Ask John: Should a Seiyuu Cast Reflect the Quality of an Anime?

Question:
Lately I feel as if my interest in newer anime is declining. Since 2010, I have found myself watching less and less anime every year. Part of the reason this is is due to my intense dislike of many new seiyuu that have hogged up the spotlight. For example, I had a strong desire to watch Girls Und Panzer; at the same time, I hesitated because one of the characters is voiced by a seiyuu (Ai Kayano) I otherwise hate. Yet, my friends insist on watching it to see how it goes. Much to my surprise, I did not like it. The same thing went with a lot of other shows from the past couple of years, ranging from Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai, to Tamayura Hitose, to Ore no Imouto. I had intentions to watch Robotics: Notes due to it having Kaori Nazuka in it, but dropped it because Yoshino Nanjou (a younger seiyuu) plays the main female lead instead. With 2013 coming up, while I was excited about Vividred Operation, I do not like the seiyuu in that anime. It also doesn’t help the trend of veteran seiyuu getting married and starring in less anime in favor of these “newer, younger, and purer” seiyuu, which makes me question if these older seiyuu really enjoy their job or not. So in conclusion, is it wrong to hate an anime due to the seiyuu cast? At this point, I am not happy living in the age of Ayana Taketatsu and Kana Hanazawa.

Answer:
The ideal goal of every anime fan should be to watch what we enjoy. Avoiding contemporary anime because of a dislike for the voices of certain prolific contemporary actors may limit one’s exposure to new anime, but such limited exposure isn’t a bad thing if the viewer isn’t going to like these shows anyway. But viewers should be aware that changes and turnover in voice acting talent is a natural and inevitable characteristic of anime production. As a mainstream entertainment medium, anime has always been beholden to trends and consumer interest. Emphasis on the celebrity and participation of talented and popular voice actors has been a prominent component of anime since the 1970s, so fans shouldn’t be surprised to see contemporary anime strive to employ popular new celebrity actors in leading roles, sometimes creating a degree of over-exposure and profusion.

As much as I’m rationally able to, I try to approach every anime with a fresh, independent perspective. Rather than approach every new anime stone-faced and demand that the anime earn my approval and support, I approach each new anime I watch with hope that the show will entertain and fascinate me. Some shows don’t capture my interest, but I know that I gave the show a fair chance to impress me. I’ll admit that voice acting is not the first or foremost characteristic of anime that I notice or critique. So while hearing familiar voices may not bother me, I do recognize that other viewers may be perturbed by hearing unpleasant or unwelcome voices. My viewing philosophy is to try to ignore the actor behind the scenes. When I hear an anime character speak, I critique only whether the voice sounds natural and believable. I don’t listen for or want to hear particular actors; I want to hear the characters themselves speak with their own, natural voices. I want to be convinced that I’m actually hearing the characters themselves speaking, not actors in a recording booth reading scripts. So, in that case, I don’t mind if I hear similar voices from characters in different anime, and as much as possible, I try not to be conscious of who the voice actors behind the characters are because I want to see and hear the characters rather than the actors behind the characters. If a character has a voice that sounds natural, than I accept that intonation as the character’s natural voice regardless of whether the voice is familiar or not or similar to other characters in other shows.

I can’t and won’t tell other fans what they should or shouldn’t like, nor will I tell other fans why they should or shouldn’t like particular anime because each viewer should be free to make his or her own evaluations. I don’t object to pointing out characteristics about anime that I think viewers should notice, but how individual viewers react to those attributes is a personal decision. Viewers that don’t want to watch select anime because of the involvement of particular voice actors have the prerogative to make that personal decision. However, I do recommend that all viewers give every anime a chance. Don’t automatically dismiss or avoid an anime just because its cast includes a select actor. Try watching the show first, then decide whether you like or dislike it. I can’t prevent individual viewers from discriminating against select anime or particular behind-the-scenes artists, but discriminating against certain anime without even giving them a chance is the antithesis of anime fandom. Otaku should want to like and watch anime, not look for advance reasons to avoid anime.