Ok, extremely bad pun this time (especially since I don't think they're actually pronounced the same), but I'm jetlagged from my trip. Seriously, Singapore's got a 12 hour time difference currently so it's literally the exact opposite. Ok back on topic, today's lesson is on Seiyu, or voice actors! Oh and before I forget, special thanks to the Korea's Music Seoul blog for the suggestion! Go check them out (after the lesson though!)
First off, what is voice acting? Simply put, its providing a voice for animated characters. Ever watch Star Wars? Yoda's voice was provided by a voice actor. Gollum's from the Lord of the Rings? Ditto. Pretty much any cartoon or videogame character voice ever? You get my point.
Anyways, the Japanese voice acting industry is particularly big relative to the rest of the world, largely due to the size of the anime industry (Japan produces an astounding 60% of the world's total animation output). As a result, popular seiyu can easily reach high levels of fame. It isn't particularly unheard of for people to watch a given anime just because a certain seiyu is in it and some seiyu have also joined the music industry to make further use of their miraculous voices.
Some examples of well-known seiyu are: Norio Wakamoto, Aya Hirano, Kikuko Inoue, and Romi Park (who's actually Korean).
Til next time!
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