ReVA interviews John Swasey (Rebuild & Director’s Cut Gendo Ikari)

I had the good fortune to interview John Swasey, voice of Gendo Ikari in the Director’s Cut episodes (2004 Platinum Edition), and now reprising the role of Gendo in Rebuild of Evangelion.

Your Voice Acting career

*How did you first get into Voice Acting?  It seems like Amanda recruited everyone to it…what was she, like the ADV version of Kambei from Seven Samurai?

Man that was so long ago.  I really don’t remember.  But I do remember her boyfriend Jason telling me I should try this new voice work called anime.  I was like what #$% is anime?  I was a pretty well established voice over talent in Houston and Texas.  But I was mainly doing commercials and training videos.  I had no clue what I was about to get into.  Amanda was my first director.  I did Golden Boy.  I did not understand the work process at first but soon got a handle on it.  She was great to work with as I remember.  But I do drink a lot so maybe I am remembering something else.  No just kidding.  She was great but it was a foreign work flow for me.

*What past exposure to “anime” did you have when you became a Voice Actor?  What series/movies had you seen/heard of before?  (i.e. Tiffany Grant said she was a big Robotech fan back in the day)

My first had to be Speed Racer.  Hell I did not even know it was anime.  But I grew up in a time when we were all about Bugs Bunny.  Speed made us laugh cause we thought it was goofy…at least in public with our friends.  But home alone watching it we all wished we could drive the Mach 5 and Trixie.

*To get ahead of ourselves, what are your favorite anime series/movies today?  Have your preferences changed much?

I don’t really have a favorite.  I enjoy all the characters I play and certainly the shows I have directed.  But my favorite two are Air Gear and NHK.  They are cool to me because they are not your typical animes…mechs and all.  Still lots of fan service – got to love that!

*How to you approach playing anime characters who are sometimes incredibly outlandish or difficult to relate to from a method acting perspective?

I like playing the crazy ones.  Gates from Full Metal Panic – my hero!  You have to really rely on the director and his or her insights because as an actor we don’t get a whole bunch of time to work it up.  We play with a voice but it may take an episode before you really “find” the character.  Lot’s of times we may go back and re-record the first stuff just so it matches the rest of it.  But characters are always evolving and growing.  We need to match that vocally.

*Now some people might not realize this, but you’re one of the veterans that was with ADV back in the early days, back to Golden Boy, Bubblegum Crisis, Nadesico.  So you’ve been in the business longer than most.  What exactly was ADV and anime dubbing in general like back in the early days in the 1990’s?  We always think its some giant factory with major Hollywood studio board rums and such; wasn’t it a lot more personal in real life?  How many people actually worked at ADV back then?  Who were the inner circle of folks in charge?

I did not start with ADV at their beginning.  But I came on pretty quick.  They already had their own studio as opposed to renting out studios by my first show…Golden Boy.  I still did not know anyone.  I worked with Amanda and Matt as directors.  Of course we had a bunch of sound engineers.  Chris Bourque was one of the last ones before ADV went HUGE.  He is still there.  But I remember one night I was working and got to talking with Chris and he said something to the effect of, “You will not believe what is about to happen”.  Of course he was talking of ADV on steroids.  After that happened I would walk around not knowing what the hell or who the hell I was looking at.  It was a bunch of fans who found their coolest job EVER!  There was an inner circle…I was not in it.

*Why do you feel that Houston turned into a major hub of English dubbing in the early days, as opposed to anywhere else in the country?

Pure luck I think.  Matt Greenfield and John Ledford had a love for the genre and were in the right place at the right time.  Texas is a right to work state, so production budgets could be kept lower than in New York or L.A.  Plus they pulled together a really talented staff.  The sky was the limit and they knew it.  It was a very untapped market.  Also Houston has a great number of very talented actors.  ADV trained them and they all went on to become…well you know.

*Are you a freelancer, or are you contracted to work with a specific company? I assume you’re a freelancer because you’ve worked with both FUNimation and ADV.  We don’t understand the complexities of the contract stuff, how does that work?

I am a freelancer.  Even when I directed I was a freelancer.  So I can work with whomever I choose…rather whoever chooses me.  I know there was talk about setting up the “old Hollywood studio system” of having actors on staff, but it was just talk , mainly by the actors.

*At what point did you notice the shift in attitude, where anime companies started thinking of the DVD release as the “primary” release of a series, and really moved away from VHS?  A particular title or general time period?  People are still kind of hesitant to switch to Blu-ray these days, how is that similar to or different from the switch to DVD?  Weren’t laserdiscs the cool new format for a while in the mid-1990’s?  Do you think Blu-ray is slow to catch on because people are worried its going to be like Laserdisc? (a new format which, despite winning “the format war”, quickly got superseded by the next big thing, DVD).

Ok dude, how many freaking questions are you asking me in this ONE QUESTION?!?!?!  I really do not know the answer to this.  But I do know that technology is rolling over on itself and people are hesitant because they do not want to get stuck with the “old version”.  But if you find a way to watch it in a format that you like then who gives crap?  Just watch it.  You know what the best wine in the world is?  The one you like to drink.

*Carl Macek spoke highly of working with you in what turned out to be his final interview.   He directed a few projects you were in like “Lady Death”.  What was it like working with Carl?

Wow I loved Carl.  I was so sad to hear of his death.  He was a real pioneer and a good friend.  He gave me my first “bigger roles”.  I learned a lot from him.  He was a gifted director and really let the actor have fun.  I felt I was his “go to” guy.  Whether or not that is true, only he will really know.  But I can still believe it.  He was quite a talent.  Some loved him, some hated him, some were jealous of him.  I am just glad I had the opportunity to work him and be his friend.
*Did they ever tell you what “AD Vision” stands for?  Matt Greenfield continues to adamantly deny it was for “animation dubbing”.

At first I thought it was a Christian reference.  But then I realized NO WAY.  I thought it was Animal Dooty.

Working on Neon Genesis Evangelion

*Now some people don’t realize this, but you actually worked on the original Evangelion TV series, briefly voicing Asuka’s father in flashbacks in episode 22.  [at least, according to IMDB you did].  How did you first hear about Evangelion?  What was the atmosphere like around the ADV offices?  I.e. when did everyone realize it was a mega-hit?  Do you have to audition for minor roles like that, or how are they divided up?  Did you audition for anything else in the series?

I had never heard of it.  But I knew nothing of anime.  Matt was telling what a great show it was and I was like, Okay.  He wanted me to audition so I did.  I did a bunch of voices on it.  I did a general audition and got cast as a lot of different things.  Soemtimes I would start doing different voices and they would say, “Hey can you do such and such a character?”  I was like sure!  The more I did the less I had to audition.

*How did your impressions, and those of everyone at ADV, change as the series progressed?

Well I think they all knew they had something big on their hands.  Again I was so new to the genre that I did not really get it. But I loved the work so I wanted to hang on.  I did.

*How did you react to the sudden drop in animation quality near the end of the series as Gainax ran out of time and money?  What was your reaction to the TV ending?

Don’t know. Don’t really watch anything I do.  I am weird like that.  But I can say that endings seem to be an ongoing problem with anime.  It can be a disappointment because you are thinking, “what the hell were they thinking”?

*When did you first realize that there was something “different” about Evangelion?  That it wasn’t just a run-of-the-mill stereotypical Giant Robot show?

I didn’t really.  You have to understand that I was so new to this (sorry to sound like a broken record) I did not really know what I was doing other than voicing some fun characters.  I had (and have) done so many shows that often they would blend together.  I know that might be hard to grasp.  But it was really fun job to me and that’s it.

*What Evangelion merchandise do you own? (Tiffany Grant has an entire room devoted to Asuka merchandise)

She stole that from me.

*What are your favorite episodes or moments from the series?  Are there any particular scenes or lines that you really like and that stuck with you?

No not really.  I know that is boring.

*In your opinion, who is the main female character of Evangelion?  Rei or Asuka?  (Betty or Veronica)

About the same.  You need both! Right?

The Anime Boom years:  1997-2004

*As a voice actor who has been in the business since the early years, how did things start changing when the real boom happened in the late 90’s/early 2000’s?  How did the convention scene start to change?  Did you feel there was larger acceptance of anime? (as more than either “just kids cartoons” or “violent porn with large eyed girls”)

The Boom was a great time.  ADV employed more actors than anyone in Houston.  I was not into the con scene at the time.  I was married and starting a family.  So taking off for the weekend was not appealing.  Now I can’t wait to go to as many I can or at least that will have me.  I think it is important to get out and meet the fans. The market was growing at that time.  Unfortunately it hit a plateau. ADV was growing right along to meet the demand and we were all working 10-20 hours of recording a week.  The shows ran the gamut of what it was.  All of the above!

*How did you first hear about End of Evangelion?  From your own perspective, just as another person around the office, what was the bidding war like between ADV and Manga Entertainment for the rights?  What was the reaction when ADV didn’t get it?

I cannot answer that.  I do not know.

[our fansite…and to be honest, even major anime journalists like ANN’s Justin Sevakis, openly consider Manga Entertainment’s release of End of Eva as one of the worst DVDs ever made, purely from a physical standpoint they had lots of quality transfer problems.   We think “everyone lost” because Manga made a bad release, paid too much for it, ADV didn’t get it, etc.

I will agree with you.

*There were a lot more companies during the boom years than there are now.  These days, once big names like Geneon and….”names” like Central Park Media, have shut their doors.  There really aren’t dramatic buy-outs like that anymore.  What was it like having multiple big anime companies actively engaging in bidding wars for titles?  As a VA, how did you juggle allegiances? (i.e. if you recorded for one company, would another refuse to hire you again for your “disloyalty” etc?).  Of course, these days they say the big bidding wars between Geneon, Bandai, and ADV in the boom years are what ate up most of their previous profits.

Well when the boom was going on, there was no reason to go anywhere but ADV.  Other companies were not going to pay for you to come out when they could get good talent out in L.A. or New York.  Funimation was just starting out. If you did work for more than one company you did not go around bragging about it…poor form. You quietly did your job.  You do need to understand that for a lot of VA’s, it is a job…a fun one but a job nonetheless. We were and are all trying to make a living and we will do it wherever the work takes us.

*At any point in the boom years, when they were cranking out so many titles *assuming* they’d all be hits like Eva…did you or other voice actors on the con circuit ever pause and go “wow…how can we license this much stuff and still make a profit?”….or as voice actors, were you just happy to have more work than you’ve had before or since?  It was more paychecks either way.

More work More Better.  But we all knew that it could go away at any moment.  We just hoped it could go on forever.

Playing Gendo in the Director’s Cut episodes

*This is a sensitive question but unfortunately its directly related to your casting so I doubt we can avoid it.  We know that the original Gendo voice, Tristan MacAvery, got into a fight with Matt Greenfield over the rights to a script.  As a fansite, we cannot take positions on one side or the other and need to maintain an official position of neutrality (that, and it was a long time ago).  Rather than drag that up again, we’ll simply ask:  were you around the office when these arguments were happening, or did you find out after the fact?

First I have heard of it. As a VA, you come in do your job and then leave.  Not too privy to the inner workings.

*How did you get cast as Gendo in the director’s cut episodes (included in ADV’s Platinum Edition DVD set released in 2004)?  Was there an audition process, or were you hand-picked?

I had gained a rep of being able to do a lot of voices at ADV.  Matt asked me to come in and audition for Gendo.  I needed to sound similar to Tristan.  I thought I sounded better but I am not biased.  After that it was all golden.

*How did you address the difficulty of stepping into an established role?  I mean, people give you some flak for this, but it was stepping in at what was the tail end of the series, for only 4 episodes.  Sort of difficult to just jump into that.

Yes it was.  I have done that with other roles too (FMA, One Piece).  But you get in there and do the best you can, hope the fans like it, and know that it was not some mean choice I made. It is like Darrin Stevens on Bewitched..Dick York vs Dick Sargent.  I a not trying to be Trisatn (in this case) but be Gendo.

*Then again, there were problems in the initial run because *ADV only recorded the dub 2 episodes at a time* because that’s the rate they were coming out of Japan.  So in the initial episodes, they had no idea about the backstory revelations that would come in the later episodes.  Do you feel you had an advantage in at least knowing where Gendo was headed as a character by that point? (further, because the director’s cuts had been delayed so long that you probably already saw what happens to Gendo in End of Eva, which was released in 2002).

No not really.  When we record we just go in and do it.  In real life we do not know where we are headed always and that makes for an exciting ride.  I think the same way about voicing characters.

*What kind of preparation did you do?  I assume you had seen the original series including English dub already, given how big of a release it was for ADV.  In which case, it was unavoidable that you had already heard the original performance (in contrast, Brina Palencia never saw the original English dub so after being cast as Rebuild-Rei, she has intentionally avoided ever watching the original English dub).

Initially I did other voices than Gendo.  So I went in blind for those and got to create my own thing.  For Gendo they wanted me to be as close to Tristan as possible but not mimic him.

*How did you try to make your own performance as Gendo distinct?  Did you intentionally try to make it very different to set it apart, to follow the original, or to just do whatever seemed right based on your own interpretation? [talk at length]

Well at first I was trying to be as close to original English VA as possible but then I started to find my own sound.  I think that as long as I am true to the character then it will sound good.  I mean when you watch you aren’t saying “wow I love Tristan or John’s voice”.  Hopefully you are thinking “wow I love that character”.

*Did you try to humanize Gendo more, or to try to give him more nuanced motivations?   Because while I do enjoy Tristan’s performance as Gendo, he’s this Machiavellian ruthless plotter…that’s not really what the original Japanese performance is like.  In the original Japanese, he’s a bit more world-weary, wry, and sardonic, and your performance was actually closer to that.  [he’s not melodramatic in every single line he says, he’s a human being on some level, who lost his wife and it utterly broke him]

Yes I like him to have a more human side.  If it is always melodramatic then it is predictable and boring.

*Do you feel that Gendo was not too different from Shinji once?  In the flashback episode #21 (particularly with the added director’s cut scenes), Gendo as a young man seemed a lot like a slightly older, somewhat more cynical Shinji (he even looks like a slightly older Shinji).  He casually waves off getting into a barfight because he feels he’s “used to people’s hatred”…sort of like how Shinji just thinks the world is a scary place out to get him.  Is it possible that Gendo sort of represents what Shinji will become if he keeps making all the wrong choices in his life, doesn’t reach out to other people, and gradually gets really embittered?  Sort of like how “Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader” is this echo of the danger that Luke Skywalker faces if he takes the wrong path to the dark side?  (he cuts away his mask in the dream in Empire, and sees himself, etc.)

[ see our analysis video here:  http://revolutionofevangelion.org/gendo-is-an-adult-shinji/ ]

We were just recording some Gendo the other day at Funi and I really was into the parallel of Shinji and Gendo to Luke and Darth.  He is a flawed human who has made choices…some good some bad.  He know there are consequences and is prepared to deal with them.

*How can Shinji be anything *but* this whiny introverted whimp, when he’s got Gendo as a “role model”?  Not even that, Gendo abandoned him when he was 3 years old.  Yet why does he still yearn for Gendo’s acceptance through the first half of the series?  [talk at length; Shinji desperately tries to get Gendo’s approval in the first half of the series and the first two Rebuild films, even though he’s this emotionally distant absent father who ignores him, just because its ingrained him him that he has no self esteem without his father’s approval, etc.]

Well a boy longs for approval of his father.  Sometimes the further the father becomes, the more the son seeks approval and will do whatever it takes to get it.  Plus that is the way the writer wrote the characters.

*The director’s cut episodes 21-24, contain about 20 minutes of new scenes (an entire episode’s worth, spread across four episodes).  And they’d been released in Japan since 1998.  Not just you, but how much did everyone at ADV…know about the Director’s Cut episodes?  Was it just rumors, or had people actually seen them?  I mean did they manage to obtain imported copies? (this would be complicated by the fact that it would need a Region 2 DVD player).  The director’s cuts contain so many answers to other things (such as that Gendo has Adam implanted in his hand).

Could not tell you.  VA’s are not really privy to info like that.

*We heard there was some sort of bidding war with Gainax and things fell apart, resulting in the director’s cut episodes not getting licensed for 6 years.  Do you know what made them come around eventually?  (We kind of think Manga Entertainment’s mishandling of End of Eva made them warm up again to ADV).

Again just a voice actor here.  Not privy to company business.

The Anime Industry Between 2004 and 2010

*We the fans on the other side of the TV monitor only have bits and pieces of information to go on; we can only partially piece together “the collapse of the anime industry” from 2005 onwards.  I’ve got a longer writeup of this up my website; http://revolutionofevangelion.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page#Rebuild_of_Evangelion.27s_North_American_English_dub_release is that more or less what happened?  Rampant overexpansion led to a bubble burst, and internet downloading hurt things?  When did you start to notice a downturn at ADV and with other companies?

I started as a voice actor in 1998 (I think).  For years I saw the industry which I knew nothing about grow.  I was blown away by this new (to me) industry.  Then in 2004 while ADV was clearly Goliath I started directing.  I got laid off 6 months later and then worked on and off.  We all thought Sojitz was going to be the life blood we needed.  I do not really know all the details so I do want to speak out of line.  But I will say that overall, overexpansion and too rapid a growth helped to burst the bubble.  Your analysis is very much on the money.

*What was your reaction when you heard that Geneon collapsed in September 2007? (that’s the point when we couldn’t deny there was a problem anymore) Or should we have noticed earlier, when Musicland shut down?

I had already been layed off and had quit asking how things were going.  I just took work as it came and prayed for the best.  I did think that when you thin out the herd a little, it strengthens the others.  I guess I was wrong.

*When did you notice FUNimation really starting to edge out the other companies?  Was it one specific thing or was it all kind of a blur? [for us, it was January 1^st 2009 when FUNimation announced they won the bidding war over ADV to get Rebuild of Eva]

BINGO!

*This is a sensitive question, but what are your thoughts on what happened with ADV?  Some people are callously critical about all of this, and hindsight is 20/20.  Yes, there was a lot of overspeculation going on, but *everyone* was doing it.  Seems like in 2008, all anyone could talk about was taking a jab at ADV…even though Geneon and other companies had overexpanded just as much.

ADV was king.  It is not uncommon for the other companies to want to see it topple so they can have a shot at it.  I think ADV was leading the way in Dubs and helping to forge a new market.  Fans were craving new stuff and ADV was putting it out as fast as they could.  The market was growing by leaps and bounds and I think ADV just speculated to much.  They rolled the dice and they came up snake eyes.

*More than any other Eva cast member, you’ve been heavily working with ADV since their early days, then with FUNimation when they gained prominence, and now you’ve been working extensively with the new “Section 23” label which handles ADV’s old assets as well as “Seraphim Studios” which got the Amusement Park Media dubbing studios.  So you have a unique inside perspective on what happened:

Tiffany Grant told us that there was a stretch from Novemberish 2008 to Mayish 2009 when there simply was no dubbing work happening in Houston, the longest time anyone had ever been without work.  Then around late 2009, we were pleasantly surprised to hear that Seraphim Studios was making the English dub for Halo: Legends, which you performed in.  What was the shift to Seraphim like for Halo Legends?

It was weird working there after the shift.  Everyone is understandably tight lipped.  But you could see the physical downsizing of office space and studio space.  It was not the once grand 5 studio facility of the early and mid 2000’s. Only Matt Greenfield and Steven Foster are directing.  Work is very sparce.

We also see that you’re currently working on a lot of new English dubs for Section 23/Seraphim, like Ghost Hound, Blue Drop, and Tears to Tiara (with Matt and Tiffany again).  What’s it like working for Section 23 these days? (Please, tell us “an atmosphere of hopeful optimisim”!….)

Well it is always good to work.  I was working earlier this year with Matt and Steven on a weekly basis and I thought Wow, you are coming back.  Then the shows ended and the work stopped again. I auditioned for Steven a while back but have not heard anything.

*Unlike the Geneon crowd, and the problems Bandai is having…a large number of the people who used to work for ADV have since been working at the other companies there assets were sold to, and to our happy surprise, have recovered enough that they’re producing English dubs again.  If 2008 was filled with news of the fall of ADV, 2009 and 2010 keep bringing little bits of news here and there of recovery.  Its not much, but frankly…they are still “releasing anime” on some level even though the “ADV” brand name is sadly gone.  And not every other company from 2004 can still say that.  Your thoughts?

I hope they can come back but they will never be the Behemoth they once were.

*By the way, we can expect to see you soon in FUNimation titles like Soul Eater as Lord Death, and in Black Butler as the Undertaker; how are those going?

Great.  I am very excited about these roles and titles.  Funi is my new ADV.

*If you think about it, you’ve been Asuka’s father, Shinji’s father Gendo, Lord Death in Soul Eater, Yoshiji Koyama in Shin Chan…do you worry that get typecast as “the father figure”?

Not at all.  As long as I am cast I am happy. Crocodile is not a father, nor is Undertaker.  But even as Ed’s father I am lucky to have the work.  I will voice whatever I am asked to voice.

Rebuild of Evangelion

*How did you first hear about “Rebuild of Evangelion”?  Given that the original series had a kill’em all ending, the sort that really makes it impossible to make any kind of continuation, what was your reaction to the announcement that they were making “new Eva movies” that were a remake/alternate continuity?

To be honest, I did not give it much thought.  I was glad to have the work and glad Gendo was back. I first heard when Mike McFarland told me about it.

*Were you surprised to hear that FUNimation got the license?

A little, but given the way things were going for ADV, it seemed par for the course.  Although that could have been the spark ADV needed to re-ignite itself.  I just think ADV brand had become tainted too much.  It is one reason I am sure they changed their name.

*You occupy the distinct position of being the only voice actor reprising your role from the director’s cut episodes, so while you weren’t in the original run you also aren’t entirely new to this like how Brina Palencia had never even seen the show before.  What difficulties/advantages did this present?

None whatsoever. I just listen to my director and off we go.

*How did you get the role of Gendo in Rebuild of Eva? Was there an audition, or did they come to you?

Matt Greenfield cast me years ago to replace Tristan.  Mike McFarland wanted me to reprise the role.  So there was no audition needed.

*Having played Gendo before, did FUNimation ever turn to you when questions came up about how to play certain lines?

No, the director know what he wants and is far more familiar with all of it.

*What kind of instructions and coaching did ADR director Mike McFarland give?  What was it like working on the project?

Well I love working with Mike.  He is a very good director.  He let’s you explore a little but know what he wants.  It is my job to give it to him.  He makes my job easy.  Hopefully I make his easy as well.

*How do you feel your perception and performance of Gendo has changed since the director’s cuts, given the five years which passed since your last work on the role?

It hasn’t really.  I do feel and see that Gendo does have a more human side.  That is refreshing.

*Why does Shinji call Gendo “dad” now?  Seems kind of warm; it used to be just the more formal “father”.

Maybe trying to bring out the human side of Gendo.  I don’t know.

*Given the amount of time that has passed since working on the director’s cuts…how had your own experience as a father, informed your portrayal of the extremely flawed relationship between Shinji and Gendo? [TALK AT LENGTH]

Sorry but it doesn’t come into play.  That is not the way I work as a voice actor.

*Did you ever encounter any of the other voice actors, or do you guys come in and record your lines separately?

I know plenty of VA’s but we work separately in the booth

*About 3 minutes worth of dialogue-heavy scenes were added to “Eva 1.11 Blu Ray version” that weren’t in the original Eva 1.0 (or 1.01) versions.  How were the “new scenes” for Eva 1.11 recorded?  Any differently, or did you just record all of them in one sitting as if they were a normal part of the whole movie?

All in one sitting

*Are you looking forward to Rebuild of Eva 2.0 : You Can (Not) Advance?  Have you seen it yet, and now that FUNimation has announced that it has the license, when do you think you’ll be heading back to dub the second movie?

Yes and I just finished a week ago.

*Are you trying to treat “Rebuild-Gendo” as separate from Gendo in the original continuity?  This will get complicated as Rebuild of Eva 2.0 starts drastically diverging from the original series.

No I just play Gendo like Gendo needs to be played.  I really try and match what the Japanese have done.  They created him.  I am just giving him an English voice.

*When they were recording the original series versions of episodes 1-6, the actors didn’t know that Gendo and Ritsuko were secretly having a sexual affair off-camera, that was revealed in later episodes which no one had seen yet.  Knowing what you know now, did you try to convey this nuance at all in the scenes between Gendo and Ritsuko?  Or, while aware of it, do we also have to keep in mind that Gendo and Ritsuko are doing a very good job of hiding it? (its not like they’re going to be using flirtatious tones while in Misato’s presence).

Ya know that info can be helpful but I did not really even think about it.  Sometimes voice acting is like playing golf.  If you over think it you can mess your whole game up. Maybe best to just hit the ball.

*Do you find it difficult that a lot of Gendo’s important dialogue is stuff he cryptically murmurs back and forth with Fuyutsuki?

NO…wait yes…I mean…I don’t know.

*Do you feel that they’ve added enough new dialogue to Rebuild to make the plot mechanics a bit easier to follow?  I.e. there are new lines in the first 5 minutes where Gendo and Fuyutsuki flat out explain, “Angels have the Fruit of Life, we have the Fruit of Knowledge” etc. etc.

I have not read whole script.  So I do not know the answer.

*One of the biggest differences in the first Rebuild of Eva movie, is that Misato knows about Lilith from the start now, and she showed Shinji. In the original series, Misato didn’t know about the Angel being held in Terminal Dogma, then when she did find out about it, she was mistaken and thought it was Adam when it was really Lilith – so she got tricked twice.  In Rebuild, she just takes Shinji down there and says “this is Lilith”.  I realize you don’t write this, but in your personal opinion, is this supposed to be a hint that Misato is actually *wrong* in Rebuild, and that isn’t really “Lilith”…because that thing on the Moon in the end looked like original-Lilith.

*What do you make of the fan theories circulating around, based on the Moon Giant and Kaworu’s lines about how “Shinji hasn’t changed”, that “Rebuild of Evangelion” is really a *sequel* to the original series?  (sort of like what happened in Wolf’s Rain or Turn-A Gundam) (watch this video it explains: http://www.youtube.com/user/ReVolutionOfEva#p/c/84014DB3B7483783/3/qWpThptiagM )

I really did not give it any thought.  You must understand something and I hope this does not make you think less of me.  I work on may many show and do tons of characters.  Doing Gendo is one those many characters.  While I am grateful for the work and love the character, I just do not give it as much thought as you might think.  I go in and do my lines the way the director wants them done.  I do not have the luxury of playing out a character like in live action.  Seeing the character arc run it’s full course and playing off other characters.  The story was conceived, written, produced, and voiced in Japan.  We are just dubbing in English.  Our goal…my goal anyway is to stay true to the Japanese original and to the director’s vision.

*Ultimately, do you see Gendo as this evil mad scientist antagonist, or tragically flawed, Captain Ahab like figure?  Can we truly fault a guy who’s last lines are “Please forgive me Shinji”? (“Its nothing the God of Bio-mechanics wouldn’t let him into heaven for”)

Tragically flawed…nice way to put it.

*Some people say Evangelion was “about” fight scenes, or random religious symbols, etc. but most of the people I’ve run into are so drawn to it for the psychological character drama.  What do you think?  The “Hedgehog’s dilemma” scene actually presents this pretty succinctly, I’m surprised people didn’t think the “message” was clear.  It’s a character drama.

I don’t really have an opinion on that. Sorry.

*Overall, what were the scenes from Rebuild of Eva 1 that you enjoy the most?

The first and the last.

*If Rebuild of Eva gets to be a big success, do you hope that “fans on the street” will stop just referring to you as “Director’s Cut Gendo” but another take on “Gendo” in your own right?

I don’t really have an opinion on that. Sorry.

*Do you enjoy Doritos?

I do.  But only nacho cheese.

*Do you think a live-action Evangelion movie, produced by Weta Workshop, could succeed in telling the story?  I mean that it is *theoretically* possible to make them, if the right director and actors are in place?  That its not “unfilmable”?  Even good ideas for movie adaptations can get ruined if crazy people are in charge (i.e. M. Night Bialystock’s hack job on Last Airbender).

Hollywood can do anything now. I mean in a technical sense.  So it is up to who get’s cast and who directs.  But I think it could certainly work.  However I also think no matter how good it is, how true it stays to original, it will piss off and disappoint some fans.  You just can’t please everyone.

*God’s in his heaven?

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