April Seiyuu News Round-up
A quick run through the ‘notable’ seiyuu news for April.
Chihara Minori buys a Fender Telecoustic Pink Paisley
Ugya! I absolutely detest pink, and even more so when it’s a pink guitar. I used to own a cheap, red Fender Squier Strat (cos my school was too cheap to buy me a better one ;( ) but I sold it off cos I couldn’t be bothered to drag it home to Malaysia from the UK.
Minorin says the Fender’s nice to play cos it has a small body and narrow neck – oh I totally understand her feelings, she must have small hands like me ^_^ Though if I had the spare cash I’d opt for a Larrivee or a Taylor acoustic.
Okui Masami 15th Anniversary Tribute Album – Buddy
Sadly we don’t get Mizuki Nana participating, but hooray! Chihara Minori will be covering Rondo~Revolution~! I’m sad that there’s no Sora ni Kakeru Hashi, Toki ni Ai wa or Jama wa Sasenai >_> But I’ve got to say that the artists involved appear to have made good song choices that fit their own style - Minami is perfect for TRUST, as is Suara for Iiwake. I also like the idea of Ishida doing Olive, but I wonder how Kageyama will handle Wasurezakugusa ?_? Strange that he’s picked such a slow song.
Full tracklist:
1. Olive. Ishida Yoko
2. INTRODUCTION. Endo Masaaki
3. Otomegokoro Mugen. Omi Tomoe
4. Wasurezaku. Kageyama Hironobu
5. TRUST. Kuribayashi Minami
6. Iiwake. Suara
7. Rondo~revolution. Chihara Minori
8. Jonetsu. Misato Aki
9. Koi shimasho nebarimasho. Momoi Halko
10. Happy Place. Yonekura Chihiro
Album will be released on 25th June 2008, priced at ¥3150.
Incidentally, Orikasa Fumiko also contributed a song to a tribute album. It was surprisingly, for 80s girl punk band GO-BANGS though. If you just compare all the other artists on the album, they’re all…girl punk bands - I wonder how she got involved with the project.
Noto Mamiko’s life when she was 18
Someone on 2channel unearthed this goldie – a weekly timetable for Noto Mamiko back when she was attending Yoyogi Animation School/Seiyuu Talent Training 10 years ago. It looks pretty much like your normal college student’s timetable really.
MON AM (8-12) Part-time job (Donut shop)
MON PM (2-5) Microphone work
TUE AM FREE
TUE PM (2-5) Text/reading work
WED AM FREE
WED PM (2-5) Special seminars
THU AM (8-12) Part-time job
THU PM (2-5) Drama reading
THU PM (5.30-9) Recording
FRI AM (8-12) Part-time job
FRI PM (2-5) Etude
SAT AM (8-12) Part-time job
SAT PM Read, sleep, watch movies, practise various things
SUN AM FREE
SUN PM same as Saturday
You never know, the counter girl at your local donut shop could be the next Miley Cyrus.
Noto Mamiko promises to move in with Kawasumi Ayako…
…if Aya’s still alone when she’s 40, that is. This was mentioned on the latest episode of Kanokan radio. But then, Mamiko is a philanderer, having promised Saito Chiwa that she’d marry her if they were both still single at 30. Oh, and she went on a date with Mizuki Nana the other day.
Other Kanokon related news – the game, scheduled for release in the summer, will feature two original characters to be voiced by Sakakibara Yui and Kitamura Eri. It also retains the same performers for the opening and ending themes – Miyazaki Ui for the OP & Yui-nyan for the ED.
beatmania IIDX Pachinko Slot features seiyuu voices
Midorikawa Hikaru: Shi-Low
Fukuyama Jun: Ereki
Tobita Nobuo: Tekka
Onosaka Masaya: YUZ
Narita Ken: Q-Jack
Ueda Kana: ERIKA
Nakahara Mai: CELICA
Kugimiya Rie: Tsugaru
Saito Chiwa: Shia
Noto Mamiko: Lilith
Touma Yumi: Sakura
Yamazaki Wakana: Iroha
Shindoh Naomi: Hifumi
Watch the promo video. You can see/hear the individual character voices from around the 6:00 mark.
Haikyo mass exodus
As initially reported on Canned Dogs, a bunch of seiyuu including Yamadera Koichi, Namikawa Daisuke and Takashima Gara left Haikyo in what now appears to be a premeditated exodus. 7 of the 17 who left (including Yamadera & Namikawa) are now all signed to a mysterious agency called ‘Across Entertainment’, which is part of a larger entertainment firm simply called ACROSS. The company was established in July 2007, and Across Entertainment in March 2008.
The whole incident must’ve hurt for Haikyo, having lost Orikasa Fumiko, who was so prominent in the agency’s 50th anniversary celebration events, to rivals Atomic Monkey in 2007. They’d better work hard to keep their remaining big names like Kishio Daisuke, Ohara Sayaka and Minagawa Junko happy or there will be more departures. But it’s not just limited to Haikyo though, since Across also managed to pinch Sawaguchi Chie away from Production Baobab.
Still on seiyuu leaving agencies:
Noda Junko lasted just 1 year at Kaleidoscope, having moved there from Aoni Production in April 2007. I am not surprised though, since Kaleidoscope (home to Kitamura Eri & Kadowaki Maii) seems to be very youth-oriented and Noda on the other hand, is on the wrong side of 30. The agency is headed by one Joe Rinoie, a member of II MIX DELTA which also explains why the singer Stephanie is also being managed by the agency.
Other moves: Tanaka Rie (Dramatic→Retreat),Narita Ken (Aksent→Free), Suzuki Masami (YMO→Aoni)
There’re unholy rumours travelling around that the next agency to break up will be Sony’s Music Ray’n. That would be a surprise if true, but not a complete shock given how fast Voice & Heart got dismantled.
Sato Rina revives blog after…3 years.
I’ve heard of comebacks after extended hiatuses but..3 years? Why not just get a new blog >_> I wonder why Rina decided to bring it back though – might it be pressure from her younger Minami sisters Inoue Marina & Chihara Minori? 2008 is looking set to be a good year for Rina anyhow, with the Negima OAD (as Negi Springfield) and Blade of the Immortal (as heroine Asano Rin) still to come. She’s turning into one of Haikyo’s biggest players now 
Hino Satoshi voices all 7 characters on a drama CD
Appropriately titled Hitori no Teikoku (ひとりの帝国 - One Man Empire). Eh, I wonder how this will turn out since everything I’ve heard from Hino sounds identical. Yuji from Shakugan no Shana, Saito from Zero no Tsukaima, Aizawa from Nabari – they’re all the same!
Shiraishi Ryoko and Takagaki Ayahi to host Starchild web TV starting May
Shiraishi has had a long standing connection with Starchild, but it seems apparent to me that the company are aiming to turn Takagaki into their next idol seiyuu singer. She’s already hosted Urastacha with Nonaka Ai, and now that she’s getting this gig.. Expect an album before the turn of the century.
Koshimizu Ami – The Odd One out on Waratte Iitomo!
Nakahara Mai reappears as face of NichiNare ad.
So er… after I complained that Nakahara had been replaced by a bunch of signposts in NichiNare seiyuu school ads, she’s resurfaced in this month’s round of magazine ads. With a nicer picture too
I got a lot of these news from 2channel surfing, but if it’s worthy, stuff will always end up on Watch! Seiyuu-san.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
You need to change the tagline of this blog to “j1m0ne: Cementing the All Girls Are Closet Lesbians theory since 2007″, or something.
April 30th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
I’ve heard Kageyama do slow songs before, and it works as well. Plus a little hot blood never heard anything it’s infused with.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:16 am
Ooh, minorin~
that’s a hawt pic
needs to be enlarged and wallpapered or something ;[
May 1st, 2008 at 12:19 am
That’s butt ugly guitar. I’ve always suspected that girls pick guitars based on only two factors. The colour, and the width of the fretboard lol.
May 1st, 2008 at 5:35 am
LOL, I knew the “dinner date” from Nana’s blog just the day after that.. damn, who can beat Noto-kawaii? m(_ _)m *zetsubou mode on*
And I read about the tribute album in Makkun’s blog (”buddy” huh).. and I was also like “WTF no Nana?!” O_O;; I always think Nana’s voice suits a lot of Makkun’s songs: mitsu, it’s my life, shuffle, etc etc.. *sobs* I thought they’re pretty close, but maybe Nana’s too busy T_T
May 1st, 2008 at 10:50 am
I like Satou Rina even though she doesn’t seem to be very popular. I wanna hear more of her Tsutako in the upcoming season of Marimite!
May 1st, 2008 at 11:42 am
Oh, Mamiko. Naba-nee is influencing you too much.
May 1st, 2008 at 12:00 pm
Noto Mamiko promises to move in with Kawasumi Ayako…
It’s about 8 years. I’ll wait to see^^
But wait! She’ll married Saito Chiwa at 30…
It’s 2 years to come o__O
And yeah, Mai’s comes back. Okaerinasai
May 1st, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Ahaha I’ve heard Satoshi Hino in Shakugan and Naruto, they sound different enough but I wonder if he can do 7? xD Definitely interesting though
May 2nd, 2008 at 4:57 am
@ tj han
“I’ve always suspected that girls pick guitars based on only two factors. The colour, and the width of the fretboard lol.”
LOL true. I myself, am particular when it comes to the width/shape of the neck. I have big hands for a girl, just not flexible fingers, and I find it easier to play with V-neck compared to other shapes. Gah. But No.1 criteria for me will always be either the electronics e.g. pickups (I play the electric guitar most of the time), or the timbre when it comes to the acoustic guitar. ^^
@ Lil Donkey
“Oh, Mamiko. Naba-nee is influencing you too much.”
And Naba-nee was assumingly approved by Ayachii to take MamiMami away from her if the chance ever presented itself. It was quite a hilarious fan letter reading corner in one of Marunabi’s episodes lol. ^^
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:03 am
Nana and Mamiko’s date is amusing. :3
I’m happy that we’re getting a Makkun tribute album. Ecstatic.
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:35 am
Guitar colour - irrelevant to me. That’s cos I mainly play acoustic lol.
I was thinking that for Kageyama, he’d have a wide range of hot-blooded rockers from Makkun’s back catalogue to choose from so it’s strange that he ended up with a slow burner instead. Unless of course, he decides to turn Wasuregusa (why the heck did I type it as Wasurezaku ?_?) into a hot-blooded rocker
May 2nd, 2008 at 1:19 pm
“Chihara Minori buys a Fender Telecoustic Pink Paisley”
Aww… pink. I wonder if she’ll appear on Animelo with that. XD.
“Okui Masami 15th Anniversary Tribute Album – Buddy
Sadly we don’t get Mizuki Nana participating, but hooray! Chihara Minori will be covering Rondo~Revolution~!”
Wow, this is gonna be interesting.
“Noto Mamiko promises to move in with Kawasumi Ayako…
…if Aya’s still alone when she’s 40, that is. ”
Shit. I figuratively spat my coffee all over the monitor when I read that.
“Hino Satoshi voices all 7 characters on a drama CD”
Lol, how true. He’s got a good voice, but it all sounds the same.
Keep up the good work, j1mone. God, I love reading your blog when you talk about all this stuff :).
May 28th, 2008 at 2:57 am
[...] an upcoming Okui Masami album to commemorate the 15th anniversary of her debut single. It’s old news for most everyone, but I was off in my own world most of April. It’s worth re-mentioning [...]
September 13th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Masami Okui is the best!!!
I love her!!