Do I really have a thing for female voice actors?

At one point, Mika Takagi's gaze fell on the bass guitar in the corner.

The sheet music that Tazaki Toru wrote for her involuntarily came to mind.

She loosened her grip, her fingers slowly tightening around the chest of her nightgown, a burning sensation spreading throughout her body.

"I've become so strange," the girl murmured softly.

……

……

One day at noon.

Tazaki Toru took the train to Shimokitazawa and easily found his way to the SHELTER. Outside the staircase leading to the underground, a group of strangers were gathered.

There are men and women.

This is not surprising. Nowadays, SHELTER is a well-known holy land for anime and manga fans, attracting countless otaku. It is also very famous among overseas audiences.

Upon entering SHELTER, Manager Yoshimura was sitting inside with Ms. Kuroki.

"Manager, there are quite a few people gathered outside today, is that alright?"

In principle, filming is not allowed in this area, but if it's just outside the live house, it's usually not strictly enforced.

"Oh, those people are fine, they're here to film a show."

"A program?" Tazaki Toru was taken aback upon hearing this.

"Hmm, about SHELTER, it doesn't seem quite right to say it like that." Manager Yoshimura seemed to be thinking about how to make Tazaki Toru understand quickly.

"Are you taking a picture of the store manager?"

"What's so special about me that's worth filming?"

"That's good." Tazaki Toru breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hey! What do you mean by this? What's wrong with taking pictures of me?"

"nothing."

Tazaki Toru arrived very early today; it was only noon. He had originally intended to borrow the stage, but upon learning that a program was being filmed, he didn't mention it again.

Bored out of my mind, I opened my phone and started browsing game tutorials.

To be precise, it was a bunch of kill compilations that Tachibana Rin sent him.

While watching the video, I chatted with the store manager of Yicun store intermittently.

Since everyone involved was a musician, they didn't really like overly formal or restrictive rules, so Tazaki Toru and Yoshimura got along quite well.

"Speaking of which, Tazaki-kun, you..."

"what happened?"

"Want to watch cartoons?"

He's an old man, what is he saying?

"I basically don't watch it," Toru Tazaki answered truthfully.

"Oh, I see. Then it seems there's no need to ask for an autograph."

What signature?

"The voice actresses of solitary rock."

Tazaki Toru had heard of this anime. Posters of this anime were plastered all over Shimokitazawa. People who frequented the Shimokitazawa area, even if they hadn't seen it, probably knew that the main character was a girl in a pink tracksuit.

But Tazaki Toru knew even more, because Takagi Mika, who loved watching anime, would explain things to him in great detail, knowing every single detail.

"As you should know, the filming location for the animation is right here. It's because the animation is so popular that the production team wants to capitalize on its success by having the main voice actors come here to record a short program."

"Well, it's basically letting the voice actors do some promotional work."

"It's also a way of promoting us in a roundabout way."

Tazaki Toru nodded in sudden realization, then said, "If anime viewers knew that the shopkeeper wasn't a blonde older sister, they would probably be very disappointed, and might even tweet about it on X, which would then become a trending topic."

"Tazaki-kun, you've been surfing the internet a lot lately, haven't you? And besides, don't you know a lot about anime?"

Tazaki Toru shrugged and didn't reply.

Influenced by Tachibana Rin recently, Tazaki Toru has also started surfing the internet occasionally, gradually enriching his meme library.

During the conversation with Yoshimura just now, there was a word that slightly piqued Tazaki Toru's interest.

"Speaking of which, voice actors are supposed to dub characters, right? Do we have to do that now?" Toru Tazaki asked.

"Tazaki-kun, you don't even understand this?" Yoshimura glanced at Tazaki Toru.

"Are there any essential elements here that I absolutely need to know?"

"You and Oshima-chan seem to be getting along quite well lately, haven't you? I heard you even taught her how to compose music."

What is the connection between this and Hina Aoki?

Tazaki Toru thought to himself.

To be honest, Tazaki Toru had absolutely no interest in the voice actresses that Yoshimura, the shopkeeper, had mentioned.

After all, Toru Tazaki doesn't work in this industry; he's neither a voice actor fanatic nor addicted to female voice actors.

The reason I decided to stay and take a look was simply because I was a little curious about the voice actor profession.

To put it more bluntly, Toru Tazaki wanted to understand better what kind of world Mika Takagi lived in.

What exactly is this career that she has been immersed in since childhood and considers her dream?

After a while, the soundproof door inside the live house was pushed open, and a group of people walked in.

There weren't many people, but they were carrying very heavy photography and recording equipment, and almost all of them were male staff.

Tazaki Toru sat behind the drinks bar, silently watching them set up the venue.

He's not working now, so it can't be considered slacking off.

A short while later, four young women dressed in very different styles walked in.

Everyone had a smile on their face, bowed, and said, "Thank you for your hard work."

45. You play Valorant too?

Tazaki Toru sat at the drinks bar in the live house, silently watching the scene unfold before him.

A small recording studio was set up. The stage, originally intended for performances, suddenly became a place for female voice actors to hold tea parties and chat.

Because the SHELTERDE venue is not large, even though Toru Tazaki was sitting in a corner, he could still observe the conversations and behavior of the female voice actors in front of him.

Putting everything else aside, their voices are all quite pleasant to hear.

As the manager of SHELTERDE, Yoshimura was invited up to say a few words. Just the fact that the female voice actress thanked him made him smile.

Ms. Kuroki said that this scene would definitely be cut, and Toru Tazaki completely agreed with this statement.

After watching for a while, Tazaki Toru lost interest in the program.

It's nothing more than mutual compliments and conversations between female voice actors, which is essentially no different from seeing housewives discussing their neighbors' affairs while taking out the trash.

Ultimately, female voice actors are just ordinary people. There are two people living in the place where Tazaki Toru sleeps every night.

Who exactly is pursuing the female voice actress?

Tazaki Toru was completely baffled by this.

But if someone were to ask him, "Isn't Mika Takagi also a female voice actress?"

That would most likely make Toru Tazaki angry.

Stop joking.

He admires the girl for who she is, rather than for any particular profession.

Of course, Toru Tazaki wasn't prejudiced against the voice actresses in front of him; he wasn't that shallow.

With his headphones on, Toru Tazaki quietly started watching study videos.

Learn to make tiles.

Just as Tazaki Toru said, although he didn't like to compete, he wasn't completely without temper or willing to swallow his pride.

"Tazaki-kun, come here for a moment."

Suddenly hearing someone calling his name, Tazaki Toru looked up, took off his left earphone, and pointed to his face.

The store manager nodded, and Tazaki Toru had no choice but to take off his headphones, get up and walk over.

That's why these female voice actors are so skilled at their craft.

Even though Tazaki Toru walked over with such a handsome and dashing face, they only maintained a smile that seemed to be pre-programmed, which was completely different from the girls on the street whose eyes lit up.

"Is there something wrong? I haven't started work yet; any work done counts as overtime," Tazaki Toru said bluntly.

Several female voice actors standing not far away couldn't help but laugh when they heard this part-time worker dare to speak to the store manager like that.

"Hey, Tazaki-kun, Ms. Mizuno is going to record a song next. Can you play the accompaniment for her? Don't worry, you don't need to show your face."

"Keyboard? Guitar?"

“Use the guitar I keep in the lounge,” said Manager Yoshimura.

"understood."

As an employee, Tazaki Toru naturally wouldn't refuse the store manager's orders.

Of course, this is a minor matter. If Manager Yoshimura is willing to pay him overtime, Toru Tazaki will not refuse.

Tazaki Toru glanced at the female voice actress named "Miss Mizuno," who had short, jet-black hair and was wearing a dark blue dress.

Seeing that Tazaki Toru was looking at her, she immediately gave him a business-like smile.

The smile seemed to say, "Hello, nice to meet you. My name is Mizuno. I hope you will take good care of me today. Thank you very much."

It's a smile that can be shown to anyone; it's incredibly versatile.

Tazaki Toru retrieved his guitar, and the female voice actress in front of him bowed to greet him.