CATDOLL: Japanese voice actress Momoko Ohara announced her retirement and changing careers might be a better choice

The voice actor industry in Japan definitely looks glamorous, but it is very hard to keep doing it. There are many voice actors who have been doing it for many years but it is difficult to get important roles. There are also many voice actors who say that if they are not famous, their income is not even enough to guarantee their basic living. Now there is a female voice actor with a low sense of presence who has chosen to retire and plans to start a new career. On October 31, Momoko Ohara, who debuted for nearly 10 years, updated her blog and announced her retirement from the voice actor industry.

Ohara Momoko made her debut in 2007 as the heroine of the play-within-a-play, Ninomiya-san, in "The Three Sisters of the Southern Family", and left a deep impression on people. Now she has long passed the qualification of a rookie, but looking back at her works in the past 9 years, both the number and the presence of the characters in the works are not satisfactory. For many years, she has only played supporting roles, which is incompatible with the current era of idol voice actors who take on multiple main roles as soon as they debut. When announcing her retirement, Ohara Momoko said that it was not because she no longer liked acting, but that she liked other jobs.

According to the "Voice Actor Directory", there were 225 female voice actors in 2001, and the total number of male voice actors was 370. The latest "Voice Actor Directory 2015" records that there were 692 female voice actors and 500 male voice actors, a total of 1,192. Over the past 14 years, the number of voice actors has increased dramatically, and while the competition has become fierce, the revenue of the entire animation industry has begun to decline. This is probably the main reason why Ohara Momoko chose to retire.