#norio is the voice of johnny in guilty gear

[tarczar]

Another shared voice actor between the two franchises I like is Shigeru Chiba being the voice of Robo-Ky in Guilty Gear Xrd and Aku-Aku in the 5th movie!

Guilty Gear is 2 degrees away from Keroro Gunso

Takeshi Kusao, Joji Nakata, and Takehito Koyasu voice Ky Kiske, Sol Badguy, and Zato-1 in Guilty Gear respectively

Takeshi Kusao, Joji Nakata, and Takehito Koyasu voice Dororo, Giroro, and Kururu in Keroro Gunso respectively

(There are definitely more links than this! these are just the ones I knew off the top of my head, and I didn't see a point in searching out the other links if I already knew these lol)

[untilteddocument]

So I've Been Thinking About: Guilty Gear, Johnny, and Masculinity

Welcome once again to So I've Been Thinking About, a journal series where I talk about things I find interesting or appealing about various pieces of media, often video games. This time, I'll be talking about-

Yes, indeed, trio of Japanese actresses, I'll be talking about Guilty Gear, the fighting game series/magnum opus of Daisuke Ishiwatari. Specifically, I wanted to talk about someone who just made their big debut to Guilty Gear Strive's playable roster.

The Words Of The Man Who Never Fails

First off, obvious part out of the way first, the song is excellent. It has that rollicking good time feel of a really good bar song, the kind where everyone is invited to sing along.

There's probably a lot in the song, musically speaking, that goes entirely over my head because I'm not educated in music theory or the technical aspects of music, and there's plenty of musicians on Youtube doing reactions and analyses of the soundtrack that would do a way better job of that than I would (please, 12tone, Charismatic Voice, I'm begging you both, check the soundtrack out, it's great). Rather, I'm here thinking about the writing and what it says about the character.

Folks in the comments have noted that, to my own great interest, Johnny's theme is unique among the current roster in that it's not being sung from his perspective, but rather it's an over-the-top brag being sung about him by someone else. Usually, the soundtrack's character themes are deeply personal statements from each character, an apotheosis of who they are and what they keep closest to their hearts. It's how we are given tidbits like Testament's exultant affirmation of their identity, Leo's well-hidden survivor's guilt, I-No's feelings of emptiness and depression, and so on.

So, what about Johnny?

The whole song is very cornball in that earnest way that makes it cool, very Devil May Cry in that respect. "The guy who was hated by the god of failure" as an epithet is so goofy, so comically badass that it circles back around to being kind of amazing, and crucially, it's not taken seriously enough to blunt that. It's not growling menace or grim power, but pomp and bombast with a wink and a grin. The song, and by extension the character, are having fun with this.

And that's why I think he's doing drag.

Truth Is Always Born In The Mind

First off, a disclaimer. I'm versed mostly in what I would consider the basics of drag, in that it is a hyper-gendered performance put on by people having fun with self-expression and exploration, typically men putting on hyper-feminine drag queen personas and women being drag kings doing the same in the other direction. My analysis was made from this platform, and I'm not sure how much it holds up to scrutiny from folks deeper into the community. Apologies, I'm doing my best with what I have. So yes, back to Johnny.

I noted that there's a lot that's over-the-top about Johnny's front-facing persona, like he's very "manly" to a comical extent. He's given to ultra-suave affectations; his longtime Japanese voice actor, Norio Wakamoto, used diction and tone that indicates that he is trying very very hard to be cool. Likewise, as his song states, he constantly tries to build up his own legend, but he never seems to be invested in people taking it seriously.

This is what led me to my realization that Johnny is essentially doing ultra-masculinity as drag. He's a man dressing up as a bigger, more powerful man (cowboys aren't exactly unpopular in this respect either), and crucially, it's not out of some hidden shame or trauma that he feels he has to compensate for. Certainly, nobody really buys it, and he has no problem with that. He just really likes putting on the image of this smooth invincible folk hero.

Note: there are other wrinkles in his portrayal that aren't covered by this, chief among them the typical Japanese portrayal of Americans as brash loudmouths (affectionate in his case) and a subject of comic relief in comparison to a more sober Japanese straight man (in the comedic sense). I'm not quite sure this applies to Johnny as much as it does to Chipp Zanuff, though, but that context does exist.

He Doesn't Talk About Fake Love

One could try to draw a connection between Johnny's posturing and the kind of toxic masculinity championed as manliness, but I believe it would be spurious at best. The biggest indicator of this is that Johnny has a terrible track record as far as sexual conquest. None of the women in the playable cast give him the time of day with the notable exception of May, whose affection for him is somewhere in the realm of a lingering childhood crush for her best bud.

Just as importantly, Johnny doesn't take that seriously. He doesn't stop flirting, but he never expresses that he feels entitled to reciprocation. He also doesn't get mad at people who don't buy his shtick, so there isn't a sense that he sees his legend as a vector for deference under the guise of "honor" and "respect".

Hell, historically, people who have a positive long-term relationship with Johnny don't have it because of his persona; they have it because under all the bluster, he's actually a decent man. More than a charming rogue and inveterate flirt, he's a man who dedicated his life to helping war orphans and the poor. He is a bit of a clown, certainly something of a troublemaker, but when the chips are down, he wants nothing more than to be a compassionate person who can inspire smiles just from people hearing about him.

And for folks who think that he ought to be bowed and scraped to, his song offers an alternative:

Just Lean.

[highdio]

wasn't kobayashi, until now, the only living original SDC OVA seiyuu? hurts so much to hear about his passing :(

I had to google this bc, offhand, Norio Wakamoto was the only seiyu from the OVA I could confirm was alive and well since he voices Johnny in Guilty Gear. But no, some of the OVA seiyuu have passed but some are still alive.

[coltcougar]

My second collaboration with the Mystic Moor starts with us referencing both our previous comic together and our proclivity for playing Guilty Gear Xrd and fighting as Slayer vs Johnny.  

The rules are the same as always: one page each alternating. Production value is whatever you feel like doing, and the plot is not pre-planned: we make the whole thing up as we go.

When referencing Skeletor, I found some truly fabulous fan art. Google him. you’ll find it too lol. When The Mystic Moor introduced a character from Sekiro, I actually bought the game so I could appropriately depict the character in our comic (I was going to buy it any way, since I like Dark Souls games). Sekiro went on sale, I grabbed that shit and the rest is history.

We stopped at the perfect place. Frieza is going to get God-murdered. No one can draw the next page and adequately portray the end of his life XD

I do notice that having a one page limit does make me try to fit quite a lot into one page. Also, the bit where Skeletor takes off his hood to reveal himself (and another hood) reminds me of memes where a character who always wears shades, takes of his shades to reveal a second pair of shades underneath. I love that shit lol

If you’re interested, I play Johnny and the Mystic Moor plays Slayer. I have no idea why I main Johnny. I can’t mist-cancel and my coin combos are awful. Oh wait, he’s voiced by Norio Wakamoto and is a cowboy/samurai/pirate, bare-chested in a trenchcoat and uses Iai-swordsmanship. I knew there was something ;p

[recentanimenews]

Celebrate Norio Wakamoto’s Birthday by Learning About the Man Behind the Iconic Voice!

  There are certain voices that resonate with us, leaving us with a sense of satisfaction or joy in hearing them over and over again. In anime, one of those voices is the soothing, deep voice of Norio Wakamoto, whether he’s rolling those R’s hard in comedy shows or chilling our bones in dramas, Wakamoto is truly one of the kings of voice acting. Since today is his 74th birthday, we thought it only fitting to pay some respects to the man behind hundreds of amazing character voices between anime and video games from as far back as 1977, and who is still going strong today! So come along with us and join in on wishing Norio Wakamoto a HAPPY BIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTHDAY!

Born in 1945 in Shimonoseki and raised in Sakai, Norio Wakamoto started out life with a far more serious career in mind than voice acting; after attending Waseda University, Wakamoto joined the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department’s Anti-Riot Squad! Wakamoto is also a 3rd Dan in both Kendo and Shorimi Kempo, meaning that between his imposing voice and martial prowess, you could probably just imagine criminals cowering in fear when they heard him shout “halt!” Thankfully for the anime watching world, it seems that Wakamoto decided after some time to change careers, however, with his first credited voice role in Glacier Warrior Gaislugger as Onoriki in 1977. Since then, he’s gone on to voice countless classic roles, with some of his early work in titles such as Gunbuster (as Koichiro “Coach” Ota) and Legend of the Galactic Heroes (as Oskar von Reuenthal) cementing his role as one of the most versatile and unique voice talents in anime.  

You might be asking: “But what exactly makes Norio Wakamoto so special?” Well, it’s probably the style of speaking that he’s developed over the years as a voice actor; there’s really nothing else quite like it! Between the sharp and astringent quality of his voice and his ability to roll his R sounds (among other verbal tics), Wakamoto has a sound unlike any other voice actor; when you hear his voice, you immediately know it’s him! While he’s mostly played villainous, devious, or overly serious masculine characters, his unique vocal range has allowed him to play numerous comedic roles as well, some of which operate solely on the unexpected quality of his voice. While many fans may know him as “Coach”, Oskar, Cell, Vicious, and other roles, many more fans know him as the voice of everyone’s favorite badass delinquent: Mechazawa! And that’s not all; Wakamoto has lent his voice to various comedic character legends such as Chiyo’s Papa in Azumanga Daioh, Onsokumaru in Ninja Nonsense, and even just recently as Pipimi in Pop Team Epic, alongside fellow Dragon Ball Z villain Ryusei Nakao (Frieza) as Popuko, and as the greatest idol of all time, Shining Saotome in the Uta no Prince-sama series!

Perhaps even more stunning is just how long Wakamoto has been in our hearts as the voice of so many different characters, with his career hitting 40 years this year and still going! You wouldn’t be wrong to claim that Wakamoto is a generational voice actor either; probably every generation of anime fan has their first Norio Wakamoto memory or favorite role, whether it be Hellsing’s Alexander Anderson, Code Geass’ Charles Zi Britannia, Dragon Ball Z’s Cell, or the aforementioned “Coach”, there’s probably a Wakamoto for all seasons and ages out there. That said, some of his roles are famous for the enduring legacy for more comical reasons, such as a classic moment in which Sugita Tomokazu, Nakamura Yuuichi and Sakurai Takahiro played the Yu Yu Hakusho fighting game, trying to do their best Wakamoto impressions while all of them selected Chu.

Crossing my fingers that Nakamura is just constantly doing his best Wakamoto voice when voicing Reuenthal in the new Legend of the Galactic Heroes anime. pic.twitter.com/ZVYn0V62zd

— HDKirin (@HDKirin) March 3, 2018

When up and coming voice actors memorize your intonation and roles to such an amazing degree, you know you’ve likely left a deep impact!  Some other apocryphal Wakamoto lore is preserved on the internet, such as the time Wakamoto helped us all fall asleep by recording himself counting sheep! Originally recorded for a CD titled “Hitsuji de Oyasumi Bangai hen”, Wakamoto joined various other voice actors in recording themselves soothing listener’s thoughts as they attempted to drift off to sleep by counting sheep; if you ask us, Wakamoto’s is obviously the best!

Wakamoto isn’t just an anime voice actor though, as he’s done quite a few video game voices as well! Getting his start in 1991 reprising his role of Dekachu from Cyber City Oedo 808, Wakamoto debuted in video games on the PC Engine, and has regularly popped up in various games ever since. Besides reprising the voices of characters he played in their anime counterparts, one of Wakamoto’s most famous video game roles is that of Johnny from Arc System Works’s Guilty Gear series, the dashing sky pirate with the sultry voice! Johnny isn’t Wakamoto’s only famous fighting game role, as he also plays King of Fighters villain Rugal Bernstein as well! And, in Capcom’s Street Fighter IV and subsequent titles replaced Tomomichi Nishimura as the voice of M. Bison with that of Wakamoto, who continues to voice the character in newer incarnations of the game. Kingdom Hearts fans may know of Wakamoto as the voice of Xemnas, although you’d have to play the original Japanese versions to hear him! That said, there is one other role that you might not recognize Wakamoto in, as the most famous rendition of that character’s dialogue is forever memorialized in English. Who is it? None other than Castlevania’s Dracula, with Wakamoto playing the role for the first time in the now legendary Castlevania: Symphony of the Night in 1997. 

We hope that Wakamoto-san has had an amazing 74th birthday, and we can’t wait to share many more of them with him as he continues his voice acting journey. You never really know just where he’ll show up, and we’re sure that as long as he feels willing, we’ll all be able to hear his beautiful voice in many roles to come! If you want to give him a gift, practice rolling your R's while watching some of his classic roles, and see how your Norio Wakamoto impression stacks up! Happy Birthday, Norio Wakamoto!

  What’s your favorite Wakamoto role? Let us know in the comments below!

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Nicole is a features writer and editor for Crunchyroll. Known for punching dudes in Yakuza games on her Twitch channel while professing her love for Majima. She also has a blog, Figuratively Speaking. Follow her on Twitter: @ellyberries

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