Banana Fish English Fandub (2 roles still open!)
Xieken for Eiji Okumura
Age: 19
Nationality: Japanese (he has strong accent when speaking English)
Voice sample: Here
Born and raised in Japan. He is a former pole vault athlete. Due to a few setbacks in college, Ibe decided to bring Eiji with him to America as his photography assistant so that he could get away and have some fresh, new experiences.
Eiji is a sweet, cheerful boy who cares deeply for his friends, and looks out for the people around him more often than he does for himself. He and Ash develop a strong friendship, and although faced with constant danger and having no prior exposure to gang violence, Eiji is not afraid to support Ash and be a part of his dark world.
Traits: Honest, warm-hearted, caring, child-like at times, selfless, loyal, strong-willed, stubborn
Accent: This character mostly speaks with a thick Japanese accent and a few of the lines will be in Japanese when he speaks to Ibe. Would be great if the actor speaks or knows some Japanese. When he says Ash’s name he pronounces it like “Asshu”
Voice: Overall, his voice should be calming and soft. His presence is comforting to those around him. He expresses his emotions very openly and is bad at lying. He hardly ever raises his voice or gets angry, and if he does it’s because he’s defending his friends or being stubborn.
[To Ash] Is that real gun? ....[thoughts] Hon mono ni kimatte iru yo na. Baka na koto kiichatta... (Of course it's real. Man, I feel stupid...)
[Aloud] In Japan only model guns are legal. Can I see it for a moment? [holding the gun] Sugoi, it's so heavy! Ehh~~ Thank you, I appreciate it.
[Very intense moment, Eiji shows his determination] Then are we just going to die here?! If I'm going to die anyway, at least I will die trying!
[Gently comforting Ash (slow pacing)] Ashu. It's okay...You saved me. If you feel responsible, the same goes for me. My words might not mean anything now, but just remember one thing. Even if the world turns on you, I’ll always be on your side. I’ll stay by your side. That is, if you don’t mind.
Hello! Sorry for the late response, overall nice job but I felt that throughout the takes your delivery sounds a bit stiff and the accent doesn’t really sound Japanese. The Japanese line pronunciation sounded pretty good but lacked the right emotion/energy for the line. The feedback I have is to give the lines more energy and to make the accent sound smoother and try to speak more naturally if that makes sense. The second line should be more serious and intense (they are held captive), in the last line I feel that the accent needs to be a bit stronger and need a more reassuring tone! Thanks for sending in an audition!
Thanks for the feedback! I can speak Japanese to some extent, so currently how I came up with the accent is that I convert the lines to Katakana in my head and read them out to try and get the most accurate sound based on what a Japanese can and cannot pronounce with their available "alphabets". But I admit that I did tone it down a bit to try to get it to sound more understandable. I did listen to the auditions for Ibe and the previous Eiji, is that the accent you are aiming for?
Okay, I see. Actually let's discuss about this in pm!