For the hate of crap moeblob voices
In recent months I’ve been finding my tolerance for high-pitched voices at an all-time low, something I came to realise the further I got into watching K-ON! and Hatsukoi Limited. I liked both shows (to a certain extent) but often found myself getting lost in a swirl of ‘Ui!’s and ‘Yui!’s and ‘Onii-chan!’s, and at times was struggling not to succumb to the urge to hurl my mouse at the laptop screen with every passing squeal.
It seems the seiyuu of today don’t know how to produce a good moerrific voice, often getting the (very wrong) idea that all they need to do is to crank the squeak volume up to 12, or try to emulate the sound mice make when they’re being chased around the kitchen with a meat cleaver & a cooking pot. It doesn’t need to be that way of course, there’s a lot of scope for making people go ‘moeee’ – just look at Sawashiro Miyuki, who doesn’t actually have an inherent moe-type voice but can easily pull off a Tsugumi or an Aruru at the flick of a switch.
There’s also the question of naturally hideous voice acting of course, with some so-called ’seiyuu’ apparently having no idea how to pronounce & enunciate words in their native language properly (Harro, Omigawa C) that makes the screechiness all the less tolerable.
As a result it all becomes very generic cookie-cutter crappy, me (& most of the gaijin world) not being able to tell the difference between Moeblob #1 and Moeblob #2 99.9% of the time (or maybe it’s my ears?). Honestly all I look for in a voice actor is 1) a decent voice 2) can act. Simple. So how come so many ‘pros’ fail at it? A few in particular stick in my mind.
I’m sure it’s pretty much the same for all eroge seiyuu, but I’ll take Sakakibara Yui as an example just because. I mean, c’mon – it’s hard to deny that Yui-nyan sounds like she’s permanently on heat when she’s voice acting – like she’s mating with the recording mic, tearing her clothes off piece by piece, purring (un)seductively and pawing the floor while reading her lines. She doesn’t seem to be able to control the level of eroticism in her voice (unlike say, Takahashi Chiaki), and it totally destroyed any little enthusiasm I had for watching H2O (trap!trap!) and Yotsunoha (green loli!green loli!).
How does Fukui Yukari keep getting hired? Maybe her almighty tree-talking powers are at play here, infiltrating the minds of the Gainax bigwigs to let her inflict her terribly nasal, paper-thin, sing-song, retarded approach to talking, voice acting and singing on the general public. Having (the vastly inferior) Yukarin on the cast credits list virtually guarantees my index finger resting permanently on the mute button while watching an anime.
Saito Ayaka and Tsuji Ayumi may not be overly familiar names, but their voices certainly will be. That’s because they suffer from what I call the ‘Kaneda effect’ ie they both talk like a chipmunk that inhaled a few dozen helium balloons and then attempts to speak while wearing a clip on its nose. Saito’s list of credits (Furuba’s Momiji, Ouran’s Honey, Minami-ke’s Hitomi) were memorable only for their level of irritatingness, but at least she’s kinda cute in real life (NO IM NOT A LOLI ALRITE).
Twintail Tsuji on the other hand… ok I’m biased and my opinions are half-swayed by visual appeal (fahhhhhhkkkk she’s fugly). So she was fine as Guchuko in Potemayo (that’s because Guchu didn’t say anything at all beyond randomly panting) but please refer to Sky Girl’s Elise or Gokujo Seitokai’s Minamo for reasons I want to squish her vocal nodules between my clammy fingers and crush them. Or I could sit on her, she’d probably collapse into a puddle of goo (I’m 10cm taller and probably 30kg heavier than her :3).
Oh, and it would not be entirely wrong to say that Kaneda Tomoko would be a perfect candidate, but I do think she has her virtues – there’s characters out there who could only do with a KaneTomo Special Squeak Breaker; Chiyo-chan in Azumanga, for example – can’t imagine anyone else doing that. Then there’s Marie in the Onegai series, Cynthia in the Hanaukyo Maids series and Bonta-kun in Full Metal Panic! Fumoffu? – granted those three characters maybe said 10 words throughout their entire run, but could more effective ad-libbing come from anyone else but Kaneda? I recognised that it was her off the bat (unlike Twintail Tsuji & Guchuko).
I love you to death Chihara Minori but your voice acting is retarded all day everyday, but most especially when you try to sound cute. Cos it comes off sounding more like a squeaky rubber chicken, so please stop voice acting & sing more? It was amusing that when my colleagues (all Narutards & Bleachtards) asked me to name any of Minorin’s roles they might recognise, I couldn’t come up with a single one (they don’t know Haruhi). That’s how crap her voice acting career is!
Oh, and Shimoda Asami sounds about as moe as a chupacabra (think of the one in Negima!?) :3
Right, now you’re thinking, ‘Who then would you, old (wo)man full of bile, consider as having a good moe voice?’ Weeelll it’s a subjective thing I suppose, not everyone finds the same sort of sounds aurally orgasmic. Defining ‘moe’ by itself is already a bit of a struggle for most.
Personally, Kugimiya Rie in tsundere mode is as close to perfection as you can get, but I know she polarises opinions and a lot of people would love to scream URUCCHAI! at her while pulling her hair out in large clumps. Same goes for Noto Mamiko, who excels at your typical ojo-sama types but is shit at anything that is not female, below the age of 16 or human (ie everything else). Kadowaki Maii & Koyama Kimiko are two voices that by right should be getting all up my nostrils, but don’t. They’re just really good at what they can do, limited as they are. The balance between moe and annoying is truly fine!
Amongst the younger bunch of seiyuu, any sort of Asumi Kana (Yuno in Hidamari Sketch) voice is absolutely fine by me – she has this knack of injecting just the right amount of sugar into her roles, leaving me a pool of drooling, blubbering mess at times. But it’s not only limited to her voice acting, since Asumin’s normal talking voice is so awesomely cute too *_* I would venture that MAKO (Akiha in SoraKake) fits in this category as well (and she has a great pair of boobs to go with a great voice), as does Nonaka Ai to a certain extent (as long as she doesn’t attempt to sing, I suppose) and oh, recently Ito Kanae has also getting pretty good at pulling my KYAAA, KAWAII!! heartstrings too.
My absolute top pick would be Yuzuki Ryoka though – she has this devastatingly great ability to juggle the sensual and moe qualities in her soft, lilting voice that makes me squeeeee and desire to stretch my baby cousin’s cheeks for ten miles either side. Eruru (from Utawarerumono) for example, is the perfect balance of moe for someone like me who is not into moe at all (how confusing does that sound?) – nice (2d) body, nice (2d) tail, nice (2d) ears, ERO-ORGASMIC to-die-for voice. And oh Yuki-nee from Candy Boy is another brain-explodingly cute Yuzu-nee voice too <3 [sorry brain melting & incoherent already].
Oh well in the end it's all about preference and tolerance. Probably I'm just an old fart and my eardrums are getting less elastic with every moeblob lashing. Remember to check me in at the old folks' home on your way out!
*The lead times between post conception & actual time of publishing are becoming as elongated as the time period between seasons of Haruhi. I mean, you can tell that I started writing this in April… and it’s July now, w00t. I apologise for my procrastination (and please write to my boss asking him/her to give me less work so I can blog more 
)
For some reason I don’t mind the voice Yui’s VA does in K-on but I don’t like Koyoi in Hatsukoi. Yui’s is a sort of lazy-moe voice while Koyoi is more of the usual otaku-pandering-moe voice, maybe that’s why?
Though I absolutely have to agree with you on Fukui Yukari, her voice really grates on you especially when she tries to put on the moe, but she did okay in Diebuster as Nono, I guess her vocal aim was to sound strong and courageous back then so it wasn’t as bad.
Minorin’s attempts at moe just sound really nasally to me ~_~ she should just stick to her Rei-clone characters.
I’d like to add Yuki Matsuoka to the list, her voice is quite moe when she tries.
Though you must look up Noto Mamiko’s role in a recent video game called Endless Frontier, her voice is so different I thought it was Inoue Marina for a long time until I decided to look it up. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qz0I5uzZWcw
Shame about the work load! I miss your usual ramblings ):
I dislike all moe voices – too boring and/or too annoying. And when Kugimiya does her high pitched voice, it literally hurts my ears.
Methinks Toyosaki whatshername’s voice really suits Yui – I hate the voice + I hate the character = perfect match! And isn’t Minorin’s talking voice retarded as well? (or maybe she just lost the ability to speak like a human being along the way -_-”)
Anyways, this all probably won’t matter pretty soon since the moe voices that we love/hate today are slowly going to be replaced by whatever newbies KyoAni decides to put in their next moepit venture anyhow. (Someone PLEASE refute this, it would really make me feel better -_-”)
Kugimiya Rie is a pretty good seiyuu but I like her for Gintama and Toradora rather than her more popular roles of ergh Shana.
Funny, for someone who doesn’t like Chihara Minori, you sure have friends who are crazy over her lol. Anyway, like all seiyuu singers, I don’t think her acting is any good, and the songs she have been made to sing so far are also terrible, maybe except Paradise Lost.
You didn’t mention Tomatsu Haruka, who’s in practically every anime this season, with a decent range of character types.
Lol I do actually like Toyosaki’s voice… but I don’t like Yui (a bit too retarded for me) :3
@tj han
Eh I do like Minorin a lot (as much as my crazy friends do) but I’ve never met anyone who thinks she’s a good voice actress anyhow lol. And her songs are just an acquired taste I suppose.
“How does Fukui Yukari keep getting hired?”
I want to know this too. On top of having an almost sickening voice, her behavior is, the least to say, irritating and even more sickening by a factor of ten.
“Personally, Kugimiya Rie in tsundere mode is as close to perfection as you can get”
I think I also appreciate her roles like Nene in Potemayo, where she takes the “moe type voice” to a logical extreme on purpose, and it’s deliberately annoying. Or at least I thought that was the point.
But looking at some of the seiyuu (like I don’t mind Saito Ayaka for example), tolerance of what one calls a “moe type voice” seems to vary, but it seems like many blogs tend to dislike it more than like it.
I wonder the same about Fukui Yukari. I really really hate her voice and I fail to see why they keep casting her.
Overall I’d say my “moe” tastes (even though I’m completely resistant to moe XD) are pretty much the same as yours since I appreciate the same actresses. I have a thing for Sawashiro because even her weirdest voices sound great, Aruru’s voice must’ve been the cutest thing ever XD
TACOS DA ZE
I agree with alot of what your saying, but about Kadowaki Mai I can’t like her voice acting, it seems pretty emotionless other than the moe voice thing. Also I agree that Minori Chihara seems to lack a fitting character to voice for, I don’t think she’s THAT bad at voice acting though, but it is true that her high voices are pretty lethal, she should stay away from those roles really. Opposite of that is Aya Hirano in which I do not like her singing at all, but I believe that she’s pretty talented at voice acting, I’ve been impressed with her voice acting even through the bias of disliking her nasal voice but that’s a matter of preference really.
And I know what you mean about Yui Sakakibara, I hate how she’s always squeaking an ero voice out, it makes it really hard to listen to her voice acting.
When you mentioned Miyuki Sawashiro’s Aruruu voice coming at a flick of a switch I immediately thought of the UtaRaji episode she guested in, Utaraji was fun wasn’t it…
It was amusing that when my colleagues (all Narutards & Bleachtards) asked me to name any of Minorin’s roles they might recognise, I couldn’t come up with a single one (they don’t know Haruhi). That’s how crap her voice acting career is!
^This. I can never really tell the answer to people who ask “who is that girl” when pointing to her poster on my wall (/swt) because she doesn’t do enough singing to really make her music career something to be heard of. It’s probably bad timing personally, but lately I haven’t gotten into her songs as much as I used to, especially her Parade album.
The violin accompaniment was nice for a while after her break with Nagato (the only other role I really liked from her since…well, maybe Chiaki sometimes), but it’s getting to sound pretty repetitive, and I don’t know how many more albums her producers can make with that theme before I just stop listening to them. How about some different kind of strings, like say, guitar–or to be specific, Minorin playing the guitar. Some of her self-penned can sound weird, and possibly embarrassing to listen to (ala Colourful Frying Pan), but some of her older stuff were pretty nice to listen to (I popped back in Message 01, and that footage of her street live gave me the chills again). Maybe when she reaches her mid-30s, she might start outgrowing her idol image and can step into a more serious music career with folk. But hey, I’m just ranting.
As for moe voices, to hell with them. I like that sultry, husky female voice that just screams oneesama. （＊´Д`）ハァハァ Probably why I can only listen to Minorin’s voice work when it’s anything but high-pitched or screechy.
I guess it’s up to me to defend poor Yukarin.
Fukui’s voice is very specific, and she has the range of a Daisy Air Rifle. But when cast properly, like as Falce in Macademi Wasshoi, she can bring a lot to an anime. In fact, when she sticks to comic/tragic figures, she does pretty well.
I completely agree on Ayako Saito, though. She has Kaneda-sensei’s voice without her charm. The effect is like fingernails on a chalkboard.
Minorin needs to take a cue from Mamiko Noto and play a crazy, or badass role now and then. I love it when she does roles like in Witchblade or Mnemosyne. I like Minorin as Touka, the psycho ojou-sama in Saki. It’s making her stretch, and take chances.
I guess I don’t mind moeblobs if they are surrounded by a decent story and a good cast. Aki Toyosaki seems to be on a hot streak lately. Kanamemo is pretty good, and she’s totally believable as a 13-year-old orphan surrounded by crazy lesbians.
Hmm, well, as for minorin, I really like the work she did in miname ke,as ekitoku and as touka(Riichi desu wa hohoho)
Humm…. I think Toyosaki Aki’s Yui voice is good n talented…
(Especially the part with her sumo like deep voice)
Well I don’t like Mio’s voice (forgot the Seiyuu’s name)which everyone tought its Moe…
Yup… Hate the Moe~~~
for me… Talanted Seiyuus are like My Favourite Kitamura Eri, Tomatsu Haruka, Shizuka Ito, Orikasa Fumiko…
(Those who can change to different voices without even noticing who they are){Urmmm… Mizuhara Kaori maybe ok…}
I think Minorin is good and all but I think her voice is too noticable… etc. Minami-ke Chiaki, Ga Rei Zero kagura, Ikkitousen Ekitoku (all too identical)…. But its ok cause i don’t hate her…
I don’t like seiyuu that their voices are too noticable and identical to other animes… etc. Kawasumi Ayako, Noto Mamiko, Nabatame Hitomi, Satou Rina….
I don’t know about your option But this is my way of choosing a talented seiyuu…
Been stalking your blog for a while… ^_^ Decided to comment because I’m pretty vulnerable to moe.
When I hear “moe blob voice” I think Matsuki Miyu. It’s surprisingly not THAT annoying though, unlike Toyosaki Aki (Yui’s) – I have to turn down the sound on my iPod when one of her K-On! songs come on because it’s so screechy. The character of Mio is very moe, but Hikasa Youko’s voice acting is not particularly moe (except when it’s SUPPOSED to be over-the-top, accompanied by “Moe Moe Kyun!”).
Noto Mamiko’s voice-acting is also very moe, but again, doesn’t annoy. There are definitely different types of moe, and the type of “moe voice” that I really can’t bear is the Sakura Nogawa/Kaneda Tomoko type. It makes me want to cough up my ear drums so I’ll never be able to hear again. The hesitant, “ano ano…” moe-blob type character voice is ok, and occasionally can be charming.
Also, I love twin-tailed tsunderes, so I love Kugyu.
Are U kiding me, yui’s charecter and voice was classical. there is nothing to be annoyed. Well perhaps something wrong with the ear of yours I assume o.o
no offence for the first post but all that detail yet you dont make any sense to me. PPl do have personal tasts but keep those criticism to yourself. Its not cool to make fun of voice actors like this.
I don’t really have an inherent dislike of moe-like voices- it’s probably because I don’t watch that much anime, or at least a large variety. The funny thing is, I’ve seen most of the ones with those VA’s you’ve listed above, but I never put the voices = actors link together.
I can see why it would annoy some people though. Much like that guy who posted a 4 page rant on K-On a while back on his blog
Haha, every time I read your blog, I always imagine this bespectacled young woman, sitting on her bed with her arms crossed and frowning with all of her CDs lain out in front of her. Then she proceeds to rant profusely. It’s very entertaining.
Anyways, I think I agree with you for the most part. Although I do really like KaneTomo’s voice because it’s simply hilarious to listen to half of the time and you can pretty much always tell it’s her, no matter how hard she tries to change it.
As for my favorite, I think I would have to vote for Shiraishi Ryoko, although her’s isn’t really a moe voice as much as it is a… sensual(?) voice. I love listening to her in pretty much any role.
I generally agree with everything you said, but I quite like Fukui Yukari…
I think I’m the only one over here.
I’m totally commenting just to say that Hidaka Rina is mine and that you can have Tianzi girl, jimuwan. :>
But in all seriousness [kind of], these helium voices are driving me batty. I don’t want more Asahina Mikuru or Aoi what’s’-her-face from myself;yourself making me want to plug my ears up in fear of losing my hearing altogether.
And oh god, Kugyuu in Potemayo was so high and screechy and I wanted to kill my ears. KitaEri mimicking it wasn’t so fun, either. Even Yukarin’s usatan voice would probably drive me up the wall if I listened to it for a long time.
The only thing I like about Fukui “I can talk to trees” Yukarin is her body. Kind of
because moeblob voice with nice body goes to Kikuchi Mika for me. Tamura is the only Yukarin for me anyway. Fukui will stop being hired once Tamura wins best radio personality in the rigged seiyuu awards.So, that’s never.@shin
Noto Mamiko may sound the same in pretty much all of her roles, but compare her to someone like Hanazawa Kana. I don’t get Notogasms and I used to get irritated hearing her in anime/radio, but I won’t deny how I think she’s still a great seiyuu despite not being as versatile as someone like Mizuhashi Kaori or Sawashiro Miyuki.
And she lacks yaeba!Then again, not many seiyuu are as versatile as Mizuhacchi or Miyukichi. I tend to separate people who can voice both young boys and do believable loli voices. :>
PS – nedz moar ChiwaChiwa love up in hurrrrr.
Chihara Minori’s character has finally appeared in Needless and it’s her finest role to date
^Personally, I find her Touka voice in Saki to be her best one.