At this year's Twin Cities Con in Minneapolis, I had a chance to interview Haven Paschall, voice actor and musician from the Pokémon anime. She's had quite a career on stage and behind the mic:
A press pass was provided for this event.
Monday, November 18, 2024
Saturday, October 26, 2024
Poke Press Digest Podcast-Episode 74-Discussing the Music of "Rumble U" and "Battle Trozei"
Anne from Pikapi Podcast joins me to talk about the music of Pokémon Rumble U and Pokémon Battle Trozei. Both games are small, but we were able to pick out a few tunes and make some interesting observations. In our feedback section, we talk about the connections we’ve made in our musical research, as well as an unexpected entry in a recent miniseries. Still want more? There’s a double game discussion after the outro:
Links:
Pikapi Podcast
Poke Casters Network
Slow Scan TV Information:
SSTV audio an be decoded by a variety of software:
Android
iOS
Windows
Monday, September 23, 2024
My Experience at MadEX 2024
Earlier this month, I attended the first MadEX convention at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, WI. While I was unable to schedule any one-on-one interviews, I did attend several panels and wanted to share some information:
Saturday, September 14th
As someone who’s been dabbling in cosplay recently (even if
I have no plans to do it as a job), this was a panel I definitely wanted to
see. All three panelists brought impressive costumes, and did a great job
talking about their work and answering questions from the audience. One
panelist (rightmost in the picture) had a particularly interesting story where they had used cosplay as an
activity at the VA hospital in their area (the panelist was a veteran
themselves) to help returning soldiers re-adjust to civilian life.
 |
| Mike McFarland |
While this was a panel primarily about One Piece, one of the
panelists happened to be Mike McFarland, who had a few small roles in the Pokémon
anime. During the Q&A portion (FYI, I generally tried to make sure I was
towards the back of the line on these sessions so fans of the series could get
their questions in first), I was able to ask him how the Pokémon roles came
about, and it basically ended up being a case of being in the right place at
the right time.
 |
| Ray Chase |
Another panel covering a hot show, this one featured Ray
Chase, best known as Professor Cerise in Journeys. As it turns out, there was
actually some overlap between his work on the two series, owing in part to Pokémon
being a dub and X-Men being a pre-lay. The bulk of the panel was, of course, a
discussion of the hit streaming series, and it was great to hear about the VAs experiences
with the X-Men franchise and working on the show.
 |
| Elizabeth Maxwell |
This My Hero Academia panel featured Elizabeth Maxwell, who dedicated Masters EX fans will recognize as the voice of Dana. I asked her about the role, and she mentioned how it was interesting to play a character with both an acting and non-acting side. She also implied some things were under NDA, suggesting this might not be her only character in the game, or that Dana might be featured in some future events. Regardless, it was good to hear about the ongoing production of MHA.
 |
| Robbie Daymond |
This panel was primarily focused on some outrageously funny improv, but it did also have a Q&A portion, which gave me the opportunity to ask panelist Robbie Daymond about voicing Professor Willow in various Go-related media. He didn’t have a ton to say about it, other than he enjoyed the opportunity. At the very least, I expect it was more fun than when he was forced to hold water in his mouth while the other panelists tried to make him laugh.
As usual, there was a variety of cosplay outfits on display
at the event, as well as a cosplay contest for each day. Compliments to the
many great attendees who put in the work to put them together!
Other Thoughts:
-I really enjoyed the panels that I went to this weekend
(and I missed a few due to conflicts). There were some absolutely wonderful
stories, including a voice actor who did some of their work from the hospital
where a family member was a patient during the pandemic.
-The shopping was a bit limited, in part due to the size of the venue, and
given that next year’s event is planned for August 2025, I hope they can attract/accommodate
more vendors.
-Having some sort of dedicated open gaming area would be nice, even though
there was a designated tournament area.
A press pass was provided for this event.
Sunday, September 22, 2024
MadEX 2024: Smash Ultimate 1v1 Tournament Winner
 |
| Ahmet Kurter |
Where are you from, and how did you get into competitive
Smash?
I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin! I got into competitive
smash when Brawl came out because my cousins were obsessed with it, and entered
my first tournament in 2014.
You tend to play as a fair number of different
characters. Who are some of the more common ones and what do you like about
them?
I
have used over dozens of characters in my local smash scene. But some of my
favorites are Sonic, Aegis (Pyra/Mythra), Joker, Wolf, Dark Pit, and much more!
I use most of these characters because I like how they feel to play, or are
from my favorite series (Sonic, Persona, and Xenoblade.) Of course, the
characters my opponents are playing also tend to influence who I pick in
bracket.
What happened in the earlier parts of the tournament?
My bracket run was pretty funny to me, because in winner's semi-finals,
I fought Fatalis, who I knew from my local scene, and I knew that would be my
hardest matchup for sure. After I won the first set we basically told each
other "See you in grands" which was funny, and correct!
Fatalis uses Sheik from the Zelda series. How did that
affect your overall strategy?
It affected my strategy a lot, to be honest. I like to rush
in a lot, but Sheik is really scary for a lot of different reasons. Her frame data (timing) is so unbelievably fast and has very little cooldown so I often had a
lot of trouble figuring out what I could punish. She is also very quick so
running from her does not work that well, plus she has a projectile that is
very quick and goes very far. Eventually my strategy consisted of me trying to
kill Sheik earlier than she could kill me and beat out her hitboxes with bigger
and more active moves.
After losing the first game in grand finals [against
Fatalis], you switched over to Wolf from the Star Fox games. Why did you choose
that?
That was a result of the experience my opponent had-they already
fought two of my characters in winners’, specifically Sonic, and Aegis. I won
game one there with Sonic, lost game two, then switched to Aegis which allowed
me to win game three (with a convincing two-stock). But even after I won that
first set it felt very stressful because I felt like I was not hitting him
enough, and making a lot of incorrect decisions in advantage.
In the first game of grand finals I started with Aegis, but
I lost (he two-stocked me this time), so I decided to try Wolf because I
was not feeling comfortable in the matchup. Wolf having a projectile is already
a huge change to the pace for the matchup, with Sheik having an incredible
projectile in needles I also wanted a strong projectile to bait him into making
mistakes when approaching me. Wolf also has very consistent and active hitboxes
which allowed me to get combos more consistently than my other characters. The
MVP move for the set for me was Wolf's neutral air. I used it a lot to punish
his unsafe hits on my shield and to use when he is jumping at me from the
ledge, so I could knock him back offstage again to reset the situation.
Technically, your opponent could have switched characters
for later matches, but didn't. Did that surprise you?
Nope! Not at all. I have only seen him pick Sheik at locals,
so I knew I was only going to fight his Sheik.
What else did you do at MadEX this year?
This was actually my first con, so when I first got there I
walked around the whole convention to see everything, met up with my friends,
talked with them the whole time, and talked to my GOAT Max Mittleman. For the
whole tourney, I rocked Ryuji's codename Skull for my in-game name, so
shout-outs to Max Mittleman for indirectly powering me up.
A press pass was provided for this event.
Monday, September 2, 2024
Livestream: Discussing the music of "Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon"
Over labor day weekend, Anne from Pikapi Podcast and I recorded a discussion of the music of Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon. The polished podcast version will come out at a later date, but the raw audio can be enjoyed here:
Sunday, August 25, 2024
Pokémon Worlds 2024: A (Partial) Spectator Experience
Unlike last year’s event in Yokohama where I spent very little time at the worlds event area due to a lack of access, this year I was able to secure a Saturday spectator pass for Honolulu. As such, I was able to spend a meaningful amount of time at the tournament site.
Booking a connecting itinerary proved significantly cheaper
than flying direct out of O’Hare (unlike London and Yokohama), so I ended up
starting in Madison and making the short hop to Chicago before taking the
8-hour flight to Honolulu. The travel was not particularly eventful, though I
did have an interesting conversation with my neighbors on the plane, who were
visiting their son in the armed forces. After landing, I took a pre-arranged
shuttle to my hotel.
Once I was settled in, I
went to pick up my badge at the Hilton complex a few blocks away. The ballroom
was in a rather obscure location, situated on top of a parking garage and
requiring use of an elevator or escalators for access. After picking up my
pass, I asked a few questions of one of the customer service reps to clarify
some things.
The spectator pass gave me a slot at the Pokémon Center
store, which luckily did not have to be on the same day as the spectator pass
(I feel bad for anyone who had a single-day pass and had the Center eat up a
significant portion of their time). My slot was for 11 am, but I decided to go
early to identify the entry point. When I arrived, I noticed a large line, and
it quickly became apparent that the store was behind schedule (apparently their
point-of-sale system was having significant connection issues).
After being herded through several areas (including the
parking garage), I finally got to go into the Center around 12:30 pm. I found
the store to be well-laid-out, and I definitely appreciated the live musician
performing there. As far as the actual shopping, I wasn’t particularly picky,
so although a few things were out of stock, I was relatively satisfied with the
selection. I ended up picking up two plushes (Riolu and Crocalor) and some
sleeves.
Naturally, my goal was
to spend as much time at the event as possible since this was the only day I
had a badge for. I arrived before events started, and got registered for the 9
am Build-and-Battle and the Pokémon Go Scavenger Hunt (I wish I had known about
having access to the tasks in the app to get a head start on Friday).
After finishing 1-2 in the Build-and-Battle, I decided to
get some lunch (I had missed breakfast). I found the selections on the top
level of the convention center to honestly be pretty disappointing,
particularly compared to the offerings at events in the Baird Center in
Milwaukee (a similarly-sized venue). The food I ordered was okay, but I
certainly would have preferred a wider selection.
At 1 pm, there was a panel discussing the localization of
Pokémon Horizons and the production of Path to the Peak. While it was largely
information I already knew, I did appreciate the opportunity to listen to some
of the folks involved. Unfortunately, no questions were taken and no recording
was allowed, so I don’t have much to share other than that.
After a brief stop at the anime viewing room and art
gallery, I participated in the 4pm Chaos Cup, where I also went 1-2. I still
needed to cash out both my side event points and the go scavenger hunt, so I
took care of those and headed back to the hotel.
Sunday
I decided to do some shopping in order to see more of the
area. I visited two Book-Off locations and picked up a variety of games
(including a physical copy of Super Mystery Dungeon, since my digital version
crashes my 3DS on startup), and some other media. I was able to finish my
shopping and return to the hotel in time to watch the (admittedly
disappointing) closing ceremonies.
Monday
My flight left in the evening, so I used some time to
explore a bit of Waikiki before heading off to the airport. The return trip was
fairly tiring (as usual), and it was good to return home.
Overall, I had a good time at this year’s event, though it
probably would have been more enjoyable if I could have spent the whole weekend
at the convention enter. That said, assuming I can acquire a spectator badge
next year, I do plan on attending.
Other Notes:
-Given how crowded the main tournament space was and the
unusual way the Pokémon Center line was woven through the facility, I expect
this is the last time the Pokémon World Championships will be held in Honolulu
unless a larger convention center is built or the current one gets a
significant expansion.
-The closing ceremony definitely ended on a whimper. Announcing the next two
years will be in the same state, followed by no Legends Z-A information
(regardless of whether it’s a “competitive” game) was a major structural issue.
Even with the announcements they did make, they could have been re-ordered for
a better impact.
-Shout out to the guy who had us guess Pokémon anatomy while we were in the parking garage waiting to get into the Pokémon Center. It made things a bit more bearable.
-I cosplayed as Michael Hunchence from INXS as a Pokémon trainer like I have at previous events (Friday the 16th was actually the band’s anniversary). Unfortunately, the only time I ran into an Australian was on Monday. He got a kick out of the picture I showed him.
-While the food at the event was disappointing, as usual I got some great meals out of the local restaurants:
In addition to this scrumptious entrée from Eggs n’ Things,
I also ordered food from Kyochon 1991, Betty’s Burgers, Teddy’s Bigger Burgers,
and Fresh Catch Kapahulu, all of them delicious.
Saturday, July 27, 2024
Poke Press Digest Podcast-Episode 73-What's the best version of the English Pokémon Theme?
Anne from Pikapi Podcast drops by to help me discuss several versions of the English Pokémon theme. Listen in as we compare and contrast renditions from the TV show, movies, and beyond. Oh, and if by some chance you were wondering how “Born To Be A Winner” fits into all of this, don’t worry, we cover that after the outro:
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