151 Seiyuu: From Hirano Aya to Wakamoto Norio

[blkmage]

Something that comes up relatively often is peoples' unfamiliarity with Japanese voice actors and actresses. That's natural, since none of us probably speak Japanese. It takes a lot more effort to recognize voices when you don't know the language. But, I also think that if you enjoyed how someone played their character, it's super helpful to see what other shows they're in.

A while ago, in the seiyuu thread, I jokingly suggested using this neat little song to help familiarize yourself with Japanese voice actors. Well, that's what we're going to do in this thread. We're going to go, one by one, through the list of seiyuu in that song and look at and talk about what they've done. Yes, there are actually 151 of them. No, you won't know them all.

But by the end of this thread, you will. And that's why we're doing this.

The point of this thread is to:

• Introduce you to Japanese voice actors and actresses
• Highlight interesting roles they've performed
• Increase exposure and recognizability so that you can watch out for them in your anime watching

[SIZE="5"]1. Hirano Aya (平野綾)[/SIZE]

Hirano Aya is probably one of the seiyuu that you would recognize even if you're not that into the Japanese side of things. The role that launched her fame into the stratosphere was Suzumiya Haruhi, pictured above. She was pretty phenomenal as Haruhi, but I think the shining moment was her performance of God Knows... in Live Alive. After that, she solidified her voice acting prowess as Konata in Lucky Star, a completely different voice from the boisterous Haruhi.

Beyond that, she's still an extremely popular personality. She continues to get major roles and she's expanded her singing career. Personally, I think she's a good voice actress when she's not typecast as the typical annoying tsundere. One of my favourite roles of hers that isn't Haruhi or Konata is as Etoh Mei in Manabi Straight. Her singing, on the other hand, is fairly hit or miss. Her anime singles are usually pretty good, but I don't really like her actual singing songs.

At this point, she's making moves towards a more mainstream audience, which likely means more singing and TV appearances than voice acting roles. Still, she's got some pretty major roles to fill the voices of, so I wouldn't count on her disappearing anytime soon.

Major roles
The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya (Haruhi Suzumiya)
Death Note (Misa Amane)
Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight! (Mei Etoh)
Lucky Star (Konata Izumi)
Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka (Minato Nagase)
Nijuu Mensou no Musume (Chizuko Mikamo)
Bakemonogatari (Shinobu Oshino)
Fairy Tail (Lucy Heartfilia)
White Album (Yuki Morikawa)
Kimi ni Todoke (Ume Kurumizawa)
Nurarihyon no Mago (Ienaga Kana)

---

So that's the first seiyuu under discussion. I haven't figured out a regular schedule for going on to the next seiyuu yet, so I might post one tomorrow! I might post one next week! I guess it depends on how busy this thread gets. What kind of things should we talk about? Well, talk about performances you liked! Good lines or scenes delivered by the seiyuu? Bad performances?

But please don't just make a list of roles they've played, though. If you liked their performance, I'm sure you can come up with something interesting to say about their performance. If we wanted a list of roles they've done, we can just go to Wikipedia.

As the discussion in the thread goes on, please try to keep in mind the goals of this thread:

• Introduce you to Japanese voice actors and actresses
• Highlight interesting roles they've performed
• Increase exposure and recognizability so that you can watch out for them in your anime watching

Alright, let's go at it.

[goldenspines]

I've sadly only heard Hirano Aya as Haruhi, but I found she fit that role very nicely. I can imagine her doing a good Misa as well. I'll have to look up more of her work to see how it varies (if any).
Also, which anime singles has she done? I'd probably know them if I hear them.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

I don't think Shinobu has talked in Bakemonogatari yet, and I've only seen one episode of Haruhi and it was a while ago, so I can't comment on this.

This is a rad idea, so keep it up though.

[blkmage]

Her anime songs are pretty much OP/EDs for shows she's in or character songs. So like Haruhi's OP, Bouken Desho Desho, was pretty good, but the new Haruhi OP, Super Driver, I didn't like very much. Her ED for Nijuu Mensou, Unnamed World was pretty decent, and if I remember correctly, her songs for White Album were probably alright. Also, her character songs for Lucky Star are probably hilarious.

About Shinobu and Bakemonogatari:
[spoiler]She doesn't end up saying anything, which I find hilarious. So yeah, I guess listing Bakemonogatari was kind of an in-joke.[/spoiler]

[Roy Mustang]

I have to say that I'm not a fan of Death Note, but I did like her voice to Misa Amane, even if Misa annoying as crap!

[font="Book Antiqua"][color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang
[/color][/font]

[Falx]

Also, her character songs for Lucky Star are probably hilarious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_cqg6JcwfI

[AnimeGirl]

Ooh, I gotta check out that song later. Yay, a seiyuu thread! As someone learning Japanese, I'm starting to watch subs as well as dubs, so I can appreciate the anime in both languages, compare who does better. So far, I'm able to recognize 2 different seiyuu. Can't wait to see who shows up in this thread! I wonder if I'll recognize any names of favorites....

[CrystalChalice]

I've heard Hirano Aya in only 3 of her shows, but I have to say that her role as Kurumi in Kimi ni Todoke was quite stellar.

[Atria35]

Aw RIGHT! So glad to see this thread! XD Aya is fantastic. I like her in the majority of her roles. And even though she does get pigeonholed a bit, she can do a little bit of everything. I really liked her as Misa and Ume- I thought she did a fantastic job!

[blkmage]

So, I never bothered to look it up on Nico Nico Douga, but, I'd always suspected that song is a parody of ポケモン言えるかな？ and it turns out it is, which explains a lot I guess.

[ShiroiHikari]

I don't think I've ever heard her before, but I have certainly heard OF her.

In any case, I heartily approve of this thread.

[TheSubtleDoctor]

This is a rad idea, so keep it up though.

Aw RIGHT! So glad to see this thread! XD A

I heartily approve of this thread.

[Nate]

So how long until Aya Hirano gets assaulted by her angry fanbase? Place your bets!

[Cadence]

So how long until Aya Hirano gets assaulted by her angry fanbase? Place your bets!

It is probably happening as we speak.

I admit that Hirano Aya is one of the seiyuu that I heartily dislike. I don't have anything positive to say about her, so I guess I will take my thoughts elsewhere...

[blkmage]

As long as it's interesting, you can talk about seiyuu however you want. This is the talk about seiyuu thread, not the say exclusively good things about seiyuu thread. With 151 of them, I'm sure everyone will run across someone that isn't in their favour.

Also, I feel like Hirano Aya has had a long history of antagonizing her fanbase. Or, at the very least, she has plenty of detractors. She's survived until now, I guess, so these new developments are not exceptionally surprising.

[minakichan]

Thank you! I gotta say I have never understood the idolatry of dub actors-- if you watch a foreign movie dubbed into English, you never pay attention to who's voicing over the famous foreign actor. No one remembers the name of That Guy Who Dubs Jackie Chan in English Adaptations of Hong Kong Movies.

So many people hate Hirano for being a little bit of a princess (and who can forget her hilarious Aya Style:


I really LIKE that though; she's not a suck up, and she cares about being herself, not molding to the image that otaku have of her. She's unapologetic of not being pure and innocent and a little bit selfish, and I think that's better than pretending that she's a virginal maiden who can't live without fans thinking that she has no moral faults or that she fits their fantasies perfectly.

I love her though. Her voice has so much vibrancy and personality that you don't see in the spunky girls played by other characters-- she's not pure and bubbly, she's a little rough around the edges and frankly insane. I think one of the best illustrations of this (although Haruhi is epitomal) was actually her role as a side character in Kimi ni Todoke. A lot of shoujo manga have the trope of the sweet-acting two-faced liar girl who pretends to be the main character's friend, and there's a standard way of playing that-- sugary sweet. Hirano's performance was syrupy but didn't feel like smoothly refined syrup; she has a little tilt to her voice that makes her sound more natural, like a character who has some impurities.

I guess I like the spunky spoiled princess type. It's hilarious that all the otaku hate her now for having a love life a la the secondhand Nagi fiasco. So many delusional people thinking they own voice actresses just because they're fans of the character.

[Nate]

I dunno, she seems pretty adamant about quitting voice-acting from what I hear. At the very least, publicly admitting "I was intimate with several men at the same time" is pretty much a career-killer in Japan by my understanding...heck, even admitting to having a boyfriend can be potentially damaging to a career.

No one remembers the name of That Guy Who Dubs Jackie Chan in English Adaptations of Hong Kong Movies.

That's a pretty good point, but I think there's a bit more to it than that. Jackie Chan is a real person, and even if someone dubs him, everyone's just going to look and go "It's Jackie Chan!" Since animated people aren't real, there's more of a tendency to look at the voice rather than the character.

This isn't unique to America either. Japan does it all the time too, look at Kingdom Hearts. Most Japanese fans don't care about the original Japanese voice cast, they adore the English dubbing of the game, so much so that the Final Mix version of Kingdom Hearts contains the English voice acting. In fact it seems a few of the International Versions of RPGs contain the English voices, despite the fact that they never get released in English-speaking territories. Japanese idolize dub actors just as much as Americans do.

[blkmage]

I don't think she said that she had gone out with multiple men at the same time, just that she had gone out with guys before, and saying that she had a boyfriend at some point in time only enrages the 2channel otaku folk (like the whole Nagi thing) and not, y'know, the normal people she's trying to increase her profile with.

Also, I feel like KH might be an edge case (Disney properties, JRPGs, etc.). Games aren't exactly the typical domain for seiyuu to get famous, after all. And it certainly isn't true for anime (as in caring about American voice actors), and I'd suspect that it's not true for movies and such (as in, they don't really care about their Japanese dub actor vs. the original actor).

[Nate]

Well, I meant more that Japanese idolize the American dub actors, not their own. And it does happen for anime. I remember reading that the guy who created Hellsing said Crispin Freeman was a way better Alucard than whoever did him in Japanese. That's probably not the norm, but it happens.

As far as the Hirano thing, the article I read said that in the interview she admitted she dated several men at one time. This may be a translation thing. I don't speak Japanese, so even though I can watch the interview I obviously won't know what she's saying and can only say what the people who do speak Japanese have said that she said.

And oh yeah I know that the 2ch people are creepy otaku with no lives who are praying for her death, but with a backlash of otaku I would think it wouldn't be profitable to have her in anime anymore thus why I said she's probably pretty much done as a seiyuu (even if she's not officially quitting, but she seems to not wanna do it anymore, and with an unpleasable fanbase hey, who can blame her honestly).

[blkmage]

The article I read seems a lot more evenhanded than the article you read, which I'm assuming is that site that has a history of not liking Hirano Aya very much, in its assessment and didn't mention anything about multiple dudes. As for her career change, the article mentions a comparison to Shouko Nakagawa and a movement to more mainstream shows rather than remaining in the typical otaku fodder shows.

[minakichan]

I think that even if Hirano had just said that she's been experienced with men, it'd be a reason for otaku to call her a slut. Haruhi's no Mio, but she's still idolized, and when Hikasa Yoko started simply wearing a ring, otaku accused her of damaging Mio's name for, you know, POSSIBLY being involved with a man. And then there's the whole Nagi fiasco.

I think there's no reason to believe that Hirano couldn't get a seiyuu gig again if she wanted though (Kizumonogatari~?); having a diminished fanbase and being a bit washed up isn't the same as being actively undesirable. I imagine she has plenty of reasons for wanting to get out of the business though, because frankly, being in a more mainstream realm will mean that her fans will probably consist of a smaller percentage of crazies. At any rate, I think her kind of personality is suited to an industry where she doesn't have to be associated with a specific character (and thus be implicitly expected to BE like that character).

[Roy Mustang]

After reading all this, I have to say this.

And I thought our media was bad about knowing very really detail an actor does or what the fans think of he or she.


It kind of looks like its worst over there then it is here. But I guess that is not shock, when this coming form the land of otakus and they will turn on you in a minute.


[font="Book Antiqua"][color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang[/color][/font]

[Yamamaya]

*places a bet as to when the pic minaki posted will get deleted*

I do like her roles quite a lot and she's hot. Her voice is just absolutely hilarious.

I had no idea about all this otaku rage at her although I can't say I'm that surprised. I must say that this obsession otaku male have with her remaining, "pure" is simply retarded. But then again, this is kind of a hang up issue for many men in Japan it seems.

I'm not trying to justify their actions though. Applying such standards to seiyuus is not only unrealistic but also selfish.

[Wyntre Rose]

Oh good! When the favorite roles of such-and-such Voice Actor started popping up, I was tempted to start some for seiyuu as well, but haven't had the time recently to really do a lot of posting. Very ambitious idea to go through all the seiyuu in that song!

As for Aya - I very rarely like her characters themselves, but it's never because of her performance of them. Haruhi is an entertaining catalyst for her story, but wow she drives me nuts. And Misa is definitely my least favorite Death Note character. But, I think that Aya portrayed both of those characters really well, and I loved her singing as Haruhi Suzumiya!

It is too bad about how hateful her fandom has gotten recently, but Miyano Mamoru got a lot of hate when people found out he and his fiancee were having a baby, too, and he's still around. I think it'll probably blow over.

As for why Americans are more obsessed over our dub actors than other countries...I don't know about the rest of the world, but looking at ANN, a lot of anime seiyuu in Japan do dubbing for the American movies that make it over there. Some seiyuu are even assigned a specific American actor they always dub for. I believe Daisuke Namikawa (Fai, Italy, To Eigetsu) dubs Elijah Wood's roles, for example. So, since they are already popular as seiyuu, it's probably not strange that they aren't as well known for their dubbing. Not saying that ALL dubbing of American movies are done by seiyuu, but it does seem to be a trend.

[Yamamaya]

A few fans have even threatened to kill her.


Her wikipedia page was of course sacked and replaced with the word die repeated a few thousand times.

*facepalm*

[minakichan]

*places a bet as to when the pic minaki posted will get deleted*

It's a SWIMSUIT, good grief. Girls in Disney movies wear less than that.

As for why Americans are more obsessed over our dub actors than other countries...I don't know about the rest of the world, but looking at ANN, a lot of anime seiyuu in Japan do dubbing for the American movies that make it over there. Some seiyuu are even assigned a specific American actor they always dub for. I believe Daisuke Namikawa (Fai, Italy, To Eigetsu) dubs Elijah Wood's roles, for example. So, since they are already popular as seiyuu, it's probably not strange that they aren't as well known for their dubbing. Not saying that ALL dubbing of American movies are done by seiyuu, but it does seem to be a trend.

Assigning one voice actor to do all the roles for a particular foreign actor happens in the US as well (i.e. Jackie Chan guy). But seiyuu magazines in Japan (yes, they exist) ONLY care about seiyuu in domestic anime and manga, so there isn't that kind of idolatry over them voicing over characters in another country's movies. The only except to that I have ever seen is when Tegoshi Yuuya voice acted Mumble in Happy Feet (note: also an Elijah Wood role), and that's because Tegomass also sang the Japanese theme song, and he's known as an actor and and idol, not a voice actor. (The American counterpart would be Christian Bale playing Howl or similar things in Ghibli movies, which I understand better.)

[Yamamaya]

It's a SWIMSUIT, good grief. Girls in Disney movies wear less than that.

I wasn't complaining. Only placing a bet.

[ich1990]

It seems like the overwhelming majority of those voice actors are female. So, I was wondering how these VA's were selected for this list. Is it based on popularity? Is this an accurate cross-section of the business?

Also, I didn't hear Jouji Nakata mentioned, did I miss something or is this list dreadfully incomplete?

Finally, I know nothing about VA's so I think I will find this thread quite fascinating. Would it be possible, blkmage, for you to employ your expertise towards finding a sample or youtube video that would allow us to hear these VA's as well as read about them?

[minakichan]

It seems like the overwhelming majority of those voice actors are female. So, I was wondering how these VA's were selected for this list. Is it based on popularity? Is this an accurate cross-section of the business?

Well, there are more famous female seiyuu because they can do male and female roles, whereas men can very rarely do female roles...

I imagine that the list being mosty female has to do with the fact that more hardcore Japanese otaku are rather female-centric though.

[blkmage]

I imagine that the list being mosty female has to do with the fact that more hardcore Japanese otaku are rather female-centric though.

Pretty much this. The list itself is probably heavily weight towards popularity and probably contains a healthy dose of recency bias. Also, the list will be incomplete because there are obviously more than 151 notable seiyuu in the business and it's based on the Japanese equivalent of the Pokérap.

Also, I thought about finding voice samples, but realized that I already spend an inordinate amount of time just finding suitable pictures and thinking about things to say, so finding or creating video is probably not going to be a cost-effective way of spending my time.