This past weekend, on Saturday 26th June 2021, I celebrated 3 years since I moved to the USA from England to further my voice acting dreams! On social media, people may have even seen me post about this special anniversary with an accompanying image from the classic Nintendo GameCube game "Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door". In fact, before moving to America and for my first few anniversaries, I've done posts with a picture from the game. But why? I thought it may be fun to explain…
To begin with, my personal voice-over journey has been amazing, initially going from the UK to America on numerous trips and now living here in the United States. I think of it like a story, with each adventure within this journey being like a chapter in my story completed… and that always makes me think of the "End of Chapter" screens from Paper Mario: TTYD, which would appear as you beat each chapter in the game, especially the catchy and uplifting music that gives you a real sense of accomplishment.
But I feel as though there are actually some parallels which go a bit beyond that, so let's explore a little further…
(I won't spoil "Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door" or go into many real specific plot points, don't worry. If you've played the game you'll know what I'm talking about and if you haven't, you can still enjoy this anyway hopefully)
PROLOGUE
The part of your game where you learn of your quest and begin learning the basics before you get into any of the actual chapters. I myself had a VO epiphany, realized my dream and over the next few years began learning a lot of the basics until I was able to really pursue it and make it happen.
CHAPTER 1
The first chapter is where things really begin to kick up a gear - it's exciting, fun and full of new stuff! It's fast-paced and doesn't drag on. This for me was my first trip to America, where I went to the VOICE 2012 convention, met so many people and had such an enthralling time. A very strong start!
CHAPTER 2
My second USA trip is, somewhat unsurprisingly, my personal second chapter. In real life this trip, which took place a year later, was longer, more exciting, more fun and somehow even better than the first! I met so many of my heroes, went to incredible places, took fantastic classes… it truly was wonderful. A flurry of excitement! In Paper Mario, I like Chapter 1 a lot more than 2, so it's not the best comparison but still, in the game it's longer, brings all kinds of new surprises, characters and is fun.
CHAPTER 3
My third trip to the USA is (in a surprise to no one by this point) my third chapter. It's fun and different but has points where you are just kind of are going through the motions compared to previous chapters. Glitzy for sure but perhaps a bit lacking in some substance compared to previous chapters. But it's still cool though.
CHAPTER 4
Strange… very strange. The formula is very different here. In the game you have a sense of believing it will be a short chapter and just when you believe it's almost over… you then find you actually have a long way to go. This rings true for my journey as well. Much how this feels like a shake up to the formula in the game, this was the first and only chapter that doesn't take place in America (well, my getting there marks the very end of the chapter). These were the years I was in England - between the trips and my moving here. The way that you as the player, as Mario, feel isolated in Paper Mario, was a lot of how this felt in my life. A lot of repetition and "okay *now* it's over right?" too. In the game it was still fun, I actually rather like it but the real life one, not quite so much, sadly.
CHAPTER 5
It's fun, bright, filled with many new colorful characters and is incredibly joyful - a blast and a real treasure… that's Paper Mario Chapter 5 and my first year here in America, my personal fifth chapter. Just brilliant!
CHAPTER 6
It's enjoyable, filled with quirks, mysteries and more fun characters, and that's a good way to explain both Paper Mario's Chapter 6 and my second year in America. They also have both end in bizarre and somewhat quiet ways.
CHAPTER 7
This is the chapter where you shoot for the moon - where I tried to reach greater heights during my third year here and Mario… literally shoots for the moon out of a giant cannon. But yes, both chapters start humbly enough but soon become exciting, out of this world adventures. Lots of fun surprises!
CHAPTER 8
This is the personal chapter I just started, that we are now at the beginning of. In Paper Mario, Chapter 8 is long and can be tough but is fun, rewarding and the final chapter of your initial quest. I know what needs to get done in this personal life chapter and… the above game description is honestly a pretty good one for me too. But what exactly will this chapter entail? You'll just have to wait to find out...