(Late) Rie Tanaka Panel Liveblog

I came 5 minutes late due to subway lateness–but thank God for taxis.

11:18 AM: Which role was hardest to play? Lacus Clyne. She didn’t feel the character was quite so realistic, because she’s not so emotional–“not so expressive”–always had to be gentle and nice, with not so much emotional variation.

11:21 AM: So many people are trying to ask questions in Japanese! She just did a Suigintou voice though.

11:21 AM: Rie poses US a question: who plays video games? Practically everyone raises his or her hand. Internet games? Nearly everyone keeps their hand up. “There is no life without video games.” She also asks how do you stop yourself from playing when you have work to do? “Sheer force of will,” one audience member says. Rie giggles, claps her hands.

11:24 AM: she notes that doing voices for games is more demanding, because she has to read through much more material at once. “Feel like I’m an addict of the game.” Playing games on the train “makes me feel like I’m in heaven.”

11;25 AM: What is her favorite moment in Bianci (sp?) The wedding. Makes her feel very “girly.”

11:27 AM: Someone says “Aishteru!”

11:28 AM: Any future roles as Lacus Clyne? She doesn’t know.

11:30 AM: Can’t hear the question. Something abotu Gundam Seed. Someone just gave her a gift. Plus she just gave everyone a chance to take a picture with the gift. More people are presenting gifts. THE MOST LIBERAL MANAGEMENT EVAR

11:34 AM: Yomi reminds her of the way people get obsessed with dieting. “It was really cute.”

11:34 AM: (Her): Who’s a fan of Azumanga Daioh? Chobits? Gundam Seed? The last gets the most cheers. She is also looking for Lacus cosplayers.

11:36 AM: Someone asks a question about Kara no Kyoukai (yay!!!). Did she enjoy her role? Very heavy character and story (of course!) First time she played such a sad, tragic character (Kirie: an enemy of Shiki. I think this was movie 3?)

11:39 AM: Sing something for us? Which one? Anything? She sings the Lacus song from last night (song #3). This is on tape. She really CAN sing, too.

11:42 AM; More guests. She’s asking to stand up to do rock-paper-scissors. this is for prizes, including cds. I lose round 1.

11:44 AM: Panel over. I didn’t get any questions in. But I do have good footage from the front row.

Author: gendomike

Michael lives in the Los Angeles area, and has been into anime since he saw Neon Genesis Evangelion in 1999. Some of his favorite shows include Full Metal Alchemist, Honey and Clover, and Welcome to the NHK!. Since 2003 he has gone to at least one anime convention every year. A public radio junkie, which naturally led to podcasting, he now holds a seminary degree and is looking to become Dr. Rev. Otaku Bible Man any day now. Michael can be reached at mike.huang@animediet.net. You can also find his Twitter account at @gendomike.

8 thoughts on “(Late) Rie Tanaka Panel Liveblog

  1. What about the “Hayate-kun” a the beginning of the panel?

    I was surprised when someone mentioned Kara no Kyoukai. It was kinda funny that only like five of us yelled “WOOOH!”

  2. @GARbej: I only thought about live blogging it (and spending the necessary money to do so) after I’d already spent a few minutes in the room, set up the camera, and started filming the panel. So 11:18 AM is the earliest time I captured. The whole Hayate/Maria thing must have happened before I even arrived as I don’t remember her talking about that…

    Having to stand up from time to time made the liveblogging harder–but getting pictures easier. 🙂

  3. Ah, my bad then. Please share the pics though! I couldn’t get any good ones with my crappy camera.

  4. Little notes:

    * You didn’t miss too much at the beginning of the panel; it was just random voice requests from the crowd. There was a “chii”, and Sugintou/Lacus/Marie/etc lines here and there. It took a while for the panel to start.

    * Fujou Kirie is the antagonist of the first movie.

    —–

    I made the question on Kara no Kyoukai. I just said that I really, really enjoyed Kara no Kyoukai, and then just asked if she enjoyed her role. I didn’t expect many people to know about the movie, but no hands at all was a bit disappointing, though funny too.

    > Who knows Kara no Kyokai?
    > * silence *
    > Kinoko Nasu’s work
    > * no hands *

    I thought Type-Moon in general was more popular in the US. Even the translator looked a bit confused at the question. If the question was hard to hear it was because I have had a sore throat during the whole weekend. Or maybe it was my accent? It can get pretty heavy at the worst possible moment =)

    To be honest, I never was a big fan of Tanaka Rie before this panel. I guess its just one of those cases where I haven’t heard her performance much or wasn’t that much into the series (I found Chobits a bit bland; never saw Rozen Maiden and Gundam Seed, IMO, is OK but not espectacular). After this, I am a fan. I really hope she comes to another convention in the future.

    Her singing voice is amazing. I generally avoid masquerades so I missed her performance. Should have gone to the Top Secret panel =/ Her singing in the panel was short, but very enjoyable. Does she has any music albums under her name other than anime/drama CDs?

    My only gripe on the panel were the crowd control issues. Personally I dislike “Otaku Paparazzi Zergling Rush” incidents, since it can be dangerous for the guest and other attendees. The security people freaked out multiple times.

    I didn’t manage to get an autograph. I was about person 65 in the ticket line =(

    Mike, it was great having lunch with Omo, Moy and you in the curry place. It was great talking to you, and hopefully we can meet again in a future con.

    P.S. Sorry for the long post.

  5. @Seikan: well, if it’s any consolation, I cheered when I heard she was in Kara no Kyoukai. One of the few! I will definitely review every installment as it comes along.

    LOL @ “otaku paparazzi zergling rush.” A very apt description. I only got on the edges of the crowd usually, but it’s OK because I have good footage on video.

    It was awesome meeting and talking to you over curry. I hope to see you too!

  6. Seiken –

    If you’re becoming a fan of her work, you absolutely must watch ROZEN MAIDEN — her performance as the villain is fantastic.

    Mike — thanks so much for the panel info. No chance that she indicated if there was new ROZEN MAIDEN on the way???

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