Tokyo Soft Rice King.

When Akira Kuroba first discovered this anime, even though he had never seen the characters or the plot before, he still had a strange and eerie sense of déjà vu.

Although the anime "Hoshino Pretty Cure" has only been airing for five years, Akira Kuroba feels that it could air for another twenty years...

Because this is just pure glamour!

One of the three major anime series in Tokyo, it ran for twenty years, spanning eighteen seasons, and boasts the largest number of magical girl characters in any anime!

Incidentally, the other two are Kamen Rider and Suba team.

"Ziyin, you need to look carefully, this is your 'textbook'."

"Yes!"

The two then quietly began to enjoy the animation.

After the retro-style opening sequence ended, the main story began. Because it was an episodic series, the plot of each episode was very clear, so even if you didn't recognize the characters, you could still understand the story.

This episode tells the story of Xiao Lan, a cool and aloof young lady in the main group who has never participated in a commoner's event, namely the summer festival. She attends the summer festival with Xiao Fen Hong, a passionate protagonist, and Xiao Huang, an intellectual supporting character. They have a great time at various stalls, but they lose their guard and are persecuted by the villain disguised as the owner of a ring toss stall, which leads to a ring toss duel.

Because of the villain's ability, if he misses the ring toss, his clothes will be pawned...

Holy crap! What genius screenwriter came up with this plot?! It's absolutely... amazing!

But is it really okay to show this kind of storyline in children's animation?

Perhaps the production team also realized that there are more adults than children watching magical girl anime.

However, there was no nudity or actual nudity; her underwear was confiscated, so the scene was quite plain and hardly qualify as fan service.

Furthermore, the way the elementary school magical girls feel embarrassed about losing their underwear is more cute than erotic, so it's not too bad... It should be able to become an anime that introduces the sexuality of Japanese boys in this world.

Later, thanks to the cunning character Xiao Huang, who discovered the loophole in the rules, and the powerful brick-throwing ability of the little pink, the villain's ring-tossing ability was broken.

Then comes the classic and classic transformation! Battle! The power of friendship! Defeat the villains!

Finally, everyone enjoyed the grand finale fireworks of the summer festival together and made a promise to watch the fireworks together again next year.

The two did not exchange a single word until the end credits played.

Murasaki no Miyako watched with complete absorption, entering a state of flow.

Kuroba Akira patted her shoulder to wake her up and asked.

So, what do you think?

"Hmm... I thought these kinds of cartoons were only for kids, but I didn't expect them to be so interesting..."

Previously, Murasaki no Miyako never watched anime and wasn't particularly interested in the world of anime, mainly because she didn't have many opportunities to engage with such things.

When I was in junior high school, the girls in my class often made fun of those otaku who watched anime. I didn't look down on the boys who watched anime, but I thought anime was something for children and I didn't understand why boys liked watching those anime.

Rather than 'prejudice,' it's more about 'lack of understanding,' which is the general perception of animation among outsiders.

However, after watching just one episode of the anime today, her opinion on anime completely changed.

If I had watched cartoons when I was a child, would I not have lived in constant fear, like I was living in a prison...?

Because one can find emotional support in animation...

"No, I didn't ask you about your thoughts on the animation. I was asking about the voice acting for the three main characters. What did you think of it?"

Murasaki no Miyako then came to her senses and realized that she hadn't come to appreciate the animation, but to learn voice acting. She carefully recalled the lines of the characters in the animation and expressed her most direct feelings.

"There seems to be something off about all three of them..."

"Very good, very perceptive."

Kuroba Akira was very satisfied with her answer; it was quite a talent for a layman to be able to tell that something was wrong.

Then he began to explain the more detailed aspects of the Purple Palace.

"The voice actress for the main character, Xiao Lan, in this episode is very experienced. She has a complete grasp of the character's personality and her emotions are just right. However, her voice is a bit too mature... which means she is too old and doesn't sound like a primary school student."

"Although you can tell that the voice actress has tried very hard to lower her voice age, perhaps it is because of the voice actress's own age and her innate mature voice that she can only do this much, but it is still very impressive."

"She should be a veteran voice actress with more than ten years of experience. If she could make her voice sound about two years younger, it would be impeccable."

Murasaki nods and says with a sudden realization.

"I see... It does sound more like a middle school student."

"Right? Then look at Little Pink, her problem is exactly the opposite of Little Blue's. Her voice is suitable, but the dubbing is too bad. Her acting is not good. She reads in a lot of places in a flat tone. I guess she is a newcomer who has just debuted."

"However, the fact that she was able to get such an important role as a newcomer means that she must be a newcomer that her voice acting agency wants to promote. The animation director probably gave her this opportunity because of the agency."

"In addition, the unique immaturity of new voice actors perfectly matches the careless and impulsive personality of Little Pink, so it doesn't matter if there is a slight lisp in the reading. Anyway, the audience of Xingmei has a very high tolerance and will not cause a stir because of this small problem in the dubbing."

"Moreover, Xingmei is a long anime series, and Xiao Hong will get practice in the process of dubbing. If the voice actress is ambitious, she will dub better and better in the future. Of course, all of this is based on the premise that her voice is indeed suitable for the role."

Kuroba Akira spoke eloquently, and Murasaki no Miya listened attentively.

"What about Xiao Huang? Can you tell what the problem is with Xiao Huang?"

"Hmm... I can't quite put my finger on it... but I can sense that Xiao Huang's voice acting seems a bit... monotonous? Hmm, sorry, I'm just an amateur, how dare I comment on a professional voice actor like that..."

"No! You're right!"

Kuroba Akira's eyes lit up; he hadn't expected that Murasaki Palace would be able to notice such a detailed issue.

Is it the S-level talent of Soul Performance that is making a difference?

Genius! This is genius!

"Xiao Huang's problem isn't her voice or experience. There's actually nothing wrong with her dubbing; her voice is very suitable. If you let a hundred people listen, all a hundred of them would think it's fine. So where does the monotony you feel come from?"

Murasaki was completely captivated by Kuroba Akira's words. Her curiosity was piqued, and Kuroba Akira's affirmation further boosted her confidence.

He said he had no problem!

The answer is: not enough passion!

"I estimate that Xiao Huang's voice actress is also a veteran voice actress who has been in the industry for many years and is very professional. However, she herself probably has no interest in this animation, so she failed to fully understand the character's deep personality. As a result, although her dubbing was not a problem, she failed to touch the soul of the character."

"If she were also an audience member of this animation, she would probably give people the feeling of 'This is the one!' But unfortunately, this professional voice actress was just doing her job. Although that's not really a problem, a capable director would probably feel it's a bit of a pity."

"Often, whether a character's voice acting has soul depends on just a little bit of passion... So in this industry, it's a very lucky thing to get a job you love."

Murasaki looked at Kuroba Akira with immense admiration.

"A wise ruler, so amazing..."

"Ah……"

Do you think I've been watching anime for years?

I'm a long-time anime and manga fan!

Chapter Sixty-Seven: I Want Him to Only Look at Me

However, Akira Kuroba wasn't analyzing the voice actor issues behind these characters for Murasaki no Miyako just to show off or flaunt his experience as a 2D anime fan.

There are many anime broadcast during the prime time slot of 8 pm, but Akira Kuroba specifically chose Hoshimi because the three main characters of this anime happen to represent three stages in the career path of female voice actors.

The newbie pink, the professional blue, and the seasoned yellow represent three levels: beginner (entry-level), mid-level (intermediate), and industry leader (advanced).

These are the three phases of 'imaginary enemies' he prepared for the Purple Palace.

While fame can only be built up slowly, a voice actor's skills can be built up now; the first step is to improve one's proficiency in dubbing.

There may be shortcuts to becoming a professional, but if you don't have the real skills, you'll soon be trampled by stronger competitors.

One's own ability can only be developed through extensive practice, mastering voice acting skills, understanding the character's psychology, and then wholeheartedly portraying the character.

Effort doesn't guarantee success, but effort will never betray you.

"Ziyin, your first task is to complete these three roles, which means to fill in the gaps in their casting."

"Huh? Shall I finish this?"

Murasaki no Miyako pointed to herself, asking in a question that was both uncertain and incredulous.

"Yes, now that you know where the voice acting problems are for these three characters, the next step is to solve those problems."

In the morning, Kuroba Akira said that she would first train her lung capacity, so Murasaki thought that the initial training would just be some pronunciation exercises. She didn't expect that the first thing to do was to address the shortcomings of the three voice actors.

This is practically saying: Great! You've mastered the Japanese syllabary (hiragana and katakana), go challenge for the Akutagawa Prize!

Even the newcomer Xiaofenhong, whom he criticized for her poor dubbing, is still a professional voice actress!

But I'm not even a newcomer, not even a trainee...

Kuroba Akira saw through her unease and encouraged her earnestly.

"Don't be timid, and don't think that you are necessarily worse than them. The only difference between you and them is 'experience'. In terms of talent, you are far superior to them."

With just one sentence, all of Murasaki no Miyako's self-doubt was dispelled.

She may not be able to believe in herself yet, but she is willing to believe in Kuroba Akira, who brought her home.

"...Yes! I will do my best!"

Murasaki clenched her fist and placed it in front of her chest, her eyes no longer showing any inferiority complex.

That's right, let's trust in a wise ruler.

He chose me!

"Very good, that's the spirit. Now let's watch that episode again. This time you have to read the lines aloud. Just choose a character you think you can imitate."

While watching the anime, Akira Kuroba didn't forget to take notes. That's how it is in Japan; people record the TV programs they want to watch and watch them repeatedly.

After all, copyright awareness is very strong here, and we can't freely watch the works we want on the internet like we did in my previous life.

There's no such resource available!

"Let me tell you first, it's not enough to just watch it once more. You need to watch it repeatedly until you've mastered all three roles, and it's best to memorize all the lines as well."

Akira Kuroba then explained the importance of memorizing lines.

"Because you will encounter many situations where you need to read the lines on the spot and do a sound check. Many times, it is because of insufficient preparation and not memorizing the lines that the performance will be poor. So in addition to dubbing, you also need to strengthen your memory."

"Understood, I'll memorize the lines first."

"Although watching the same episode of anime repeatedly is a boring and tedious process, we have limited resources right now, so this is the only way we can do it."

"I'm fine with it, I can watch it a hundred times."

"OK, let's start with learning and imitation, and then make adjustments. I will clearly tell you the direction of the adjustments, and then you should also find the feeling yourself."