First Impressions / Sore ga Seiyuu!

「ユニット」 (Yunitto)
“Unit”

I guess it was quite unfair of me, last week, to blame Tamura Yukari for making me feel old. This week we have a cameo from an even older generation: Tanaka Takashi aka Ginga Banjou. He may not have Yukarin’s sparkle powers (not that he doesn’t try), but Ginga Banjou has been in this industry longer than I’ve been watching it. Unlike previous cameos, though, he doesn’t bring his own song for the ED request corner. Instead, it’s MOON PRIDE, the OP of Sailor Moon Crystal, originally performed by a popular Japanese idol unit (which is how it links into this week’s topic). Still, I think Ginga Banjou’s appearance does well to reinforce this week’s theme about tenacity.

I like how Sore ga Seiyuu! is using these cameos not just as fanservice (an enjoyable form of fanservice though they may be), but also to give sage advice to our trio of beginners. It’s nice and straightforward. Instead of having to invent a character who is a veteran of the industry, Sore ga Seiyuu! simply uses a real-life veteran. It allows viewers some bonus setting details based on their own meta-knowledge of these individuals while saving exposition time. This season’s THE IDOLM@STER: Cinderella Girls does it too, albeit with cameos from its source game rather than the real world. Ginga Banjou is especially fitting for this episode, since he has done many supporting roles of all kinds, and has died a lot in-character. The point is, every role, big or small, deserves an actor’s professional effort, even if it’s just an advertisement (ad work is still more work than a lot of aspiring actors get). For Futaba, Pipo may have just been a throwaway character of limited vocabulary, but when you’ve only got two syllables in any given scene it just means you have to make them count.

Of course, Futaba’s problem is not lack of enthusiasm, it’s a lack of work altogether (and, if anything, she tends to overact anyway). Hopefully, this new idol-unit-thing will help with that (the name, though? Not sold). But, is it just me, or are we wandering a bit off-track? Sure, becoming an idol-seiyuu may have been Ichigo’s dream, but what about the other two? Singing and dancing on stage seems one step removed from voice-acting. Still, I guess if you’re going to do voice work you might as well learn how to sing. They’re well connected fields. And our girls can’t really afford to be picky right now. Again, they need tenacity. Give everything a shot.

Looking ahead ~ Event

I suppose what lies in store with each episode of Sore ga Seiyuu! is never going to be surprising. Next week, I presume the girls will have to participate in their first event i.e. their first overt marketing exercise. I assume that they’re starting out as complete unknowns, so that kind of exposure is definitely necessary. Knowing this show, though, they’re likely going to bomb on their first try. It seems that the underlying theme of Sore ga Seiyuu! is that the path to success to paved with screw-ups. Well, it gives our protagonist a chance to work out their various image insecurities (look, Ichigo even curled her cowlick!). On my part, I’m going to have to try refraining from comparing this show to THE IDOLM@STER any more, but depending on how far they take the idol business it may be too hard to resist.

Full-length images: 16.

 

Preview

12 Comments

  1. https://randomc.net/image/Sore%20ga%20Seiyuu!/Sore%20ga%20Seiyuu!%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2033.jpg
    aaah… not only this show is informative about the reality of seiyuu industry, this show is also too bad for my health. that moment when kohana rin tried to make her school skirt a bit short then reacting, that is (cuteness) over 9000 right there…

    quote: “Singing and dancing on stage seems one step removed from voice-acting”

    let’s look at it the other way shall we? we all know in this episode futaba is about to become a goner from seiyuu industry (and become forgotten given how their agency “culls” seiyuu that doesnt perform according to expectations)… so getting a break as IDOL would increase her chance to get noticed by bigger companies when she goes back to voice acting (since some companies tend to consider the seiyuu’s popularity in order to sell their anime, kirito’s seiyuu a good example after SAO have we seen his name gone in the cast list of new animes the following seasons? i believe that’s a negative.) so in short, it serves also as a promotion. and also, this also gives our trio more specifically futaba and ichigo some time to train and improve their voices and the number they can uniquely produce (its evident they dont have the ability to produce “multiple voice” during their recording of Bodhisatt-something anime all they did is just change the pitch and intonation of their original voice) so the next time they audition for a role they can voice the character “correctly”.

    checking on ginga banjou’s seiyuu experience, its interesting to note that most of his roles are supporting roles kinda like what our MC specially futaba gets. so whatever lesson he gave on futaba in this episode, it can be considered as the words of the seiyuu buddha… QUITE ENLIGHTENING.
    https://randomc.net/image/Sore%20ga%20Seiyuu!/Sore%20ga%20Seiyuu!%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2014.jpg

    Jeffers
    Reply

    1. https://randomc.net/image/Sore%20ga%20Seiyuu!/Sore%20ga%20Seiyuu!%20-%2004%20-%20Large%2023.jpg

      its interesting to know what this guy have seen on our trio or what are his plans. i mean he gave them a web radio show, then just as when they thought its finish he then announced that it will continue plus, he also turned them into a seiyuu/IDOL unit with tons of plans lined up. his reason as stated on this episode is not enough… there must be a better reason than that.

      Jeffers
      Reply

    3. I wonder if this is also how the members of Sphere reacted when they got formed. I think there are other examples but so far Sphere is at the top of my head as an example of a successful idol seiyuu group. I agree that Futaba should really be thankful to get a big break like this.

      Zhinvu
      Reply

  3. Please dont turn into an idol show, Please dont turn into an idol show, Please dont turn into an idol show, Please dont turn into an idol show, Please dont turn into an idol show, Please dont turn into an idol show, Please…

    I especially like this show because it gives nice insights as to how the voice acting industry works so it will be a HUGE downer for me if this turns into your average idol anime.

    Im ok with them going idol so long as it is a minor detour before the show focuses back on seiyuu work and/or the idol side of their careers remains more like a side thing.

    Since voice acting and singing are closely related in japan it was expected that they would become idols at some point (also the OP :P), but how important this aspect of the show is going to be is what is going to make or break it for me.

    888GRM
    Reply

  7. The seiyuu-idol thing is more like a case where their agencies try to milk the seiyuus as much as they can. We can actually trace the progression of this trend from, say, 20 years or so back. Seiyuu just doing voice-acting (not including the sideline jobs that are also in the entertainment industry) -> seiyuu who went into singing as well (some worked, like Hayashibara Megumi; others didn’t) -> seiyuu-idols who are required to sing and perform on-stage in addition to voice-acting.

    The more cynical may even add that the seiyuu’s looks has also become an important criteria for their success, and that nowadays a seiyuu’s success depends on how appealing s/he is to the viewers, especially the otaku.

    RandomComment
    Reply

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