August 28, 2006
Why do people think Aya Hirano's voice change on Hey Hey Hey is the greatest thing ever?
So I guess this post sounds a bit like flamebait for the Haruhi fanboys out there, but um...pretty much all seiyuu have an incredibly wide range of voices. Even Asami Sanada can convincingly play a guy in Rozen Maiden and then switch to fucking Dejiko or Vita for chrissakes. Hirano's voice change, while neat, was not OMG BEST SEIYUU I BET NOBODY CAN DO THAT LOL. Plus Hirano was already using a fake high pitch voice so the switch to low made the change sound more impressive than it really is (she claims that's her "real" voice but that's so obviously bullshit, just like her staged all-female audience). Hey I don't have anything against Hirano, but let's not hype her to the moon okay? I'm just slightly bitter because she's taking up like 10 pages in every damn seiyuu photobook I've bought for the past 6 months. Aya Hirano is the John Cena of voice acting. She's cute and all but I just don't like having people crammed down my throat as THE NEXT SEIYUU SUPERSTAR SENSATION. Now Tomokazu Sugita or Minori Chihara...there's two people I can get behind as being awesome.
Also Hirano is way too hot for her own good. It's hard to measure objectively just how skilled she actually is as a voice actress when everyone is screaming "KAWAII" in your ear. She only has one series where she's had a decent amount of lines or range of emotion, so I suspect a lot of current fanboyism for Hirano is either residual Haruhi love OR based on her being a 19 year old cutie. When the Haruhi fanaticism inevitably dies down, will her career last on talent, or will it crash horribly the moment she gets facially disfigured?
Maybe I'm exhibiting elitist internet maleism or coming off sounding like someone who's desperately trying to be "indie," but keep in mind I have openly declared my love for Yui Horie, Yukari Tamura, and Nana Mizuki...all of whom could certainly be considered very very mainstream. Remember I am not against Aya Hirano on a basic level. I recognize she has some ability (in fact she is my 32nd most played artist on Last.fm) and I honestly want her to do well, like I do for all rookie seiyuu with a lot of potential. While I'm not so fond of her acting, I will admit she is an amazing singer by ALL standards. Still, I feel they are pushing her too fast too far and I'm personally getting annoyed by her ubiquitous presence in every voice actor related thing I read now. Take that as you will.
Oh and in case you've been living under a rock for the past few months or something, here's the segment I'm talking about.
Update: The original video was taken down due to usage violation less than a day after I posted this. That's so strange. New link up.
Posted by Paranda at August 28, 2006 5:31 AM
Comments
Actually, Hirano Aya has been in NANA, which is a long running and widely popular shoujo anime, for quite a while now and most of her female fans actually come from there. Sure the audience for the HeyHeyHey segment was rigged but that doesn't lessen the fact she has a fairly large female following. Also, I've seen her in a number of appearances and for all intents and purposes it does seems that Aya's "naturally" high pitch voice isn't an act. Anyway, I do believe we have yet to see the best from her but the fact remains that her management company know they're on to a good thing with her since she can act and most definitely sing, hence they're trying to flog her every chance they get.
Posted by: sent at September 11, 2006 8:01 PM
Hmm, very valid points about the source of female fans. I only watched NANA up to about episode 6 so I was not aware of her role in there. I do agree she is a strong singer, and during the time elapsed since this minirant I have been much more forgiving of her due to Yorokobi no Uta being so damn catchy.
Although her acting has failed to impress me based on what I've seen so far, I agree she is probably nowhere near her maximum potential and her improvement since Kiddy Grade has been nothing short of amazing. Also regarding the voice, it still seems too unbelievable to me for that pitch to be "natural." However, based on your observations, even if the voice were fake, I suppose she would have merit for successfully staying "in character" every waking moment. I can appreciate a skillful burikko.
Had I not been bombarded with Hirano praise from particular forums, it is possible I would have become a fan. Considering her age and progress, I am willing to give her as many chances as it takes. Perhaps this season's Sumomomo Momomo will finally convert me to Hiranoism.
Posted by: Paranda 
at September 11, 2006 8:45 PM
I would say there's no rush to jump on that bandwagon yet. However her recent meteoric rise to fame is certainly worth keeping an eye on. And I'm sure her managing company have much more planned for her in the near future. It has been very well staged and executed so far. At least, it certainly seems that they've learned from the mistakes of other seiyuu's management. It'll be very interesting to see when they'll start Aya doing concerts. You can be sure that I will be keeping a close watch on that.
Posted by: sent at September 18, 2006 9:06 AM