Vic Mignogna

[Kinokima]

The funny thing is the person who started the rumor about Monica getting ppl kicked out of cons because of their cosplay tags his tweets #IStandwithvic nothing suspicious about that

[Gyt Kaliba]

Mooreish, I understand where you're coming from, believe me, I do. I was on the other side of this initially too. I've been in the anime fandom for a long time now (not as long as some other extremely veteran members here, but still), and I've seen the same stories kicked up about Vic before. And, back when they used to always get brought up? I had the same reaction you did. 'Oh, these people could just be lying.' 'We don't even know if they've ever even met Vic before.' 'Where's the proof?'. And, despite my changed stance, I do still believe in innocent until proven guilty, especially when it comes to the court of law, and I wish the court of public opinion wasn't so quick to do the exact opposite too.

...But that's where things get rocky. All of those stories that used to come up every now and then about Vic? There's now literally hundreds more than there ever was before. And whereas before they'd just come up and be gone by like the next week? Now they're not. Now they're staying, and more and more of them are coming in all the time. And now, it's not just coming from 'random anime fan #2689 that Vic didn't sign their yaoi at a con'. Now these horror stories are coming in from fellow voice actors and actresses, people that we know actually know the man. Even if you stand on the side of presuming innocence until proven guilty, that should set off some alarm bells right there. It's extremely unlikely that people like Monica Rial, Jamie Marchi, and so on are going to just wake up one day and go 'hey, know what I'm gonna do? Ruin a co-workers job!'. They know how the fandom at large feels about a voice actor as well known as Vic. They know the fallout that's going to come from voicing their accusations. And yet, they still came forward with them, despite knowing the shitstorm that was going to come their way. To me, that speaks volumes as to how true at least a portion of these accusations must be.

Because, you know what? You may even be right. Some of these stories likely aren't true. I guarantee you there's at least one instance of someone piling a false story into the internet pile somewhere simply from distaste for Vic's work, or just because they like the drama. But, at this point, with this number of accusations, and again coming from people that we know actually know him, I can guarantee you something else - that some of them are most likely very, very true. And that's still not good. At all.

I also realize this can leave someone who's a fan of Vic's work in an odd place. I know that all too well, because I am still a fan of his work myself. I personally think he's fine as Broly, nothing amazing, but he gets the job done. He is my preferred voice of Edward Elric, Tamaki Suoh, and Junpei Iori. I think he did an amazing job playing against type in Oh! Edo Rocket. I think he's a great singer. Hell, I even had high hopes initially that if we ever got a new Fruits Basket anime (which we now are) that maybe he could play the character of Kakeru when the anime got far enough in. It's perfectly okay to be a fan of someone's past work, while still recognizing that there's problems with them in real life. Actors are not literally their roles.

And, as much of a void as you think Vic getting removed from anime voice over (which we're still not even 100% sure is happening across the board, as he's still Rohan in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure - it's too soon to say if he has more work coming after that or not), the world, even the anime dubbing world, will move on. A new Broly will come, and the internet rage machine will kick up again no doubt, but eventually it'll subside and people will just grumble and move on. Same as what happened with the Ocean re-casts. If we get new FMA, it would likely be either un-dubbed or use an LA cast anyway, because FUNimation no longer has the rights to the series. This 'scandal', as much as people like to talk about it, isn't going to affect FUNimation as a company or the anime dubbing industry at large as much as some people think it will.

What it will affect is how people look at their favorite actors. Every single one of them is going to be under the microscope for a while, and while that's truly unfortunate, and again I too hate how many false accusations are likely to start getting bandied about against other voice actors eventually, it's unfortunately just part of what will happen, what must happen, after something like this is uncovered. The band-aid over the bullet hole has been ripped off. And the only way healing can truly begin is to accept what's happening around you, and why. There are times to stand up for when you think someone is being unfairly and unjustly accused of something, and I'd never say you can't say that, think that, or do that now in the Vic Mignogna case either. But, just step back and think - does this really feel like one of those cases now? Because I did. And it doesn't, not to me.

[KBABZ]

I also realize this can leave someone who's a fan of Vic's work in an odd place. I know that all too well, because I am still a fan of his work myself.

I have that too; Vic's rendition of Dragon Soul has always been my favourite because it handles the fine line of delivering the lyrics with vigour whilst also knowing that it is a bit silly. But now I don't find it comfortable to listen to anymore.

This 'scandal', as much as people like to talk about it, isn't going to affect FUNimation as a company or the anime dubbing industry at large as much as some people think it will.

Having been through a controversy or two on the internet. IMO while it won't affect Funimation's direction or decisions, I feel like the mood and talk around it won't be the same (the comments section vibe). Where before the generic US DBZ comment section was endless praise for the actors and performances being the foundation for their favourite junk food anime (with some shade thrown at the "stupid japanese version"), in the future I think you'll be hard-pressed to find a Funimation comments section that won't have people throwing fire at Rial or, notably, Sabat. I know this because in the Kinda Funny comments section you'll be guaranteed to find someone mentioning the Colin leaving controversy, which happened three years ago at this point.

[Cursed Lemon]

Dude don’t just blanket this with doubt like that, it’s rude. You all just seem so eager to believe he’s guilty when all that’s come up are just stories.thats it. No evidence, no proof, just takes yarned together by people that we don’t know if true or not. It’s like the telephone game. We don’t know if those stories are true or not. We can’t just believe them without substantial proof. All I’m asking is have the eagerness to believe innocence of Vic as you do for people that you don’t know about that are also possible lying because that is also a possibility guys. It’s not a new idea that these stories could be over exaggerated. I mean I'm not crazy to believe that right?

I hate that I've become the "respond to long posts with an image" guy, but boy is it appropriate in this situation.

[Mr.Saturn99]

Also, these are the same fallacious and victim-blaming arguments that we've dissected time and time again over the course of this thread's existence. I'd say "actually read the thing first", but at this point I hold no reservations that people still defending Vic are simply misinformed. The facts have been on the table for weeks. Anyone refusing to pay attention to them and see the really very obvious conclusion is either willfully ignorant, or legitimately do not care if he is guilty or not.

Pretty much. If at this point you're still screaming "WHERE'S THE EVIDENCE???" in spite of a) being told again and again and again that testimony is evidence and b) how courts/the law/people in power treat sexual assault, you're willfully obtuse at best.

[TheBlackPaladin]

Eh he’ll be back, he’s too big in the industry. His voice is too iconic...If Japan makes another full metal alchemist you think people are gonna stand for anybody besides Vic voicing Edward Elric. Or another ouran high school host club without Vic as tamaki?

Before this controversy, no, but after this controversy, I'd say that's entirely possible, even bordering on likely.

I, of course, can't say for sure because I don't know the future. Not to mention that it varies from company to company how they've decided to handle the issue of whether or not they continue to work with Vic. Some are continuing to work with him and defending him, others are continuing to work with him but being very quiet about it, and others--like FUNimation, who has (or at least, had) the dubbing rights to both of the properties you mentioned--not only cut ties with him, but did so publicly.

Bottom line, if even an A-list actor like Kevin Spacey can get replaced after the fact and at the last second, there's no reason to assume that Vic's return to either of those roles is a done deal.

[XanatosVanBadass]

Well, I think he might also be under the impression that his life will somehow be "ruined" by not being able to voice Broly, Elric, Qrow, or...whoever else anymore.

He's not. He got fired; that's it. Again, this is his resume:

Professional Resume

And to re-iterate my post from Page 129:

The dude was an actual cop for two years, and is now a literal vice president & co-owner of his own music, sound design, and video production company, among many other things. Voice acting is inconsequential to him; so inconsequential, in fact, that he doesn't even list it on his professional resume.

Considering how small and how niche the anime community is, the guy could easily get another job that falls into another one of his many talents, with absolutely NOBODY being the wiser.

Mignogna isn't in High School, folks. He's not going to be "hated by everyone" even if every accusation is true. He's going to be hated by a very small chunk of anime geeks, even should his court case be the most one-sided thing we ever saw in the Dragon Ball fandom.

Eh he’ll be back, he’s too big in the industry. His voice is too iconic. Like Hilary Haag. Like Brett weaver. Like Bryan Cranston. If Japan makes another full metal alchemist you think people are gonna stand for anybody besides Vic voicing Edward Elric. Or another ouran high school host club without Vic as tamaki?


And GOD HELP THE POOR PATHETIC SOUL THAT TRIES TO REPLACE HIM AS BROLY AND QROW BRENWEN IN DRAGON BALL SUPER AND RWBY!!!!!


seriously though, there are just voices in shows that you just can’t replace.

Enough people have responded to this argument and I agree with them. No one is irreplaceable. Especially the voice of Broly. That said, it’s funny you mentioned RWBY. Rooster Teeth fired him before Funi and I actually checked out how the RWBY fandom was dealing with it.

Holy shit, it’s like night and day compared to the Dragon Ball community. At least from my observations. While there is great sadness and disappointment that it had to come to this, there is also a huge amount of support of the firing and understanding why it happened. The fandom seems to be moving on and hoping they can find a good replacement, if they aren’t just going to write the Qrow character out entirely. They put the victims stories over their own entertainment for the greater good.

Then there’s Dragon Ball (well the anime fandom in general) which has been embarrassing in its apologia of a hack VA just because he voiced a few people ya liked which has included out and out harassment.

I’m just about done. . . That’s one of the reasons I lashed out a few weeks back (which I apologize for by the way). I can separate the art from the artist very well to the point where I’ve been called heartless. That said, it’s hard when that problematic shit translates into the real world and taints a community. And it has, I don’t think you guys get how much of a minority we are. This is just about the only DB related place that is pretty much all pro Kick Vic. The rest is his apologists.

Then there’s phony fence sitters like Clown Fish TV who claim their impartial, but spew the same talking points of StandWithVic. At least the ones who use that hashtag have the balls to own up to it.

[8000 Saiyan]

If there was more FMA and Mignogna didn't come back to voice Edward Elric, most people wouldn't really care and would be probably glad that there's new FMA stuff. Only a few people would complain.

[Zephyr]

But seriously, why is it so hard to believe that some of the stories might not be true?

Some of them might not be, but to suggest that all of them might be false, and thus Vic is entirely innocent, again, requires a giant conspiracy on the part of tons of people who don't know one another, over the course of several decades, to ruin the life of some random shitty actor.

As a reminder: that requires more assumptions than the "he's probably guilty" take.

[XanatosVanBadass]

If there was more FMA and Mignogna didn't come back to voice Edward Elric, most people wouldn't really care and would be probably glad that there's new FMA stuff. Only a few people would complain.

Are FMA fans as rabid about the dub as Dragon Ball fans? I have my doubts but I really don’t know.

[8000 Saiyan]

If there was more FMA and Mignogna didn't come back to voice Edward Elric, most people wouldn't really care and would be probably glad that there's new FMA stuff. Only a few people would complain.

Are FMA fans as rabid about the dub as Dragon Ball fans? I have my doubts but I really don’t know.

I don't know if they're as rabid as DB fans when it comes to the dub, but people really like to say that it's better than the Japanese version because it fits the setting more. It's the same thing with the Berserk 1997 and Cowboy Bebop dubs.

[XanatosVanBadass]

Hm. That sounds a bit more like they feel English fits the setting more than being a fan SPECIFICALLY of the US dubbed music altered version of DBZ, bordering on outright hostility towards the Japanese version. That’s something so far I’ve only seen in this fandom.

There are fans clamoring for Miss Vollmer to come back as Bulma as a fuck you to Rial. Yet these idiots treat Sean Schemmel as the only English Goku when he was like the third? And objectively the weakest one.

[8000 Saiyan]

That's why Schemmel shouldn't act like a diva regarding other Goku VA's. He basically should calm down and realize that most of the English DBZ fanbase think he's the only Goku that matters. It's amazing how voice actors can behave like children so much.

[AgitoZ]

Some are continuing to work with him and defending him, others are continuing to work with him but being very quiet about it, and others--like FUNimation, who has (or at least, had) the dubbing rights to both of the properties you mentioned--not only cut ties with him, but did so publicly.

FUNimation lost the rights to FMA years ago, Aniplex has them. When Netflix dubbed the recent live action movie, they brought back Mignogna along with Caitlin Glass and Aaron Dismuke.

[Mooreish]

That's why Schemmel shouldn't act like a diva regarding other Goku VA's. He basically should calm down and realize that most of the English DBZ fanbase think he's the only Goku that matters. It's amazing how voice actors can behave like children so much.

...but what about the goku that was the son of a Shepard?


https://youtu.be/WC0TDHxWRt0

[8000 Saiyan]

That's why Schemmel shouldn't act like a diva regarding other Goku VA's. He basically should calm down and realize that most of the English DBZ fanbase think he's the only Goku that matters. It's amazing how voice actors can behave like children so much.

...but what about the goku that was the son of a Shepard?


https://youtu.be/WC0TDHxWRt0

That video is pretty biased to Kelamis' Goku, but still, most fans are more accustomed to Schemmel.

[XanatosVanBadass]

That's why Schemmel shouldn't act like a diva regarding other Goku VA's. He basically should calm down and realize that most of the English DBZ fanbase think he's the only Goku that matters. It's amazing how voice actors can behave like children so much.

...but what about the goku that was the son of a Shepard?


https://youtu.be/WC0TDHxWRt0

That video is pretty biased to Kelamis' Goku, but still, most fans are more accustomed to Schemmel.

Yeah, during the goofy Goku moment I thought both of them legit botched that scene. Not a good example.

[Mooreish]

That's why Schemmel shouldn't act like a diva regarding other Goku VA's. He basically should calm down and realize that most of the English DBZ fanbase think he's the only Goku that matters. It's amazing how voice actors can behave like children so much.

...but what about the goku that was the son of a Shepard?


https://youtu.be/WC0TDHxWRt0

That video is pretty biased to Kelamis' Goku, but still, most fans are more accustomed to Schemmel.

This isn’t bias, THIS IS BIAS!!!


https://youtu.be/8foapEpd_cI


https://youtu.be/8UZBBf_DMXw


https://youtu.be/t8bn3X23elE

[VegettoEX]

Do not actively side-track conversations and post things that have nothing to do with the subject at hand.

[Mooreish]

Do not actively side-track conversations and post things that have nothing to do with the subject at hand.

We were talking about Sean schemmel being a primadonna with his goku role. He tried to have peter kelamis removed from a con he was going to.