| You've seen it time and time again: talented voice actors reduced to playing the same types of characters over and over again. Kana Hanazawa playing every soft-spoken nice girl. Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as the self-inserty harem lead. Yuki Kaji as the angsty little kid who may or may not be gay. Pretty much every notable seiyuu has a type of character they are cast the most as, even if they have demonstrated they can play other types of roles quite well before. So why does this happen? Why are so many VAs stuck as the same personalities over and over, and do you think it would be better for casting agencies and sound directors to keep typecasting them, or to diversify the characters they play? |
KaoruMatsuokaMar 27, 2016 8:45 PM
| Is the concept of type-casting that new to you? |
I'm also filled with pure-hearted ulterior motives. |
| Typecasting is pretty much guaranteed work, for any type of job especially in say an acting field a person wants to build up their experience and get their name out there. Sure they might have their companies eventually try to find them more diverse roles but that's completely up to them on a case by case basis. Work is work, experience and money are gained, so I'd imagine they aren't complaining too much. |
| The answer should be obvious. There's an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" attitude in any entertainment media. And, if someone is successful doing one thing, they're a known quantity. Thus, someone who's looking for a safer bet will want people to do what they're known for. As such, they tend to get pigeonholed. It's not new. And it's not limited to seiyuu. I have a copy of Different Seasons, a collection of 4 distinctly non-horror novellas by Stephen King. On the back, it tries to paint such stories as Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption and The Body as scary. The only story in the book that even qualifies as suspense is Apt Pupil. But, King is known for horror. A similarly misleading synopsis was on Dean Koontz's Tick Tock. Again, the author is known for one thing, but the story goes in a different direction. So, they try and paint it wrong. Jeff Dunham spent decades trying to get fully recognized as essentially a stand-up comic. The same thing happens to artists (paint and canvas type), any kind of writer, any kind of actor, directors, producers, and literally anyone else who gets involved in any form of art or entertainment in any way. Heck, it even happens with the management of big businesses. People put their money into things and expect to get it back. So, what is known to be successful will always be favored over the new and experimental. This is not necessarily bad. It leaves a venue: the low-budget independent one, for aspiring artists and entertainers to branch out. And for those venues, they get talent they otherwise couldn't afford just because those people want to do something different. |
ErwinJA said: The answer should be obvious. There's an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" attitude in any entertainment media. And, if someone is successful doing one thing, they're a known quantity. Thus, someone who's looking for a safer bet will want people to do what they're known for. As such, they tend to get pigeonholed. It's not new. And it's not limited to seiyuu. Agreed. This is not unique to anime at all. It is just typecasting in the industry. Seiyuu's have to prove that they can perform a certain type of role well and once they do that role well, others will want to hire them for that kind of role. It's only natural that someone who is good at voicing the villain will be sought after for that role. Thus like any other industry, only the talented can break away from this phenomenon. It essentially comes down to being talented enough that they can voice multiple types of roles and that they work hard at every opportunity so that different opportunities open up for them. That's why there are few Seiyuu's who voice a wide variety of roles as there are actors in Hollywood that act in different roles. |
 ~ S & F Guidelines ~ My Profile ~ My AnimeList / MangaList ~ ShawnOfTheDeadz.com ~ |
| Also because they have a fanbase that will watch an anime if their seiyuu is featured in it. |
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| typecasting happens when people just can't get enough of dat hanakana moe voice, for example. |
| What's Nana Mizuki's typeset again? I can't find the words :( |
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| mostly cause they are good the same type of roles? currently watching every anime Yoshitsugu Matsuoka mains :3 |
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| I think it's more because the studios/directors want the reliability. In attracting fans and in that they're particularly used to that sort of role. There's even a term for bringing in previously voice actors for similar roles, but I forgot it. |
| Be thankful for the wisdom granted to you. |
| ^This remind me of SHAFT. I cant fully enjoy their anime anymore. xD |
| This salad is salty favored |
| Two of the seiyuu I most admire, Kuwashima Houko and Sawashiro Miyuki, have remarkably diverse portfolios of work. That's probably because they have a lot of range both as actresses and in the way they can manipulate their voices. They both also project an intelligence in their performances that is often not what directors are looking for in things like LN/VN adaptations. Kuwashima: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=281 Sawashiro: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=5735 |
| Because their voices fit the characters they're voicing well? |
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_Esper_ said: just shaft lmfao every studio does this^This remind me of SHAFT. I cant fully enjoy their anime anymore. xD |
| I was surprised to find out that the fabulous Jun Fukuyama played the secret unlockable character Shion in a certain BDSM hardcore yaoi visual novel I was playing called Enzai. Even more fappable now. I mean, what? Nothing. |
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shawnofthedeadz said: IIRC, the last arc of skip beat also mention about this problrm. thou not resolved in anime.ErwinJA said: The answer should be obvious. There's an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" attitude in any entertainment media. And, if someone is successful doing one thing, they're a known quantity. Thus, someone who's looking for a safer bet will want people to do what they're known for. As such, they tend to get pigeonholed. It's not new. And it's not limited to seiyuu. Agreed. This is not unique to anime at all. It is just typecasting in the industry. |
 "If taking responsibility for a mistake that cannot be undone means death, it's not that hard to die. At least, not as hard as to live on." |
| Probably because the directers think that they fit the role pretty well. Though look at Kamiya Hiroshi. He gets quite different roles, Badasses like Levi (AoT) and Law (OP), perverts like Araragi (Monogatari series) and Kiyoshi (Prison School) Actually nah, it all comes down to what VAs the directors think fit the those characters. Or maybe the Mangaka's also recommend some VAs. |
| Thinking..... |
moodie said: Cause SHAFT is very obvious. Ok, I add another example, I also have this problem with studio Ghibli._Esper_ said: just shaft lmfao every studio does this^This remind me of SHAFT. I cant fully enjoy their anime anymore. xD |
| This salad is salty favored |
| I think that is because they are usually good at voicing certain characters (like Kugimiya with tsunderes or Matsuoka with harem leads) and because the fanbase associates them with a certain archetype. I don't see that thing that bad. However, when a seiyuu who does certain roles voices a character who is different of what they usually voice, the results then to be surprising. Then you have seiyuus like Daisuke Namikawa or Miyuki Sawashiro who can voice you anything. dizzyur said: You should heard her in Akame ga Kill and Tokyo Ghoul. You will be surprised of how well she voices crazy characters.I'll definitely agree on HanaKana. Her voice shift when she went full batshit fucking crazy as Nadeko in Monogatari Second Season (the classroom scene) was fucking astounding, if she actually has that much of a knack they should definitely stop assigning her to soft spoken characters alone. |
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| They were those types of characters in their past lifes so they fit spot on. |
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RLinksoul said: KanaHana and Asumin everywhere. Not that it's a bad thing._Esper_ said: ^This remind me of SHAFT. I cant fully enjoy their anime anymore. xD Shaft just likes to constantly re-use the same seiyuu for everything. It doesn't matter what show they're adapting or creating, it'll very likely have one of their mainstays in it. |
Kuma said: shawnofthedeadz said: IIRC, the last arc of skip beat also mention about this problrm. thou not resolved in anime.Agreed. This is not unique to anime at all. It is just typecasting in the industry. Yeah, though I think the issue is somewhat resolved now. It happens when... It is a very common issue so I wasn't surprised to see Skip Beat tackle it. I was also thinking about it when I first posted here. |
~ S & F Guidelines ~ My Profile ~ My AnimeList / MangaList ~ ShawnOfTheDeadz.com ~ |
| Maybe the "typecasting" comes from the idea of the "character age range". Youth, rather than personality/theme. Because hero and villain come in different shape and sizes. Don't feel like giving a long answer. |
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| Is pigeonholed actually a word people use or is it just me, because I've never heard of it... |
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lasterrending said: Heh heh! I'm not surprised you picked Kana Hanazawa as one of the examples of a seiyuu who's gotten typecast. Among her roles: Mikan from To Love-Ru Kobato from Boku wa Tomodach ga Sukunai Kureha in Mayo Chiki Kusano in Sekirei Kuzuha in Hagure Yuusha no Aesthetica holy shit she played Kusano and Kureha? what???? i didn't even know of this, i'm used to her voicing the MC in a shoujo or something. like Akagami no Shirayuki-hime. |
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plasma38 said: it's not limited to otaku/anime fans at all. it's everywhere. not only to seiyu, but every entertainment form. and it's not new.most otakus and anime fans want more of the same. That is why there are so many generic, similar anime. |
"If taking responsibility for a mistake that cannot be undone means death, it's not that hard to die. At least, not as hard as to live on." |
| Because the producers keep making the same anime with the same characters. |
| Be thankful for the wisdom granted to you. |
RLinksoul said: Yeah, it is really easy to notice (I dont know if other people also notice it or not but as for me, "ah, this guy again" xD)_Esper_ said: ^This remind me of SHAFT. I cant fully enjoy their anime anymore. xD Shaft just likes to constantly re-use the same seiyuu for everything. It doesn't matter what show they're adapting or creating, it'll very likely have one of their mainstays in it. |
| This salad is salty favored |
katemonster123 said: lasterrending said: holy shit she played Kusano and Kureha? what???? i didn't even know of this, i'm used to her voicing the MC in a shoujo or something. like Akagami no Shirayuki-hime. It's surprising what you discover when you start following those "cast" links here on MAL. You get a lot of those "holy shit" moments. I especially like when I discover voice actors playing very different roles in different shows. My personal favorite: The curvaceous Sena in Haganai shares a voice actress with Nana in To Love-Ru, who's known as the girl who's decidedly NOT curvaceous. oh my gosh i just checked the MAL cast link for her. She doesn't play Shirayuki in Akagami no Shirayuki-hime. That's so weird!! She sounds exactly like her! I can't believe I spent two seasons thinking it was Kana Hanazawa when it was actually some seiyuu named Hayami Saori. i really need to pay more attention to these things. |
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