Confession: I watch anime, at times, purely for the voice actress.
It’s really sad. I almost wish I want my time back after some of these experiences.
I want to make a distinction, though. A lot of people like a certain voice–Norio Wakamoto is one popular example–because they like that voice and the way the actor does his or her thing. And that is great. There are some actors like that for me, too, and I would go out of my way to check out a show done by that person. What’s interesting is that a lot of people who don’t normally pay attention to voice acting still gets hooked by some of the more amusing performances, and that is remarkable. If I was Mr. Wakamoto I’d be surprised that all these non-Japanese speaking people like my works.
But what I’m confessing is worse. For example, as much as I’m all “notokawaiiyonoto†about it, I think Mamiko Noto’s boy voice really … isn’t all that. Perhaps the voice itself is exactly what the director wants out of that character, but it hurts to watch. Still, I’m going to watch Kanokon. And I respect the Ayako Factor. Or recall how Kawasumi did her Mahoromatic role with such vivid memory and superimpose that onto Kanokon.
Times like this I wish I was a green, mean pet alligator.
But being human, we are called to a higher level of existence. We should recognize how funny episode 3 of Kanokon was, not just because it lampoons, but because of how it lampoons and what it lampooned. Is this what people get out of radio shows? Or phone sex? WTB more Saito Chiwa lines. Or Mai Nakahara lines, if that’s more appropriate.
But all that is second to what some junkies get out of a fairly pedestrian comedy affair–by all means, don’t watch shows like this.
Why can’t these enjoyable voice actresses just work on shows that are worth watching? Nana Mizuki finally stars in a show that I can stand to watch, so I guess I should be glad for what I can get.
Maybe I should be content about Kanokon’s massive dose of fanservice, and watch Kanokon in silence. Sadly it just doesn’t work.
April 27th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Link
7:35 PM, April 23rd, 2008
Kanokon is such a maddening waste of voice talent. :mad:
bluemist
8:31 PM, April 23rd, 2008
I was a seiyuu fan too back in my early anime viewings, but nowadays I seem to not care anymore. I used to watch anything Hocchan or Chiba Saeko back when they had the golden touch in anime, but as time passes they seem to get crappier roles.
Today all them seiyuu sound the same to me unless either:
– they are awesome in their role… most recent being Nakahara Mai as Nagisa (Clannad). She was so good because she has no ‘trademark voice’, therefore she can ‘be’ the character.
– or… being typecast like “notokawaiiyonotoâ€.
Baka-Raptor
8:49 PM, April 23rd, 2008
It’s ok. You’re not the only one who’d watch a show just for Mamiko Noto.
hashihime
8:49 PM, April 23rd, 2008
Maybe we should start a “Seiyuus Anonymous†to break the addiction. But I guess in fact I wouldn’t join…yet. Kawasumi Ayako actually makes Kanokon worth watching all by herself, in my opinion. I don’t consider it a waste of talent, since all those voices are doing great little comic turns. It’s not exactly acting, but it is comedy. And for me Mizuki Nana is finally in two shows I can stand to watch: Allison and Itazura.
Link
9:18 PM, April 23rd, 2008
Sadly, I can’t stand to watch Allison & Lillia or Itazakiss. Too bad, since I love my Nana. She gets so shafted on roles.
wildarmsheero
9:21 PM, April 23rd, 2008
why is yuuko gotou in all the shitty shows :aaa:
dm
11:17 PM, April 23rd, 2008
Link, I think you’re broken. Allison and Lillia is a fine little show, and Mizuki Nana landing the role of Allison does not constitute getting “shaftedâ€.
I can’t contribute much to the seiyuu lament. I went through an Aya Hisakawa phase for a while, and a lesser Houko Kuwashima phase, but that was about it. Though I must say that Anime News Network’s encyclopedia is a nice improvement over the old fan-maintained seiyuu database… Hitoshi Doi? This is not to fault Doi — that database was a truly outstanding achievement. I deleted my bookmark to that database not too long ago. But I see it’s still there and still going strong.
tako
4:16 AM, April 24th, 2008
Having been a fan of Kobayashi Sanae, it’s almost a waste that she finally had another great performance in Hatenkou Yugi. The worst show I suffered through was probably Ichigo 100%, which also had Noto Mamiko. (Noto should take a break, she is in like every show the last few years!)
And how am I supposed to distinguish between a character I like and the seiyuu? A seiyuu I’ve known for years has suddenly turned into my main obsession because of a single performance.
TheBigN
9:46 AM, April 24th, 2008
>>Nana Mizuki finally stars in a show that I can stand to watch, so I guess I should be glad for what I can get.
I’m wondering if you enjoyed her role in Minami-ke. :/
I feel like I’ve only just started to focus on the voice actors and actresses involved in anime, and I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not. Thinking about Kawasumi x Noto getting me to watch Kanokon (or Noto X Kugimiya in Mnemosyne), or going “lol Tomoya†when I hear Yuuichi Nakamura in Macross Frontier’s Alto, hoping that Kana Ueda unleashes some random Kansai-ben in whatever role she plays…
I guess it just gives me another means to enjoy the anime I watch.
And Link is indeed broken. :v
dm
11:02 AM, April 25th, 2008
Okay, I took a look at the first two episodes. Thank heaven Quicktime now does .mkv files, and the Quicktime fast-forward-button actually does useful things to the vocal track (it preserves the the actors’ intonations and the Japanese is only slightly less understandable to me). So I don’t even feel like I have to ask for my time back. But… really. Omo, you should be ashamed of yourself.
Kobayashi Sanae is another plus for Hatenkou Yugi. I’ll have to remember that.
Muey
5:47 PM, April 25th, 2008
omo:
>>Why can’t these enjoyable voice actresses just work on shows that are worth watching?
Because the producers are good people and know we’ll watch their effortless tripe anyway if they can just offer us a good enough hook? -__-
dm:
>>But… really. Omo, you should be ashamed of yourself.
That’s what I said, but did he listen? :P
And yeah, often I too do check out shows just because some certain voice actor is in it, though so far I’ve avoided sticking around for very long unless I find some other passable hook.
I guess It is a way to, uh, broaden your horizons, or something (lol), in that it makes you have a look at shows you probably otherwise wouldn’t, though the signal:noise ratio with this method seems to be something like 1:10 if not worse in terms of finding desirable content :p.
omo
8:58 AM, April 26th, 2008
I am not “checking out†Kanokon just because of some voice actresses in the show. I’m watching it just because of some voice actresses in the show. But only because of that.
dm
2:47 PM, April 27th, 2008
With Kanokon I think it’s probably better to listen to it for the voice actresses in the show. Combine it with your next post and make it part of the soundtrack of your life.
omo
6:20 PM, April 27th, 2008
“Is this what people get out of radio shows�