Hi Kathleen,

I can take a look at a script to make sure (it's been a while). Will have to look in the files in the garage and I'll do that later today. But if memory serves, mostly what we had to do was match our vocals with the mouth movements of the on-screen characters. The Japanese actors who originally voiced the characters would not have done it the same way; they would voice the characters, then the final facial details would be drawn to match them. But when you're dubbing you are adding something "after the fact," and you must match what's already there.

Our scripts were first translated into English, then they had to be completely rewritten because some Japanese expressions don't work in English at all. Then they had to be rewritten again, to match the on screen mouth movements. "Come! Sit!" might have to change to "Come over here and sit down," for example. This duty, thankfully, wasn't mine.

When it came to battle scenes, grunting, saying "hmm," murmuring, etc., we were just trying to match what the characters were doing on screen. Later today I'll check my scripts to make sure, but that's what I recall.

I don't know if other anime series do it this way.

Hi Kathleen, so nice to meet you.

I'm not sure about the wonky noise you ask about. If it's not a vocal noise it could be a number of things. Sound studios have access to complete libraries of sound effects, from music to crickets to gunfire. The libraries used to be entirely on CDs (in the 1990s, when I was recording the Tenchi Muyo episodes) but now they're mostly online. The engineer can access any kind of sound and insert it into a recording without leaving his chair. I assume that if your story includes anime it's set somewhere between the early 1990s and now, so it would be either CD or online (as opposed to live or tape). The change to online would have been made earlier in a more progressive, wealthier studio and later in a studio that's struggling. (I wouldn't be surprised if some still use the CDs).

I hope that answers your question but if not, let me know. I'm in the studio every week and I can ask the engineers whatever you need to know. A couple of them have been around for a long time and they love to talk about this stuff. (So do I!)

Hi Kathleen,

I understand what you mean. That's why it's so important to take time before sending something out. Taking several days between editing rounds to let things cool really helps. When I get to the point where I can't find anything wrong, that's when I know it's time for someone else to check it. :)

Hi there -- just wanted to drop by your page and invite you personally (or at least virtually) to our first-ever She Writes Washington D.C. meetup, celebrating our first-anniversary! We are so grateful to the event's organizer, Ananda Leeke, for taking a risk and stepping up to host. I hope you will support her and bring yourself and other women who write (no need for them to be members) to the Washington D.C. gathering. At the meetup writers will take part in the She Writes "Book Communion," where attendees arrive with one book, their own or another She Writers', new or gently used, and leave with another book as a meaningfully way to support one another's work. We will also be blowing out a candle and making a wish for our upcoming writing year -- along with She Writers gathering in 16 cities around the country. I hope you will be part of this historic (well, at least kind of cool) occasion, and RSVP now to Ananda here.

Welcome to the Novelist – Struggling or Not group, Kathleen. You might jump in by telling us what you’re working on in the “Show Me Your Novel and I’ll Show You Mine” discussion.

-Meg