Lucky Star - Voice Actor Appreciation & Discussion

[Kaoru Chujo]

Surprisingly, with today's uproar about a directorial change, yesterday was the first time Hirano Aya posted much about Lucky Star on her blog. She spent the day at a Comptiq photo shoot for her upcoming photo book, and spent time with the mangaka of Lucky Star, Yoshimizu Kagami.

Yoshimizu-san gave her an illustration of Konata as in the commercial where she just went "MuuuUuuuUuUuu" all the way through, and also a drawing of Konata saying "Hirano-san, thanks for giving me such a fabulous voice."



And Aya had some taiyaki:

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by Risaa

I take it you've never seen :3-chan?



/off topic

HA! That friggin picture. Love It! I found it on Encyclopedia Dramatica once under the AZN entry (Don't ask, seriously) with the caption "Im Clever". It had something to do with real life instances of emoticons.

[Samatarou]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

Aya had some taiyaki:

She eats it the same way as Chiyo-chan, head first:

[Kaoru Chujo]

I've made a page showing pictures of all the seiyuu and their characters, with some info about them and links to more info.

I'd heard of people like Endou Aya and Katou Emiri, but knew little about them and had no idea what they looked like. Now I know. Fukuhara Kaori (Tsukasa) says her skills are working at MacDonalds and going through a bottle of Tabasco a week. At 20, she is the closest to Hirano Aya (19) in age. The other main seiyuu range from 23 to over 30.

Here's my blog post about the page. I've included the main seiyuu who have appeared so far, and I will try to keep the page up to date as new characters appear.

[Vexx]

Heh... this is one of those unusual cases where each seiyuu actually looks a bit like their character and even more if their hairstyle matched.

Shiraishi's anime image next to his actual mug is pretty funny. Also sounds like Fukuhara-san knows how easily she could be back honing her first skill if she doesn't give it all she's got

So far, I've been completely pleased with all of their interpretations of the characters.

[Wavedash]

I give credit where credit is due.

While I have been vocal in the past about Hirano Aya's fame being more flash than substance, her recent performance in Lucky Star is doing a lot to turn it around. Her Crayon Shin-chan impression, in particular, shows she has far more range and ability than I thought. Bravo Aya.

[Claymore_Obsessed]

I'd like to give credit to Konno Hiromi too^^

imho her Akira is simply hilarious, expecially when she suddenly gets upset/bored/bossy/crazy, lol

[Kinny Riddle]

Kyo-Ani definitely has a thing for casting either relatively new or experienced but little-known seiyuus in lead roles and enhancing their careers.

Recent
Ono Daisuke - Kunisaki Yukito (AIR), Koizumi Itsuki (Suzumiya Haruhi)
Hirano Aya - Suzumiya Haruhi (Suzumiya Haruhi), Izumi Konata (Lucky Star)
Chihara Minori - Nagato Yuki (Suzumiya Haruhi)

(One can also argue for Sugita Tomokazu - Kyon (Suzumiya Haruhi), Aizawa Yuuichi (Kanon 2006), though he did appear in lead roles in Chobits (2002) and SHUFFLE! (2005) before doing Kyo-Ani roles. )

For now, the jury's still out for Endou Aya, Katou Emiri, Fukuhara Aoi, but so far they're doing a good job.

[arias]

I actually latched onto this series after finishing (just about) my semester by stalking Vexx's profile.. mwahahahaha. Yes ojisan, I do! No I mean, I was bored and thought there might be a good series so I decided to see what you were up to - since you're older I thought that your tastes might be closer to mine.

At first sight Lucky Star looked too... loli... for me.

After watching the first episode, I gobbled up the rest and I have NO IDEA how in the WORLD they get these voice actors. Konata is godly. I just want a daughter like that now. GODLY. GODLY. Oh wow, I just checked Kaoru Chujo's page and she's done by Aya Hirano. Floored am I.

[Vexx]

What??? Someone actually *reads* those things? (need to update mine)

This is another rare instance where before the first episode I went out and purchased all the manga to-date and was not disappointed either by the manga or its adaptation to screen.

I tend to describe it to non-anime sorts as sort-of modern day Japanese version of Peanuts ... really (seems to work too, I've not had a one not like it).

I don't know who does the casting for their anime --- but they don't pay that person enough I think the readings by the VAs are entirely acceptable interpretations of the character personalities.

[Kaoru Chujo]

There's an interview with Endou Aya (Miyuki) on the official site. There are some photos, and some interesting comments.



The most interesting comment for me was about Konata, comparing her to eating dried squid: the more you chew on her the more her flavor comes out. She said: "You're always thinking: what's she going to be like this time?" I also enjoyed her comments about how she approached acting Miyuki.

Asked what she thought of the comic when she read it, she laughed and said: "It was ordinary." She went on to say that nothing really happened. No-one even used magic. But the descriptions of ordinary events were great. She didn't normally read 4koma, but she just raced through this one. There were silly bits and funny bits, and it reminded her of her own school days. She could sympathize with all the characters, not just Miyuki.

Asked about Miyuki, she said she was tricky. She would do things for people, give them information, would be someone you'd really want for a friend. But she could do horrible things with a smile, too, so you wouldn't want her as an enemy. And she was so moe you could never win against her.

Asked if she resembled Miyuki, she laughed that she wasn't tricky. She said she was quiet like Miyuki in high school, but laughed that the stormy seas of life had changed her. She wasn't clumsy (dojikko) like Miyuki. She didn't have her general knowledge, but had learned things from her in anime. At school she always did her homework at the last minute, unlike Miyuki. But like Miyuki she was afraid of the dentist.

What did she think about when playing the role? Although Miyuki gave a calm impression, like an adult, she also had to get across that she was a high-school student like the others. She couldn't be completely oblivious or dreamy. When she was giving explanations, she just had to give the explanation. When she was being clumsy, she just had to be clumsy. The cast did a lot of ad libs, but there seemed to be very few places where it made sense for Miyuki to ad lib. She was going to look greedily for opportunities in the future, she laughed.

Asked which character she liked, she said Konata. It's like eating dried squid, she laughed. The more you chew on her the more her flavor comes out. You're always thinking: what's she going to be like this time? Kagami seems like the most grown-up, but really she's the most dependent and the one most likely to cry. Those moments are really good, she said. And Tsukasa's naive conversations with Miyuki are so cute.

What were your thoughts watching the anime? I really enjoyed the comic, but it's wonderful to see the characters moving around, she laughed. Although it's just ordinary life and nothing happens, the words just keep bubbling along and I never tire of watching the amusing acting. The hair color and the uniforms are so colorful, too.

What about the OP recording session? It was so high-tension, like rap, that at first I thought I'd just forget about Miyuki as I sang, but I kept thinking things like 'this is how Miyuki would move her tongue.' It was really enjoyable. Except that I could never memorize the words (laughs). Watching such a high-tension opening always makes me think I want to do my very best. The ending is also high-tension. I really enjoy it.

What about Shiraishi Minoru playing the Shiraishi Minoru character?
As for the character, he really tries hard, doesn't he? (laughs) It will be really interesting if he has a conversation with Miyuki. Shiraishi Minoru himself gives a feeling of: "Well, now, let's all work hard together." (laughs) I haven't known him long, but he really seems like a nice guy. In order to relax the atmosphere, he came to the first recording session in a maid's outfit with a mini-skirt. But recently he's been wearing normal clothes (laughs).

Here's my characters/seiyuus page, which has some info about Endou Aya.

[Nemo_N]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

Asked which character she liked, she said Konata. It's like eating dried squid, she laughed. The more you chew on her the more her flavor comes out. You're always thinking: what's she going to be like this time?

LOL. Kagami probably feels like this too.

But she's dead on about Konata; Jason at AOMM said something along those same lines:

Originally Posted by Jason

Konata seems like one of those wacky evangelists. She rambles and is completely crazy, yet, if you hang around her enough and listen to enough of her nonsense, you’ll start drinking her Kool-Aid too.

Fun stuff.

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

And Tsukasa's naive conversations with Miyuki are so cute.

The Tsukasa-Miyuki relationship is something I want to see more of; even though Miyuki is (usually) more knowledgeable than Tsukasa, they seem to be in the same wavelenght. Maybe is a Dojikko thing .

Even though I can't judge a VA based on one character, so far Endou-san's performance (and basically all of the LS cast) has been great.

I hope for an interview to Kuroi-sensei's VA (Maeda Konomi?); that would be interesting

[Vexx]

Fascinating... Endou really did do her homework.

Kagami: "Kagami seems like the most grown-up, but really she's the most dependent and the one most likely to cry."
(yes, Kagami is the one that most needs a hug and a head skritching)

Konata: "Konata. It's like eating dried squid, she laughed. The more you chew on her the more her flavor comes out."
(What a fascinating metaphor (I used to hate squid jerky.... a few years ago, my brain snapped and I decided I loved it... same with daikon))

Tsukasa+Miyuki: "Tsukasa's naive conversations with Miyuki are so cute."
(More like a collapsing singularity of moe They look like insanely cute little bugs during that conversation in Kagami's room when she was sick.)

I don't know how many VAs read the source material... but points to her for doing that especially when she's not really a 4-koma fan.

Shiraishi must be an absolute hoot with no esteem problems at all Again I'm reminded that this is one of the few anime where the VAs could actually get away with playing their parts in live-action without too much trouble as they "look" quite a lot like their characters.

[Kaioshin Sama]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

Asked about Miyuki, she said she was tricky. She would do things for people, give them information, would be someone you'd really want for a friend. But she could do horrible things with a smile, too, so you wouldn't want her as an enemy. And she was so moe you could never win against her.

That's dangerous thinking there.

[Vexx]

Well.. after all, "moe" is controlled by Strategic Arms Limitation Treaties. "Moe" for evil could be unleashed on the world otherwise.

[Skane]

Originally Posted by Kaoru Chujo

~
What about Shiraishi Minoru playing the Shiraishi Minoru character?
As for the character, he really tries hard, doesn't he? (laughs) It will be really interesting if he has a conversation with Miyuki. Shiraishi Minoru himself gives a feeling of: "Well, now, let's all work hard together." (laughs) I haven't known him long, but he really seems like a nice guy. In order to relax the atmosphere, he came to the first recording session in a maid's outfit with a mini-skirt. But recently he's been wearing normal clothes (laughs).

Here's my characters/seiyuus page, which has some info about Endou Aya.

First off, I am glad to see that she did her homework.

Secondly, I have been reading a lot of articles recently in which male VAs have been cross-dressing. Just like how there is an "Always 17" club for the female VAs, is there a "Crossdressing Club" for male VAs going on?

Heh.

[kenjiharima]

OMG!!! Seeing the sieyu's of Lucky Star I can't help myself to think that almost all of them look like the Lucky Star cast, especially Hirano Aya, Endou Aya, Shiraishi
Shiraishi Minoru and ironically he has the same name!!

[Vexx]

Actually in Shiraishi's case... the name is intentional --- he's playing himself.

But yeah, the cast *does* bear an uncanny resemblance to their characters. Usually, there's no such appearance at all.

[MakubeX2]

[kj1980]

I think Fukuhara Kaori's career will skyrocket after this because of her magnificent and oddly interesting ad-libs on par with Sugita Tomokazu.

1. Barusamikosu, barusamikosu~, ahaha barusamikosu~ (heavenly and brain-smashingly denpa wwww)
2. dokonoke? yogurt desuka? mou tatemashen~ (brilliant!)