with Shiraishi Ryoko (left) and Fukami Rika (right)

er….. Yamada Miho….. boob grab……..

hugging Satou Rina….biribiri?

I…er…:|

The post from a couple of days ago makes me orz though. The photos that accompany it are no big deal, just Yuko with Paku Romi and Uran Sakiko… it’s the text that makes me go ~_~

超～～～大好き
………..chou~~~ daisuki <3<3<3

私はろみねぇの大きな胸を触ったり、抱きついたりするのが大好き！
女性らしい気持ちいい触り心地で、
とっても良い匂いがするのですよ！！
I love touching Romi-nee’s big boobs and hugging her!
She’s so feminine, comfortable, feels nice,
And she smells very good!!

;_;

Kaida Yuko is signed to KenPro, an agency that seems particularly lenient on (or rather, they encourage) their seiyuu’s yuri escapades… well Nabatame Hitomi (I <3 my waifu) and Ito Shizuka (OMG! Big boobed-girl spotted on the train!!) in particular anyway.

…uh boob touch ftw. Even if it’s fake >:

On to the wall of text.

Q: It looks like you’re busy with both anime voice work and dubbing. Is it true that the atmosphere between both (recording studios) is very different?
A: Yeah there’s a huge difference… even though some might think ‘It’s the same!’. Prior to this I mainly focused on dubbing work and I’d start to get nervous whenever I had to step into an anime recording studio, but it appears I’m starting to get used to it now. For dubbing work, the whole production is already complete from the visuals to the BGMs, so I can just do a straightforward, or maybe more interesting take on the voice-over (atereko*) in Japanese. You have to try and grasp the intentions of the original actor while still trying to put your own twist to it – there’s plenty of ways to go about it and it’s really fun. Anime on the other hand is empty. You build it from scratch, breathe life into it, mould it as you wish – and it’s like a test of your ability, which makes it challenging but really exciting at the same time. Though both (dubbing and anime voice work) are difficult in their own way, they have their own interesting aspects too.

Q: Have you ever ’studied’ for a role that you had to create?
A: If the story in question has a deep historical basis, I would try and research it a little further by borrowing and reading any material touching on the background of that era. Unfortunately time constraints mean I’m not really able to delve into the matter as precisely I would like… also, for dubbing work I would study the facial expressions of the original actor.

Q: What was the catalyst for you entering the world of acting and performing?
A: When I was in senior high, a good friend dragged me into the about-to-be-abolished performing arts club, pleading with me to ‘just lend (me) your name!’, and it went on from there. Slowly I started to see how fun it was to perform and thought ‘I want to stick at this!’. Thus I went straight on to Duo (KenPro’s training academy) after I graduated from high school.

Q: Was your experience at Duo a good one?
A: To be honest, at first I didn’t understand much at all. I’d attend weekly classes without having a clue what I was supposed to do and 6 months went by just like that… During the lessons the Kenpro manager would often come and have a look, and I eventually came to realise that (Duo) wasn’t a place where I’d just turn up and learn stuff, it was a opportunity for me to show what I could do (to the manager) and to put myself in the shop window. And with that I started thinking of what I could do to supplement my learning on days when there were no lessons, and I ended up joining an acting troupe (Shakespeare Theatre).

Q: Why did you choose Shakespeare Theatre?
A: Basically it was because I liked Shakespeare. Back in high school, I took drama studies and Hamlet was one of the plays we looked at – at the time I thought ‘What a boring play this is!’ (laugh). Everyone dies, nobody is saved… But then there was an instance in college where I had to dub Olivia Hussey’s role in Romeo & Juliet, and the teacher asked the class ‘Where was Shakespeare born?’ and nobody could give the correct answer. As a result the teacher had a right go at us – ‘It is insolent of you people to even consider becoming actors without knowing this most basic of basics’. I was indignant at having that said to me and defiantly vowed to read Shakespeare from A to Z over the summer holidays… and as a result I developed a real interest in Shakespeare (laugh).

Q: When you talk about Shakespeare you naturally think of ‘plays’, but (the plays) have a tendency for having lengthy dialogue and require difficult performances… or maybe that’s just the image it has.
A: During Shakespeare’s time there were no fancy stages, lighting or equipment – just putting on plays under the bright blue sky or in broad daylight. Hence there was a need to convey to the audience things like the time (whether day or night) through the dialogue, things like this (made the plays longer). The original English dialogue is already lengthy enough and it does sometimes gets worse when translated to Japanese that you need to think about how to cut some of it out during the performance. Plus you have all these famous, or should I say all those great lines that it seems a shame to leave anything out… but depending on the production team and actors it could become really dull so that makes it a difficult situation.

Q: Are there any particular play(s) you’d like to do?
A: I’d like to do some Shakespeare with my boss (veteran seiyuu Utsumi Kenji)! I recently went to watch the New National Theatre’s performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream – usually the play lasts around 2 hours but I’d heard that the NNT’s was about 3 hours long and I thought that ‘That can’t be!’. The version of this play is by John Caird, himself an English writer for the Royal Shakespeare Company, and it seems that as one of his works of pride, he wouldn’t allow any cuts to be made. Upon hearing that I was like ‘Oh damn’, but from the very first moment I was enthralled and before I knew it, the show was over.

I believe everyone knows all about A Midsummer Night’s Dream and probably thinks ‘not that play again’, but I didn’t get such a feeling watching it, it was all very refreshing. You could see that the actors were having a lot of fun performing and that got through to the audience, though it never got to the stage where it looks like they’re ‘colluding’†. I think this is a great credit to the ability of the actors, I hope I too can put on a performance like that someday.

In my normal jobs I have worked with foreign producers, it’s pretty obvious that their methods of thinking are very different but also very interesting at the same time and I get a lot of motivation from that. But that’s not all that there is to it since it comes with the desire to make a good production, plus you have to comply with the demands of the overseas (producers) – to what extent that can be done is the actors’ job. That sort of working atmosphere is difficult, but fun.

Q: Are you enjoying both your work for anime and in dubbing?
A: I really love works that are set in medieval Europe, so I hoped to get involved in those type of productions. I have worked on Elisabeth and for some reason I found the speech patterns and dialogue on that easy to work with.

Q: As ‘Yuko Kaida, the actress’, tell us the sort of things you always try to keep in mind (with regards to your work).
A: ‘Don’t be proud’, I’d say. Something like ‘don’t halloo until you are out of the woods‘ or perhaps, ‘always aim higher’. As a personal target, I wish to be like Takashima Gara. She’s beautiful, adorable and gives off this warm and cuddly feeling (in the studio)… ah, it’d be wonderful if I could age that way. A brilliant performer who makes her presence felt… that is the type of actress I want to be.

Q: In between all your busy days with work commitments and dancing lessons, what do you do in your free time, if you have any?
A: Oh of course I do (have free time). I just relax at home or when I have gaps in my schedule, just sit in cafes and space out… or go shopping in my favourite stores, things like that.

Q: Is that the store that you refer to as being owned by TenTen-san on your blog?
A: Yeah, she’s someone I’ve known for around three years but it’s only been since last year that we started getting closer. Recently I’ve been meeting lots of different types of new people and it’s fun. TenTen was like that, and so’s the person who did my blog design… it’s exciting to meet and have a drink with professionals from other industries. And from those meetings were born all sorts of exciting plans… this year has been that kind of year for me, one of ‘encounters’.

Q: Finally, do you have any message for visitors to the website?
A: After undergoing a renewal, KenPro’s website has become really interesting with daily updates so if people would pay the site a visit that would be great.

*atereko (アテレコ) refers to the dubbing process where the seiyuu match their voices to an already present script and dialogue, as opposed to afureko (アフレコ) where they record their own lines.

†The phrase Yuko uses here is なぁなぁ (naanaa), which is a rather obscure reference to something that originated in kabuki (see here for the original Japanese definition). To be ‘naanaa’ (なぁなぁになる) basically describes how people have a habit of overlooking small problems/mistakes because of over-familiarity… or something like that (man, how can I explain this properly)… how about ‘turning a blind eye to the (other’s) faults’?

…gah OK done. I had considered translating Yuko-nee’s answers to her blog readers’ questions but I think I might pass on that one now – too long… but I can tell you her perfume of choice is Bvlgari’s Omnia Amethyste.

Disclaimer: A liberal, not a literal translation.

Q: You’ve started blogging recently. How’s it going?
A: Well I haven’t come across any troubles yet, it’s been pretty good going so far (laugh). Everyone (I know) seemed to be having fun doing it… that was what led me to wanting to set up a blog. But I’m not the type of person who can randomly & freely babble so it was quite tough initially. It ended up being on my mind all the time…’Oh, what am I gonna write next time?’ until it reached a point where people I was supposed to be in a conversation with started remarking ‘You’re not listening at all!’ (laugh). At first it took me about 2 hours to write a blog post – ‘Isn’t there a good word for this? …No, that isn’t right.’ Those were the kind of thoughts that passed through my head when I was blogging. Now it’s a more natural process, writing about what happened, or thoughts from that day… I think I’ve learned a lot (from blogging).

Q: You seem to post a lot of pictures of food, particularly vegetables…
A: Right now I’m taking in lots of home deliveries of vegetables – in the past when I used to do that I’d never be able to finish eating them so I stopped for a while but I’m doing my best now! Anyway, I’m definitely trying to eat more veg. Even when I eat out, the first thing (I’d eat) is Bagna Cauda or vegetables! At home I often refer to this website called Cookpad, it’s really convenient to be able to look up recipes just by searching for ‘okra’ or ‘pumpkin’. Simple Italian or Japanese-style cooking using garlic, those are probably my favourites.

Q: Has your (culinary) life centred around vegetables for a long while?
A: Err… I used to hate vegetables. Didn’t even eat salads before, it’s only now I’m now a health-conscious adult (that I do). I particularly like tomatoes now – I believe it started from just thinking ‘A delicious tomato is delicious!’ Eggplants, cucumbers… summer vegetables are delicious! ‘They’re healthy and they taste good’… thinking along those lines, I also switched to brown rice last year. Though recently I’m so busy work-wise that eating out has become the norm… but if I get tired or stressed the skin on my hands starts peeling badly (laugh). Staying in, cooking veg-based dishes has helped improved my condition a bit.

Q: Tell us a method you use to rejuvenate (yourself).
A: Ganban (bedrock) Hot Yoga! (note: I think this is like Bikram yoga?) I did that yesterday too. Your insides get warmer than the would be doing normal yoga, loosening up my muscles more. Apart from that, I’ve been taking Buyo (Japanese dance) and singing lessons, though sometimes I get confused (learning them)! (laugh). Particularly Buyo, I could be on my way to lessons and I’d think ‘Aaah, I’ve forgotten the dance (steps)…’ and once I get there and change into the kimono, I’d get scolded by the instructor… But yeah, doing all this I tend to utilise different parts (of my body) from what I usually use when I’m in a studio, and that atmosphere by itself is refreshing.

Q: What got you to thinking ‘I want to learn Buyo or singing!’?
A: I’ve always wanted to do something that involved body movement/expression ie jazz dance, ballet or Buyo… and I had this desire to be able to… put on a kimono myself, so Buyo seemed a natural choice. As for singing lessons – I’ve always been conscious about my poor singing skills, up to the point that I’d refuse to sing when going for karaoke… so I just wanted to take on the challenge. I’ve been practising the songs that my vocal coach has been giving me… people like Norah Jones, Britney Spears, Carole King, Diana Ross…. all these great singers’ songs. They’re all Western songs (laugh)! I’m getting rid of my aversion to stuff I never used to like… it’s starting to get real fun!

Q: It seems you’ve been pretty fond of drinking recently as well….
A: Yes, there’s a couple of wine bars in Shibuya that I’ve been frequenting (laugh). It’s only been within the last 12 months that I’ve started thinking that drinking is enjoyable – and it’s always wine for me. You can enjoy it slowly, and you don’t get a hangover! It’s the drink that suits me the most I think. I used to drink a lot of umeshu (plum wine) but it made me fat so I’ve stopped (laugh). My beloved blue cheese and vegetable sticks together with a glass of fine Australian wine – one of the finest pleasures in life… though I say that, drinking ’til you’ve passed out and waking up not remembering a thing – that’s not good. Just drink in moderation, health comes first!

Q: Are there any secrets to that ‘beautiful style’ you possess?
A: I was fat in high school you know, I had really chubby cheeks (laugh). There was also a point right after I started working that I put on a bit of weight, and I ended up going on a low-carb diet to get back to normal. Nowadays I do a lot of walking to make sure I don’t fall back.

Q: In Tokyo Magnitude 8.0, which airs in the noitaminA slot on Fuji TV, you voice a delivery biker girl called Kusakabe Mari who starts travelling with two children. The (first) episode achieved a 5.8% rating!
A: Thank you very much. Tokyo Magnitude 8.0 is an anime that is very much rooted in reality, and as for voicing Mari – I just tried to get the sort of isolated upbringing she had into my head and went with that mindset. The conversations between the main trio are really important to me. Even in the studio, the cast has this ‘Let’s work together to make the best anime possible!’ kind of approach… actually that’s true of most shows I’ve worked on, but I feel it more so here. It’s a show that portrays something that is very real, something that could possibly happen in the near future so I think people who don’t normally watch anime might give this a go. There could be some extremely ’shocking’ developments very soon you know… (laugh)

Q: So this is a story about a massive earthquake… has this made you more aware of disaster counter-measures at all?
A: Hmm… actually the first thing I thought was that if there was indeed such a huge earthquake, anything you try to do would be pointless (laugh). Though I do think that one should always have food and a map in their bag… and with that in mind, I put a CalorieMate in my own bag but I ended up eating it (laugh).

Q: Finally, any advice to aspiring young seiyuu?
A: My motto is ‘為せば成る’ (if you try, you’ll succeed)…. so if you try, you will succeed (laugh)! Self-discipline is key, and it’s something I try to maintain even now. This is especially true during busy times when you start to fall into a ‘Yeah, whatever goes’ type of mentality, it’s important to always remember to give your very best. There may be naturally gifted people out there who can turn in effortless performances without so much as batting an eyelid because they’re geniuses, but I’m not one of them. I think personality/individuality is something that comes out of having a ‘foundation’, and to build that foundation it shouldn’t be based on the thought of ‘I’ve got study my craft daily’… but instead, on thinking that ‘I want to do this so I can stay in this industry forever’ (note: I don’t understand this line). This is a job where merely being ’satisfied’ is never enough so it can be really tough… but that is what makes it so interesting.

Comments, questions welcome. I’m not sure these type of articles/translations are particularly in demand, it’s just a wall of text and if you’re not interested in the seiyuu in question it can be pretty darn boring. At least I found it a quick and amusing exercise, my reading skills are not completely dead in the water yet it seems. Probably gonna do part 2 when it comes along in a week or two for completion’s sake.

Those to talk to me on a regular basis might know that lately my fondness of ‘voice actor, narrator, artist, model’ Kaida Yuko (or Yuhko as she sometimes uses) has turned into a slightly manic obsession.

Name doesn’t sound familiar? I don’t blame you, Kaida hasn’t really done a lot of note in the past – just the odd supporting role here and there. To make things worse, a lot of people still confuse her with her almost namesake Kaida Yuki. If you’re paying attention to the current anime season though, you’ll probably have heard Yuko in at least one production. Mari in Tokyo Magnitude 8.0? Jun (of Ryumonbuchi High) in Saki? Or maybe Tomoe in Taisho Yakyu Musume?

Those characters pretty much have the same thing in common – strong, husky, boyish. And that’s Kaida’s forte, or what she’s been stereotyped as – strong, older onee-sama types. A space that loads of seiyuu already occupy – people like Watanabe Akeno, Paku Romi… (wait actually, just refer to the Onee-san post for a more comprehensive list). No idea if she’s capable of anything else, she has yet to show it or at least, hasn’t had any chance to display it.

Her rapid ascent in 2009 is actually rather suprising, even for long-time followers. For some reason, Yuko’s agency KenPro is really beginning to push and promote her this year – she’s started landing anime work on a regular basis, she’s now got a shiny official website complete with a gallery and high quality wallpapers and like all the other trendy people, started a blog.

I only really started noticing her around 2004 when she voiced characters in Marimite & Daphne in the Brilliant Blue but that was enough to reel me in. Decent roles were few and far between after that though, I’d rather forget the travesty that was Garasu no Kantai (Glass Fleet) and her character in Strawberry Panic (horse-mad Amane) was one that I hated with zealous passion. So I’m glad that the roles she’s gotten in the last few months have been well received and at least raised her profile a bit.

The appeal of Kaida (on a personal level) is well, looks. As in she doesn’t look like a typical seiyuu with her sharp features and very straight teeth, looks more like an actress – as she so claims to be (she’s actually only done a couple of stage plays etc). And she’s 10cm taller than me, which is pretty frickin’ tall in my book. I have yet to ascertain the quality of her legs – but she does look great in a kimono though.

Vital Statistics:
Name: 甲斐田 裕子 (Kaida Yūko)
Date of Birth: 14th January 1980
Hometown: Kanagawa, Japan
Agency: Ken Production
Height: 167cm
Blood Type: O
Key Roles: Ryomo Shimei in Ikkitousen series, Michel Volban in Garasu no Kantai, Otori Amane in Strawberry Panic, Kusakabe Mari in Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

Stuff:
1. She attended Tokyo Media Academy in the voice training/seiyuu division, passed an audition and got signed by KenPro before she even graduated.
2. Her biggest regular gig to date was, and still is, dubbing Neela Ragostra in E.R. The dub show recently celebrated 300 episodes, which the staff and cast celebrated with cake.
3. She can’t sing, she says so herself. Perhaps it was deliberately bad, but you can hear evidence of that somewhere in Hyakko when her character Ushio goes to karaoke with Torako.
4. She’s this month’s monthly push seiyuu on KenProduction’s revamped site, which will feature a two-part interview – part 1 is already up and I’m doing a rough translation of it next post.
5. From 11-17 August Yuko is taking questions from Ameba members on her blog, you’ll have to sign up as a member for that. Retardedly, I input j1m0ne as my Ameba username with the dumb comment of ‘私は甲斐田裕子の大ファンです。’ in her message box so uhhhh I hope I don’t get tracked down here. Haven’t decided what question to ask but probably not ‘are your boobs soft all the way through’. No that’s not my question, but a suggestion from someone else. NO I’M NOT SHARING HER WITH YOU —j00 shoo, shoo.

Links:
Official Website
Blog
Agency Profile
Yuko Kaida at ANN