Jun 5, 2014
Seiyuu Ka! is a fun romantic comedy that has a little something not many shoujo's out there have. It's not a masterpiece by any means but I genuinely enjoyed the experience and found this series hard to put down after the first couple of chapters.
One of the major strengths of Seiyuu ka! is the protagonist, Kino Hime. After an incident where she met a voice actor for the popular "Magic Fighter Lovely Blazers" series as a child, Hime aspires to become a voice actor for the same series, and enrolls in a high school that has a department specializing in voice acting. But nothing's
...
easy as we find out that Hime's voice is more suited to voicing old men than magical girls.
The great thing about Hime, though, is that she doesn't give up. Her hardworking and happy personality made going on this journey with her to achieve her dream all that more enjoyable, and I really found myself loving her character.
Unfortunately, character is also one of the flaws in Seiyuu ka!
Outside of Hime, not too many of the characters get their chance to be developed and explored, and as a result can feel just as 2-D as they look. When characters do get their time in the light, or their back stories explained, consistency seems to be lost as the issues they faced don't often get mentioned again, and can seem like they've simply floated off until an offhanded statement by a character appears to remind you of what happened 10 chapters ago.
The story in Seiyuu ka is also weak, and at times it feels like the manga could have delved deeper. Considering Seiyuu ka is about voice actors, it would have been nice to have seen more on the technical aspects and process of getting a job as a voice actor. Lose of focus and fast pacing can also be an issue.
An example of this is when Hime is working secretly outside of school and improving on her voice acting, and the school she goes to and the people there seem to fade into the background. The friends she has, and her previous struggles at school seem to simply disappear, and you're left wondering if she's still attending her classes or just skipping without much to confirm what's going on. At times you she her back on campus, tired and with her friends slightly worried about her, but the toll of living this sort of double life isn't really explored much, as well as how much she and her friends care for each other.
Certain important reveals also didn't received the buildup they should have, and take a moment to be processed. I found myself completely forgetting that Kudou Senri's mother was the same Sakura Aoyama that Hime admires so much until she was brought up again much later. Shuuma Kawai, who is supposedly glued to Mizuki Haruyama's side, also seems to disappear for a large part of the story, even though Mizuki is seen interacting with Hime and it was earlier made obvious that he dislikes Hime and doesn't want her near Mizuki. The use of certain cliches, such as cross dressing and character archetypes can also be annoying, but are used pretty well.
Being a romantic comedy, however, some of these flaws actually work to Seiyuu ka's advantage. It's fun, fast, and sloppy, but, if Seiyuu ka is has one thing, it's a charm that leaves you wanting more.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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