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!
Atama Ga Warui 
Eeks, you mixed up the Shana and Kagamin pics!
Has been fixed. I saved too early while editing…
Honestly, Aya Hirano is shit. She didn’t deserve it, but the awards were rigged anyway.
First of all, long time since last we crossed paths. Nice to see you. ^^
Secondly, I would love it if you would share more on how you have come to your conclusion to how the awards were rigged. The thought of you being one of those people who look at the Grammy and Oscars as a publicity stunt immediately came to my mind, but I’d rather ask than assume.
Thirdly, by what knowledge or personal experience do you deem Aya Hirano as “shit?” I would also like to know who you believe isn’t “shit” and/or should have won an award, since I was only commenting on the chosen winners and not pointing out other potential seiyuu. I wanted to leave that up to others like you.
I do honestly look forward to your reply.
I say it’s rigged because only certain people of certain companies were there. Well known voices who have been in the industry weren’t even recognized like Yukari Tamura or Yui Horie.
Aya Hirano doesn’t deserve the award she got. Maybe if it was like a raising star kind of thing but seriously, best? No way. She hasn’t been around long enough and honestly, I’ve seen 4 shows with her as a lead voice and she didn’t really impress me or prove to me how versatile she is. She’s just very generic.
Is this a joke article or something?
The meaning of “rigged” usually means that there was some sort of unseen interference that corrupted the results. I would not say that just because certain companies were not present that it was rigged. Yes, Yukari Tamura and Yui Horie are very big names indeed, but with all events, there are names that are not recognized but should not be forgotten or belittled. Those two are certainly in that category.
As for Aya Hirano being the “best,” considering that this is an annual event, there is a chance that the standards in place would be judgments according to roles within that year — length of time in the spotlight would be irrelevant — and among fandom. Why do I think this? The event was held in Akihabara. No one can deny that 2007 was a big year for Aya Hirano in terms of the impression left on fans by her roles as Konata and Misa. Thus, given the possible judgments in place, I see nothing “rigged” about her receiving the award. Of course, I wasn’t a judge, so that is just my honest opinion.
We have differing opinions on her voice acting, which is completely reasonable. It’s good to know that you aren’t one to just go with the flow of fandom and have real self-supporting opinions.
@Kaioshin-Sama:
I never claimed to be joking or felt the need to withhold an opinion because others might deem it “a joke.”
So, no. But thanks for being considerate enough to demean this article without having much to show for it other than your elitist perception.
Hah, I have to say, given the pics, I was beginning to hear the article being read outloud in their respective voices lol granted I only heard them speaking in Japanese…but still, I’d have to agree with you on some points especially.
Setsuna always spoke with such conviction that your heart would tremble. Although his character doesn’t give much room for nearly as much variation in emotion as Tieria, he manages to keep such a focused and strong sound that you know he never looses sight of his character.
Aya Hirano’s characters may not have been so different in their outlandish personalities, but I was most impressed with how she managed three voices that sound very different from each other. I don’t follow voices nearly as much as others would, but up until now I didn’t know Lucky Star and the MHS had anything in common aside from production companies. I’d want to see a video recording of her voicing both Haruhi and Konota. I have a feeling she’d move and use her entire jaw to speak with the pride Haruhi had and probably sit there all cute speaking through her lips for Konota haha
Tieria is so hawt and cool, I’d go gay for him, so you can’t be surprised by what you’ll find on 4chan’s /cm/ after the release of a new episode. The dude is awesome and the voice actor only does the very best to serve the two melodramatic extremes of numbing thoughtlessness to overbearing tearful sorrow.
Kagami was definitely amusing. With Konota as her trigger, this voice actor was able to pull off some of the best changes in tone from casual to shock or dominance. I was always in a sense of glee whenever I heard her ranting to Konota or saying something like “what do you think you’re doing!?”
Well written, my good dude, you’ll achieve your dream of being a Seiyuu someday, and I can see your roles varying even more than Aya herself! Keep it up, I look forward to seeing your play at Setsuna, coming to a YT account near you!