March 2008 ADR Awards Winners & Highlights

[Chris Beveridge]

Male Performance of the Month: Chris Patton as Yuuichi Aizawa in Kanon Vol. 3 (ADV Films / Amusement Park Media)

In the third volume of Kanon from ADV Studios, Chris Patton makes the lead role of Yuichi Aizawa truly his own. This became especially apparent when watching and hearing Yuichi's interactions with the fiesty Makoto Sawatari (Tiffany Terrell, Jan. and Mar. Female VA of the Month 2008) and the taciturn Mai Kawasumi (Melissa Davis). In their scenes together, Patton manages to both impress the audience with his vocal presence while also complementing his fellow performers. Overall in this volume, there is more of a youthful and joking tone to Patton's acting than in some of the deeper, more intense roles for which he has also gained fame, such as Fakir from Princess Tutu, or Sosuke Sagara from Full Metal Panic. Even when he gets into the more serious moments, he still sounds like "Yuichi."

Female Performance of the Month: Tiffany Terell as Makoto Sawatari in Kanon Vol. 3 (ADV Films / Amusement Park Media)

Winning for the second time as the character Makoto Sawatari, Tiffany Terrell continues to impress the audience in the third volume of Kanon. This second win is naturally built on her first, illustrating an emotional intensity that would not have worked so well had Terrell not established the fun energy of Makoto at the beginning of the dub to prove the character's journey. In this set of episodes, that journey sees Makoto suffering mental regression to a near infantile state that leaves her capable of producing only a few noises to display her feelings. While Makoto's presence in the dub comes to an end with this volume, Terrell's performance will likely remain an endearing feature of the dub as a whole.

Dub of the Month: Kanon Vol. 3 (ADV Films / Amusement Park Media)

From ADV Studios in Houston, TX, we have the continuation of the ADRA award-winning Kanon dub (winner, Best Dub, January 2008). Director Kyle Jones continues to draw out the best from his ensemble cast in transferring the second part of the "KeyAni" Trilogy to the English language. In the third volume, we have the heartfelt, touching conclusion to the story of Makoto Sawatari (Tiffany Terrell, January and March 2008 Female VA of the Month), and the beginning of the mysterious tale of Mai Kawasumi (Melissa Davis). Containing a strong performance by Chris Patton (March 2008 Male VA of the Month) in the lead role of Yuuichi Aizawa as well, Kanon continues to deliver as one of the best dramatic dubs of the year so far.

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

[Fudce]

March was a superb month for dubs, with more fantastic performances that I know what to do with. It is truly a testamant to how good the dub for Kanon Volume 3 was, that it managed a clean sweep this month.

And again, I have to reitterate my comments about Tiffany Terrell in this volume. It's not just a very good performance, I rate it as probably my favorite performance in any dub.

[The Great Bear]

March was indeed a very strong month for dubs overall. While Kanon may have swept the awards, there were good performances coming out of many regions, something we're not likely to see again for a while.