Flavor of the month seiyuu

[Board of Command]

This is just something I've noticed over the years - the anime industry goes through cycles of popular seiyuu. Sometimes I notice that a whole slew of new series feature the same few VA's for the main roles.

Right now the popular ones seem to be Hanazawa Kana (Zange from Kannagi), Sawashiro Miyuki (Canaan from Canaan) and Toyosaki Aki (Yui from K-on).
A little while ago it was Tomatsu Haruka (Nagi from Kannagi) and Inoue Marina (Kana from Minami-ke).
A bit further back was Kugimiya Rie (Shana) and Hirano Aya (Haruhi).

I'm not sure how many others here pay attention to the voice casts. Does the voice cast really make that big of a difference in the success of a series?

[Alhuin]

For me, an anime's voice cast isn't necessarily the defining factor in me watching a series, but it does have an impact. For series that I truly enjoyed (like Shana, Haruhi, K-on, etc.), when I see that one or more seiyuu will be/are in other series, my chances of testing the show increase. However, it's the art, plot, and general focus of an anime that will keep me watching (I use plot loosely as we all know a lot of recent shows have none).

For example, I watched Clannad, and truly enjoyed it. I really liked Ichinose. When I found out it was Noto Mamiko that voiced her character, I started to look for series that featured her as a prominent seiyuu. This led me to several anime, including Monster, Jigoku Shoujo, Ichigo 100%, and probably a few others that I don't remember. It also made me more interested in future series that I saw she would be in, such as Akikan, Index, Queen's Blade, and Nogizaka Haruka. Upon watching (most of) those series though, I enjoyed them for much more than just her voice acting.

A prime example of voice not necessarily being the case for me would be Toradora. Even though Kugimiya Rie was the prominent seiyuu, I just couldn't care enough about the series to continue watching it after a certain point. I plan to finish it eventually, but it is low on my list.

But to answer your question, I think it boils down to what is popular at the time new anime is being voiced. When Haruhi and Shana were all the craze, it made sense to feature their seiyuu in more series, because there would be plenty of people that would watch them just for that, and plenty that would take a chance with them like me, for the same reason. It's all about money.

[Ryllharu]

I would push Sawashiro Miyuki back to the same set as Tomatsu Haruka and Inoue Marina.

Fujimura Ayumi has been in a great number of series in the past three seasons, and a number of them leading roles. (Mafuyu in Qwaser, Cecily Cambell in Sacred Blacksmith, Niche in Letter Bee, bit parts in Ladies versus Butlers! and Hanamaru Kindergarten, and now Misaki in Kaichou wa Maid-sama) She even played three different roles across Nodame.

Kobayashi Yuu has also had a massive resurgence in popularity. Rio in Sora no Woto, Candy-girl in Bund, Kanon in Umineko, Nagi in Nyan Koi, Hiroshi in Ookami Kakushi, Mariya from Maria+Holic. It helps that she can play male and female roles though.


Producers will push strongly for popular VAs to take lead roles. Often most of the cast will be imported from the Drama CDs (in manga adaptations) with the leads replaced by more well known (or currently popular) ones. It also helps on how much sway the voice company a particular VA works for has. The bigger ones can "bump" actors and actresses from smaller companies.

edit:

Alhuin is right, it is all about the audience draw. Whoever is "hot" at the moment will get a lot of roles. But it really helps on which company they belong to.

[Board of Command]

I would push Sawashiro Miyuki back to the same set as Tomatsu Haruka and Inoue Marina.

I think Sawashiro Miyuki is still going strong. She still has a main role in Durarara (Selty), and she's appearing in quite a few shows this season either as the main lead or a major character.

Kobayashi Yuu has also had a massive resurgence in popularity. Rio in Sora no Woto, Candy-girl in Bund, Kanon in Umineko, Nagi in Nyan Koi, Hiroshi in Ookami Kakushi, Mariya from Maria+Holic. It helps that she can play male and female roles though.

Ah yes, I forgot about Kobayashi Yuu. She's appeared in nearly every series the past few months.

Alhuin made a good point. It could be that these cycles begin with popular series, and their VA's get casted in subsequent series based on not there own popularity, but that of the popular series they were featured in.

I didn't think that was the main reason because one thing has been bugging me because Hikasa Yoko isn't massively popular, yet K-on was massively popular and her character (Mio) was the main figure of attraction for otakus.

[animus]

Hm, would the male VA that does practically all of Shaft's main male leads be considered FotM? Not sure about male seiyuus tbh. Though, Fukuyama Jun had his FotM moment easily.

And also wouldn't the seiyuu who played Togame be the most recent FotM? She's cast in this season's Working! and B Gata H Kei I think.

[Board of Command]

Hm, would the male VA that does practically all of Shaft's main male leads be considered FotM? Not sure about male seiyuus tbh. Though, Fukuyama Jun had his FotM moment easily.

The guy who voiced Yamato in Naruto had a nice run for a while. Fukuyama Jun had his few months of glory a few seasons ago. Other than that, I don't think male VA's receive the same kind of popularity because there seems to be a lot more female roles in anime than male roles.

And also wouldn't the seiyuu who played Togame be the most recent FotM? She's cast in this season's Working! and B Gata H Kei I think.

Tamura Yukari? Maybe. I think she'll need a more extended run to qualify. She has a good start.

[Buffalobiian]

I pay close to zero attention on VA casts when I consider new series. The recognition of VAs is also around this level.

[KrayZ33]

I pay close to zero attention on VA casts when I consider new series. The recognition of VAs is also around this level.

I don't care about them either, I recognize a few though and I've got my favorites (however I don't know their names) but its not like I say something like "Oh my god, *person X* is doing the voice for *character y*? i must see this"

[fireheart]

Don't really pay attention to VA cast either but do recognize some names and voices from time to time. So far it's been more of a plus like noticing them in shows I watch, but haven't been seeking out any shows just because certain seiyuus are in them.

[Board of Command]

Not many VA's are recognizable. Some have such a broad range of voices (e.g. Koshimizu Ami, Kuwashima Houko) that you can never pick them out. The only ones I can immediately recognize are Hirano Aya, Sawashiro Miyuki, Tomatsu Haruka, Kugimiya Rie and Noto Mamiko. For particular roles where they use their "common" voices, I can also recognize Inoue Marina and Sanpei Yuko.

The rest is usually indistinguishable, either because they have too broad a range or they sound too generic.

[Alhuin]

I can usually recognize Hirano Aya, Kugimiya Rie, Noto Mamiko, and Tamura Yukari, and maybe a few others, right off the bat. For some though, I just recognize the voice from other characters, so I will go Wiki them and find out who the seiyuu was (like Horie Yui, Sawashiro Miyuki, and Tomatsu Haruka).

Which, from just checking on Sawashiro Miyuki, I actually didn't piece together that she voiced both Celty in Durarara and Lag in Tegami Bachi. It's kind of sad, actually... I love Celty, but I hated Lag, and I think part of it dealt with the seiyuu, so now I don't know what to think!

[shinta|hikari]

Lag was supposed to be annoying with all his crybaby antics. I think she did really well if you disliked Lag's voice for that reason.

[Yukimura]

I never look at the VA cast for new shows either. I tend to see recognizing a voice within a show as more of a distraction than anything else. If the voice is very strongly identifiable I often start blending the characters in my mind which can mess up the immersion experience. I notice this especially with whoever voiced Zetsubou Sensei. Pretty much anytime that guy yells in any show I think about his triple-take schtick from SZS.

If I do manage to recognize a voice but not where I've heard if from I usually go look it up to see what other roles I might have heard it in but after the first time I generally forget pretty quickly and don't care the next time I realize I've heard the voice before.

[Board of Command]

I notice this especially with whoever voiced Zetsubou Sensei. Pretty much anytime that guy yells in any show I think about his triple-take schtick from SZS.

I noticed it when watching Arawaka Under the Bridge, and I kept thinking of Zetsubou Sensei afterwards. It also didn't help that Nino-san sounded exactly like Ryougi Shiki.

[Alhuin]

It also didn't help that Nino-san sounded exactly like Ryougi Shiki.

I noticed the same exact thing. I had to wiki it afterward just to make sure.

[Testarossa Autodrive]

I pay a lot of attention to VAs mainly because if there were none, then the characters would have no voice and little personality. While I am not always swayed to an anime by the voice actor, I do feel that they play an incredibly important part just like the story, art, music. It can get very annoying to hear the same seiyuu over and over again, though. There are times when I wish someone lesser known would be cast. Many times a lot of good performances come from newbs.

[masamuneehs]

i'm in the same boat as Testarossa, I really am big on good voice acting. it isn't the decisive factor in whether i like a show or not, but it helps if the voices fit the characters.

I do admit that there are times when I cry for joy at recognizing a certain voice (if the character is similar to a prior one) and other times when i shake my head because the seiyuu can't vary his/her voice enough to make a different kind of character an individual

but i never look at an upcoming show's seiyuu set unless i already know i'm going to watch it for sure (FMA Brotherhood, any Gundam, and, when they do it, the next Berserk anime would be some examples). I do, however, LOVE looking up seiyuus once i'm invested in a show and really enjoying it

i have nothing to say about the "if who is popular now is it because who was popular then or because then was popular then or etc etc..." i was under the impression that how well an anime did depended on A, how the manga / book did B, author reputation (mangaka first, then author, then studio / producer) and C, fanbase mobilization (ads, air time/network, word of mouth) and, of course, the gaggle of intangibles.