting changed the recording method turnaround time? Is there a faster recording time?
Abigail Blythe: I will say that we’re a little bit ahead of the usual schedule; we started a few weeks early, and we’re always usually about two episodes ahead of what is actually airing. That makes it a little bit different because usually they’re just one week ahead.
Yeah, I think it is really cool, whether I watch an anime series subbed or dubbed, to see audiences get the best experience for them as close to real-time as possible.
Adam McArthur: Yeah, it’s really cool. You can also see the response on the Crunchyroll website in the comment section of each episode. Everyone’s so stoked to have the dub and the sub at the same time. I think it’s really fun. Honestly, no matter what you watch, dub or sub, consuming this show is what we love. But also, it’s nice when it’s together because then it brings everyone together—the people who watch it in Japanese, the people who watch it in English or another language. We can all enjoy it at the same time. And it’s really cool to see people bonding over that. That’s really fun.
Yes! It invites so much conversation every Saturday, when everyone can enjoy watching it together. I’ve been watching it every Saturday with my cousin. But last question, what are some of the main things each of you hope audiences will enjoy and take away from Kaiju No. 8?
Nazeeh Tarsha: I hope they enjoy the overall ride. I hope they appreciate all the beats but tender moments—the fun and the goofy. And they allow themselves to continue getting lost in the world.
Adam McArthur: I hope they enjoy the fact that Saturday morning cartoons are back, [and] we’re doing this epic thing, the simulcast and all that stuff. The same thing as Nazeeh, enjoy the ride and enjoy those Saturday morning cartoons. They’re back, baby!
Abigail Blythe: I will say, like Kikoru, I’m not a big relaxer. It’s hard to shut my brain off. I think when watching anime like this, it really gets me inspired and pumped to make my own life something great like this. So I hope that when audiences watch this, they can also relax, but also at the same time after they are finished with an episode be like ‘Wow, I want to do that’ or ‘I want to make something of my life’.
That’s awesome to hear, and well put by everyone. Thank you all so much for bringing the voices to these characters I’ve been reading in the manga for the last couple of years!