Sup dawg, and welcome to my read-through of Chapter 171: Microphone and Script, in which we enter the final battle, which is not the final final battle, but is suitably climactic. And quiet.

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Microphone and Script Reaction

The Rules of the Game

At the Takagi household, Shujin fills Kaya in on the public audition. He explains that Hattori and he were against it, but Saiko was adamant about using it to select the best person for the role.

The broadcast for the event will start on April 22nd, and viewers will be allowed to place votes after all the voice actresses audition. Both the vote and broadcast will end on the 26th. Only one vote per cell phone. Kaya asks about the competition from Natara or other popular actresses. Shujin agrees, but Saiko went so far as to suggest that if she can’t pass this audition, she doesn’t have the right to play Naho. Shujin couldn’t argue with that.

Kaya thinks that’s pure Saiko, but she still thinks he’s being stubborn. Shujin and Saiko agree that Miho will get the role.

Meanwhile, at Prince8, the President is having a shit fit about the fact that the auditions are going to be publicized. They could have ridden the wave of success from the radio show and tabloid piece. Miho, however, thinks this will be the best way to get the actress they want.

The President sighs dramatically. His assistant thinks the competition will come from VAs who market themselves as Idols, likely to enter now that it’s partially a popularity contest.

It’s going to be tough.

The president despairs, although internally he jumps immediately to calculating max benefit for this: if she doesn’t get married, that’d be good, although he’s resigned to Miho getting married. The support is actually in favor of the marriage.

More importantly, she’s expressed an openness to other jobs that come after she gets this role.

Miho promises that the juice will be worth the squeeze and that she will get the role.

The Voice Actresses Prepare for Battle

At Oishi Offices, a manager explains to a classroom full of voice actresses that there is a ton of buzz for this role, and he wants all of the seiyuus to give it a shot. He explains they will send in their demos and that 20 people will take part in the audition. It is a breakthrough opportunity if they get it.

The girls are ready to go.

The guy holds up the Reversi script they have to practice for the audition. They’ll only be doing a small part, but it will be a lot of dialogue since it’s an audition. He wants them all to assume they’ll be auditioning.

The girls read and are shocked to find that there are enough lines of dialogue to talk for at least five minutes. Yikes.

He wishes them all luck.

He stops Otsuki as she leaves. He’s counting on her.

She accepts and casually explains that she will get the role. She knows it.

At Midori Productions, Natara thought that Miho was certainly going to get the role. Her manager notes that Natara is significantly more popular than Miho. He also knows that Natara and Miho are friends, but he wants Natara to give it her all regardless.

Natara’s a professional, and it would be disrespectful to Miho not to give her best effort.

Her manager notes that this is, in some ways, a referendum on who the most popular voice actress in the country is. He wants her to get the role.

She promises to do so.

The Announcement

Shujin looks at the advance issue of Jump featuring the advertisement for the public audition for Naho Minadori in Reversi. They’re making the announcement next week in Jump and on the website as well. Hattori reminds him that there will also be a television commercial for it. A three-minute spot on April 24th after Crow airs.

Shujin finds the length surprising. The more announcements they make, the more interest will be generated for the event. Shujin thinks that the general public and Jump readers getting the info will balance the scales of internet toxicity. Saiko listens in silence.

On April 7th, in issue 19 the announcement is released. The readers at the conbini are excited by the notion of a public audition. One reader thinks Natara is locked in for the role, his friend thinks it’s going to be Otsuki

Meanwhile, Ishizawa (hiss) reads the anonymous boards. The users assume that there will be votes that are not related at all to the audition itself. One user thinks Natara – who is 27 – has aged out and is out of the running. Someone wishes Azu-kyun good luck.

While everyone bets on their favorite horse (absolutely heinous metaphor, but not inappropriate), the anonymous boards note a site doing its own voting.

Preliminary Votes

Shujin is on his laptop, looking kinda rough. Kaya asks to see what’s up and looks at a test vote for the Reversi audition. Natara is in first place, and Miho is in 5th place.

Woof.

Kaya starts freaking out and wonders if this audition is a good idea.

Shujin points out that this is preliminary and nothing has been streamed yet. Only hardcore fans take part in things like this. Once it streams, he’s confident Miho will get first place. Kaya berates Shujin for looking at this if that’s the case, and he apologizes. Kaya wonders what to say to Miho to cheer for her.

Shujin thinks that if Miho isn’t looking for support, she probably should refrain.

On April 21st, Saiko and Shujin look out at their balcony, preparing for the big day. Saiko is quiet. Shujin thinks it might, in fact, be more difficult for a middle schooler VA to get the role of the anime for her dream than for a middle school boy to publish his manga and get it serialized.

Saiko wonders what Shujin is trying to say.

He’s just recognizing how extraordinarily difficult their dream has been to accomplish. Regardless, Miho will get her shot at her dream tomorrow. It’s amazing.

Saiko thinks about that: they should be happy they’ve even gotten this far. Shujin meditates on the sheer difficulty of pursuing either career. The graveyard of people who gave up their dreams is massive.

Saiko wonders if Shujin is trying ot soften the blow on any potential failure of Miho to get the part. Shujin is confident that she will get the role; he’s just marveling at how close to impossible the dream is in real life. It’s really amazing.

Yeah. Isn’t that something?

Shujin remembers what Miho said about supporting people who strive for their dreams on her broadcast. He thought it was an amazing statement. Saiko asks why.

It’s because it sounded like Miho knows her dream is close to impossible, and she wanted to give people who were pursuing their own dreams hope by pursuing her own.

They pause and look outside. Shujin asks whether Saiko has talked to Miho about tomorrow. Nope. Is he gonna? Nah, he doesn’t need to tell her anything. Shujin assumes it’s cause they are on the same frequency.

Preparation

At the Azuki household, Miho looks at the script for Reversi. Mina comes in and knocks second. Miho scolds her, but Mina walks up to her sister and asks if she’s going to be lonely when her big sis goes away. Miho thinks she’s being premature with her assessment. Mina thinks she needs to get it done already.

She gives her a good luck charm she got from the Yushima Tenjin Shrine. It’s a good luck charm for academics, but she thinks it’ll be fine. Miho thanks Mina for the gift.

Mina also announces dinner is ready. Miyuki made a feast: pork katsu, pork cutlet, pork cutlet sandwich, pork on rice, and a victory bird. Plus pasta with hopes that you’ll pass the audition.

Mina jokes that it’s going to be impossible to eat all this good luck food and tease her mom. Miyuki explains it’s the only thing she can do for her daughter.

Miho’s moved by the gesture.

The day has come

On April 22nd, the day of the audition, Miho arrives at a crowd wishing her luck and also castigating her for her relationship with Saiko. They admonish her not to cheat. Her handler tells her not to sweat it.

He drops her off in the room filled with the hopefuls doing vocal warm-ups.

Natara greets her warmly while another hopeful gossips with someone: she heard from the sound director that Azuki is not going to get the role. Her gossip partner agrees, it’s pretty unfair. Natara pushes her to sit elsewhere, away from the gossip. They also note that the Sound Director has more say than the director in casting actresses.

Otsuki greets both Natara and Miho and thanks Miho for setting this stage for them: she’s going to win with the spotlight on her for the first time instead of her usual quiet victories.

How lovely.

At the same moment, Mrs. Goda, an older actress, arrives. Some girls ask if she’s really auditioning for the role. They think with Goda in the running, they truly stand no chance at victory. Goda politely encourages them: she’s just there to audition. But privately, she thinks she’s going to annihilate these inexperienced girls. She was called because the staff knows that.

Otsuki, however, muses that it’s impossible for someone as old as Goda to get this part when it’s for a high school student. Why’d she even bother to come? Besides, Otuski’s going to prove she’s the most popular and skilled voice actress of the bunch with the audition.

Otsuki greets Goda, and Goda compliments Otsuki on her success. Otsuki chalks it up to Goda’s mentorship.

An assistant comes to explain the procedures to the girls: everyone is going to enter the recording room when their name is called. They are asked to begin when the red light on the video camera in front of the camera starts to shine. There is no need to say which agency, but they should say their number and name clearly. They also have ten seconds to say anything to the viewers and staff.

Watching Submissions

Kaya asks if they can watch it on the TV. Slowly turning into a Dad, Shujin explains they can do so by hooking up the computer to the TV and using it as a monitor.

Kaya doesn’t understand.

They hook it up and he asks her to can it while they watch. She thinks the crew is taking too long to explain everything.

Finally, Number 1 – Mikan Tanaka – appears. Kaya thinks she’s cute. Tanaki gives a generic “I’ll do my best if I win” so support me message. One of the group doesn’t remember being among the voice actresses. She’s a hot new property who got fifth in the popularity contest. She’s getting a lot of attention these days.

Her delivery is rated as good! they all remember he’s still a voice actress. She asks “What is Weiss?” Kaya wonders whe Miho is coming online. She’s already bored.

Oh, Kaya, you.

Kaya, while munching on an onigiri, wonders if that means she’s not very good.

At the Ishizawa residence, Otsuki, from Office Oishi, comes on. Ishizwaa thinks no one has been very good yet. Otsuki introduces herself and makes a sarcastic remark about it being her dream to play the heroine in Ashirogi sensei’s work.

The chat room thinks that Otsuki’s in character, although some think the tactic will bite her in the ass. Others think it’s fine. This is a battle, and she’s just trying to get an edge over Miho. She’s playing to her brand. Plus a sense of humor.

At Fukuda’s, Yasuoka is impressed by Goda’s audition. She’s a vet for sure. Ashirogi watches in silence.

Meanwhile, Miho sits quietly and thinks about Saiko. She also thinks that the tables have finally turned for her and her lover. He’s waiting for her.

She’s finally called in and is asked to get ready.

She stands up and walks in, but Natara notices that she didn’t bring the script with her. Natara also notices that Miho hasn’t taken any notes or seemed to have marked her script at all.

Miho introduces herself as Number 7 and prepares to deliver her lines as the chapter concludes.

Microphone and Script Reaction

A Calm Before the Storm Chapter

You know what, this was a really lovely little breather chapter. But not that kind of breather. Well, kinda that kind of breather, but not that breather breather that…breathes.

Iunno.

Even if this isn’t ultimately my favorite chapter, I’m still okay with how lowkey and quiet it is. And it’s really interesting to me how some chapters can feel loud, or angry, or stressful, or wide-eyed, but it’s lines on a page and values in black and white and grey. That’s magic, man.

But this chapter was heavy on whites and light tones, and it was very quiet. I mean, sure, we were introduced to Natara, Otsuki – called it – and Tanaka and Goda – distinctly did not call it. But this was an eye of the storm chapter. Just a moment of respite for our weary travelers. It’s like the night before a big battle where everyone anticipates the action to come, but for that reason, everything feels quieter, more tense, more intimate.

It was a bit scattershot, but not in a bad way. We got introduced to a bunch of factions. And I have a feeling we might luck out and have the next chapter kinda definitely conclude this arc and lead into a final final conflict with Eiji or Jump – more on that in a speculation-y part.

But yeah.

Miho’s still the protagonist of this stretch of the story, and she does it with aplomb. She’s always been a quiet character, so seeing how she reacts to this stress – wth grace, humility, and quiet certainty – is a nice study in contrast with Saiko, who has, historically, been brash, in your face, and intense about everything.

But she’s a good girl, not the best girl – that distinction is 100% cute, cute Kaya, and nothing will ever change that.

But she aight.

This is kind of a weird little mini-arc within an arc, partially because it’s only for a chapter or two, and it has to wrap up quickly.

Maybe Jump put the screws on Ohba and Obata to end the damn series since that was their goal. But some of this feels a little rushed.

And I’m not really complaining. I don’t think I could care about Otsuki’s sarcasm or Natara’s cuteness for more than two minutes unless this were a series about voice acting and how hard it is. If that were the case, that’d be different.

BUT WE’RE A MANGA SERIES.

Anyway. I’m btiching about it still because we’re painfully close to a conclusion.

But

A Lot of Good Character Work Regardless

Even though I don’t give a shit about this outside of the context of Saiko’s dream, I do love how much insight we get into the world of being a voice actress from this little snippet.

I also like how the character designs subtly indicate the temperament of the voice actresses.

Time for a brief monologue on character design basics (which is as far as I ever got).

The three basic shapes in character design are Squares, Circles, and Triangles. Each are used to convey a particular emotional characteristic – this character is kinda villainous? More triangle shape language. This character is meant to evoke friendly feelings/ Mix up the roundness of circles with some squares, baybeee.

And so on.

And Otsuki – as well as Goda – are both depicted as having sharper features and a more prominent triangle-shaped Jawline. And, at least in Otsuki’s case, she’s the most actively antagonistic of the voice actresses in competition.

But what’s interesting about her antagonism is that it is both sincere and part of her brand. She’s playing to her audience to get the most votes possible. Goda, the veteran, is also playing up her brand by being the matronly, mature veteran who is a master of the craft, politely cultivating talent around her and being encouraging while secretly annoyed and contemptuous of them.

She also has a few more lines around her face, indicating she’s older. Although given the fact that people call Natara old at 27, I assume she’s in her mid-thirties or something.

Sigh.

But Natara – in addition to having softer features in her design also has bigger, more elaborately drawn eyes, which give off an air of innocence and charm. Same with Tanaka. And it’s no coincidence that it’s friendly with Miho in a general way rather than more openly antagonistic.

So even though we’re only getting cameos of these figures, it’s still nice to see a lot of thought has been put into these designs to get the maximum effect out of them, even if they’re functionally cameos.

It also does a good job of suggesting how huge the world of voice acting is unto itself and the various struggles one might experience if we were to do a series purely about voice actresses.

Speaking of

The Sound Directors and the Agencies

Yeah, this part was actually pretty nifty. The fact that the sound director has the keys to the kingdom is such a minor detail that makes perfect sense. The sound director has to actually work with the voice actresses while the director and the producer have to oversee everything. It makes sense that the sound director wants to work with the voice actresses they’re soliciting. Not only that, if they think the voice actress won’t work, I wouldn’t be surprised if they throw a hissy to make sure they don’t work on the production

As for other cool little elements, I have auditioned for things in the past, and I made a callback once, but I’ve also been an extra on films, and the weirdly objectifying nature of it was captured pretty well here. The tired administrator who needs everyone to follow instructions to the letter. the catty infighting. The very specific instructions that must be followed or chaos will follow.

Very accurate.

And then there were the agencies.

Even though I found the President at Prince8 in peak scumbag form this chapter – the calculations on his possibilities with Miho were disturbing – it was interesting to see how larger agencies – like Oishi – treat their talent. It felt like a classroom.

And it was also cool to see how the voice actresses are able to eye a script and figure out approximately how much dialogue is in any given sequence. Just knowing how to peg that an episode might have 5 minutes of dialogue is actually really impressive and probably one of those skills you don’t realize you need until you are working in the field.

And also, 5 minutes of dialogue is absurd. I think people don’t really recognize how little actors are doing in any given episode at any given time. That isn’t to say there aren’t characters who have lots of dialogue. But in a 20-minute episode, 5 minutes of dialogue is a quarter of the episode’s run time. That’s ridiculous.

It’s also a nice little nod to Ohba’s habit of being dense as hsit and making summarizing these chapters an absolute headache.

Maybe I’ll write about a series that doesn’t rely on so much goddamn dialogue.

ANYWAY

These little flourishes – to the way the agencies handled their talent, to the message boards tracking things, and the preliminary polls about who is going to win were all really well done.

Plus

Who IS going to win?

Now, given how close we are to the conclusion, I really fucking hope it’s Miho. Like it might be a little narratively unsatisfying. But I just want her to win, goddamn. She’s probably going to win. And I hope it’s next chapter.

But I gotta be real with you, dawg, she might not.

The see-saw of the last few chapters and the battle with Eiji have done a really effective job of introducing uncertainty into the story. It’s not clear to me that Miho has this in the bag.

Now, given all the setup, there is a very good shot she will win. She was literally practicing the lines from the series when this arc began like, over 7 weeks ago. Sigh. From the manga itself.

But I don’t know one hundred percent.

There was also a weird moment where Tanaka said “Weiss” instead of Schwarz. But I thought that the sequence they’re reading from was about Schwarz. Confusing.

Anyway.

I’m worried.

And that cliffhanger was an absolute headache because I want to see what happens next. I want to see how Miho does, and I want her to win.

But even though we mostly know victory is assured, it’s still not entirely certain to me. And that’s a good thing, because it keeps me interested.

Maybe I’m overstating things because this is a climactic moment to her arc and would resolve everything pretty neatly. But still. Iunno.

Now, do I want this to go on for the remainder of the series? Fuck no. I hope, if it’s resolved next chapter, that we get a little bit from Saiko in Chapter 173 that goes “and then she got cast” and then we move onto the final beats of the series, which we are now in.

But she’s built for the role, I should be more confident. And the series is also showing how the other actresses aren’t quite cutting the mustard on it, which is a good sign. Otsuki might have shot herself in the foot with her sarcasm, too. But we’ll see.

Speaking of the end of the series

Saiko’s Role is Reversed

Shujin was much more active this chapter than Saiko in keeping the narrative moving, but that makes sense since he’s an outside observer.

But I’m glad the series at least acknowledges that the dream these two knuckleheads have pursued is functionally impossible. And I like the little added note that auditioning ot be the voice actress might be the hardest part.

Even though I’m chill with the plot line at this point *character development baby*, it’s such a borderline impossible dream that I couldn’t stand that we are still going for it for this entire series. So to see Shujin obliquely note how hard it is to accomplish is something Ifuck with. Even more than getting a manga.

But Saiko was mostly quiet. Because here’s nothing for him to do but wait. And it’s cute to see how Miho thinks about that and recognizes that now she has to come through for her future hubby.

I also loved the sequence with Mina – who is now a teenager – and Miyuki. She has such a lovely little family who are going to miss her when she gets married. It’s adorable.

I also didn’t realize there was such a thing as a good luck dish. But I guess there is. The more you know. And it’s all pork. How about that? The good luck charm was a nice little touch, too.

Do I think Saiko’s being stubborn, as Kaya said?

Well, I’m currently in a sort of space where I’m in the same mindset as Saiko: aim for the best. Be the best. Settle for nothing less. And this is a good way to prove it.

I have fully drunk the Shonen Kool-Aid, so I’m okay with it.

But it is harsh. But then again, setting high standards for yourself is something that we all should do. To get the best and demand the best isn’t a sin. Being a dick about it is. But not wanting and working towards it.

And now we’re on the cusp of whether Miho is going to nail it or not. Personally, I think she’s going to be fine and do her best, and I imagine the sequence we saw at the beginning of the arc with her lines will play into it.

But I guess we’re just going to have to see.

Stray Thoughts:

–Ishizawa has not yet disappeared. Goddamn, I hope he gets a haymaker

–The announcement of the magazine was a nice touch. And I didn’t have a good place to shoe-horn it into the flow of the blog. But they’re going to even out the internet’s worst impulses by having normal people engage. That’s a good thing. I approve.

–Speaking of the internet: they’re still awful, but it’s nice to see pockets of resistance against the haters supporting Miho at this juncture.

–Natara seems sweet. The rest of the voice actresses, not so much.

–I should have looked at that popularity poll closely to see Mikan Tanaka. Love the name, especially if the Mikan here is the same as “Orange”

–Kinda conflicted on the name Oishi office since Oishi means tasty. Oy

–Shujin hooking up the computer ot the TV to watch the internet is the most peak example of this series being from 2012. God, the memories of hooking up your laptop with an HDMI cable are forever ingrained in me.

Until next time,

Peace