History PromotedFanboy / AnimeAndManga

** [=SungWon=] "Creator/ProZD" Cho, a ''Pokémon'' fan to the point of hiring Ash's original VA Creator/VeronicaTaylor for one of his sketches, got the chance to voice Mustard in the English dub of ''WebAnimation/PokemonTwilightWings''.

* Kanetake Ebikawa won a design contest for ''Manga/MobileSuitCrossboneGundam''; now he's become famous for his work on ''Anime/EurekaSeven'', ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'', and ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam00''. It even came full circle when he got to work on ''Crossbone Gundam Ghost'', a sequel to the story that helped launch his career.

** Rather subverted by good ol' Creator/VicMignogna (alias the number-one fan of [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Ed Elric]]). [[{{Pun}} Don't ever dare call him "shorty"]].

** Jennifer "Jen" Silverman is another longtime fan of ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' who became a part of it. She got to be the voice of Sora Pearse (Sora Shiunin in Japanese) in ''VideoGame/YuGiOhDuelLinks'' and Asana Mutsuba in ''Anime/YuGiOhSEVENS'' and ''VideoGame/YuGiOhRushDuelDawnOfTheBattleRoyale''. Being an avid cosplayer, she also recently began cosplaying as her characters.

* Creator/MattShipman is one of the few voice actors who actually plays the ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh'' card game. He later got to play Shay Obsidian (Shun Kurosaki in Japanese) in ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV''.

** Rather subverted by good ol' Creator/VicMignogna (alias the number-one fan of [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Ed Elric]]). [[IncrediblyLamePun Don't ever dare call him "shorty"]].

Many, possibly the majority, of well-known mangaka got their start writing doujinshi; typically starting with fan fic before moving on to original work. Notable examples below.
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* Creator/XantheHuynh was [[https://twitter.com/ItsXanthor/status/1350306439953203202 a long-time fan]] of Manga/KurokosBasketball before she was cast as Momoi in the 2021 English dub.

** Famous voice actor Creator/TakehitoKoyasu is a long-time ''Anime/MobileSuitGundam'' fanboy. In the early '90s, he had a minor supporting character role in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamF91 Gundam F91]]''... and few years later, he voiced [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Zechs Merquise]], [[Anime/TurnAGundam Gym Ghingham]] and [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeed Mu La]] [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny Flaga]].

*** Though he plays the trope straight in a different area -- he recently directed an episode of ''Star Trek Phase 2''.

** When Creator/VIZMedia acquired the rights to the [[DuelingDubs redub]] of ''Manga/SailorMoon'', Creator/AmandaCelineMiller, a longtime fan of the series, auditioned for every female character for a chance to be a part of the show. She was ecstatic when she was chosen to play Sailor Jupiter, her favorite character in the series. Same goes to Creator/CristinaValenzuela (Sailor Mars), Creator/CheramiLeigh (Sailor Venus), and Creator/LaurenLanda (Sailor Neptune) who were also fans of the series and were overjoyed when they became cast as part of the show.

* Shiori Teshirogi, the author who writes the ''Manga/SaintSeiya: The Lost Canvas'' manga, is actually a {{shoujo}} author who once met Creator/MasamiKurumada. ''Saint Seiya'' was always her favorite series and she jumped at the chance of making a new story when Kurumada pitched the idea to her, and what was originally thought to end up being a rather brief series has exploded in popularity. To put it simply, she is writing a non-canon doujin, getting ''paid'' for it, ''and'' getting an OVA deal for it. Not bad for someone's first {{shonen}} story.

* Arisa Ando, a voice actress active during the 1980s and 1990s (her notable roles include Kyoko in ''Plawres Sanshiro'' and Sandy in ''Anime/TheNoozles''), became interested in a voice acting career after getting hooked on ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato'' and ''[[Creator/IkkiKajiwara Samurai Giants]]'' reruns as a teenager. (Notably, ''Yamato'' veteran Noboru Ishiguro also worked on ''Noozles.'') At one point, Ando considered becoming an animator herself, and even took a part-time job coloring cels while she was already working as a seiyuu.

* Creator/StudioGainax, who got their start by producing a well-known pair of independent anime shorts (the opening animations for ''Anime/DaiconIIIAndIV'') for a Japanese science fiction convention in 1981 and 1983.

* Arisa Ando, a voice actress active during the 1980s and 1990s and known for roles such as Kyoko in ''Plawres Sanshiro'' and Sandy in ''Anime/TheNoozles'', was a huge fan of ''Anime/SpaceBattleshipYamato'' and ''Anime/SamuraiGiants'' growing up, inspiring her to go into voice acting. She even considered pursuing an animation career and, even after becoming established as a seiyuu, had a part-time job coloring animation cels.

* Kiyohiko Azuma, creator of ''Manga/AzumangaDaioh'' and ''Manga/{{Yotsuba}}'', started out doing doujinshi based on various shows, including ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'', ''Battle Athletes Victory'', and ''Franchise/SailorMoon''. He even wrote erotic doujinshi under the pseudonym Joji Jonokuchi.
* Eiichiro Oda, author of ''Franchise/OnePiece'', was a massive ''Manga/DragonBall'' fan; heck, he loved all of Creator/AkiraToriyama's works, and that's what inspired him to become a manga artist. Eventually, he ended up working at ''Shonen Jump'', the same magazine that ''Dragon Ball'' was published in, and even collaborated with Toriyama on a ''DBZ/One Piece'' [[Manga/CrossEpoch crossover manga]].

* Creator/MatthewMercer is a longtime fan of ''Franchise/JoJosBizarreAdventure''. In 2014, he landed the leading role of ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureStardustCrusaders Stardust Crusaders]]'', Jotaro Kujo. This is also the case for Jotaro's Japanese voice actor, Creator/DaisukeOno.
** Mick Lauer was a huge fan of ''[=JoJo=]'' for almost 30 years—to the point where he made his own part on Youtube called ''Blood Sun Vendetta''. He ended up being cast as Leone Abbacchio in the English dub of ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureGoldenWind Golden Wind]]'', a dream come true for him.

* Creator/AtsumiTanezaki entered the voice acting industry because she was impressed by the voice acting on ''Anime/SailorMoon'', which she watched as a kid. She would later have roles in two MagicalGirl anime by Toei, who created ''Sailor Moon'': ''Anime/DokiDokiPrettyCure'' and ''Anime/PopInQ''.

** Following Daisuke Ono's footsteps is Creator/FairouzAi, Jolyne's seiyuu in the ''[[Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureStoneOcean Stone Ocean]]'' anime adaptation in which the ''[=JoJo=]'' series as a whole inspired her to pursue voice acting, in which she was introduced to the world of manga and anime from discussing it with her friends via Skype calls. The first part she read was ''Stone Ocean'', and she dreamed one day to voice the character Foo Fighters. Come 2021, and she's instead been cast as ''[[UpToEleven the main character]]'' Jolyne Cujoh- whom she also wanted to play and considers a long-time role model for her. As she said in an interview, translated by the [[https://jojowiki.com ''JoJo's Bizarre Encyclopedia'' Wiki]]:

* Atsumi Tanezaki entered the voice acting industry because she was impressed by the voice acting on ''Anime/SailorMoon'', which she watched as a kid. She would later have roles in two MagicalGirl anime by Toei, who created ''Sailor Moon'': ''Anime/DokiDokiPrettyCure'' and ''Anime/PopInQ''.

* Samual Sattin (American author and writer) is a huge fan of Creator/OsamuTezuka (especially ''Manga/{{MW}}'' and ''Manga/{{Unico}}''). When he got notified by a former worker of [[Website/{{Crunchyroll}} Crunchyroll Japan]] that Tezuka Productions had been expressing interest on reviving the ''Unico'' franchise. Sattin immediately used his Visa Card to travel to Japan [[note]] [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic Due to COVID concerns]], Japan is currently closed to foreigners. Sattin decided to fly to Japan from a different airport or private jet.[[/note]] during the Spring of 2021 to pitch his idea. After pitching his idea, members of the company instantly loved Sattin's vision on a new Unico Manga which made him ecstatic. During his stay in Japan, he meet Creator/{{Gurihiru}} where they discussed plans on the manga. In late April 2022, Tezuka Productions alongside Octas Inc. announced the return of Unico with a new manga officially named ''[[Manga/UnicoAwakening Unico: Awakening]]''. Sattin actually became the writer of the upcoming manga with Gurihiru as the illustrators.

* Samual Sattin (American author and writer) is a huge fan of Creator/OsamuTezuka (especially ''Manga/{{MW}}'' and ''Manga/{{Unico}}''). When he got notified by a former worker of [[Website/{{Crunchyroll}} Crunchyroll Japan]] that Tezuka Productions had been expressing interest on reviving the ''Unico'' franchise. Sattin immediately used his Visa Card to travel to Japan [[note]] [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic Due to COVID concerns]], Japan is currently closed to foreigners. Sattin decided to fly to Japan from a different airport or private jet.[[/note]] during the Spring of 2021 to pitch his idea. After pitching his idea, members of the company instantly loved Sattin's vision on a new Unico Manga which made him ecstatic. During his stay in Japan, he meet Creator/{{Gurihiru}} where they discussed plans on the manga. In late April 2022, Tezuka Productions alongside Octas Inc. announced the return of Unico with new manga officially named ''[[Manga/UnicoAwakening Unico: Awakening]]''. Sattin actually became the writer of the upcoming manga with Gurihiru as the illustrators.

** [=SungWon=] "Creator/ProZD" Cho, a ''Pokémon'' fan to the point where Ash's original VA Creator/VeronicaTaylor appeared in one of his sketches, got the chance to voice Mustard in the English dub of ''WebAnimation/PokemonTwilightWings''.

** [=SungWon=] "Creator/ProZD" Cho, a ''Pokémon'' fan to the point where Ash's original VA Creator/VeronicaTaylor appeared in one of his sketches, got the chance to voice Mustard in the English dub of ''Anime/PokemonTwilightWings''.

* The [=HeartGold/SoulSilver=] miniarc in ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'' had Lyra's friend Khoury voiced in the dub by Chris "[[WebAnimation/{{TOME}} Kirbopher]]" Niosi. Though she was already a promoted fangirl by the time she made her mark, Creator/CristinaValenzuela as Layla also counts.
** In ''Anime/PokemonOrigins'', we have Creator/ChristineMarieCabanos (Reina), Creator/KyleHebert (Prof. Oak), and to an extent Creator/BrycePapenbrook (Red). Cristina also makes an appearance in this special, voicing Cubone.

** Mick Lauer was a huge fan of ''[=JoJo=]'' for almost 30 years—to the point where he made his own part on Youtube called ''Blood Sun Vendetta''. He ended up being cast as Leone Abbacchio in the English dub of ''[[Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureVentoAureo Golden Wind]]'', a dream come true for him.

** On a similar note, Creator/KiraBuckland is a massive ''[=JoJo=]'' fan who cosplays as Jolyne, a chracter she considered to be her dream role. She got to fulfill that dream in the English dub of ''Stone Ocean''.