Official Site Spotlight: Kyle Hebert

This marks the first in a series for this blog where I’ll periodically feature official links related to a specific voice actor.

And I can think of no one more appropriate to be the first featured than anime and video game voice actor Kyle Hebert (KyleHebert.com). Kyle has voiced characters on more than 40 anime titles/series (Bleach, Naruto, DragonBall Z) and nearly as many video games, and his official site includes a comprehensive list of his voice acting credits.

Kyle’s site also includes VO demos, upcoming appearances, FAQs, and contact info. And while these things are fairly standard on official sites for voice talents, it’s Kyle’s many other internet activities which will be of greater interest to the fandom (and I’ll come back to those in a moment).

As for why I’m choosing Kyle for the first to be featured…well, Kyle has been a supporter of this blog since before it was a blog, and was a member of The Voice Actor Appreciation Society as far back as 2001. And besides the fact that he’s a great talent and an all-around nice guy with a fun sense of humor, what gives me a greater admiration for him is how available he makes himself to the fandom. He’s a regular at conventions, chats live with fans often, posts on fan forums, and does a weekly live podcast.

Here’s a rundown of Kyle’s other official links:

– The Squinty Fried Squids: Kyle’s official fan club.
– If you follow Kyle on Twitter (kylehebert), you can get a heads-up on KYLE TV’s live video chats via stickam.com.
– The Big Bald Broadcast — Kyle’s “geeky news” podcast airs live every Friday night at 9 PM (EST). And you can “become a fan”/follow The BBB on Facebook, Twitter (bbbroadcast), MySpace, and LiveJournal.
– Recent additions to Kyle’s official YouTube Channel — KYLE TV — includes a series of videos taped live from Anime Expo 2009.

I participated in one of Kyle’s live chats Tuesday night. Kyle says chat tends to be “random” but I thought it was informative, fun and entertaining, and found myself right at home among a community of other voice actor fans.

And no, Kyle didn’t bribe me to say all this either. Kyle does what he does for the fans (and because he’s a genre and voice actor fan too), and I’m appreciative of his efforts to entertain and create a sense of community with the fandom.

Update: 8.28.2009 — I’ve since become a regular on Kyle’s live video chats on Stickam.com and afterwards look forward to the next one with great anticipation. They’re lively fun and I heartily recommend it to my fellow voice actors fans.