Animazement - Chika Sakamoto and Akira Kamiya - 2004
Animazement
had Nuriko and Ryo Saeba in 2004. On the left is Chika Sakamoto, the
actor who was the original Japanese voice of the Fushigi Yuugi
character, along with Mei in My Neighbor Totoro. On the right is Akira
Kamiya, the original voice of the City Hunter character, who also
originated the Kenshiro voice in Fist of the North Star. They
surrounded translator Dan Kanemitsu when they told their stories about
their early days in voice acting. Both are known for their lead roles,
but both started at the bottom. Kamiya said he didn't have any dialogue
in his first roles and was only Boy C, "just a kid that was making
noise." Sakamoto said she had an equally small bit part as "Girl B."
And Sakamoto said she remembered watching the show where Kamiya had his
first lead role. Sakamoto was inspired by watching anime to become a
voice actor, but she's not alone - Kamiya, who teaches acting in Japan,
noted that a couple of thousand people are voice actors in Japan, but
only the top 100 can make a living from that craft.
A
young, anime-watching Sakamoto sang along to the opening themes of her
favorite series when they came on TV and mimicked the characters'
voices. "I wanted to be a kindergarten teacher or a young lady who
sings and dances on childrens television shows, or maybe I could be a
voice actor," Sakamoto said. In junior high school she started to take
voice acting lessons. "I thought I had a good voice, but my friends
kept telling me I had a weird voice, over and over again - so that germ
of a dream blossomed inside me, saying `Maybe I can become a voice
actress with the quality of voice I have." Following high school,
Sakamoto went to a drama school and spent two years training in
theatrical arts, not voice acting. She was too shy to tell her
instructors she wanted to be a voice actor, until the two years were up
and she wasn't chosen for the theater troupe linked to the school.
"When the principal asked me what I wanted to do, I said in a timid
voice I wanted to be a voice actor. The principal said `Why didn't you
say that,' and I found myself a member of a production group before I
knew it."
Sakamoto's
best-known character with Animazement fans was Nuriko from Fushigi
Yuugi. "Among all the Fushigi Yuugi characters, I could tell that
Nuriko had a free lifestyle and a free will, and I could tell Yu
Watase's love for the character, and that the animators love him and
breathed life into him," Sakamoto said at an interview session. "It was
great to be cast in the role that was beloved by all of the production
people." Sakamoto had to grow into the Nuriko role by reading Watase's
manga, something she hadn't done until after she was cast as Nuriko
(and she apologized to Watase at the interview session for not reading
Fushigi Yuugi until after she got the role). "Sometimes I might have
the opportuniy to prepare for my roles when I go through an auditon,
but usually the results of those efforts aren't too rewarding. <ore
succesfully, I look at the character's background and find something
that clicks with me about the character; that's when I get into the
role. But when I'm cast as a character, I do have a repsonsibility to
give life to the character. If it's not given, I speculate about the
character's background and things like the character's favorite foods."
Kamiya
also studied acting in high school, and wanted to perform on the stage.
"I wanted to land a position in one of the better production companies
in Japan, but I thought I wasn't good enough. I suppose that kind of
honesty helped me out quite a bit," he recalled. Kamiya did end up with
a stage acting troupe whose members included performers that doubled as
voice actors, including the Japanese voices of Zenigata in Lupin III
and the lead voices in the Heidi and Magical Witch Sally shows. Kamiya
followed their examples and wound up with voice roles. "I was able to
extract all sorts of lessons on how to perform as a voice talent -
instead of stealing," he said. "There was a set of tracks carved out by
my seniors in the production company. I tried to follow them, and now I
myself am here, landing as a voice acting talent through the production
company I was a part of." Through the many roles Kamiya has played,
which even include a handful of grandmotherly females, Kamiya's
favorite remains Ryo Saeba.
The
57-year-old Kaimya has spent 35 years in the voice acting business. He
came in right after anime switched from black and white to color. He's
been part of the transition from film to digital production. And he's
noted the trend for producers to want their actors to be more like idol
singers, something he acknowledges - but he still tries to develop the
best pure actors at his voice acting school in Japan. The pay for those
actors has a reputation for bring low, but he remembers the days when
wages were much lower. One of the big changes, Kamiya said at an
interview session, is the growth in the number of anime series being
produced. "I'd say there are about eight times as many animated shows
being made now than then," he said. Kamiya has been in the business so
long that many of his students already have seen his old shows on cable
TV in Japan, and younger actors are taking over the revived versions of
roles that he originated - like Kenshiro in Fist of the North Star.
Animazement
had Nuriko and Ryo Saeba in 2004. On the left is Chika Sakamoto, the
actor who was the original Japanese voice of the Fushigi Yuugi
character, along with Mei in My Neighbor Totoro. On the right is Akira
Kamiya, the original voice of the City Hunter character, who also
originated the Kenshiro voice in Fist of the North Star. They
surrounded translator Dan Kanemitsu when they told their stories about
their early days in voice acting. Both are known for their lead roles,
but both started at the bottom. Kamiya said he didn't have any dialogue
in his first roles and was only Boy C, "just a kid that was making
noise." Sakamoto said she had an equally small bit part as "Girl B."
And Sakamoto said she remembered watching the show where Kamiya had his
first lead role. Sakamoto was inspired by watching anime to become a
voice actor, but she's not alone - Kamiya, who teaches acting in Japan,
noted that a couple of thousand people are voice actors in Japan, but
only the top 100 can make a living from that craft.
A
young, anime-watching Sakamoto sang along to the opening themes of her
favorite series when they came on TV and mimicked the characters'
voices. "I wanted to be a kindergarten teacher or a young lady who
sings and dances on childrens television shows, or maybe I could be a
voice actor," Sakamoto said. In junior high school she started to take
voice acting lessons. "I thought I had a good voice, but my friends
kept telling me I had a weird voice, over and over again - so that germ
of a dream blossomed inside me, saying `Maybe I can become a voice
actress with the quality of voice I have." Following high school,
Sakamoto went to a drama school and spent two years training in
theatrical arts, not voice acting. She was too shy to tell her
instructors she wanted to be a voice actor, until the two years were up
and she wasn't chosen for the theater troupe linked to the school.
"When the principal asked me what I wanted to do, I said in a timid
voice I wanted to be a voice actor. The principal said `Why didn't you
say that,' and I found myself a member of a production group before I
knew it."
Sakamoto's
best-known character with Animazement fans was Nuriko from Fushigi
Yuugi. "Among all the Fushigi Yuugi characters, I could tell that
Nuriko had a free lifestyle and a free will, and I could tell Yu
Watase's love for the character, and that the animators love him and
breathed life into him," Sakamoto said at an interview session. "It was
great to be cast in the role that was beloved by all of the production
people." Sakamoto had to grow into the Nuriko role by reading Watase's
manga, something she hadn't done until after she was cast as Nuriko
(and she apologized to Watase at the interview session for not reading
Fushigi Yuugi until after she got the role). "Sometimes I might have
the opportuniy to prepare for my roles when I go through an auditon,
but usually the results of those efforts aren't too rewarding. <ore
succesfully, I look at the character's background and find something
that clicks with me about the character; that's when I get into the
role. But when I'm cast as a character, I do have a repsonsibility to
give life to the character. If it's not given, I speculate about the
character's background and things like the character's favorite foods."
Kamiya
also studied acting in high school, and wanted to perform on the stage.
"I wanted to land a position in one of the better production companies
in Japan, but I thought I wasn't good enough. I suppose that kind of
honesty helped me out quite a bit," he recalled. Kamiya did end up with
a stage acting troupe whose members included performers that doubled as
voice actors, including the Japanese voices of Zenigata in Lupin III
and the lead voices in the Heidi and Magical Witch Sally shows. Kamiya
followed their examples and wound up with voice roles. "I was able to
extract all sorts of lessons on how to perform as a voice talent -
instead of stealing," he said. "There was a set of tracks carved out by
my seniors in the production company. I tried to follow them, and now I
myself am here, landing as a voice acting talent through the production
company I was a part of." Through the many roles Kamiya has played,
which even include a handful of grandmotherly females, Kamiya's
favorite remains Ryo Saeba.
The
57-year-old Kaimya has spent 35 years in the voice acting business. He
came in right after anime switched from black and white to color. He's
been part of the transition from film to digital production. And he's
noted the trend for producers to want their actors to be more like idol
singers, something he acknowledges - but he still tries to develop the
best pure actors at his voice acting school in Japan. The pay for those
actors has a reputation for bring low, but he remembers the days when
wages were much lower. One of the big changes, Kamiya said at an
interview session, is the growth in the number of anime series being
produced. "I'd say there are about eight times as many animated shows
being made now than then," he said. Kamiya has been in the business so
long that many of his students already have seen his old shows on cable
TV in Japan, and younger actors are taking over the revived versions of
roles that he originated - like Kenshiro in Fist of the North Star.
