Kaiji Tang ( KAY-jee) (Chinese: 唐凱吉; born January 25, 1984), also known as Kaiji Von Tang, is a Chinese voice actor who is based in Los Angeles, California.
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Biography
Tang graduated from the University of California, Riverside with a degree in theatre. He comes from a theatrical background and moved to Los Angeles in 2007 to do commercial work. He starred in commercials for Garmin GPS and The Discovery Channel. After appearing in a cult-classic movie called Zombie Strippers as a zombie, he auditioned for a podcast for a dubbing studio and was eventually hired. Ever since then, he has found success in finding roles for anime and video game characters. Tang has stated that he never set out to do voice work and it all came later on in his life. Tang enjoys his profession and likes contributing to the video game industry as he compares video games to novels. Tang hosts the YouTube channel Voices of Gaming.
Career
In anime, Tang is known as the voice of Osamu Dazai from Bungo Stray Dogs, Big G from Doraemon, Satoru Gojo from Jujutsu Kaisen, Sanemi Shinazugawa from Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Koji Kashin from Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Hendrickson from The Seven Deadly Sins, Guts from Berserk, Tsumugu Kinagase from Kill La Kill, Tetsudo "Poppo" Hisakawa from Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, Archer from Fate/stay night: Unlimited Blade Works, Jinshi from The Apothecary Diaries, Joe from Megalo Box, Jin Kazama, lead character in Tekken: Bloodline, and Gyro Zeppeli in the Steel Ball Run: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure. In video games, he is known for his performances as Wingul from Tales of Xillia, Fang from Fairy Fencer F, Gaius Worzel from The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel series, Yasuhiro Hagakure and Gonta Gokuhara from the Danganronpa series, and Ichiban Kasuga in the Yakuza series.
He is also known for voicing Owain/Odin in the Fire Emblem series, as well as the titular character in the video game Detective Pikachu and voiced Tom Cat in the 2021 film Tom & Jerry.
Satoru Gojo is Tang's most renowned and celebrated voice acting role to date. Despite this, Tang noted that among all the anime he has worked on, Jujutsu Kaisen is not his favorite, but rather the 2005 anime television series Doraemon was his favorite. In a 2023 interview with Anime Corner, Tang claimed that his first human memory is of reading a Doraemon comic; thus, obtaining a role and participating in the show later in life felt like "an amazing full circle moment."
Industry commentary
On his off time, he posts content on TikTok and Twitter. Tang is known for being very open about his career and what he hopes for. On March 28, 2022, one industry insider estimated that the English dub performers for anime received US salaries between $150 and $600 for their work. Tang made fun of the scenario by noting that this figure is hourly yet cumulative. Tang continued to express his own ambitions for the dub industry in another tweet, beyond pay increases. According to him, longer lead times before entering the recording booth will be necessary for stronger dubs. Cold-reading is difficult for any actor, and dubbing uses it frequently. Tang admitted that, despite portraying one of the most well-known characters in one of the most well-known anime series in the world, he is only able to support himself by engaging in voice acting work outside of the anime industry, such as performing 12–20 hours of audio descriptive work each week in addition to providing voice overs for audio books and educational programs.
Personal life
He married voice actress Marcy Edwards on June 24, 2017. He has a sister named Katherine.