Showing posts with label seiyuu watch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seiyuu watch. Show all posts

6.26.2010

Seiyuu Watch #2: Toyosaki Aki (豊崎 愛生)


Disclaimer: Any information found in this post is in no way complete. The focus of this post is to give comments about a seiyuu, not to reveal all details about her.  Further information can be found in the source(s) listed at the end of the page. All information found in this post are either from stock knowledge, or from any of the websites listed below.

Don’t let that cute voice fool you, Aki Toyosaki is a fighter. She has a powerful, versatile, and quality speaking and singing voice that, coupled with the perfect character, can easily turn an anime series from a bust to an instant hit.
After the break, we’ll learn more about Aki’s career and growth from being a normal girl, to being a member of a singing group, and now one of the best active seiyuus in the business.

1
Biography, Filmography, and Discography
Aki was born October 28, 1986 in Tokushima Prefecture, Japan. Her first acting job was as Amuro Ninagawa, the main character of the anime series Kenkou Zenrakei Suieibu Umishou. She continued her steady rise in the industry until she was asked to perform a song with another seiyuu, Eri Kitamura, as part of her character’s image song.
3 Her biggest, best, and most popular  singing and acting jobs, however, remains as Yui Hirasawa of K-On! During the show’s first season, she performed the lead vocals of the anime’s opening song, “Cagayake Girls,” while she sang as a backup in its closing song, the Best Song awardee “Don’t say Lazy.”
In 2009, she performed the opening song of “Future Steam” together with three other seiyuus – this group of four would later be collectively known as the singing group Sphere. They would later release an album entitled A.T.M.O.S.P.H.E.R.E.
As a Yui’s seiyuu, she also won the Best New Actress at the Seiyuu awards in 2010.
Aki’s Charm
Aki’s voice can be described by several words, not a few of which are cute, charming, and addictive. She fits perfectly the roles of clueless, careless, and easygoing characters, such as Yui of K-On! and Tomo Yamanobe of Seikon no Qwaser.
This, however, absolutely does not imply that Aki is one-dimensional. In fact, because her voice is naturally mellow and soft, it emphasizes her range whenever, for example, she portrays an angry character. The little emotion she adds goes a long way, and in effect, the viewer is treated to, for example, either the warm and fuzzy or cruel and comedic.
Her voice is also addictive. It is easy on the ears, and hearing her can definitely make you go “awwww”. It is stress-relieving, and hearing the same voice over and over brings new experiences and at the same time, keeps you wanting more.
2
Aki the Model?
Unlike a lot of seiyuus, Aki has no official and professional modeling jobs. It doesn’t say anything about her looks, as she is pretty in her own rights.
The thing about her beauty, though, and the reason why she got the rating she got below, is that it’s not very consistent. She could be very very pretty in one picture, but only pretty in another.
Aki’s seems to display her charm more in videos (or in person?) than in photos. She can be very cute when she, say, is ashamed to answer an interviewer’s question, or if she doesn’t know the answer at all! Couple that with her genuine and natural cute voice, and you have yourself a perfect combination.
Aki the Singer
As a singer, Aki has released one album, which has her carrier and debut single “Love your Life”. The album name was derived from her own name, A-Ki -  A means Love, while Ki means life.

Other than this, she has released numerous albums in the form of insert songs and character image songs for the anime she dubbed, most especially K-On! As a seiyuu-singer, Aki tends to stick to her character, which is perfect since the style of the son, and the lyrics, are usually tailor-cut for Aki’s voice. This makes her songs also cute, pleasing to the ears, and quite addictive. Sometimes you get distracted by the mere cuteness of her voice, you forget that she’s singing a wonderful song.
Aki Toyosaki also has a lot of videos in YouTube, where she sings live, hosts music programs, and even says the popular K-On! catchphrase, Moe… Moe… Kyun! You would need to use her Kanji name in searching, though.
Scores:
Voice Acting: 5
Singing: 5
Physical: 4

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Credits:
Information: Wikipedia
Photo Credits:

6.11.2010

Seiyuu Watch #1: Hirano Aya (平野 綾)

 

Of course, I had to start with my favorite seiyuu – Aya Hirano (平野 綾 Hirano Aya).

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Aya Hirano is a seiyuu, a singer, and a model. She was born in October 8, 1987 (She’s only 22 years old as of today). She began her voice acting career as Momo in the popular Anime Tenshi no Shippo, but got her biggest break as the voice of Haruhi Suzumiya in the Anime series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

I won’t go too much into the details of her life, her work, and her career, as you can easily find these information at Wikipedia, or in her official website.

Aya as a Seiyuu

aya konata Her best voice acting performance was as Konata Izumi of Lucky Star. In this Anime, not only did she bring to life the character of Konata (who is by the way tied for first among my favorite Anime characters), but she created an identity using her voice.

Go ahead and search youtube for a song, say, “Voltes V theme song”, then add the phrase “Konata version” to your search string. You will find fans who sing the song the way Konata would. The person singing is no Aya Hirano, and you don’t see Konata singing on your screens, but once you hear that kind of voice, you know it’s her. Genius!

While Konata’s voice is extremely laidback and relaxed, Aya’s other roles display her very wide (possible the widest in the industry) voice range.

As Haruhi Suzumiya, Aya built an image of a fun-loving, “I’ll do it my way, I don’t care about anyone else” type of person who always gets what she wants, in the most literal sense of these words. Her portrayal of Haruhi, using her mature voice, and rapid but clear speech, has won her the Best Newcomer award back in 2006.

Unfortunately, in the Philippines, Lucky Star and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya never clicked with the Filipino audience (I don’t know why, since Lucky Star is still tied for first in my own list of favorite Anime). Another Aya Hirano-voice anime, however, was a smashing hit – Death Note.

Misa Amane, or Misa Misa, the carefree girl who is head-over-heels in love with the protagonist (or antagonist?), was voiced by Aya. Here, she used her mature voice once again to portray an independent and smart (not to mention extremely pretty) woman who was capable of thinking and making decisions on her own. Although the hype was relatively short lived due to the relatively shorter length of the anime itself (compared to other hits such as Yu Yu Hakusho, Slam Dunk, and Dragonball Z).

From childish and immature, to strong and independent, Aya’s voice captures them all, and it doesn’t even stop there. She’s also done action or fighting voices (Galaxy Angel-Rune, Kiddy Grade, Fairy Tale, etc), romantic voices (Death Note, White Album, etc) and even sexy voices (Seikon no Qwaser, and many others you can search by yourself :P)

As a Seiyuu, I give Aya Hirano a 5 out of 5.

Aya as a Singer

speedstar Aya Hirano sang the opening theme song of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, entitled “Bouken Deshou Deshou”, or literally, “It’s an Adventure, right? Right?”. It was one of the best anime and opening songs I’ve heard at the time and it really stuck. In that same anime series, she also sang two insert songs, “God Knows” and “Lost my Music”, which both became popular in Japan.

Everything crumbled, however, when I heard her sing live at the Haruhi live concert. Clearly, she wasn’t used to singing in front of a mammoth crowd yet, much less sing while playing the guitar.

Later, she released her first album, Riot Girl, and as usual, her recorded voice was awesome. Her true acid test though would be her then-upcoming live concert.

I watched the entire live concert through its DVD release and was in awe at the transformation - the growth! She is now a genuine performer! She now knows how to entertain and keep the crowd involved, but most importantly, she sang the songs as well as she did during the recording sessions.

And I thought that was it, that was the best of Aya Hirano. Well, wrong again.

Her second album, Speed Star, showed her true potential, not just as a singer, but as a voice “maker”. The different songs showed her different talents and characters. For instance, “Super Driver” showed her Haruhi character, while “Oh my Honey” showed her sexy, charming, and even seductive side.

And when I got to watch the Lucky Star live concert DVD, that’s when I realized she definitely deserved another “5”. Unlike the other seiyuus in the concert, she stuck with her character and sung all songs as Konata. She even spoke as Konata. And as a pure fan of the anime, it meant a lot, and because it was so satisfying, I finished the DVD ready to watch it all over again.

Yes, as a singer, I give Aya Hirano a 5 out of 5.

Aya as a Model10

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, and each person has his/her own type.

My type? Aya Hirano. From head to toe, every single cell (or pixel?) is exactly the way I want it to be. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a bit. But she’s definitely the prettiest girl I’ve seen in my life, and my own girlfriend even agrees with this statement.

Definitely a 5 out of 5.

Scores:

Voice Acting: 5
Singing: 5
Physical: 5

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Credits and References:

Information, Biography, Discography, etc – Wikipedia and Aya Hirano’s official website.

Pictures - Google