2008 Annual Seiyu Awards

[Tri-ring]

Hello everyone,

I signed up to inform that the Second Annual Seiyu(Voice actor) Award" is collecting general votes for your favorite voice actors and voice actresses.
The catagories are;

主演男優賞 (Lead male award)
主演女優賞 (Lead female award)
サブキャラクター男優賞 (Sub character male)
サブキャラクター女優賞 (Sub character female)
新人賞男優賞 (New male voice)
新人賞女優賞 (New female voice)
歌唱賞 (Voice actor/actress with most singing talent)
パーソナリティ賞 (Personality award)

Here is the link for voting;

http://www.seiyuawards.jp/voting.html
I understand most are not able to understand Japanese but I do not think there is no reason why you can not show your patronage towards the art form you like.
I think it also shows to the people within the industry how much their industry is supported around the world.
So why not sign up?

[Kaioshin Sama]

Well, here's who I went for:

Male Lead: Katsuyuki Konishi
Female Lead: Rie Kugimiya

Supporting Male: Nobuyuki Hiyama
Supporting Female: Shizuka Itou

New Male: Tetsuya Kakihara
New Female: Aya Endo

Singer: Rie Kugimiya (because honestly I couldn't think of anyone else to put. This is essentially a meanlingless vote, as I don't think she's a particularly good singer)

Personality: Shinichiro Miki

[Honey_and_Cleaver]

Best Male: Daisuke Ono

For Supporting Male: Juniichi Suwabe or Daisuke Ono

Personality: Shinichiro Miki or if hes too old already, Junichi Suwabe

Rookie: Mamoru Miyano or Yoshino

For the females, im not good at it, too many good ones.

[Xellos-_^]

so how do we vote?

[neutralizer]

Well, here's who I went for:

Male Lead: Katsuyuki Konishi
Female Lead: Rie Kugimiya

Supporting Male: Nobuyuki Hiyama
Supporting Female: Shizuka Itou

New Male: Tetsuya Kakihara
New Female: Aya Endo

Singer: Rie Kugimiya (because honestly I couldn't think of anyone else to put. This is essentially a meanlingless vote, as I don't think she's a particularly good singer)

Personality: Shinichiro Miki

I can agree with most of this except I think Aya Hirano is a pretty good singer for a seiyuu.

[RavenHawk]

I went for:

Lead Male - Mamoru Miyano
Lead Female - Ayako Kawasumi

Sub male - Nobuyuki Hiyama
Sub female - Kana Ueda

New Male - (skipped)
New Female - (skipped)

Singing - Rie Tanaka
Personality - Mamiko Noto

[aolas]

male lead : tomokazu sugita
female lead : kugimiya Rie
sub male : daisuke ono
sub female : kana ueda

[GoldAlchemist]

Shouldn't it be something like Katou Emiri (Hiiragi Kagami @ Lucky Star)?

I'm pretty sure we're not voting for lifetime achievement award. :)

[Pellissier]

Lead male award: Satoshi Hino
Lead female award: Kugimiya Rie

Sub character male: Suwabe Junichi
Sub character female: Shizuka Itou

New male voice: Miyano Mamoru
New female voice: Katou Emiri

Voice actor/actress with most singing talent: Horie Yui
Personality award: Paku Romi (female) or Suwabe Junichi (male)

Honorable mentions for Nakahara Mai and Mamiko Noto (lead female), Tanaka Rie and Takahashi Mikako (sub char. female), Kanae Ito (new female).

[Furudanuki]

Is there a list somewhere of who is eligible for the "New Male/Female Voice" categories?

[minhtam1638]

I should tell you know that Rie Kugimiya does sing. It's limited to those girly peppy songs that talk about diaries and stuff, usually to emphasize the character singing it.

If I'm right, I believe she did the ZnT 2 ending song.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Well the 2nd annual seiyuu awards ended pretty much in the same way the first one did, Kadokawa associated stars ruled the day (Kadokawa was the main sponsor of the event) and it just felt kind of hollow. Kadokawa has always struck me as a company looking to protect and promote their interests in anyway possibly so it's a shame. You can read about the Kadokawa factor more here (http://atemonai.blogspot.com/2008/03/2nd-seiyu-awards-results.html) as well as how their interests dominated in the first seiyuu awards. Regardless here are the "winners":

Best male: Miyano Mamoru (Setsuna F. Seiei in Gundam 00) [Kadokawa publishes Newtype Magazine. I like his role as Setsuna, but even I'm not buying this one as fair and square]

Best female: Hirano Aya (Konata in Lucky Star) [Kadokawa made Lucky Star. Expect to see her in this category for a while if Kadokawa can get her in a starring role each year in show based on one of their copyright holdings. Konata was a major role, but there were many that I can think of that are more deserving]

Best supporting male: Kamiya Hiroshi (Tieria Erde in Gundam 00) ([Kadokawa again], Ono Daisuke (Hosaka in Minami-ke) [Kadokawa AGAIN. Again I like Hiroshi's role in 00 and Daisuke Ono in general, but really, come on)

Best supporting female: Kugimiya Rie (Nagi in Hayate no Gotoku!) [Honestly, she should be the Best female of the year. With the amount of leading role work she did and just general effort compared to Hirano alone. If only she were in a Kadokawa show :rolleyes: Also I'm pretty sure Nagi is a leading female role, but she can't possibly be allowed to top Kadokawa's darling so supporting role it is now], Saiga Mitsuki (Kei in Moyashimon) [No idea who she is, but apparently this category was one of few spared]

Best new male: Yonaga Tsubasa (Ren in Oofuri), Hatano Wataru (Sam Houston in Terra e) [I have no idea who either of these people are]

Best new female: Kobayashi Yu (Kaere in Zetsubo-sensei), Katou Emiri (Kagami Hiiragi in Lucky Star) [Well the latter was from Kadokawa again, but the former seems to have just gotten in there on her own. I'm intrigued about this Kobayashi Yu]

Best singer: Motteke! Sailor Fuku by the Lucky Star girls [That was singing?! Again Kadokawa has a vested interest so no shocker. Just a shame for everyone else. Thanks for trying, next time either go Kadokawa or just pray]

Best personality: Suzumura Kenichi [PFffft Hahahahaha! Shinn Asuka won best personality. They really are pulling my leg now with these awards]

Synergy Award: Kamen Rider Den-O(Seki Toshihiko, Yusa Koji, Terasoma Masaki, Suzumura Kenichi) [Seeing as I have no idea what this award even means I just won't comment]

Tomiyama Kei award: Furuya Toru [This goes to the person who showed the most outstanding contribution to furthering the interest of the Seiyuu community. He's also the most famous VA in the Kadokawa interest that is Gundam 00. I love you Tohru and I hope they gave it to you because of your efforts and not for themselves]

Service Award: Nozawa Nachi, Hazama Michio, Kinomiya Ryoko [These are something like lifetime achievement awards, which is pretty cool to add in considering all the glitz and glamour and the idol seiyuu procession that was the main awards]

Special Service Award: Jo Tatsuya [Honourary award]


So yeah, what a big sham in my opinion. You can't really call it an independent or unbiased decision since Kadokawa sat on the panel that deliberated the winners as did other company's with associated nominees in the running. It's a huge kick in the nuts to all the people who voted for the nominees to have everything decided behind closed doors by people who stand to benefit from the recognition the "winners" will get.

[yozaku]

woogh gundam 00 Rulez

[dodgethis_sg]

I spat out my coffee when I read that Sanzenin Nagi was considered a mere supporting female. Guess that's the price you pay for being a Shogugakan lead female. Surprised she's even there in the first place, judging from the bias of the sponsors.

[cicido]

Best male: Miyano Mamoru (Setsuna F. Seiei in Gundam 00) [Kadokawa publishes Newtype Magazine. I like his role as Setsuna, but even I'm not buying this one as fair and square]

Best supporting female: Kugimiya Rie (Nagi in Hayate no Gotoku!) [Honestly, she should be the Best female of the year. With the amount of leading role work she did and just general effort compared to Hirano alone. If only she were in a Kadokawa show :rolleyes: Also I'm pretty sure Nagi is a leading female role, but she can't possibly be allowed to top Kadokawa's darling so supporting role it is now], Saiga Mitsuki (Kei in Moyashimon) [No idea who she is, but apparently this category was one of few spared]

Best singer: Motteke! Sailor Fuku by the Lucky Star girls [That was singing?! Again Kadokawa has a vested interest so no shocker. Just a shame for everyone else. Thanks for trying, next time either go Kadokawa or just pray]

Best personality: Suzumura Kenichi [PFffft Hahahahaha! Shinn Asuka won best personality. They really are pulling my leg now with these awards]


Come on...... At least try to make this seem a little more official.

[Phantasmagoria]

What? Rie Kugimiya..? Best Supporting Female?
Best Female is the right one!

And Motteke! Sailor Fuku (Best singer)?
Is that a joke?

Best Female - Hirano Aya
Hey.. I couldn't believe this.

[qtipbrit]

What? Rie Kugimiya..? Best Supporting Female?
Best Female is the right one!

And Motteke! Sailor Fuku (Best singer)?
Is that a joke?

Best Female - Hirano Aya
Hey.. I couldn't believe this.

The rest of the categories, I don't even know most of them.
Hahahaha!
Supporting female. Well, I guess Kadokawa could say that Hermione was the lead female in Hayate.

Wow. And though Motteke! Sailor Fuku is one of my favourite funsongs, and not just for the laughs, I do believe many others were better.

And even though Aya-sama is very popular, I easily see Kadokawa's influence in the Seiyuu awards. I'm pretty sure she was nominated five times in last year's seiyuu awards as well. (twice in one category)

I'm still quite sad over the lack of Yui Horie and Mamiko Noto wins, though.
Myabe next year.

Oh, and Yukari Tamura.

Ten years (nine for Noto) and they're each still very popular.

[KholdStare]

Dude WTF if Nagi is supporting who is lead female? Maria?!? One of Hayate's crossdressing adventures?!? Let's forget about Rie Kugimiya for now, because they just gave misinformation about an anime just so one of Lucky Star's voice cast can get the top prize. As much as I like Aya Hirano, this is a bit...weird.

And I will agree that while Motteke! Sailor Fuku is a wonderfully fun song, it shouldn't really be there for many reasons.

[Ottocycle]

Oh What The Hell. Whatever happened to nominations?

Meh, to think I was ill-informed as to take the previous one seriously. I can see clearly now. I'm not really inclined towards Kugimiya's acting, but what injustice is putting her as a supporting role in HnG?

Though I would give extra emphasis to Furuya Tohru's current work. He's been jetting around trying to create international interest in the industry much more than the others who just probably appear at, say, US conventions at the behest of their agency. I mean, who's bothered to go to places like Malaysia and China for this?

Regarding the Synergy Award, I think it's probably anything with regards to work outside of the traditional roles of narration, radio, and anime et al, such that it allows seiyuu to have new frontiers in their work. In this year's case, it is tokusatsu.

And this award I also have to strongly agree. Ore, sanjou! was nothing short of groundbreaking.

[Julius Firefocht]

My opinion echos much of what has been said. Best female seiyuu should have been Kugimiya Rie's. And Nagi a support character? That's no less than a travesty!

Aaya is good, and I admire her for her work on Konata, but considering the effort that Rie-chan put into her roles in the past one year, I can't help but feel aggrieved for her. That is coming from a hardcore Haruhiist no less.

Let's hope next year's award would be better.

[Kaioshin Sama]

I knew I wasn't crazy and people would see what I meant. Apparently 2ch is in a bit of an uproar right now with people basically laughing at the whole thing, specifically Aya Hirano's win and the nature of the sponsorship involved.

I'm also a bit torn because I love Gundam 00, but now it feels tainted somehow by this whole borderline scandal. I have to hear Setsuna's voice now and constantly measure whether I think Mamoru Miyano was truly worthy of the award or not. I think he handles the character well, but ehh I don't think that's why he won it.

[cyth]

Whoever sold themselves better won this competition. Same deal as with the Oscars. Hirano Aya can go kiss my ***. Kugyuu~ for life. \o/

[Phantasmagoria]

I knew I wasn't crazy and people would see what I meant. Apparently 2ch is in a bit of an uproar right now with people basically laughing at the whole thing, specifically Aya Hirano's win and the nature of the sponsorship involved.

I'm also a bit torn because I love Gundam 00, but now it feels tainted somehow by this whole borderline scandal. I have to hear Setsuna's voice now and constantly measure whether I think Mamoru Miyano was truly worthy of the award or not. I think he handles the character well, but ehh I don't think that's why he won it.

I am with you, totally.

Whoever sold themselves better won this competition. Same deal as with the Oscars. Hirano Aya can go kiss my ***. Kugyuu~ for life. \o/

There's nothing wrong with the Seiyuus, it is just how the Awards are presented.

[qtipbrit]

My opinion echos much of what has been said. Best female seiyuu should have been Kugimiya Rie's. And Nagi a support character? That's no less than a travesty!

Aaya is good, and I admire her for her work on Konata, but considering the effort that Rie-chan put into her roles in the past one year, I can't help but feel aggrieved for her. That is coming from a hardcore Haruhiist no less.

Let's hope next year's award would be better.I knew I wasn't crazy and people would see what I meant. Apparently 2ch is in a bit of an uproar right now with people basically laughing at the whole thing, specifically Aya Hirano's win and the nature of the sponsorship involved.

I'm also a bit torn because I love Gundam 00, but now it feels tainted somehow by this whole borderline scandal. I have to hear Setsuna's voice now and constantly measure whether I think Mamoru Miyano was truly worthy of the award or not. I think he handles the character well, but ehh I don't think that's why he won it.Whoever sold themselves better won this competition. Same deal as with the Oscars. Hirano Aya can go kiss my ***. Kugyuu~ for life. \o/
Thinking over it a bit, even though I have already acknowledged that other seiyuu deserve the prestigious lead female role that Aya Hirano won, you still have to give her props for her amazing work with Konata. Listen to the last two minutes or so of the her karaoke cover of Sore ga, Ai Deshou (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QoWD6wYcGg) and you'll see how much work she did for the Konata voice.

And again: KUGI-SAMA!!!

[dodgethis_sg]

Okay, I d not condone the fact that, yes, Aya's work was good in Lucky Star. HOWEVER, when you look from the point of view that another company's property main character was reduced to being deemed a supporting role instead, it sorta taints the win.

A good analogy is Friends. Note that all six members of the principal casts have never been awarded a Best Lead Emmy because all six agreed that no one member is bigger than the other and that without each other, they would be nowhere.

[Miko Miko]

no Tamura Yukari.. I think she is amazing.


Well Aya Hirano deserved to win best female.

[KholdStare]

I really think that that Aya Hirano's "win" is less controversial if they didn't put Nagi as a "supporting female." it's really not a matter of who won, but it's shoving Nagi down that angers me.

And by the way, I love Aya Hirano.

[Westlo]

I'm a big fan of Miyano Mamoru but I have more problems with him winning than Hirano tbh. Like Hoshi's Kira from SEED, Mamoru's Setsuna isn't exactly a role which shows his talent. Though like Hoshi it's not his fault, it's more the character/script. Mamoru's Yagami Light and Tamaki from Ouran are by far superior displays of vocal talent than 00's Setsuna. I do like the selection of Kamiya Hiroshi, he's just brilliant as Nozomu Itoshiki in Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.

Anyway Hirano and Jun Fukuyama will win the 3rd seiyuu awards courtesy of the second seasons of Haruhi and Code Geass, they might as well announce them as winners right now.

[Ottocycle]

I really think that that Aya Hirano's "win" is less controversial if they didn't put Nagi as a "supporting female." it's really not a matter of who won, but it's shoving Nagi down that angers me.

And by the way, I love Aya Hirano.
Indeed, for the amount of work she's done as a main(yeah her holy trinity of Shana, Louise and Nagi. I bet there's more which I don't know of.), she gets the award for (presumably) Nena?! Seriously, what?

I guess the only excuse for the committee is probably how she gets out of a typecast...:eyebrow:

I'm a big fan of Miyano Mamoru but I have more problems with him winning than Hirano tbh. Like Hoshi's Kira from SEED, Mamoru's Setsuna isn't exactly a role which shows his talent. Though like Hoshi it's not his fault, it's more the character/script. Mamoru's Yagami Light and Tamaki from Ouran are by far superior displays of vocal talent than 00's Setsuna. I do like the selection of Kamiya Hiroshi, he's just brilliant as Nozomu Itoshiki in Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.

Anyway Hirano and Jun Fukuyama will win the 3rd seiyuu awards courtesy of the second seasons of Haruhi and Code Geass, they might as well announce them as winners right now.
At this rate Miyano's risking getting into the the role of the next Midorikawa Hikaru here in the industry IMO. No matter how his lower tone of voice pleases the fans, he needs more width indeed. A little too bad he kind of failed to impress with Tokimeki Memorial.

And with respect to dibs, I'm calling mine on Sugita Tomokazu and Yukana. If the marketing continues.

[dodgethis_sg]

Indeed, for the amount of work she's done as a main(yeah her holy trinity of Shana, Louise and Nagi. I bet there's more which I don't know of.), she gets the award for (presumably) Nena?! Seriously, what?

I guess the only excuse for the committee is probably how she gets out of a typecast...:eyebrow:
Read the first post again to see which role she took the award for.

[Ottocycle]

Read the first post again to see which role she took the award for.
I stand corrected. It led to me reading the official site to actually see what justifications they made.

Unlike last year, they didn't name the winners with respect to one specific standout role(Academy Awards style).

To add oil to fire, they cited both Nagi and Shana as her notable roles. kthxbai.

[Sheba]

Lobby pressure or not, you gotta admit that Aya's performance as Konata Izumi was impressive.

[Pellissier]

Really, serious lols at Nagi as supporting character. It just shows how much dubious those awards are. I guess they wanted to prize her somehow but since the best female was unavailable at that point, they went with that.

In my opinion Kugimiya Rie was overall fully deserving the main prize for 2007. My alternative would have been Nakahara Mai, just in case. Fact is: I like Hirano Aya, but in 2007 the real only outstanding role she did was Konata, I'd prefer to prize someone who has a small list of great performances, rather than just one (no matter how big).

As for the others, glad that Miyano Mamoru took the best male. Also agreeing to Kamiya Hiroshi's award (not following Gundam 00, but he did spectacularly well as Zetsubou Sensei). Other award that made me glad was Katou Emiri as new female. Kobayashi Yu makes me curious about the concept of "new" since she has quite a long list of anime roles so far, and considering she dubbed Lala in School Rumble (a 2004 series) and starred in several shows of 2006 and before, she doesn't exactly look like a newcomer.
I would have liked an award to Kanae Ito as new female as well. She's Hinamori Amu in Shugo Chara, and I think she indeed has a lot of talent.

My biggest qualm comes from not having Shizuka Itou in the list, as 2007 was certainly the best year in her career. Nadie in El Cazador, Eika in Sky Girls, Chikage in Nagasarete Airantou, Kuroha in Rental Magica, Wilhelmina in Shana the Movie and Shana 2 but above all her magnificent performance as Hinagiku in Hayate no Gotoku, which makes me smile considering the best supporting female went to Hayate no Gotoku anyway, but not to a supporting character. :rolleyes:

[Sorrow-K]

So, wait, are these given for performances or just consistency over a year? Because, if it's the latter, I can't see how an award for supporting roles makes sense.

Anyway, if we're talking about specific roles I'd have given Best female to Kawasumi Ayako for Nodame in Nodame Cantabile and Best supporting female to Itou Miki for Takano Miyu in Higurashi Kai or the slightly lesser known, but still prolific Sawashiro Miyuki for her performance in Red Garden (and Shintani Ryoko was just as good in that anime.) If there were nominations, I'd be interested in seeing who got nods.

I can kinda understand Kugimiya getting recognition for her performance in Hayate no Gotoku, but certainly not for her performance in Shakugan no Shana. She coasts a lot of the time in that. I mean, she's never bad, but I wouldn't say she's ever brilliant either. As for Hirano Aya... yes, she's good in Lucky Star, certainly no question about that. Is she as good as Kawasumi was in Nodame Cantabile? Not in my opinion.

Edit: Inoue Marina. No, I don't think she deserved to win anything in particular, but while we're discussing seiyuu who have had an awesome year...

[Phantasmagoria]

So, wait, are these given for performances or just consistency over a year? Because, if it's the latter, I can't see how an award for supporting roles makes sense.

Anyway, if we're talking about specific roles I'd have given Best female to Kawasumi Ayako for Nodame in Nodame Cantabile and Best supporting female to Itou Miki for Takano Miyu in Higurashi Kai or the slightly lesser known, but still prolific Sawashiro Miyuki for her performance in Red Garden (and Shintani Ryoko was just as good in that anime.) If there were nominations, I'd be interested in seeing who got nods.

I can kinda understand Kugimiya getting recognition for her performance in Hayate no Gotoku, but certainly not for her performance in Shakugan no Shana. She coasts a lot of the time in that. I mean, she's never bad, but I wouldn't say she's ever brilliant either. As for Hirano Aya... yes, she's good in Lucky Star, certainly no question about that. Is she as good as Kawasumi was in Nodame Cantabile? Not in my opinion.

Yea, your own opinion. Precisely the reason why Kawasumi didn't get chosen for Best Female, because it is the judges' opinion, or whoever decides the Awards. I am not saying she's not a great candidate, in fact, one of my favourites. Well, I have to admit, no matter how good Hirano Aya is, there are many other Seiyuus out there with *better* qualifications/performances. [*cough* Ayako *cough*]

Motteke! Sailor Fuku is obviously wrong on many levels, no matter how good it can be.

The thoughts of Kugimiya being the Best Supporting Female still irks me.

[nadare]

erm... I've only read the manga of HnG not the anime so my opinion might be different.

Nagi is both main and supporting character in HnG. The main character is Hayate. So to me it is quite acceptable. From last years winner, it was mentioned Athrun as a best supporting(He should've been a main character too!). Although if she won for Shana as best supporting, then that might've been different.

On anime music alone, I don't think Motteke! Sailor Fuku should've won that category. (I prefered kimikiss' op =/

[-Kh-]

All you people are nothing else but haters.

And expect next year to see the lovely Aya as best Female for third year in a row thanks to Nijuu-Mensou no Musume or Haruhi S2 (if it comes out this year if not there you have it, 2009 for the 2010 award). :naughty:



And Kugimiya Rie as Nagi has been amazing (tho i like her better as Louise and Shana), but same was Mizusawa Fumie as Juliet or Yanase Natsumi as Chihiro (ef - a Tale of Memories) however i don't know who was the main female character in ef, but Chihiro was the most likely (not in the game and novels, but for the anime).

[Ottocycle]

So, wait, are these given for performances or just consistency over a year? Because, if it's the latter, I can't see how an award for supporting roles makes sense.

That's kind of the problem with them now IMO. At least for last year, they actually did it Academy Awards style, with specific stellar roles nominated. For this year the winner just have a name there with a blurb stating their past year's achievements, so it's kind of hard to tell what are they awarded for.

[Westlo]

All you people are nothing else but haters.

And expect next year to see the lovely Aya as best Female for third year in a row thanks to Nijuu-Mensou no Musume or Haruhi S2 (if it comes out this year if not there you have it, 2009 for the 2010 award). :naughty:

1st awards

Best Actor in a leading role = Jun Fukuyama as Lelouch Lamperouge, Code Geass - Lelouch of the Rebellion
Best Actress in a leading role = Romi Paku as Nana Osaki, NANA

[KholdStare]

Indeed, for the amount of work she's done as a main(yeah her holy trinity of Shana, Louise and Nagi. I bet there's more which I don't know of.), she gets the award for (presumably) Nena?! Seriously, what?

I guess the only excuse for the committee is probably how she gets out of a typecast...:eyebrow:

Yeah I like Rie Kugimiya best for acting for my favorite character in Bleach: Karin.

I stand corrected. It led to me reading the official site to actually see what justifications they made.

Unlike last year, they didn't name the winners with respect to one specific standout role(Academy Awards style).

To add oil to fire, they cited both Nagi and Shana as her notable roles. kthxbai.

Wait, so they listed both Nagi and Shana then called it supporting? That's wonderful.

erm... I've only read the manga of HnG not the anime so my opinion might be different.

Nagi is both main and supporting character in HnG. The main character is Hayate. So to me it is quite acceptable. From last years winner, it was mentioned Athrun as a best supporting(He should've been a main character too!). Although if she won for Shana as best supporting, then that might've been different.

In the anime I think there's no doubt she's main. If she's not main, then that just means all anime have only one main character, which claims that Nagisa isn't main in Clannad, Ayu isn't main in Kanon, and Jet/Faye isn't main in Cowboy Bebop.

[frustra]

Like the majority here, I wholeheartedly agree that Kugimiya Rie should have been the best female seiyuu. Her role as the voice Sanzenin Nagi, Kagura, Shana and Neena Trinity has been consistently awesome so far.

[Deathkillz]

My biggest qualm comes from not having Shizuka Itou in the list, as 2007 was certainly the best year in her career. Nadie in El Cazador, Eika in Sky Girls, Chikage in Nagasarete Airantou, Kuroha in Rental Magica, Wilhelmina in Shana the Movie and Shana 2 but above all her magnificent performance as Hinagiku in Hayate no Gotoku, which makes me smile considering the best supporting female went to Hayate no Gotoku anyway, but not to a supporting character. :rolleyes:
Not to mention her awesomeness now in playing shinra sama from kimiaru...tis a shame about this riggy contest :rolleyes:

Never been much of a Kugimiya Rie fan myself as she does tend to always sound the same *sigh* (but surprisingly she is doing a good job in rosario...).

[Sheba]

*raise hand*

I am more a fan of Mamiko Noto and Mai Nakahara. Then Minorin, especially after I heard her as Chiaki in Minami-ke, and Miki Itou (awesome as Takano).

[Phantasmagoria]

Never been much of a Kugimiya Rie fan myself as she does tend to always sound the same *sigh* (but surprisingly she is doing a good job in rosario...).

Not a surpise, just as expected of her :cool:

[Pellissier]

Never been much of a Kugimiya Rie fan myself as she does tend to always sound the same *sigh* (but surprisingly she is doing a good job in rosario...).
Not so surprisingly, Alphonse Elric proved that her voice isn't unilateral. To me, Mizore somehow reminds Alphose, but with a difference traced by her softer and sexier tone. In short, while the two sounds are not far between them, I can hear the fragile femininity in Mizore and the innocent masculinity in Alphonse.
Yup, Kugimiya Rie definitely has a lot of cards to play. That's why I adore her.

Also I second the mention for Miki Itou as Takano Miyo in Higurashi Kai. It was a really tough character to voice, and sure some benefits came from the excellent script, but at least a 50% goes to this seiyuu who really conveyed that part in the best imaginable way.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Anyway Hirano and Jun Fukuyama will win the 3rd seiyuu awards courtesy of the second seasons of Haruhi and Code Geass, they might as well announce them as winners right now.

Considering both are Kadokawa I agree with this assessment. I also agree that Setsuna isn't really a demanding character to play at the moment. He doesn't really have a whole lot of speaking going on. That's part of the reason that makes me annoyed with his win on top of everything else. I DO like the character and the role, but it's not the type that should be winning people the best seiyuu award.

Plus there were much better supporting roles in 00 then Tieria Erde's. If Kadokawa absolutely had to have another one in there then they could have at least gone with Keiji Fujiwara as the decidely vicious Ali-Al Sarchez. Then again Fujiwara is in his mid-late 40's and looks it, while Kamiya is in his early 30's and looks every bit the glamourized pretty boy. I think image played as big a part in all this as did the whodunnit factor.

[Westlo]

Keiji Fujiwara was just amazing as Ladd Russo from Baccano! and I've liked what I've seen from him in Gundam 00 as Ali.

[qtipbrit]

And expect next year to see the lovely Aya as best Female for third year in a row thanks to Nijuu-Mensou no Musume or Haruhi S2 (if it comes out this year if not there you have it, 2009 for the 2010 award). :naughty:

And Kugimiya Rie as Nagi has been amazing (tho i like her better as Louise and Shana).
Yeah, she won best rookie actress last year, not lead female.
And Kugimiya's Shana was also cited in her win at supporting role.
Kobayashi Yu makes me curious about the concept of "new" since she has quite a long list of anime roles so far, and considering she dubbed Lala in School Rumble (a 2004 series) and starred in several shows of 2006 and before, she doesn't exactly look like a newcomer.
My biggest qualm comes from not having Shizuka Itou in the list, as 2007 was certainly the best year in her career. Nadie in El Cazador, Eika in Sky Girls, Chikage in Nagasarete Airantou, Kuroha in Rental Magica, Wilhelmina in Shana the Movie and Shana 2 but above all her magnificent performance as Hinagiku in Hayate no Gotoku, which makes me smile considering the best supporting female went to Hayate no Gotoku anyway, but not to a supporting character. :rolleyes:
I'm not sure how the new/rookie seiyuu works either, as Yu Kobayashi was also a contender for rookie actress in last year's seiyuu awards, and as were Jun Fukuyama and Ami Koshimizu, (haha) along with Tomokazu Sugita.
Yeah I like Rie Kugimiya best for acting for my favorite character in Bleach: Karin.

In the anime I think there's no doubt she's main. If she's not main, then that just means all anime have only one main character, which claims that Nagisa isn't main in Clannad, Ayu isn't main in Kanon, and Jet/Faye isn't main in Cowboy Bebop.
I'm pretty sure she played several roles in Bleach, too. Uh, Nemu and at least one other person who I don't happen to remember.
I also find it funny, especially considering that SHANA was cited as well, considering she's the bloody titular character, too. At least Kadokawa could have said that Hayate and Hermione were the lead male and female because they had their name(s) in the title.
Not to mention her awesomeness now in playing shinra sama from kimiaru...tis a shame about this riggy contest :rolleyes:

Never been much of a Kugimiya Rie fan myself as she does tend to always sound the same *sigh* (but surprisingly she is doing a good job in rosario...).
That's probably because you haven't seen very anime with her. Shana, Louise, and Nagi all sound very similar, and somewhat so in Rosario, but she's had many roles where I didn't notice that she was playing the character until after minutes of hearing her speak (and this is from a Kugi-sama fan, too.)
*raise hand*

I am more a fan of Mamiko Noto and Mai Nakahara. Then Minorin, especially after I heard her as Chiaki in Minami-ke, and Miki Itou (awesome as Takano).
Last year's nominations showed that there was more variety: Ayako Kawasumi, Rie Kugimiya, Houko Kuwashima, Rie Tanaka, Yukari Tamura, Mamiko Noto, Yui Horie all in the running for best actress in a leading role, but this year, I haven't seen the nominated list yet.
I also I agree that both Mai Nakahara and Shizuka Ito had a great year, and deserved at least a nomination.

[Matrim]

Whoever sold themselves better won this competition. Same deal as with the Oscars. Hirano Aya can go kiss my ***.

Quoted for truth.

The funniest thing for me is that the exact two female seiyuu that are prolific enough and whom I can hardly stand won awards, namely Hirano Aya and Kugimiya Rie.

Also I am a great fan of Miyano Mamoru but Setsuna is like the least impressive lead role of his, IMO. Even his role in the rather bad El Cazador allowed for more dramatic performance...but then again El Cazador is an obscure series, so they must have went with the safe bet. Why not give the award to Takehito Koyasu who is amazing in just about each of his roles? I guess he doesn't have a good PR or he is from the wrong agency.

Anyway, if we're talking about specific roles I'd have given Best female to Kawasumi Ayako for Nodame in Nodame Cantabile and Best supporting female to Itou Miki for Takano Miyu in Higurashi Kai or the slightly lesser known, but still prolific Sawashiro Miyuki for her performance in Red Garden (and Shintani Ryoko was just as good in that anime.)

It's quite uncanny how often I agree with you. :D Although I would say that if they wanted to nominate Sawashiro Miyuki it shoudl have been for Blue Drop. As for Red Garden, there the ever reliable Takehito Koyasu and Tanaka Rie had performances worthy of supporting character award but I suspect it was one of those series few people saw.

Considering both are Kadokawa I agree with this assessment. I also agree that Setsuna isn't really a demanding character to play at the moment. He doesn't really have a whole lot of speaking going on. That's part of the reason that makes me annoyed with his win on top of everything else. I DO like the character and the role, but it's not the type that should be winning people the best seiyuu award.

Plus there were much better supporting roles in 00 then Tieria Erde's. If Kadokawa absolutely had to have another one in there then they could have at least gone with Keiji Fujiwara as the decidely vicious Ali-Al Sarchez. Then again Fujiwara is in his mid-late 40's and looks it, while Kamiya is in his early 30's and looks every bit the glamourized pretty boy. I think image played as big a part in all this as did the whodunnit factor.

Well put.

[Ottocycle]

It's quite uncanny how often I agree with you. :D Although I would say that if they wanted to nominate Sawashiro Miyuki it shoudl have been for Blue Drop. As for Red Garden, there the ever reliable Takehito Koyasu and Tanaka Rie had performances worthy of supporting character award but I suspect it was one of those series few people saw.

IMO we're looking at a new-age seiyuu publicizing exercise here, if anything else. All the industry's well known players have most likely been silently agreed to be excluded from this contest, as they have already enough accolades to their name.

Or there could be a slightly darker reason, that being the stigma attached to doing ero-anime/eroge, even if they have done so under an alias. Koyasu Takehito, Seki Tomokazu and Itou Shizuka IIRC qualify under that. I won't be surprised if one of the qualifications to even qualifying is to have a 'clean' history, given the Japanese penchant for such things' need to be untainted. Even though Miyamura Yuuko is a slightly off and exaggerative example, we could look to that as pretty indicative as well.

Oh by the way, my nomination for Best Supporting Female would have been Oohara Sayaka, given her roles in Hasegawa in Moyashimon, Milly in Geass and Alicia in ARIA.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Quoted for truth.

The funniest thing for me is that the exact two female seiyuu that are prolific enough and whom I can hardly stand won awards, namely Hirano Aya and Kugimiya Rie.

Also I am a great fan of Miyano Mamoru but Setsuna is like the least impressive lead role of his, IMO. Even his role in the rather bad El Cazador allowed for more dramatic performance...but then again El Cazador is an obscure series, so they must have went with the safe bet. Why not give the award to Takehito Koyasu who is amazing in just about each of his roles? I guess he doesn't have a good PR or he is from the wrong agency.



It's quite uncanny how often I agree with you. :D Although I would say that if they wanted to nominate Sawashiro Miyuki it shoudl have been for Blue Drop. As for Red Garden, there the ever reliable Takehito Koyasu and Tanaka Rie had performances worthy of supporting character award but I suspect it was one of those series few people saw.



Well put.

Aya Hirano isn't exactly what I'd call prolific, she's just overpromoted to such an extent that it looks like she's done more than she actually has and Kadokawa absolutely adores using her as their own personal success story in marketing. They also had their hands deeper in Lucky Star then a lot of people seem to realize to the point where I'd almost call it their show and not Kyoto Animation's.

[Sorrow-K]

It's quite uncanny how often I agree with you. :D Although I would say that if they wanted to nominate Sawashiro Miyuki it shoudl have been for Blue Drop. As for Red Garden, there the ever reliable Takehito Koyasu and Tanaka Rie had performances worthy of supporting character award but I suspect it was one of those series few people saw.
I just noticed there's a "Synergy Award", which, unless I'm mistaken, appears to go to the best performance from an ensemble cast. I'd strongly argue Red Garden's cast should have been at least considered for that award. The unique approach they took to the voice acting in that anime (ie, recording voices before animating) just allowed the acting to shine, since it took away all the shackles and pressures of being forced to sync with the animation that most anime put on their seiyuu. The dramatic acting in Red Garden is about as good as I've heard, because the actors were just so free to take their roles wherever they wanted, and run. The whole acting performance just had passion and emotion that you don't find in most anime.

The problem with Red Garden getting recognition is that it's not popular to begin with, but one would have hoped that an official award ceremony would have the capacity to see above that... well, in an ideal world, anyway.

[Kaioshin Sama]

I just noticed there's a "Synergy Award", which, unless I'm mistaken, appears to go to the best performance from an ensemble cast. I'd strongly argue Red Garden's cast should have been at least considered for that award. The unique approach they took to the voice acting in that anime (ie, recording voices before animating) just allowed the acting to shine, since it took away all the shackles and pressures of being forced to sync with the animation that most anime put on their seiyuu. The dramatic acting in Red Garden is about as good as I've heard, because the actors were just so free to take their roles wherever they wanted, and run. The whole acting performance just had passion and emotion that you don't find in most anime.

The problem with Red Garden getting recognition is that it's not popular to begin with, but one would have hoped that an official award ceremony would have the capacity to see above that... well, in an ideal world, anyway.

I might be able to explain Kamen Rider Den-O's win too.

First people should just read this in general to see how the anime industry has become more consolidated and self-interested in recent years, but it is also relevant to the point I'm about to make. (http://www.icv2.com/articles/home/10211.html)

Now with regard to Kamen Rider, it is created by Toei, who along with Bandai, a company who through Sunrise has dominated these Seiyuu awards two years in a row along with Kadokawa through Kyoto Animation, (Yes the thought that Sunrise and Kyoani are cousin studios has occured to me and causes me no shortage of pondering about the industry in general) shares stock and interest with Kadokawa. Coincidence? I think not. Considering Kamen Rider is live action acting versus voice over I don't see how it qualifies UNLESS Toei needed a win as well.

[-Kh-]

1st awards

Best Actress in a leading role = Romi Paku as Nana Osaki, NANA

Yeah, she won best rookie actress last year, not lead female.
And Kugimiya's Shana was also cited in her win at supporting role.

My bad, since it was the rookie category. Either way well deserved.

[houkoholic]

Lobby pressure or not, you gotta admit that Aya's performance as Konata Izumi was impressive.

Actually I don't have to admit it. I think Aya's performance as Konata was terrible, and I've listed my reason for it a long long time ago in the Lucky Star Voice Actor thread.

And just for those that kept bringing up the voice change between Konata and Haruhi as some sort of showcase of her skill - I've addressed that too, it is a basic skill that any seiyuu should have, it is not impressive at all.

IMO we're looking at a new-age seiyuu publicizing exercise here, if anything else. All the industry's well known players have most likely been silently agreed to be excluded from this contest, as they have already enough accolades to their name.

Doubt it, individuals never have enough lobbying power here in Japan. They probably have no say whether they like it or not. I'm not even sure they would have been informed about the decisions in the first place.


Or there could be a slightly darker reason, that being the stigma attached to doing ero-anime/eroge, even if they have done so under an alias.

Not true at all, since Goto Yuuko won an award last year for best supporting female as Mikuru in Haruhi, and she's done plenty of eroge. The funny thing is that one such eroge role she played was Kaede of Shuffle (which the anime is owned by Kadokawa), which really makes you go "hmmmm" about Kadokawa's involvement in this award.

They also had their hands deeper in Lucky Star then a lot of people seem to realize to the point where I'd almost call it their show and not Kyoto Animation's.

You don't have to "almost" it, it IS a Kadokawa show. The manga itself is published by Kadokawa, the anime's license is owned by Kadokawa and the R2 DVD released by Kadokawa Pictures, heck the R1 DVD is being published in the states by Kadokawa USA via Bandai Ent. Is that not enough proof that the biggest owner of the show is Kadokawa?

I've stated it multiple times (not sure about here, but most certainly elsewhere), Lucky Star's creative direction has nothing to do with Kyoani and is most certainly being made with strict directives from the top at Kadokawa. I also suspected at the time of the whole change of director for Lucky Star was because Kyoani actually wanted to fight against Kadokawa's manipulative influence on the show's direction but they were forced out due to corporate pressure (ie money and contractual obligations). The original manga which I've read has absolutely no references to Haruhi/Shuffle/Keroro/Full Metal Panic (which were all Kadokawa properties btw), and those references only began to make their way into the anime *after* episode 4 - which was the last episode of the director who left because Kyoani felt he "didn't cut it as a director" - which is strange, as he had hands in many episodes of Haruhi, and who would argue with the effectiveness of the direction of Haruhi?

Anyway, as a general rule, animation houses almost *never* owns the license to the anime show they draw and has the least say in what gets done.

You know for the sake of it I'm going to make a prediction here: Since Haruhi Season 2 is supposedly coming out this year and it is supposedly being based on the Disappearance volume which focuses heavily on Yuki as the main character more so than Haruhi, and if Kadokawa really does have a hand in this award then Chihara Minori will almost certainly win an award next year for her role as Nagato Yuki either as main lead female or supporting female. Also there's the fact that Minorin is involved in some way with the upcoming Kiddy Grade 2 (she already provided the song to the pilot disk last year) - another Kadokawa property. If I'm right then this award is truly a sham and Kadokawa has no shame. As much as I'm a fan of Chihara Minori I hope my prediction is not going to come true.

[SeijiSensei]

Well since this thread is giving us a forum to discuss 2007 seiyuu performances, I'd just like to mention my favorite female performance of last year, one generally overlooked by almost everyone in the anime world, that of Andou Mabuki as Balsa in Seirei no Moribito. She showed remarkable range and modulation in a complex role.

My other favorite female performances of 2007 were Kawasumi Ayako as Nodame and Kuwashima Houko as Shurrei in Saiunkoku Monogatari. Of course, none of these performances is going to gain much recognition in an awards process dominated by marketing rather than artistic concerns.

I don't remember male performances as well (sexist, I know), but I'd give high marks to Seki Tomokazu as Chiaki in Nodame Cantabile, and Sakurai Takahiro as the Medicine Seller in Mononoke.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Actually I don't have to admit it. I think Aya's performance as Konata was terrible, and I've listed my reason for it a long long time ago in the Lucky Star Voice Actor thread.

And just for those that kept bringing up the voice change between Konata and Haruhi as some sort of showcase of her skill - I've addressed that too, it is a basic skill that any seiyuu should have, it is not impressive at all.


You don't have to "almost" it, it IS a Kadokawa show. The manga itself is published by Kadokawa, the anime's license is owned by Kadokawa and the R2 DVD released by Kadokawa Pictures, heck the R1 DVD is being published in the states by Kadokawa USA via Bandai Ent. Is that not enough proof that the biggest owner of the show is Kadokawa?

I've stated it multiple times (not sure about here, but most certainly elsewhere), Lucky Star's creative direction has nothing to do with Kyoani and is most certainly being made with strict directives from the top at Kadokawa. I also suspected at the time of the whole change of director for Lucky Star was because Kyoani actually wanted to fight against Kadokawa's manipulative influence on the show's direction but they were forced out due to corporate pressure (ie money and contractual obligations). The original manga which I've read has absolutely no references to Haruhi/Shuffle/Keroro/Full Metal Panic (which were all Kadokawa properties btw), and those references only began to make their way into the anime *after* episode 4 - which was the last episode of the director who left because Kyoani felt he "didn't cut it as a director" - which is strange, as he had hands in many episodes of Haruhi, and who would argue with the effectiveness of the direction of Haruhi?

Considering I can change my voice like that it's definitely not all that impressive. :heh: I remember your criticism about the way she added unnecessary noises at the end of sentences, but my main criticism was actually that she constantly spoke in a very stunted manner to the point where each syllable was ennunciated and distinguishable. After a while it just got irritating as there was no real reason for the character to speak like that.

And yeah I know all about Kadokawa running the Lucky Star show and the director incident. It took me a while to put two and two together but I did it around episode 12 when they went to the Comifest convention where literally every anime featured was from Kadokawa and a slight exception was allowed to One Piece (Toei is their partner after all). Gundam also came up a bit (Bandai is also their partner) during the rest of the series run. When the characters seem to be borderline obsessed with Kadokawa published (Kagami saying her favourite light novel was Full Metal Panic made me roll my eyes not because I dislike it, but because of the blatant promotional aspect of it) material out of the blue you can all but see their hand in it. I won't even comment on the differences in style in the Karaoke songs when it was a Kadokawa series song being sung.

[rabi_en_rose]

Hmm I'm happy with the turnout. Aya Hirano IS very talented.
And I love how Motteke! Sailor Fuku won, as well.
Sanzenin Nagi did deserve something better than best SUPPORTING female but as for best female I think this year really does go to Aya. Just my opinion though :)

[Ottocycle]

Doubt it, individuals never have enough lobbying power here in Japan. They probably have no say whether they like it or not. I'm not even sure they would have been informed about the decisions in the first place.
I see we agree then. :3

I quote myself:
IMO we're looking at a new-age seiyuu publicizing exercise here, if anything else. All the industry's well known players have most likely been silently agreed to be excluded from this contest, as they have already enough accolades to their name.

In other words, the agreeing is done by the higher-ups, and not themselves. Sorry the grammar is rather iffy, but it's the best way I can think of saying it.

And damn I should've done my research.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Hmm I'm happy with the turnout. Aya Hirano IS very talented.
And I love how Motteke! Sailor Fuku won, as well.
Sanzenin Nagi did deserve something better than best SUPPORTING female but as for best female I think this year really does go to Aya. Just my opinion though :)

As far as I'm concerned at this point they are sharing it. Sanzenin Nagi is a Lead Female and thus Rie Kugimiya earned it fair and square. You shouldn't have to work for a certain company in order to be considered for the award.

This year really didn't go to Aya though, she had maybe 6 roles all year, one of which was notable only for the series exposure and several of which were pretty bad (Garnet in Dragonaut anyone). She was phoning it in for at least half of them in my opinion. By comparison people like Mamiko Noto, Yukari Tamura, Ayako Kawasumi, Rie Kugimiya, Rie Tanaka and Ami Koshimizu were all over the place giving their best. Not once did I feel either of them were pulling a half-assed job.

The thing is that Aya Hirano can't coast on this Kadokawa Haruhi/Lucky Star boom forever, at least not with me. People have to earn their credit from me and she's just not doing that at all. I will go on record as saying that Aya Endo was the astounding cast member of Lucky Star and beyond, she earned a lot of respect from me as a previously unknown actress in 2007. Of the 4 girls she's seen the most work post Lucky Star and she was my nominee for best newcomer over Katou Emiri who I felt was mediocore, but got it because Kagami was pretty much the most popular character in the series. Perhaps if Kadokawa had seen fit to give Miyuki a little more screen time other people who didn't notice her would have. Look for her in Macross Frontier though.

[j1m0ne]

Oh, I'm sure they'll (Kadokawa & friends) find some spot for Hirano Aya in next year's awards, there's the Haruhi sequel (best supporting role?), Kiddy Grade 2 and Zettai Karen Children, which runs in Shonen Sunday published by Shogakukan. They probably won't try to give her best singer (on her own name) or best personality though, cos she has zero case for winning either.

Katou Emiri had the most links to affiliates than any of the other award winners this year IIRC - the Lucky Star factor, an AMG grad, Tokyo Anime Center presenter & JOQR personality. She's done nothing else of note since, unlike Endo Aya, who I'm glad is finally getting the big roles she deserves.

Minorin? I really don't think she deserves any voice acting awards - as much as I love her singing I still don't believe she's proved that she's a particularly good seiyuu, I can't even name a role off the top of my head where I think she truly excelled. If she wins for Nagato Yuki then it would merely confirm what we all already know, that the awards are fixed.

[nadare]

Um... The award is for an individual character and not how many characters a VA did in a year.

Yes Hirano Aya did coast with Lucky Star because it is a 2007 anime. But, it wont be a factor in 2008 anymore.

[dodgethis_sg]

*cough* Haruhi season two *cough*

Somehow or another, she will be considered for as a main character, judging from this round of awards.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Oh, I'm sure they'll (Kadokawa & friends) find some spot for Hirano Aya in next year's awards, there's the Haruhi sequel (best supporting role?), Kiddy Grade 2 and Zettai Karen Children, which runs in Shonen Sunday published by Shogakukan. They probably won't try to give her best singer (on her own name) or best personality though, cos she has zero case for winning either.

Katou Emiri had the most links to affiliates than any of the other award winners this year IIRC - the Lucky Star factor, an AMG grad, Tokyo Anime Center presenter & JOQR personality. She's done nothing else of note since, unlike Endo Aya, who I'm glad is finally getting the big roles she deserves.

Minorin? I really don't think she deserves any voice acting awards - as much as I love her singing I still don't believe she's proved that she's a particularly good seiyuu, I can't even name a role off the top of my head where I think she truly excelled. If she wins for Nagato Yuki then it would merely confirm what we all already know, that the awards are fixed.

Yeah, I also think Minori is kind of bland in her seiyuu roles, she always seems like she's phoning it in , but I do think she is a great singer. It freaks me out how much we have connected on this whole thing. Usually I'm way off in left field compared to just about everybody else on a number of subjects.

@dodgethis_sg: If not Haruhi then they can just upgrade her supporting role in Macross Frontier to a lead one, kind of like how they downgraded Kugimiya. Think of the publicity for Newtype Mag. I can see the headline, "Aya Hirano Grand Slam, Wins Best Newcomer and Best Lead Female Two Years In A Row".

[CrowKenobi]

Man, you can walk on all the hate in this thread... :eyebrow:

If we can get through all the doom, gloom and world ending teeth gnashing, we have an award ceremony that seems to have the same problems a lot of others have when the big sponsor has related properties participating. Is there a perfect solution to this?

I'd also like to know who the voters were...

Now with regard to Kamen Rider, it is created by Toei, who along with Bandai, a company who through Sunrise has dominated these Seiyuu awards two years in a row along with Kadokawa through Kyoto Animation, (Yes the thought that Sunrise and Kyoani are cousin studios has occured to me and causes me no shortage of pondering about the industry in general) shares stock and interest with Kadokawa. Coincidence? I think not. Considering Kamen Rider is live action acting versus voice over I don't see how it qualifies UNLESS Toei needed a win as well.Perhaps a little bit of research (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamen_Rider_Series) would've shown that the Kamen Rider series employ a lot of voice over talent to voice the various monsters that are staples of those series.

Here is why the Synergy award was won by Den-O:
oTJvS-jAH84

:cool:

[mandarb916]

Tis a shame...Hirano Aya isn't really that talented (especially if you consider her singing...lack of intonation and what not). Last year's awards were a little more legitimate imho. Fukuyama Jun imho is a really great CV actor as is Koshimizu Ami and I think it really shows currently, in Wolf&Spice as that's a very dialogue heavy production.

Mizuki Nana last year...well, I didn't follow her last year, but for this year, Astrogation...nuf said...compared to her works, 2007's choice for the same award is just stupid...

Would have liked to see Hirohashi Ryo as one of the award winners as her performance in general is stellar and I think she's really talented in terms of fitting her voice for the appropriate roles too. (I think she'd also be a better tsundere CV than Kugyu tbh...yeah blasphemy i know).

[Sheba]

Man, you can walk on all the hate in this thread... :eyebrow:



Seconded. I am just happy that Daisuke Ono got awarded for his performance as Hosaka.

[Westlo]

I will go on record as saying that Aya Endo was the astounding cast member of Lucky Star and beyond, she earned a lot of respect from me as a previously unknown actress in 2007. Of the 4 girls she's seen the most work post Lucky Star and she was my nominee for best newcomer over Katou Emiri who I felt was mediocore, but got it because Kagami was pretty much the most popular character in the series. Perhaps if Kadokawa had seen fit to give Miyuki a little more screen time other people who didn't notice her would have. Look for her in Macross Frontier though.

She didn't really impress me in Lucky Star but than again I didn't really like her character that much so maybe I was just indifferent to her performance. Those rookie categories are a joke anyway, ignoring that Fukuyama shouldn't be in that bracket anyway how can the best male performer lose the rookie one? You're the best overall but you're not the best rookie! :confused:

Back to Aya Endo I liked what I heard from her as Sheryl in Macross Frontier, her singing has yet to win me over but I liked her vocal work so far, of course it's early stages so far.

[dodgethis_sg]

Well, look at it this way. For her to be chosen to voice the titular idol in a Macross series, she must have hugely impressed the producers of the crew. Not only that, she scored the lead role in Mai Otome Sifr.

[jouttex]

lol, easy way to put it: don't take this seriously. They didn't even put the nominees list for this year..

As much as I love her, Hirano Aya had a great year in 2006, not 2007.. she barely voices anyone after Konata, instead she was busy with photobooks and singles and TV shows and everything else other than seiyuu work.. (-__-) Kugimiya Rie should have won.

And wtf with Motteke! being the best song. Whoever thinks Motteke! is better than Mizuki Nana's Secret Ambition or Minorin's Junpaku Sanctuary should go and check their ears... or heads? Seriously.



2007-wise, someone should really credit Inoue Marina for her hard works... >_<

[Fynal_Fyre]

lol, easy way to put it: don't take this seriously. They didn't even put the nominees list for this year..

As much as I love her, Hirano Aya had a great year in 2006, not 2007.. she barely voices anyone after Konata, instead she was busy with photobooks and singles and TV shows and everything else other than seiyuu work.. (-__-) Kugimiya Rie should have won.

And wtf with Motteke! being the best song. Whoever thinks Motteke! is better than Mizuki Nana's Secret Ambition or Minorin's Junpaku Sanctuary should go and check their ears... or heads? Seriously.



2007-wise, someone should really credit Inoue Marina for her hard works... >_<

Ugh, the Kadokawa "corruption" here is real rife...

QFT that Motekke! Sailor Fuku is nowhere NEAR deserving of the best song in 2007.

I agree with Kaioshin_Sama that Kadokawa is REALLY trying to ride along the Haruhi/Lucky*Star bandwagon, while I admit it can't last forever, they really ARE trying to push it...:eyebrow:

Kugimiya Rie, IMHO, deserves best lead female, I'm not a Hirano Aya hater, but I would like to see some justice done here, to me, Kugimiya Rie really fit into her role as Nagi, Hirano Aya didn't really win me over with her voice-over of Konata Izumi than Kugimiya Rie did with Nagi Sanzenin.

And don't even get me started on what's going to happen with the advent of...Season 2 of Haruhi Suzumiya no Yuutsu.

[DragoonKain3]

Nagi as a character is a supporting role? rotflmao! Then who tf is the lead female? XD

And the LS OP with the LS girls as best singer? Don't make me laugh... especially when Lena Park blew everyone else out of the water in 2007. (Ignore this if they want a seiyuu/singer to win)

That said, I have to admit Hirano as Konata really did kicked everyone's asses in 2007, hands down. And that's saying something, as I thought Kugimiya did an absolutely outstanding job in Potemayo as Nene (of which deserves the personality award at the very least IMO).

As for the males... Setsuna as the best male performance? Uhhh... no, just no, especially when the guy is freaking silent half the time and the other half of time you hear him screaming something-'GUNDAM!'-or-other. Hoshi Souichirou IMO took the cake with his heart moving speeches as Keiichi in Higurashi. Best supporting role for me, there is no other in 2007 than Sakaguchi Daisuke as Sunohara in Clannad.


Still, a sad sad day when my favourite seiyuus (Nakahara Mai, Shizuka Itou, and Tomokazu Seki) don't even get a mention. At the very least, Shizuka Itou as Hinagiku should've gotten the supporting female award, since technically Nagi ain't one lol.

[Westlo]

Thinking it over I would go with

Best Male: Tomokazu Seki (Chiaki in Nodame Cantabile)
Best Female: Kawasumi Ayako (Noda Megumi in Nodame Cantabile) and Andou Mabuki (Balsa in Seirei no Moribito)
Best Supporting Male: Keiji Fujiwara (Ladd Russo from Baccano!)
Best Supporting Female: Nothing really comes to mind atm, can't really think of a female performance that impresses me that's actually a proper supporting role off the top of my head

[Kaioshin Sama]

I made my picks thusly:

Best Leading Male: Tetsuya Kakihara (Simon in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann)

Best Leading Female: Rie Kugimiya (Nagi Sanzenin in Hayate No Gotoku) (Because it IS a leading role in the first place)

Best Supporting Male: Nobuyuki Hiyama (Viral in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann) Keiji Fujiwara (Ali Al Sarshes in Gundam 00)

Best Supporting Female: Satsuki Yukino (Mion and Shion Sonozaki in Higurashi Kai) Inoue Marina (Yoko in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann)

Best Rookie Male: I’m going to throw this category to the award winners seeing as I don’t even know if their were any remarkable new males. They are in shorter demand these days it’s true.

Best Rookie Female:Megumi Nakajima (Ranka Lee in Macross Frontier) Aya Endo (Miyuki Takakara in Lucky Star)

Best Personality: Everyone I’ve talked to says this award all but belongs to Yukari Tamura for her comedic timing and witty banter on her radio show, and you know what, I’m not about to disagree.

Singing Award: T.M Revolution (Howling in Darker Than Black)

Synergy Award: The Ensemble Cast of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (It’s actually an anime)

[Fynal_Fyre]

Nagi as a character is a supporting role? rotflmao! Then who tf is the lead female? XD

Maria!:heh:

(Or the Hamster :heh:)

Best supporting role for me, there is no other in 2007 than Sakaguchi Daisuke as Sunohara in Clannad.


Still, a sad sad day when my favourite seiyuus (Nakahara Mai, Shizuka Itou, and Tomokazu Seki) don't even get a mention. At the very least, Shizuka Itou as Hinagiku should've gotten the supporting female award, since technically Nagi ain't one lol.

QFT for Hinagiku as best supporting female.

[DJ_RockmanX]

Hayate is clearly the lead female. That is why Nagi is relegated to a mere supporting role.

[qtipbrit]

I made my picks thusly:

Best Leading Male: Tetsuya Kakihara (Simon in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann)

Best Leading Female: Rie Kugimiya (Nagi Sanzenin in Hayate No Gotoku) (Because it IS a leading role in the first place)

Best Supporting Male: Nobuyuki Hiyama (Viral in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann) Keiji Fujiwara (Ali Al Sarshes in Gundam 00)

Best Supporting Female: Satsuki Yukino (Mion and Shion Sonozaki in Higurashi Kai) Inoue Marina (Yoko in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann)

Best Rookie Male: I’m going to throw this category to the award winners seeing as I don’t even know if their were any remarkable new males. They are in shorter demand these days it’s true.

Best Rookie Female:Megumi Nakajima (Ranka Lee in Macross Frontier) Aya Endo (Miyuki Takakara in Lucky Star)

Best Personality: Everyone I’ve talked to says this award all but belongs to Yukari Tamura for her comedic timing and witty banter on her radio show, and you know what, I’m not about to disagree.

Singing Award: T.M Revolution (Howling in Darker Than Black)

Synergy Award: The Ensemble Cast of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (It’s actually an anime)
Though I haven't seen all of the series you've mentioned, (Gundam 00, Macross Frontier) I actually agree very much with this, especially Aya Endo for newcomer female and Tetsuya Kakihara at lead male. Of course, I would have also liked Shizuka Itou winning supporting female, as she has both Hinagiku and Wilhelmina to choose from as great characters.
Maria!:heh:
(Or the Hamster :heh:)
QFT for Hinagiku as best supporting female.
This is the thing about harems and pseudo-harems, Kadokawa can easily delegate all of the characters but one to "supporting character" positions, as long as they have at least one "lead".
But yes, I would have wanted at least a mention for Shizuka Itou for Supporting Character.
Hayate is clearly the lead female. That is why Nagi is relegated to a mere supporting role.
We already had this posted in the thread previously. :(

[Sheba]

Fine I'll post mine and I'll just say lol opinions lol. In other words, don't take these silly awards seriously and chill out, you made it sound as if skies turned ominously red while legions of bonnacons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnacon) flooded the streets.




Best Male: Tetsuya Kakihara (Simon, in TTGL. lol opininon lol. I was more interested in Simon's growth than Kamina's antics. And it was well helped by Tetsuya's voice acting).

Best Female: Mai Nakahara (Nagisa Furukawa, Clannad. Script is one half to describe a good character. Voice acting is the other half to win me over. That's what Mai Nakahara did with Nagisa Furukawa, and I speak as one who did not even liked the character in the first episode).

Best Supporting Male: Daisuke Ono (Hosaka, Minami-ke. DON'T TAKE THIS AWARD FROM HIM!)

Best Supporting Female: Miki Itou (Takano Miyo, Higurashi Kai. Same reasons as Mai Nakahara)

[Sorrow-K]

I think it's unfair to give awards like this without having a list of nominees. The winners tend to only be a slight bit better than the nominees. These would be my picks if I were a judge. (Defining the year as Winter - Fall, which means no Red Garden or Spice and Wolf, which both have outstanding vocal performances). Based purely on what I've seen, so it's likely I've missed a lot of the best performances.

Best Male:
Tomokazu Seki - Nodame Cantabile
Hagiwara Masato - Kaiji
Nakamura Yuuichi - Clannad
Kamiya Hiroshi - Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
Hoshi Souichiro - Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai

Best Female:
Kawasumi Ayako - Nodame Cantabile
Inoue Marina - Minami-ke
Andou Mabuki - Seirei no Moribito
Hirano Aya - Lucky Star
Koshimizu Ami - Myself; Yourself

Best Supporting Male:
Katou Seizo - Shigurui
Fujiwara Keiji - Baccano!
Ono Daisuke - Minami-ke
Chafurin - Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai
Ogawa Shinji - Nodame Cantabile

Best Supporting Female:
Itou Miki - Higurashi no Naku Koro ni
Taguchi Hiroko - ef - a tale of memories
Inoue Marina - Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
Tanaka Rie - Kimikiss ~Pure Rogue~
Hirohashi Ryou - Clannad

Synergy Award
Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai
Hayate no Gotoku
Baccano!
Nodame Cantabile
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

Although, I've almost certainly forgotten several really awesome performances. It's tough to remember a year's worth of voice acting in a few moments. Coming up with a list of "Best Actor" nominees is particularly tough.

[j1m0ne]

......2007-wise, someone should really credit Inoue Marina for her hard works... >_<

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/691/marinamb1.th.jpg (http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/691/marinamb1.th.jpg)

There you go, jouttex. One of my leftover awards (the factory produced a few thousand more than I had requested), so I'll let Marina have one for 'Breakthrough Star of 2007'. Oh yeah, in case anyone thinks I'm some loonybin who just walked in, I dished out my own awards elsewhere (http://atemonai.blogspot.com/2008/03/inaugural-j1m0ne-seiyuu-awards-2008.html).

[WanderingKnight]

Best Supporting Male: Nobuyuki Hiyama (Viral in Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann) Keiji Fujiwara (Ali Al Sarshes in Gundam 00)

As much as I like Keiji Fujiwara, he didn't have much screen time in Gundam 00. However, he did have a lot of screen time in Baccano, and in an amazing role to boot. I'm willing to say he stole the entire show, were Baccano not such a hard anime to define in terms of main/supporting characters.

But then again, Baccano was such an overlooked series...

Regarding these awards, yeah well, PR stunts. What else can you expect from corporatism. I don't dislike Aya Hirano, but I don't think she's either deserving the best female of the year award or anything close to worship. Too bad Yukana didn't do many important roles this year. I'm really hoping to see more of her this year (at least we have C.C. in Code Geass S2, which is a Kadokawa production so she has a chance of winning these awards :heh:). Oh, and as much as I hated Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai, Tamura Yukari was also very impressing in that series.

[Siegel Clyne]

Jitsuryoku to rukkusu ga tomonatteru seiyuu tte iru no (http://anime3.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/voice/1192941545/1-)? (http://p2.chbox.jp/read.php?url=http://anime3.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/voice/1192941545/) (What voice actors have real [voice acting] ability and [good] looks?)

The Japanese poster who started the thread linked to above on the Seiyuu Sougou @ 2ch Keijiban (Voice Actor Synthesis @ 2ch Message Board) at 2ch made it clear that the he/she is not talking about popular leading idol seiyuu types like Horie Yui.

The 2ch thread is not about popularity, what is hot at the moment, who is the most marketable, who sells the most CDs and whatnot - which so many Japanese "best" awards in anime appear to be - but instead about voice actors who have real acting performance power and are good looking too.

Ono Daisuke leads among male voice actors who are good at acting and who are good looking.

Tanaka Rie (commonly known by her nickname "Rie Rie") and Kobayashi Sanae lead among female voice actors who are good at acting and who are attractive.

Heard by millions and millions of people around the world as the voice of Pikachu (Pikachuu) in Pokemon (Pocket Monsters), Ohtani Ikue (Ootani Ikue) follows Tanaka Rie and Kobayashi Sanae as female voice actors who are good at acting and who are attractive.

Kobayashi Sanae seems to be one of the more underappreciated seiyuu among non-Japanese anime fans. Along with Tanaka Rie, Sawashiro Miyuki, Koshimizu Ami, Gotou Yuuko, Sanpei Yuuko and maybe a few others, Kobayashi Sanae is considered by many Japanese fans at 2ch to be a member of a select group (ha) of voice actresses in their twenties who possess real [voice acting] skills (jitsuryoku). (Jitsuryokuha = real ability group.)

The huge forums (http://www2.2ch.net/2ch.html) at Japan's 2ch, reportedly the world's largest, are notorious for their negativism and hordes of "anti" posters who bash anything and anyone.

Notwithstanding the antis, if 2ch posters say you're good, then you're good.

[WanderingKnight]

Ono Daisuke leads among male voice actors who are good at acting and are good looking.

I don't know about his looks (I'm not into guys, mind you :p), but I definitely hate that guy's acting. I don't know if it's just me or my ears, but he sounds so... so... boring. So monotonous.

[Siegel Clyne]

I don't know about his looks (I'm not into guys, mind you :p), but I definitely hate that guy's acting. I don't know if it's just me or my ears, but he sounds so... so... boring. So monotonous.

Perhaps he sounds better to native speakers of Japanese.

[Julius Firefocht]

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/691/marinamb1.th.jpg (http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/691/marinamb1.th.jpg)

There you go, jouttex. One of my leftover awards (the factory produced a few thousand more than I had requested), so I'll let Marina have one for 'Breakthrough Star of 2007'. Oh yeah, in case anyone thinks I'm some loonybin who just walked in, I dished out my own awards elsewhere (http://atemonai.blogspot.com/2008/03/inaugural-j1m0ne-seiyuu-awards-2008.html).

Heh, j1m0ne, post that one picture you have of Inoue Marina cosplaying in seifuku, and you will probably see support for her shooting through the roof. :D

[Westlo]

As much as I like Keiji Fujiwara, he didn't have much screen time in Gundam 00. However, he did have a lot of screen time in Baccano, and in an amazing role to boot. I'm willing to say he stole the entire show, were Baccano not such a hard anime to define in terms of main/supporting characters.

But then again, Baccano was such an overlooked series...

His performance in episode 4 was amazing and he had such an awesome scene entrance in um episode 8 or 9. "Thank You, fuck you, the villain has arrived!"

[Ottocycle]

Regarding the Synergy award, the site says that any genre of entertainment can be nominated for the award, as long as it allows the voice actors to fully utilise their talents and show them to the audience, with regards to the originating work. In no way is the award given purely with regards to the best collaboration between members of an ensemble cast.

Considering how Seki Toshihiko and company found their way into the hearts of many Kamen Rider, Tokusatsu and kids, with their really cheesy, but quotable and popular quotes and *Extremely*(Yes, lots of emphasis) lively acting, I think they fully deserve the award.

Even if Shougakukan owns Kamen Rider. Ore, sanjou!

Oh, @Kaioshin: T.M. Revolution doesn't actually qualify as a seiyuu, as he is a musician by occupation. Miguel and Heine were purely guest starring jobs.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Oh, @Kaioshin: T.M. Revolution doesn't actually qualify as a seiyuu, as he is a musician by occupation. Miguel and Heine were purely guest starring jobs.

That's good enough for me. Considering he's the closest thing to a seiyuu singer that I actually really liked this year, there isn't exactly another alternative. Plus he does a lot more for Miguel in Super Robot Wars and he plays a character in Rurouni Kenshin too.

It's not to far of a stretch compared to what some of the "official awards" used for criteria anyway.

[Matrim]

Fine I'll post mine and I'll just say lol opinions lol. In other words, don't take these silly awards seriously and chill out, you made it sound as if skies turned ominously red...

But of course - what use are any awards if not for fans to bitch about how wrong the choices are? :heh:

Anyway, I am not sure if we can count shows that started in fall 2006, so I will not count them just in case, plus this would make my choices so much easier.

Best Leading Male: Takehito Koyasu (Keith in Towards the Terra)

Nominations - Tomokazu Seki (Chiaki in Nodame Cantabile)...I can't think of anyone else bar Hoshi Souichiro for Higurashi but that's more because of lack of other options as so much of the anime I watch has female lead characters. :)

Best Leading Female: Kawasumi Ayako (Nodame in Nodame Cantabile)

Nominations: Sawashiro Miyuki (Blue Drop: Tenshi-tachi no Gikyoku), Yukino Satsuki (Shion/Mion in Higurashi Kai), Andou Mabuki (Seirei no Moribito)

Best Supporting Male: Morita Masakazu (Vino in Baccano)

Nominations - Ishida Akira (Bokurano), Miyano Mamoru (El Cazador), Konishi Katsuyuki (Gurren Lagann)

Best Supporting Female - Itou Miki (Takano in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai)

Noda Junko (Tamako in Dennou Coil), Paku Romi (Claymore), Kawasumi Ayayako (Hitohira)...I could go on and on about this category. :)

Singing Award: - Kobayashi Yu (Fight or Flight, Dragonaut OP2)

Kobayashi Sanae seems to be one of the more underappreciated seiyuu among non-Japanese anime fans.

Well, I for one regard her as one of the very best seiyuu but it's true she is really underrated.

[Westlo]

I think it's unfair to give awards like this without having a list of nominees. The winners tend to only be a slight bit better than the nominees.

Yeah you're right so I'll redo my list

Best Male:

Tomokazu Seki as Chiaki in Nodame Cantabile
Hoshi Souichiro as Keiichi Maebara in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai
Kamiya Hiroshi as Itoshiki Nozomu in Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
Takehito Koyasu as Keith Anyan in Toward the Terra
Sakurai Takahiro as Kusuriuri (The Medicine Seller) in Mononoke

Best Female:

Kawasumi Ayako as Noda Megumi (Nodame) in Nodame Cantabile
Andou Mabuki as Balsa in Seirei no Moribito
Kuwashima Houko as Shuurei Kou from Saiunkoku Monogatari 2nd Season
Yukino Satsuki as Mion/Shion in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai
Taguchi Hiroko as Miyako Miyamura in ef - a tale of memories

Best Supporting Male:

Fujiwara Keiji as Ladd Russo in Baccano!
Konishi Katsuyuki as Kamina in Gurren Lagann
Onosaka Masaya as Isaac Dian in Baccano!
Nojima Hirofumi as Shugu from Seirei no Moribito
Nakamura Yuuichi as Graham from Gundam 00

Best Supporting Female:

Paku Romi as Teresa in Claymore
Itou Miki as Miyo Takano in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai
Tanaka Rie as Maria from Hayate no Gotoku
Inoue Marina as Chiri Kitsu in Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
Shizuka Itou as Hinagiku from Hayate no Gotoku

Best Rookie Male Nakamura Yuuichi
Best Rookie Female Inoue Marina

[dodgethis_sg]

Why Daisuke Ono is so manly.

FiEek34pM3U

Credit due to houkoholic.

[Sorrow-K]

Yukino Satsuki as Mion/Shion in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Kai
Taguchi Hiroko as Miyako Miyamura in ef - a tale of memories
This is definitional, but personally I think both of those were supporting roles. Nonetheless, we seem to have a high degree of agreement. :)

I think the only reason I didn't put Yukino on my "Supporting" list is because she wasn't quite as good as she was in the first season, where she was just brilliant. If anything, she was too good in the first season, so when I compared her performance in the second, she didn't seem quite as impressive. Itou, on the other hand, was just in a class of her own in that series.

[Sheba]

Whoever said that Keiji Fujiwara should have been nominated for his role as Ladd Russo, I fcking agree with it. For me, it is his best role to date.

[dave1992]

How can people doubt Hirano Aya's incredible talent. It's not about the song or what, It's the matter that Aya could did Haruhi's voice, Konata's voice, Misa's voice, etc, which is really different each other. An ordinary seiyuu definitely cannot do that, not even Rie Kugimiya.

So Her voice in Konata isn't a failure, It's a masterpiece.

[Matrim]

How can people doubt Hirano Aya's incredible talent. It's not about the song or what, It's the matter that Aya could did Haruhi's voice, Konata's voice, Misa's voice, etc, which is really different each other. An ordinary seiyuu definitely cannot do that, not even Rie Kugimiya.

Please tell me you are joking, Pretty much any seiyuu mentioned here can play very different roles. Not to mention that the Misa role or that of Garnet in Dragonaut were cases of overacting of epic proportions. :)

[SeijiSensei]

I've been rewatching both Dennou Coil and Saiunkoku Monogatari recently. You'd have to listen very closely even to guess that the same seiyuu, Kuwashima Houko (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=281), voiced both Isako and Shurrei. I was so used to her bright and forceful portrayal of Shuurei that I was surprised to discover that Isako's dark, almost evil voice came from the same woman. That just added to her luster as a performer in my eyes. She's also the voice of Clare in Claymore and again sounds quite different.

[Kirarakim]

I've been rewatching both Dennou Coil and Saiunkoku Monogatari recently. You'd have to listen very closely even to guess that the same seiyuu, Kuwashima Houko (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=281), voiced both Isako and Shurrei. I was so used to her bright and forceful portrayal of Shuurei that I was surprised to discover that Isako's dark, almost evil voice came from the same woman. That just added to her luster as a performer in my eyes. She's also the voice of Clare in Claymore and again sounds quite different.

I absolutely love Kuwashima Houko and I thought she was amazing the first time I heard her as Sango in Inyasha and she has continued to impress me.

[Westlo]

I've been a massive fan of Kuwashima Houko since I heard her Aoi Housen in Infinite Ryvuis and she continued to impress in the years after that with her roles as Quon Kisaragi in RahXephon, Sango in Inuyasha, Noir's Kirika Yuumura and her two characters in Gundam SEED, Flay Allster & Natarle Badgiruel.

She has numerous voices and has had quite a good 2007 with her reprsing her (imo) best role Kou Shuurei from Saiunkoku Monogatari as well as Clannad's Tomoyo Sakagami, Claymore's Clare and Bamboo Blade's Miyako Miyazaki.

I'm expecting her upcoming role in the Spring Season show Soul Eater as Medusa to be one of her best, that character is just crazy and should be an awesome showcase of her skills.

[Matrim]

Yes, if being able to play extremely well all sorts of roles is the key criteria Kuwashima Houko should probably have won the award.

[Deathkillz]

Oh yes she is really talented :)

Cheerful teen type or dark and mature, Kuwashima Houko is pretty amazing in her range. Miyako from bamboo blade is just an example on how well she can perform split personalities XD