What if Seiyuu were Mobile Suits?

MSM-07S Z'Gok Commander Type “Miyukichi”

What else can MS stand for besides Miyuki Sawashiro? This is one of the most awesome mobile suits in Zeon’s arsenal during the One Year War. Well, at least in my Zeon Campaign in Giren no Yabou anyway. Need someone to smash through some tough naval defences to land an invasion force? The Z’Gok’s your MS. After that’s done, you’d normally expect it to make way for specialized ground fighters… but guess what? It continues to kick ass on land, leading the way, all the way. This exactly sums up Miyukichi’s performance in Kannagi: She started in a familiar young male role (shota Jin) in episode one, but once that’s done, she shifts into a rare high school osananajimi loli mode in Tsugumi that totally caught me by surprise. She was a fish out of water (just like the Z’Gok), but put up a commendable performance nonetheless. Probably the only thing that the Z’Gok absolutely couldn’t do was fight in space, which is why the job of selling Kannagi DVDs in the omake specials was left to Hanazawa and Tomato. =p Why the commander variant, you ask? Well, even Suigintou admits that she’s the boss, that’s why!

Here’s Miyukichi and her mecha counterpart:

まだまだ地．味．だ．NE！

MS-06F Zaku II “Mamimami”

Introduced early during the One Year War, the Zaku IIF was the most heavily mass-produced and well-known of Zeon's mobile suit forces. (176 cast entries listed on ANN. ‘Nuff said.) Technically designed to fight, and has fought, everywhere. (176 cast entries listed on ANN.) The actual mileage varies greatly depending on the theatre of operations though. Respectable performances can be observed for offensive ops in open terrain where the F-type has decent mobility (Moyashimon, Mnemosyne, Witchblade); or in defensive operations where it simply is not required to move much (School Rumble, Ichigo Mashimaro). On the other hand, the F-type is currently taking 3 long seasons to trudge through the dense jungles of Hellgirl with no sign of victory in sight. At least the promo video for いちぬけwith mamimami in a wedding dress was quite enjoyable. Then again, I was watching it at 2x speed for the very cute chipmunked mami voice.

Jungle green camo pattern for Earthside ops.

MS-14A Gelgoog “Tomato”

A next generation design intended as a replacement for the ageing MS-06F Zaku II (see above) as Zeon’s mainstay mobile suit. It eliminated 37,443 other designs, including the YMS-15 Gyan, during the 6th 東宝 Cinderella audition in 2006, which I believe is the codename of the tender for Zeon’s next-gen MS acquisition. It had a limited production run due its late introduction into the war, and subsequently had little role to play (24 since 2007 actually) in the war’s outcome. Served with distinction in the last battle at Kannagi in an AAM (Archaic Accent Moe) role. Reputed to be a high-performance MS on par with the RX-78 Gundam, though more exposure in theatre is required before we can accurately assess its capabilities. Nice legs, er I mean uh, beam rifle, a feature which its predecessor, the MS-06F, lacked (or did not want to show off for some reason, I dunno). This MS has much potential, and looks poised for mass production at zergling levels in the foreseeable future.

Really nice pair of beam rifles. Note the tummy bulge in both photos where the power plant is located.

A venerable Zaku IIF flanked by a prototype Gelgoog

GAT-X105 Strike “Rierie”

A product of the Earth Alliance’s secret project to develop mobile suits as a counter to ZAFT's mass-produced ZGMF-1017 GINN, the Strike is designed to operate in various configurations through the use of Striker packs. The MBF-02 Strike Rouge is an almost identical Orb copy of the original Strike.

GAT-X105+AQM/E-X01 Aile Strike

GAT-X105+AQM/E-X03 Launcher Strike


GAT-X105+AQM/E-X02 Sword Strike

MBF-02 Strike Rouge

GAT-X105E+AQM/E-X09S Strike Noir

GAT-X105+P202QX Strike IWSP

Note that the basic chassis is still largely recognizable even under the impressive armament load of the IWSP striker pack. That said, we are not really interested in how the IWSP pack was attached. In fact, we might even start denying the existence of the GAT-X105 chassis by claiming it’s actually the RX-78-2 in disguise.

Two more, just to piss off Kagamisumi:

MSN-02 Zeong “Emirin” (Note Promininent mouth cannon)

MSM-03 Gogg “Minorin” (Note pronounced ballast tanks)

This is the kind of post you would write if you spent the New Year holiday playing Giren no Yabou.

Bibliography:
Burke's All the World's Mobile Weapons
http://seiup.net/

The Limitations of OS Information

First up, we have Rierie news. After another 3 weeks’ absence on her blog, finally an update. Said she was too busy with work to update, ごめんねーー＾＾； Also said she’s got zero breaks during the whole of Dec, so it’s a real test of her stamina. Looks like we won’t be getting any more updates in Dec because of that, but she promised to work real hard on her anime, radio and TV programmes (that double R thingy) to make up for it.

Pic of Rierie with Koyama and Hirohashi, her Akasaka co-stars. Actually I wonder what she’s busy with since this season, besides the sucky Akasaka, she again did mostly ninja cameos, e.g Toradora, Yozakura. Contrast that to earlier this year when I could count at least four prominent roles off the top of my head (HnG, Kimikiss, Mnemosyne, KimiAru). Seems like a slump? Then again, she’s got other engagements like miucomi and stuff which I don’t bother tuning in to, so it might possibly be a shift in focus after the agency switch. Who knows?

Oh, mentioned she’s hosting the net radio for online game Get Amped 2 as well. Check out the voice samples on the game’s page. She sounds like a gangster Suigintou.

Speaking of gangsters I’ve started watching Gokusen on crunchy roll. Rather ancient (by internet standards) drama about a Yakuza daughter who becomes homeroom teacher to a bunch of high school delinquents. Hilarity ensues. Kind of like a female version of GTO. Kagamisumi will be interested to know that the female lead played by Nakama Yukie (below) sports jet black twin tails with megane.

There’s an anime version in 2004, but that’s ancient as well (again by net standards). Dun think I’ll be following up on the cartoon version cos it happens to be one of the few shows where I think the 3D actress looks better than the 2D character. Haha, rare point for the 3 dimensional.

Lastly, random Youtube stuff:
Mami says p*nis! And got told off by Ayako. Hahaha….
Saiunkoku OP live by Hirahara Ayaka. Hajimari no kaze. 声音酷酷的蛮喜欢.
愛しい人へ live, Seirei no Moribito ED by Tainaka Sachi. Love her songs, except the hideous ones for F/SN.

Waifu!

AHHHHH!

AHHHHH!

AHHHHHHHH!

Question: Identify the odd Ahhhhh out.

PS: That is Hirano Aya, deshou? My eyes aren't playing tricks on me at 2am, right?

いっぺん飛んでみる?

I see plenty of flighsuits during lunch but, unfortunately, none of them contain a Mamimami. Oh well. Is that suit on auction at eBay? Most prob not, what with the security issues and all.

Coming back to dusty old earth, my long-awaited Indonesian course finally started yesterday. The first lesson was full of fun stuff since we have yet to get to the grammar bits. The instructor, a jolly Indonesian lady, kind of took us on a verbal tour of Indonesia, with a bemusing emphasis on tourist spots. Guess it wouldn’t hurt to know where the prettiest girls can be found. (Java and Bali, according to our teacher. Obviously, she’s from one of these islands.)

Btw, I learnt that “kupu-kupu malam” (night butterfly) means commercial sex worker. Is that some piece of essential knowledge for, like, anyone on an overseas posting? I don’t really want to find out.

Bahasa Indonesia and Melayu are almost the same, yet different enough to give me a mini migraine. Like “kerata” is train and “lori” is a small train that carries sugarcane. Wow. And let’s not forget that “awak” might mean “I” in certain Indonesian provinces. Maybe it’s a good thing after all that I’ve forgotten 97.23% of my Malay.

The confusion doesn’t stop there though. The word “nakal” (naughty) came up and the first thing that came to my mind was “cry”. I realized it wasn’t 泣くonly a few seconds later, as in ひぐらしのなく頃に. Just hope I won’t be blurting out “Ini berapa desuka?” in class anytime soon.

バニーガール

Decided to sneak a peek at Rierie's blog before catching an episode of Yakuwhatshername Ryoko and ended up writing this instead.

Well, the first thing that greeted me on the page was バニーガール理恵 (who features in this month's copy of some seiyuu magazine i'll never cough up the cash for). Thanks to people with scanners and internet connections, that's no longer news to me. Actually i'm still undecided as to whether i like the pics or not. Somehow i feel bad staring at Bunny Rie.

Moving back one post, we get Rierie looking smart in a mansuit. Koyama Rikiya is in the pic as well but i don't think anyone cares. No, they're not trying to fuel a scandal (google "kakihara+noto"), they're pairing up to host a new seiyuu variety show called Club ATX Double R (Rie & Rikiya) which starts on 5 Oct. According to Rie, they're suppose to be a pair of aliens who go around abducting random seiyuu guests everyweek for some seiyuu mutilation fun.

This show sounds like it was inspired by the latest Gintama arc, where Monkey Hunter-crazy alien gamers abduct everyone and modify random body parts into screwdrivers so they can fix their PSP. Poor Gintoki got his penis upgraded into some kind of socket wrench with which he used to screw the aliens quite literally in the end. As far as i can see, Double R has got all the plot points covered, down to the Mon-Hun fanatic alien. Sounds fun, but I dun think anyone will be interested enough to upload the raws, much less sub it. I mean, mention Club ATX and all Kagamisumi can think of is Yanagino Reiko.

After about 137 posts, I realised that trying to write a proper conclusion to a piece which is essentially about nothing can be quite hard.

So let's just spam yukata pics. This is Rierie, btw. I think. If it's someone else, that's fine too. I'm a free thinker, which means i'm free to worship all the 女神 i want.

Gotou Saori, who plays Random Operator A in Zettai Karen Children. She's got the looks for an idol seiyuu, but me thinks her micky mouse voice kind of lets her down. Hasn't had any memorable roles either. Actually i'm paying so much attention only because we share the same birthday (and i think she's cute). Oh well, 後藤さん 加油！

That's 3 languages in one sentence, bcos i feel like i'm being outdone by Kagamisumi recently in the trilingualism department.

Enma Ai, ie 地獄少女 aka Mamimami. To side track somewhat, i made a typo in the previous sentence and ended up with 地獄処女. Let's sell them that idea for season three, might just give the series a much needed shot of epinephrine. To get back on topic (if there was one to begin with), Mamimami is cosplaying Enma Ai - in a way. Maybe she didn't mean to, since it's so easy to look like the character as long as you have long straight hair with bangs chopped straight across, wear a kimono and sound like a ghost. Guess we'll never know for sure.

MamiMami です

The 大将 just sent me this awesome picture. じ～～～

Seiyuu Appreciation 101

This is largely for Kagamisumi’s sake, so he’d better be taking notes ‘cos there’s a quiz coming up at the end of the post.

First and foremost, to appreciate a seiyuu, we’ve got to recognize her voice. I say “her” because, seriously, who gives a damn about the guys?

Let’s warm up with a really simple example.

Noto Mamiko, otherwise known as mamimami on this blog and everywhere else, is a good starter seiyuu, for the simple fact that she sounds the same.

In. Every. Single. Show.

The best way to start is to compare these fairly recent examples (you’ve got to go watch the shows yourself, no clips):

Enma Ai (Jigoku Shoujo)
Ichinose Kotomi (Clannad)
Yakumo (School Rumble)
Hecate (Shakugan no Shana)
Kazama Shinji (Full Metal Panic)

After watching these shows, you will most probably find that mamimami has one of the most recognizable voices in anime. Come to think of it, mamimami’s was one of the first seiyuu voices I managed to recognize. Playing “Spot the Noto Mamiko” was quite fun for a while.

If I had to put it in words, I would say mamimami’s roles are characterized by that very distinct airy wispiness, a quality she injects into her singing as well. (Apparently, she enjoys singing that way. The interview is somewhere on ANN.)

Interestingly enough, her voice loses 90% of the wispiness once she’s in spontaneous fast-talking mode. We are able to observe this phenomenon on radio shows and in interviews. Go figure. Here’s a clip from Witchblade Radio showcasing both the ghostly singing and non whispy fast-talk. Click here for clip. The other female voice belongs to her co-host Kanda Akemi.

Alright.

Now that we can recognise mamimami’s voice, the next step is to recognize her in photos, because appreciating (i.e. ogling) them is a big part of seiyuu fanboying.

The one on the left is mamimami. She’s got her hair pulled back in a (delicious) ponytail right here, but she does appear with her hair down quite often, in which case she would remind me of a French poodle. I think the first pic up there is a good example of the poodle look. Good pose too.

Notice I have sneaked Rierie into this post, because we can use every excuse we can get to upload pics of Rierie.

Ok, Quiz Time.

1) Name the following seiyuu.

If you can do it, congrats. You have passed Seiyuu Appreciation 101 with flying colours.

If you can’t, please go watch both very boring seasons of Jigoku Shoujo as homework.

Diary of an 11 year old

One evening, while I was at home doing my homework, I heard some people shouting outside. I ignored it and decided to continue solving those horrible calculus problems. Oh wait. I’m supposed to be in primary five. I can’t even do ratios, much less integrate. Anyway, I said what the fucking job and continued with my homework, whatever it may be.

Ok.

I lied.

I was dying to know what happened outside.

So I died.

And went to heaven, which comes complete with Hiro and Sae.

Henrietta and the boob fairy not included. That is a pleasure only hell can offer. Ero no Tsukaima. Tsk tsk.

It's amazing that i'm already getting a bit chubby after just 2 days, must be the high carbo meals served in the cookhouse. Well, at least it's FOC.

綾子ラブ！Seriously, i don't fanboy enough about Ayako.

And Rierie endorses CJ7, perfume and softener. I didn't know that CJ7 actually got renamed Miracle 7 in the Japanese release. So the mention of a Chinese geographical feature is too much for a fanatically nationalistic Japanese audience to take? Hehe. Btw, why is Rierie doing this for free instead of negotiating lucrative endorsement deals? Oh, i forgot she's too busy monster hunting. And that's why i wub her.

Ayako and Mamimami

Weird that Ayako's car is left hand drive. Japanese cars are RHD if i remember right (haha), but i did see quite a number of LHD cars on my trip to Osaka some years back. According to our guide, most of those are imported continental cars, which are preferred to the cheaper Japanese makes. Why? Expensive things make better status symbols. I wonder what the artist was implying. =)

Well, Ayako (and Mamimami) supposedly earns ¥6,000,000 a year, which translates into more than $5,000 monthly and that's assuming Japan has exorbitant tax rates. This is peanuts compared to the superstar singers/actors, but poor rierie earns only half of that. FYI, the annual costs for the army to employ a civilian executive with Specialist equivalent rank (read: typist/telephone receptionist) is about the same as rierie's annual earnings.

Therefore, i suggest they sack one of the more irritating chief clerks and hire rierie instead. They can let her man the army hotline; suicide rates among servicemen will drop to nothing. I'm sure even the most zetsubou NS boy will find new meaning in life after a chat with Maria/Lacus/Claudia. Or she can pull out her Suigintou act and scare off all the poor guys calling in to lodge complaints. Either way the army stands to gain.

Rierie can help out in disaster-relief operations too. The next time a space colony falls onto earth,
the army can broadcast videos of her singing Fields of Hope, thereby preventing mass hysteria and rioting. What the fuck, we might as well let her sing the next national day theme song too. Since we're all so enthusiastic about foreign talent nowadays i'm sure nobody will mind if one sings at the next NDP.

Hiring rierie is a freaking bargain really. If you had to choose between a bijin tsundere seiyuu and a cranky auntie who costs the same, who would you hire? The auntie of course! No one understands Japanese in the army (besides Major Irene). The vernacular there is more along the lines of KNN&(*&^$#@. Even the well manicured ladies strutting around on heels slip up at times and mouth the occasional "FO". Ah well.

Btw, if they sacked the Chief of Defence it would free up enough capacity to hire the entire cast of Hayate no Gotoku.

Random Seiyuu Rumours

Trawling Japanese forums netted some fishy trivia.

Rumour #1
Goto Yuko uploads pictures of herself bathing onto her blog.

To verify its veracity, I plowed through a hundred of her blog posts and found this:
Verdict: True, but I somehow felt cheated.

At least I found these as well.
Rumour #2
Noto Mamiko’s pantsu fell onto the balcony of the apartment downstairs when she hung them out to dry. She was too embarrassed to go ask for them so she left them where they were. This happened while she was still a trainee in seiyuu school.

I couldn’t verify that rumour with DNA sampling or even a pic of the garment in question, so these will have to do instead.
Verdict: I sure hope it’s not true. Poor Mamimami…

The mini-auction that followed this post on the forum was hilarious though. I think the bid for Mamimami’s pantsu went up to ¥40,000.

Rumour #3
Tanaka Rie has secretly married ZeoiNagePotato.

From left to right: Rie’s simple and elegant wedding dress; Rie just before boarding the shuttle for their honeymoon to the moon; Rie channeling her Maria persona as she enjoys her new life as Mrs. ZeoiNagePotato.

Verdict: 100% True. I should know.

Rumour #4
Horie Yui’s room is so dirty she dared not call the repairman when her air-conditioner broke down. Btw, Mamimami has got a pigsty of a room as well.

Does she look messy to you?

Verdict: This rumour is confirmed by Horie’s Wikipedia page, and we all know Wiki is the Most Reliable Source on the Internet. Anyway, women are messy, so it’s no surprise.

Rumour #5
Annual incomes:

Yamadera Kouichi ¥20,000,000 (Foreign movie dubs, Talent work)
Minaguchi Yuko　　　¥14,000,000 (Popular veteran, TV narration)
Inoue Kikuko　　¥12,000,000 (Veteran)
Horie Yui　　　¥12,000,000 (Higher fees due to popularity, CD royalties)
Tamura Yukari　　¥12,000,000 (Ditto, Concert earnings)
Mizuki Nana　　　¥10,000,000 (Ditto)
Seki Tomokazu　　　　¥8,000,000 (Popular)
Nogawa Sakura　　¥8,000,000 (CD, Concert earnings)
Kouda Mariko　¥8,000,000 (Ditto)
Iizuka Mayumi　　　¥8,000,000 (Ditto)
Tange Sakura　　　　¥8,000,000 (Ditto)
Suzumura Kenichi　　　¥6,000,000 (Popular)
Minagawa Junko　　　¥6,000,000 (CD earnings, popular)
Noto Mamiko　　 ¥6,000,000 (Narration in ads for big businesses)
Kawasumi Ayako　 ¥6,000,000
Mitsuishi Kotono　　　¥5,800,000
Hisakawa Aya　　　　¥5,500,000
Toyoguchi Megumi　　¥4,700,000
Noda Junko　　　¥4,100,000
Saito Chiwa　　　¥4,000,000
Shintani Ryoko　　　¥3,600,000
Sakurai Takahiro　　　¥3,500,000
Kaneda Tomoko　　　¥3,500,000
Sanada Asami　　¥3,400,000
Nonaka Ai　　　　¥3,400,000
Kawakami Tomoko　　¥3,400,000
Enomoto Atsuko　　　¥3,400,000
Asano Masumi　　　¥3,200,000
Tanaka Rie　　　¥3,200,000
Matsuki Miyu　　　¥3,200,000
Sawashiro Miyuki　　¥3,100,000
Hirohashi Ryou　　　　¥3,000,000
Kuwatani Natsuko　　　¥3,000,000
Takahashi Mikako　　¥2,800,000
Kobayashi Yumiko　　¥2,500,000
Shimizu Kaori　　　¥2,400,000
Itsuki Yui　　　¥2,300,000
Fukuen Misato　　　¥2,200,000

Verdict: Who would’ve thought Belldandy’s earnings might be twice that of Yakumo’s? Where the hell did they get these figures in the first place? The figures column looks like a sine wave rotated 90 degrees though.

Female Seiyuu Appearances 2005-2008

Number of anime appearances by female seiyuu from 2005-2008, listed in descending order. Numbers in brackets are for roles in 2008. Appearances in movies and OVAs not included (i think). Koped from here.

73　Noto Mamiko（14）
72　Watanabe Akeno（8 ）
66　Ohara Sayaka（7）
60　Kawasumi Ayako（5）Itou Shizuka（7）Kugimiya Rie（13）
58　Saito Chiwa（12）
57　Sawashiro Miyuki（8）
53　Kuwashima houko（8）
51　Ueda Kana（10）
50　Yukino Satsuki（5）Nazuka Kaori（12）
47　Toyoguchi Megumi（5）Kobayashi Yuu（7）
46　Hisakawa Aya（1）Kawakami Tomoko（5）Minagawa Junko（5）Satou Rina（12）
45　Chiba Saeko（8）Nabatame Hitomi（6）
43　Saiga Mitsuki（7）Fukuen Misato (5)
42　Kaneda Tomoko（2）Inoue Kikuko（3）
41　Horie Yui（7）Kadowaki Mai（4）Takahashi Mikako（7）Kobayashi Sanae（7）Hayamizu Risa（5）
40　Kobayashi Yumiko（6）
38　Koshimizu Ami（6）Shiraishii Ryoko（8）Yuzuki Ryoka（4）Katou Emiri（10）Neya Michiko（6）
37　Matsuki Miyu（4）Tamura Yukari（5）Yukana（5）Nakahara Mai（6）
36　Mizuki Nana（4）
35　Inoue Marina（8）Arai Satomi（7）Park Romi（7）
33　Fujimura Ayumi（9）Nonaka Ai（4）
31　Goto Yuko（7）Hirohashi Ryou（2）
30　Kaida Yuko（5）
29　Yahagi Sayuri（7）

I have no idea how comprehensive this list is, but it appears Mamimami rules the world of female seiyuu. No surprises there i guess. I’ve added a pic of her and her ichigo there on the right to like, celebrate her victory or whatever.

Need to point out that it's just a count of the number of shows though. Doesn’t matter whether a show had 3 or 300 episodes, it still counts as one. Kind of like Legolas fragging the elephant. And I believe the list even includes appearances as Passerby A and Female Student B, which explains the unexpectedly high numbers for relative newcomers like Katou Emiri who spent a few years playing various nameless roles here and there.

Btw, by my count, Tanaka Rie just missed making the list with 20+ shows.

School Rumble 3rd Semester

A promo video featuring Koshimizu Ami and Mamimami is now up on the official site.

It seems like episodes 25 and 26 of this new season will be bundled with the limited first edition of manga volumes 21 and 22, which will go on sale on 17 July and 17 September respectively. (If my Jap reading skill is not sucky enough to get it wrong that is.)

I thought this is kind of weird, since a quick look at the calendar tells me that the summer anime season should be starting around the beginning of July. Which means episode 25 will be released on DVD when the TV run is just 2 or 3 episodes in? That’s assuming SR3 airs in July, and that there’s a TV run to begin with. ANN has ominously labeled SR3 an OVA – I hate OVAs simply because they make me wait months (or even years) between episodes. *cough*Hellsing Ultimate*cough*

To sum it up, we are likely to see ep 25 before the series even starts, which isn’t a big deal really (see: TMOSH), so, ya, I have no point. Ami said recording work is already underway, I’m just secretly hoping they’ll crank out 3 episodes a week from now until July just in time for ep 25’s release.

Ya right.

And about it being an OVA: if this is true it’ll be the longest OVA I’ve seen in my very short life. Bet you 15 bucks ANN made a mistake. But hey, who knows? There might be some info on the page labeled “Broadcast News” at the SR3 official site, but I’ll have to say it’s very well hidden among the random stuff though.

I really hope SR makes it into the summer line-up, can’t wait anymore. First ep should be about Valentine’s Day if they’re following the manga closely. Yakumo’s handmade chocos!!! Too bad it’s for Harima, and he’s too busy stalking her cockroach sister. Wait… was that a *spoiler*?

Oops.

Other sequels on summer wish-list: Clannad After Story, HnG2, Marimite 4.

The Secret Behind the Whispers of 地獄少女

Apparently there's an ANNtv thing and this week they had an interview with Noto "my brothers are useless" Mamiko.

Right here: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/ann-tv/2008-03-01

For some reason the interviewer kept asking her questions about her singing. Just thought it was weird since her anime roles outnumber her songs like 100 to 1 or something. He did manage to uncover an interesting nugget of Mami info though.

Noto was asked if she sings in her trademark "whisper voice" bcos she has to stay in character and the reply was that's just the way she likes to sing. Her response was kind of amusing. I can't help but laugh when i imagine her in a karaoke box. Maybe we should have a Noto Mamiko karaoke album just like the Lucky Star one. It'll be tough to beat Hirano Aya's Sore ga Ai Deshou in the comedy department though.