j1m0ne's blog

Long time followers of the blog might recall a feature I did many moons (ok, 10 months) ago on the Ten of The Next Big Seiyuu. I had a look back at it recently and was amused by the choices I made back then – in retrospect, if I could fiddle with the list I’d change half of it!

Still, 10 months is a pretty long time in the seiyuu world – enough time to make or break a career. How many of my list of ten have managed to infiltrate the barrier of an oversaturated market, and how many have fallen by the wayside, never to be remembered again? How well have I been able to spot prodigious seiyuu talent? How many times have I fallen flat on my face, forced to eat my words? Read on.

01.Yonaga Tsubasa

I knew the guy was gonna be big regardless of what he looked or sounded like, given the massive popularity of Ookiku Furikabutte. Turns out Wing-kun not only sounds like a girly girl, he also looks like and possesses the mannerisms of a girly girl. Since June last year Yonaga hasn’t really done much of note, but thanks to Oofuri he’s a screaming fangirl favourite and has also picked up a Best Male Newcomer Award at the second Seiyu Awards in March. His future remains bright.
Currently in: Special A (Jun – one of the twins) & Net Ghost PIPOPA (Shuzo).
Report Card: A-

02.Tomatsu Haruka

I won’t deny that Haruka had me from the word Omae (IIRC, that was her first uttered word in Polyphonica), and her career is now just starting to get into full swing having just graduated from her high school in Ichinomiya, Aichi in March. Even before Tomatsu made the move to Tokyo she already had those five roles (listed below) lined up for her, following a rather dry spell from summer last year right up until the last few months (bar the live-action dorama RH Plus). Haruka will still have to juggle university with work plus the ordeal of living alone & having to cook her own meals ^^;, but I’m pretty sure we’ll see plenty more of her in the years to come.
Currently in: To Love-Ru (Lala), Zettai Karen Children (Shiho), Kyoran Kazoku Nikki (Senko/Chika)
Coming up: Shina Dark (Garlet), Kemeko Deluxe (EmuEmu)
Report Card: B+

03.Hasegawa Shizuka

Wrong, wrong, wrong. I should’ve known that Shizuka wouldn’t get far, with Space Craft well known for mucking up the careers of their charges. The only two notable things to happen to her in the last 10 months – a ‘Watch my career go down the drain!’ turn as Misora in the Negima! live-action dorama, and the bizarre blog hiatus incident. The work seems to have gradually dried up since last summer – her stint as co-host of Ura Stacha web TV and the Fujimi TeenAge FunClub have both come to an end, I really do wonder if Hasegawa’s career is going backwards.
Report Card: D

04.Kakihara Tetsuya

Last year’s Best Male Newcomer Seiyu Award winer has come on in leaps and bounds – Kakky’s impressive turn as Simon in Gurren Lagann proved he could headline a series, and he has since handled major roles in Prism Ark (Hyaweh), Dragonaut (Kazuki) and Minami-ke (Fujioka). He doesn’t seem to be doing anything this season but watch out for him in GONZO’s upcoming blockbuster Kurogane no Linebarrels.
Coming up: Kurogane no Linebarrels (Hayase Koichi), Gurren Lagann movie (Simon)
Report Card: A

05.Fujita Saki

Heavens! I thought Sakki would become popular because of her anime voice work but I was mistaken >_> Her name may still be alien to a lot of people but I’m sure the phrase Hatsune Miku wouldn’t. Indeed, being the voice of VOCALOID’s most famous face has spawned many opportunities for Fujita – she’s now got her own radio show, holds lots of live events and has developed a cult otaku following. Her closeness to Inoue Marina (as paraded on her blog as often as possible) has also made a lot of Marina fans jealous. But seriously, I do hope that there’s life for Fujita after the Hatsune Miku craze has died down – there’s more to her than just singing robotically.
Currently in: Kamen no Maid Guy (Liz)
Report Card: B

06.Goto Mai

Yeah, I was completely off with this one. Goto’s mainly an eroge seiyuu (using the name Agumi Oto – 安玖深音) and her roles over the last year have been in anime adaptations of said eroge i.e. Nanatsuiro Drops (as Yuki-chan, the stuffed sheep) and ef -a tale of memories- (as Mizuki). Gomachan (her nickname) actually reminds me a lot of Sato Rina in both looks and voice, and we’ll how the two stack up when they work together in this summer’s anime adaptation of the Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu light novel. It’s Mai’s first non-eroge-to-anime role – she’ll be voicing Mika, the titular character (voiced by Noto Mamiko)’s sister and has also been put in charge of the radio show Nogizaka Mika no My Fair Radio. Still, Goto’s focus remains on adult games (guess they pay more) and was amusingly, the voice of Asakura Nemu in the recent D.C.P.K ~Da Ca Poker~ (yes, it’s Da Capo + poker) game.
Coming up: Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu (Nogizaka Mika)
Report Card: C

07.Fujimura Ayumi

Work has come in steadily since last June but they’ve either been in anime that nobody watched (Porfy), crap anime (the Naruto Shippuden movie – she was Shion if anybody wants to know), or they were characters in vaguely popular anime that nobody remembers (Mimi in Potemayo, Yuki in Shugo Chara). This year however, Ayumi’s career seems to be gathering pace as she voices a bunch of characters that are/will be fan-favourites – Raimei in Nabari no O and Kyoka-sama in Kyoran are the foremost examples. It took a little longer than I expected for Fujimura to worm her way into public consciousness but I hope this is only the start of a long and successful career for her.
Currently in: Kyoran Kazoku Nikki (Midarezaki Kyoka), Nabari no O (Shimizu Raimei), Zettai Karen Children (Umegae Naomi), Porfy no Nagai Tabi (Mina), Kara no Kyokai movies (Kokuto Azaka)
Report Card: A

08.Okamoto Nobuhiko

After sola’s Yorito, Okamoto seemed to flounder for a few months before being announced as one of the leads for the Persona anime, as well as getting to co-host the radio show with the legendary Koyasu Takehito. The show continues on into the spring, plus Okamoto’s characters in kure-nai and Nabari haven’t turned up yet so we’ll hear more of him in 2008. I’m actually quite surprised that Nobu’s been doing so well for someone from one of the minor seiyuu talent agencies (Pro-Fit – their biggest name must be Shiraishi Minoru ^^;) – maybe he’ll be their numero uno in the future? Only time will tell.
Currently in: Persona -trinity soul- (Kanzato Shin), kure-nai (Kuhoin Ryuji), Nabari no O (Meguro Gau)
Report Card: B

09.Asumi Kana

Things haven’t quite gone Asumin’s way over the last 6 months, with the upheaval of her changing agencies from the now-defunct Voice&Heart to 81produce leading to reduced work. Still, she’s in Persona and Shugo Chara (both longer-running series) and has plenty of radio shows to keep her busy – Hidamari Radio x 365, ANI-COM RADIO with Fujiwara Keiji, Shugo Chara radio and her own Radio.i programme. Look out for the Hidamari sequel this summer ^^
Currently in: Shugo Chara (Ran), Persona -trinity soul- (Kayano Megumi)
Coming up: Hidamari Sketch x 365 (Yuno), Gurren Lagann movie (Kiyal)
Report Card: B-

10.Endo Aya

Endo was the oldest person on my list, tacked on at the end thanks to my own sentimental feelings. I honestly did not know that her career would take off the way it did after the success of Lucky Star, I just loved her the first time I heard her and was hoping that she’d move beyond voicing side characters and onto bigger things. But she’s definitely set the standard for everybody else on this list.

Since June, Aya’s been inolved in three big name anime franchises – Gundam 00 (Kinue), the new My-Otome OVAs and Macross F, names that would look good on anybody’s CV. It looks likely now that she’ll be moving along the road that the likes of Kuwashima Houko, Paku Romi and Orikasa Fumiko have travelled over the years – the no-frills, versatile and professional type of voice actor who stays in the background and lets their voice work do the talking for them.
Currently in: Macross Frontier (Sheryl Nome), My-Otome 0~S.ifr~ (Lena Sayers), Blassreiter (Liu Meifong), Neo Angelique Abyss (Angelique)
Report Card: A+

I’m probably not going to do a similar list for 2008, I’ve got something slightly different planned. Watch this space…