【 Sore Ga Seiyu • Love Get Chu • Rec • Koe De Oshigoto 】

For this 3rd episode, I try to innovate a little by gathering series around one theme. Today, seiyūs* are in the spotlight with 3 anime highlighting this craft.

* Seiyū : voice actor

Quick Ride? Every weekend is the occasion to enlarge my otaku resume, watching a good amount of animes. I select a little more than half a dozen, randomly, then I purge the whole as in American Idol. Animes who pass this first casting are generally those who manage to convince me to view beyond the first 3 minutes… The following article is a collection of my first impressions, without filter or censorship. Good reading!

Seiyu’s Life! (2015)

それが声優! (Sore ga seiyu!)

Synopsis (myanimelist) : Dreaming of becoming a top-tier professional in the fast-paced, competitive world of voice acting, rookie Futaba Ichinose frantically scurries around, searching for auditions and performance sessions. Rubbing elbows with some of the biggest names in the industry, she tries to find her own unique voice and style.

Along the way, she befriends two important allies: Ichigo Moesaki, an aspiring idol who claims to be a princess from another planet, and Rin Kohana, a cheerful child actress who tries her best to balance her career and school at the same time. Together, the girls brave the ups and downs of the entertainment industry.

My review : I was afraid not to love this anime because of its kawaii aspect, both in the drawings and in the attitude of the characters (with 3 girls as main characters, I saw the kawaii train coming…). But the content is far from being girly-cheesy : through the characters, we discover the ups and downs, the doubts, the dreams of glory, the failures of an aspiring seiyu.

The highlight of this series is undoubtedly its informative and even pedagogical approach to the voice acting industry. Behind the scenes are unveiled : recording studio, actors agencies, role casting, interactions with producers, other actors, veterans or novices.

Another pro : the appearance of real life seiyu as guests! Among these actors, I especially noticed Hiroshi Kamiya, the man of a thousand voices (Akashi in Kuroko No Basuke, one of my favorite anime… Or Captain Levi in Shingeki no Kyojin).

Love Get Chu (2006)

ラブゲッCHU (Rabu Gē CHU)

Synopsis (myanimelist) :
Five girls came to a training school to become voice actresses holding each thought in her mind. Momoko – she wanted to be a voice actress to meet her favorite voice actor. Rinka – she is an armature voice actress, but she didn’t have special purpose to become voice actress. Yurika – she likes anime very much. Tsubasa – she was a girl in love, and acted only as a boy. Amane – she found a deadlock as a actress and tried to find another way. They managed to get over the difficulty to become voice actress although they couldn’t perform as main characters yet. There is a love romance with a boy works for an anime company, and you can catch a glimpse of situations of anime industries.

My review : the beginning of the first episode is narrated by a young man, on a pop-jazzy audio background. But after 29 seconds, the bomb is dropped : “here is the story of a group of girls wanting to become seiyu”. If I feel like it, I will make a detailed article on why I can’t stand female characters in japanese animation but to briefly explain, women = dumbo combo 80% of the time.

It turns out later on – as I had foreseen – that those five protagonists are all caricatures. However, I have to admit it’s not heavy and doesn’t ruin the story. I even think it’s the kind of anime that can turn out to be interesting from episode 2 or 3. That said, I wasn’t really hooked up in the first place so in my case, Love Get Chu is a no thanks.

Rec (2006)

レック, (Rekku)

Synopsis (myanimelist) : Fumihiko Matsumaru is an average salaryman with no girlfriend. He invited his colleague Miss Tanaka to a movie but was stood up. Right at the time he was about to toss tickets into a trash can, a cute girl appeared and asked him not to waste those two tickets. After movie and dinner, he escorted her home and found they live in the same neighborhood, yet unfortunately her apartment caught on fire hours later.

Having nowhere else to stay, rookie seiyuu Aka Onda moved to Matsumaru’s place, and the two had started a “more than friend but not yet lovers” relationship under the same roof while keeping this secret from their employers.

My review : A somewhat deeper approach, probably due to the realistic trait of the characters along with the dramatic and romantic context. After two episodes, my opionion is rather neutral : the series has potential (relationship between Fumihiko and Aka, state of mind of a budding seiyu…) but for now, nothing transcendent. Strong point : episodes are short (about 10 minutes) but effective…

Koe de oshigoto! (2010)

Koe de Oshigoto! (こえでおしごと!) trans: “work with voice”

Synopsis (wikipedia) : Koe de Oshigoto! is a story about Kanna Aoyagi, a sixteen-year-old girl who was asked to become a voice actress for eroge by her older sister on Kanna’s sixteenth birthday. Kanna does not want to become a voice actress at first, but after she thinks about all of the things her sister did for her when she was growing up, and knowing that she owes her, she finally agrees.

However, Kanna is still very nervous about being a voice actress for such games. As the story progresses, she becomes more and more comfortable with the requirements of the job. She is helped along by both her coworkers and a classmate who also does work on eroge in his spare time.

My review : … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …

This 112 ellipsis marks aren’t because I’m acting like a pure, shy and innocent virgin before an erotic anime but because I don’t know what to think. What I like about this anime is the fact that it’s not “sleazy”: although sex is THE subject, we are not in a perverse, glaucous or whatever atmosphere.

Quite the opposite, the anime has a “slice of life” approach with cute or funny scenes. “Filthy” words such as d!ck, pu$$y or p€nis (yeah, even p€nis…) are censored and the male organ is replaced by a rainbow of bubbles. However, precisely when you start to think “oh, alright, this is not weird hentai”, there is… the scene. The kind of scene that makes you say :

Can you read on Kanye’s lips?

Globally, I would say Koe De Oshigoto is nice to watch, sometimes leaves you perplexed but does not fall into creepiness (is that a valid word?). Moreover, it’s an original approach to the profession of seiyū.

That’s all folks,

Chrys Prolls