February 2008 ADR Awards Winners & Highlights

[Chris Beveridge]

Male Performance of the Month (tie):

Todd Haberkorn, Kimihiro Watanuki xxxHolic: The Movie: A Midsummer Night's Dream. (FUNimation Entertainment/FUNimation Studios)

On the back of the impressive but often overlooked Yamato Akitsuki in Suzuka, Todd Haberkorn shows us why his is a voice to listen for in current dubs with his first foray into the magical world of xxxHOLiC. As the lead in this movie, Haberkorn is thrown into a strange world, where his character, Kimihiro Watanuki, is the only person who can see spirits. Unfortunately for him, they seem to be attracted to him and as such he is tortured by them. Haberkorn' voice fully conveys Watanuki's panic and fear, effectively drawing in the viewer to experience his anguish and annoyance for onself. The performance also serves as a fine lead-in to the role's expanded purview in the newly released xxxHolic TV series, also from FUNimation. This is his first ADR Award.

Alessandro Juliani as L in Death Note, Vol. 3 (Viz Media/The Ocean Group)

A brilliant mastermind? Or a singleminded fanatic, who's willing to sacrifice innocent lives in order to prove his superior powers of deduction? The mysterious detective L has been called upon to solve one of the most baffling and shocking crimes to confront the police: the mass murder of hundreds of criminals, apparently without any clue as to who is carrying out the killing. Giving voice to this strange being is Alessandro Juliani, perhaps better known to Science Fiction fans as Lt. Felix Gaeta in the new Battlestar Galactica. Playing one of the more nuanced and certainly mysterious characters in the Death Note dub, Juliani manages to add further layers of depth to the peculiar detective, with hints that there is more to come. This is his first ADR Award.

Female Performance of the Month:

Leah Clark, Eri Sawachika, School Rumble volume 5. (FUNimation Entertainment/FUNimation Studios)

Noted by many as an actress to look out for because of her impassioned performance as Akane Suzumiya in last year's Rumbling Hearts, Clark finally wins her first ADR Award for playing spoiled rich girl Eri Sawachika, part of Tenma Tsukamoto's inner circle of friends in the ADR Award-winning School Rumble dub. Clark is an actress with range, having also held a major role in Negima as the shy Nodoka, while tackling a completely different kind of character as the lead, Suzuka Asahina, in Suzuka. For Eri, Clark manages to capture perfectly the imperfect nature of this young woman filled with contradictory impulses. Her natural arrogance is countered by a generally good disposition and desire to be helpful to her friends. All of these facets are captured well by Clark in her performance.

Dub of the Month:

School Rumble volume 5 (FUNimation Entertainment/FUNimation Studios)

From Funimation Studios in Fort Worth, TX, comes one of the best comedy dubs in a long while, School Rumble. Under the direction of Brina Palencia, a talented ensemble cast headed by veteran Luci Christian and the relatively new (as a leading man) Brandon Potter (ADRA Male VA of the Month, Aug '07), offers rip roaring fun by providing a vocal experience that matches the zany antics on screen. The previous volume has already won the monthly award before (Dec '07), as well as securing a Male VA of the Month (Dec '07) award for Chris Cason. All of the main players continue to dazzle (Christian, Potter, Cason, Clark, Palencia, Nishimura, Glass, Savage), while new character Lara Gonzalez (Monica Rial) makes a show-stopping appearance. Of course, Clark has won this month's Female VA of the Month for her performance here (for which you may read the entry below), with her outstanding portrayal of Eri Sawachika.

To nominate performances and dubs for March 2008, please visit this thread