Surprisingly, it’s not this show.

Implicitly stated at the start of any show, anime or otherwise, is a promise of some sort to the viewers about what they can expect to see accomplished by the show. It might be a spectacular CG explosion, an opening monologue by one of the main characters, or an opening theme song with a montage of the various characters of the show doing a variety of things but, whatever it is, it’s there.  If the viewer is amicable towards this promise then, chances are, the viewer will decide to continue watching the show with this promise morphing into what’s expected of the show.

Savvy creators use the formation of the show’s promise to apply spin to the viewing experience. At times only promising a little is the way to go: it’s not a shallow, failed romantic comedy but merely a well-animated fan service anime or it’s not an anime with a train wreck of a plot, so poorly constructed that a four-year old could do better but merely a fun romp that’s designed to get licensed as a kids show overseas. Other times it’s best to promise too much: that high-concept, big budget anime isn’t a failure even with it’s poor pacing, plot, characters, and characterization because it was ambitious or that anime that promises funny comedy, serious drama, and tasteful fan service isn’t a failure even when it delivers none of that because it’s fun to watch a train wreck.

Of course, promising too little or too much might backfire on the creator. The viewers might decide to move to an anime promising more or the viewers decide watching one series that fails as hard as Fractale did is enough. So, it’s really a two-edged sword for creators and in lesser hands, a recipe for disaster. This season, one anime in particular stuck out as so completely and utterly failing at what it promised to do without providing so much as a decent excuse.

That anime is Kamisama no Memo-chou (God’s Memo Pad).

The biggest, most energetic promise of Kamisama no Memo-chou is it’s an empowering manifesto for NEET’s (people not in Education, Employment, or Training) and their worth in society. It’s mentioned everywhere; it’s even specifically expounded upon by the characters in the anime – Alice repeatedly says that she follows a NEET code and that she’s a NEET detective, for example. So it’s all the more baffling to realize that the creators take great pains to actively work completely contrary to this vocal promise. Take Alice, the genius hikikomori detective, she’s not actually a NEET. She’s a self-employed detective that has an office and accepts paying clients (even the clients that don’t pay in money will render some service to her). She’s not even a hikikomori; it’s more like she’s just lazy and doesn’t like to go outside but even then she still goes outside every other episode or so. (Much more often than the woman who runs the ramen shop appears to.) Then there’s the main character; he’s so generic I can’t remember his name, but, he’s a high school student and works part-time at the ramen shop and is in training to be a yakuza gangster. He’s like an anti-NEET.

This wasn’t a hard promise to keep; look at Scooby-Doo, it fits the bill perfectly for a show about NEET detectives.

The other big promise of Kamisama no Memo-chou is the idea of Alice being a genius detective that uses the latest technology to get the information needed to solve any case from the comfort of her bed. This idea is reinforced by her impressive computer with it’s dozens of monitors but again the creators seem to actively work against this promise  the moment it’s formulated. The final story arc is freshest in my mind so let’s use it. When the time comes for our intrepid detectives to find the hideout of the people behind the drug Angel Fix, what do they do? What does Alice and all her intelligence and supposed computer prowess do? If your answer starts with either Alice doing something with a computer or putting on her thinking cap than you’d be wrong. Apparently, the right answer is you need an assistant willing to take the drug himself and someone to tail him to see where he walks off to.

Asinine. Even if Alice wasn’t supposed to be genius and a computer geek, the creators of Kamisama no Memo-chou are truly and completely dimwitted.

There are so many ways our heroes could have discovered where the hideout is without anyone taking the drug. For instance, if Angel Fix was such an epidemic then there should have been a large amount of people wildly walking towards the drug hideout that there should be multiple ways to track where they go. Check and collate police reports of where they arrest people under the effect of Angel Fix; look for them on security camera footage; trawl Twitter for people who mention people acting funny in public and cross-reference their GPS data; search the backgrounds of pictures uploaded for people under the influence. I’m not even sure that Alice would need a computer A.I. to help; she might just need a moderately clever computer program. Heck, a slightly less high-tech solution would involve implanting a GPS tracker in both drug dealers and monitoring where they go. There was really no legitimate reason for the assistant to take the drug. (Even if they were so hell-bent on having someone take the drug, why not administer it one of the drug dealers they captured?)

Like I said earlier, if Kamisama no Memo-chou had a good excuse like interesting and thrilling mysteries then it would have gone a long way to excusing the complete failure to live up to either of these two major promises; however, the mysteries were barely adequate. I’ll give them a little credit for being better than the mysteries found in Gosick but Sherlock they ain’t. (Check out the new Sherlock series from the BBC to see what good writing makes possible in mysteries set in modern times.)

Kamisama no Memo-chou wasn’t the worse anime of the season but it was worst self-declared failure. If only it would have better met what it promised to be or better tailored what it promised to it’s actual content then it might not have felt like such a colossal waste of time and potential.

Filed under: anime, anime rants/views

lol puking disgusting whatever the hell that is in the pilot episode, gotta love these girls. I’ve been reading the light novels for this series, so I’m excited for its anime adaptation. It’s pretty funny, but the jokes do tend to repeat themselves with the difference being the activity… :/ However, it’s a pretty entertaining [...]

This is what happens when Chitose sees Ayano kissing Kyouko. lol Man, it’s over. Gonna miss this anime, really enjoyed it…and I’ve read seven volumes of the manga and still don’t have enough. I want more!

So the twins and Tokizane, who were all killed by the Elder Bairns, are alive and kicking. And once they open their mouths, turns out they are really total assholes. WTF? The whole town was created as a project to see what makes Saya ‘Saya.’ Her memories were taken and rewritten a few times it [...]

Mayo Chiki is never going to be considered a great anime, moderately entertaining and amusing – yes, but great – no; however, even for an anime like Mayo Chiki, being aware of classical Japanese literary works can come in handy. My own knowledge of classical Japanese literary works is very, very limited but I happened to have the required knowledge to understand the joke in the final scene of episode 10 and to find it hilarious.

For those that haven’t seen Mayo Chiki, the scene in question starts out with a character named Usami (the one letter difference her name and bunny – usagi – has been used for humorous purposes already) who is playing a video game given to her as a “present”. The game features a chibi version of herself trying to catch a carrot. This appears to be a simple joke until Usami catches the carrot and a pyramid of creepy characters latch onto her as she’s being drawn up. This tickles my memory; I’ve seen this before. My suspicions are confirmed when the “angelic” character cuts the string holding the carrot and Usami falls into a pool of blood straight out of Hell.

Like I said, I’ve seen this before. I wish I could say that I’ve taken to reading classic Japanese literature because it probably would be helpful in understanding Japanese culture but I haven’t.  Instead, I remember an anime that aired a couple of years ago by the name of Blue Literature (Aoi Bungaku). Animated by Madhouse and watched by almost no one, it featured several critically acclaimed, well-known works in 20^th century Japanese literature adapted to anime form. It was a really great anime and one that I wished more people had watched. One of the tales used was a story written by Ryunosuke Akutagawa – The Spider’s Thread which was published in 1918.

The Spider’s Thread was written as a children’s story and the anime version features an evil thief  who finally gets what he deserves. Right before his death, he happened to spare the life of a spider and for that one good deed he is given a chance to leave Hell and enter Heaven. This chance comes in the form of a spider’s thread that is hung down allowing the thief  to climb out of the pits of Hell. Of course, there are many other people in Hell that would like to leave Hell and these people try to climb out as well. The thief, fearing the thread would break and not caring about the others, tries to physically stop these people from climbing up too. This compassionless behavior seals the fate of the thief  and he falls  back down to Hell after the spider cuts the thread to Heaven and walks away.

By the way, the thief was fabulously voiced by Mamoru Miyano who’s now well-known for voicing Okabe Rintarou, the mad scientist from Steins;Gate.

Even though I happened to get the reference this time, I was reminded that anime does, in fact, come from a foreign culture and even relatively well-versed individuals in a foreign culture are lacking in so many of the areas that native viewers just know.

So, that was the joke to that scene in Mayo Chiki. I know a joke is not funny if it needs explained but next time it’ll be funny (especially if you go back and watch Blue Literature or read the original work).

Filed under: anime, general anime interst

The weather announces a typhoon is coming, which worries Rin, but Daikichi just remarks that they come every year. At school, Kouki is acting up, and the teachers can’t seem to get him to stop. However, after Rin tells him to stop or else he’ll get in trouble, he behaves (amazing both the teachers and the classmates). Rin’s girl friends are afraid that Kouki will start bullying her, but she reassures them he wont. That evening, it starts raining harder, so Daikichi decides to bring Kouki home from daycare along with Rin, where Yukari meets up with them later and they end up having dinner together.

Rin appears to be getting into the “boys!” stage a big, especially when Kouki acts up, though it appears like she already successfully has a leash on him given how he behaved after she yelled at him. But she’s still sighing whenever Kouki goes off and does something boyish.

Of course, the typhoon set up the situation where Yukari ended up coming over and having dinner. It seemed like Yukari didn’t really know how to react at the end. I don’t know if that’s because she has a thing for Daikichi and is just trying not to show it, or if she just doesn’t know what she’s feeling (or if she’s somehow jealous that Kouki gets along so well with Daikichi).

In any case, the lull in the DAWWW seems to have only lasted one episode, as this was another good one.  It’s too bad there are only 2 episodes left after this one. I think this show is begging for a 2nd season, at least.

It’s approaching Obon, so Daikichi decide that he and Rin should visit Soichi’s grave. Once there, Daikichi notices Masako’s already been there so he runs after her and asks if she wants to look on Rin secretly, which she does. The pair then go to Soichi’s old house, only to find the yard graveled over. At home, Daikichi presents Rin a chocolate cake to celebrate her 7th birthday.  Meanwhile, Masako is taking on even more work so she can try to put everything else out of her mind.

This was an OK episode I guess. It’s nice to see something like Rin’s birthday and Obon, but there wasn’t particularly anything “new” per se in this episode, except Masako working herself to exhaustion, partly because she’s afraid that her time in the limelight will pass her by as well as to help her forget some of the choices that she probably regrets to get her where she is.

Otherwise, I’m not really sure there was much to say about this episode.

With Gonzo’s gamble for resurrection centered on returning to one of their best series, Last Exile, with a new series called Last Exile: Ginyoku no Fam coming out this Fall, a rewatch of the first Last Exile seemed in order except I was very leery of doing so. Old favorites from when I was first becoming an anime fan haven’t faired that well recently. Paranoia Agent was still as awesome as I remember it (thanks to being done by Satoshi Kon) but I outright hated Witch Hunter Robin and found Kenshin a chore to get through. I didn’t want to lose another one and Gonzo’s later “quality” anime wasn’t reassuring me.

Popping the first episode in, I found myself cringing at the dub and then snickering at it. Did I really once think this was a good dub? Keanu Reeves has more life in his performances then what this dub displayed. A switch to subs was quickly implemented but I worried that this was just the first step to Last Exile’s demise. I watched a few episodes looking for the spiral down to begin but it didn’t and then I watched a few more episodes and then a few more. Last Exile was holding its ground; it wasn’t as good as I remember it but it wasn’t as bad as I thought it could be.

This was a qualified win as far as I was concerned.

The animation still looked pretty good, not bad for an anime that’s eight years old. About half of the CG actually worked with the animation, a far higher percentage that I’m used to seeing from anime of that vintage. (It’s still common to find anime that the CG elements stick out.) The characters were developed competently for the roles they had to play. The plot remained interesting, even when knowing the big reveals at the end. The storytelling was adequate. If I was writing a series review it would start like this:

Last Exile

Final Series Score: 8/12 B+
Rewatchablity: 2/5 – Below Average
Ending: 2.5/5 – Average
Animation: 3/5 – Average to Medium
Pros: Interesting world building, good production values – the animation still looks good and the music is still memorable, competent plotting and storytelling that doesn’t over-reach or under-reach
Cons: Ending could have been improved, the middle part of the series bogs down a bit, the side characters are more interesting than the main characters, could have explained the world and why the characters needed to do what they did more

As a side note, one thing that didn’t surprise me about rewatching Last Exile was that my favorite character has changed. This has happened with other older series when I rewatch them. The biggest example of this was in Kenshin; originally, Kenshin was my favorite by a wide margin but when I rewatched the series last year I found Megumi (the female doctor) to be my clear favorite. For this Last Exile rewatch, I found myself shifting from Alex Row as my favorite to Dio. This change helps the new series because I’m now extremely happy to see that Dio’s coming back for the new series.

So, my fond memories of Last Exile were battered but at the end they were still standing. Knowing how the plot unfolds takes some of the enjoyment out of the series but I most definitely recommend watching Last Exile to anyone that hasn’t seen it before. I’m not sure how important watching this series is to the enjoyment of the new series but there’s still time to finish Last Exile and there’s no reason to miss it.

I’ll leave you with a bit of trivia I thought very interesting. As a novice follower of the vocal actors in Japan, I know that sadly many seiyuu don’t have long careers because agencies want to push their newest stars. Therefore, I wasn’t expecting to recognize the Japanese cast to Last Exile because the anime was eight years old but imagine my surprise when I saw three names that even this novice knows: Chiwa Saitou, Eri Kitamura, and Kana Hanazawa. If the names don’t ring a bell – Chiwa Saitou is probably best known today for voicing Homura from Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Senjougahara from Bakemonogatari, Eri Kitamura for voicing Yui from Angel Beats and Sayaka from PM3 and Kanade Suzutsuki from Mayo Chiki!, and Kana Hanazawa for Kobato Hanato from Kobato and Kuroneko from Ore no Imouto and Tsukimi from Jellyfish Princess and a ton of other anime. The piece of trivia comes from looking at their histories as seiyuu. Last Exile was the very first anime Eri Kitamura and Kana Hanazawa worked on and nearly the first for Chiwa Saitou. Interesting, no? Well I thought so, I wonder where these three would be if it wasn’t for Last Exile.

Filed under: anime, anime rants/views, series review

Nezumi asks InuKashi for information about the new wing of the correctional facility, which she does after initially refusing. Meanwhile, a man named Yoming saves Karan from a probable city agent looking for dissenters. In the correctional facility, they are experimenting on Safu, where they find her to be the “perfect sample.” In a clothing store, Shion finds one of Safu’s coats and confronts InuKashi over it, who then confronts Nezumi over the situation. Nezumi and Shion fight the next morning over each hiding things from the other, and then they agree not to hide anything from each other anymore.

Well, it finally seems like Nezumi and Shion have come to some understanding to where they won’t hide things from each other anymore, which hopefully means we’ll soon learn why Nezumi is so intent on destroying No. 6 (though he seems to be less intent to, in deference to Shion).

Also, despite their claims of being independent and not trusting, both Nezumi and InuKashi seem much more worried about each other than either of them are willing to admit, and of course the whole situation with Shion is what has ultimately pushed some of this to the surface. Meanwhile, Shion and Nezumi finally share a kiss. Sorry Safu! Shion looks like he may have decided to share his sperm with someone else, heh.

HHHGGGNGNGNNNWHHOOAAHH!! Man, never would have thought loli Kyouko would be this much of a crybaby. My nutbladder has completely and utterly exploded, I was not ready for this.

Woah! She actually confessed and asked him to go out with her! And he accepted!! Way to go Kanon! Let’s just hope he didn’t take her words differently…like going out shopping together or some shit like that.

Daikichi’s cousin Haruko suddenly shows up, having run away from home, where she lives with her husband and his parents. Apparently she can’t stand any of them anymore so she ran away to Daikichi’s until she figures out what to do next. This is generally a blast for Rin and Reina, though Reina does confess to Rin that her parents are fighting all the time, but she pretends to be asleep.  Daikichi also has a run in with Yukari at the grocery store, which causes Haruko to tease Daikichi over his obvious crush for her. In the end, Haruko decides the best option is to go back home, even though she doesn’t particularly like it.

This was like, the greatest episode of anime ever to air in the history of the universe lol. Reina and Rin’s discussion about adult affairs (and right in front of Daikichi and Haruko) was hilarious, with Kouki just piling on top in the way only he can. And then Haruko teasing Daikichi about Yukari just made it even better. I was having a hard time not grinning in amusement through most of this episode.

This episode did display a nice contrast between the troubles of the life of the adults – living with a husband you don’t particularly like as well as trying to raise children on one’s own – with the innocence of the children, who know what’s going on, even if they don’t know why.

Of course, this whole ordeal brought up the issue of Yukari’s divorce again, which we didn’t learn anything new about, but Daikichi just reaffirmed that he’s pretty sensitive to the subject. However, I still have to think that we’re eventually going to find out what happened, either because Yukari needs someone to talk to about it or because Kouki ends up spilling the beans on what happened, though he hasn’t even really done that with Rin yet.  I still think Yukari and Daikichi should get together, but I somehow don’t think Yukari sees Daikichi in that way.

In any case, this show just keeps rolling and rolling and rolling.

So the school festival comes, and almost immediately, Subaru starts disrupting Kinjiro and Usami’s “date” until finally it pretty much breaks down. Kinjiro and Subaru then go to fight S4′s rival group in their war, which ends up being a quiz contest run by Kanade. The question to win who Subaru’s first kiss was with, which she has to confess is Kinjiro (which surprises him since he was unconscious at the time). Later, Kinjiro finds out that Usami quit S4 and she ends up confessing that she was just lonely and wanted to see what Subaru saw in Kinjiro. In the end, Kinjiro accepts Usami in their group of friends.

Not that I didn’t think it was already obvious, but I was pretty much right about Usami just being lonely and having her fake date with Kinjiro not really being about the S4. She ended up not being all that bad of a character, I think, though there is still a bit we don’t really know about her. We’ve gotten several clues that her homelife isn’t great, but we haven’t gotten any real specifics on that yet. However, Kinjiro is now in double-trouble with his girl phobia now. Not only does Kanade want to try to “cure” him of it, but Usami does too, though I seem to doubt that Usami’s methods will be quite as sadistic as Kanade’s.

Subaru, meanwhile, can be pretty jealous as was obvious in this episode, but I wonder how both she and Kinjiro will feel now that Kanade forced her to admit that her first kiss was with Kinjiro, albeit when he was unconscious. One might think that might create a bit of awkardness between the two in the future (though it didn’t seem to at the end of this episode).

Overall, the whole S4 “fight” was a bit silly, but at least it wasn’t too over the top. The quiz show kind of toned downed what was building up to be a pretty silly situation. I guess the quiz was also Kanade’s sadistic event for this episode, though it was actually pretty tame compared to some of the others (though it was still mean to make Subaru confess her first kiss). Hopefully we’ll see a bit less of her and a bit more of Usami in the future, though.

There are many ways to measure the success of a blog; any honest blogger would rightly say that numerical standards are not the best judge but that same honest blogger would admit that having good numbers is a nice thing. So, I’d be lying that I’m not psyched that The Null Set reached such a lofty level as getting a million hits (or page views, if you swing that way) because it must mean I’m doing something right but this elation is tempered with the knowledge that I still see much room for improvement before I’m satisfied with my work here.

My most heartfelt thanks goes out to everyone that’s stopped by over the years; I’m glad The Null Set was able to be of some use to you.

And now since I’m making a meta post, I might as well mention a few other items. The first is that I finally broke down and decided to make an account at MyAnimeList. I realize MAL is so 3 years ago but it finally dawned on me that I’ve watched loads of anime and the point is approaching when I won’t remember everything I’ve seen. I’m still getting use to all that I can do with MAL but I have finished my list. The other benefit is now I can add the nifty widget so people can see what I’m currently watching because the world has been desperately curious about what anime I’m watching .

The second starts after I got tired of how limited the Archive widget is. I decided to create my own because I wanted to include a way to pick out my best/favorite/interesting posts so they could be found by newer readers and others that may have missed them. You can click on the link in the top bar to see the result. For each month it states how many posts there were and links to a listing of all the posts for that month. Additionally, within each month’s block is the title and link of my best/favorite/interesting posts that were written in that month.

The third is to mention my new banner. Like the one it replaced, it includes Alpha from Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou – my favorite manga – and it uses a picture I took. I don’t know if I believe what I’ve heard about how the sunsets over Lake Erie are some of the prettiest in the world but they are definitely, at least, beautiful. I can just imagine Alpha sitting, contemplating and enjoying them.

Filed under: manga, meta/office keeping

The last season of anime in 2011 is about to begin, and in this post you’ll find a list of which seiyuu are appearing in what shows and also some notes on various seiyuu. In the notes, I use Western name order (i.e. given name before family name), whereas the list is organised alphabetically and is formatted like this:

[romanised family name], [romanised given name] / [name in Japanese] ([list of shows seiyuu is appearing in])

Macrons are used in names but not elsewhere, for ease of alphabetical ordering. The list will be updated until the beginning of October. Also, this time I tried to write about a few male seiyuu as well instead of just sticking to the women. Finally, as always, I hope you enjoy and please let me know if I’ve made any mistakes or there are roles that should be added (though I’ll try my hardest to stay on top of this).

Update 9/9: More Guilty Crown cast members added (Aya Endō, Takehito Koyasu, others), and it looks like Ai Kayano will be singing in that show. Edit: Apparently Ai Kayano‘s character’s singing voice will be provided by Chelly, a 17-year-old who was handpicked to do just that. Information from Washi’s Blog; this was his source for that information. Update 11/9: More Horizon, Shana III cast members added; Sengoku Paradise cast added. Update 12/9: Additional Phi Brain cast members added. Notably, a fourth role for Chiwa Saitō (bringing her to the top of the pack) and a third role for Takehito Koyasu. Update 16/9: Romi Park‘s presence in Persona 4 confirmed. Thanks to lvlln for the tip in advance (and also for mentioning Rie Kugimiya‘s role in that show). Update 1/10: Bakuman 2, Cross Fight B-Daman casts added; additional cast members for Majikoi and Ben-To added. Yūichi Nakamura now has six roles; Takehito Koyasu has four roles; Ayako Kawasumi has four roles, all of which she is reprising from prior works. This should be one of my last updates. All I’m waiting on is official confirmation of the Gundam Age cast, which I’m being particularly cautious about because of the prevalence of fake cast lists for it. Update 4/10: Chibi Devi! cast added. A fourth role for Yuka Iguchi, a third role for Ayumi Fujimura.

Top of the pack

I initially found it slightly difficult to enjoy Aoi Yūki (悠木碧)’s work because it lacks the polish I tend to value in performances, but I wholeheartedly love the raw, believable emotion she’s able to convey. By now I’ve learned to love the roughness as well. She’s only 19 years old but she’s established herself as a talented and versatile actress with her work in Kure-nai (Murasaki), Shiki (Sunako), Gosick (Victorique), Madoka Magica (Madoka) and more. Her legion of fans should grow in number even more this season when she stars in Last Exile. I’m excited to hear what she has to bring to that and to the rest of the fair few series she’s in this season.

Sayaka Ōhara (大原さやか) has been raking in the minor roles since about 2005, so it’s no surprise to see her at the top of this season’s pack. Probably best known as xxxHolic’s Yūko, Aria’s Alicia and Umineko’s Beatrice, the power in her voice shows through whether she’s playing someone seductive or maternal, elegant or insane. As of late, she seems to be an actress of choice for mothers, though she also acts as a teenager (Erza) in a major part in the long-running Fairy Tail.

A year ago, Ai Kayano (茅野愛衣) had only a few minor roles under her belt and was entirely unknown. Then in January, she claimed the role of Isana in Yumekui Merry and a couple of months later the role of Menma in AnoHana. Since then her career has soared, and this season will only further cement her status as 2011’s foremost breakout star. Her distinct, gentle voice has earned her some admirers but I haven’t been particularly impressed by her work yet. Perhaps that’ll change before the end of the year.

Yūichi Nakamura (中村悠一) has played multiple high profile, well-known characters. He will have been heard by shoujo fans in Shugo Chara! (Ikuto), by shounen fans in Fairy Tail (Gray), by imouto fans in OreImo (Kyousuke), by Key fans in Clannad (Tomoya)… The list goes on. I think he’s an excellent leading male and I really enjoy listening to his voice. This is a banner season for him with five roles, more than any other VA at this stage. Well-deserved, in my opinion.

With four roles is Jun Fukuyama (福山潤), one of the best-known and best-loved male voices of the ’00s. The man behind Lelouch, Lawrence and Watanuki, he’s demonstrated dramatic and comedic chops in equal measure, though I prefer him as a comedy actor (my favourite role of his being Sora Kake Girl’s over-the-top Leopard).

Also with four roles is indomitable veteran Jōji Nakata (中田譲治), who has been acting since the late ’70s and voice acting since the mid-’80s. The 57-year-old’s popularity remains largely undimmed. Type-Moon are apparently particular fans – as he’s appeared in big parts in Fate/, Kara no Kyōkai and Melty Blood – so it’s fitting that his largest role this season is in Fate/zero.

New voices

Unknown Megumi Han (潘めぐみ) has claimed the lead in the reboot of Hunter x Hunter. She’s 22 and has appeared in bit parts in a couple of live-action dramas. Represented by Atomic Monkey (who also have Tomokazu Sugita, Tomokazu Seki and Fumiko Orikasa on their books).

Emi Nitta (新田恵海) takes her first named role in a TV anime this season. Nitta is part of Sunrise’s Love Live “school idol project”, providing the singing voice for one of the girls, and is affiliated with S Inc., who represent singers (including Faylan).  She’s very pretty and her singing voice is great, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they were trying to carve out a solo music career for her. Here’s a video of her performing agency-mate Hiromi Satō’s ‘Angelic Symphony’. … But can she act? She plays Maruga Naruze in Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon.

Manami Honda (本田愛美) is in her second named role after voicing Mihoshi Tachibana in Nichijou (a role I really didn’t enjoy her in). Mirai Nikki fans will have gotten a taste of her as Murumuru in the OVA and will hear her again as that character in the TV series. Represented by GadgetLink, the agency Minoru Shiraishi is in.

Also in Mirai Nikki is Tomosa Murata (村田知沙), who had her first named role last year as Iris Eris in Legend of the Legendary Heroes and hasn’t worked since. Starring as Yuno, she has a difficult task ahead of her in that she’s inexperienced and has to act as a character who is both a fan favourite and insane. Represented by Media Force (Daisuke Hirakawa).

Nozomi Yamamoto (山本希望) will get the opportunity to make a splash this season, with large roles in Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai and Un-Go. We’ll hear her as an apparent parody of BakaTest’s Hideyoshi in the former and as an ojou in the latter. She has next to no experience outside of voicing a character in the game Galgun, and is with VIMS, the agency who represent Yui Horie and Shōtarō Morikubo.

Elsewhere

Pleasantly, Yū Shimamura (嶋村侑) has a named role in Guilty Crown after years of competent work mostly in the background. I love the timbre of her voice, so I’m hoping she impresses with some good acting here.

Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon (from here on referred to as Horizon because I’m lazy) and Last Exile have big casts, with the former’s being nothing short of massive. There are some big names involved in both, including a few of my personal favourites – namely Ami Koshimizu (小清水亜美), Mai Nakahara (中原麻衣) and Daisuke Ono (小野大輔) in Horizon, and Natsuko Kuwatani (桑谷夏子), Yukana (ゆかな) and Nobuhiko Okamoto (岡本信彦) in Last Exile. Teenagers Nao Tōyama (東山奈央) and Aoi Yūki – who starred in Ikoku Meiro no Croisee together – are in both, as is the awesome Miyuki Sawashiro (沢城みゆき).

Aki Toyosaki (豊崎愛生) has been in plenty of lead roles (K-on!’s Yui being the best known). This season she’ll act as the lead in Last Exile and she’ll also do something a bit different, playing one of the male leads in Un-Go. This is her third role in a Noitamina series this year, after Momoko in Hourou Musuko and young Poppo in AnoHana.

Also in those two series was 18-year-old Asami Seto (瀬戸麻沙美), as Yoshino Takatsuki in the former and young Yukiatsu in the latter. This season she’ll play the lead in and sing the ED for Chihayafuru. I feel like her work has an honesty to it, and I enjoy that. She already has a main role lined up for 2012, too, so it seems like she has a bright future.

A good year for Mariya Ise (伊瀬茉莉也) will be capped off by two lead roles, and she’ll get to continue to show off her versatility. If the trailer is any indication, for Ben-To she’s made her voice simultaneously more nasal and more rich, and in Hunter x Hunter she’s playing a boy.

Misuzu Togashi (富樫美鈴) debuted in 2009 playing Minatsu in Seitokai no Ichizon, and then didn’t get another major role until six months ago; as Mai in Nichijou, she sounded very different to how she did as Minatsu. She’ll finish this year with two large parts: the male lead in Mirai Nikki and Azuki in Maken-ki!. For the latter show, she’s reportedly also singing the OP, though this hasn’t been officially confirmed just yet [edit 9/9: confirmed]. She’s previously sung as part of the group Veil and as her characters in Seitokai no Ichizon and Nichijou (and the Nichijou character song is really something). She’s definitely on the rise.

The voices of Lucky Star‘s Hiiragi twins, Kaori Fukuhara (福原香織) and Emiri Katō (加藤英美里), are reuniting to star in and ad lib the dialogue for Ad Lib Anime Kenkyūsho. I have no idea what their ad libbing skills are like but the show sounds like it could be a hilarious disaster. At the moment, Katō is perhaps better known as the girl who voiced Kyubey in Madoka, while Fukuhara was Run in A Channel.

The list

Female seiyuu

Four roles

• Iguchi, Yuka / 井口裕香 (Tamayura, Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, C Cube, Chibi Devi!)
• Kawasumi, Ayako / 川澄綾子 (Fate/zero, Shakugan no Shana III, Squid Girl 2, Bakuman 2)
• Kayano, Ai / 茅野愛衣 (Last Exile, Ben-To, Guilty Crown, Chihayafuru)
• Ōhara, Sayaka / 大原さやか (Fate/zero, C Cube, Tamayura, Shakugan no Shana III)
• Saitō, Chiwa / 斎藤千和 (Horizon, C Cube, Last Exile, Phi Brain)

Three roles

• Asumi, Kana / 阿澄佳奈 (Tamayura, Working’!!, C Cube)
• Fujimura, Ayumi / 藤村歩 (Squid Girl 2, Bakuman 2, Chibi Devi!)
• Itō, Kanae / 伊藤かな恵 (Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, Squid Girl 2, Last Exile)
• Itō, Shizuka / 伊藤静 (Majikoi, Working’!!, Shakugan no Shana III)
• Kotobuki, Minako / 寿美菜子 (Guilty Crown, Horizon, Tamayura)
• Kitamura, Eri / 喜多村英梨 (C Cube, Last Exile, Working’!!)
• Sawashiro, Miyuki / 沢城みゆき (Horizon, Last Exile, Hunter x Hunter)
• Taketatsu, Ayana / 竹達彩奈 (Tamayura, Guilty Crown, Ben-To)
• Yūki, Aoi / 悠木碧 (Horizon, Last Exile, Ben-To)

Two roles

• Aizawa, Mai / 相沢舞 (Mirai Nikki, Cross Fight B-Daman)
• Chihara, Minori / 茅原実里 (Horizon, C Cube)
• Gotō, Mai / 後藤麻衣 (Mashiro-iro Symphony, Phi Brain)
• Hanazawa, Kana / 花澤香菜 (Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, Guilty Crown)
• Hirohashi, Ryō / 広橋涼 (Working’!!, Chibi Devi!)
• Honda, Takako / 本田貴子 (Last Exile, Un-Go)
• Horie, Yui / 堀江由衣 (Persona 4, Ben-To)
• Inoue, Marina / 井上麻里奈 (Horizon, Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai)
• Ise, Mariya / 伊瀬茉莉也 (Ben-To, Hunter x Hunter)
• Katō, Emiri / 加藤英美里 (Ben-To, Ad Lib Anime Kenkyūsho)
• Koshimizu, Ami / 小清水亜美 (Persona 4, Horizon)
• Kugimiya, Rie / 釘宮理恵 (Shakugan no Shana III, Persona 4)
• Kuwatani, Natsuko / 桑谷夏子 (Last Exile, Mirai Nikki)
• Nabatame, Hitomi / 生天目仁美 (Squid Girl 2, Shakugan no Shana III)
• Ogata, Megumi / 緒方恵美 (Tamayura, Majikoi)
• Shiraishi, Ryōko / 白石涼子 (Working’!!, Horizon)
• Shitaya, Noriko / 下屋則子 (Maken-ki!, Chibi Devi!)
• Tamura, Yukari / 田村ゆかり (C Cube, Ben-To)
• Togashi, Misuzu / 富樫美鈴 (Mirai Nikki, Maken-ki!)
• Tōyama, Nao / 東山奈央 (Horizon, Last Exile)
• Toyosaki, Aki / 豊崎愛生 (Last Exile, Un-Go)
• Yahagi, Sayuri / 矢作紗友里 (Maken-ki!, Bakuman 2)
• Yamamoto, Nozomi / 山本希望 (Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, Un-Go)
• Yukana / ゆかな (Last Exile, Mirai Nikki)

One role

• Abe, Sachie / 阿部幸恵 (Fate/zero)
• Akesaka, Satomi / 明坂聡美 (gdgd Fairies)
• Asakawa, Yū / 浅川悠 (Majikoi)
• Ashiro, Megu / 亜城めぐ (Majikoi)
• Endō, Aya / 遠藤綾 (Guilty Crown)
• Fujita, Saki / 藤田咲 (Working’!!)
• Fukuen, Misato / 福圓美里 (Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai)
• Fukuhara, Kaori / 福原香織 (Ad Lib Anime Kenkyūsho)
• Fukui, Yukari / 福井裕佳梨 (Tamayura)
• Gibu, Yūko / 儀武ゆう子 (Tamayura)
• Gotō, Yūko / 後藤邑子 (Majikoi)
• Han, Megumi / 潘めぐみ (Hunter x Hunter)
• Harada, Hitomi / 原田ひとみ (Maken-ki!)
• Hayami, Saori / 早見沙織 (Bakuman 2)
• Hazuki, Erino / 葉月絵理乃 (Tamayura)
• Hikasa, Yōko / 日笠陽子 (Working’!!)
• Hitomi / ひと美 (Majikoi)
• Honda, Manami / 本田愛美 (Mirai Nikki)
• Hyo-sei / 氷青 (Majikoi)
• Ichimura, Oma / 壱智村小真 (Mashiro-iro Symphony)
• Imai, Asami / 今井麻美 (Sengoku Paradise)
• Kanda, Akemi / 神田朱未 (Persona 4)
• Kanemoto, Hisako / 金元寿子 (Squid Girl 2)
• Kataoka, Azusa / 片岡あづさ (Squid Girl 2)
• Kawase, Akiko / 川瀬晶子 (Working’!!)
• Kikuchi, Kokoro / 菊池こころ (Squid Girl 2)
• Kobayashi, Yū / 小林ゆう (Horizon)
• Kobayashi, Yumiko / 小林由美子 (Shakugan no Shana III)
• Kokuryū, Sachi / 國立幸 (Cross Fight B-Daman)
• Konno, Hiromi / 今野宏美 (Mirai Nikki)
• MAKO (C Cube)
• Matayoshi, Ai / 又吉愛 (Horizon)
• Matsui, Naoko / 松井菜桜子 (Majikoi)
• Matsuki, Miyu / 松来未祐 (Tamayura)
• Matsuo, Yoshiko / 松尾佳子 (Tamayura)
• Matsuoka, Yuki / 松岡由貴 (Mirai Nikki)
• Mimori, Suzuko / 三森すずこ (gdgd Fairies)
• Mina / 美名 (Maken-ki!)
• Miyamoto, Kanako / 宮本佳奈子 (Last Exile)
• Miyamoto, Kanako / 宮本佳那子 (Tamayura)
• Mizuhara, Kaoru / 水原薫 (gdgd Fairies)
• Mizuhashi, Kaori / 水橋かおり (Majikoi)
• Mizusawa, Kei / 瑞沢渓 (Majikoi)
• Mochizuki, Rei / 持月玲依 (Sengoku Paradise)
• Morinaga, Rika / 森永理科 (Horizon)
• Murata, Tomosa / 村田知沙 (Mirai Nikki)
• Nakajima, Megumi / 中島愛 (Last Exile)
• Nakajima, Saki / 中島沙樹 (Kimi to Boku)
• Nakahara, Mai / 中原麻衣 (Horizon)
• Nazuka, Kaori / 名塚佳織 (Horizon)
• Nishi, Asuka / 西明日香 (Chibi Devi!)
• Nishizawa, Hiroka / 西沢広香 (Majikoi)
• Nitta, Emi / 新田恵海 (Horizon)
• Noda, Junko / 野田順子 (Last Exile)
• Nomizu, Iori / 野水伊織 (Maken-ki!)
• Noto, Mamiko / 能登麻美子 (Shakugan no Shana III)
• Ogura, Yui / 小倉唯 (C Cube)
• Ōhara, Momoko / 大原桃子 (Cross Fight B-Daman)
• Ōhashi, Ayuru / 大橋歩夕 (Horizon)
• Ōno, Ryōko / 小野涼子 (Mashiro-iro Symphony)
• Orikasa, Fumiko / 折笠富美子 (Last Exile)
• Ōtani, Miki / 大谷美貴 (Squid Girl 2)
• Park, Romi / 朴ロ美 [also written as Paku, Romi; 朴ろ美] (Persona 4)
• Rikimaru, Noriko / 力丸乃りこ (Mashiro-iro Symphony)
• Saitō, Momoko / 斎藤桃子 (Working’!!)
• Sakata, Kayo / 阪田佳代 (Majikoi)
• Sanada, Asami / 真田アサミ (Mirai Nikki)
• Satō, Miyuki / 佐藤美由希 (Kimi to Boku)
• Satō, Rina / 佐藤利奈 (Phi Brain)
• Sendai, Eri / 仙台エリ (Mirai Nikki)
• Seto, Asami / 瀬戸麻沙美 (Chihayafuru)
• Shimamura, Yū / 嶋村侑 (Guilty Crown)
• Shimizu, Ai / 清水愛 (Horizon)
• Shimizu, Kaori / 清水香里 (Phi Brain)
• Shindō, Kei / 真堂圭 (Horizon)
• Shintani, Ryōko / 新谷良子 (Horizon)
• Takahashi, Meguru / 高橋めぐる (Cross Fight B-Daman)
• Takahashi, Mikako / 高橋美佳子 (Chibi Devi!)
• Tamura, Mutsumi / 田村睦心 (Horizon)
• Tanaka, Rie / 田中理恵 (Squid Girl 2)
• Tomatsu, Haruka / 戸松遥 (Working’!!)
• Tomonaga, Akane / 友永朱音 (Majikoi)
• Watanabe, Akeno / 渡辺明乃 (Shakugan no Shana III)
• Watanabe, Kumiko / 渡辺久美子 (Working’!!)
• Yamada, Miho / 山田みほ (Horizon)
• Yamaguchi, Rie / 山口理恵 (Chibi Devi!)
• Yoshida, Mayumi / 吉田真弓 (Mashiro-iro Symphony)
• Yukino, Satsuki / 雪野五月 (Phi Brain)

Male seiyuu

Six roles

• Nakamura, Yūichi / 中村悠一 (Last Exile, Working’!!, Squid Girl 2, Guilty Crown, Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi 2, Majikoi)

Four roles

• Fukuyama, Jun / 福山潤 (Horizon, Last Exile, Working’!!, Phi Brain)
• Koyasu, Takehito / 子安武人 (Horizon, Guilty Crown, Phi Brain, Bakuman 2)
• Nakata, Jōji / 中田譲治 (Fate/zero, Working’!!, Tamayura, Horizon)
• Namikawa, Daisuke / 浪川大輔 (Fate/zero, Persona 4, Hunter x Hunter, Sengoku Paradise)

Three roles

• Ishida, Akira / 石田彰 (Fate/zero, Phi Brain, Mirai Nikki)
• Kaji, Yūki / 梶裕貴 (C Cube, Guilty Crown, Kimi to Boku)
• Kamiya, Hiroshi / 神谷浩史 (Majikoi, Working’!!, Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi 2)
• Konishi, Katsuyuki / 小西克幸 (Majikoi, Last Exile, Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi 2)
• Miyano, Mamoru / 宮野真守 (Phi Brain, Chihayafuru, Ben-To)
• Okamoto, Nobuhiko / 岡本信彦 (Last Exile, Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi 2, Bakuman 2)
• Ono, Daisuke / 小野大輔 (Horizon, Working’!!, Majikoi)
• Seki, Tomokazu / 関智一 (Fate/zero, Persona 4, Mirai Nikki)

Two roles

• Abe, Atsushi / 阿部敦 (Last Exile, Bakuman 2)
• Fujiwara, Keiji / 藤原啓治 (Phi Brain, Hunter x Hunter)
• Hashi, Takaya / 土師孝也 (Last Exile, Mirai Nikki)
• Hayami, Shō / 速水奨 (Fate/zero, Horizon)
• Hino, Satoshi / 日野聡 (Shakugan no Shana III, Bakuman 2)
• Horiuchi, Kenyū / 堀内賢雄 (Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi 2, Bakuman 2)
• Irino, Miyu / 入野自由 (Kimi to Boku, Un-Go)
• Katsu, Anri / 勝杏里 (Squid Girl 2, Guilty Crown)
• Kawahara, Yoshihisa / 川原慶久 (Mirai Nikki, Sengoku Paradise)
• Kimura, Ryōhei / 木村良平 (Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai, Kimi to Boku)
• Koyama, Rikiya / 小山力也 (Fate/zero, Squid Girl 2)
• Madono, Mitsuaki / 真殿光昭 (Persona 4, Horizon)
• Maeno, Tomoaki / 前野智昭 (Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi 2, Maken-ki!)
• Midorikawa, Hikaru / 緑川光 (Fate/zero, Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi 2)
• Miyake, Kenta / 三宅健太 (Shakugan no Shana III, Phi Brain)
• Mizushima, Takahiro / 水島大宙 (Mashiro-iro Symphony, Guilty Crown)
• Nojima, Hirofumi / 野島裕史 (Shakugan no Shana III, Bakuman 2)
• Shiraishi, Minoru / 白石稔 (Horizon, Mirai Nikki)
• Shimura, Tomoyuki / 志村知幸 (Bakuman 2)
• Sugita, Tomokazu / 杉田智和 (Horizon, Majikoi)
• Suwabe, Junichi / 諏訪部順一 (Majikoi, Bakuman 2)
• Tsuruoka, Satoshi / 鶴岡聡 (Fate/zero, Maken-ki!)
• Uchiyama, Kōki / 内山昴輝 (Kimi to Boku, Guilty Crown)
• Yamaguchi, Kappei / 山口勝平 (Persona 4, Majikoi)

One role

• Asanuma, Shintarō / 浅沼晋太郎 (Phi Brain)
• Bandō, Kōichi / 坂東孝一 (Chibi Devi!)
• Domon, Jin / 土門仁 (Mirai Nikki)
• Ebara, Masashi / 江原正士 (Shakugan no Shana III)
• Eguchi, Takuya / 江口拓也 (Sengoku Paradise)
• Fujita, Yoshinori / 藤田圭宣 (Majikoi)
• Gotō, Tetsuo / 後藤哲夫 (Squid Girl 2)
• Hamada, Kenji / 浜田賢二 (Bakuman 2)
• Hatano, Wataru / 羽多野渉 (Sengoku Paradise)
• Hirakawa, Daisuke / 平川大輔 (Horizon)
• Hiramatsu, Hirokazu / 平松広和 (Mirai Nikki)
• Hori, Taiki / 堀大希 (Sengoku Paradise)
• Hoshi, Sōichirō / 保志総一朗 (Chibi Devi!)
• Hosoya, Yoshimasa / 細谷佳正 (Chihayafuru)
• Inada, Tetsu / 稲田徹 (Last Exile)
• Ishizuka, Unshō / 石塚運昇 (Persona 4)
• Itō, Kentarō / 伊藤健太郎 (Cross Fight B-Daman)
• Iwata, Mitsuo / 岩田光央 (Shakugan no Shana III)
• Kajikawa, Shōhei / 梶川翔平 (Sengoku Paradise)
• Kakihara, Tetsuya / 柿原徹也 (Sengoku Paradise)
• Kanbara, Daichi / 神原大地 (Sengoku Paradise)
• Katsuji, Ryō / 勝地涼 (Un-Go)
• Kawada, Shinji / 川田紳司 (Bakuman 2)
• Kazama, Yūto / 風間勇刀 (Bakuman 2)
• KENN (Last Exile)
• Kirii, Daisuke / 桐井大介 (Bakuman 2)
• Kishio, Daisuke / 岸尾だいすけ (Phi Brain)
• Kobushi, Nobuyuki / こぶしのぶゆき (Horizon)
• Kondō, Takashi / 近藤隆 (Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi 2)
• Kondō, Takayuki / 近藤孝行 (Shakugan no Shana III)
• Koyama, Tsuyoshi / 小山剛志 (Horizon)
• Kuroda, Takashi / 黒田崇矢 (Horizon)
• Kusao, Takeshi / 草尾毅 (Majikoi)
• Kusumi, Naomi / 楠見尚己 (Horizon)
• Kusunoki, Taiten / 楠大典 (Horizon)
• Matsukaze, Masaya / 松風雅也 (Last Exile)
• Miki, Shinichirō / 三木眞一郎 (Un-Go)
• Miyashita, Eiji / 宮下栄治 (Horizon)
• Miyata, Kōki / 宮田幸季 (Phi Brain)
• Morikawa, Toshiyuki / 森川智之 (Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi 2)
• Morikubo, Shōtarō / 森久保祥太郎 (Persona 4)
• Morita, Masakazu / 森田成一 (Bakuman 2)
• Murata, Daishi /  村田大志 (Sengoku Paradise)
• Nara, Tooru / 奈良徹 (Chihayafuru)
• Nojima, Kenji / 野島健児 (Shakugan no Shana III)
• Okamoto, Hiroshi / 岡本寛志 (Cross Fight B-Daman)
• Okiayu, Ryōtarō / 置鮎龍太郎 (Fate/zero)
• Okitsu, Kazuyuki / 興津和幸 (Last Exile)
• Ono, Yūki / 小野友樹 (Kimi to Boku)
• Ōsaka, Ryōta / 逢坂良太 (Sengoku Paradise)
• Ōtsuka, Akio / 大塚明夫 (Fate/zero)
• Saitō, Sōma / 斉藤壮馬 (Sengoku Paradise)
• Sakaguchi, Daisuke / 阪口大助 (Guilty Crown)
• Sakurai, Takahiro / 櫻井孝宏 (Phi Brain)
• Sasaki, Seiji / 佐々木誠二 (Squid Girl 2)
• Sagawa, Naoki / 狭川尚紀 (Sengoku Paradise)
• Shimono, Hiro / 下野紘 (Ben-To)
• Shingaki, Tarusuke / 新垣樽助 (Fate/zero)
• Suyama, Akio / 陶山章央 (Cross Fight B-Daman)
• Suzumura, Kenichi / 鈴村健一 (Majikoi)
• Tachibana, Shinnosuke / 立花慎之介 (Sekai-ichi Hatsukoi)
• Takada, Yūji / 高田裕司 (Horizon)
• Takaguchi, Kōsuke / 高口公介 (Guilty Crown)
• Takaoka, Binbin / 高岡瓶々 (Majikoi)
• Takeuchi, Ryōta / 竹内良太 (Cross Fight B-Daman)
• Tanaka, Masahiko / 田中正彦 (Mirai Nikki)
• Taniyama, Kishō / 谷山紀章 (Phi Brain)
• Terashima, Takuma / 寺島拓篤 (C Cube)
• Tobita, Nobuo / 飛田展男 (Majikoi)
• Toriumi, Kōsuke / 鳥海浩輔 (Kimi to Boku)
• Tone, Kentarō / 利根健太朗 (Bakuman 2)
• Toyonaga, Toshiyuki / 豊永利行 (Kimi to Boku)
• Wakamoto, Norio / 若本規夫 (Mirai Nikki)
• Yabe, Masashi / 矢部雅史 (Phi Brain)
• Yamamoto, Kanehira / 山本兼平 (Sengoku Paradise)
• Yamazaki, Takumi / 山崎たくみ (Fate/zero)
• Yanagida, Junichi / 柳田淳一 (Sengoku Paradise)
• Yanai, Hitoshi / 箭内仁 (Cross Fight B-Daman)
• Yonaga, Tsubasa / 代永翼 (Chihayafuru)
• Yoshino, Hiroyuki / 吉野裕行 (Chibi Devi!)
• Yusa, Kōji / 遊佐浩二 (Majikoi)