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From there I was able to get directing jobs, and eventually I directed TV shows, like Susie-chan to Marvy for NHK, I directed a few episodes of that. I was also directing the Japanese language voice actors, which to this day—I know it’s really weird, but I’ve never directed an English-language voice actor. I’ve watched it a million times, because I have friends who do it of course, and I’ve translated this one movie called Dead Leaves.

I translated that and I went to California, because the people who sent it to me—Amanda [Winn Lee, the English voice of “Pandy”] and Jaxon [Lee, the English voice of “Retro”]—they’re very, very good friends of mine. So I went there and I listened to some of the recording, and I was in the studio, y’know, kind of checkin’ it out, seeing what they were doing. But I’ve only directed Japanese voice actors. The only time I actually worked with English-language voice actors was when we did the voices for albums and I was directing the music, directing them singing. But that’s really not quite the same!

Q: Dead Leaves was one of the biggest credits for you that turned up. The way that project was put together was interesting; from what I understand it was originally commissioned for MTV and they rejected it because they claimed they couldn’t air it, and it was shunted to video. I’ve watched it in both languages, and the English version is almost a gag dub! Were you given permission to do that?

Jan Scott-Frazier : Yes. That was really Amanda and Jaxon. What happened was, Amanda saw it. They got it and she called me and said “Okay, I have the weirdest piece of animation that’s ever been made, and only you can translate it!” And I’m like “Ooo-kaaay… Well, send it to me.” Now, granted, I have been in the industry for a long time, so I have seen a lot of weird animation, but when I saw Dead Leaves it WAS the weirdest piece of animation I’d ever seen! It was funny because, you know, I had worked with those guys at I.G, and oh my god, it was just so out there. And there’s so much dialogue that was just smothered in sound effects and all. And so I did the basics and then they wrote the final dialogue script. But you know, I really think their dub fit right on. Because in Japanese you can do it a little more straight, kind of serious-y sounding, but it’s still stupid and weird! With English, I think they made the right choice with that. Japanese—with that kind of stuff it’s much more subtle. With the English, especially in a show like that, you kinda really have to get in people’s faces. Because the show’s in people’s faces, and so is the dialogue.

Q: Have you had much contact with Japanese fans?

Jan Scott-Frazier : I went to a number of, say, WonderFests and Comic Markets and that kinda stuff, and I would see Japanese fans and talk with a few people, but I didn’t actually get the Japanese fan experience until I put out my manga, when we did the Comic-Con. Because now I walked into this room and suddenly I had fans! And they were Japanese fans. It was interesting, because they were just sitting in this room—they were super-quiet, and they would ask a question … and afterwards they’re all like “Oh my god! Touch me!” and I was like “Whoa there!” And they made me do a sketch on the wall. It was very weird because it’s a very different kind of attention. Here, because we have more … we’re kind of flat as a society, so even though they might worship you they still treat you … They may put you on a pedestal, but it’s very different. Whereas in Japan they won’t look you in the eyes, that kind of stuff. That was really weird for me, because that was the first time I had fans, and I was like “Ooo-kaaay…”

I had gone to a couple of cons, a couple of Anime Expos, and so about that same time I developed some American fans, and I got fan mail and stuff, and I was like “Whoa…” It was really, really … weird! I don’t reject it, but it’s just kind of odd for me; I don’t really know what to do with it! Now I do some other stuff; I do storytelling and I’m actively building a fanbase for that. I talk about my experiences in the industry, and my own weird life experiences and stuff—I’ve actually been taking that out into the world.

Q: Tell us a bit about the comic project?

Jan Scott-Frazier : The comic stuff I do, I draw these crazy comics on index cards and I never really put them up, I just draw them for my own amusement. But because I’ve been doing that for a while, I want to do a comic again, do a manga again, but the problem I’m facing is that I haven’t been drawing on a regular basis for a long time. There’s no way, I can’t go at the speed I used to; I just couldn’t keep up. So I’ve been talking to different artists and there’s a number of people—I just haven’t found anyone who fits exactly what I want. I just have to find the right people for it. I would draw it, but I’m out of practice and it would take me so long. I draw on index cards ‘cause it’s easy, and I draw much looser than I used to. I used to draw really tight, really detailed, but now I’m … [makes sloppy scribbling gesture]

I actually got an iPad for school, and I’ve been drawing on that this weekend. And I’m like “Y’know, maybe I can draw a very simple comic on this.” And it’s with me all the time, so … I’ve been working with digital media since Windows 3 came out, so I’ve watched it, I’ve been part of it, I used to work for Cambridge Animation Systems so I was part of helping build the animation software—I was part of the people who brought it to Japan. But, y’know, when I’d come back to Japan after a long time, I just wanted to do drawing and painting, I didn’t want to do it on the computer any more. First off, I didn’t have a high enough powered computer anymore!—And now, most of my art, I do a lot of physical media. I do acrylic paint, and polymer clay. But I’ve got this iPad now, and because it is with me all the time, I can just take out the stylus and draw on the train, or whatever. The iPad has a ten-hour battery, and that’s just about perfect for me since there’s little I do that’s over ten hours.