Tales of Anime: The Novel!
April 6-8, 2007

Tales of Anime in San Francisco, my dream come true!! The Guests of Honor at the Convention would be Reuben Langdon (Dante’s voice/motion actor in DMC3), Dan Southworth (Vergil’s voice/motion actor in DMC3), and Johnny Yong Bosch (voice/motion actor for Nero, the human who takes over Dante’s role as the main character in DMC4).

For those just tuning in, I hate Nero... I really, truly do. I want to break his bones, stab him with them, feed his bloody carcass to Cerberus, then cut up Cerberus, burn the remains, and throw the ashes into a volcano!! *ahem* It’s not Devil May Cry without Dante. It’s just May Cry... which is exactly what Nero would be doing if he crosses my path in San Francisco. ^_^x I guess the one saving grace for Johnny is that he is also Ichigo’s English voice actor, and I looove Ichigo. Then again, he is Ichigo’s English voice actor... and I hate English-dubbed anime with an elitist passion.*  

The Convention started on Friday the 6^th, but I was scheduled to fly to San Francisco the night before so I could be there for the full opening day. I packed my Vergil coat, my wealth of DMC merchandise, and some emergency protein bars to ensure my survival in a non-vegan environment. Before getting on the plane, I figured I’d do a final perusing of the magazine stands for some reading material... and I nearly had a heart attack. Dante was on the @#%$ cover of #@$% Playstation Magazine. XD

I did not expect this. Intense emotional reactions hitting me without preparation launch me into sensory overload, so I stood paralyzed for however long it took my brain to rewire itself. Then, after a quick heartbeat check, I grabbed the magazine, paid for it with trembling hands, and rushed over to my departure gate.  

I learned an important thing from the article contained within. Dante would be playable in DMC4! And not as some half-assed Nero clone, but with all his styles and moves from DMC3!! Furthermore, there were not plans to take Dante out of the franchise. *dreamy sigh* I can not begin to describe how happy this made me. My rabid hatred for Nero fizzled out into serene neutrality. He was simply invisible to me now, which was good, because it would be embarrassing to flip out on Johnny during the Con.  

*I prefer watching things in their original language, starring the cast originally hired to portray them. I have watched Bleach for years in Japanese, and am very used to Masakazu Morita as his voice. I can’t imagine anybody else voicing Ichigo. I have heard snippets of the American Bleach dub, and though most of it makes my ears bleed, I will reluctantly admit that Johnny actually does a decent job voicing Ichigo. However, he can never live up to the lovely voice I already have firmly associated with Ichigo in my head.

DISCLAIMER: if anybody doesn't want these pics or the entry up here, please contact me!!

DISCLAIMER: All artwork, characters, stories, music, video, and books are Copyright CAPCOM and ATLUS. They are NOT of my making. No copyright infringement is intended.