Due to the rate of my recent anime consumption, it's not uncommon to hear the same seiyuu in consecutive series. In most cases, the same seiyuu would play the respective characters so differently that one can never cease to be amazed by this great display of skills.

It's impossible to list all such examples, but I just want to quickly point out two seiyuu in particular here, Seki Tomokazu and Kawasumi Ayako.

What spurred me to jot this down was mainly the episodes of RAVE (2001) and Nodame Cantabile Finale (2010) that I watched today, both of which the pair starred in. The two were already accomplished in 2001, but the evolution was still obvious in Nodame Cantabile Finale, and it's made me like them even more.

I've always enjoyed and respected Kawasumi Ayako's acting, so it was no surprise for me. On the other hand, I was reminded once again why Seki Tomokazu has been my 2nd favourite male seiyuu. The 3rd seat candidates, Ono Daisuke and Miyano Mamoru, don't seem like such a threat anymore.

This, coupled with Seki-san's role as Manji in Mugen no Juunin and Kawasumi-san's role as Shizune in Senkou no Night Raid that I watched within the week, is another great exhibition of their capabilities. And these are only two of the myriad of seiyuu out there.

こんなに凄い声優さんたちがいるから、声優好きになるのは自然なことだ。XD

PS. I haven't finished reading the Nodame Cantabile manga nor seen the Finale real action movies yet. I'm sure the manga would be really awesome, but I don't think the real action version can compare to the anime version for the Finale Chapter. The anime version was already better for the Paris Chapter for me, so the trend(?) will probably continue as the focus of the Finale Chapter is again on the characters.

I just trial-watched the first little bit (up to the end of the OP) of the 1st Break Blade movie, and it did not betray my expectation ever since I saw the single-page ad for it in the Goods Press magazine a couple months ago.

The first thing that caught my attention from the little bit was the high quality of the visuals. The movements of the Golems were also nicely organic and mechanic at the same time, and the music was quite good.

And the OP "Fate" by KOKIA was heavenly. In fact, I'd say it's the best I've heard of KOKIA so far. The feel of the melody reminds me of her other songs from Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~, but I guess some of the themes for both series are similar in a way, too (自分の信念と生き方を見つけ、そしてその道を貫いていく。 Though I could be wrong as I haven't read past the 1st volume of the original manga).

It's obvious that シギュン harbours feelings for ライガット, but even for a romanticist like me (いや、ロマンチストだからこそかな), I hope this aspect doesn't get explored too much. Let the focus be friendship vs. patriotic responsibilities!

In case anyone's wondering, I'm not going to refer to it as BROKEN BLADE, as per the official English title. ブレイク ブレイド is literally Break Blade. The author might had meant to name it on the motif of broken blade(s) and mis-used the verb for the adjective, but it's an established title nevertheless. Beside, Break Blade sounds cooler than Broken Blade. XD

Length-wise, it's almost the equivalent of a 12-episode series (6 movies x 50mins each). But it's probably a much bigger budget series than an average one-cours anime, so it makes sense to release it as theatrical features rather than disc only OVA, as it'd be more profitable and easier to build a reputation.

If only Gundam UC goes the same route... You know the Gundam MS igLoo OVA series? Haven't been available for sometime now on North American online retail sites. Which means I'll need to try to find it 2nd-hand when/if I go to Japan.

Speaking of which, the BD for the 2nd Break Blade movie was out a few days ago, and the 3rd movie will be in theatre on Sept 25th and the 4th movie on Oct 30th. Seeing that it's Production I.G. and XEBEC, I hope somebody would pay attention to this series and license and release it soon!

I want the Blu-ray~~~ *rolls on the ground*

Although... If the North American release doesn't include the booklet, I'm importing it from Japan, along with Gundam UC.

Just finished watching Black Rock Shooter on Niconico...

なるほど、よく解らん。そして無限ループってこわくね？（タグより）

I never did any research on BRS and didn't even bother to read the lyrics for the song, so I had no previous knowledge for it except for a trailer. The battle scenes were not bad at all as shown in the trailer, but the real life scenes were definitely not what I had expected. It made the reason behind the battles that much more shallow and cheap for me, and I was tempted to think the "nice boat..." tag was actually directed at the audience for having invested the time in watching the pseudo-melodrama. orz

This is not to say there's no merits for the show. Hanazawa Kana and Sawashiro Miyuki were awesome, of course, and the BGM music by ryo was good. And I learned that 小鳥遊 is pronounced as 鷹無し because if the birds are playing about, that means there's no eagle around. So clever! :D

This seems like just a prologue to the BRS series, as there's still many puzzles to be solved, but I'm not really hooked by the story so far. And why isn't the ending song or maybe the opening or insert song "Black Rock Shooter"!!?? I heard Gome's song during the BRS Nico Live Broadcast so I knew it's the ED, but I was still hoping that they'd actually have "BRS" in the anime. :(

Another thing I got out of the live broadcast was the rumour of possibly a RPG game for BRS. Looks like it'll be focused on BRS this time, instead of having real life girls fusing with the otherworldly persona as in the OVA. I hope.

On a side note, I've been watching Sengoku Basara 2 following Niconico's schedule for the past three weeks. When I tried to load the episode 4 earlier, the inevitable finally happened! It rejected my non-Japanese IP and refused to even show me the page! I was just considering joining the premium membership starting in September, too!

Guess I'm back to watching the series by myself... :Q

There was a ten-day gap between my last two posts, and my gremz tree had a withered look and was bent down when I loaded the page yesterday. A quick trip to my gremz page showed the tree as brown.

After the post yesterday, the tree has returned its luster somewhat and stands strong today. It even looks a bit taller than when I last saw it! I guess persistency is key to keeping the tree healthy, while maybe volume makes it grow?

Judging from the other gremz tree pictures for other users, mine still has a long way to go... I can't wait to grow the tree fully and get my 2nd sapling!

Soramimi Project #26: Yamatera Kouichi 山寺宏一

First heard: Kaji Ryouji (Evangelion)

First noticed: Kaji Ryouji (Evangelion)

Memorable characters: Kaji Ryouji (Evangelion), Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop), Romaiya senpai (Honey & Clover), Cain Highwind (Final Fantasy IV DS)

Image character: Kaji Ryouji (Evangelion)

Discernment rate: average

Number of works seen: 17

Anyone who's watched anime for some time would know this name even if one hasn't heard him in Evangelion or Cowboy Bebop (rather over-rated in North America IMO but nevertheless monumental series). More seasoned anime fans would remember him as Hibiki Ryouga, P-chan and the Cursed Spring guide from Ranma 1/2. Unfortunately, I've only seen a short youtube clip on Yamatera-san's prowess as the three characters in one scene but have not the opportunity to actually watch the series, which I'd very much love to.

Out of the 17 works I've heard Yamatera-san, four are Evangelion, including the 2nd movie of the Rebuild of Evangelion: 2.0 YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE. Of course, Kaji speaking English was a highlight for us before we realized the personality transformation for the main characters and a depart from the typical drama(!?) that Evangelion has been famous for. Yeah, can't wait to see the last two movies to see where it'll lead to. XD

While going through the list of works on ja.wikipedia, I noticed that he played Gyunei Guss from Char's Counterattack! However, CCA was the very first work I ever saw for UC Gundam, so I was focusing on getting the background and the story and didn't notice him. That, and due to the age of the movie (1988), I didn't expect to hear anyone I'd know beside Seiya, Shiryuu and, of course, Char. XD

I haven't heard that much of Yamatera-san, but he's definitely a great seiyuu and a veteran in the field, and I'd want to hear more of him for sure. If only I have access to the older anime series...!

Four-leaf clover is a widely recognized symbol for luck in the West and happiness in the East. The motif is often used in ACG as well and typically claimed that four-leaf clovers grow in places where high number of people walk by and step on (actually not true, but let's overlook that little fact for now).

The logic here is that one of the three leaflets gets damaged and splits, and if the injured leaflet recovers, the split turns it into two leaflets to make the clover four leaves. On this ground, I can see why it's associated with happiness.

As humans, we all get trampled by difficulties and hardship in life, and it hurts, sometimes to a point where the concept of being alive and well is simply unfathomable. But if we tough it out and overcome the ordeal, the split wound becomes an honourable badge, proof of our perseverance and growth. And then, we transform into a four-leaf clover that bring about happiness for ourselves and those around us.

Happiness isn't something that's just handed to you, and you can't really appreciate true happiness unless you go through the experience. Only when you've fought the battle, and it doesn't need to be a winning battle, will you be able to see yourself as a four-leaf clover. Otherwise, you'll just see yourself as a broken leaf, mutilated and waiting to wither.

By not having to fight a winning battle, allow me to illustrate with one of my favourite examples. I flunked all the required pre-vet courses in the first term of my 2nd year in university. However, I never see that as a failure but rather a triumphant moment. That was when I looked at myself and figured out what I really liked and how much effort I was willing to put out. I learned the extent of my will (which is different from the extent of ability and strength), and I didn't have to go on wondering later in life if I'd be better off being a vet.

Happiness doesn't necessarily mean everything goes well according to plan, but it will leave you with no regret because it's out of your own will. It's to be able to make peace with the consequences of your choice.

Of course, knowing God makes it a lot easier for me to achieve that state of mind, but it's a perfectly legit cheat! XD

今日の君も幸せかい？
一緒に四つ葉のクローバーとなり、周りの人たちに幸せをあげましょう～

I took down the gremz tree last year and have completely forgotten about it since...

Until I found out today that my tree actually grew, as can be seen on the right! （　ﾟ ∀ ﾟ ）ﾉ

I think the culprit might had been the lack of title for my posts, as it's listed as a possible reason for the tree not growing in the FAQ (the question wasn't in there when I gave up on the tree). Despite it still currently being listed in there, the issue might have been resolved since I still don't have titles for my posts, yet my tree's grown. I did notice, however, that the bubble over my tree in the "just posted" section on gremz used to be completely blank except for the name of the blog, now it shows "Empty" for the title and a snippet for the post.

Now that my gremz tree is back in action, I'm surely more motivated to write. Maybe I'll try a few gremz keywords to get the specials for my tree. Or maybe I'll even get serious with Saluki's Adventure Log and get another gremz tree there...?! XD

Eat lots and photosynthesize lots, so you can grow up to be a big tree for planting, my little gremz tree! It's probably too late for this year, but hopefully it'll grow enough to contribute one tree when they do the planting next year! :D

Soramimi Project #25: Ishii Makoto 石井真

First heard: Makabe Kazuki (Soukyuu no Fafner)

First noticed: Makabe Kazuki (Soukyuu no Fafner)

Memorable characters: Makabe Kazuki (Soukyuu no Fafner), Nakagami Shinichirou (true tears), Kobayakawa Shinji/Prince Chaos Crimson (Princess Nightmare)

Image character: Makabe Kazuki (Soukyuu no Fafner)

Discernment rate: above average

Number of works seen: 10

It's obvious that I haven't heard a lot of him, but his voice is rather easy to recognize. Having heard him as the lead for some shows also help, especially when those are memorable works.

When I first watched Soukyuu no Fafner, the only seiyuu I knew were Saiga Mitsuki and Toyoguchi Megumi. Ishii's acting was still crude at that time, but it fit the character and experience of Kazuki, who is green in both human relationship and the way of the world. As the war against Festum progressed, so did Ishii's acting.

By the time I heard him again as the lead in true tears, he's already quite decent (I'm a supporter of Noe, btw). He even got me to play Shinji's route in Princess Nightmare even when I found Shinji to be somewhat annoying.

Ishii doesn't seem to be very active, but I do have a couple series on hand in which he played. I look forward to see how he's evolved!

As mentioned before, I got my current computer last year and tentatively named it Sirius. It was meant to be a temporary name until I upgrade to Windows 7 and give it an official name.

Almost two weeks ago, I finally dug out my Windows 7 upgrade disc and got rid of Vista. A new start calls for a new name, and after days of neglect and procrastination, the C drive no longer displays "Local Disk".

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Cygnus!

And here's how the name came about:
- Windows 7 ＝＞ 七
- I want something to do with stars (and thus the previous name Sirius)
- 七 + stars = 北斗七星　(Big Dipper) ＝＞　北極星 (Polaris)
- "宿命にはりつけられた北極星が燃えてる" from the song Northern Cross (actually listening to a guy singing the song on Niconico right this moment)
- Northern Cross = Cygnus

Straight forward, no? XD

omake:
- Cygnus ＝＞　白鳥座の氷河 = Hyouga
But my favourite Bronze Saint is Shiryuu, and I want to stay with the star motif, so the idea was scratched on the spot...

Soramimi Project #24: Ikeda Shuuichi 池田秀一

First heard: Natsume Shin (Tenjo Tenge)

First noticed: see notes below

Memorable characters: Char Aznable (Gundam, Z Gundam, ZZ Gundam, CCA), Kou Shouka (Saiunkoku Monogatari), Gilbert Dullindal (Gundam SEED DESTINY), Margarette (Ueki no Housoku)

Image character: Char Aznable (Gundam, Z Gundam, ZZ Gundam, CCA)

Discernment rate: high; visual

Number of works seen: 21

I'm sure the first thing that comes to mind to any Gundam fan when they see the name of Ikeda Shuuichi is: Char!! Same here. XD

Out of the 21 works I've heard him, 12 are Gundam, of which he played Char in all but two. Even for the two where he's not Char, he's close friend with a Char-like character and died in a sunken space fort with the woman played by the ex-wife of Amuro's seiyuu.

Despite his strong presence in the Gundam universe, I actually first heard him in Tenjo Tenge, which is a martial fighting-themed show where the most advanced technology is the cell phone. His voice and acting as Natsume Shin left an impression on me, but I didn't know anything about UC Gundam except for the title of the series and who the main characters were. I did not know I was in the presence of the Red Comet since I had yet to know who voiced Char or what he sounded like.

Then came news of a SEED sequel, which I started following on NewType (also explains the various SEED DESTINY goods I have) before it aired. Then, I learned that the seiyuu for the chairman was no other than the seiyuu for Char...! And the rest is pretty self-explanatory. XD

To be honest, his voice hasn't changed that much since his Char days, so it's almost the same pitch for most of the characters I've heard him as. But he's quite good at acting, so I can easily forget that it's Char's voice when I listen to his other characters.

There's one character that I liked but didn't list as a memorable character, and that's Yappi, an anime original character that appeared for one episode, from World Destruction. Frankly, I almost forgot about this character until I was looking up his list of works on ja.wikipedia. But this furry creature is definitely worth a mention, mainly due to his interaction with his rival/best buddy Toppi played by Amuro's seiyuu. I'm sure all Gundam fans viewed it as a teddy bear version of Char vs. Amuro and awwwed while watching. I did. XD

Seeing how he's not so young anymore, he's probably not gonna be too active. But I would definitely love to hear more of his works, old or new.

それでは、勝利の栄光を君に！

Soramimi Project #23: Kakazu Yumi かかずゆみ

First heard: Shoubu (Inuyasha)

First noticed: Okuni (Samurai Deeper Kyo)

Memorable characters: Okuni (Samurai Deeper Kyo), Silvia de Alisia (Sousei no Aquarion), Ririn (Bleach), Lyra/Dante (Fullmetal Alchemist), Sala Tyrrell (Gundam X)

Image character: Okuni (Samurai Deeper Kyo)

Discernment rate: above average; visual

Number of works seen: 18

I haven't heard many of her works, but her voice is so recognizable that I almost got it down by the 2nd time I heard her in Samurai Deeper Kyo. Interestingly, because of the personality of Okuni, her voice and acting in SDK is very different from her other works that I've heard. But I still picked Okuni as her image character because that's how I related to her voice afterward, even though the pitch vastly differed. In actuality, because I've seen her on TV show (NHK anime show), I usually connect her voice to her face whenever I hear her.

Apparently, she made her debut as Sala in Gundam X in 1996, which is actually the latest work I heard her in. I don't like her role as Ririn in Bleach too much, but that's mainly because it's an anime-only character created for a bad filler arc. The concept for the Bounts isn't so bad, but the execution and story flow is, especially regarding the involvement of Shinigami and Rukia.

I like Silvia in Aquarion, but the series doesn't quite allow for character development in depth, and the relationship between Silvia and Apollo is only touched on slightly. Not enough romance at all, considering that the series supposedly revolves around the reincarnation and reunion of the two after 12,000 years.

She seems to be doing less anime since child birth, but there's still a lot of chances to hear her if I watch the older series. Of course, when I'd get to do that depends on how much time I have, and it usually isn't much.....

---

I was planning to do a ranking every half year, but I missed the mid-year mark since I was at the Anime Expo. Didn't expect myself to be punctual in this anyway, so here it is, the top 10 list of seiyuu I've heard the most out of the Soramimi seiyuu.

#1 朴璐美: 53
#2 安元洋貴: 34
#3 矢島晶子: 33
#4 山口勝平: 32
#5 中井和哉: 30
#6 長沢美樹: 29
#7 秋元羊介: 25
#8 中多和宏: 24
#9 甲斐田裕子: 22
#10 浅川悠: 20/家中宏: 20

I'm planning to do more Soramimi until I hit another seiyuu on my top list according to the survey I did the other day. That might give Park Romi a bit more competition here. XD