by J. M. Alcala, staff writer, Inside AX- Anime Expo

Despite being seen in various capacities at Anime Expo over the years, this year Vic Mignogna was one invited to be one of AX’s Guests of Honor. Putting on not only a high-energy concert, he also rocked the house at a fan-packed panel. In both his concert and panel, Vic took time to share his thoughts, his impressions of various characters, his talents and of course, his faith.

Kicking off Day Two at Anime Expo 2011, Vic started off with his concert over at Club Nokia where fans packed the venue in a rousing crowd. With his beloved fiancée Michele in attendance, Vic began to perform the opening to Dragon Ball Kai - starting with not appearing on stage immediately, but was actually on the stage floor with his fans. Once he got back on stage with his keyboard, he began to tell the crowd how he wanted to be a musician at seventeen years old. Finding a piano room at his school, a teenaged Vic realized that as much as he wanted to play the piano, he didn’t know how until he tried playing one of his favorite songs. Slowly but surely, he began to play the song and eventually self-taught himself to play while using Barry Manilow, Billy Joel and Elton John as his inspiration. From that point on, he concentrated on singing for his local church and continued on even after he became a voice actor.

Throughout the concert, he interacted with all of his fans, including picking out three of them to sing “Soldier A” with him on stage. Demonstrating another skill, he showed off a short video he directed and starred in with his fellow Fullmetal Alchemist co-stars called Fullmetal Fantasy, which featured the actors cosplaying as their anime counterparts. As the concert drew to a close, he signed autographs until it was time for his panel.

At the panel, Vic and Michele were joined by several individuals that were instrumental in helping him get his newest project that involves his other love, Star Trek. Much like the concert, he concentrated on keeping his fans entertained by showing off a few anime clips and sang a few songs. Once the audience was fully seated, the panel itself became less about Vic and more about him interacting with his fans.

One particular story that got a lot of laughs from the crowd was based around his song “The Legend of Middle Tennessee”, which also had a video (which he also directed). The story and song were based around a friendly dodge ball game between Vic and his Risembool Rangers and Travis Willingham and his Miniskirt Army. The game was played in a hotel parking lot during the 2006  Middle Tennessee Anime Convention, where in the end, Vic’s team was victorious. The accompanying video was made to resemble The Lord of the Rings movie as the song itself is sung in verse.

Moving on from the video, he shared the fact that despite being a longtime musician and songwriter, he had only recently began selling his music due to his fans wanting to hear more of his music. Vic’s music ranges from original songs, songs sung for various anime series and finally songs revolving around his Christian faith. Deeply religious, he chose to record a CD that was simply a reading of his favorite Gospel from the Bible which fans were able to pick up during his autograph signing that day.

To Vic, his  fiancée, fans and his faith in God are the reasons why he does what he loves day in and day out. He admitted that being a voice actor doesn’t pay very much, but even if it were not a paid job, he would continue to do it as he loves it so much. Through his dedication to the craft, he continues to encourage his own fans to follow their own passions, whether through fandubbing, fan art or fanfiction.

Final tidbits he shared are: his hardest role was Broly from Dragon Ball Z, he has no favorite version of Fullmetal Alchemist, prefers voice acting in anime over video games, loves the Sonic the Hedgehog series, has cosplayed as a few characters, loves series that have serious drama in them and that he was very excited to voice a role for Pokémon.

Tags: Anime Expo 2011, goh, Guest of Honor, Vic Mignogna