Profile: Victor Mignogna.
Thursday, September 6th, 2007Voice actors. The talent behind the English versions of your favorite anime. You hear them all the time. You may even start to recognize them when you hear them in a new anime. How much do you know about them though? Probably not very much, maybe even less than you might know about their Japanese counterparts. I’m going to try to help you get to know some of the people that work so hard to bring you great anime just a little bit better.
Victor Mignogna, a man of many talents.
Vic has appeared in a lot of anime, far too many for me to list them all here. Since I’m the one writing I’ll list some of my favorites. If you want to see ‘em all, check out Vic’s page on IMDB. Be prepared to spend some time there. He’s done quite a bit, and the list keeps growing. As a fan, I hope that list continues to grow for a very long time.
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Vic has appeared in…
- Dragonball Z as Broly.
- Case Closed as Kevin Hadley (The Moonlight Sonata Murder Case).
- Fullmetal Alchemist as Edward Elric.
- Trinity Blood as Virgil Walsh, Count of Manchester .
- Bleach as Ikkaku.
Voice acting is only one of Vic’s talents. Vic is a very creative guy. Just glancing at his web site, www.vicsworld.net, will give you a rough idea just how talented he is. Vic has experience in such wide ranging professions as music, acting and graphic design. It looks like he has a lot going on, he must be very busy. Look a little closer and you’ll see that he’s never too busy for his fans.
Risembool Rangers, defending you from the scourge of the Miniskirt Army.
Vic’s fan club, the Risembool Rangers, takes it’s name from the home town of Edward Elric. Vic played Ed in the English version of Fullmetal Alchemist. FMA is one of the best anime programs of it’s time. In no small part due to amazing casting of all the roles.
The Rangers maintain a friendly rivalry with the Miniskirt Army, the fan club of Travis Willingham who played Roy Mustang in FMA. The two clubs even faced off in an infamous battle. The battleground, a hotel parking lot during a convention. Did I mention is was a friendly rivalry? Well, it is. The battle was a game of dogeball. The outcome of that game saw the Rangers victorious, and hereafter the game is referred to as “Risemball”.
Not only does Vic take an active part in the Rangers, designing their logo and coaching them in Risemball for instance, he does quite a lot to make himself available to all his fans. He doesn’t charge for autographs the way many celebrities do. He keeps up a very active convention schedule, even though he’s lost voice acting roles because of it due to the time sensitive nature of the business he’s in. His fans love him, and Vic does everything he can to return that love. He knows what it’s like, he’s a fanboy himself.
The force is strong in this one.
Don’t belive he’s a fanboy? Just take a look at his other web site, LightsaberWorld.com. In a Q&A at Dragon Con 2007 Vic mentioned his love of Star Wars. He also mentioned marching with the 501st, an amazing Star Wars fan organization. He even said he came to the current Dragon Con with a Lightsaber hanging from his belt. So yeah, I think he knows what it’s like on the other side of that autograph table. If you want to know something about the character of a celebrity, take a good look at how they treat their fans. I believe that Vic is a truly good person, and I’d bet he’d tell you he has God to thank for that.
Leading by example.
Vic is a great role model for the younger Rangers. He’s a good person. He’s also a devout Christian. He doesn’t use every moment to try and convert others, but on the occasions he does mention his faith you can tell he truly believes. Faith is a large part of his life. He embodies some of the best aspects of Jesus’ teachings, compassion and kindness toward his fellow man.
