Roles still open (20)
MALE ROLES
GREGlead236 / 15:30CANINGAMlead106 / 6:53MARVYmajor63 / 4:54CONLODmajor55 / 3:09CARSEsupporting23 / 2:21JAVUSsupporting17 / 1:10EPSIRONsupporting27 / 1:14NARRATORsupporting14 / 1:16ONIZUKAminor5 / 0:17MARTIAN CAPTAINminor9 / 0:26ARISHIMAminor2 / 0:10AKIYAMAminor1 / 0:04ARGUSminor2 / 0:04BRIEFING OFFICERminor1 / 0:03
FEMALE ROLES
MINERVAsupporting16 / 1:08STELLAsupporting16 / 1:03OPERATOR Asupporting14 / 1:15OPERATOR Bminor7 / 0:19MASCOTminor3 / 0:16SYSTEM ALERTminor2 / 0:11
Line count / total speech. Doubling is normal, so read for anything that suits you.
Recording notes
The full instructions come with the scripts if you are cast. This is what matters for an audition.
| Microphone | A microphone made for voice work, such as a large-diaphragm condenser or a broadcast dynamic. AirPods, gaming headsets, and laptop or phone mics do not hold up in a mix next to takes from real hardware, and a great read on a bad mic still cannot be used. |
|---|---|
| Format | WAV. If you record at 44.1 or 48 kHz, send that file rather than downsampling it. Mono or stereo. |
| Levels | Peaks around −6 dBFS, no clipping. Leave a moment of silence at the start and end so the first syllable does not get cut off. |
| Processing | None. No reverb, compression, EQ, or noise reduction. Filtering and levels are done here, and baked-in effects get in the way of that. |
| Timing | Match the pacing of the Japanese and stay within its length. The game plays fixed-length audio from fixed positions on the disc and it moves on by itself, so a long take is cut off and a short one is padded with silence. |
| Files | For an audition, one file per role, with the lines read back to back. Alternate reads are welcome in the same file, and three reads to choose from is more useful than a re-record. Cast recording later moves to one line per file. |
| Accents | Greg, Caningam, and Conlod are an American squad. The JSDF are Japanese characters and should not sound American. |
Pronunciation
Every respelling below follows the katakana the game itself uses, so it matches what the original cast said rather than what the roman spelling suggests. Stress is in capitals. If a name is not listed, say it the way it looks and I'll let you know if there's an issue.
CHARACTERS
| Greg Irwin | GREG UR-win | the player character. 'Irwin' as in the surname, not 'ear-win' |
| Conlod | CON-rod | two syllables, rhymes with 'on rod' |
| Caningam | CAN-ing-gum | say it exactly like 'Cunningham'. The game's romanization drops the h |
| Marvy | MAR-vee | long first syllable, as in 'marvel' |
| Javus | JAH-bus | soft J, long first vowel. Not 'JAY-vus' |
| Minerva | mi-NER-vuh | as the goddess |
| Minervaton | mi-NER-vuh-ton | her full surname, used once in the ending roll-call |
| Epsiron | EP-si-ron | the game's own romanization of Epsilon. Say it as spelled |
| Carse Dreadnought | KARSS DRED-nawt | one syllable, long A. Not 'car-say' |
| Stella Badam | STELL-uh BAH-dum | lunar-base engineer |
| Arishima | ah-ree-SHEE-mah | Japanese. Even stress, no hard R |
| Akiyama | ah-kee-YAH-mah | Japanese (JSDF) |
| Onizuka | oh-nee-ZOO-kah | Japanese (JSDF) |
| Mohri | MOH-ree | Japanese (JSDF cruiser officer). Two syllables |
| Devias | DEV-ee-us | captain of the Reagan |
| Argus | AR-gus | captain of the Bush |
| Gregory | GREG-uh-ree | a squadmate, distinct from GREG. They die one line apart |
| Gibson | GIB-sun | hard G |
| Brian | BRY-un |
SHIPS
| Eastwood | EAST-wood | the ship the story rides on |
| Reagan | RAY-gun | as the president |
| Bush | BUSH | as the president |
| Borealis | bor-ee-AL-iss | the Mars-government battleship |
| Shinano | shee-NAH-no | JSDF cruiser. Even stress |
MACHINES
| Spriggan | SPRIG-un | NOT 'spry-gan'. A spriggan is a creature from Cornish folklore. First syllable as in 'sprig' |
| Spriggan mark 2 | SPRIG-un mark TWO | 'mark two', never 'em-kay two'. The lowercase 'mark' is deliberate |
| Bartholomew | bar-THOL-uh-myoo | the old machine Greg starts in |
| Soloway | SOL-oh-way | the Soviet Armed Armor |
| Ragnabul | RAG-nuh-bull | the heavy Armed Armor in stage 2 |
| Spirits | SPIH-rits | the mass-production Spriggan, mentioned once by Caningam in stage 6 |
| Ryuga | RYOO-gah | the JSDF machine. One glide on RYU, not 'ree-yoo' |
| Armed Armor | ARMD AR-mor | the mech class. Said constantly, so keep it crisp |
EQUIPMENT
| Stratoshooter | STRAT-oh-shoo-ter | the re-entry shield |
| Vanishing Buster | VAN-ish-ing BUS-ter | |
| Hyper Saber | HY-per SAY-ber | |
| React Missile | ree-AKT MISS-ul | |
| Smart Gun | SMART GUN | |
| Escorter | ES-kor-ter | a drone option, not 'escort-er' |
| Spatial Drive Engine | SPAY-shul DRIVE ENjin | the moon-moving engines in stages 7-8 |
PLACES AND TERMS
| Pavonis | puh-VOH-nis | Pavonis Mons, a real volcano on Mars |
| Icarus Belt | IK-uh-rus | the asteroid belt in stage 2 |
| Hohmann orbit | HOH-mahn | after Walter Hohmann. German, so 'HOH', not 'HOW' |
| Roche limit | ROHSH | after Édouard Roche. French, so 'ROHSH', not 'ROACH'. Marvy's stage-6 physics lesson |
| Tenreki | TEN-reh-kee | the in-universe calendar era, as in 'April, Tenreki 92' |
| Gaia | GUY-uh | the Gaia hypothesis, Marvy's stage-7 accusation. Not 'GAY-uh' |
| Helium-3 | HEE-lee-um THREE | |
| JSDF | jay-ess-dee-eff | spelled out. Japan Self-Defense Force |