Munday: Voices
For Kanda Yuu (kandescence) and Badou Nails (smokeeasy), since they seem to be the most talkative at the moment.
1. How distinctive is your character's voice? How did you develop it?
Kanda: It's much easier for me to write a (canon) character if I've heard an actor voice them. Apparently that holds true even if I haven't heard the actor voice them in a language that I understand, because hearing Kanda's voice in the (not dubbed) DGM anime has made him far clearer in my mind. His voice is quite distinctive-deep and gruff and sexy, and though he's only 18 years old, there's nothing at all boyish about it. Honestly, I really love the sound of it (his voice actor is quite amazing) and will sometimes just look for clips of him from the anime simply for the pleasure of hearing his voice…even if I can't understand the language.
Badou: Oh I do eagerly await the DOGS OVA which should be out in a couple of months, because I want to hear how they've voiced Badou (and everyone else). Honestly, his voice is much harder for me to hear in my head, and I sometimes flounder a bit wondering if I've got it right. A lot of that is because of a dearth of canon info: DOGS is set in an unspecified city and country in Europe (we think). Though the main character's name (Heine Rammsteiner) suggests the setting might be Germany, there's nothing in particular about Badou's name to indicate his nationality. I don't actually even know if he speaks English canonically or if it's a second language, whether he speaks it with a strong accent or barely any at all.
2. Does your character have a regional accent? How do depict this in text?
Kanda: Though he's Japanese (and of course in the original manga/anime he speaks in Japanese, as all the characters do) Kanda has been a member of the Order since he was 10 years old, and the language spoken there (and that all the DGM characters speak canonically) is English. I do imagine that he retains a slight Japanese accent when speaking in English, though not one so strong that it makes him difficult to understand or makes him sound like he's speaking "Engrish." I actually don't depict his accent in text at all since I think it would be difficult to do so tastefully. Instead I allow his word choice to sound just a bit stilted at time, not grammatically incorrect, but just like the flow is ever so slightly off.
Badou: Again, because I have so little to go on about his national and linguistic background, it's hard for me to answer this for him. For the time being, I'm playing him based on a personal fanon notion that he's Danish by ancestry, in large part because it gives me a point of reference for what his accent might sound like (I'm basing it on the accents of a few Danish friends of mine). Thus his accent in English involves just a slight rounding of some vowel sounds (and perhaps an occasional softening of consonants). In text, (again because it's faint and I'd prefer for him not to sound affected) I don't generally try to mark it at all.
3. Any affectations of speech? How did he/she develop them?
Kanda: Occasional Japanese words appear in Kanda's speech, most commonly "baka Moyashi" which means "idiot Beansprout" and is the name he commonly calls Allen in canon. I think of Kanda less as having affectations of speech and more as having moments when he sounds like someone who's been thinking in another language and only translated his thoughts belatedly to find the translation a less than perfectly comfortable fit.
He does, however, often express his disdain with a "Tch," a "Che," or a "Hmph" sound. He tends to be monosyllabic whenever he can get away with it, and a lot of times the only response he'll be willing to give is a terse "whatever." He growls too, but that less often appears in text. Because he's so much the silent type, it's not uncommon to see him leave a comment that is an icon only with no text at all, which is my way of voicing his silent presence in a thread-he's just there making a face. Where Kanda's concerned, a comment simply saying "Tch" tends to stand as a greeting, though a person would probably have to know him to get that.
Badou: Admittedly, his voice is still developing for me, so if this is going to come out it hasn't done so yet, save for the fact that he's likely to use "man" as a casual form of address.
4. Does your character tend to speak quietly, or loudly? Sharply, or melodically? In a monotone, or with dramatic flair?
Kanda: Loud, sharp, abrupt, abrasive-he's not a patient or gentle person and his speech reflects this. Kanda does not have a good way with words. It's not just that he says what he thinks without sugar-coating it. He tends (without necessarily bothering to consider the fact that he's doing so) to phrase things in ways that make other people feel belittled, disrespected, or disregarded. Actually, one of Allen's first complaints about him is that he doesn't have a very good way of saying things.
Badou: Because he's got a bit of a bi-polar thing going on, Badou is alternately quite neutral sounding, disinterested and a bit detached, or else quite loud and hyper. Not that he has no middle ground, but it's more that his quieter speech pattern (which is the one he shows the majority of the time) is so starkly distinguished from those moments at which he talks like the goof ball he is. He's also not at all above throwing a good temper tantrum (especially if he's out of smokes).
5. Are there circumstances in which your character has difficulty speaking? Any speech impediments?
Kanda: Impediments? No. Unless you count preferring not to have to bother talking to people as an impediment. He doesn't have difficulty, he just plain old doesn't want to.
Badou: If he's without smokes for too long then it's not unfair to say that Badou does end up having trouble speaking, in a way...unless he's cursing someone out. But mostly that's because he's too busy screaming and shooting things to be particularly articulate. Without smokes, Badou tends to devolve towards hysterics, and that's a state in which I suppose anyone would have trouble speaking.
6. Are there certain circumstances / or certain people to whom your character speaks that make that character's voice change?
Kanda: Mostly it's all just variations on the theme of yelling at: he yells more at Allen and Lavi, less at Lenalee, Marie, and Daisya. He does manage not to be outright disrespectful to Tiedoll and Komui even though he's not above yelling at (or at least towards) them.
Badou: He's pretty casual with everyone, unless his supply of cigs runs out. When that happens it's like you can hear the dawning insanity creeping into his voice like little cracks on the way to breakdown hysteria.
7. What emotional circumstances make your character's voice change, and how does it change during those circumstances?
Kanda: Explosive anger is explosive. Boy's got a TEMPER, and it tends to manifest itself in loads of oversized capslock text and general RAWR.
Badou: …I mentioned that he goes a bit hysterical when he runs out of smokes, right?
8. How did your character's parentage / ethnicity/ childhood affect his/her speech patterns?
I think I already covered this in 2…
9.Did he/she overcome, or change the speaking habits he/she had earlier in life?
Kanda: Aside from the language thing that I rambled about above, I don't really think so. But that is kind of a big one.
Badou: I think that he's styled himself a lot after his elder brother when his brother died, emulating certain mannerisms and speech patterns. The part of Badou that claims to want a "hard boiled" life is, I think, largely his brother talking, and through his influence I think certain classic patterns of detective-speak have worked their way into Badou's vocabulary.
10. Does your character's manner of speaking display education or the lack thereof? Formality, or informality? What traits show when he/she is speaking?
Kanda: This is kind of hard to answer since we only hear Kanda's speech in Japanese even though we are supposed to understand it as being English diegetically. Kanda almost never uses any Japanese honorifics (like -san, -kun, or -chan) even though other (non-Japanese) characters in DGM do. That could be read as alternately very familiar or else very rude in Japanese, though of course English doesn't have an equivalent convention, per se. But it's not like Kanda often uses a lot of slang or other particularly informal modes of speech. The way I think of it, he thinks of language as purely utilitarian-when he talks it is to convey information in the plainest way possible, and with the fewest possible words. Nothing flowery, nothing figurative. He's literal to a fault, and he doesn't bother with formality because he thinks it's a waste of time. By the same token, he has no interest in using slang for the sake of sounding cool or trendy--that, to him, would be as much a waste of time as extravagant pomp and fancy conventions.
Badou: I don't think Badou's had a lot of formal education, but he does have street smarts and common sense in spades. His brother was an investigative journalist, and since he seems to have had a strong hand in bringing him up, I figure he knows how to use formal speech when needed. He also has to be pretty literate and have decent research skills since his job as an information agent demands it. I think he keeps it understated on purpose, since the impression that he's kind of a goof is more likely to get people underestimating him, and that can work to his advantage.
ETA: Was listening to clips from the DGM dub today and UGH. Kanda's voice in the dub is TERRIBLE! *twitch twitch* Oi, whoever cast that voice actor for him can GTFO. Now. DOOOOOOO NOOOOOOT WAAAAAANT! *weeps* ...Just makes me love his original (real) voice all the more though.
1. How distinctive is your character's voice? How did you develop it?
Kanda: It's much easier for me to write a (canon) character if I've heard an actor voice them. Apparently that holds true even if I haven't heard the actor voice them in a language that I understand, because hearing Kanda's voice in the (not dubbed) DGM anime has made him far clearer in my mind. His voice is quite distinctive-deep and gruff and sexy, and though he's only 18 years old, there's nothing at all boyish about it. Honestly, I really love the sound of it (his voice actor is quite amazing) and will sometimes just look for clips of him from the anime simply for the pleasure of hearing his voice…even if I can't understand the language.
Badou: Oh I do eagerly await the DOGS OVA which should be out in a couple of months, because I want to hear how they've voiced Badou (and everyone else). Honestly, his voice is much harder for me to hear in my head, and I sometimes flounder a bit wondering if I've got it right. A lot of that is because of a dearth of canon info: DOGS is set in an unspecified city and country in Europe (we think). Though the main character's name (Heine Rammsteiner) suggests the setting might be Germany, there's nothing in particular about Badou's name to indicate his nationality. I don't actually even know if he speaks English canonically or if it's a second language, whether he speaks it with a strong accent or barely any at all.
2. Does your character have a regional accent? How do depict this in text?
Kanda: Though he's Japanese (and of course in the original manga/anime he speaks in Japanese, as all the characters do) Kanda has been a member of the Order since he was 10 years old, and the language spoken there (and that all the DGM characters speak canonically) is English. I do imagine that he retains a slight Japanese accent when speaking in English, though not one so strong that it makes him difficult to understand or makes him sound like he's speaking "Engrish." I actually don't depict his accent in text at all since I think it would be difficult to do so tastefully. Instead I allow his word choice to sound just a bit stilted at time, not grammatically incorrect, but just like the flow is ever so slightly off.
Badou: Again, because I have so little to go on about his national and linguistic background, it's hard for me to answer this for him. For the time being, I'm playing him based on a personal fanon notion that he's Danish by ancestry, in large part because it gives me a point of reference for what his accent might sound like (I'm basing it on the accents of a few Danish friends of mine). Thus his accent in English involves just a slight rounding of some vowel sounds (and perhaps an occasional softening of consonants). In text, (again because it's faint and I'd prefer for him not to sound affected) I don't generally try to mark it at all.
3. Any affectations of speech? How did he/she develop them?
Kanda: Occasional Japanese words appear in Kanda's speech, most commonly "baka Moyashi" which means "idiot Beansprout" and is the name he commonly calls Allen in canon. I think of Kanda less as having affectations of speech and more as having moments when he sounds like someone who's been thinking in another language and only translated his thoughts belatedly to find the translation a less than perfectly comfortable fit.
He does, however, often express his disdain with a "Tch," a "Che," or a "Hmph" sound. He tends to be monosyllabic whenever he can get away with it, and a lot of times the only response he'll be willing to give is a terse "whatever." He growls too, but that less often appears in text. Because he's so much the silent type, it's not uncommon to see him leave a comment that is an icon only with no text at all, which is my way of voicing his silent presence in a thread-he's just there making a face. Where Kanda's concerned, a comment simply saying "Tch" tends to stand as a greeting, though a person would probably have to know him to get that.
Badou: Admittedly, his voice is still developing for me, so if this is going to come out it hasn't done so yet, save for the fact that he's likely to use "man" as a casual form of address.
4. Does your character tend to speak quietly, or loudly? Sharply, or melodically? In a monotone, or with dramatic flair?
Kanda: Loud, sharp, abrupt, abrasive-he's not a patient or gentle person and his speech reflects this. Kanda does not have a good way with words. It's not just that he says what he thinks without sugar-coating it. He tends (without necessarily bothering to consider the fact that he's doing so) to phrase things in ways that make other people feel belittled, disrespected, or disregarded. Actually, one of Allen's first complaints about him is that he doesn't have a very good way of saying things.
Badou: Because he's got a bit of a bi-polar thing going on, Badou is alternately quite neutral sounding, disinterested and a bit detached, or else quite loud and hyper. Not that he has no middle ground, but it's more that his quieter speech pattern (which is the one he shows the majority of the time) is so starkly distinguished from those moments at which he talks like the goof ball he is. He's also not at all above throwing a good temper tantrum (especially if he's out of smokes).
5. Are there circumstances in which your character has difficulty speaking? Any speech impediments?
Kanda: Impediments? No. Unless you count preferring not to have to bother talking to people as an impediment. He doesn't have difficulty, he just plain old doesn't want to.
Badou: If he's without smokes for too long then it's not unfair to say that Badou does end up having trouble speaking, in a way...unless he's cursing someone out. But mostly that's because he's too busy screaming and shooting things to be particularly articulate. Without smokes, Badou tends to devolve towards hysterics, and that's a state in which I suppose anyone would have trouble speaking.
6. Are there certain circumstances / or certain people to whom your character speaks that make that character's voice change?
Kanda: Mostly it's all just variations on the theme of yelling at: he yells more at Allen and Lavi, less at Lenalee, Marie, and Daisya. He does manage not to be outright disrespectful to Tiedoll and Komui even though he's not above yelling at (or at least towards) them.
Badou: He's pretty casual with everyone, unless his supply of cigs runs out. When that happens it's like you can hear the dawning insanity creeping into his voice like little cracks on the way to breakdown hysteria.
7. What emotional circumstances make your character's voice change, and how does it change during those circumstances?
Kanda: Explosive anger is explosive. Boy's got a TEMPER, and it tends to manifest itself in loads of oversized capslock text and general RAWR.
Badou: …I mentioned that he goes a bit hysterical when he runs out of smokes, right?
8. How did your character's parentage / ethnicity/ childhood affect his/her speech patterns?
I think I already covered this in 2…
9.Did he/she overcome, or change the speaking habits he/she had earlier in life?
Kanda: Aside from the language thing that I rambled about above, I don't really think so. But that is kind of a big one.
Badou: I think that he's styled himself a lot after his elder brother when his brother died, emulating certain mannerisms and speech patterns. The part of Badou that claims to want a "hard boiled" life is, I think, largely his brother talking, and through his influence I think certain classic patterns of detective-speak have worked their way into Badou's vocabulary.
10. Does your character's manner of speaking display education or the lack thereof? Formality, or informality? What traits show when he/she is speaking?
Kanda: This is kind of hard to answer since we only hear Kanda's speech in Japanese even though we are supposed to understand it as being English diegetically. Kanda almost never uses any Japanese honorifics (like -san, -kun, or -chan) even though other (non-Japanese) characters in DGM do. That could be read as alternately very familiar or else very rude in Japanese, though of course English doesn't have an equivalent convention, per se. But it's not like Kanda often uses a lot of slang or other particularly informal modes of speech. The way I think of it, he thinks of language as purely utilitarian-when he talks it is to convey information in the plainest way possible, and with the fewest possible words. Nothing flowery, nothing figurative. He's literal to a fault, and he doesn't bother with formality because he thinks it's a waste of time. By the same token, he has no interest in using slang for the sake of sounding cool or trendy--that, to him, would be as much a waste of time as extravagant pomp and fancy conventions.
Badou: I don't think Badou's had a lot of formal education, but he does have street smarts and common sense in spades. His brother was an investigative journalist, and since he seems to have had a strong hand in bringing him up, I figure he knows how to use formal speech when needed. He also has to be pretty literate and have decent research skills since his job as an information agent demands it. I think he keeps it understated on purpose, since the impression that he's kind of a goof is more likely to get people underestimating him, and that can work to his advantage.
ETA: Was listening to clips from the DGM dub today and UGH. Kanda's voice in the dub is TERRIBLE! *twitch twitch* Oi, whoever cast that voice actor for him can GTFO. Now. DOOOOOOO NOOOOOOT WAAAAAANT! *weeps* ...Just makes me love his original (real) voice all the more though.