Seiyuu Ka is a story of Hime Kino, a 15-year-old girl who attends Hiiragi High School Academy, for its voice acting department. Her biggest dream is to become the voice of a main character in one of the most popular shoujo manga series in Japan, “Mahou Senshi Lovely Blazers”. This is difficult to achieve, however, as her voice is not suitable as a professional voice actress, resembling that of a gorilla, thug or even an old hag.
This is a story of determination, of hard work: can effort surpass/match talent? Especially with something that most would think is either you do have it from birth, or you don’t, your voice.
In the series, Kino faces difficulty in even gaining any bit of recognition in her voice acting school, as she is grouped among 3 others who are at the bottom of their voice acting class. In comparision to her rival, Senri Kudou, who has one of the best male acting voices and has already begun to work for acclaimed shows, all the while in the same class as Kino. Despite Kino’s gorilla-like voice, she still faces onwards with impressive optimism. It doesn’t mean that one should give up if one fails, is the spirit she embodies. This manga teaches how to face life’s failings, how to best respect even those that have criticised us for our flaws, to accept them and work to correct them or improve ourselves. A single example out of many would be Kino thanking the sound director, despite it being obvious that she was unwanted, although she feel the sting of defeat, as seen from her tear-stained face afterwards, see volume 4 chapter 19 to 21. Accepting her inadequacies, she works hard towards her aspirations. This is truly something worth learning from this manga.
The vast crevasse between Hime and Senri narrows slightly over the course of the manga, as Hime becomes more skilled at the male voice. Romance develops over this course of time, but will Hime ever get to voice a female voice as was her dream? Or perhaps she may find satisfaction in being a male voice actor? This leads me to the next point, which that there are alternative routes to success. The saying “All roads lead to Rome.” rings true as although Hime may have not succeeded with her gorilla-like, grandma-like female voice, she did manage to pull off an exceptionally well male voice. Perhaps, this may be a reminder that although we may be lacking in some aspects, there will always be other aspects that we excel at, in which our talent and effort may blossom in. What is encouraging is that Hime was not forced to abandon her dream of being a voice actress, although she did, inadvertedly have to become a voice actor instead.
In all, this manga is a exceptionally motivating to all of us who have faced criticism, be it heavily judgemental or objective ones. Nevertheless, Seiyuu Ka! teaches us that the best way to face your critics is to thank them. Only then you may thank them for their time in caring enough to critic you and receive their constructive critism on how to improve yourself. This is a manga of dreams and difficulties in achieving that dream, from the point of an individual, and how to face those difficulties. The romance added in gives it an additional pep and occasional scenes of ‘Aww~’. This is certainly a great manga to read in the midst of facing harsh criticsm from bosses, or from people in general!
Unlike similarly romance and gender bender Ookami Shounen, Seiyuu ka! features a pre-determined couple, and how their relationship develops. Unlike Ookami Shounen, Seiyuu ka! is bolder in showing the colour of our characters through it’s art, and does not confine to the mold. Certain scenes are moving and with art styles to add to that emotion, which really makes this read a memorable one. Although it does not move you with grand issues of Plus vs Minuses such as in Medaka’s Box, it touches your heart with the small struggles of a determined commoner. I wholeheartedly recommend this to the everyday man who has experienced failure, multiple times, and picked themselves up, multiple times.
/ーーーー・ Ｒａｔｉｎｇ：９／１０ ・ーーーー/
A story of strength, captivating to a fault.
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Yuu's Sanctuary 