This has been all over internet news and message boards for the past few days – at first I didn’t think much of Kana’s supposedly offensive comments when I heard it on Marunage, but news spreads quickly over the internet & people start making a big fuss. When ’something a seiyuu said’ starts making the mainstream news sites… you know it’s time for a public apology.

The incident:
During the Marunage show that aired on 7th December, the two hosts (Ueda & Shimizu Kaori) were chatting away as they usually do when Kana brought up something that had happened to her/them recently. Basically Kana and Kaori were in a train minding their own business. Kana had put down her empty canned drink on the seat next to her, intending to dispose of it after she disembarked when a middle-aged man (oyaji) came over and more or less ‘told her off’ for leaving rubbish around.

That pissed Kana off and she started ranting about it on the radio, stating her now much quoted ‘このオヤジを社会的に抹殺したい’ ([I] want to socially erase this oyaji) and going on to discuss with Kaori ways to humiliate said old geezer because ‘it was his fault’ for embarassing them. For example, trying to attract attention by screaming and/or asking for ‘help’ from the station attendant/railway guards, or faking a call to the police telling them to wait at the next station because they had ‘run into a bit of trouble’. Generally, not very nice things to say on a mainstream radio station (Radio Kansai) programme, albeit at 1am in the morning.

The apology:
…after a week’s worth of criticism, the latest Marunage episode has the duo apologising for the comments that ‘may have made some people uncomfortable’, giving a less exaggerated account of the incident – that they had encountered a drunk man on the train who made unpleasant comments to them, and no matter how angry they felt at the moment, they should not have said what they said. And dragged out the old ‘まだまだ未熟ですが、ご声援いただければと思います’ (aka I’m still stupidly inexperienced and am very sorry, please don’t blacklist me!) plea.

The short clip of their comments was taken off Youtube by Radio Kansai, and all the weekly uploads of the show on Nico Nico Douga have been wiped out. Keep your mouth shut (or stop drinking before you record the show) girls, mmmkay?

Personally it was all bullshitting to me, given both Kana & Kaori’s tendencies to let their mouths run away, but I guess with anything & everything public figures in Japan say getting pulled apart (lol politicians) these days, it’s best not to make any un-PC comments.

Seen on Excite and Yahoo news.

It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these radio-oriented posts. Good way to pick up useless seiyuu trivia though!

Warning: Long post. But first of all, a short intro to Marunage.

Anitama.com standard Marunage (アニたまどっとコムstandardまるなげ) is a 60-minute radio talk program airing on Radio Osaka and on the internet at the Anitama site, hosted by Ueda Kana and Shimizu Kaori. There was talk of the show ending its run after its first-year anniversary, but it’s proved popular enough with listeners to have been extended, thanks to all the people who bought the DVDs and merchandise.

The term Marunage (丸投げ) actually refers to a controversial practice within the Japanese private sector where major construction companies who win large building projects, completely outsource the work to smaller subcontractors, typically for things like building condominiums etc, which can often be more trouble than they’re worth.

But that’s not really the point of reference behind why the show Marunage is called Marunage. Rather, it is a deliberate, wholesale ripoff of a certain other radio show (which has since ended its run) featuring a certain popular seiyuu called Noto Mamiko. Er yes, Marunage (まるなげ) is a blatant copycat pays homage to Marunabi!? (まるなび!?)

Shimizu (left), Ueda (right)

They do often dish a lot of background dirt on seiyuu going-ons, auditions and all the juicy stuff that we don’t otherwise get to hear about. There are constant jokes about Shimizu’s weight, Ueda’s obsession with Okama (the illustrator, not the slang term) and so on; plus they share a similar circle of friends within the business so there are a lot of in-jokes and industry references that would probably baffle casual seiyuu fans.

To give you an idea of the sort of odd listeners Marunage attracts – a couple of episodes ago, somebody sent in a mail with the following:

Sender: [something]
Radio Name: [something]
Address: Can’t be bothered
Gender: Male
Message: Test mail from mobile phone.

Marunage is also quite possibly the first and the last show that will ever allow a seiyuu to mention the word 獣姦 (jukan; bestiality) without censoring it. Thanks to her tendency for stupid/controversial comments, a female listener wrote in to ‘praise’ Kana-chan for successfully shattering the soft-spoken impression of her that she’d gotten hearing her voice Hayate in Nanoha A’s.

There is a very dedicated person who puts up the highlights of Marunage shows every 5 episodes or so on Nico Nico Douga, they’re great to watch by themselves as he/she/it has great knowledge of all the in-jokes and often puts in related omake bits from other shows. Highly recommended!

Brief translation of some dialogue, S denotes Shimizu Kaori & U Ueda Kana.

When somebody said ‘This is the first time I’ve sent in a mail’:
S: Ooh, we’ve taken away somebody’s ‘First Time’.
U: You mean their mail ‘cherry’?

A listener suggests songs for a potential cover songs album.
Listener: How about Marunage Yukai?
U: Why not Kumori Oame Yukai (曇り大雨愉快)? [Translates to Cloudy Heavy Rain Happiness - play on Hare Hare Yukai]
S: Yeah that’s good. The Melancholy of Ueda Kana (植田佳奈の憂鬱).
L: Or maybe Marunage Sailor Fuku?
U: Why not Marunage Gakuran? [gakuran are boys' uniforms]
S: Or Motteke! Gakuran?
U: Or perhaps Hagitore! Gakuran (剥ぎ取れ!学らん) [translates to Tear it off! Gakuran]

On Auditions & Rivalries
A question arose: Who do you consider your No.1 rival?

S: I lose to Kobayashi Sanae (in auditions) a lot LOL. We actually auditioned for each other’s roles in Nanoha (A’s) as well – she tried out for Signum & I tried out for the Book of Darkness. I’ve been told that it’s not that our voices sound similar, but more our acting style apparently. I mean… if you were trying out for a role that Sanae-san was also trying out for, wouldn’t you think that it’d be impossible (to win the role)?
U: Er well, our paths rarely cross so I wouldn’t quite know…
S: There’s also someone, who you’d think was pretty strange because we don’t have much in common (in terms of voice), but I seem to fall to Kugimiya Rie quite often too.
U: Eh?
S: Like Shana, hahaha. I tried out for that – although when I was auditioning, I knew that my voice definitely did not suit the role. I tried my best to sound cute but I ended up failing as expected.
….
S: There was once though, when I had actually won an audition (for a child role) but the producers came back later and said that they’d decided to hand the role to somebody else.
U: Eh, why?
S: Well, they came to my house and told my mother that my face was too fat.

Ideal Marriage Proposals
Somebody dragged out an old anecdote of Ueda Kana once declaring on a program that she’d prefer to be dragged straightaway to a wedding ceremony rather than be proposed to. A few months later, when Chihara Minori was a guest on Marunage they asked her the same question.
Go get Adobe Flash Player!
U: So Minorin, what would be your ideal (marriage) proposal?
C: Ehhhh, me? I’d be alright with a ‘normal’ one!
U&S: What is a ‘normal’ one? (We) Wanna hear (your version of) a ‘normal’ proposal.
C: Mmm… something like ‘Come into the same grave with me?’ would be fine.
U: Ehhhhh. Try saying that one more time, in a cute.. I mean, a cool manner?
C: (Coolly) ‘Won’t you come into the same grave with me?’
U&S: Kyaaaa! Kyaaaaa!! We’ll go, we’ll go in (with you)!!
C: That kind of thing would be nice.
U: Now, did everyone remember that? It won’t work unless you say that!
[followed by pointless talk of the possibility of mother-in-law also being in the same grave]
.

S: I met (Watanabe) Akeno-chan the other day… it’s been some time since I last saw here. Apparently she’s been on some diet & she is so pretty now (after losing weight). I touched her boobs.
U: Akeno’s amazing.
S: Those are some boobs, aren’t they?
U: When we’re talking about boobs, Akeno & Paku(Romi)-san are the best. They’re the only ones who’ve got boobs that are soft all the way through.
S: Ehhh. I’ve never really gotten to work with Paku-san before.
U: You should say “I heard this from Ueda Kana, apologies in advance!” & go ahead and cop a feel next time you see her.
S: Really? Ooh, I wanna meet Paku-san… but for me, Asakawa Yuu is the best.
U: Ah, Yuu-neesan.
S: It’s not just her boobs, her whole body feels nice. She’s a good woman.

On Seiyuu Playing the Yuri Game
1. Shimizu Ai & Nakahara Mai
U: Why don’t we just say Shimizu Ai & Nakahara Mai and leave it at that? They did do ‘that’ after all (referring to that infamous Strawberry Panic ending song scene).
S: Yeah, I happened to see it on TV and I was all like OHHH!

2. Nabatame Hitomi
S: Well, for Naba & (Ito) Shizuka-san – it [the concept of yuri] seems to surprisingly be OK with KenPro (their agency). Or maybe it’s just Naba who’s OK with it. She’s always saying all sorts of risque things on radio shows making the staff members worry if it’s alright to carry on, but she’ll then say that there’s absolutely no problem with it.

3. Noto Mamiko
U: It’s a little harder for Mami-chan…
S: Ah. Osawa Agency… they’re a bit stiff.
NOTE: Osawa Agency mainly provides narrations and have a hi-brow, serious sort of reputation. If you ever noticed, they’re the only seiyuu agency to not provide online profiles for all their talents.

4. Koshimizu Ami
S: I think Ami-chan is OK.
U: Yeah I think she’s OK for now.
S: Because she’s freelancing (Note: this episode was recorded before Koshimizu joined Production Baobab in late ‘07).
U: There’ll be a lot of people willing to back her up!

5. Mizuki Nana
S: And ah.. Nana-chan. Nana-chan… it’d be tough.
U: Awww, isn’t Nana-chan cute?
S: Won’t someone try to find a way to move Nana (in that direction)? No volunteers?

Opanpon
Listener: On another net radio programme, Ueda-san unashamedly made a dirty joke by introducing a listener by the name ‘Opanpon’. Do either of you actually know what ‘opanpon’ means?
U: Mmmm, no.
S: (Reads) “Feeling that it was unfair that male genitalia had its own cute little name (o-chinchin), the Saitama(?) Education board took it upon themselves to impart equality upon female genitals. A public appeal for suggestions led to the declaration of ‘o-panpon’ as the new shorthand name for a vagina”.
U: Eh, what show was that?
S: Something with Asano (Masumi)-san apparently.
U: Ah, that (referring to the Shigofumi radio show). But this guy must’ve done it (having the username Opanpon) deliberately… how lewd.

Fooling Nabatame Hitomi
While on Marunage, the pair called up Nabatame Hitomi to play a joke on her only to get an answering machine.
**Please leave your message after the tone**
S: Ah. Hi, Naba! It’s Kaori here. There was something I wanted to discuss with you over the phone… I’m thinking of quitting the seiyuu industry by springtime… I’ll let you know the details when I meet up with you. Sorry..
**End of recording**
U: LOLOLOLOL.
One week later…
U: So, did Hitomi contact you or what?
S: Yeah, she did. After the recording finished last week, she gave me a call right after we parted on the way home. I ended up ignoring the call and it went to voice message mode and I heard her saying “I got your call… Are you OK…. What happened?” in such a gentle voice I felt guilty. Naba then rang again, and I was all like ‘Crap, what am I supposed to do’ & I quickly mailed her ‘Sorry, I’m on the train now. I’ll tell you the day after tomorrow’.
U: Hohoho.
S: And so when I went to recording two days later, the first thing I did was apologise to her. And she was all ‘Ah, so it was nothing after all’.
U: Did she see through the joke then?
S: Well apparently at the end of the message left on the answering machine, there was this voice in the background saying ‘Did we get all that (recorded) in? LOLOLOLOL!’ so she was rather confused about whether to believe what I was saying or not. Guess we didn’t put down the phone fast enough *hahaha*

Top 3 Places for a Date
S: No.3 – Yokohama. No.2 – Odaiba. No.1 – Disneyland. What about you Kana?
U: No.1 – Net cafe.
S: WTF do you do in a net cafe?
U: Play video games?

Gosh, that was longer than I thought it’d be. Hopefully someone out there gets some fun out of this.

The highlight is the second part of the Chocolat & Portrait sidestory (one of the best parts of Marimite methinks) where Shoko & friends steal into Lillian High School and she meets Tsutako for the first time. Rosa Foetida (Eriko) also appears this time, in the ‘chasing Shoko around because there’s a cleaning tag on her uniform’ bit :3

I think Marina’s voice fits Shoko’s character well, I loved the scene with Tsutako where Shoko talks about how she hates having photos taken of herself. “At this rate I’ll never get married, I can’t even take an ‘omiai shashin’!” and “Even if I do get married, I’ll still have to take wedding photographs!”

I hope Chocolat & Portrait get animated, but I won’t keep my hopes up if Marimite 4 turns out to be just 1-cour.

Some of the dialogue between Ueda Kana (K) and the show’s guest Inoue Marina (M):

What would you (like to) do if you were reincarnated as a man?
M: (If) I was reborn as an ‘ikemen’, I want to be ‘popular’ with girls. I want to make them ’serve’ me.
K: But you can do that (make them ’serve’ you) even now you know.
M: I don’t understand. That’s weird…weird eh? (Pause) But yeah, I want to do that even now.
K: What, have girls serve you?
M: Mmm yes (laugh) I want to lead girls on (laugh)
K: But you’re already popular with the girls, you know.
M: What, in my present ‘form’?
K: Yes, in your present ‘form’…and you would be too if you were reincarnated as a guy.

Umm… yay for yuri undertones? So yeah, Inoue Marina wants to build her own harem – form an orderly line please.

What do you look for in a man?
M: Hmm… I’d prefer the conservative type? Someone who doesn’t smoke, since my dad does and I hate it. (Someone who) Doesn’t gamble, and who’s compatible with me food-wise, someone whom I can have a coversation with and so on. Or someone who will tell me that everything I cook tastes good!
K: I’d like someone who does things to the extreme – either they gotta be better at games than me or they don’t like the at all. It’d be awful if he was the ‘in-between’, halfway-house kind of person…
M: So what if the guy really liked games but wasn’t as good at them as you?
K: Well normally guys would be shocked by such things (girls being better at games than them) wouldn’t they?
M: There aren’t many people who are better at games than you are, are there?

All conversations involving Ueda Kana inevitably lead to Video Game Land. I discovered that as much when researching Kana for the profile I’m doing for her (Rejoice, Kana fans )

Words of the Day
omiai shashin: formal matchmaking photos [a portfolio of photos for prospective suitors] (お見合写真)
ikemen: good-looking guy (イケメン)
motetai: want to be popular (モテたい)
haberasetai: want to make [one] serve (侍らせたい)
kyokutan: to the extreme (極端)
chuutohanpa: unfinished, halfway (中途半端)

Anyway, the interview was done about a fortnight ago when Ueda participated in another online session in conjunction with the release of some new maps for Halo 3. Kana said that this time around, there was another Japanese girl who came online to play which surprised her. She also tried to encourage more girls to get online and play (guess she’s drowning in all that testosterone, heh). So if you’ve got an Xbox360 look for Ueda Kana between 11pm-5am Japan time, that’s when she says she’s usually online

I’ll probably put up a translation of the interview sometime later today (gotta dash off to work!)

This is NOT a literal translation – I just took the important points and filled in some bits to make it flow better.
Q:What sort of games do you play on the Xbox 360?
A:One of the first few games I played was [eM] -eNCHANT arM-, which I was actually involved in. Lately, I’ve been playing things like Final Fantasy (XI), and of course, Halo (3). Apart from that, there’s Call of Duty 4 and I’m also going to try out Lost Odyssey soon.

Q:So we heard you have friends who also play games?
A:In my friend’s house, there’s an Xbox360 with a 50-inch TV in a room we call Neverland. And there, about 10 of us seiyuu will gather to play – versus battles (通信対戦), I think you call it.

Q:What do you find so special about Halo 3?
A:I think it’s the large variety of weapons and vehicles, plus the story mode’s really intriguing – it provides great mulitplayer fun, and probably the (game’s) unlimited possibilities.

Q:What were your feelings about (your guest appearance on) Xbox Live Park?
A:Man, that was really interesting! When I normally play Xbox Live, there’s not much opportunity to talk to other people so it was pretty amusing when people came in and started saying “Hi!” to me, and also when I said things like “Save me!”, “Get on!” and things like that. It was really fun working together to carry out missions as a team.

Q:Any messages for the users?
A:Halo 3 is a really good game that I’m very much into at the moment, but I’m sure there are lots more good games that will be coming out for the Xbox 360 in the future. Who knows, we might meet online one day if I get the chance – so see you around then!

Hilariously, Kana already knew about the whole thing cos of the extra hits her personal website got (about a 1000 more than usual) as a result of the post. She and Shimizu then went over the pictures from the site, declared the girl from Australia as sexy & the one from Portugal as cute though I have a feeling they’re looking at the wrong captions cos Brazil is way sexier and Russia is a 100 times cuter (those pics are directly above the ones Ueda & Shimizu mentioned & I can’t directly link to them apparently, boohoo). They also said it was kinda scary that they were carrying guns but duh, it’s the army after all.

Ueda Kana is pretty tech-savvy with all her Halo exploits so I’m not surprised to learn that she had already learned of the incident beforehand but big <3 to her anyway. Makes me wonder how many seiyuu actually bother to look up the sort of coverage they get on fansites outside of Japan.

Anyway, the thought of two hapless seiyuu defending Japan’s honour is mortifying. The post also has other rather dubious pictures like actress Hoshino Mari apparently being a Vietnamese soldier (I believe it was actually from some mag photoshoot)…. some of them do look pretty cool though – particularly the ones with guns ^^;