Welcome to week 4 of the 30 Day Anime Challenge. We have arrived at one of the easiest to answer questions in the entire challenge, and that is the question of my favorite Seiyuu. I have chosen Hayami, Saori. Why was it an easy choice? That’s the tougher question.
There are two aspects about Hayami, Saori’s voice acting that I’m drawn to. The first is the voice itself. I’m not sure why (and I don’t think I’m alone in this), but I find her voice to be almost comforting. It’s warm and full while also retaining it’s very feminine quality. Her voice also carries with it a unique sound that you don’t really hear from any other seiyuu, making it instantly recognizable.
The second aspect I’m drawn to is simply her range. Her voice isn’t one that is really held to any particular role. She’s able to play everything from loving innocent characters to bold adventurers, and each time her voice fits the situation. It gives her a lot of freedom to move between roles naturally and makes her a welcome addition to any show she’s in. While I cannot say I’ve loved every single show she’s been in, I’ve always loved her characters. There are only a few other seiyuu I can confidently describe that way.
You may not recognize her by name, but chances are, you recognize at least one of the below characters, and they aren’t even close to all of her roles:
A great example of Hayami’s talent that I frequently see is this clip from an anime called When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace. I’m sure many of you have seen or at the very least heard about this scene, but for those of you who haven’t, this is a one take performance for Hayami; she did it all in a single attempt. Unfortunately, it’s the most impressive scene in an otherwise mediocre show, but it’s still worth paying attention to.
I can only imagine the kind of hard work that went into her training to be able to pull off scenes like that. It’s really admirable. This and the other qualities I mentioned above place her as my solid choice for today’s challenge.
Who’s your favorite seiyuu?
I Watched an Anime 
Good choice! She’s got such a beautiful voice!!! She also played the main character in “Snow White with the Red Hair.”
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Not super familiar with all of her works, but that’s a good choice. My favorite Japanese VA would be Megumi Hayashibara even though it’s a popular choice. She is extremely talented and her best work is in Paprika.
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I absolutely agree
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You’ve seen Paprika or at least have heard her voice in another anime?
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I haven’t seen Paprika yet, but I’ve always enjoyed her when I’ve seen her in other roles. She’s a good pick, even if it’s a popular one. She’s popular for a reason.
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Gotcha. Paprika is a very good movie. Very creative, cerebral, and it’s literally the original Inception even though Christopher Nolan still hasn’t owned up to stealing tons of stuff from that movie.
Okay, changing subjects Megumi Hayashibara is very talented. If there was any voice actress who deserved to be popular, it’s her. Any favorite roles from Megumi?
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I have only seen her in her supporting roles so far, such as Sakurazawa, Midori from Chihayafuru and a few episodes of Pokemon in Japanese that I’ve seen.
I looked up highlight reels from her main shows earlier when you brought her up. I was actually planning to start Cowboy Bebop soon, so I’m looking forward to seeing her in a leading role.
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I see.
Yeah, she’s had a bunch of leading let alone major roles for decades now. Faye Valentine is a good choice. Not my favorite role of hers, but she did a good job voicing that character in the Japanese version despite preferring the dub.
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I’m mostly a dub guy so I don’t know a ton of the Japanese VA’s off the top of my head, but I did recognize this one once you had the pictures. The clip you shared was really good at selling why you like this particular VA so well too. Thanks for sharing this 🙂
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