SoraNews24 —Japan News—

Mamoru Hosoda has made a name for himself as one of the most respected anime directors working today, so why do most of his films lack A-list anime voice actors?

Japan
(anime • Mamoru Hosoda • movies • The Boy and the Beast • The Girl Who Leapt Through Time • voice acting • voice actors • Wolf Children)

Legendary voice actress Megumi Hayashibara laments derivative anime, loss of 1990s’ ambition

Casey Baseel
May 25, 2016

“Anime that’s trying to be like previous hits can never surpass the originals.”

Anime & Manga, Japan
(anime • Evangelion • Megumi Hayashibara • Rei Ayanami • voice acting • voice actors)

Do you know the actors behind your favorite cartoons and anime?

KK Miller
May 9, 2016

This handy, dandy chart lays out a number of characters with their voice actors and shows.

Entertainment, Internet
(anime • cartoons • chart • infographic • video games • voice actors)

Anime talent agency explicitly rejects voice actress applicants who have appeared in pornography

Casey Baseel
May 7, 2016

Ad for Tokyo auditions lets would-be anime stars know that they won’t be working in the booth if they’ve previously done work with their clothes off.

Japan
(anime • business • Idols • otaku • voice actors)

Anime voice actress launching new web series on the wonderful world of sake 【Video】

Casey Baseel
Apr 27, 2016

The female lead from one of one anime’s biggest recent hits stops talking in order to do some drinking.

Anime & Manga, Food & Drink, Internet, Japan
(Ai Kayano • anime • Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day • sake • seiyu • video • voice actors)

Sweating, snuggling models and voice actresses steam up series of spicy ramen ads 【Videos】

Casey Baseel
Mar 9, 2016

Dialogue, including “Master, would it be all right if I put you into my mouth?”, is just as sultry as the visuals.

Food & Drink, Japan
(ad • beautiful women • food • Instant Ramen • ramen • spicy food • video • voice actors)

Pikachu’s voice actress talks about the challenges of playing the most famous Pokémon of all

Casey Baseel
Feb 25, 2016

It’s not easy being Pika.

Japan
(anime • Pikachu • Pokemon • video games • voice actors)

New book compiles taste tests of shampoos used by 30 of Japan’s top anime voice actresses

Casey Baseel
Dec 22, 2015

That way you can skip straight to pounding shots of the shampoo you’ll like best.

Japan
(anime • books • Comiket • crazy • shampoo • voice actors • voice actresses • weird)

Two wildly different characters, same voice actor. Twitter users share their shocking anime finds

Joan Coello
Apr 3, 2015

Are you an anime fan? Do you watch Japanese anime in their original Japanese dialogue? If your answer is “yes” for both questions, then you’ve probably had the experience of picking up on a familiar-sounding voice in a certain anime, Googling to uncover the seiyuu (voice actor in Japanese) behind the character, and then realizing that you’ve actually seen quite a few titles he or she has starred in.

Twitter users in Japan have been digging through the Internet for some drastically different performances from the same voice actor/actress, and sharing their surprising finds on Twitter. Check them out after the break!

Internet, Japan
(anime • games • seiyuu • twitter • voice actors • wtf)

The voices behind the Ghibli dads: Some weren’t even actors at all

Meg Murphy
Feb 22, 2015

A lot of work goes into making animated films, but what is it that really makes a particular film stand out? Of course the animation itself is important, as is the storyline, but you can’t forget about the voices that give the characters their unique personalities and help bring them to life.

If you’re a fan of anime, you probably have a favorite voice actor or two, be they English-speaking or the original Japanese seiyuu. But how many of you are familiar with the Japanese people behind Hayao Miyazaki’s animated characters? As it turns out, professional voice actors are seldom used in the making of Miyazaki’s films. In fact, some of the voices behind the father characters aren’t even actors at all, with the likes of journalists and copywriters even being used to fill key roles.