En route to Kyle Hebert's panel, I grabbed a few snacks prior going to the panel. $5 for a bottle of ramune and a bag of chips. You can't go wrong with that. Kyle Hebert was hosting an Anime Auditions panel. Deb and Tom were interested in it since they both have thought about going into the industry. Kyle gave our half filled room tons of insight and advice - such as pronouncing his name. "My last name is pronounced like 'it's a bear!' Not Her-bert. It's like Stephen Colbert. French Lousiana thing."

Kyle Hebert hit a few points how to break into the industry and also debunked myths surrounding the industry. First of all, being a voice actor is not being a voice impersonator. "I get a lot of Over 9,000's from fans. Chris Savage isn't leaving soon." People forget that voice acting is acting - playing a part. He also talked about the harsh realities of the industry. Most anime voice actors who start out have other day jobs. While a session may pay you $64.75 per hour, but who knows when your next session will be? Anime voice actors typically broaden out being ADR directors, translators, script writers, etc.

Perhaps the most important thing for any otaku to take out in this panel is that directors, alongside the original companies, have the final say. You cannot argue with pronounciation misnomers. Stan asked several questions why Gurren Lagann is the way it is on SciFi Channel. Kyle explained that Aniplex and the directors were in cahoots for the changes to reach a wider audience. Remember, anime is still a serious business.

More words from Kyle on youtube. Video Link.

Other than Kyle Hebert lecturing about what it's like to be an anime voice actor, then we got to the fun part. Kyle gave five fans a mock audition for Naruto. He walked us all through the audition process and gave out pointers to the participants. Our friend Sarah went in as Sakura. Video Link.

And this gent would like the world to know that he's the biggest pedophile at Mikomi Con.

We also ran into a cool new person we met at the panel, Shane. He was Brock on the previous day. So, he decided to cosplay as Shinji. Yes, Sunday was very Evangelion-tastic.

Kyle Hebert stuck around for the next panel, Adventures In Voice Acting as hosted by Tony Oliver. The panel felt like an anime industry voice actors gathering. Several Bang Zoom and Anime TV personalities were front row center to show support for Tony Oliver. Even Robert Axelrod decided to sit through this panel. Tom and I went to the Adventures in Voice Acting panel at Anime Expo. While that had more audience interaction with doing actual voice work, Tony made this a general Q and A session for anyone in the audience who has any burning questions.Tony emphasized on taking workshops and branching outside anime voice acting. "Practice, train, practice, train, practice." Tony Oliver told Tom he could get hired for the female voice.

Tom, Deb, and I talked to Tony after the panel for further questions we had. Tom and Deb thought about signing up for the Bang Zoom workshop. Both were surprised at the price tag. Tom was more concerned over the location. I talked to a few of the Bang Zoom groupies. Marianne Miller is still obsessed with my Manolo Blahnik boots from masquerade.

After the panel, we walked around to see if there was anything else going on. There was an impromptu Haruhi dance in the main plaza. Julia and Caitlin tried to get me to join. Yet, since I don't know how to shake junk like the SOS Brigade, I bowed out. Am I the only one who associates Lucky Star with Madonna?

For the most part, we chilled at Li's table at the semi-dismantled dealer's room. Julia and Caitlin were gathering people for dinner.

Once Julia and Caitlin got the dinner group ready, we ran into Chaz. Of course, when an old man tells a story, the younger generation has to listen. He talked about a 1920s style garden party. Of course, he reminded us about the Anime Los Angeles picnic coming up in October.

We took our seperate cars to Universal City Walk. Tom and I arrived first. Julia, Caitlin, and Sarah took public transit. While waiting for everyone to show up, we just walked around City Walk. We went around the Halloween store and made fun of the Forplay and Leg Avenue costumes. We also had to laugh at some of the kiddie Halloween costumes such as the Pikachu and Optimus Prime costumes.

The Tom felt like being Dr. Gregory House. After all, the Nerv staff was having their office party with a special guest!

Once everyone was settled in, we went to Hard Rock Cafe. First business as usual - we all must do the Gendou pose. It was a yummy meal as always, though pricey. I think we used our prize money to cover the meal.

Julia, Caitlin, Elizabeth, and Sarah had to get going after the epic dinner, so the rest of us went around City Walk. Tom and Deb wanted to check the new candy shop, It'Sugar. The night was dying down. All of us admitted that it was a pretty awesome weekend with twist and turns. Until next time!

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