Vtuber Takahata talks meeting his heroes and fighting his avatar

Curtis “Takahata101” Arnott is one of the most iconic voices on the internet, So it’s no surprise Takahata’s transition into the vtuber scene came naturally.

Vtubers are some of the most unique talents in the streaming industry. Through their digital avatars and fictional personas, vtubers have captured the hearts and minds of millions of audiences. Many vtubers get their big break after their vtuber debuts, such as Ironmouse and multiple Hololive talents.

However, some vtubers were already creating content before donning their digital avatars. Takahata101 is a veteran of the YouTube scene, gaining accolades well before vtubing even became a thing.  As a founding member of TeamFourStar, creator of Hellsing Ultimate Abridged, and an experienced voice actor, Takahata is well-known among anime fans.

Nowadays, Takahata is busy tending bars as a vtuber, and he’s got a lot to say about his internet journey.

An interview with Takahata, the bartending vtuber

Takahata, you once joked about enjoying being a vtuber because it was “streaming with extra steps,” but were there other reasons that enticed you?

It takes a very particular type of person delicate streaming and asking the bold question: “So you’re telling me there’s a way that more things can go wrong? Tell me more.”

I realize that, essentially, what was happening was the equivalent of a fully interactive visual novel. Furthermore, you not only have control over this character, being live-rigged to yourself, but over the environment itself surrounding you because the laws of this universe are all under your control. When we live stream, we are subject to the rules of what is around us on camera in our computer room, bedroom, or streaming room.

But, with this, you can be on the top Of a building, bottom of the sea, on a train, or even in a bar. And you don’t have to pay a single penny in rent. You create this neutral space that you fully control the presentation of, and, in a lot of ways, the character is only just a piece of that. This can be amazing for streams, but this could just be a completely new way of making pre-recorded content, which I’m planning on doing in the next year.

How has becoming a vtuber changed your outlook, if at all?

It’s really been freeing in that I don’t have to worry about how I look physically, or if I look too tired, or if I’m not wearing the right clothes, or if my hair looks messy, I’m just able to go onto the show and perform and there is a certain freedom from that. The space itself is filled with thousands of different people, many of them uniquely talented. For many of them, this is the first kind of content they have ever made so there are a lot of people still figuring out the best way of interacting with so many different people.

The space itself can be quite stressful. I need to manage so many different relationships, but I feel with this avatar character, I can pursue things in a way that is separate from a personal brand. It’s created a separation of character and self that has been so healthy for my mental health in the long run that I would never trade it in. I’m still in real life, however, when I stream, I play a character now instead of myself, the person needing to be a character on camera. Overall, I would say that’s healthier for many different people.

What’s the biggest difference between making stuff 10 years ago versus now as a vtuber?

The amount of different websites that are viable but also potentially necessary for brand and content distribution. As well Patreon and other direct support sites have made certain potentials possible. The algorithm changes constantly as well from a 2 hours video being as viable as a 15-second video depending on the subject. It has made a lot of online work guesswork on what will be most effective and that in itself has brought upon many challenges to time management.

Do you think being an independent vtuber has gotten easier or harder in 2024?

It’s about the same. The biggest change is the availability of different model makers and riggers to develop custom models for clients. There are many who make such things, but many have provided options that are cost-effective. The rise of PNGtubing has been part of that as well as it is less cost-prohibitive. The space itself has a fair amount of people making a name for themselves like in many entertainment industries so it really boils down to what you can do differently or more effectively while still being true to what you want to do.

Who’s your dream guest for TheWeary101?

Unfortunately, I do not think I can think of a dream guest, as I was able to have Ironmouse on at one point, and that would be pretty much the top of the list. Who knows what the future will hold though? I might have a much better answer for you then.

Even though you are a vtuber now, who is Takahata’s favorite fleshstreamer?

Don’t really have one at the moment. The flesh is weak.

Did your previous popularity affect your career as vtuber?

I’m very proud of the stuff I got to work on with amazing people. Dragonball Z Abridged and Hellsing Abridged, plus my involvement in tons of other parody shows is something I will always acknowledge. They made me who I am and are an integral part of my past. When it came to streaming, I was doing it on camera so in a lot of ways people just saw me as a streamer and I also happened to have created and worked on those shows already.

Since vtubing is anime adjacent the connection was a bit stronger and I had the opportunity to really use my previous work to advertise myself more. I have done minor things here and there, but I didn’t want to just become the “guy who made that thing.“

I wanted to establish myself as somebody who would do more than just that and go a different creative direction, but still honor that which I had already made. So I tried not to make a top priority of utilizing my previous content to the point where it is the only thing that people would know me by.

What do you feel about viewers who discovered Takahata as a vtuber organically and have no idea you voiced Gene’s Space Dad from Outlaw Star Abridged Short #1, or the slightly more popular Dragonball Z Abridged?

You joke, but that was one of the darkest jokes I’ve ever written. Outlaw Star is probably my favorite anime of all time, and for a while there I was really thinking about taking a stab at abridging it, but ultimately it didn’t come to fruition.

I won’t lie, it’s incredibly funny when people find out what I made after the fact. “Are you telling me that melodramatic vtuber bartender is abridged Nappa!?” Yeah, and I wrote it too.

All joking aside, it’s incredibly satisfying to know that after 17 years I’m still able to make something new that can at least resonate with some people. There’s always this fear that you can’t outdo what you did originally and I think it’s not a matter of wanting to outdo it, but at least do something different in a way that you find satisfying.

Did you ever consider using a character voice as your main streaming voice for a vtuber, like Alucard from Hellsing Abridged?

Oh yes. And I’ve done it many times. I never wanted to shy away from the fact that I have all these different voices. I got to keep it in my back pocket and I just like to play them like cards, get illicit reactions from people sometimes. When it’s unexpected, it hits harder. Specifically, Alucard is the one I love to use as it’s such a fun voice to be an absolute pot-stirring jerk with.

But as for main streaming voice? I know a lot of people in the space tend to put on a voice for their character, which is totally awesome and I respect the commitment. For me, I like being in a more neutral place so I can really go many different directions as I chose to be a normal human instead of a more ethereal or powerful creature. So in a lot of ways, I’m bouncing off other people as this neutral point. And with the range I developed over the last 17 years, I get to go in so many directions.

Vtuber Takahata, the man of many voices

On the topic of voices, which of your voice-acting roles are you most proud of?

Oh man, there are several.

Nappa

He was my first major character in DBZA. When we started writing him, we realized he was going to be a comedy riot. I will always appreciate meeting people at conventions who loved me playing this wacky musclehead who’s being silly for essentially six episodes of the show that resonated so strongly after all this time.

Alucard

I remember watching the Helsing OVA and wanting to make a parody of it, and I very selfishly loved that I got to play Alucard. He was a mischievous little scamp, playing by his own rules and having a certain power. Being able to voice him was so much fun. Specifically, after the first episode, I actually had nasal surgery to fix a deviated septum so the voice I was able to hit afterward was much deeper and I was able to place it deeper in my chest.

In the first episode, I almost tried to sound like the phenomenal English dub actor Crispin Freeman. But after listening to the first episode, I realized that that wasn’t exactly the best fit for me, in retrospect, as I re-watched the OVAs in Japanese and the energy of Joji Nakata [as Alucard] really got to me as he was super malevolent and sounded like an old spirit of chaos loving everything he did with a manic glee. I tried incorporating more of that into my performance in episode two and carried it onward.

Imperfect Cell

What an incredibly fun character to play multiple distinctly different versions of in both vocal patterns and acting styles. To say I was nervous in my execution of this would be accurate. Back in Season 2 of the show, I was actually sent to play a couple of characters, but when we were going over casting, we decided to shift around certain people playing certain characters and I had made the case for playing all three forms of Cell. And in doing so, I actually dropped several roles in Season 2 that would’ve sounded similar to two of Cell’s voices. And that was going to be several years in the future so it gave me and TFS a good amount of time to figure out and practice how I wanted to sound.

Imperfect Cell is a horrifying horror movie character and I based his voice on Zorak from Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, the original English voice of Cell by the talented Dameon Clarke. The Wishmaster played by Andrew Divoff, the way he was able to go from playful to downright threatening at the drop of a dime with both dialogue and vocal tone. He truly did feel like an absolute force of nature. And even threw in a little Beetlejuice and Freddy Krueger, the latter being more accidental. Being able to play an absolute monster that is hunting people like a murderous Bugs Bunny was an absolute treat I will always love.

Second-form Cell

Second-form Cell was probably one of the hardest voices I’ve ever had to do. With such a gruff, deep voice, the first and second forms of Cell were really rough on the vocal cords. But with second form Cell, there was so much more explosive energy with how bombastic he was getting so was easily tougher in the long haul, especially with how much I had to yell and shout.

My biggest inspiration was Vincent D’Onofrio as Edgar the bug from Men In Black. I don’t know how one would act as a creature inside a skin suit but somehow he acted it perfectly. His vocal pattern sounded so crushed and overwhelming, and he was almost trying to hold back his full energy to be something more presentable, and it was easily my biggest influence.

Perfect Cell

Man, if I knew that my first line of dialogue in the show was going to be singing a full-blown song…

Easily the most known form of Cell, and I was incredibly nervous about botching this right out the gate. I had to practice this voice a lot to get my voice as smooth as it could be and luckily, I had plenty of practice with Alucard, though he is more in the chest while Perfect is more back of the throat with projection. Vocally, I easily took two major inspirations for what I got to do. The original actor for Perfect Cell Dameon Clarke, easily, I think the most iconic voiceover performance he’s ever delivered. His Handsome Jack is good, but his Perfect Cell is legendary. So damn smooth like the slickest car salesman you could ever imagine and I was buying what he was putting down.

The other inspiration was Kelsy Grammer as Sideshow Bob in The Simpsons, the maniacal and charming character that you just can’t help but listen to every single syllable he says. Every single line of his voice is an absolute meal, and the character I’m playing loves talking, so we feasted.

Dameon Clarke Storytime

And a funny story is when I first met Dameon Clarke. This is before or right as I started playing Cell. I was actually at a convention. The TFS guys and I were hanging out in the lobby right beside a bar, and we heard that he was in the bar as he was a guest for the event as well. I’m chatting with my friends, Dameon walks right up to us, and asks, “Hey guys, so which one of you is playing Cell?”

And all of us were completely shocked by his sudden appearance and just straight up asking it. I held up my hand and said “That would be me, sir,” and he put his arm around me and said, “Come with me,” in a very alluring voice that sounded like his Perfect Cell. He walked me outside and in those steps, he started asking me immediately.

“So let’s hear you’re Imperfect Cell.” And I gave him a sample, and he said, “Ohh that’s really good, let’s hear the second form.” So I gave it a shot, and he said, “Damn dude, that sounds almost better than mine.” At this point, he has me outside, lighting up a cigarette and then he says “Let’s do your Perfect Cell,” and I do it, and this is where the other shoe drops for me. He says, “Too British, again.”

So I do it again, and he says, “Not quite, still too British. Again.” I do the voice several more times until he says, “Now that’s sounding a little bit better man.” I look at them, and I say “Do you realize you just Whiplashed me?” And he spat out his cigarette laughing. He apparently told the story at his panel the next day and we chatted for a good long while. I will always appreciate that memory as it was one of the funniest starstruck moments I’ve ever been in.

And he literally flatters me by answering a simple question when people ask him what his favorite Imperfect Cell line is. He says “Oh it’s the TFS line ‘Want to see me drink this guy?’ and he does it in his Imperfect voice.” Class act.

If one of the characters you’ve voiced ever became a vtuber, who would be the most successful?

Super Kami Guru would need help setting up his vtuber rig but he has the confidence to make it to the top of streaming.

Have you ever considered hosting a Takahata DnD stream with other vtubers?

There are so many amazing DnD shows out there currently that to stand out one needs to really know their world-building and have a solid presentation. As someone who has only been a player, I definitely wouldn’t be the one to host such an ambitious undertaking.

If you didn’t have to worry about copyright issues or deadlines, what anime series would you love to make an Abridged show out of?

Kinnikuman, easily. I love wrestling and writing a parody of one of the silliest, most amazing, and dated wrestling shows ever made would be so much fun.

Besides Nostalgia Critic’s Kickassia, what obscure thing have you appeared in that you wish more people brought up?

I provided several voices for the Warhammer 40k web series If The Emperor Had Text-To-Speech Device and I absolutely loved being able to work with their team. Please check out their new series Hunter: The Parenting.

Takahata, could you beat your vtuber model in a bare-knuckle fight?

Absolutely not, he has clamped bones and will destroy me in two hits.

Thank you very much to vtuber Takahata for the exclusive interview with Jaxon.