2nd Annual Seiyuu Awards Thoughts

***Layout sucks for pics. Sorry.***

With so many seiyuu (voice actors/actresses) up and about for both anime and Japanese dubbing, it’s about time someone started recognizing the great talent that has emerged. Not everyone can make it as a seiyuu, and, obviously, not all seiyuu can go above and beyond simply being a “fitting character voice”. As an aspiring seiyuu myself, I could not let this news pass by without sharing my thoughts.

Here are some of the chosen winners that have personally struck me in my own anime viewing experience.

Best Lead Actor

Seiyuu: Mamoru Miyano
Series: Mobile Suit Gundam 00
Character: Setsuna F. Seiei

Miyano-san absolutely struck me as a passionate, memorable voice for Setsuna. His line delivery and ability to make such a tense character so prolific has caused me to pine after the English dubbing voice for Setsuna. Honestly, it has been a few years since I have wanted a role as much as I desire Setsuna’s and simply because I want to be the one to give Miyano-san’s performance proper justice. I know it won’t be me though.

Best Lead Actress

Seiyuu: Aya Hirano
Series: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya / Death Note / Lucky Star
Characters: Haruhi Suzumiya / Misa Amane / Konata Izumi

There is no longer a soul in the anime atmosphere who does not know the talent of Hirano-san that came onto the scene just a year or so ago. A voice that has the ability to be pensive, demanding, and quirky — all within a range that doesn’t overstep or undermine the character — is only a few things that make her a voice worthy of an award. Her unimaginable energy for those characters and her songs has etched in characters that should be remembered in Japanese visual culture history.

Best Supporting Actor #1

Seiyuu: Daisuke Ono
Series: Minami-Ke (Okawari)
Character: Hosaka

Ono-sama…! I love this guy almost as much as I loved Seki Tomokazu as Fushigi Yuugi’s Chichiri, and about as much as I loved Hikaru Midorikawa, also in Fushigi Yuugi, as Tamahome. The latter is probably because Midorikawa-sama somehow took Ono-sama’s role as Yukito Kunisaki in AIR the Movie. But yeah…the voice on this guy just screams “I’m 100% bishie lovin’! Take me home!” His performance as the overtly passionate and sweaty Hosaka was amazing and hilarious! Minami-Ke would not have been the same without him supporting Hosaka’s character.

Best Supporting Actor #2

Seiyuu: Hiroshi Kamiya
Series: Mobile Suit Gundam 00
Characters: Tieria Erde

Though I’m not familiar with this seiyuu as much as I am with others, Kamiya-san has been doing an awesome job carrying the turbulent emotions that Tieria carries and portrays among the entire crew of Celestial Being. Tieria’s character is very fragile, and so the need to properly give emotion or cut off emotion is crucial to making Tieria the kind of pilot he is. Kamiya-san deserves this award for being able to juggle all those emotions together to make Tieria a character worth watching…(and putting in as many yaoi doujins as possible, given how he could be uke or seme no problem XD — yes, I’m horrible.)

Best Supporting Actress

Seiyuu: Rie Kugimiya
Series: Shakugan No Shana (Second)
Characters: Shana

There is much love for Shana, the chibi swordie of Crimson Flame, but probably not enough love for Kugimiya-san who has given Shana life for nearly 50 episodes. Though Shana is not a very complex character, she does struggle with learning about emotions, and accepting Yuji Sakai over a period of time. Kugimiya-san’s ability to convey those aspects of Shana while still retaining such a high-alto tonality is what makes Shana so lovable. Truly is deserving of that award, even though Shana is more of a lead character in my opinion in the first season and a supporting character in Second.

Best New Actress

Seiyuu: Emiri Katou
Series: Lucky*Star
Characters: Kagami Hiiragi

Personally, I’m a Kagami fan. She deserves someone who will really treat her right and bring out more of that softer side of her, while still getting a kick out of her being an off-the-wall tsundere. Call me biased, but I’m happy Katou-san could be recognized for this role and may this be a boost to her confidence to give life to other characters as memorable as Kagami, while setting them apart from her role as Kagami. For any new seiyuu, I think that is half the battle.

Best Singing Award

Seiyuu: Aya Hirano / Emiri Katou / Kaori Fukuhara / Aya Endo
Series: Lucky*Star
Song: “Motteke! Sailor Fuku” (Lucky Star opening theme)

Quite possibly one of the most pleasantly energetic and (overly?)remixed opening themes ever to burst onto the anime scene, “Motteke! Sailor Fuku” takes this award with much dignity supporting it. Putting these four seiyuu together was possibly very scary for the producers at first, but a winning idea in the end. Though it could be argued that this song wasn’t much about singing, a majority of fans responded positively to the soprano harmonies of these four seiyuu. Even after nearly half a year since Lucky*Star’s final episode, I still hear that opening in my head from time to time, and enjoy the #002 Remixed CD of this song the most. Motteke Sailor Fuku FTW!

For more award winners, visit ANN’s article.

Are there any seiyuu that you think should have won? Leave a comment and let us know!

Brawl on the horizon

I think most of you American videogamers out there already know that SSBB comes out in approximately ,well, now ((atleast from when I’m writing this)). I’d love to give all the people who were unfortunate enough not to get a copy a review or something for it but unfortunately I don’t own a Wii. ((or any next gen console for that matter. T_T)). So if any of you want to send me your thoughts on it after you get it I’d be happy to put together a post for you people. ^^. ((so E-mail me at kiba_pup@gmail.com ))

The main reason why I made this post ((other than to bribe you to give me your notes on the game later on….j/k)) was to discuss it or , I guess, tell you what I think of the characters and the game overall. So , yeah, enjoy.

I remember back in the day when the GameCube first came out. The first game I ever played on that thing was Super Smash Bros. Melee, I guess you could say we’ve all come a long way since 2000 (something like that) when the first SSBM tournaments and such started popping up and people were introduced to the series ((along with vet’s from the original on the N64)). When your friends came over and you set up tournaments and got pissed off when you threw a mine on the ground and ended up landing on it (…not sure if thats ever happened to you guys…). My point is , is that most of us have fond memories of playing Super Smash Bros. in the past and I really hope it’ll be the same in this game ((probably will but meh)).

Anyway, fun. If I ever get a Wii I’ll give you all my friend code and you can beat the crap outta me (or vice versa). So enjoy your Gamestop midnight tournaments etc.

((now , sleepy tim3…..*zzz*))

((remember my E-mail is kiba_pup@gmail.com so send me your thoughts and pictures/videos and if I can get enough I’ll post them. ^^))

The characters that I’m most interested in playing are Pitt, Sonic, Windwaker Link, Zero Suit Samus, and maybe Snake. I’ll eventually narrow down 1 or 2 favorite characters. ^^. Another thing I’m very excited about is online battling (that’ll be t3h l33t..!) so whenever I get a Wii and SSBB I’ll train for several months then kick j00 guyz a$$3$ (^^) or the other way around… Alot of people are also talking about whether there’ll be downloadable content, kinda confusing since some people say there won’t be any while others say otherwise.