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For example, the voice actors for the protagonists of the anime film Uchiage Hanabi, Shita kara Miru ka? Yoko kara Miru ka? are Suda Masaki and Hirose Suzu, who are best known for their acting careers. Compared to other professional seiyuus in the industry, both of them have much less experience in voice acting.

On the other hand, famous seiyuus (i.e. Miyano Mamoru, Hanazawa Kana, and Kaji Yuki) were given a supporting role in the film.

Regardless of their performance in the film (cause it's not out yet), I was curious if there are any reasons these anime films tend to use film actors? Since there are a huge pool of seiyuu working in the industry.

Furthermore, Kamiki Ryunosuke and Kamishiraishi Mone got a leading voice acting role in Kimi no Na wa. They both did a great job and even received an award for it. However, it seems to me that they only do voice acting for anime films (especially Kamiki Ryunosuke).

Is there a particular reason for this? Or is it just a marketing strategy to use these big actors' names in the film?

senshin
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Maru
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    Not really an answer, but it's quite common in western animated films too - voice actor Billy Zane (Futurama, etc) has talked about how he would frequently audition for big animated features only to lose out to a big Hollywood name, and then be asked to coach them in how to voice act. – ConMan Aug 06 '17 at 22:49
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    I recall reading that Miyazaki has said something to the effect of that he specifically avoids drawing from the usual stable of anime voice actors as a way of distancing himself from "mainstream" anime (the sort of stuff he often rails against). Don't have a source at the moment, so take this with a grain of salt. – senshin Aug 07 '17 at 15:37

1 Answers1

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There are two aspects we can discuss on this topic.

Some directors like Miyazaki prefer to hire film actors. He said anime seiyuu is too optimized for anime and does not sound natural. Seiyuu is good when the target audience is anime fans, but if they want to get a broader audience, actors are the best choice.

Another aspect is getting attention by using famous actors. Producer Toshio Suzuki is known to always use actors instead of seiyuu. For example, he used Takuya Kimura in Howl's Moving Castle. Takuya's acting is not good, but it gets more audience because of his name.

Aki Tanaka
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kumagoro
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