Hi, I'm Kari Wahlgren and I played Kagami in Lucky Star.
Q: From your own point of view, what is Kagami's character like?
Kagami is a very interesting mix of tomboy and girly girl.
She is definitely kind of the uptight (?inatntive) good student of the group.
The other girls are always asking her to, you know, give them answers on her homework.
And so she is a great student. She is very diligent.
But she is also, you know, no nonsense, she doesn't (?want order to fairly )girly issues to come up.
But on the other hand she also does like boys, and so she is just a very interesting mix of a tomboy and a xxx princess.
Q: Do you find Kagami to be the typical manga/anime character?
She was a really interesting character to play, because there were so many different levels to her personality.
In fact, not only in the animation, do they have some very stylized shots of her being very angry or, you know, being very blissful about something.
But even in the vocal acting the original Japanese actress, vocally she would be all over the place.
There'd be certain parts where she was very kinda gruff and husky and very tomboy.
And then other parts where they would just be playing up the sweet factor of her personality so much.
So when we originally start working on the show, I actually had about five different voice references.
This is Kagami, when she's calm.
This is Kagami, when she's a little bit more tomboyish.
This is Kagami, when she is very angry about something.
Because, vocally along with her personality, she is kinda all over the place.
Q:Do you think that Kagami is the most normal out oft the group?
I've actually enjoyed playing her, because I think she is so relatable.
I mean she is not one stereotype. She is not the sweet girly girl all the time.
She is not the spunky tomboy all the time.
She is this great confusing mix of a lot of different things.
I mean, you know, one point she is like talking about "Oh, can't you get your cell phone on work", next second she is like" Do I look fat in this dress?"
I mean I really relate to her, because she is not always sure of herself, but then sometime, she is, you know, she definitely knows what she is doing in school.
She is just a very well-rounded character and especially sometimes in anime the characters are very, you know, stereotypical.
This is a sweet girl. This is a spunky girl. This is a .. you know.
So I think she is a very well-rounded character.
And I found it really easy to relate to her.
In fact, when I was working with the director, in the session, everyone (? thought )Kagami would have this line and I would say I know exactly how she feels when she's saying the line or, especially when I was like in junior high and high school, I'd be like" Oh, man, I said that same thing" or "Oh, I thought the exact same way".
I mean so, yeah, I think she is a just great loveable mix of person as we all are.
Q: How did you come along with finding Kagami's voice? Were you influenced by the Japanese performance?
Finding the voice of Kagami was really challenging, because she is such a diverse character, as she has so many elements to her personality and I think the original Japanese actress did a really wonderful job of capturing that diversity vocally.
So some parts of the show, Kagami is very raspy and tomboy and other parts she is just so sweet and as vocally all of those differences in her personality, we really incorporated in the original Japanese.
So it was a challenge to set the voice in English, just because the voice was so (?mariable) , it was changing a lot, depending on the scene and where Kagami was emotionally.
So we did a lot of work with just kind of xxing around different scenes and kind of scene her when she is really frustrated about something and scene when she is just, you know, her normal cute everyday, so we kinda sat the voice in a few different places and then actually came up with a few different voice references.
So when we were just recording the first few sessions, we'd say" Okay, here's a playback of what she sounds like when she's sweet. Here's a playback of what she sounds like when she's more tomboyish. Here's a playback that sounds more like what she sounds like when she's really angry."
Q: Do you like hearing other actors recorded voice tracks to enhance your performance while recording your own?
If I have my choice, I really like to have one of the other (?ribugals) lay down their tracks before me, because then you go into the studio and if you hear them in your headphones
You have something to work off of; it makes a lot easier to be creative and to, you know, formulate relationships, I mean that is one of the tricky things about recording anime that you're in the studio by yourself.
So you know, if you are the first parson that lays down the tracks you have to create everything in your own mind, you don’t have anything else to help you form those relationships.
So I always love it if one of the other girls records first, because that kind of xxx energy of .. and we'll leave little notes to each other in the script
If Wendee Lee is going in and recorded lines. She would be like" Hi, Kari!"
She will write her little notes to me in the script something that.
So it... I don’t know. I find that much more fun. But you don’t always have it that way.
So if you're the first person who go in to record the scene, you just.. that's where the acting (?chops) coming in.
You really have to invest creatively, and just make it seen like you're actually having a conversation with a person. You have to actually make it seen like you're reacting to something funny or sad that they said.
Um, my gash, after act..
Q : How did you get involved with doing voice acting for anime?
My first experience with anime was an open call audition and I read about it in an entertainment trade magazine out here in Los Angels.
And I wasn’t really familiar with anime as a style of anime.
I knew that I wanted to do voiceover and I knew that I wanted to work in cartoons
But anime as its own (?separateness), I was not really familiar with it.
So I just read this audition notice that said casting for this cartoon
And I went to the audition and they had me do just a general audition.
And they like to me and they said "we're gonna send your home with this video tape.
We want you come back for a callback.
We just want you to watch the scene. Don’t worry that it's in another language.
We just wanna see if you can kinda get a sense of the character or vibe of the character."
So I went home I kinda watched the scene
Like "Okay, well, she' got kinda this sound and this seems to be her energy"
So I went back to the callback and auditioned again
And they said "Do you have any experience with dubbing? Do you have experience with doing anime?"
And I said "No, I really love to learn all, I'll be willing to work really hard"
And so they ended up casting me. And that ended up being FLCL, Fooly Cooly which was a great experience and I mean I had no clue at the time but, you know, it turned out to be such a popular show that they run in Cartoon Network all the time.
And that was kind of my..
It's kinda like getting thrown into the deep into the pool right away.
So that was my introduction to anime, and after that show I just started auditioning more and more
And (?knock on wood booking) jobs
Q: Do you have any kind of message to the Lucky Star fans?
You know, I guess I would say this to fans I really hope you guys like what we've done with it.
I know that everybody here that's working on it so super excited about that project.
I mean it's.., there is a buzz here with everybody that's working on it.
Everybody's excited to be playing different rolls
Hey! I hope you guys enjoy it! I hope!
If not, then, you know, there are blogs and message boards and..
I'm sure that you guys xxx
Q: From your own point of view, what is Kagami's character like?
Kagami is a very interesting mix of tomboy and girly girl.
She is definitely kind of the uptight (?inatntive) good student of the group.
The other girls are always asking her to, you know, give them answers on her homework.
And so she is a great student. She is very diligent.
But she is also, you know, no nonsense, she doesn't (?want order to fairly )girly issues to come up.
But on the other hand she also does like boys, and so she is just a very interesting mix of a tomboy and a xxx princess.
Q: Do you find Kagami to be the typical manga/anime character?
She was a really interesting character to play, because there were so many different levels to her personality.
In fact, not only in the animation, do they have some very stylized shots of her being very angry or, you know, being very blissful about something.
But even in the vocal acting the original Japanese actress, vocally she would be all over the place.
There'd be certain parts where she was very kinda gruff and husky and very tomboy.
And then other parts where they would just be playing up the sweet factor of her personality so much.
So when we originally start working on the show, I actually had about five different voice references.
This is Kagami, when she's calm.
This is Kagami, when she's a little bit more tomboyish.
This is Kagami, when she is very angry about something.
Because, vocally along with her personality, she is kinda all over the place.
Q:Do you think that Kagami is the most normal out oft the group?
I've actually enjoyed playing her, because I think she is so relatable.
I mean she is not one stereotype. She is not the sweet girly girl all the time.
She is not the spunky tomboy all the time.
She is this great confusing mix of a lot of different things.
I mean, you know, one point she is like talking about "Oh, can't you get your cell phone on work", next second she is like" Do I look fat in this dress?"
I mean I really relate to her, because she is not always sure of herself, but then sometime, she is, you know, she definitely knows what she is doing in school.
She is just a very well-rounded character and especially sometimes in anime the characters are very, you know, stereotypical.
This is a sweet girl. This is a spunky girl. This is a .. you know.
So I think she is a very well-rounded character.
And I found it really easy to relate to her.
In fact, when I was working with the director, in the session, everyone (? thought )Kagami would have this line and I would say I know exactly how she feels when she's saying the line or, especially when I was like in junior high and high school, I'd be like" Oh, man, I said that same thing" or "Oh, I thought the exact same way".
I mean so, yeah, I think she is a just great loveable mix of person as we all are.
Q: How did you come along with finding Kagami's voice? Were you influenced by the Japanese performance?
Finding the voice of Kagami was really challenging, because she is such a diverse character, as she has so many elements to her personality and I think the original Japanese actress did a really wonderful job of capturing that diversity vocally.
So some parts of the show, Kagami is very raspy and tomboy and other parts she is just so sweet and as vocally all of those differences in her personality, we really incorporated in the original Japanese.
So it was a challenge to set the voice in English, just because the voice was so (?mariable) , it was changing a lot, depending on the scene and where Kagami was emotionally.
So we did a lot of work with just kind of xxing around different scenes and kind of scene her when she is really frustrated about something and scene when she is just, you know, her normal cute everyday, so we kinda sat the voice in a few different places and then actually came up with a few different voice references.
So when we were just recording the first few sessions, we'd say" Okay, here's a playback of what she sounds like when she's sweet. Here's a playback of what she sounds like when she's more tomboyish. Here's a playback that sounds more like what she sounds like when she's really angry."
Q: Do you like hearing other actors recorded voice tracks to enhance your performance while recording your own?
If I have my choice, I really like to have one of the other (?ribugals) lay down their tracks before me, because then you go into the studio and if you hear them in your headphones
You have something to work off of; it makes a lot easier to be creative and to, you know, formulate relationships, I mean that is one of the tricky things about recording anime that you're in the studio by yourself.
So you know, if you are the first parson that lays down the tracks you have to create everything in your own mind, you don’t have anything else to help you form those relationships.
So I always love it if one of the other girls records first, because that kind of xxx energy of .. and we'll leave little notes to each other in the script
If Wendee Lee is going in and recorded lines. She would be like" Hi, Kari!"
She will write her little notes to me in the script something that.
So it... I don’t know. I find that much more fun. But you don’t always have it that way.
So if you're the first person who go in to record the scene, you just.. that's where the acting (?chops) coming in.
You really have to invest creatively, and just make it seen like you're actually having a conversation with a person. You have to actually make it seen like you're reacting to something funny or sad that they said.
Um, my gash, after act..
Q : How did you get involved with doing voice acting for anime?
My first experience with anime was an open call audition and I read about it in an entertainment trade magazine out here in Los Angels.
And I wasn’t really familiar with anime as a style of anime.
I knew that I wanted to do voiceover and I knew that I wanted to work in cartoons
But anime as its own (?separateness), I was not really familiar with it.
So I just read this audition notice that said casting for this cartoon
And I went to the audition and they had me do just a general audition.
And they like to me and they said "we're gonna send your home with this video tape.
We want you come back for a callback.
We just want you to watch the scene. Don’t worry that it's in another language.
We just wanna see if you can kinda get a sense of the character or vibe of the character."
So I went home I kinda watched the scene
Like "Okay, well, she' got kinda this sound and this seems to be her energy"
So I went back to the callback and auditioned again
And they said "Do you have any experience with dubbing? Do you have experience with doing anime?"
And I said "No, I really love to learn all, I'll be willing to work really hard"
And so they ended up casting me. And that ended up being FLCL, Fooly Cooly which was a great experience and I mean I had no clue at the time but, you know, it turned out to be such a popular show that they run in Cartoon Network all the time.
And that was kind of my..
It's kinda like getting thrown into the deep into the pool right away.
So that was my introduction to anime, and after that show I just started auditioning more and more
And (?knock on wood booking) jobs
Q: Do you have any kind of message to the Lucky Star fans?
You know, I guess I would say this to fans I really hope you guys like what we've done with it.
I know that everybody here that's working on it so super excited about that project.
I mean it's.., there is a buzz here with everybody that's working on it.
Everybody's excited to be playing different rolls
Hey! I hope you guys enjoy it! I hope!
If not, then, you know, there are blogs and message boards and..
I'm sure that you guys xxx