Fair warning: this post is pure tabloid fluff.This summer, we have had a couple of seiyuu romance rumors, one of them old but proven.
1. A photo-booth photo has turned up showing Hanazawa Kana 花澤香菜 with her boyfriend in 2006.
2. 2channel has been playing with a rumor that Mizuki Nana 水樹奈々and Sakurai Takahiro 櫻井孝宏 are an item.
Hanazawa Kana may have the most moe voice in anime. She is starring in the wonderful Mahoutsukai ni Taisetsu na Koto this summer, and was Ryouko in Zegapain, Potemayo in Potemayo, and Sora in Sketchbook. For anyone who isnt familiar with her amazing voice, here is a compilation of her roles, from YouTube.
The story about her came out first in 2006, when she was working on Zegapain. A guy posted about his seiyuu girlfriend on 2channel, and when challenged about it, produced the photo at the right. (click photos to enlarge)
The guy appears to have been Ichiyama Tatsuki, who had also been a child actor, like Kana-chan. Photos of both of them below, from a few years earlier, when they were child actors together. The relationship is now supposedly over. And why wouldn't it be? Being an actor, the guy should have realized that you don't reveal details of a young celebrity's love-life.
Here are a few photos of Kana-chan, dating from when she was around 15 (she is now 19):
Mizuki Nana is the #1 seiyuu/singer. She is just finishing starring roles in Itazura na Kiss and Allison to Lillia. The rumors about her and Sakurai Takahiro (Suzaku in Code Geass, the Medicine Seller in Mononoke) are based largely on one photo (below left) showing them with matching rings. More shots from the same photo-shoot below right.
The likelihood of this rumor being true is fairly small, but 2channel has run with it, adding more details from things known about them to support the possibility: they both like antiques, they both like to shop, they both scuba-dive, they both are fans of the Hanshin Tigers baseball team, they both like to wander around the temples of Kyoto, they both like the band Maroon5. And, from the photo below, you can see that their money-purses are similar:
Not much to go on, but it wouldn't be the worst match. Nana-chan is 28, Sakurai 34. Unless Sakurai is gay (he plays Misaki in Junjou Romantika). From observation, I've always suspected it was at least as likely that there are gay male seiyuus as gay female ones, but who knows?
Sources:
http://blog.livedoor.jp/ultima66430/
http://changi.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/voice/1213495945/
7 comments:
Takahiro Sakurai is already 34? He doesn't really look like one... Japanese people really do have a youthful glow. Same goes for Nana-chan. They look cute together with the same rings and wallet designs ^_^!
That guy, Ichiyama Tatsuki, is a bit of an idiot lol xD
I love how you're like "Unless Sakurai is gay (he plays Misaki in Junjou Romantika)"
xDDDD
Anyway, is this a bad thing? Its just tabloid fluff- but does it add to a negative image?
I had a Japanese host student stay over with me a while back, and I remember her showing me a picture of her classmates. She pointed at like, 80% of her classmates and said that they all had boyfriends/girlfriends. From that, I think maybe I took on an assumption that there's more of a culture in Japan for the boyfriend and girlfriend thing. But I would be really unsurprised and completely uncritical if Nana, Hana or Takahiro have partners.
lol how can Takahiro not have a partner? (gay or otherwise xD)
@emily -- Definitely no negative image for me. The opposite, if anything.
I guess I really don't understand what otaku find moe (and this from someone who clearly likes anime and follows (male)seiyuu). Hanachan's voice (based on the youtube video) sounds like that of a 10 year old. That is really disturbing, if otherwise "adults" consider that moe.
@chanpon -- The original definition of moe, which I still try to follow, was that it is a kind of instinctive sentimental protective emotion -- almost a motherly feeling -- directed toward someone or something that seems vulnerable and in need of protection. Akamatsu Ken, the mangaka of Negima, makes a strong point that it is non-sexual, but I don't entirely agree. Personally, I find the violence of many shounen shows more disturbing, but to each his or her own.
@hashihime - Thanks for that definition; I never knew that. But I find Akamatsu-sensei to be in a bit of denial. The fragile female, in constant need of protection, has been an idealized (and yes, sexualized...) fantasy for a lot of Japanese men since forever. For him to say that moe is the same thing but without the sex part - well, I say that's trying to whitewash and/or defend a very sordid part of otakuism (and I know there are many who are not into that), and needs a reality check by just paying attention to who and what is generating those moe responses.
Hmmm. Nana-san and Sakurai Takahiro? Well I guess about him being a lot older than her is kinda bad. =/ But I guess it's okay.XDDD I've been watching Mizuki Nana's vids, I DO see her wear the same ring always, but it's not that one. So I guess, add this to the negativity of the rumor. XDDDD
XD
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