[eggplant]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

Does your knowledge of seiyuu come from going to seiyuu events, or just from magazines and TV? I hope to have a chance to see some of these people in person someday.

Well, I don't attend seiyuu events at all. I go to anime events, where it is basically standard policy for the corresponding seiyuus to appear. I never listen to the myriads of internet radio programs out there, and hardly look through seiyuu blogs.

However, in addition to the 30+ anime titles I see weekly (probably because I don't have to use a single byte of bandwidth, although my supplies of blank DVD-Rs run out quite fast), I do watch 5 anime information programs a week (3 produced by RAMS, so they can spoon-feed the likes of Nogawa Sakura, Takahashi Naozumi, and Sakai Kanako down your throat), purchase just about every major anime related magazine, and go through almost every anime related news article on the net.

If you were doing this for many years, you'll get to know how seiyuus look, and how they sound without any prior knowledge. I must admit there are many cases where I see the photo of a staff or cast member for the first time on English sites such as ANN.

Then again, I'm not much keen on the male seiyuus. I was at a Garasu no Kantai event last week where the gender makeup was 90% female (fujoshi), where I felt out of place.

One thing I did read in the article was Niino Michi again emphasizing what a good mood there was in the studio for Simoun. Do you think that might be true, or is it just that she's a stage actress and unfamiliar with the atmosphere of an anime sound studio? I would have thought that the fact everyone in the studio (except the two guys in the photo, I believe) was female might make a difference of some kind in the way things went.

For stage actresses like Niino Michi and Talahashi Rieko, voice dubbing of anime must be quite different from the theatrics they are used to. However, in many cases, seiyuus start of their careers as stage actors or have had experience in the field, therefore the acting itself shouldn't differ. In a society like Japan where men hang around with men and vice versa, it isn't unsual to see lack of camaraderie in the studio. Remove the men and voila, a comfortable atmosphere.

One more question: I got the sense from something Mizuki Nana said in this month's video message that the sound director is like the seiyuus' director/coach during recording. Do you think this is the case?

Yes, the sound director (音響監督) is the most important staff member for the seiyuu, as he has overall authority on the supervision of the voice acting. The director will have say if he/she is at the recording session, which is not always the case. Literally speaking, a sound director gives you the impression that he is in charge of sound effects, music, and other sound related technical matters. But his primary job is to make sure the dialogue between the cast is conducted in a way the staff members intend it to be relayed to the audience. Having a good relationship with the sound director is essential for the seiyuu to win new roles at auditions.

By the way, I found that apparent error in the article text amusing and puzzling: Mizusawa Fumie's name given as Kitajima Fumie. Having seen her rather humorous personality in that video message and elsewhere, I'm wondering if she gave the reporter the wrong name and made a reference to Glass Mask (whose heroine is the young actress Kitajima Maya). I do wonder what the mutual feeling was between the pure seiyuu on the job and the stage actresses (like Niino Michi, Takahashi Rieko and Hosokoshi Michiko). Each side could feel superior to the other, it occurs to me.

That has to be a mistake on the part of the reporter. The seiyuu indsutry is extremely closed and tight knit, as you could be competing for a role tomorrow against a current cast member. However, since you have to work with anyone, you learn to leave your ego out the door. If you get into personal problems in a small world like voice acting, you're jeapordizing your career (I am personally relieved that seiyuus like Shiina Hekiru and Yukana, who have gone through a lot of bashing, are still going on strong), although it may not entirely be a single individual's fault (there still exists management agencies that force struggling seiyuus to perform the lecherous casting couch).