Directing & Writing

Before Critical Role, Taliesin spent two decades as one of the most-requested ADR directors in Los Angeles anime dubbing.

ADR (automated dialogue replacement) direction is the craft of guiding English-speaking voice actors to match the emotion, rhythm, and lip-flaps of a Japanese original — without losing the soul of the performance. Taliesin is widely considered one of the genre's great practitioners.

ADR director console with script and video monitor
A working ADR booth: picture-in-picture, script, and a director's headset.

Signature Directed Projects

  • Hellsing Ultimate — ADR Director, script adapter. The FUNimation dub is widely cited as one of the all-time best English dubs of an anime.
  • Texhnolyze — Director. Dense, philosophical cyberpunk series that Taliesin treated with unusual patience for its long silences.
  • Haibane Renmei — Director. Quiet meditative drama that relied entirely on subtle vocal performances.
  • The Big O II — Director.
  • Read or Die OVA — Director.
  • Nightwalker: The Midnight Detective — Director, script writer.
  • .hack//Legend of the Twilight — Director.
  • Ergo Proxy — Director (select episodes).

Writing Credits

Taliesin has also written adaptation scripts — taking literal Japanese translations and turning them into English dialogue that feels natural on native ears while still honoring the source.

  • Hellsing Ultimate — Adapted script
  • Gungrave — Script
  • Robotech: The Shadow Chronicles — Script contributions
  • Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa — Script

Directorial Philosophy

"My job is to protect the performance. The translators did the heavy lifting on language. My job is to make sure the actors sound like human beings, not like they're reading a phone book in rhythm." — Taliesin on ADR direction
Anime memorabilia and collectibles
Two decades of directing dubs left Taliesin with a library's worth of anime knowledge.

Related: On-mic credits · Critical Role · Full biography.