The fall season gets going in earnest today, with three shows:
Asura Cryin' 2 -- second season of the supernatural mecha romance
Kämpfer -- a guy turns into a girl, enabling him to fight in a kind of ongoing tournament; stars Inoue Marina and Horie Yui
Nyan Koi -- romantic comedy about a guy who hates cats, but has to be nice to them or he will turn into one. Directed by the director of Hayate 1.
Friday, we have five shows:
To -- a pair of 3DCG space fiction stories by the director of Appleseed and Vexille
The Book of Bantorra -- shounen fantasy adventure starring Paku Romi, Ogawa Tohru, Sawashiro Miyuki, and Tomatsu Haruka.
To Aru Kagaku no Railgun -- spin-off from To Aru Majutsu no Index, directed by the director of Toradora
White Album season 2 -- continuation of the romance drama starring Mizuki Nana and Hirano Aya
Seitokai no Ichizon -- school comedy adapted by Hanada Jukki from Aoi Sekina's novels.
Saturday, five more:
Seiken no Blacksmith -- shounen mediaeval fantasy adventure with a good cast, an interesting-sounding story, and a dubious staff
Shugo Chara Party! -- third year of the smash hit shoujo supernatural romantic adventure
Tegami Bachi -- heartwarming fantasy starring Sawashiro Miyuki
Tentai Senshi Sun Red -- bizarre shounen/seinen comedy
Inuyasha: The Final Act -- the final season of the classic shounen adventure series begins
Five more on Sunday:
Yumeiro Pâtissière -- a young girl (played by Yuuki Aoi, who was Murasaki in Kurenai) wants to become a top pastry-maker
Sora no Otoshimono -- ecchi romantic comedy featuring Hayami Saori as a buxom angel with incredible powers who falls to earth and becomes the servant (sort of) of the shounen protagonist.
Kanokon OVA 1 -- ecchi is too mild a word for this romantic comedy featuring a buxom fox-woman, a loli wolf-girl, and a shouta.
Natsu no Arashi 2 -- second season of Shinbou's romantic comedy featuring time-travel, Sanpei Yuuko, Shiraishi Ryouko, and Nazuka Kaori.
Miracle Train -- bishounen comedy personifies stations on a Tokyo subway line as beautiful boys.
Monday:
Shin Koihime Musou -- second season of the amusing ecchi comedy that turns Three Kingdoms heroes into yuri girls.
Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu 2 -- second season of the moe romantic comedy starring Noto Mamiko
Tuesday:
Kyou no 5 no 2 Takarabako -- another OVA for the heartwarming/ecchi grade-school comedy
Kobato -- shoujo romantic adventure from CLAMP, starring Hanazawa Kana
Kimi ni Todoke -- shoujo romance from an excellent manga, adapted by Kanparu Tomoko (Nodame cantabile) and starring Noto Mamiko, Namikawa Daisuke, Sanpei Yuuko, and Sawashiro Miyuki
11eyes -- fantasy adventure starring Ono Daisuke and adapted from an ero-game
Wednesday 7 October:
ToHeart2 adplus -- ep2 of another OVA for the classic moe comedy. A chance to hear Ochiai Yurika.
Cheburashka Arere? -- kids show about a stowaway creature, from a Russian story
Sasameki Koto -- yuri romance comedy/drama starring Takagaki Ayahi. One of the shows I am most looking forward to.
Thursday 8 October:
Darker than Black 2 -- second season of the dark sci-fi mystery adventure starring Kiuchi Hidenobu and directed by Okamura Tensai (Wolf's Rain)
Takagaki Ayahi 高垣彩陽 is 4' 11" (150.8cm) of talent and hard work. And over the past two years, she has become one of the better seiyuu actresses around.
She brings alive the laconic young killer Ein in Requiem for the Phantom. She made Nina Antalk the emotional centre of Chrome-Shelled Regios. Before that, she helped create an amazing romantic innocent with Noe in true tears.
And the role that first got my attention was the mature Otome in Da Capo 2 SS. Especially her powerful emotional expressiveness near the end of the series. Ayahi can be a bit melodramatic, but the emotion works. (click photos to enlarge; mouseover for captions)
Her ability is being rewarded with more and more roles. She has nine roles this year, and this fall will star in Sasameki Koto and will have an important role in Sora no Otoshimono.
And don't be surprised if she gets a real recording career. She graduated from a music college in Tokyo, with a major in operatic singing (hear her opera voice in the Da Capo 2 interview, below). Sony made her part of their group Sphere, composed of Tomatsu Haruka, Toyosaki Aki, Kotobuki Minako, and Ayahi. I found some of her earlier work rather stiff, but her character song album as Ein from Phantom is excellent.
Personal data
born 25 October 1985; 23 years old.
150.8cm (4'11")
from Tokyo
agency: Music Ray'n (Sony)
blood type A
nickname: Ayahi, Ayahii, Ayahime
she uses her real surname, not a stage name, because she likes it so much. She says it gives a feeling of fighting (tatakau) and energy (genki-ness, like a kid, a gaki).
background
comes from a large family
attended a girls' school from kindergarten through high school
in kindergarten, wanted to be Sailor Moon
Lina Inverse's incantations in Slayers made her think that seiyuu could be magicians
when she was younger she once wrote that her career goal was to be a seiyuu, but she gradually drifted over to a greater interest in music
graduated from music college in March of 2008
becoming a seiyuu
her interest in seiyuu work revived after she saw Gundam Seed
she qualified at a series of Music Ray'n auditions in 2005-2006
she only took the audition due to a friend's encouragement, and barely made the deadline
she got her first role a month later, in 2006
her first named role was Tsubaki in Ouran HS Host Club (2006)
her first starring role was Ruchia in Venus Versus Virus (2007)
Video clips of Ayahi's roles:
roles
she has a fairly wide acting range, from little kids to romantic teens to gentle weak girls to elder sister types to proper young ladies to boyish girls to serious young women
she uses her voice well, but it is not particularly distinctive
major roles: Ruchia (Venus Versus Virus), Jasmine (Deltora Quest), Otome (DC Da Capo 2), Feldt Grace (Gundam00), Noe (true tears), Tsubasa (Kyou no Go no Ni), Nina Antalk (Chrome-Shelled Regios), Ein (Requiem for the Phantom), Aresta Blanket (Charger Girl Juuden-chan), Sumika (Sasameki Koto)
skill and talent
very studious, memorizes a script perfectly
carries a notebook and writes down things older cast and staff say
makes and organizes notes about each production and each character
seiyuu usually check a script by whispering through it; she surprises people by speaking it out at full voice
other seiyuu say she really gets into her role, becoming one with it
Tomatsu Haruka has praised her vocal range, nimble tongue, and pronunciation and breathing
Hisakawa Aya has said, rather cryptically, that Ayahi is just what a seiyuu should be
Interview re Da Capo 2. Watch for her singing a bit of opera around the 6:00 minute mark. The interviewer nearest Ayahi is Sakai Kanako, who starred in REC:
personality
staff and seiyuu say she is majime (modest, serious, and polite)
she gives coworkers presents and cards, particularly for birthdays and Valentine's Day
natural and direct, approaches problems head-on
a bit of an airhead at times; Taniyama Kishou says she should be the Tokyo representative in the World Airhead Championships
she herself admits it's a bit true, but apologizes to the real airheads
friends with Chihara Minori
easily moved to tears, often crying at events and on radio, and especially at anime wrap-up parties
a terrible cook: there are stories about her not being able to peel a boiled egg, and failing at making pancakes; she says she just needs more practice
the pancake story got included as part of Nina's back-story in Regios
carries a large bag and surprises people by pulling all sorts of things out of its jumbled interior
family
very close to her family, always talking about her mother
lives with her mother and younger sister
her mother checks everything she writes on her blog
her grandmother does her hair
et cetera
she is very concerned with the roles she plays; at a live event, she went on and on mentioning the minor roles that were not included in her Wikipedia entry, and described her feelings about shows she had unnamed roles in.
she considers it very important to sing a character song in character: for Regios songs, she had pictures of her character and a script set up in the recording booth.
she says she is an otaku for her own shows, getting books, figures, etc.
fell in love with the Toyama area, where true tears was set and where the show's PA Works studio is located; other seiyuu call her the "ambassador for sightseeing in Nantou" (a city in the Toyama area)
on 2channel, there are almost 12,000 posts in her main threads; but there are also several hundred in anti- threads, criticizing her voice and acting ability, as well as her dark skin and supposed common manner. It's true that her dark skin sometimes makes her look like a tanned Japanese "gang girl." So does the fact that she sometimes seems to use a lot of make-up.
she likes to wear her hair piled up high on her head, to make herself seem taller
2009.2.15, at Music Ray'n Girls Spring Choco Matsuri, formation of Sphere was announced
at 23, Ayahi is the group's oldest member: Tomatsu Haruka is 19, Kotobuki Minako 18, and Toyosaki Aki 22.
singers Ayahi likes: Honda Minako 本田美奈子, KOKIA. She did Honda's signature tune Amazing Grace at the Music Ray'n Girls Autumn Harvest Festival event, and KOKIA does OP1 and ED2 for Phantom
KOKIA wrote the music and lyrics for two Gundam00 character songs Ayahi will release October 21
Sphere's debut event:
Good TV interview with Sphere:
non-anime work
dubbing: three roles, including the female lead in the movie 10,000 BC
a role in a stage musical
ten radio shows, four of which are continuing (Takahashi Daisuke and Takagaki Ayahi's Nightly Hustle, Web Radio Planet Sphere, Phantom Radio, Canaan radio)
roles in eight games (none adult), including leading roles in Da Capo 2 Plus Situation, and Dungeons & Dam
roles in four radio dramas, including the online voice comic ("vomic") Sugars
Cast in: 2006 Ouran High School Host Club (TV) as Female university student (ep 17); Kamigamo Tsubaki Pocket Monsters: Diamond & Pearl (TV) as Chinatsu (ep 76) Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori (TV) as Kitazaki (ep 18)
2007 Deltora Quest (TV) as Jasmine Gakuen Utopia Manabi Straight! (TV) as Student (ep 10); Sweets Student (ep 3) Venus Versus Virus (TV) as Nahashi Ruchia Toward the Terra (TV) as Altera Kenko Zenrakei Suieibu Umisho (TV) as Oyamada Asami; Nanjou Karena (ep 8-13) Baccano! (TV) as Lumiere Sylvie D.C. II: Da Capo II (TV) as Asakura Otome Mokke (TV) as Aida (ep 22) Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun (TV) as Ninomiya Shungo (young) Mobile Suit Gundam 00 (TV) as Feldt Grace Rental Magica (TV) as Female Student; Male Student Ayakashi (TV) as Natsuhara (ep 6)
2008 true tears (TV) as Isurugi Noe Allison & Lillia (TV) as Meg (ep 23) D.C.II S.S. ~Da Capo II Second Season~ (TV) as Asakura Otome Net Ghost PiPoPa (TV) as Yukiya Karin Wagaya no Oinarisama (TV) as Hashimoto Shunta (ep 22) S.A. (TV) as Yamamoto Megumi; Takashima household Maid C (ep 12); Yuki-pon (ep 11) Slayers Revolution (TV) as Girl (ep 13) Battle Spirits: Shounen Toppa Bashin (TV) as Suiren Yozakura Quartet (TV) as Tatebayashi Mizuna Jigoku Shoujo Mitsuganae (TV) as Moriyama Jun (ep 3) Macademi Wasshoi! (TV) as Paltia Kyo no 5 no 2 (TV) as Kawai Tsubasa Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Second Season (TV) as Feldt Grace Skip Beat! (TV) as Miya
2009 Maria-sama ga Miteru 4th Season (TV) as Miyuki Zoku Natsume Yūjin-Chou (TV) as Sui (ep. 2) Chrome Shelled Regios (TV) as Nina Antalk Phantom ~Requiem for the Phantom~ (TV) as Ein Charger Girl Ju-den Chan (TV) as Aresta Blanket CANAAN (TV) as Nene Zan Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei (TV) as Oora Kanako Sora no Manima ni (TV) as Minami Sayuri Sora no Otoshimono (TV) as Satsukitane Mikako Sasameki Koto (TV) as Murasame Sumika Kyou no 5 no 2 Takarabako (OVA)as Kawai Tsubasa
The "Hashihime" or "Bridge Princesses," are characters in the novel The Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari 源氏物語）. They are daughters of a disgraced prince, living alone with him in a small house at Uji, outside Kyoto. They are important characters in the last ten chapters of the novel.
The Genji can be considered the first real novel in the history of the world. It was written around 1000 AD by a Japanese court lady known as Lady Murasaki, or Murasaki Shikibu.
I think contemporary Japanese literature, including anime and manga, continues to preserve aspects of the Genji, among them sensitive psychological observation, a general passion for romance, and romantic interest in young girls. The main hero of the thousand-page novel, Prince Genji, had a number of present and former girlfriends living in his palace, and basically abducted his principal wife Murasaki when she was ten, marrying her when she was around 15.
notes
-- all Japanese names are written in Japanese order: surname first, given name second -- I claim no copyright on anything in this blog, unless otherwise stated
The fall season gets going in earnest today, with three shows:
Monday:
