[Honey’s Anime Interview] Voice Actor Nobutoshi Canna – (Macross 7, Fate, Berserk, & Naruto!)

3:02 AM August 17, 2018

Honey-chan really gets excited talking about anime and she gets super excited to talk to seiyuu from Japan, especially ones as legendary as Nobutoshi Canna. We know Canna-san from roles like Basara Nekki in Macross 7, Lancer in the Fate Series, Guts in Berserk, and Kabuto in Naruto.

Honey-Chan

Nobutoshi Canna

Interview with Voice Actor Nobutoshi Canna – (Macross 7, Fate, Berserk, & Naruto!)

You’ve acted in some very popular series such as Naruto and the Fate series. Did you ever imagine that generations of fans would hear your work?

To keep working as an actor and seiyuu is a very special thing. I think that becoming an actor and seiyuu may be easy, but continuing to be one is difficult. I believe that to make a career of this for so long is a very special thing.

You’ve also played the part of Basara Nekki in Macross 7. What can you tell us about working on Macross 7 as a franchise that is still in existence more than 35 years later?

I would first like to give thanks to the people that gave birth to such an expansive universe. I would also like to thank not only the people in Japan but all over the world who know the franchise and continue to support Macross. I feel truly humbled that I was able to take part in such an expansive series.

You played both Guts from Berserk and Lancer (Cú Chulainn) from the Fate Series. Who would win in a fight?

I think that looking at Lancer's agility and how nimbly he uses that lance, I’d say Lancer has the advantage.

What drew you to voice acting? Was it just a job you could do or was acting a passion?

When I was three years old, I was a child actor and had the dream of becoming a fully-fledged actor. It was at the age of 19, I joined Aoni Production. I didn’t realize at the time that is all they did was voice acting. I was thinking of whether to stick with it or not. I decided that since it was fun, I would keep working at it for a while and years later here I am.

What have been some of your favorite roles? Is there one in specific that challenged you or you simply enjoyed?

The most difficult voice over role I had was being the voice of Joaquin Phoenix’s character Commodus in the movie Gladiator. I found him to be an interesting character. I found I had a difficult time getting into his character.

What kind of characters are you drawn to?

Every character has something appealing about them. What I generally look for is a character that is not just strong but has their weak side or tragic side. Even if it is a bad guy, I look for a character that is human in a sense.

You’re saying you like characters that have a lot of development?

I would describe it as more looking for characters with another side, like they have a light side and a dark side.

Are there any upcoming projects you can talk about?

[laughing] I do have some projects in the works, but nothing I can talk about now.

Honey-chan wants to give her deepest thanks to Nobutoshi Canna for sitting down and speaking with her. Canna-san was a pleasure to interview and we look forward to hearing him on screen in the future. Honey’s Anime would like to thank Aoni Production for helping bring out Canna-san to Otakon!

Writer

Author: Zeke Changuris

I’m a journalist, writer, photographer, video producer, social media manager and above all a storyteller. I’m located on the east coast of the United States but travel the world with the love of my life. I’ve been a nerd since birth with a love of history and science. I fell in love with anime, watching ROBOTECH and Venus Wars in the 80s when our only source was secondhand VHS dubs. A crazy new thing called the internet changed that, giving me access to new and amazing anime every day. I love to write for work and pleasure. I’m living the dream of every kid, getting paid to watch anime and loving every subtitled line.

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