Sore ga Seiyuu Episode 9: Manager

Well here was something I wasn’t totally expecting. An episode all about Konno, Futaba’s manager. And Konno is a lot more adorable than I thought. She seems to be around Futaba’s age (early 20’s?) but she’s already a manager, and she dreams to be a top manager! She also seems to love meat dishes, as she has a meat on a bone charm on her bag. Cute!

Basically through this episode we learned what managers do. They don’t work with just one voice actor, they work with others and they make appointments, scout auditions for their actors, they pick up scripts, and so on. Really, the voice actors just audition and do whatever job they get. The managers are the ones that do everything, so Konno works really hard! Konno has always had her eye on Futaba. She was charmed by how hardworking she is, like seeing notes on her script when really she only had one line to say. Futaba is one that doesn’t get much work, and when she does, no matter how big or small the role is, she’ll work hard for it. Konno is always on the side rooting for her. She knows just how important each acting role is for her, so she is persistent to find her a job and going to the same guy to consider her for a role, and also to not forget her. You could see the hurt on Konno’s face when Rin had announced her role on the SPIRAL CAFE anime. Konno is always worried about her and wants her to succeed.

I didn’t think we would get an episode on Konno. I mean I did think that they would have to talk about managers in the voice acting business, but specifically on Konno I didn’t think so. Well, I was pleasantly surprised. Because I actually like Konno now! Before I didn’t think too much about her since she was always on the side not saying much. And let’s be honest, we were always focused on the three girls so we root for them and feel for them. But I loved that they made Konno her own character. She’s a hard worker, caring, professional, but maybe a little too sweet to Futaba. But her heart is in the right place where she just wants her client to succeed in a career she loves. They have to keep it strictly professional, but it looks like Konno and Futaba are pretty close. Which is a nice thing in this type of industry.

And for the special guest this week it’s Noriko Hidaka! From the roles I’ve heard her in, she’s Shalnark in Hunter x Hunter, she also played Kikyo in Inuyasha (though I saw the dub so sorry), and she was also the voice of the dominators in Psycho Pass! Like all of the other special guests, she gives some sort of advice. How it was hard for her to play a boy character, as she always played girls. It’s great to have more range and play different types of characters. Futaba always plays girls, but in this audition she had to play an older woman in her 30’s, so it was tough for her. To hear Hidaka as the cute voice in Psycho Pass and then as Shalnark in HxH…well, it’s different! Good for her. Having range is definitely an important thing to have when voice acting. Also, it’d be boring playing the same types of characters over and over I’d imagine.

Finally I’ll be getting the Rin episode I’ve been wanting next week! Until then!