Anime Avenue

Posted: 20 Nov 2014 01:01 PM PST

“Always follow your passion, do something with your life that’ll make you happy.”

LA based video game and anime voice Actor Kyle Hebert got his start in the early 90s as a fellow anime fan auditioning for Teen Gohan/ The Great Saiyaman for DBZ with a Texas based studio called Funimation. Since then, his career has taken off and he’s become a well known, looked up to man and I know I’m lucky enough to call him a great friend.

Over the years he has voiced the crazy Saiyan teen Gohan who calls himself “The Great Saiyaman”, a military officer who survives the military and its crazy alchemists literally with his eyes closed! warrant officer, Vato Falman. A dog boy ninja with a smart aleck attitude and a dog named Akamaru at his side, squad 8 member Kiba Inuzuka. A crazy boar riding, sword wielding doofus named Ganju Shiba, a soft spoken, genial, yet sexy soul reaper captain whose secret ambitions throw soul society into utter chaos and betrayal, Captain Sousuke Aizen, and most recently, a big mouthed, blue haired, tattoed, cape wearing, ambitious knucklehead from Jihaa village, that pilots a gunman called Gurren, named Kamina.

His recent video game roles include a Jedi on a star wars game (not released yet), Ryu on Street Fighter IV, two characters, Held, and the soft spoken Sigmund for a game called Infinite Undiscovery, a game that Kyle traveled to China to record.

Recently, I spoke with Kyle and asked him a few questions about the world of voice acting among a few other things.

1. What got you into voice acting, where did you get your start in voice work, did something inspire you to do so?

Growing up on Looney Tunes, when my dad said one guy voiced all those characters, I knew it was the job for me. I actually started doing character voices in radio, which was another life long passion. Back in 2000, some radio station coworkers heard about auditions for Dragonball Z, a show I had been a fan of for years. I went in, tried out, and got cast. I started out doing bit part voices and the rest is history, as they say.

2. Are there any challenges you find in voice work?

With anime especially, there’s the technical challenge of acting on top of matching lip synch. But I’ve always had a blast doing voice work, no matter what type of project. I love the director throwing curve balls at me, having to improvise sometimes, and the symbiotic relationship that develops in helping to bring a character to life. I just get the biggest creative rush……..and I even get paid for it.

3. Kind of follows question 2..are there any characters you found especially challenging to voice?

Ganju on Bleach was actually a bit tough to nail down at first because I have a fairly wide range of voices trapped in my head. I found it particularly rough to keep his low, gruff sound consistent. I’d keep changing the texture, or the gravel, and end up having to re do takes. I don’t think the first appearance of his character sounds too much like his eventual voice. I’d give anything to go back and re-record it, but ah well, what’s done is done.

4. You voice a lot of different characters, each dynamic in different ways..is there any certain type of character you’ve enjoyed playing whether it’s personality wise, good characters, villains?

I truly just love doing the work. But a recent character that I loved playing was Kamina on Gurren Lagann. Gung ho, goofy, and a big heart…….it reminded me of my DBZ days doing Gohan/Great Saiyaman. Kiba on Naruto is always near and dear to me. Aizen of course, I get a huuuuuuuuuuuuge rush out of playing since he’s so……….evil.

5. If you didn’t get into voice acting, what career do you think you’d be doing? was there anything you wanted to do before you got into voice acting?

I’d be TRYING to get into voice acting. I just love it that much. I wanted to be a DJ about the same time I got interested in voice work as a kid. I can say I’ve been blessed in fulfilling those goals. My long term goal is to be an established cartoon voice. Its a very tough and tight circle, but once you’re in, you’re set. I want to be able to record alongside a cast of people I’ve admired for years, helping to entertain the masses. I can play drums, and I think it’d be fun to be in a band, but I lack the discipline or patience involved in trying to get a music career going. I’ve just gotta keep my eye on the prize.

6. are there things you enjoy doing outside of your voice acting career? hobbies, interests?

I love movies. I collect blu ray and love going to the theater. I’ve just started getting back into comic books again. I also love playing video games. I’m just a big kid. I’m 39 and refuse to grow up. Hmmmmm, that may explain why I’m single.

7. kind of follows question 6, are you a movie goer and what types of movies do you enjoy?

I love sci fi, action, horror, comedy, and occasional dramas.

8. what do you think about the anime cons you attend? seeing people cosplaying as your characters, the fans in general?

Its great to have an outlet for fandom to get together and celebrate anime as a community. I love meeting and mingling with the fans, since I am one myself. The fans make my job possible. I’m always genuinely flattered and honored.

9. you play video games, do you enjoy any certain type of game genre or system? what about the games you do voice work in?

I’m big into shooters, fighters, and racers. I mostly voice RPGs, but I don’t have the time or patience. I’m into instant gratification. The irony is I suck at games. But I’ve always had fun, and that’s the bottom line.

10. are you working on anything currently that you’re allowed to tell us about? or anything you recently announced that you’re excited about?

I’m particularly psyched to be Ryu on the new Street Fighter game, coming early 2009. Also, voicing an original Jedi character for a new Star Wars game, which I don’t even think has been announced yet.

11. do you have any words of inspiration for your fans about voice acting or just in general to say to them?

Follow your passion in life. Its crucial to get into a career that makes you happy. Being rich is great and all, but at the end of the day you HAVE to enjoy your work. I’m certainly not rich, but the amount of creative satisfaction I get from my work is invaluable. Understand that making a dream come true takes a long time. It never comes fast, easy, or cheap. Its always an investment in your future, and you have to take that seriously. Accept the bad with the good, and keep that chin up. Thanks to all the fans for all their support. It certainly is a source of great strength and inspiration to me.

You can also hear Kyle on his podcast “The Big Bald Broadcast” all the geeky news you can use! with his co-host, Other World Steve. You can also speak with Kyle on AIM at kibavox, through his website www.kylehebert.com, where you can also find his podcast. Also his Myspace page, and Facebook

Finn’s Game Review: Tentacle Bento

Posted: 20 Nov 2014 08:00 AM PST

Type: Card Game

Ages: 16+

Players: 2-6

Approximate Game Length: 60 minutes

Company: Soda Pop Miniatures

At long last your humble manga reviewer has returned, but this is no manga review. No, today I bring before you a card game. That’s right, a card game. Tentacle Bento is a card game based on the rich anime tradition of doing horrible things to cute young women. Well, it’s not as bad as you might think. While most of the cards are decorated with suggestive pictures of scantily clad schoolgirls it doesn’t quite cross the line of totally bad taste. Fans of ero-guro and tentacle rape might be disappointed in the relatively tame nature of the game. It is certainly ecchi, not hentai.

You play as a tentacle monster who has infiltrated an all girl’s high school in order to do what tentacle monsters always do. The point of the game is to be the monster who “captures” the most girls. The game plays like rummy. You make sets of cards by playing a location, a capture, and at least one girl. There are four suits, sexy, smart, cute, and sporty. Each suit has a different type of mayhem that ensues when you make a capture using only cards in that suit. There is also one girl in each suit who is an All-Star. They are worth more points, and have a more powerful unique mayhem. The game is completed as soon as all four event cards are pulled from the deck. As soon as a player draws an event everybody follows the instructions on the card. The events are Sports Festival, Talent Show, Cultural Festival, and Final Exam.

Theme: 2.5/5

While many fans of anime might not bat an eye at a game based entirely on the implied brutalization of vivacious, large breasted teenage girls, you might not want to try playing this game with your elderly aunt. She might like rummy, but she most likely wouldn’t find this game oddly charming. Unfortunately, I don’t see much appeal to it either. The girls are moe enough I suppose, but it just feels a little bland. I would prefer if they had gone for a far more intense guro theme instead. Worst of all is that they recycle pictures for the girls. It feels like Japanese high schools are awash with clones.

Gameplay: 1/5

There are some serious flaws in the fundamentals of Tentacle Bento that make it more difficult to get through the hour long game than an episode of Glasslip. A game of rummy ends when one of the players puts their last card down, but the same isn’t true with this game. Instead the players suffer through a situation where they draw and discard until a school event comes up. It is a frustrating situation that can be rectified with some house rules that would let players draw a card in certain situations. As it is you will end up wishing the game was over already 2o minutes in.

Tentacle Bento is a game that you might want to buy on a whim. You may even have fun playing it a few times before it ends up gathering dust on your shelf, like mine has.