With top seiyuu like Aya Hirano, Ayana Taketatsu and Aki Toyosaki all reduced to pariah status for daring to associate with men in the space of weeks, the divide between fans who treat seiyuu as objects of obsession and those who treat them as voice actors has never been so stark – but as some are keen to point out, it has always been thus. As has been pointed out by sources familiar with the business in some detail, scandals centred on the supposed improprieties of a seiyuu are nothing new:
Tomo Sakurai
Nineties idol/singer seiyuu perhaps best known for voicing Macross 7’s Mylene.
Kept her marriage and child completely secret from fans, only to be exposed by a weekly tabloid. She subsequently apologised to fans at a press conference. She was subsequently shunned by fans and lost most of her work.
Mariko Kouda
Nineties idol seiyuu known for Kanon’s Nayuki, amongst many others.
Announced her marriage to fans on a radio show, upsetting most of her more ardent fans – after which she lost most of her work.
Yuko Miyamura
Asuka Langley, Casca, etc.
Fans managed to identify her (by her teeth and other characteristics) in “SM Erotic Experiences for Two,” an old amateur fetish AV from her student days. Her image amongst these fans was irreparably ruined, although she managed to retain the Asuka role.
Her personal life, resembling that of a normal person and involving the full gamut of marriages, divorces, children, illnesses, etc., also contributed to her losing most of her work.
Kana Hanazawa
Kuroneko, Zange-chan, Suou, Charlotte, etc.
A person claiming “my girlfriend is a seiyuu” appeared on 2ch with photographs of apparently genuine anime scripts and “purikura” shots of her. As she marketed herself on innocent cuteness, the damage would have been considerable had anyone actually heard of her, or had she not found her mini-scandal sandwiched in between several similar revelations.
Aya Hirano
Which is worse, the fans and their unhealthy demands, or the idols who stoop to deceiving them, is a question which is increasingly being debated on 2ch, not coincidentally the place responsible for 90% of the hysterics surrounding these incidents:
“Don’t forget Mizuki.”
“And Taketatsu!”
“The person who wrote all that stuff up knows nothing. Miyamura and company all ended in the late nineties anyway.”
“No – Miyamura was totally ruined by the scandal:
96/06/21 15,400 34,320 *25位 *4回 ケンカ番長 ←1st album
97/09/22 *7,020 31,930 *19位 *4回 不意打ち ←2nd album
98/07/23 **,*** **,*** 圏外 **回 産休～Thank You～ ←Post-scandal [sales figures too low to be published]”“There’s no way the seiyuu caught up in the Sphere fracas will lose all their work though.”
“Mizuki doesn’t even need male fans any more.”
“When I first saw her, I remember thinking Hirano reminded me of Miyamura for some reason. In the end they both fell because of men, it seems.”
“I understand why seiyuu who get married lose all their fans. But why do they have to lose all their roles?”
Who cares what they do in their personal lives unless they’re out killing people or something near that level? They are people with jobs and get paid to provide a service of bringing your characters to life using their voices. What they do in their lives after the mic is off is their business. “Oh no, they arent like the character they act like in this anime or show! Who would have thought the actress was acting!” I say someone puts all “fans” that have these delusions out of their misery. They dont belong on the planet. Them and their parents and educators that didnt parent or teach them about life. Entertainment is simply that. Get over yourselves. I have no issues with crazy VA and I think they’re great! Aya Hirano, I love that girl. She’s as crazy as Catherine without the knife, but she’s good at voice acting and she’s hot. That’s all I expect out of her.
“Fans managed to identify her (by her teeth and other characteristics)”
Dang that’s some serious CSI stuff right there.
Japanese are so gullible. They believe everything their peers tell them. It’s a good thing that other civilized countries understand the value of common sense.
The creepy otaku for me. Well, its a right time that otaku’s (like me and you, and specially them)accept the fact that their idol seiyuu’s are also a real humans that has their own life.
I’m a fan of Kana Hanzawa and Aki Toyosaki and, I love what their doings, their voices, how they act and perform their job, and all about them so, I will support them no matter what.. ^^
I’m still a great fan of Mariko Kouda (maybe the only one…)
The fans are worst because they’re just crazy freaks. At least the voice actors actually produce something for the masses.