Interview: Kaiji Tang, Voice of Joe in MEGALOBOX English Dub, Vegeta in Dragon Ball Super, And Detective Pikachu (Before Ryan Reynolds)

Plus, does the voice actor with Chinese ancestry think his homeland will provide for an animation invasion.

John Schwarz: What was your initial reaction to seeing the scripts for Megalobox and how did you prepare yourself? I would imagine a sports series is gonna need a bit more emotional endurance than say a slice of life type series.

Kaiji Tang: I was fortunate enough to have seen the series before reading for it, so I had a pretty good idea going in what was going to happen. I did some research on how fighters breathe when they fight in the ring; this includes a lot of sharp controlled bursts of air being let out while striking. So you’ll hear a lot of Joe’s controlled, technical punches sound like that! As for endurance, I will say we had to get inventive with the amount of getting-hit-in-the-face reactions we ended up needing! Needless to say, working on this show was a great workout all on its own.

 What are some of the scenes in which you were in that you were most impressed with when finished? 

The first ten or so minutes of episode one still remains one of my favorite scenes we recorded! It’s just so cinematically beautiful to look at. I’m proud of all the scenes we did, but I just remember falling in love with this show the minute I saw that intro sequence with Joe on the bike. Gorgeous artwork, clever storytelling, rockin’ music. I’m honored to have been a part of it in some way.

Also, of course, the “They don’t make tombstones for stray dogs” line.

Tell us a little bit about how you got into voice acting and eventually turned it into a successful career? 

I come from a pretty heavy theatre background, touring plays and whatnot. When I got to Los Angeles in 2006, I was looking to get my hands on any kind of acting job I could. This ranged from zombie movies to GPS commercials. One day I came across an audition for a podcast being done by a dubbing studio and booked it. Through that studio, I started getting lines here and there in their shows. This snowballed pretty heavily and at some point, I buckled down and got a demo and an agent. 

So the tl;dr version is…blind luck! 

 You have Chinese ancestry and you are voicing a bunch of roles primarily coming from Japan. Do you see a near future where Chinese-produced efforts will come over and perhaps have a similar influx to the Japanese studios?

Oh yeah, for sure. Chinese animation has improved leaps and bounds in the last decade. In fact, I find myself reading more and more for Chinese mythos specific projects even now. It’ll be interesting to see the direction animation culture takes us in the coming years. If we’re lucky we’ll have a wide variety of animation styles to choose from when I’m old and grey.  

What are your early impressions of Ryan Reynolds’ take on Detective Pikachu and what are some good words of advice for someone attempting to portray the character? 

I actually just saw it recently! It was so much fun! Personally as a Pokémon fan since the original Red and Blue releases on the Gameboy, it was such a surreal experience watching this big-budget Hollywood-ized version of the franchise I’ve loved for so long. We’ve come a long way since our first steps into Kanto.

For any looking to portray the character, remember that at the end of the day our favorite tough-talking mouse detective has a good, kind heart. Even though he’s a tiny bit jaded, a tiny bit world-weary, he still hangs his hat on the side of justice. He’s earnest and committed to the case. You also get extra points if your take sounds a bit like Danny DeVito.  

 You voiced Archer in Fate/Stay Night: Heaven’s Feel.  What got you interested in what was certainly a very complex character?

My history with the Fate/Stay series is as long as the Fate series itself. I remember playing the visual novel when I was younger before I even realized what it was going to become. Archer is unlike a lot of heroic characters. He is the culmination of a man who sought to walk the path of justice no matter what. His ideals cost him everything, but he moves forward all the same. Archer is a man who reaches toward nihilism but is weighed down by hope. No matter how dark his world view gets, he still hasn’t stopped trying to save people. And I think that’s beautiful. 

Are you allowed to tease any upcoming roles that you will be filling in the near future? 

A ton of fun video games are going to be coming out this year! In the meantime, you can hear me in Bungo Stray Dogs as Osamu Dazai, Retsu in Baki, and Tigerwolf in Gundam Build Divers!

What are some life lessons you can take away from playing Joe/Junk Dog? 

You can always move forward. The show never tells us much about Joe’s past, but it’s obvious from his outlook on life that something traumatic has happened to him before we’re introduced. He’s got nothing, he’s a nobody, he’s trapped. Yet somehow he carves out a life for himself one step at a time. And I think in all of us beats the heart of a stray dog who won’t quit. No matter what trauma, no matter what despair life throws at us, we can evolve and move forward stronger than before. Joe gives me that hope. 

You’re also playing Vegeta for the Bang Zoom dub of “Dragon Ball Super”. What’s it like getting to take on such an iconic role?

I’ll hold it close to my heart forever. One of my fondest memories. I grew up watching the show on television and of course, like any other kid, I was enamored. 

In a job like this, you’re going from studio to studio, from session to session every day back to back. Generally, you’re not reminded of the recording until it comes out. Vegeta is an outlier for me in this context. I remember every session, every scream, every bit of fun. I knew my time with the character was limited so I wanted to savor the experience as much as possible. It’s not every day you get to lace up the Prince of all Saiyan’s boots. It was immensely gratifying as a fan and I’ll treasure those moments for the rest of my life.

 Do you think you’d be able to last a few rounds in a Megalo Boxing match?

Knowing that I’ll likely never step into a situation where I’ll be boxing someone with robot arms…YES OF COURSE I’D BE CHAMPION BRING ON THE CYBORG BOXERS I’LL TAKE’EM ALL DOWN!

 

Some questions contributed by Dave Kaldor. Read our review of Megalobox Season One here. 

Megalobox Limited Edition Blu-ray + GWP