SOS Voice Actor Discussion and Appreciation

[Anime Online]

Here's a video of a TV interview of Chihara Minori (Yuki's VA) and Aya Hirano (Haruhi's VA) for The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. In case you are wondering, Minori-san is the one wearing jean jacket on the left and Hirano-san is the one wearing a dark jacket on the right.

[Kaoru Chujo]

My feelings about the voice actors shifted over the series. At first, I was just totally captivated by Gotou Yuuko. The hic-squeak when she was dragged into the club room was just amazing.

Then Sugita Tomokazu as Kyon emerged as the glue that held the show together. His perfect dry tone of voice and pretended indifference were wonderful from beginning to end.

But finally it was Hirano Aya's show. As Haruhi became more serious and more varied in her emotions, Hirano-san just shone. If you haven't seen it, prepare to be overwhelmed by the new interview on Youtube, broadcast in Japan on Monday. When she dips from her own high excessively-polite-Japanese-girl voice suddenly to a lower register, it just sends chills down your spine.

The interview confirms that she started in show business at 9, as a seiyuu at 14, and is now a university student, at 18. And it reminds us that she has had three songs in the top ten in the past three months. The insert song is now at #5, as the ED was before. Do you think she has a future? I look forward to her becoming a hot commodity and getting bigger and more serious roles like this one.

I'm not forgetting Chiharu Minori, who did a great job as Yuki. But the voice was not such an important part of creating that character. Ono Daisuke as Itsuki was so good he annoyed me whenever he spoke. But the big three were the big three.

With the season, and the series, now over, I've changed my avatar/sig from Gotou Yuuko to Kuwashima Houko. Bai-bai, Yuuko-san. I'm watching for your next role. Maybe I'll try to find one of your several dozen ero-games.

[HeartNana]

Aya Hirano is one of the main reasons why this series is so great IMO. I cannot see Haruhi's voice done any better than the way it is, and what really captured me was how awesome of a singer she is. From Bouken Desho Desho to God Knows, i love all of her stuff. I just ordered any Haruhi CD's with her in it, and her debut single off cdjapan to show my loyalness to my new favorite VA/Singer (besides from my all time favorite Nana Mizuki)

[LCeh]

I definitely echo what you guys are saying.

At some point during the middle of the series, when we get to see the more emotional side of Haruhi, I just thought to myself that, when this anime gets licensed and dubbed, it will be a very tall task for the english VA to do what Hirano Aya did. I think it took a lot of skills to give life to a character as emotional and complex as Haruhi, and Hirano Aya did a splendid job. I just hope they can at least do a decent job, but I doubt it will be anywhere near as satisfying and spectacular as Hirano Aya's acting.

[C.A.]

I'm not sure but I was kinda drawn by Haruhi's ecstatic voice at the end of episode 1 lol

Then after episode 2 and 3 and several youtube videos of Hirano Aya, I knew she's going to be my favourite VA/Singer for a long time. Now I see her as the Holy Incarnation of Haruhi-sama herself.

[eggplant]

Anyone able to watch this videoclip of the three protagonists from a shooting session for the Voice Newtype magazine? I've completed registration, but can't seem to make the playback client work on my OSX (which I know isn't the standard for these kind of things, e.g., Animate video streams).

On another note, here are some nice pictures of the three as well.

DVD covers for Volume 2 (limited edition and standard edition, respectively)

[Vexx]

And once again, I'm reminded of just how cute Gotou is with those elvish ears and features.... meh.. all three of the VAs are cute.

[C.A.]

I guess I don't go for mature women lol, between them, Aya-chan is outstanding for me

But it can also be my extreme biasness towards Haruhi-sama.

All three are great at voice acting and singing.

[arias]

Originally Posted by C.A.

I guess I don't go for mature women lol, between them, Aya-chan is outstanding for me

But it can also be my extreme biasness towards Haruhi-sama.

It's probably your bias towards Haruhi, but then again I don't really find any of the three really attractive.. o_o Haruhi's supposed live-action actress had that one incredible picture, though

Hirano's voice acting is pretty incredible. Breathed utter life into the Haruhi character.. I think Yuki's would be the hardest to evaluate because of the lack of speech, but it still suited things to a T. I'll be curious to see Hirano's future works, I want to see whether I can watch her other characters without thinking "Ha.. Haruhi?!"

[C.A.]

It could be, but Aya-chan definitely looks cute in many ways lol

And by outstanding, I meant she's outstanding compared to Chihara and Yuko in not just looks but also singing and voice acting. At least for this show.

I acknowledge that all 3 are great, to express in numbers:

If Aya-chan = 1.1
Chihara and Yuko = 1.0 each

[IchiKyo]

Originally Posted by eggplant

Anyone able to watch this videoclip of the three protagonists from a shooting session for the Voice Newtype magazine? I've completed registration, but can't seem to make the playback client work on my OSX (which I know isn't the standard for these kind of things, e.g., Animate video streams).

On another note, here are some nice pictures of the three as well.

DVD covers for Volume 2 (limited edition and standard edition, respectively)

it's not soon to spoil with those Asakura with Knifes even i love her seiyuu voice ?

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by arias

It's probably your bias towards Haruhi, but then again I don't really find any of the three really attractive.. o_o Haruhi's supposed live-action actress had that one incredible picture, though

Hirano's voice acting is pretty incredible. Breathed utter life into the Haruhi character.. I think Yuki's would be the hardest to evaluate because of the lack of speech, but it still suited things to a T. I'll be curious to see Hirano's future works, I want to see whether I can watch her other characters without thinking "Ha.. Haruhi?!"

I thought the clip was interesting because Yuki's VA actually used it to show some of her talented range. I counted 3 or 4 voice styles from her in that clip.

Yeah, we haven't heard anything else Hirano can do (though I supposed her high pitched "natural" voice counts as another) ... hope she's not a "one voice talent" for her sake.

[Zappster]

Well having seen three other shows(Eyeshield 21, Magipoka and Himawari) that she has done some VA work in, IMO she's got enough range to not be seen as a one trick pony(or should that be one voice pony...) Not to mention that clip of her on that Japanese TV show that is floating around on youtube where in the middle of her interview she changes from her high pitched squeaky voice to a much deeper voice where she sounds alot older and more mature. Her voice in Himawari, I'd say is a step down from that, in that it's maybe not as deep but still different enough to her energetic Haruhi voice.

[Shirobane]

Originally Posted by Vexx

Yeah, we haven't heard anything else Hirano can do (though I supposed her high pitched "natural" voice counts as another) ... hope she's not a "one voice talent" for her sake.

Don't forget though that she's still pretty young, there's plenty of time to develop her voice. That said, single-pitch voice actors/actresses aren't necessarily a bad thing (in fact some VAs garner a lot of fame for just a single pitch), it all boils down to how well their lines are delivered. A good example of this is Kikuko Inoue where you could instantly tell her voice from any series she's in because her voice is more or less the same, but she's still really good at delivering her lines.

[Skane]

Kyon's VA, Sugita Tomokazu, voiced a pantsu-stealing master in Ep20 of Inukami!. I have mixed thoughts about this, but mostly on the humour side.

[katakami]

OH MY GOD!! Hirano plays REIRA!!! :O :O From Nana!!! Gonna be aaaaaaweeesoooomeee ><;;;;

I didn't know. T__T hahaha.. sorry if I sound like I've been living under a rock... actually I have... >>;;

[Samatarou]

I just heard that Aya Hirano was hospitalised as an emergency case two weeks ago (5th November), does anyone have info on this? Google doesn't reveal any news to me on this and her website doesn't seem to have been updated since 12th. Is this the curse of Death Note (her current series)?

[eggplant]

Originally Posted by Samatarou

I just heard that Aya Hirano was hospitalised as an emergency case two weeks ago (5th November), does anyone have info on this? Google doesn't reveal any news to me on this and her website doesn't seem to have been updated since 12th. Is this the curse of Death Note (her current series)?

Yes, you heard right.
Hirano Aya collapsed and was hospitalized during a voice dubbing recording session for DEATH NOTE on November 3rd, and was forced to cancel her appearance at the Waseda University event on the 5th and all subsequent work.

She had a high fever and collapsed from overwork, and since then has been recuperating at home, although she has yet to return to work as of today, including her scheduled performance today at the 11th Annual Kobe Animation Awards ceremony, which Hare Hare Yukai won the category for best song (incidently, the presentation will be shown live by net streaming between 12:30-5:30 PM JST today here in which Gotou Yuuko and Chihara Minori is scheduled to appear).

The main reason she collapsed was her busy work schedule including 7 anime roles (DEATH NOTE, Sumomomo, Busou Renkin, Galaxy Angel II, NANA, Himawari!!, and Manabi Straight) and 3 radio programs at the time she was hospitalized, along with her daily life as a university student.

Although Aya is partly to blame for failing to condition herself 100% as a professional seiyuu, her agency is at fault for cramming so much work, although they probably didn't expect her to win so many role auditions a few months ago.

Then again, seeing seiyuu interviews and blogs where they mention drinking and doing karaoke all night along, I wonder if they are taking care of themsleves, especially their voices.

Seems like Aya's near convalescent, so she should be back working soon.

[LCeh]

Thanks a lot for the update eggplant. Hope she gets better soon.

[FatPianoBoy]

Definitely. Poor kid; she's only a few months older than I am. Hopefully her and her agency learn from this and write some R&R into her agenda from now on. And not in pencil, either. Get better soon, Aya-chan