Spice and Wolf - Voice Actor Appreciation & Discussion

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by Wavedash

...[Fukuyama Jun's] voice sounds...unnatural, like a boy trying to pretend he can grow a beard. He's just not masculine enough in my estimation....

Although I'm enjoying Jun in this role, generally this is how I hear him, too. He is really effective in effeminate roles like the cellist in Corda D'Oro and the uke in the yaoi OVA Okane ga Nai. But Lelouche always sounded forced to me. With Amisuke's self-promoted yuri reputation, I sometimes think she's the guy and he's the girl, lol.

In any case, here the two of them are at a Spice & Wolf live event in November. From the official site. Click to enlarge.

[Ellaya_dw]

Don't like Chloe's voice. It reminds me about Taniyama Mai (from Ghost Hunt), so... ummm... girlish. When I look at her, I expect to hear young woman's voice, not a little girl's.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by Ellaya_dw

Don't like Chloe's voice. It reminds me about Taniyama Mai (from Ghost Hunt), so... ummm... girlish. When I look at her, I expect to hear young woman's voice, not a little girl's.

That would be Nazuka Kaori, another of my favorite seiyuu. I enjoy hearing her whenever I can, but I get your point. Her voice is definitely a little-girl voice. She was indeed Mai in Ghost Hunt. Her biggest roles have been Eureka in Eureka7 and Cossette in Les Miserables, and she's particularly good as Hiromi in true tears.

In person, she is actually a big, athletic woman who likes the outdoors:



EDIT: From the next post, it appears I agree with Wavedash about Code Geass, too.

[Wavedash]

Originally Posted by Westlo

Imitation implies being a copy which you really can't say when they aired in the same season, I think the term poor mans Yagami Light is what you're after. Me personally I don't agree with that, I agree with the Seiyu Awards though how you can miss out on Best Rookie and yet win Best Main Character is perplexing.

Actually, I can. Especially when Death Note's original form came out years before the anime and thus could very well have served as an influence on the Geass writers. Let me clarify that I felt Geass was lacking in both writing skill and accurate casting.

And as for winning the Seiyuu awards, it is true that he won. But whether it was a deserved win that put him heads above the competition is another thing altogether. After all, each year scores of movies go up for nomination at the Academy Awards, and you would be foolish to say all of them except for the winners were no good. The final choice of one may have come down to politics or zeitgeist or any number of variables. Just because one was chosen doesn't mean it's inherently better than the others. And wasn't Miyano also nominated?
See what I'm trying to say?

Back on topic...
I started reading Kamosan's blog (Nazuka) awhile back and was knocked off my chair by how vital she seemed in comparison to so many of her understated roles. Every other day she's up to something it seems. Skiing or getting bruised or fishing. I think it would be great if she could get more of those kinds of roles, sort of like in Overdrive.

[Westlo]

Originally Posted by Wavedash

Actually, I can. Especially when Death Note's original form came out years before the anime and thus could very well have served as an influence on the Geass writers. Let me clarify that I felt Geass was lacking in both writing skill and accurate casting.

Miyano could have voiced the role completely different than he ended up doing, it's ludicrous to suggest someone's voice is ripped off a manga. He sounded like Hikaru Midorikawa anyway in that role which is something you can't say about Miyano's Tamaki from Ouran.

And as for winning the Seiyuu awards, it is true that he won. But whether it was a deserved win that put him heads above the competition is another thing altogether. After all, each year scores of movies go up for nomination at the Academy Awards, and you would be foolish to say all of them except for the winners were no good. The final choice of one may have come down to politics or zeitgeist or any number of variables. Just because one was chosen doesn't mean it's inherently better than the others. And wasn't Miyano also nominated?
See what I'm trying to say?

So you discredit it as much as you can and than state that Miyano was nominated like it means something after what you just said?

*face palm*

Anyway let's just agree to disagree.

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

That would be Nazuka Kaori, another of my favorite seiyuu. I enjoy hearing her whenever I can, but I get your point. Her voice is definitely a little-girl voice. She was indeed Mai in Ghost Hunt. Her biggest roles have been Eureka in Eureka7 and Cossette in Les Miserables, and she's particularly good as Hiromi in true tears.

I really didn't like her Eureka or any other role I've heard her in (haven't seen Les Miserables or Ghost Hunt) but she's started to win me over with her roles in this season.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Originally Posted by Westlo

...I really didn't like her Eureka or any other role I've heard her in (haven't seen Les Miserables or Ghost Hunt) but she's started to win me over with her roles in this season.

She won me over with Yun in Simoun. That was real acting. And I love her work as Hiromi in true tears so far.

It took me a while to appreciate her in Les Miserables, but I'm liking her in the middle episodes. Ghost Hunt never did much for me. I often think I should go back and watch some more of Eureka7 just to listen to her and Sanpei Yuuko (Renton) and Koshimizu Ami (Anemone), but that show didn't do much for me at the time.

It would be nice to think that she's getting better.

[lil-d01]

Ami's been surprising me quite a bit this year. ^_^ H2O and now Spice and Wolf. Horo~ <3

Funnily enough, I finally settled my confusion of whether I like or dislike Jun watching this series, I like hearing his - as someone before had described - 'a boy trying to grow a beard' voice than the 'cutesy uke' voice of his I hear too much (that it scars and scares me away). I'm hoping that the numbers of recalling Lelouch whenever Lawrence opens his mouth as I watch episode 2 onwards grows less though. :3 I'm sure it will.

I also like Kaori's Chloe. =3 (is it just me but don't those two names sound similar, haha)

[Kaoru Chujo]

In my blog, I've translated an interview with Koshimizu Ami about playing Horo.

She makes it clear that nothing in her performance is an accident. She talks about Horo's loneliness, and how likes to keep a little bit of that feeling in her voice even in the most cheerful scenes. She talks about trying to keep a childish feeling while still portraying Horo as the old wolf she is. And she talks about the difficulty of the archaic speech, and how she tries to keep a balance with normal speech that doesn't let it descend into comic dialect.

You can tell from the interview, as well as from the performance, that Ami is a real pro.

By the way, I have started to watch Eureka Seven, starting where I left off, and I think Nazuka Kaori is doing a fine job. Maybe not quite alien enough, but that would be how the director wanted it, I expect. Koshimizu Ami's Anemone has just shown up, and I don't have a reading on her yet, except that the character design is excellent.

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

In my blog, I've translated an interview with Koshimizu Ami about playing Horo.

She makes it clear that nothing in her performance is an accident. She talks about Horo's loneliness, and how likes to keep a little bit of that feeling in her voice even in the most cheerful scenes. She talks about trying to keep a childish feeling while still portraying Horo as the old wolf she is. And she talks about the difficulty of the archaic speech, and how she tries to keep a balance with normal speech that doesn't let it descend into comic dialect.

You can tell from the interview, as well as from the performance, that Ami is a real pro.

Big appreciation for translating this one. Always interesting to see how the actor feels about the character and the role. Really shows how much she cares about doing this right since she enjoys the novels.

Really must be a challenge to try and work everything in. That sense of loneliness that Horo carries, the experience, and the childishness all in one person. No doubt she has done a great job and doesn't have to worry. Was just a really good interview to read.

[Vexx]

I think she's created one of the most alluring and bewitching voices for any character design I've seen since I started this hobby.

[Ichihara Asako]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

In my blog, I've translated an interview with Koshimizu Ami about playing Horo.

Thanks a bunch for that. Great little interview, and it makes me appreciate her all the more. ^^

[Khaos]

Actually I'm not very interested in the seiyuu of an anime, but Ami Koshimizu's voice-acting in ep.4, especially in the scene at the inn is so great, that I wanted to learn more about her.

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

In my blog, I've translated an interview with Koshimizu Ami about playing Horo.

Wow, LOL, she almost looks like Horo.
Thanks for the translation.

[Westlo]

Thanks for the translated interview Karou Chujo and personally imo Koshimizu Ami's Anemone is the highlight of the show vocally.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Koshimizu Ami turned 22 last week. Here, left, from her blog, is the cake she was given at recording for Spice & Wolf:



And on the right, here she is out eating yakiniku (bbq meat) with her good friend Sanpei Yuuko (right) and Sakakibara Yui (left). Photo from Sanpei Yuuko's blog.

[WanderingKnight]

Whee. I can't believe I took so long to finally post on this thread.

Horo's archaic dialect definitely gives Koshimizu Ami's voice a delicious tone. To a Japanese language lover like myself, her voice and manner of speech are heaven on earth. The subtleness of her speaking demeanor only adds to the beauty of Horo's lines. Voice acting is something that makes or breaks my experience for the most part (probably the biggest breaking point I have, especially being an audio-centric person), and Horo's is just sublime.

I'm at a loss for words to describe my experience when listening to her. This is probably going to become my favorite performance of all time.

[Kaoru Chujo]

Wonderful post from WanderingKnight about a wonderful performance by Koshimizu Ami. She's the front-runner so far for top performance of 2008. I love the photo she posted in her blog today, which is of her in a photo-shoot for Voice Newtype (click to enlarge):

[BashZeStampeedo]

I love the dynamic that Jun and Ami have, and find it ironic that while Horo feels like a foil for Lawrence in the writing, the opposite is true in the voice acting. While I agree that Ami has nailed this role beyond all shadow of a doubt, I find that they work well together in the moments that matter (like when they are growling at each other at end of the first season, for instance).

I get the sense that Lawrence is unable to emote as a character, which would make him it a very difficult character to voice. He is a man of action, not words. In the end, Jun seems to slowly be "growing" the voice as Lawrence grows, emoting more and expressing more tenderness beyond words. I respect Jun for doing as well as he has so far, since just not screwing the character up is probably not as easy as it seems.