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…says Shirogane Shomu, a guy I’ve never heard of, who happens to be the president of a talent agency I’ve never heard of. Along with veteran seiyuu Takano Urara, Shirogane was interviewed by Ameba (possibly to drum up interest for the radio show they do together?) about the seiyuu business. The article (condensed in an ANN news article) vaguely states that ‘There are approximately 1600 working seiyuu, 10% of whom freelance, and 80% cannot make a living from doing just seiyuu work so they have to do part-time jobs’.

At first I thought - ‘Er… 80% of what - all seiyuu, or 80% of the 10% of all seiyuu who freelance?’ (the exact Japanese is 声優はおよそ1600人といわれています。そのうち１割くらいがフリー声優で、8割は声優の仕事だけでは生活できないのでアルバイトしています。) Then I saw that Shirogane actually means 80% of all seiyuu, a number that does not include people from other fields of entertainment (idols, actors etc) who take on occasional voice work.

Let’s not forget that seiyuu doesn’t only refer to those who provide anime voice work but also includes dubbers, narrators and radio personalities (such as Shirogane himself) in the figures - a lot of whom none of us would ever have heard of. It means that in his calculation, approximately 320 of the 1600 seiyuu in the business earn enough to support themselves and the rest have to work part-time jobs. I’m guessing Suwabe Junichi, with his multitude of electronic gizmos, must be one of them lucky people who’s swimming in the money!

Shirogane doesn’t really go into specifics about who exactly makes up this 80%, but he does mention that more than 850 people (53%) of the total seiyuu population are not fully attached to an agency - instead they are under ‘custody’ (預かり) or ’semi-attached’ (準所属) status [it varies from agency to agency], where their future is decided by their performance. When seiyuu are still in this ‘unconfirmed’ state (perhaps still undergoing voice training), their earnings are unstable and they’re the most likely group that needs to find part-time jobs to supplement meagre earnings from voicing Passerby B or Shop Assistant Z. Off the top of my head, Aoni’s Kano Yui is an example of a seiyuu still under 準所属 status - wonder if she’s working in a maid cafe somewhere?

*shrug* The dubious 80% figure (where’s the source, where’s the cold, hard facts?) if true shouldn’t shock anyone. For seiyuu attached to an agency that focuses on anime voice work - there’s only so many anime made per season, with a limited number of roles - so if a seiyuu fails at auditions = no roles = get a job at the local kombini to pay the bills until the next season of auditions comes around. Assuming that working at a convenience store or family restaurant is what Shirogane means by a ‘part-time job’ and doesn’t include stuff that seiyuu do on the side like radio shows, stage plays, idol careers and so on.

But this supposedly ‘pitiful’ state isn’t specific to the seiyuu business, it is pretty much the same for other parts of Japanese entertainment - the owarai (comedy) talents and wannabe idols, the poor overworked animators; they all earn a pittance (aka a monthly wage that just about enables them to survive on a diet of gruel). And the competition is even more intense; there may be 80,000 potential seiyuu vying for 320 successful working positions (4 out of 1000 succeed), but idol auditions are even worse - AKB48’s third-gen auditions had 12,828 applicants for 13 spots (1/1000) as an example.

Even the most successful idols have little control over the work they do, and this is true for seiyuu also - you get sent to an audition, you get the role, you do it. In fact, seiyuu sometimes have it better in that they get paid per episode - I think it was something like 13-16,000 yen per anime episode (halve the figure for newbie seiyuu), so if someone like Noto Mamiko can pack their schedule with 4-5 regular anime per season + added work for games, radio and live events, I’m sure she can survive just fine. Apparently Koyasu Takehito once wrote on his blog that a seiyuu can make a decent living if he appears in 3 regular roles per season, but I can’t find a source to verify that anymore. That also made me think that Ueda Kana will never run out of work as long as there are Kansai characters in anime - she is the #1 go-to seiyuu for an authentic Kansai accent (used to be Hisakawa Aya).

I think I’ve rambled on enough, I don’t even know if I’m making sense… so in short, Shirogane is telling exaggerated half-truths so you shouldn’t feel sorry for seiyuu or be discouraged if you’re aiming to become one (not in Japan, hopefully). After all, the Japanese entertainment world is a shitty place where the ‘biggest’ stars are paid crap wages and get butt-raeped by the Gollum-like manly Mr. Johnny Kitagawa, while the only trauma seiyuu face is the prospect of getting kimo-ota germs all over their body at handshake events. Also, I’m pretty sure other showbiz people have to work at some other sort of job to make ends meet as well, I’ve heard of athletes having to supplement their income with part-time jobs…

Refer:
Part 1 and Part 2 of Ameba interview
Interview with top idol Ueto Aya
Riuva article on Animators and Seiyuu Being Slaves

作者:j1m0ne

更新日:2009年1月7日 13時45分

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So it seems lately that a lot of the stuff I’m watching or playing at the moment has Inoue Marina in it. Which is a good thing.

Firstly, most of my time is now being taken up by playing Tales of Hearts (anime version) on the DS. I’m not a Tales fan at all, preferring my Dragon Quests, Dark Clouds, Golden Suns and Final Fantasies, but I was desperate for anything resembling a RPG after my Disgaea save game went kaput (having logged some 90 hours of play).

I knew the Tales cast was good - we have Kakihara Tetsuya voicing the hot-blooded (ie lots of screaming) Shing Meteorite, Marina the ’soulless’ heroine Kohak(u) Hearts, Matsukaze Masaya the siscon-with-the-girly-name Hisui Hearts, Ito Shizuka as the ‘nice body!’ Innes Lorenz and best of all, Minagawa Junko as the evil Incarose. I don’t know if it was the case for the other Tales games, but the seiyuu actually had to audition for their roles here - normally game-makers just call up agencies to request so-and-so specifically, as Valkyria producer Nonaka Ryutaro did for Marina as Alicia Melchiott.

Interestingly, the Tales of Hearts’ dialogue was recorded in an afureko setting, with all the seiyuu sitting in a studio like they would in a normal anime episode recording. It’s usually done individually in booths but (this) Tales game(s) has plenty of cutscenes (animated by Production I.G.) & a large chunk of the in-game dialogue is voiced, so I guess it makes sense to get everyone together. I’ve not gotten very far in the game yet - still messing around with the battle system and the Soma Build, but things are currently progressing well.

Watch the interview with Kakihara & Inoue that came with the preordered CGI version of the game - Kakky is close to perfecting his ‘kimoi’ act, almost up to Ono Daisuke level standards now! Incidentally, ToH is the fourth Kakky-Marina pairing after Gurren Lagann (Simon & Yoko), Minami-ke (Fujioka & Kana) and er… Nanoha Strikers (Eriol & Strada). Somebody sure likes putting them together…

Secondly, Minami-ke Okaeri has aired and I have upgraded my outlook for coming episodes to ‘quite optimistic’. Opening/ending song combination is the best of all the seasons so far, the gags are actually funny and the character designs/art are not as terrible as I’d imagined they would be. Marina fitted into her Kana role with ease and I was getting disturbing mental yuri images when she snuggled up to Uchida (who is voiced by Kitamura Eri - yay brain!). I also love the way Kana chomps on her food, though I’ve never known anyone over the age of 5 who sticks their thumbs in mandarins.

Thirdly, Maria†Holic. I already knew what Marina’s Matsurika was like from the drama CD, but it’s still great to hear her trading insults with Kobayashi Yu in animated form - kuso okama (shitty tranny) and mesu buta (sow) are swear words I’m keen to try out, but as yet have not found a suitable target to use them on.

Best of all, there’s still Maria-sama ga Miteru to come. It’ll be a couple of episodes yet before Shoko makes her appearance, but I’m really looking forward to it. Marimite Saturdays followed by Minami-ke Sundays - can’t think of a better way to end or begin a week… oh, and I like the new OP by the way. Helps that I’m a Shimotsukin fangirl.

It’s great to once again hear Marina voicing character I like in shows I actually enjoy watching, something that was sorely lacking last year. She was good in Skip Beat!, but I don’t particularly like the anime - and the opposite is true for Toshokan Senso.

2009 is shaping up to be a good Marina year! 大吉 like Uchida, not 大凶 like Hosaka. Back to more ToH now.

作者:j1m0ne

更新日:2009年1月5日 15時26分

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Minor seiyuu and idol Murata Ayumi announced on her blog on the 31st December 2008 that she is officially ‘taking leave’ from the entertainment business due to ill-health. The post also somewhat bizarrely declares that ‘The one thing I want to make clear is that I’m not married or pregnant, OK?’

The Tokyo-born singer was scouted at age 15 whilst working in her father’s surf shop, but never really hit any heights in her 11-year career. Murata’s most notable works include a role in the Sailor Moon musical as Aino Minako (Sailor Venus), Mochida Hinako in Myself;Yourself and Kurosu Kanata in the Memories Off series. She has also released 3 albums and 10 singles, the most recent of which (Pastel) was the ending theme for the Macademi WAsshoi! anime.

No word on what will happen to some of Murata’s current work commitments, including her PolePole radio show and a presenting spot on AT-X’s promo-X. Her blog however, remains active.

26 seems to be a rather young age to be ‘retiring’… I was never really a fan of Murata’s, but she did have some excellent songs like Shining Star and Drawing Again - I think that was down to songwriter Shikura Chiyomaru though; her singing was dreadful =_= Can’t say I ever noticed her voice acting skills either, but she was a bright and bubbly person from the few radio shows I heard her on. That said, she was never popular so I really doubt she’ll be returning to singing or acting anytime soon…

No idea why Murata chose to declare that she was neither married nor pregnant though, her saying that makes me think that she actually is. Maybe she plans to move into the AV business soon. Uh, get well soon Ayumi!

作者:j1m0ne

更新日:2009年1月4日 13時27分

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AT-X held a special 2-hour seiyuu live programme to ring in the new year, countering NHK’s popular Kohaku Uta Gassen. Hosted by Morikubo Showtaro & Kakazu Yumi, the variety programme blatantly copied the Kohaku format of placing the seiyuu in two different teams to play silly games, except with the promise of a nice holiday in the Hawaiians spa resort for the winning team.

Somebody did put up the whole thing on Nico Nico Douga in four parts but uh… part 3 is now missing thanks to some crappy copyright claim ;( I’ll just highlight some of the funny bits from the programme (you can watch it from the links at bottom of post).

The list of seiyuu:

Red team: Ito Kentaro (leader), Toriumi Kosuke, Konishi Katsuyuki, Matsukaze Masaya, Nakahara Mai, Fukui Yukari

White team: Ishikawa Hideo (leader), Hirakawa Daisuke, Nojima Kenji, Kaneda Tomoko, Sendai Eri

And special guest aka the boss: Wakamoto Norio

Before the festivities started, Onosaka Masaya barged in and demanded to know why he hadn’t been invited to the event. Morikubo informed him that they had actually prepared a special stage for him… and promptly sent him & Konishi out to the car park where TV Tokyo announcer Handa Miki was waiting for them in the cold 6°C weather.

There they played various dumb games there, including Konishi trying to stuff a futon in a cover and Onosaka trying to rip the bras off 55 mannequins + 1 real girl in under one minute (see above).

Meanwhile, the remaining members of the two teams faced off in the hall with a series of games. The first was a karaoke game - the contestants had to pick any song from the list of the Kohaku songs to sing live:

1. White team was up first, and leader Ishikawa had to cajole his team members into singing. He finally managed to drag Nojima Kenji out, who bravely chose to tackle Mr.Children’s GIFT. Maaaannn, he picked such a damn hard song to sing - Sakurai Kazutoshi’s voice is impossible to match. Gotta say, NojiKen didn’t do too bad a job of it - the karaoke machine gave him a score of 86%!
2. Ito Kentaro on the other hand, managed to get his team members to volunteer easily - Toriumi says he’d like to sing EXILE, Nakahara chose Kobukuro and Yukarin picked… PONYO LMFAO. So Yukarin it was then. LOL, Yukarin sang worse than Ohashi Nozomi - I never thought that was possible But the machine still gave her 75%.

3. It was still red team’s turn and Matsukaze, who’d gone AWOL, suddenly reappeared. He chose to sing Jero’s Umiyuki. LMAO, he painted his face black - uhh kinda racist heh (Jero is a black enka singer). But yeah, Matsukaze is definitely a good singer and the machine gave him 86%.
4. White team chose Kaneda Tomoko to sing Perfume’s Polyrhythm ROTFLMFAO. Video below:

Kaneda Tomoko murdering Polyrhythm:
Show ▼

And the actual performance by Perfume on Kohaku:
Show ▼

Definitely the highlight of the show! She deserved more than 60% for that…

There was also a little quiz game, where the teams would have to line up stuff:

1. Red team was asked to match the seiyuu to the station where their voices are used for train announcements
2. White team was asked to line up the anime in order of broadcast date on AT-X. Each anime featured at least one of the seiyuu in the team.

3. The AT-X staff showed 50 random foreign women in Roppongi pictures of Wakamoto Norio, Toriumi Kosuke, Konishi Katsuyuki, Matsukaze Masaya and Ito Kentaro and asked them which of the five they would most want to give a hug. The red team then had to match the seiyuu to the number of votes.
-LOL I nearly laughed my ass off at this one. Toriumi got 6 votes (Gaijin woman quote: Japan’s Keanu Reeves!), Masaya got 12 (So Sweet!), Wakamoto got 14 (Looks very hot!) and Konishi (Cool, intelligent) was tops with 16 votes. Ito Kentaro only got two votes HAHAHAHA. And the gaijin women said ‘He looks gay’. Gosh, poor Ito.
4. The staff asked 50 bar hostesses which of the following: Wakamoto Norio, Nojima Kenji, Hirakawa Daisuke, Onosaka Masaya & Ishikawa Hideo, looked most likely to patronise a host club. And predictably, Onosaka’s dirty, perverted looks meant he won by a landslide of 26 votes lol.

Another game - the leaders of the teams had to catch balls thrown from the audience using a basket, and the team with the heavier basket would win. White team tried to cheat by:

Putting Kaneda Tomoko in their basket :3 But they needn’t have, as they neatly outweighed the red team by 1kg.

Arbitrarily, Wakamoto Norio awarded the red team the overall win after they sucked up to him by rubbing his head. LOL.

The show was fun to watch, I wish part 3 was uploaded somewhere (someone point me to it if you know where).

Watch (on NND): Parts 1, 2 and 4
or using Nicozon: 1, 2 and 4.

作者:j1m0ne

更新日:2009年1月2日 15時49分

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Uh, happy new year! I was too busy consuming mango pudding whilst watching Kohaku Uta Gassen on TV to put this up on time…

There really weren’t any big stories in the seiyuu world this year, unlike the whole ARTSVISION scandal thingy in 2007. Which is a good thing I suppose… but that leaves only minor things like:

Wedding Bells
Those whose marriage status became clear in 2008:

・Kaida Yuko’s marriage to a theatre actor was made known by a tourism blog.

・Wakabayashi Naomi revealed 2007 marriage on blog, complete with wedding dress picture.

・Kojima Sachiko (Sayako in Bamboo Blade) married her boyfriend of 9 years, theatre director Yasue Makoto
The wedding was attended by seiyuu Hikami Kyoko & Masuda Yuki, and Yamagata Kaori also posted about a party organised by the dub cast of drama Everwood (of which Kojima is a part of) to celebrate the newlyweds, complete with scrapbook-style card (above).

・Hirata Hiromi revealed on her blog that she has been married since 2007.

・Sonozaki Mie revealed her marriage on her blog.

・Miyano Mamoru told the whole world of his shotgun wedding, and fujoshi cursed his bride to death.

・Inokuchi Yuka announced on her blog on New Year’s eve that she had a shotgun wedding, with the baby due in the spring. Unlike Mamo, Yuka’s not that well known so presumably no sword-wielding otaku will go hunt her husband down.

Oh, and not forgetting:

・Nabatame Hitomi & Ito Shizuka. We all know who wears the pants in the relationship.

Illnesses, injuries etc
There weren’t many of these this year thankfully.

1.Kawakami Tomoko underwent surgery for unspecified ailment in August.
It doesn’t seem too serious, but Kawakami is still seeing limited action at the moment in just Bashin and CLANNAD, with Kuwashima Houko still standing in for her role as Fuyuki in Keroro Gunso.
2.Ochiai Yurika got whiplash and a cut lip in a motor accident
And proudly showed off the scars on her blog.
3.Fukuen Misato had some throat ailment (laryngitis? strained vocal chords?)
Resulted in missed radio shows and a non-appearance in Ga-Rei episode 1.

And the personal stuff:

Favourite story of 2008
Hirano Aya fails to grasp the concept of wearing a bikini

It was eventually blamed on the photography staff telling her to wear it that way, because it seems Hirano has never been to the beach and has no idea how to wear a bikini top. She may want to forget the whole incident, but nasty internet users are not going to drop it for a long, long time…

Favourite Radio Shows
Ga-Rei-Zero- Choshizen Saigai Radio Taisakushitsu

Although Mizuhara Kaoru & Shiraishi Minoru have done shows together before, it’s the added Chihara Minori in the mix that really made Ga-Rei radio all that more special. Not that Minorin was a particularly good host or anything (in fact, she’s just an airhead that giggles non-stop) but it was her very presence that escalated the rivalry between Shiraishi & Mizuhara (mostly over Minorin, lol) :3 And people obviously liked listening to the show enough to get it extended to an hour-long programme instead of half an hour… though it could be that the staff just couldn’t stop them talking.

5 favourite moments (in no particular order):
1. Kaoru’s indignant ‘Oi Kagura (Minorin) look at me! [and stop looking at that faggot]‘ after Shiraishi caught Minorin staring at him intently.
2. Minorin refusing to invite Shiraishi Minoru to a nabe party in her flat - he was even willing to be isolated to the veranda, or to turn up just to cook the nabe and then leave, but Kaoru refused to let him into the fun (and it turned out true! Minorin & Kaoru had a nabe party without Minoru, lol).
3. Shiraishi Minoru’s love songs for Chihara Minori - one done in the style of Remioromen meets Sukimaswitch, the other in Minorin’s beloved B’z rock style, complete with Inaba Koshi-style vocals…Kimoi. Kimooiiiii. KIMOIIIIIII… demo UMAI.
4. Mizuhara Kaoru’s hilarious self-intros for every episode, from her terrible imitation of a kudagitsune, her ‘Isayama Yomi, 17-sai!’ and even managing to introduce herself as Mizuhara Kaori once ^^;
5. Loli Mizuhara cutely repeating ‘Oniichan!’ after Shiraishi Minoru mentioned that he gets embarassed when girls call him Oniichan.

Toshokan Senso Radio - Kanto Toshokichi Kohoka (Boy’s side)

Gosh, lewd. Suzuki Tatsuhisa is lewd. As is Maeno Tomoaki, who also served as a whipping boy for sadistic Tatsu - they should rename this the S & M Radio show. I think a good 60% of whatever they said got censored, though stuff like ‘that got my hips moving’ and ‘condoms’ still got through, lol. And I totally approve that they approve of (Inoue) Marina’s legs [^_^]b But they’d both make horrible boyfriends, it seems =_=

Anitama.com standard Marunage
There’s never a dull moment with Ueda Kana around, and with Shimizu Kaori egging her on, there were plenty of rude, not entirely politically correct moments, culminating with Ueda’s hilarious threat to wipe old men off the face of the earth. I hope something like that won’t tone down their style though.

And of course, Tamura Yukari’s Itazura Kuro Usagi. Still offending people left and right, still saying some of the most outrageous things ever, still the best seiyuu radio show of all time. The highlight of this year was the whole fujoshi thing (rotten women!) which led to Yukarin implicating Ono Daisuke & Kamiya Hiroshi as the BL seiyuu duo in addition to suggesting that she might do the yuri with Mizuki Nana.

Favourite Seiyuu Blog

KaneTomo Jigoku. I learn a lot of things I never knew I wanted to learn, and pondered a lot of questions in life that I never knew I wanted to ponder. KaneTomo-sensei truly sees the world through different eyes and I am grateful for the enlightening experiences she has given me. In short, her blog is funny as shit and everyone should learn Japanese to read it *and I don’t even like Kaneda Tomoko*

Worst Camwhoring Seiyuu Blog
Yokoyama Chisa no Keitai Nikki. I respect her a lot for her work in Tenchi Muyo and Sakura Taisen, but nobody loves (pictures of) their own face as much as Yokoyama does.

Favourite Blog Pic:

Matsukaze Masaya moo moo. Via Koyama Rikiya’s blog.

There’re always jokes going on about how some seiyuu are only able to update their blogs so much because they aren’t getting any work offers (re: Sasaki Nozomi, Hirota Shion, Kimura Madoka). So it may be a good thing when your favourite seiyuu only posts on their blog every few days or once a week - they could actually be busy earning money somewhere else!

Adventures in Yuriland

I’d always thought that Naba’s harem is where it’s at, but I realise Kitamura Eri’s ability to make any seiyuu (yuri-leaning or not) adapt to her yuri ways appeals to me much more. Plus her catches are always cute, young, fresh, meaty, juicy girls…. yeah.

Hopefully we’ll see and hear more of Izawa Shiori this year? All I know about her is through KitaEri, and I need more yuri purikura info.

Ore no Yome 2008:

Tomatsu Haruka was my main obsession for 2008 (and most of 2007 actually) and it’ll be interesting to see how long this infatuation lasts… probably until the next super-cute seiyuu comes along. I was happy that Kannagi was the show that finally allowed Tomacchan to worm her way into otaku hearts.

Sorry I pretty much ignored you this year:

Inoue Marina. You need to stop appearing in shit like AkaSaka and Sekirei, and I’ll start loving you more. Maybe that will be remedied if you appear in the Valkyria anime? And pretty please Starchild, give her a recording contract - even Yukana got one (mumble, mumble).

The people I came to love in 2008:

Shimono Hiro & Kaji Yuki. Even if Hiro can’t sing to save his life, he’ll always be my too pure-pure boy. Kaji-kun because his blog is awesome and always full of other seiyuu’s pics, and cos he’s a pretty funny guy too.

Maeno Tomoaki, cos though he looks so serious he’s actually pretty dorky. And Fukuen Misato, who I learned to love in her own right (her laugh is infectious!) and not just because she’s Nana’s sidekick.

The people I love that I talked about too much in 2008:

Mizuki Nana… Fact(s): There is a 95% chance that an anime with Mizuki Nana in it will suck terribly, and there is a 95% chance that a music CD bearing the name of Mizuki Nana will be fantastic. That is why I call myself a fan of Nana the seiyuu idol, not a fan of Nana the seiyuu. But yeah, 2009 is gonna be another fantastic year for her, I’m sure. Album please?

…and Chihara Minori. Even if she records an entire album of nursery rhymes and lullabies, I’d still buy it (especially if they tucked in a photobook). Viva Minorin of the uneven eyes!

The people I love but I didn’t talk about enough in 2008:

Miyano Mamoru, Kobayashi Yu & Ono Daisuke. They need to do more crazy things! Well at least Mamo did do something crazy this year but I wasn’t around at the time to write about it.

And finally,

4 things I learnt in 2008:
1. Kakihara Tetsuya is quite possibly sexier than Ono Daisuke.
2. I want to make love to Mizuhara Kaoru’s sexy onee-san voice. Just her voice, though.
3. Tomatsu Haruka’s legs are longer than the Yangtze river, but shorter than Kobayashi Yu’s River Nile-length legs.
4. I really dislike Ochiai Yurika, that attention-seeking whore. Put the boobs and butt away, love.

4 things I want to learn for 2009:
1. Just how big is Chiaking - 32A or 36C?
2. What Kitamura Eri looks like without make-up.
3. How to lose weight, from Morikawa Toshiyuki.
4. How to still look like a loli at age 35, from Kaneda Tomoko.

I demand more yuri, more shotgun weddings and more scandals in 2009!

作者:j1m0ne

更新日:2009年1月1日 11時18分

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Next in the series is anime. Yeah, anime! That thing that keeps the majority of seiyuu employed. I do watch some of that stuff sometimes…

Honestly, 2008 wasn’t a great year for me anime-wise. There was nothing that gave me a rush of blood to the head quite like Gurren Lagann, Denno Coil or Minami-ke did in 2007. I can count more than a dozen shows (Macross F, Hidamari, Chi’s Sweet Home, Kaiba, Xam’d, Skip Beat! etc) that I gave up halfway through because I figured I didn’t want to waste any more time on them.

I was also pissed off that anime got taken off Nico Nico Douga, since that was where I watched most shows last year. I’m not particularly hung up on video quality - I loved HorribleRaws!

Sadly most of my random awards this year are like, from the same few anime. Yeah, I didn’t watch much at all…

What I absolutely liked:
Natsume Yujincho

Nyanko-sensei + female Natsume + sexy animal youkai = win. Yes, yes I’m a sucker for slice-of-life stuff with a supernatural feel and Natsume Yujincho played right into my hands.

Eve no Jikan

Only halfway(?) to the finishing line, but you can already tell that that this an absolute winner. Having to wait ’til April for the next installment is killing me… are you not enjoying the Time of Eve? (that cheesy line had to be said).

Kannagi

Director Yamakan’s massive ego threatened to derail the train at certain points and the ’serious’ parts felt terribly draggy, but Kannagi still has three of the funniest episodes (eps 6,7,10) of anime made in 2008, and some of the best one-liners (It’s a Sony!) that we’ll still be quoting years down the line.

ARIA The ORIGINATION

‘Tis the last season of ARIA *cue collective weeping from legions of ARIA fans* I can’t believe we’ll never see Akari + co gracing our screens ever again *goes off to get another bucket and a box of tissues*

What I quite liked:
Ga-Rei -Zero-

Like most others I was drawn in by that shocking first episode, then it started falling apart faster than a Made-in-China bicycle before getting it together again for a (sort of) rousing finale. I’ll still take away fond memories of homosexual jokes, innovative weaponry and exorbitant amounts of chest hair.

kure-nai

The ending was a little botched but the ride to get there was a fun all-singing, all-dancing, all-tsunloli extravaganza. Episode 6 was the most fun 23 minutes of anime I watched in 2008, deliberately bad singing included.

Detroit Metal City

The best and funniest anime I watched that I never want to watch again. A single portion of humping of Tokyo Tower lewd, politically incorrect dumbass-ness is quite enough for me. But man, it was a wild ride. Krauser is the 2008 style icon.

Itazura na Kiss

Pales in comparison to last year’s Lovely Complex, but adequately filled my 1-shojo show quota per year for 2008. God, episode 14 (the wedding one) made me squeal like a little girl.

Kite Liberator

A half-decent half-movie with lovely Inoue Marina Kyoto-accent goodness. Looking forward to the next installment assuming it sees the light of day..

true tears

I was a Hiromi shipper all the way. HAHAHA (waves finger triumphantly at all the chicken-obsessed-weirdo loving fanboys).

Toshokan Senso

Eh, I didn’t really know what to expect going into this - but it was quite a fun ride. I did want more military action than love comedy though - the title does have the word ‘war’ in it after all. Good but not great, definitely not something I’d want to watch a second time.

Kurozuka

Plenty of style, plenty of bloody action, crap story (if you can call that a story), crap characters, weird ‘ending’. Every episode was still riveting regardless, and it’s the only anime that made me squeamish & wanting to look away from the screen.

The worst of the rest:
Kyoran Kazoku Nikki

Ceased being funny by episode 12. I still crown it ‘best anime to feature a wobbly jellyfish’.

Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto: Natsu no Sora

Nowhere near as good as Someday’s Dreamer - I hated all the characters in this one, the kids were all too emo and only the fruity teaching assistant was cool.

Nabari no O

Pink-haired swordsmen are the rage these days! There were some good moments, but most of them came in the first 13 episodes and everything after the halfway mark was garbage.

First half of Code Geass R2 aka The Chronicles of Kallen’s Ass

Hands down the best comedy of 2008.

Zoku Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei

Was amusing, for about 5 minutes. I preferred Season 1. They need to kill the series now, it’s getting tiresome.

Minami-ke: Okawari

Had a disturbing lack of manly Minami brothers but I laughed a few times, especially when elongated mammaries made an appearance. Hated Fuyuki to death.

Shojo Sect

Ending was lacking. And they replaced the fire extinguisher scene with a punch, which doesn’t please me (since that was the only thing from the manga I remembered). Pretty tame for an H anime.

Takane no Jitensha

Best anime about bicycles ever. Or maybe not. It’s more like a 20-minute slice-of-life show about a kid who lies to his mum so he can get a new bike. Also contains probably the weirdest deus ex machina I’ve seen in an anime yet.

Yozakura Quartet

Crap, crap, utter crap… oh wait, the tsundere song was awesome. Also, I saw some of Chihiro’s subs for this and they were hilarious, and made the show infinitely better.

Shakugan no Shana II

Started off dreadfully (raburabu?) in 2007 and I had lost all the Shana loving by the time things picked up in the second half earlier this year.

Quiz Magic Academy

I think I might be the only person who bothered to watch this. And it would be better if I remained the only person who bothered to watch this. It made me want to gouge my eyes out.

and:

Yay! I’m the only one who thinks this show sucks balls:
Toradora!

Didn’t finish Macross Frontier either. I yawned a lot during that.

I’ve never really been in tune with whatever most of the anime blogosphere is watching (ie anything that has mechs, moe or moe mechs) but I am happy to see some of my favourite anime of 2008 racking up the sales. ARIA The ORIGINATION, for example, is the strongest-selling of the franchise’s three seasons - all of the DVDs broke the 10k sales barrier. Natsume Yujincho too, has been selling fairly well as has Kannagi and other shows in a similar vein (Spice & Wolf, Hidamari Sketchx365).

Still, fanservice-friendly anime like the first season of RosaPants, Kanokon, To LoveRu, Strike Witches and Sekirei are also selling by the bucketload while stuff like true tears, kure-nai, Druaga, Vampire Knight and KimiKiss languish down at around 2k sales per volume. I had some extra time on my hands & compiled a quick list of the average DVD sales (total sales of all DVDs divided by number of volumes) of some of the anime I watched this year:

1. Code Geass R2 (4 volumes so far) - 30,977 [DVD5 sold 17,072 in week 1]
2. ARIA The ORIGNATION (7 total volumes) - 13,067
3. Kannagi (1 volume so far) - 13,539 [DVD2 sold 10,337 in week 1]
4. Natsume Yujincho (2 volumes so far) - 11,553 [DVD3 sold 7,125 in week 1]
5. Toshokan Senso (5 total volumes) - 9,977 [DVD5 still charting]
6. Shakugan no Shana II (8 total volumes) - 8,670
7. Zoku Sayonara Zetsubo-sensei (4 total volumes) - 5,340
8. Minami-ke: Okawari (4 total volumes) - 4,710 [Minami-ke: 10,537]
9. true tears (7 total volumes) - 2,079
10. kure-nai (6 total volumes) - 1,922
11. Kyoran Kazoku Nikki (5 volumes so far) - 1,473

Some shows like Geass and Macross F were sold in Blu-Ray format but no accurate sales figures are available. Also, some of the anime deemed 雑魚 (small fry), ie. didn’t sell enough copies to make the charts:

Shigofumi, Hatenko Yugi, Nabari no O, Kaiba, Allison to Lillia, Special A, 20-menso no Musume, Real Drive, Mahou Tsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto~Natsu no Sora~, H2O

Sources: 1 & 2

And the other awards…:

Favourite scenes
Epic throwing of the shit bag into the river [Kurozuka, ep8]

It’s a bag of shit, just a huge bag of shit. And they spent an epic 10 minutes discussing a bag of shit.

Robot + Robot love ≠ Cat? [Eve no Jikan Act 03]

♡ + ♡ ≠ (ﾟωﾟ) ?

Randomness
Nagi of the Year:

Because she/it is 1000% more sparking than used goods, legendary wizards or blonde loli tsunderes.

Wakamoto of the Year:

Babupappunabuuhoohoo. They sure look like baseballs…

Want yuri fanfiction! Now!:

Yomi & Kagura - sisterly Pocky raburabu! Too bad one of them’s dead.

Want yaoi fanfiction! Now!:

No prizes for guessing who’s seme and who’s uke in the fledgling Daitetsu-Jin relationship.

Mai-Hero:

Takako from Kannagi. This is the first time I’ve been able to strongly identify with any anime character, particularly her yuri tendencies. My aim for 2009 is to produce Takako-proportion nosebleeds.

If I had a 2D imouto…:

Lydia (Tytania) would be totally fine.

If I had a 2D boyfriend…:

Miyokichi (true tears) would be my knight in knitwear.

If I had a 2D petto:

Nyanko-sensei would be my pillow of choice, he has a bigger mochix2ponx2 than Aria-shachou.

Best maid/butler/slave:

Sebastian is actually pretty good at all this butlering lark (unlike Kogarashi) and I know for sure he can make a decent cup of tea.

Most traumatising moment:

%^&^%KEMEKO$%^&%$&^ MY EYES. My eyes, no amount of washing out with Clorox® will save my dear eyes.

Here’s hoping 2009 will be better!

作者:j1m0ne

更新日:2008年12月30日 15時45分

このブログのホーム

The large number of posts containing the words ‘winter’ or ‘preview’ flooding Anime Nano these few days is pretty amusing… and despite promising not to do season guides ever again, I’ve predictably reversed my decision, sort of.

I’m only doing full guides for the spring and autumn anime, as winter always sucks and nobody makes good anime for the summer either. For these crappy seasons, I’m going to cover the music and seiyuu bits in a little more detail. I suggest checking out the following blogs for more in-depth coverage of the anime itself:

Hashihime | Tenka Seiha | THAT Anime Blog

On to the guide.

Quick Jump: Akikan! | Asu no Yoichi! | Birdy the Mighty DECODE:02 | Druaga no To~The Sword of URUK~ | Genji Monogatari Sennenki | Hajime no Ippo New Challenger | Hetalia Axis Powers | Kemono no Soja Erin | Kokaku no Regios | Kurokami The Animation | MAJOR 5th Season | Maria†Holic | Maria-sama ga Miteru 4th Season | Minami-ke Okaeri | Rideback | Shikabane Hime Kuro | Slayers EVOLUTION-R | Sora o Kakeru Shojo | Sora o Miageru Shoujo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai | VIPER’S CREED | WHITE ALBUM | Zoku Natsume Yujincho

Akikan! [アキカン！]

Episode one was just full of lol. It’s been a while since I’ve surrendered my brain to watching something as dumb as Akikan! (Inukami was the last one maybe?).

Cast: Fukuyama Jun, Narita Sayaka, Toyosaki Aki, Noto Mamiko, Yuki Aoi, Okubo Aiko, Okamoto Nobuhiko, Okiayu Ryotaro, Toyoguchi Megumi.
-Fukuyama and Okiayu are on top comedic form as usual.
Web Radio: Melon.Najimi no Sparkling☆KISS hosted by Narita Sayaka & Toyosaki Aki
Opening: Miracle Plan ga Dekichatta! by Charmmy Queen
Ending: [Untitled] by Nomico
-Charmmy Queen are Lantis’ new idol group or something, but judging by the song names and artists, I bet both songs will be irritating as hell.

Asu no Yoichi! [明日のよいち！]

Hooray token harem anime. Actually, Kurata Hideyuki (R.O.D., Kamichu!, Kannagi) is writing this so it may not turn out to be that bad.

Cast: Okamoto Nobuhiko, Sato Rina, Tomatsu Haruka, Hanazawa Kana, Tamura Yukari, Nakai Kazuya, Asanuma Shintaro, Konishi Katsuyuki, Yahagi Sayuri
-Okamoto is like Shimono Hiro Mk.II, which means he’s perfect to voice harem leads. Otherwise, there’s the usual bunch of moe-voiced seiyuu to fill the tsundere, loli etc etc roles.
Web Radio: Asu no Yoichi Radio hosted by Okamoto Nobuhiko & Sato Rina.
-Okamoto is a very entertaining person as I learnt from Persona radio. He’s so high tension and talks weird a lot of the time…
Opening: Egao no Riyuu by meg rock
Ending: Life and Proud by Misato Aki
-I was expecting a theme song by the four female seiyuu but… ah well, meg rock is not a bad substitute.

Birdy the Mighty DECODE:02 [鉄腕バーディー DECODE]

No comment on the anime, didn’t watch any of the first season.

Cast: Chiba Saeko, Irino Miyu, Ito Kanae, Fujiwara Keiji, Nazuka Kaori, Matsukaze Masaya, Kawasumi Ayako, Sugo Takayuki, Asanuma Shintaro, Ono Atsushi, Kaida Yuko, Ginga Banjo, Miyata Koki, Shiraishi Ryoko, Shimaka Yu
-I like how Asanuma (blonde dude) totally looks like a psycho killer.
Web Radio: Tetsuwan Birdy DECODE:R hosted by Irino Miyu & Chiba Saeko
-Dull as hell.
Opening: [Untitled] by Nirgilis
Ending: Tane by No Sleeves
-At least Birdy always manages to get good opening and ending themes… or so I thought. No Sleeves (no3b for short) is an offshoot of idol group AKB48.

Druaga no To~The Sword of URUK~

More MMORPG goodness? I wish they’d make the entiere anime more like the first episode of the first season, that was awesome.
Cast: KENN, Orikasa Fumiko, Sakurai Takahiro, Horie Yui, Hayamizu Risa, Goda Hozumi, Chihara Minori, Ishida Akira, Yasumoto Hiroki, Hashi Takaya, Yajima Akiko, Yukana, Terasoma Masaki, Mizuno Risa
-It’s the same cast, which means more KENN. Yum. Also, I am always terrified when an anime has both
a) Hayamizu Risa (早水 リサ) & Mizuno Risa (水野 理紗)
or
b) Kaida Yuko (甲斐田 裕子) & Kaida Yuki (甲斐田 ゆき)
in it. My brain just can’t straighten out who’s who…

Web Radio: Tocho!! Druaga hosted by KENN & Orikasa Fumiko
Opening: Questions? by Nakamura Yu
Ending: Mahou Tsukai desukedo. by Orikasa Fumiko
-Lol, Nakamura Yu. Can’t forget her original song on Sakux2 LMAO (see video below). Questions? will be her solo CD debut and I really want to buy it just because she’s so adorable on Sakux2 :3
Show ▼

Genji Monogatari Sennenki [源氏物語千年紀Genji]

Genji is an anime adaptation of a book not meant for unrefined brains such as mine ie. this is supposed to be impressive and artsy but I’ll be damned if I understand a single thing! Plus it’s supposed to be all about the romance, which is a huge turn-off for me.

Cast: Sakurai Takahiro, Fujita Toshiko, Endo Aya, Tamagawa Sakiko, Horiuchi Kenyuu, Sugita Tomokazu, Hirata Eriko, Tsuru Hiromi
-Delicious cast. I can’t quite remember the last time Tsuru had a decent role. Probably Trigun’s Meryl Stryfe, and that was ten long years ago…
Opening: Hiyori Hime by PUFFY
Ending: Koi by Atari Kosuke
-Both look like winning songs to me - Hiyori Hime is written by the almighty Shiina Ringo.

Hajime no Ippo New Challenger [はじめの一歩 New Challenger]

Nearly 10 years in the boxing anime franchise now; the first Hajime no Ippo anime aired in 2000.

Cast: Kiyasu Kohei, Koyama Rikiya, Takagi Wataru, Fujiwara Keiji, Seki Tomokazu, Horiuchi Kenyu
-They’ve managed to bring back the original cast - Kiyasu is still such a shexxxy boy after all these years :3 And all the rest have turned into ossan.
Opening: HEKIREKI by LAST ALLIANCE
Ending: 8AM by coldrain
-Ippo gets +1 points for cool indie band factor.

Hetalia Axis Powers [ヘタリア Axis Powers]

Actually went to check out some of the web manga and it’s not bad, pretty amusing by my admittedly low standards.

Cast: Namikawa Daisuke, Yasumoto Hiroki, Takahashi Hiroki, Konishi Katsuyuki, Sugiyama Noriaki, Onosaka Masaya, Sasanuma Akira, Takato Yasuhiro, Takeuchi Ken, Neya Michiko, Paku Romi, Kaida Yuki, Kugimiya Rie, Inoue Go, Tanaka Kazutada, Kosaka Atsushi, Kanada Aki, Konno Jun
-The anime’s got a who’s who list of BL drama male seiyuu. And Kugimiya Rie. And oh, Onosaka… I’d at least try to watch anything he’s in. Just look at his fruity shirt (dude sitting down on the far right).
Theme song: Marukai de Chikyuu by Namikawa Daisuke
-My god. The guy can’t sing, y’know.

Kemono no Soja Erin [獣の奏者エリン]

NHK anime = mildly pleasant but often outstay their welcome. The original light novels are written by Moribito’s Uehashi Naoko, but I seriously don’t think many people would be willing to commit to a year’s worth of Erin.

Cast: Hoshii Nanase, Hirata Eriko, Tani Ikuko, Takahashi Mikako, Ishida Akira, Kusunoki Taiten, Hanawa Eiji, Kawamoto Naru
-Hahaha. Hoshii Nanase. Hahahahaha. Gosh, I hope her voice acting is better than her singing.
Opening: Shizuku by Sukimaswitch
Ending: After the rain by cossami
-No idea who cossami are, but I obviously need to check them out - some of the stuff on their myspace page sounds good. Sukimaswitch songs almost always sound the same, so expect a mid-tempo happy pop song.

Kokaku no Regios [鋼殻のレギオス]

Emo boy tries to save world! This totally sounds like something I wouldn’t want to watch…

Cast: Okamoto Nobuhiko, Takagaki Ayahi, Nakahara Mai, Taniyama Kisho, Koyasu Takehito, Sakaguchi Daisuke, Takahashi Mikako, Ohgame Asuka, Sendai Eri, Oura Fuyuka, Iijima Hajime, Koshimizu Ami, Toriumi Kosuke, Kano Yui, Suwabe Junichi, Kirii Daisuke, Watanabe Akeno
-I just want to check out Ohgame Asuka.
Web Radio: Regios no Radio’su! hosted by Okamoto Nobuhiko & Taniyama Kisho.
Opening: Brave Your Truth by Daisy X Daisy
Ending: Yasashii Uso by Chrome Shelled
-As mentioned before, Daisy X Daisy’s MiKa is Mizuki Nana’s sister. Chrome Shelled is sort of like a Visual Rock supergroup, featuring members who used to be in DASEIN, Filter Fish and Ayabie. There will also be alternate versions of the ED featuring the three main female seiyuu Takagaki Ayahi, Nakahara Mai & Takahashi Mikako.

Kurokami The Animation [黒神 The Animation]

Based on a manhwa. The last time I tried to watch something based on a manhwa (Shin Angyo Onshi) I nearly puked, so I dearly hope this one is better.

Cast: Shitaya Noriko, Namikawa Daisuke, Oura Fuyuka, Ohara Sayaka, Tamura Yukari, Nakata Joji, Hino Satoshi
-It seems ages since Norinori had a lead role. Since Kannazuki no Miko in fact…
Web Radio: Kurokami~Radio System~ hosted by Namikawa Daisuke, Shitaya Noriko & Ohara Sayaka
Opening: sympathizer by Kuribayashi Minami
Ending: Irodori no nai Sekai by Yosei Teikoku

MAJOR 5th season

Oh hey, MAJOR is still around. I’m no baseball fan at all, but I’d really rather have more Oofuri to tell the truth…

Cast: Morikubo Shotaro, Morita Masakazu, Namikawa Daisuke, Sasamoto Yuko, Noda Junko, Sakuya Shunsuke
Opening: Hey! Hey! Alright by Scha Dara Parr & Kimura Kaela
Ending: Stay with me by Shimatani Hitomi
-The collaboration between rapper Scha Dara Parr & Kimura Kaela has already generated quite a bit of attention so I do want to check that one out.

Maria†Holic [まりあ†ほりっく]

I read some of the manga way back a year ago just before the drama CD came out and quite liked it back then. That’s why the dorm leader and Yonakuni have been decorating the top level of atemonai.com… Episode 1 stuck to the manga fairly faithfully but goodness knows if that will continue, this is SHAFT after all.

Cast: Kobayashi Yu, Sanada Asami, Inoue Marina, Kanda Akemi, Shintani Ryoko, Sawashiro Miyuki, Goto Saori, Kaida Yuko, Matsuki Miyu, Toyoguchi Megumi, Sugita Tomokazu, Takada Hatsumi
-SHAFT favourites dominate the cast, with a strong Zetsubo-sensei flavour - which might explain why Hirano Aya is absent from the list, replaced by Sanada (Matoi in Zetsubo). I think Asa-nee actually does a better job of Kanako than Hirano did on the drama CD, and Yu & Marina are at their foul-mouthed best.
Web Radio: Ame no Kisaki Hosobu hosted by Kobayashi Yu and Sanada Asami
-One word. CHAOS.
Opening: HANAJI by Kobayashi Yu
Ending: Kimi ni, Mune Kyun. by Ame no Kisaki Shojo Gasshodan (Kobayashi Yu, Sanada Asami, Inoue Marina)
-I lol’ed for days upon learning that the ending was a cover of the YMO song. I wish they would produce a PV that’s similar to the original’s (see video below)! This version is actually pretty good from what I can hear of it. And HANAJI’s PV looks hideous…
Show ▼

Maria-sama ga Miteru: 4th season [マリア様がみてる 4thシーズン]

Long-time fans will shriek with joy, yuri haters will… well, continue being yuri haters.

Cast: Ueda Kana, Ito Miki, Ikezawa Haruna, Ito Shizuka, Nabatame Hitomi, Noto Mamiko, Kugimiya Rie, Shimizu Kaori, Koshimizu Ami, Sato Rina, Saito Chiwa, Shinohara Emi, Toyoguchi Megumi, Inoue Marina, Kawasumi Ayako, Koyama Rikiya
-Inoue Marina is the most significant addition to the cast as Naito Shoko. I really hope the Tsutako-Shoko arc is handled well…
Web Radio: Maria-sama ga Miteru radio hosted by Ueda Kana with regular guests.
Opening: Chizu Sanpo by kukui
Ending: Kumori Glass no Mukou by Hikita Kaori
-Gotta say I’m surprised Katakura Mikiya/AliPro have been ditched for the theme songs this season, but it’s a welcome change nevertheless. kukui have been dormant for too long!

Minami-ke: Okaeri [みなみけ おかえり]

The cast from the first season return - yes, that means the Minami brothers too \[^o^]/ But sadly the staff of the second season also return… uh, I’ll remain cautiously optimistic. Just keep Fuyuki away and things will be A-OK.

Cast: Sato Rina, Inoue Marina, Chihara Minori, Mizuki Nana, Morinaga Rika, Kakihara Tetsuya, Ono Daisuke, Asanuma Shintaro, Kawada Shinji, Yoshino Hiroyuki, Hayama Tatsuya, Takagi Reiko, Ono Ryoko, Chiba Saeko, Goto Saori, Takahashi Ao, Kitamura Eri, Toyosaki Aki, Ohara Momoko
-Oh how I missed the Minami-ke cast! Love the Rina-Marina-Minorin combination… and oh, Takagi Reiko, who voices Maki, sure is short (she’s the one with the fugly short black socks and sandals combo).
Web Radio: Minami-ke Okaeri radio [tentative title] hosted by Sato Rina, Inoue Marina & Chihara Minori (to update in January).
Opening: Keikenchi Soku Jojo↑↑ by Sato Rina, Inoue Marina, Chihara Minori
Ending: Zettai Colorful Sengen by Sato Rina, Inoue Marina, Chihara Minori
-As I mentioned before, the opening title is a cross between Season 1 OP Keikenchi Joshochu and mihimaru GT’s Kibun Jojo↑↑, while the ED is possibly Colorful Days meets Zettai lovexlove Sengen!! (Zettai Karen Children ED1). The opening seems catchy enough from the bits heard in the trailer.

Rideback [ライドバック]

It has a girl and a motorbike, but I’m guessing it’s not going to turn out like Kino no Tabi. Might make a good watch if I picked anime based on vocal talent alone.
Cast: Mizuki Nana, Paku Romi, Koyama Rikiya, Matsumoto Megumi, Toyoguchi Megumi, Ueda Yuji, Suyama Akio, Miki Shinichiro, Hayamizu Risa, Morikawa Toshiyuki, Kiuchi Hidenobu, Kobayashi Sanae, Shibata Hidekatsu, Sonozaki Mie
-The cast list that most impresses me this season.
Opening: RIDEBACK by MELL
Ending: Kioku by Younha feat. GOKU
-So it seems Younha hasn’t fallen off the edge of the planet after all.

Shikabane Hime Kuro [屍姫 玄]

Apparently, people are still watching this.
Cast: Akiyama Nana, Hasome Tatsuya, Nakamura Chise, Fujiwara Keiji, Kikuchi Mika, Chiba Saeko, Kawashima Tokuyoshi etc

Web Radio: D side hosted by Fuijwara Keiji & Akiyama Nana, and S side hosted by Nakamura Chise & Kikuchi Mika.
-[deadpan]I thought Akiyama and Hasome were fantastic in the lead roles - they channeled the concept of shikabane perfectly [/deadpan].

Slayers EVOLUTION-R [スレイヤーズEVOLUTION-R]

I enjoy watching the odd episode of Slayers to remind me just how much I loved ’90s anime!

Cast: Hayashibara Megumi, Matsumoto Yasunori, Midorikawa Hikaru, Suzuki Masami, Kobayashi Yumiko
Opening: Front breaking by Hayashibara Megumi
Ending: Sunadokei by Hayashibara Megumi
-Nothing compares to KUJIKENAIKARA…

Sora o Kakeru Shojo [宇宙をかける少女]

Mai-Idol-Hime-Master-Zwei?
Cast: MAKO, Endo Aya (S.ifr), Makino Yui, Fukuyama Jun, Nonaka Ai, Kuroda Takaya, Tamura Yukari (HiME), Yukana (HiME, Otome, S.ifr), Nanri Yuuka (HiME), Saito Momoko, Nakahara Mai (HiME, Otome), Shindo Naomi (HiME, Otome), Kikuchi Mika (Otome), Koshimizu Ami (Otome, S.ifr), Yahagi Sayuri, Kitamura Eri (S.ifr), COON, Shimono Hiro, Kimura Akiko (HiME, Otome, S.ifr), Ishida Akira (HiME, Otome, S.ifr), Ono Daisuke, Ginga Banjo, Kano Yui & Sawashiro Miyuki (Otome).
-Kerrazy, bloated cast. SoraKake picks its voice talent mostly from the Mai-HiME franchise and mixes in some from IDOLM@STER XENOGLOSSIA & adding in a few new names.
Web Radio: Sora o Kakeru Radio hosted by MAKO
Opening: Rara Eve Shinseiki by ALI PROJECT
Ending: Sora wa Shojo no Tomodachi sa by MAKO, Endo Aya & Makino Yui
-The main seiyuu trio couldn’t be more different in their vocal style and it’ll be interesting (or amusing) to see how the song turns out. Hopefully not like the Sekirei OP though =_=

Sora o Miageru Shoujo no Hitomi ni Utsuru Sekai [空を見上げる少女の瞳に映る世界]

aka New Munto, cos the name is just too damn long.
Cast from previous KyoAni shows: Aizawa Mai (Lucky Star), Ono Daisuke (Air, Haruhi), Konno Hiromi (Lucky Star), Mizuhara Kaoru (Lucky Star), Shiraishi Minoru (Lucky Star), Matsumoto Megumi (Haruhi), Hiramatsu Hirokazu (Lucky Star), Inoue Kikuko (Lucky Star, CLANNAD)
-The cast is essentially the Lucky Star jobbers or Kyoto Animation favourites plus seiyuu plucked out of Ga-Rei - the two shows share the same producer (Ito Atsushi) & sound director (Tsuruoka Yota).
Those who were in Ga-Rei: Aizawa, Mizuhara, Shiraishi, Hiramatsu, Matsumoto + Takahashi Shinya, Horikawa Chika, Wakamoto Norio, Inada Tetsu, Tsuchiya Maki, Tanaka Ryoko
The truly new names: Endo Hiroyuki (遠藤広之), Saito Fuko (斉藤楓子), Uchida Aya (内田 彩) are all unknowns signed to JTB Entertainment, whose biggest name is Ogata Megumi.
Opening: Anemoi by eufonius
Ending: Hikari to Yami to Toki no Hate by Ceui
-Ceui!!! I have to resist the urge not to read her name ‘chewy’ (it’s supposed to read Sei). And eufonius is always win no matter what anime they’re featured in.

VIPER’S CREED

Military/war anime? I’ll probably only watch it if lots of people die.

Cast: Kuroda Takaya, Toyoguchi Megumi, Kawada Shinji, Minagawa Junko, Fukuyama Jun, Kaida Yuki, Yanaka Hiroshi, Kojima Sachiko, Ohki Tamio
-The veteran’s cast of the season - quite likely the only one to feature an 80-year old seiyuu anyway. Interesting to see Kuroda in a lead role, this must be the first time he’s headlining an anime.
Opening: R.O.C.K. by iLL
Ending: Ai no Oto by moumoon
-Wow, moumoon. Not sure their mellow pop style would suit a sci-fi type show though.

WHITE ALBUM

Some anime based on a game about idol? *has LoveDol related nightmares* I know this is going to suck, zero intention of watching it.

Cast: Maeno Tomoaki, Hirano Aya, Mizuki Nana, Takamoto Megumi, Masu Nozomi, Tomatsu Haruka, Paku Romi, Sakaguchi Daisuke, Hayami Sho
-It is hilarious how poor Maeno gets shunted up to the top row of the cast pic despite supposedly voicing the lead male chara - I suppose in a harem anime with so many cute girls he was always bound to play second (or eighth) fiddle…and yeah, Paku Romi looks terribly pissed off in the pic as well, I can imagine her thinking ‘WTF! Who the hell put me in between the dekobitch and the round tomato?!?’
Opening: Shinai by Mizuki Nana
Ending: Maiochiru Yuki no Youni by Suara
-Because Mishima (Akio) is producing WHITE ALBUM, he ensured two of his King Records artists got the opening/ending theme gigs, shutting out Hirano Aya. Haha!

Zoku Nyanko Natsume Yujincho [続 夏目友人帳]

Nyan, nyan, nyan. Mmm, yeah. This and Marimite are the only winter shows I know I’m definitely going to watch.

Cast: Kamiya Hiroshi, Inoue Kazuhiko, Sawashiro Miyuki, Suganuma Hisayoshi, Horie Kazuma, Ito Miki
Web Radio: Radio Natsume Yujincho~Aki no Sho~ hosted (alternate weeks) by the pairings of Kamiya Hiroshi/Suganuma Hisayoshi and Inoue Kazuhiko/Horie Kazuma.
Opening: Ano Hi Time Machine by LONG SHOT PARTY
Ending: Aishiteru by Callin’ (高鈴)
-I’m amazed that anime theme songs are manage to drag up such obscure artists. Callin’!!! I really had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn’t dreaming when I saw their name come up… I’m sure their super-slow acoustic style will fit the show perfectly.

Useless statistics:
No. of shows covered in this guide: 22
No. of shows with an exclamation mark in the title: 2
No. of sequels, sidestories, prequels, remakes, blah: 10
No. of original shows not based on a manga, game, novels or random gimmick (& not including sequels): 1
No. of shows with a theme song by one of the seiyuu: 7

Other stuff I have to say:
-Sequels, sequels galore!
-As an iyashikei and yuri maniac, I am reasonably satisfied this season.
-After more than a year of doing all these guides, I have learned to identify the studio where each anime is recorded at by looking at the background of the cast pictures! Notice how Asu no Yoichi!, Birdy the Mighty DECODE and Toradora! are all recorded at PROCEN STUDIO… if that’s not sad, I don’t know what is =_=
-I did sample most of the new radio shows, and aim to cover them in a future scribblings post.

作者:j1m0ne

更新日:2008年12月28日 16時16分

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Self-styled erokawaii seiyuu Takahashi Chiaki’s first gravure idol shoot was for the February edition of Shogakukan’s Sabra magazine. Having promised in her blog that ‘I take off more of my clothes than usual!’, I was expecting some super skimpy shots with usage of leaves or maybe an inverted bikini or something but it turned out er… pretty standard Chiaking, flaunting what she’s got…

OK, I confess that I couldn’t stop laughing when I saw this set of pics. For one thing, I could barely recognise Chiaking thanks to the layers of make-up, her messy hairstyle and the touchups done. And I also had no idea she was kinda er… on the flat side. Where’s the push-up bra That sexy gal thing is unfortunately still haunting my brain… but on the bright side, few seiyuu would be doing this at the age of 31, so take that Yukarin and Hocchan!! Mwahaha.

作者:j1m0ne

更新日:2008年12月27日 5時7分

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