Sexiness in Voice Acting
Actually, this post is just my take of the Mai-Otome seiyuu cast interview video included with the first volume DVD release. If you want some intelligent writing about the topic, check over here. There not be a grain of competent thinking going on in this blog!
Mika Kikuchi as Arika Yumemiya.
If only I didn’t think of her recent role, Mokona from Tsubasa Chronicle, everytime Arika talks. Seems like Mika basically uses her normal voice to voice act, though pitched slightly higher to the almost annoying level. It will be great to see what future roles she may do; hopefully more mature and varied characters than simply the genki ones so far.
Looks: 5 out of 5
Voice: 2 out of 5
Ami Koshimizu as Nina Wang.
Loved Ami ever since her role as Tenma in School Rumble so to hear her do a more mature character like Nina had me jumping in joy. She really can’t do any wrong in my eyes ever since her perfect Tenma performance and I’m enjoying her work as Nina to boot. Only wish she wouldn’t use her “deep mature” voice so much as of late; her role in Lemon Angel Project has her using the same exact voice though the characters are somewhat similar. And if anything else, we know Ami can nail a loving if highly disturbing “Father” line without missing a beat.
Looks: 4 out of 5
Voice: 4 out of 5
Yukana as Mashiro Blan de Windbloom.
I have to give credit where credit is due as Yukana nails doing the bratty Mashiro to a T! Good to hear she can do a commanding character ala Mashiro in Mai-HiME or a spoilish brat without breaking a sweat. It’ll be funny if Fumi, once she reappears, is also vastly different than her Mai-HiME counterpart and what Yukana will do to portray that.
Looks: 4 out of 5
Voice: 3 out of 5
Minami Kuribayashi as Erstin Ho.
Awesome singer and good voice actress. Can play “kind tragic” female characters as if she was born for the roles. I just can’t stand her face! I could not look at her face for more than a second before I had to either pause the video or look else where. Looks aside, I’m hoping good things for Minami as it’d be great to hear her voice more diverse roles like a Natsuki or Shizuru in the future. And I guess if anything else, at least she can sell songs pretty well.
Looks: 2 out of 5
Voice: 3.5 out of 5
Saeko Chiba as Natsuki Kruger.
It’s Saeko Chiba voicing Natsuki again, enough said. 
Looks: 4 out of 5
Voice: 4.5 out of 5
Naomi Shidoh as Shizuru Viola.
It’s Naomi Shidoh voicing a Natsuki lovin’ kick-ass-and-take-names Shizuru again, enough said (twice).
Looks: 3 out of 5
Voice: 4.5 out of 5
Junko Iwao as Akane Soir.
Junko got her wish (watch the Mai-HiME fandisc)! Good to hear the girl get more speaking lines this time around.
Looks: 3 out of 5
Voice: 3 out of 5
Mitsuki Saiga as Chie Hallard.
Mitsuki was made for Chie’s character and considering she usually plays guys’ characters, a flirtish Chie was perfect for her. Still good to hear Mitsuki in some actual female roles for once (the only other off the top of my mind is the teacher from Ichigo 100%).
Looks: 2 out of 5
Voice: 4 out of 5
Sakura Nogawa as Shiho Huit.
Sakura really needs to play more off the wall characters! She nails them perfectly! Also good that she’s not doing an Onii-chan pining character for once… she does good work but I hate the Onii-chan loving characters she plays. 
Looks: 4 out of 5
Voice: 3.5 out of 5
Ryoka Yuzuki as Haruka Armitage.
Ryoka seriously rocks whatever character she voices. I’m also amazed at how diverse her vocal range is when one compares her recent works. Haruka, however, definitely has to be her funniest character and one can tell she’s enjoying voicing the girl 
Looks: 3.5 out of 5
Voice: 4 out of 5
Mamiko Noto as Yukino Chrysant.
Love Mamiko’s voice, just wish she wouldn’t get typecasted so much. Unfortunately Yukino is standard Mamiko-fare though that doesn’t mean she nor the character isn’t any good. Just nothing special ’tis all. I’m still waiting for Mamiko to play an aggressive sexy female character ala Satsuki from Ichigo 100%. Mamiko needs to be able to use her voice at 100% sexiness gosh darn it!
Looks: 4.5 out of 5
Voice: 4 out of 5
Kumiko Higa as Irina Woods.
Not bad but has few lines so not much I can say about her. Sorry.
Looks: 3 out of 5
Voice: 3 out of 5
Rie Tanaka as Tomoe Marguerite.
Finally get to see what Lacus Meer Chii Sei Suigintou Rie Tanaka looks like! Sad her interview was like the shortest out of the group but good to see what she looks like at last. Interestingly enough, her normal voice hints at the various roles she has played as its a middle ground between the extremes. Still need more evil Suigintou IMO though
Looks: 3.5 out of 5
Voice: 4.5 out of 5
Kimiko Koyama as Yayoi Alter.
Whoa… her actual voice is that naturally high pitched? Scary.
Looks: 2.5 out of 5
Voice: 3 out of 5
Yui Itsuki as Miya Clochette.
Didn’t realize Yui also voices Moe from Da Capo until I was doing the lookups in ANN. I guess because she normally plays “normal” characters that her work as Moe was the only one that struck out. Wouldn’t mind hearing Yui’s character Miya go all Kaede on Tomoe for revenge for screwing her over though. That or Miya suddenly gets a hobby in nabi cooking…
Looks: 3 out of 5
Voice: 3 out of 5
Ai Shimizu as Mikoto.
The poor girl! Out of all the returning Mai-HiME cast, her character changed the most! I’ll give her credit for being able to do a good cat voice as that must wreck havor on your throat. Well at least Ai has a few other speaking roles this season in other series to tie her over.
Looks: 3.5 out of 5
Voice: 3 out of 5
Ryoko Shintani as Aoi Senoh.
The maid that truly rules Windbloom Typical Ryoko role that she nails without problem. I want Ryoko to get more diverse characters dang it! Love her happy go lucky characters but I want to hear variations in her voice too you know!
Looks: 3.5 out of 5
Voice: 3.5 out of 5
Kikuko Inoue as Yukariko Steinberg.
I’m starting to think they modeled Midori’s “youthful” qualities from Kikuko. I swear she jokingly introduced herself as being 17 years old just like Midori does in Mai-HiME! Anyway, another standard fare for the voice of Belldandy for those that aren’t sick of it yet. Tis good and all but nothing all-inspiring, sorry to say.
Looks: 3 out of 5
Voice: 4 out of 5
Akiko Kimura as Yohko Helene.
Finally meet the good doctor’s voice actress. Took long enough.
Looks: 3 out of 5
Voice: 3 out of 5
Akira Ishida as Nagi Dai Artai.
AAAAAAATTTTTHHHHRRRRRRRUUUUNNNNNNNN!!! er… I mean Akira. Finally got to put a face to the voice. I usually enjoy his non-high pitched roles but I’ll admit, he does a fine job portraying an evil Nagi even with the annoying voice. Ironically enough, for those that watch Law of Ueki, Akira and Kira’s seiyuu are teamed up again as characters friendly with each other. Luckily neither of them are out for blood from the other…
Looks: 3 out of 5
Voice: 3.5 out of 5
Kiyomi Asai as Miyu.
Surprised Miyu’s seiyuu Kiyomi got some talk time. Not necessarily a bad thing but why her and not say, Yukari Tamura or Sergay’s seiyuu Katsuyuki Konishi instead? Anyway at least it’s good to know Miyu will have a role in Mai-Otome.
Looks: 3 out of 5
Voice: 3 out of 5
February 6th, 2006 at 12:56 am
Akira Ishida uses the same damn voice for Mutsumi 623 in Keroro. I keep thinking that he’s going to egg Angel Mois into destroying the world.
Inoue Kikuko always introduces herself as “Jyuunanasei desu!” There’s a segment explaining this on the first R1 A!MS DVD.
February 6th, 2006 at 1:09 am
Ah… figured it was some sort of gag. Thanks for clearing that up for me jason!
(doesn’t own the A!MG DVDs)
February 6th, 2006 at 2:34 am
Why does the majority of the female seiyuu look like they just saw the Ring?
February 6th, 2006 at 6:47 am
> Love Mamiko’s voice, just wish she wouldn’t get typecasted so much… I’m still waiting for Mamiko to play an aggressive sexy female character.
I think she did pretty well as Hazuki in Yamibou. Not aggressive enough for ya, moy?
February 6th, 2006 at 11:20 am
Wait, no voice credit for Serge Wang? (Probably butchered that spelling)
I love how there’s ONE guy in the entire cast.
February 6th, 2006 at 2:25 pm
I remember seeing this on R8’s site, who only covered a few of the actors. Mika Kikuchi is very cute. Oh, I really want that big Mikoto cat!
February 6th, 2006 at 6:03 pm
bakaboobie, thank my great screencapping skills for that?
Zyl, forgot about that one. May have to rewatch the series one day now that I know about the goodness that is Mamiko Noto.
February 6th, 2006 at 7:15 pm
Moe = Miya? Oh man…
Well, those are much higher scores than I’d have given the majority of them, but it’s nice to see another Mika fan. The other pics of her you linked to a while back were better though
February 6th, 2006 at 7:22 pm
You have graded them highly on looks. If I had graded them on their physical appearance, it would be between the 0/5 to 2/5 range.
February 6th, 2006 at 8:37 pm
I factored in a few qualities when rating on looks:
1. This is their normal everyday appearance. Usually +1 when women actually dress to kill
2. Most of the cast are in the early 20s to late 30s. Not exactly expecting smokin’ hotties here.
3. They’re Japanese. Japanese people on the average aren’t that good looking.
4. Would feel bad about giving zeroes, as in reality based on my actual “high standards” scale, 3/4 of ‘em would’ve gotten zeroes. Then again, my standards on appearance are insanely and unrealistically high.
5. They’re Japanese. Japanese people on the average aren’t that good looking.
February 6th, 2006 at 11:01 pm
hey, that’s not too nice to say of JPN :P. Anyways, yeah, i also found that your rating was too high and you should’ve been an @SS :D. Like Kuribayashi Miname and Shidoh Naomi…WTF? haha. Anyways, i capped the ones i dug. Tanaka Rie usually looks pretty good but she wasn’t in this feature :cry:, Chiba Saeko still rules all :D.
February 6th, 2006 at 11:43 pm
I agree with a few of the ratings, but some of the VAs are…eek. Shizuru’s and Natsuki’s in particular.
Luckily it does not affect my ShizNat (/4chan) ideals.
February 9th, 2006 at 8:05 pm
Wow…if most seiyuu look like that, I fear for what my favorite female seiyuu, Satsuki Yukino, might look like. Anyways, I had no idea Minami Kuribayashi did voice acting. I also saw a video for one of her songs before, and she looked a lot better than in this one.
February 17th, 2006 at 10:58 am
>> Wow…if most seiyuu look like that, I fear for what my favorite female seiyuu, Satsuki Yukino, might look like.
http://i1.tinypic.com/nybwhc.gif
She just so happens to be my favorite seiyuu, too. And I’m convinced that there are no good photos of her anywhere
February 19th, 2006 at 12:24 am
Yeesh…a good orthodontist could make a fortune off that room.
May 12th, 2006 at 11:01 pm
Did you make those ugly caps intentionally? Haha I was shocked to see their real faces after I have seen their studiotaken pictures. Makeup is a weapon of mass deception.
But if you taken pictures when people are talking, it is highly likely that their faces will be contorted. Come on they’re not so ugly!
Besides, some of them look average but with their voices, can surely score with the guys.
June 21st, 2006 at 6:04 am
If you want to see a ‘pretty’ (more like smokin hot) seiyuu, than Asakawa Yuu it is, I watched her on both of the Love Hina concert, and she’s definitely the hottest of all, whereas Horie Yui would score 4/5, she would easily topple her by 8/5. It was a few years back then, don’t know how she looks now…
March 31st, 2007 at 12:27 pm
“They’re Japanese. Japanese people on the average aren’t that good looking.”
Yeah, I’m sure a lot of folks beside myself would take issue with that opinion. So, are like the Chinese or Thai better looking than Japanese on average or something? Japan’s dental coverage I hear is comparable to Britain’s, which may be a sometimes factor in looks though.
Oh yes, there are those who’d say rating Mamiko’s looks as better than Rie Tanaka’s as blasphemy.
June 24th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
woooooooooo0oow, gracias!! XDDD
August 18th, 2008 at 2:17 am
I liked Akira Ishida more as Kotaro Katsura in Gintama.