Lindsey Young
EAGAN, Minn. – When Tom Gibis arrived in Minnesota to look at this weekend’s Twin Cities Con, it marked his second go to from Los Angeles in a three-month span.
The Hollywood voice actor additionally flew in for Vikings Training Camp in August.
“This is all so full circle. It’s crazy,” Gibis mentioned then. “I’m just a kid from West St. Paul.”
For the previous 18 years, Gibis has voiced the character of Shikamaru Nara from Naruto, the longstanding and wildly widespread anime sequence. He additionally has voiced Takumi Nomiya from Honey and Clover, in addition to Mushra from Shinzo.
But lengthy earlier than he grew to become an actor and author/producer, Gibis was a Vikings fan.
He grew up attending video games at Metropolitan Stadium, rooting for Fran Tarkenton and the Purple People Eaters. And Gibis later appreciated – on a short-term foundation – the return to out of doors soccer when the Vikings performed a single Monday Night Football sport on the University of Minnesota in 2010 and later two full seasons in 2014 and 2015.
Gibis has been a full-time resident of L.A. for years, however he nonetheless enjoys journeys residence for Vikings video games and to go to with household, together with niece Alicia Dreyer, the Vikings Creative Director of Brand & Design.
Dreyer recalled procuring together with her sister and fogeys to select the proper Vikings-themed items – one 12 months fulfilling his particular request of a automotive flag – to ship to Uncle Tom in California for the Vikings watch events in his storage.
“He’s always been the fun uncle. He’s always been very charismatic, and we’d get so excited whenever Uncle Tom come to town,” Dreyer mentioned. “He’d take us out to the mall to have lunch and shop for relatives, and it was always the best day.”
To Dreyer, he is an superior uncle. But to numerous others, together with Vikings teammates Lewis Cine, Olisaemeka Udoh and Joejuan Williams, Gibis represents a beloved character from one in all their favourite tv sequence.
“It’s a show that’s known worldwide, that’s watched by all kinds of people,” Cine mentioned. “I love the show because it has a combination of action, comedy and drama. It’s real-world [issues and scenarios] but in anime form and with added superpowers and cool stuff.”
Cine and his Vikings teammates are accustomed to followers asking them for pictures and autographs. When Gibis attended coaching camp, nevertheless, the tables had been turned.
Despite a tough apply on a moist afternoon, Cine and Williams gained a childlike burst of power after they noticed Gibis, operating excitedly over to fulfill him.
“Aww, man. What a drag,” Gibis mentioned in character, referencing one in all Shikamaru’s frequent strains.
Cine and Williams laughed in disbelief, listening to Shikamaru come to life earlier than their eyes.
“When he did the voice, it brought back all my memories of watching it,” Cine mentioned. “It was so great.”
Added Williams: “Just hearing him, he started going into character a little bit, and of course he sounds exactly him, so it was definitely dope.”
Gibis first realized of Cine’s fandom when the security talked about Naruto throughout a press convention this previous spring.
Cine famous that he’d binge-watched the sequence all through his restoration from a damaged leg suffered at London final season.
“Anime has always been an interest of mine,” Cine mentioned, “but at the time of that injury, I really dived into Naruto. I tried to stay around football as much as possible, but sometimes I needed a break, and watching Naruto was a mini escape. It felt good. My mental space was right, and I could [connect] with my inner child, in a way.”
Williams resonated with Cine, saying he is watched anime since childhood.
“Growing up, that was an escape,” he mentioned. “Watching Old Toonami and Dragon Ball Z. That was huge for me, and it just became a part of my lifestyle, part of my culture.
“And I really like drawing, so I simply cherished sitting there making an attempt to attract the characters whereas it was on TV,” added Williams, who intends to one day travel to Japan to learn even more about the anime culture. “It simply grew to become one thing particular for me.”
Gibis considers it an honor to have been part of Naruto and its loyal fan base for nearly two full decades.
“It’s a distinct segment a part of the leisure business, however those who realize it, they adore it. We’ve received a number of the greatest voice actors, and we put plenty of effort and time into our characters. We actually attempt to make it particular,” Gibis said. “I feel simply by the fan responses and stuff, you possibly can inform that persons are actually into it. It’s a part of their childhood. 18 years. We have youngsters that had been 10 years outdated, and now they’re 28 and nonetheless watch the present.
“This show, I mean, we’ve been on for … 980-some episodes. So they’ve been with us, they’ve been following it, and you get emotionally tied to the characters,” Gibis continued. “Every archetype of a person is in it. My character, Shikamaru, is the lazy kid who never has to study, super smart, never studies but gets an A on the exam. And he sits at the back of the class and complains the whole time. We can relate to this guy. We don’t necessarily like this guy, but we know him and can relate to him.
“Our present additionally offers with loneliness and, I feel we now have navy members who prefer it a lot as a result of it is all about camaraderie,” Gibis added. “The characters are coaching to be ninjas, they need to shield the village. It’s about honor and dignity and loyalty. A variety of nice themes.”
Gibis is proud of the journey that’s taken him from the Twin Cities to Hollywood.
But ultimately, Minnesota will always feel like home – and the Vikings will always be his team.
So when Cine, Williams and Udoh ran to meet Gibis and gushed over his voices and Naruto memorabilia, he felt a little starstruck himself.
“It blows my thoughts that these males, these professional athletes even know who I’m,” he laughed. “When I met Lewis he requested, ‘Can I get an image with you?’ To which I responded, ‘Can I get an image with you?!
“It is absolutely crazy what Naruto means to a whole generation of people. I’m humbled to be a part of that,” Gibis added. “Never, in a million years, would I have thought this path would lead me here.”