Diana Kou met Tomoko Kawakami for the first time at Anime Expo. In awe of her Japanese counterpart, Kou thought it odd that Kawakami-san didn't have any memorabilia from the show. So, she gave the seiyuu a "Tenshi ni Narumon" cel she had purchased from Mandarake, a gift that Kawakami accepted with enthusiasm.

A week earlier, Akadot sat down with Kou about her experience as Noelle.

How long were you in fan dubs?

Diana Kou: Five years. I did a lot for Nichiru. The webmaster there had some "Utena" radio plays by a pretty famous fan dub writer and I was brought in as a narrator for that. That was the most productive project that I've done.

How did you audition for this?

DK: A friend of mine encouraged me, but I felt like, "I don't know if I should, I'm not ready for this, they're not going to accept me because I'm an amateur and they're all going to be professional." At conventions in the past I would ask people like Tiffany Grant and Tristin McAvery, all these voice actors for tips and they said I needed a demo. But I couldn't afford a demo. I go to the conventions and do cosplaying and that's a big, and irreplaceable, part of my budget. But my friend used some recordings I had done for Sailor JAMboree for one of our performances and mixed it with a few tracks from my online stuff. Synch-Point said that they loved the demo and scheduled an audition. I was so nervous and thought that I would only get a minor character and I ended up getting Noelle. I turned so red I just couldn't believe it.

What has been hardest thing to get used to?

DK: I don't get to sit at home and record whenever I want. Also, in most fan dubs the producers finish in one take. Here they ask you to do it again and again, more happy, more sad, you get much more direction. When you're in the studio you really have to push into the character. You have to give more than you're used to.

Do you know Japanese?

DK: I understand a bit because I have relatives in Japan. Japanese is in the blood somewhere. I'm more familiar with it now since I've gotten into anime. I have dictionaries and I listen to the CD's and I engage in the pop culture. I'm going to continue learning.

A lot of dubs receive criticism from fans. Are you ready for that?

DK: I've gotten some response already. I have a Noelle screen name on AIM. And I got messages from hard-core "Tenshi" fans. They actually said that they couldn't wait to hear it because they had heard good things about me. I don't know where they heard this. But they said that at Anime on DVD there was a discussion thread about me, and the people were saying that I was good. It shocked me. I expected them to be cautions and dubious. They're like friends now. I chat with them about the project casually.

Fans have been more accepting of dubs?

DK: When it comes to anime fans, they really do wish that it sounded more like the original. That's what I think about when I do voice acting, I think of what a lot of the people really want to hear rather than just doing it, like make fun out of it, and have fun with it, and get into it like the Japanese voice actors. They love getting into it, they're so enthusiastic.

And what do you think of Noelle?

DK: I think she's adorable. At first I would probably take Natsumi's point of view and think, "What are you doing? Why are you so stupid?" But if you really watch Noelle and listen to her, she's like the child that everyone goes through before they grow up. She asks, "What is this? Why does it do this?" Someone asked me what I have learned from Noelle, and I said that I learned to be Noelle from Noelle. She doesn't criticize anything first hand based on the way it looks. She actually goes, "Oh, what is this?" She wants to explore it, wants to know more about it, she doesn't shove it. That's what Natsumi is. She is the person that says, "What's your problem? Why don't you shut up already? You don't need to know that? That's so stupid!"

To find out more about Diana Kou and her own thoughts on becoming an angel, visit her personal website "Diana Kou."