Are you chasing a dream? Futaba, Ichigo, and Rin are chasing their dreams to be Seiyuu, and it’s been an amazing journey. Sore Ga Seiyuu! begins mainly by informing the viewer about how voice acting works and various parts of the industry. If that’s your interest field, it will immediately pull you in. As the story progresses though, the drama and reality overflows out and it becomes beautiful. Futaba is a character that is relatable for anyone struggling to pursue their passions, and her story is both convincing and high caliber. If you’re interested in characters that actually develop, and interesting plot, and music: Sore GaSeiyuu! is for you. I think it’s truly rare to find an anime that focuses on realism to the same degree as this one, and I hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I have! Story (9) Art (8) Sound (9) Character (7.5) Enjoyment (8) Overall (8.5)

I didn't have high hopes for this anime at first. Like so many other slice of life anime, I assumed it'd be dull and uninteresting. I'm happy to say that I was wrong though. I really enjoyed learning about the ins and outs of being a seiyuu. The characters were relatable, and I appreciate the fact that the trials and troubles of the characters were realistic. The art is nothing to write home about, although I appreciate the wide variety of character designs. The music was alright and fit the overall feeling of the show, but I wasn't too impressed with that either. If you enjoy educationalanime, I'd definitely recommend trying this one. It's informative while still being entertaining and cute.

Sore ga Seiyuu! (or Seiyuu's Life), is a series made for people who wants to learn more about how being a voice actor is like, at least in Japan. As someone who got into the seiyuu fandom right before discovering this anime, it came out just about at the perfect time for me. It's a shame that this show is underrated and did not get much attention in the summer season, which is when it was aired, for the reason that there were a lot of other shows that caught viewers' attention. The story focuses on Futaba, a novice seiyuu that has only two yearsto prove to her agency that she have the potential to be a long working seiyuu, even years into the future. Being inexperienced, Futaba does not have a lot of confidence in her skills and abilities as a voice actor. However, as she got more and more voice acting jobs, she met many people that she was able to learn from. These people include Ichigo and Rin (who she became close friends with through work throughout the series) Hikari, who always gives advice to Futaba--not sugarcoating what she tells her, as well as professional seiyuus like, Ryouko Shiraishi (the voice of Hayate in Hayate no Gotoku). Despite her flaws, I found Futaba to be a likable character for the reason that she's really realistic. Even though her voice isn't all that unique and/or stands out from others, she's hard working; the fact that she really tries to do all kinds of different voices (a robot, a young female warrior, a soothing narrator, a young boy) transcends being naturally talented. (***Potential spoilers.***) I was really impressed with the audition that she had in one of the earlier episodes--where she imagined herself as a female warrior in order to try and draw out the best voice that she could do to depict the character she was auditioning for. It was interesting to see the image that she had of the female warrior, and how the scenario would look like in her mind. (***Potential spoilers section over.***) If there's any cons about the characters, it would be that the show didn't have any original male seiyuu characters as one of the protagonists--or at least as one of the reoccurring supporting characters. On the plus side, the guest male seiyuus' perspectives and advice for the newer, younger generation of seiyuus was refreshing to see. Also, adding onto that, a pleasant surprise for this series would be that they have actual professional and/or well known seiyuus as guest stars (males and females included). A seiyuu who's likely the most recognizable out of all the guest stars would be Hiroshi Kamiya-san; so if you're a fan of his, his appearance(s) would be something to look forward to. The three main protagonists were likable, however, my favorite characters from Sore ga Seiyuu!! would probably be Hikari and Konno-san. They were both characters that didn't necessarily get a lot of spotlight, but were likable even with the limited screen time they were given. Konno-san did get a whole episode focused on her; prior to the episode, I didn't know that managers not only work with seiyuu themselves but also production companies. Hikari, on the other hand, did not get a whole episode focused on her, but there was a scene where she gave valuable advice to Futaba that I found to be very memorable and educational. (***Potential spoilers.***) In episode 6, Futaba was low in spirits as she found out that she did not get called back to do the voice of one of the main protagonists for a drama CD she voiced when her career have just started. In response to Futaba, Hikari told her this: "...if the production company changes, or there are budget issues, the cast can often change between the drama CD and the anime. On top of that, they never tell you the changes ahead of time. It's painful, but it's something all seiyuu experience. ...You know, it doesn't matter to the audience if you're depressed, or hurting. No matter what happens, you have to do your work with everything you have. A family member might be in the hospital, or a pet might have died. But because it's work, no one lets that show in their attitude. That's the least a seiyuu can do to prepare for work. I think it would be rude to your fellow seiyuu otherwise. To do what is expected of you under any circumstance. That's what a professional does." Personally, I found this part to be noteworthy as it shows how strong of a person Hikari is, but also how great of a role model she is for Futaba. Futaba needs to realize this, and Hikari didn't hold anything back in what she needs to hear. If it weren't for the fact that Hikari were honest with Futaba, then she likely would not have been able to pick herself up. Sometimes, we all need someone to snap us out of it, to tell us that we have to pick ourselves up because no one else will do it for us. (***Potential spoilers section over.***) I knew of most of the things that were mentioned about how a seiyuu's job is like, but there were things that the show talked about that I didn't know before--or didn't know much about before; for instance: seiyuus narrate audio books, when they have a role in a game, they tend to have to do a bunch of takes (as much as the sound director wants), and that for a unit to be formed, they need sponsors. However, just because you have a sponsor, it doesn't mean they will take care of everything and anything for you; sometimes, they can only do so much, and the seiyuus themselves have to figure something out--take things into their own hands, if ever needed. It's unlikely, but I'm really hoping there will be more episodes from this series... Specials and/or OVAs would be nice, and of course, a second season would be more than welcome. In summary: - Recommend if you want to learn (more) about seiyuus; if you're even a little interested, it's worth checking out. It shows what goes on behind-the-scenes, such as how animation projects' staff works with voice actors. - Characters have varied personalities; they aren't epic, flashy characters that might leave lasting impressions like some characters from per say action shows would, but they are still likable in their own ways. - The art is simple, but fitting for this show; too complex art might be distracting. - The dialog gets the points across; it's not too heavily focused on explanations, but rather telling through showing. You're welcome to post a comment on my profile to tell me any feedback and/or critiques you have for my review; any feedback and/or critiques are appreciated. ***

In short : A slice of life occuring in the world of seiyuu. To distinct from a show about voice acting. Read farther to understand. Initial expectations : A friend suggested this anime to me. Having seen a few episodes, she assumed it was informative about the voice acting job in Japan and as I was curious, I decided to watch it. In a way, it is indeed informative, but in a very superficial way. Each new pieces of information are brushed over without taking time to actually elaborate and overall, it almost disappears after the first few episodes, only appearing from time to time. Which isfine if your aim and expectation is the slice of life genre, but really lacking if your aim and expectation is actually to show you what the seiyuu job is really like. Secondly, the show quickly focuses on the seiyuu-idol aspect of the job - in the same superficial manner - drifting even farther from my initial expectation. In short, I find it important that people are aware of what they are getting into, so they don't hold the wrong expectations. Story & Characters If you are familiar with slice of life, you might have already noticed that most of them are light-hearted and struggle-light. Aside from the context, Sora ga Seiyuu is as classical and average as one can be. Which isn't a complain, actually, when I'm confronted to a genre I am aware of its average level, strong/weak points. Same can be said about the characters, you know their stereotypes just by looking at them. Their development is equally superficial (aka doing their job and nothing more). But then, those who already watched the show could come and say !!!SPOILERS!!! but look ! one of the heroine lost her job, has no gas or electricity anymore ! it's horrible ! and yes....in real life it is an awful situation, but it isn't portrayed as a big deal, not only do you have no idea if she ever gets gas and electricity back, or if she has new income (off-screen, you tell me and, yeah, it might be true, but not showing the resolution of a struggle or issue isn't really recommended if you want to put value into a resolution/struggle), but said heroine didn't seem to have such a different lifestyle ; basically, "whining" was the main difference. !!!END SPOILERS!!! But there again, it doesn't bother me too much. A lot of slice of life want to be keep you in a good mood, to be the "every day life dream" with "issues not tarnishing the dream too much after all". So be it story or character I never expect it to fly high because it isn't their primal aim (let's praise the "slice of life" animes going against that trend though) The only aspect that does bother me is the risk for part of the audience to actually buy that "dreamy" version of voice acting. Voice acting is a hard and tough job where nice speeches and solving an issue in less than five minutes hardly occur (!!!SPOILERS!!! I don't know how to do different sounds... -break, talk with friends- Yeah, I'm closing my eyes and now I can figure how to do it right ! issue solved ladies and gentleman ! I wish life was that easy XD !!!END SPOILERS!!!), it takes you a LOT of dedication and constant "homework". Art : If there’s another thing worth mentioning, it’s the art. Just from the image on this page you can see the simplicity of the drawings. I’m not exactly against it, but the high inequality of the design – slow budget or not – bothers me. On one side, you have overly cute girls and women looking far younger (+ very few males), simple, but not sketchy, and on the other side you have the sketchy designs and the more realistic one. Those three types of design kind of tend to clash against each other. So I consider it a bad point. The background is also rather simplistic as well ; the animation varies from bad to average (even if it has a slight improvement for the last key scene). As a last add, if I had something to say about the opening, it’d be that it reflects the cheesiness of the show really well, but I skipped it past two episodes (I rarely watch them more than twice). Recommendation & Enjoyment : Overall, I’m not particularly fond of it, but it was somewhat distracting. So I’d say it was able to entertain me. I assume I could add that I enjoyed the pink haired girl the most and was expecting Hiroshi throughout the entire show (only shows up two times) just because I knew he’d be there and not because I’m particularly fond of him. You can consider this paragraph useless, but well. All in all, if you enjoy the average slice of life you can go for it if you want. If you’re curious about some aspects of the voice acting but not enough to actually put your head into it (aka a show about voice acting) you can always check this out, as long as you keep in mind it is an idealistic portrait ; at least the first episodes will satisfy you on that level. Lastly, if you enjoy idols, you might find some interests in this show, even if it isn’t the main focus either.

One of the most inspiring animes about being a seiyuu (voice actor) and really honest about how hard it is to be financially stable from this job. The characters are really cute and both of the main cast has a very distinct personality so it’s easy to pick your favorite, for me Futaba is a very honest character that remind me of myself, it’s easy to relate to her since the job she loves is hard, even if she wants to live as a seiyuu, she has doubts about it, just like everyone has on a daily bases about their own career. Overall very nice to relaxand enjoy, not that much interesting for the ones that do not have any idea about Voice Actor job.

Is this considered meta humor? Story: We follow three young voice actresses on their way to become famous. Well, not that far, but we follow them a bit. Sore ga Seiyuu is a mixture between an "educational" anime about the voice acting industry and the life and (mis)fortunes of our heroines. It's definitely unique in its own way (though I haven't seen other seiyuu anime, so I can't really compare). What I really liked was the fact, that it's not all fun and rainbows and the girls have to deal with setbacks while progressing in accomplishing their goals. Even though it doesn't sugarcoat the seiyuu life, italways left me with a good feeling after each episode. 8/10 Art: The visuals aren't very impressing. Since this is basically a slice of life anime, you will probably not expect anything flashy anyway. The characters are cute (though they look pretty young for adults, I mean, Futaba and Ichigo barely look older than Rin and the manager looks even younger) and the guest stars (who portray themselves) are recognizable (if you know what they look like). So in total, the art is average but absolutely okay. 6/10 Sound: The main characters are voiced by rather inexperienced seiyuu to fit the girls stage of career in this show. That was a pretty good decision, even though I can hardly believe that Rie Takahashi (voice of Futaba) is a "newcomer". They do a very good job and of course, the guests do as well (being stars of their profession after all). I am not a big fan of J-Pop so I may be the wrong person to judge the music, but I found it to be mediocre in general. However, the ending (which varies each episode) was really catchy and lots of fun. 8/10 Characters: Let's be honest, the main trio consists of stock characters. The self-doubting heroine who is unaware of her own potential, the hot-blooded brat who tries to hide her worries and the innocent cheerful child prodigy are characters we have seen before. But: the girls are very likeable. Even if you are not a big fan of them, you want to see them succeed and you feel bad for them when they fail. I think this is more important than the complexity of the characters. Sadly, no side characters are fleshed out much (except for maybe the manager), but that's excusable. 7/10 Enjoyment: As I already mentioned, Sore ga Seiyuu managed to put a smile on my face every time I watched a new episode. The show does not offer much in terms of tension or conflict (which it is not completely void of either though), but it wants you to invest emotions in it. You are supposed to care, and I did. In terms of slice of life, I recommend this to anyone who is fed up with always the same jokes and characters being recycled and nothing ever happening (not hating on these shows, just saying). It is not outstanding or groundbreaking, but it is worth a watch. 8/10 Overall: 7.4/10

We've recently seen shows about people farming, drawing manga, making movies, and developing games. It's about time we finally got one about voice acting. Sore ga Seiyuu is show about three early-career seiyuus, voiced by early-career seiyuus nonetheless, being shown the ropes and challenges of the industry while being mentored by veteran VAs, many of whom are cast as themselves! Though the show doesn't have anything particularly nice animation-wise and is practically a blatant advertisement for Gonzo at times, it is a unique and welcome break from the endless cycle of other high school-centric shows. For veteran viewers of anime, this show is particularly nicefor its long cameos by VA veterans and for everyone else it gives an interesting look at the challenging and competitive nature of the seiyuu industry, and perhaps reasons why the job is so much more respected in Japan compared to the rest of the world. The show follows a new trainee VA, Futaba, as she auditions and works in various roles and eventually joins an idol group and radio show with two other new VAs. Animation: To be honest, Gonzo is not my go-to animation studio when I'm looking for good eye candy. This show only reinforces that fact with relatively cheap animation characteristics. Expect a show with simple backgrounds and details throughout. Though the scenery inside a studio is new for probably most viewers, this obviously isn't a high-budget show. Likewise, expect relatively plain looking characters with average at best facial animations. I'm still not sure what to make of Sayo-chan's heart-shaped pupils or Futaba's rather hideous doll/mascot Korori. The only real positives here are the caricatures of real VAs. Yui Horie's transformation from messy glasses girl to super-popular idol is perhaps a bit of an exaggeration but pretty fun nonetheless. Given the nature of the show, don't expect too much action or ecchi. Sound: The show starts with what sounds like an annoying OP, but one that eventually grows on you if you listen to it enough times- it's kind of an amalgamation of multiple songs using the same instrumentation. The ED is also fairly innovative, kind of like a play on the group's radio show; it combines a pretty catchy main melody section, free dialogue section, a section of "requested" famous songs, and a next-episode preview. The BGM is fairly active though nothing is particularly memorable. There is a pretty large VA cast, with a lot of special guests including huge veterans such as Masako Nozawa, Hiroshi Kamiya, Ryouko Shiraishi, and Yui Horie to name a few. The heroines do a fair job overall but it's hard not to be overshadowed by such veterans. Though on purpose, one of the weird pills to swallow with this show is that the "trainee" heroines perform quite horribly when actually in the recording studio and then immediately sound like the capable VAs that they are once outside the recording studios. Story: The show follows Futaba and later two other early career VAs as they work to build their experience and reputation. Though there are some plot twists and tension moments, a large portion of the show is spent explaining the ropes to the viewer, which I felt was pretty cool for once. For the first time, the general audience gets to see the working conditions and living conditions of the VAs that they so admire. The show even spends an entire episode on the manager's perspective, showing how scheduling can be a full time job in and of itself. To me, this show felt more like Gin no Saki than Mangaka-san to Assistant-san; it focuses a lot more on the actual craft and giving viewer insight than really exploring character relations and milking the perspective for comedic value. For that, I give the show props, even if it means many people won't find it interesting. Character: So the three heroines are supposed to grow throughout the show, and by the end, indeed they do seem to be more confident when in the studios. However, you never really get to bond with the barely-developed VAs, perhaps this is meant to reflect the idea that the VA's aren't important- it's the characters that they give life to that are. That being said, what are interesting are the portrayals of famous VAs. I mentioned Yui Horie earlier but Ryouko Shiraishi also gives Futaba a pep-talk about overworking herself, something that Shiraishi actually went through in real life- thus giving depth to... not the characters but the actual VAs that you've watched in other shows (indeed... quite deep there). Though I have no idea how realistic the portrayals of the VAs are in other respects (glasses with Yui Horie, Hiroshi Kamiya as a rebellious youth, Rikiya Koyama as a health fanatic, etc.) it does beat in the idea that the voices behind the characters actually have real lives too. Value: The value of this show is twofold, you get to learn about seiyuus as a job and you get to learn about real life seiyuus. Despite the fairly average plot and boiler plate animation, there's enough good content here to merit a watch. If you ever were curious about voicing roles be it anime, games, movies, or radio here's your chance to find out how it's done.

while watching this series i couldn't help but feel relaxed. it was nicely paced and not an anime that felt like you had to put much metal energy into watching. the calm vibe went amazingly with the lighthearted sound and art style. it really felt like i wasn't pressured while watching it since it was so calming though i say it wasn't very intense or didn't require that much of my attention i really enjoyed the time that the characters interacted and developed together it gave of a warm feeling of friendship that wasn't as heated and fierce as a lot of anime. i foundthe story to be lovely though a bit slow for my liking, it outlined a lot aspects of being a seiyuu and how demanding and stressful it can be while also showing the viewers the amount of fun and comedic it can be. i loved seeing the characters mature in there careers and find there own personal solutions to there problems. overall i personally think that its an anime worth watching to calm and relax your or even to watch casually on your days off. it will probably lighten your mood

This was a very interesting series! I learnt a lot of things about Seiyuu's and their workplaces. It doesn't even stop there but we get to learn about their daily lives and we get to witness some famous seiyuus! Short Summary: This series follows the life of a rookie seiyuu who enters the world of professional voice acting. Ichinose Futaba aims to become a well known seiyuu. She meets Moesaki Ichigo, another fellow seiyuu who aims to be an idol seiyuu. These two are joined by Kohana Rin, who is already a professional seiyuu; her debut being when she was 5, now living a middle school life while workingas a professional seiyuu. So this show......was SUPER interesting! I enjoyed learning about the life seiyuu's go through and the cameos made by famous seiyuus each episode! In addition to the request songs in the ending song! I REALLY enjoyed that. This series shows the hardships the seiyuus; even the pros went through and shows clearly that hardwork prevails in the end! It doesn't even stop there! It even shows what the managers do to support the seiyuus. I really enjoyed this series. I would have given it full marks but the ending was somewhat misleading that I actually thought the anime ended at episode 12 but there was actually another episode which was somewhat unnecessary yet necessary....I had mixed feelings in that final episode...

This is a decent little show that covers the range of jobs a seiyu may end up doing. The characters are fine. The situations are moderately interesting. The focus is mainly on the scope of banal entry-level tasks that a seiyu is likely to do, so don't expect to see anyone doing in-depth research or full-on method acting for a major role. The show swings back and forth between affecting a light tone and then hitting you with the anxiety-inducing nature of a job where you can fade away into obsolescence at any time. The main place where the series stumbles isin how much time it spends on the three main seiyu forming an idol group. About half the series focuses on this plotline, and while I realise this can be a significant part of a seiyu's job, it doesn't do anything to stand out in the overcrowded pop idol genre. It would have been better sticking to its niche and giving more insight into the voice acting side of the job. For that reason, if you only want to watch one anime about seiyu, I'd recommend Girlish Number instead. But if you want to watch two, this one was pretty entertaining.

A hidden gem. Sore ga Seiyuu is an absorbing look behind the scenes of the Japanese voice actor industry. The main characters are written with empathy and are very easy to root for. As the show details their successes and failures as emerging seiyuu, it also provides an overview of the broader workings of the industry. While the show is not a granular examination of the profession, and its portrayal can seem idealized at times, nevertheless it is informative and always finds ways to remain interesting. Though only 13 episodes long, by the end of the series I found myself heavily invested in thedreams and ambitions of nearly every significant character. The show is working with a smaller budget, but the character designs are appealing and the backgrounds give a very lived in feel to the world. What naturally comes to the forefront in a show like this is the voice acting, and across the board it's fantastic. There are many famous seiyuu who appear as themselves, and each charming cameo gives added realism to the show while also serving the character development of the leads. Every ED features unique song records from the MCs, and that attention to detail from a voice acting perspective is a very nice touch. I would happily watch 10 more seasons but at least we got the one.