CATDOLL: Japanese animation producers talk about how to select voice actors, relying on "connections"

Japan's voice actor industry is a very competitive one. It is not easy for newcomers to make it in this industry. So how can you get a job after becoming a professional voice actor? How do animation producers select voice actors? A Japanese animation producer, Saburo Omiya, revealed to us how animation producers select voice actors. It depends on relationships.

When selecting professional voice actors, not all of their respective agencies will come to say hello, and even if the agency comes to say hello and ask for favors, it is impossible that all the voice actors they recommend will be finally adopted. However, if they are disliked by the people who can decide who will take part in the audition (such as the president, the agent), then they will not even get the opportunity to audition.

The voice actors for those random characters or background sounds are decided by the production team members in charge of sound effects, and for these purely random characters, some agents from agencies with good connections will come and ask for a backdoor, and a few substitutes will be forced in. Freelance voice actors who don't belong to an agency won't get a chance to audition if they don't have a relationship with the sound supervisor.

Basically, each department of the production team has its own standards for selecting voice actors. Producers, production committees and commercial representatives want to use voice actors who can improve the publicity effect. Therefore, they need idol-type voice actors who can sing and dance, have good looks, have certain conversation skills, and can participate in many hard promotion activities. These voice actors must have physical strength, endurance and a desire to improve.

What the original author wants is a voice actor who can match the image of the character he created. What the supervisor wants is a voice actor who can respond to his performance with full performance tension and appeal. The sound supervisor has to select all the candidate voices. It cannot be all newcomers, nor can it be all familiar faces. He has to strike a balance in the voice actor lineup.

In fact, even if you don't go to a voice actor training school, you still have the opportunity to become a voice actor. If you already have a certain level of ability before entering a voice actor training school, going to a voice actor training school is just a very effective way for you to establish connections with voice actor agencies. And if you decide to become a professional voice actor, there is no need to maintain good friendships with classmates in the voice actor training school. Even if your classmates say that you are "difficult to get along with" or "snobbish and flattering", for a professional voice actor, "Compared to classmates, there are more people around you who need to maintain good relationships. You should pay more attention and make good use of them."