What’s interesting about Kaiji Tang, aside from the fact that he’s a voice actor, is that he never had any plans to become a voice actor in the first place. He admits that it just kind of came to him later on in his life. That’s impressive enough, but he also comes from a theatrical background and was making his way to Los Angeles to do commercial work. Having the kind of history that he did it would seem that he could have had just about any entry to skilled acting job he wanted if he applied himself, but following his roles in a few commercials and as an extra on Zombie Strippers he went to audition for a dubbing job on a podcast and that’s how he kind of fell into voice acting.
His resume is kind of impressive given that he started voice acting in 2007 and has been going strong with anime and video games ever since. It’s fair to say that a lot of people might not know who he is even after being told just who he’s voiced and how prevalent he’s been in the industry. But to be fair a lot of people don’t pay as close attention as you would think to the people that are actually laying down the voices and doing all the work behind the scenes as they’re more interested in what they can see and hear without the in-depth explanation of who’s providing the voice. Those that care however will pay close attention and no doubt offer their adoration when they feel it’s necessary since there are those that happen to recognize the work of just about anyone and everyone that works on a project either by animation style, voice, or some other telling factor that gives the individuals away. This is likely what Kaiji’s fanbase is made up of since a lot of us probably knew nothing about this talented voice actor until reading this article.
It seems somewhat insulting to not know anything about a person that’s done so much with his career thus far, but one has to be realistic in thinking that there’s no possible way to know everything about every person ever involved in their favorite anime, video game, or anything else that they’ve enjoyed in their lives. The voices of various characters in programs and games are important, but learning and memorizing those individuals that make them possible is typically something that devoted fans will do and thankfully there are those that would likely know Kaiji by the voices he performs. Being that he’s never appeared on camera aside from YouTube videos a lot of people would no doubt be confused as to who he is until he opened his mouth and started talking. That’s when a voice actor is typically revealed since no matter if they use their actual voice or a character voice the tone they use and the pitch is usually similar enough to their characters to be discerned.
Kaiji is someone that enjoys his job it seems and definitely wants to continue for as long as he can. The projects he’s taken on to date have been quite popular and have spread across a few different franchises that people still happen to love and flock to when they produce something new or to catch upon anything they might have missed. With voice acting it seems as though sticking to bigger, more well-known projects is the better way to get known and to make a career that is worth more than an average paycheck. So far Kaiji has managed to latch on to roles that have seen him perform roles for Tekken, Pokemon, Final Fantasy, Resident Evil, and many others. Having the name of those franchises on his resume means a lot since not just anyone gets to voice a role in said franchises and it’s a great way to show others that he has done something worthwhile and even great in his chosen profession.
I’ve said it before about voice actors and I’ll continue to say it: they’re a different breed of actor but they’re no less skilled when it comes to what they do and the skill they bring to any project that they’re either accepted for or that they find appealing to their skills. A lot of them seemed inclined to move towards anime these days as it’s a huge industry that has numerous fans and many diverse stories that are capable of holding a number of different interests. Like so many of them Kaiji is a voice actor that seems so very content with what he’s doing that falling into a role seems to be effortless and even ingrained in his person. That he deserves a great amount of respect for what he does is obvious. But honestly it’s also worth noting that while he didn’t seek out this life he’s definitely meant for it.
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