Seiyuu ka-! chapter 3 summary
Originally published in Hana to Yume issue 16, 2009.
In a dream, Senri remembers one of his most precious friends, who was a scraggly cat named Gonzales. Whenever he would scratch his forehead he would make a weird "pupi" purring sound.
Suddenly, Gonzales turns into Hime and she makes that exact same sound. Taken aback big time, Senri wakes up and screams.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Earlier that day for Hime, she called Producer Yamada for any role he had for her. However, he got straight to the point and and told her that the host role had already been decided. He mocked her for being too late and for being a huge amateur.
Hime recalled her own version of Senri scoffing her and telling her she'll never become a seiyuu. This refueled her ambition and she began begging Yamada to giver her a second chance at anything.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At school, Miura-sensei has just finished telling the class their assignment when Hime interrupts and asks to be excuse early for a recording session. Everyone, including Miura-sensei, is left agape and doubtful.
When she arrives at the studio, she recaps on the situation. The role she's been assigned to is a very minor character from a mob. However, it's not quite set in stone yet. The day before that, Yamada told her that if she performed it well then the part would be permanently her own, but if she didn't bother to show up then he wouldn't give her another chance. Hime faces her challenge ahead with determination!
Meanwhile, the music director, Yuki Sugawara, is skeptical about letting a newbie in without even so much as an audition. He wonders if it'll really be alright to let Hime have the script. Yamada smiles and has no clue what's going to happen, which just furthers Sugawara's worries. Yamada sees no problems with it. If she doesn't do well then they'll just find someone else to do it. But if it all goes well then he'll get to reel in the money. (Money hog... XD)
When Hime enters and meets up with the other cast, she's surprised and annoyed to see Senri there (and trust me, he feels equally the same way when he sees her).
Hime: "Why are you here...?!!!"
Cast member: "K...Kudou-kun, is she a friend of your's?"
Senri: "Nope. Not a chance."
Hime's inner mind: JERK!!
Hime would've never guessed that Senri would be at the recording session too. She flips to the cast list in the script and is even more frustrated when she sees that Senri is one of the leading roles in this anime. (The anime, BTW, is titled "Lesson Detour".)
Yamada arrives and seems delighted to see that Hime chose to come perform. After everyone greets him, he makes sure Hime is prepared for what's to come, which she confirms without a doubt. He opens the script and points to her role, which is just a one-line character. His official title is Thug B, appears in scene 3, and has the one line, "Wait a damn minute, bastard!" He reminds her that if she performs this role well then he'll give it to her.
This line of work, however, is more difficult than what Hime's non-existent experience can handle. She accidentally bumps into the actress playing the female character, she makes the huge mistake of flipping her script right in front of the microphone, and her thug line sounds robotic.
In the sound room, Yamada and Sugawara are quite disappointed. Sugawara wonders why she was even brought there, and Yamada takes back his assumption that she could perform.
Hime struggles to bring out the best of her, but it is not enough, since she's taken out of the session and scheduled to do an individual recording last. She overhears a couple women questioning why they let an amateur in. After hearing their comments Hime realizes to the deepest extent that she's not doing well at all.
Meanwhile, Senri, who has been waiting for his turn, sees "Hime-kitty" once again looking really, really sad. He hesitantly speaks up to catch her attention, looking a bit concerned. Once she asks what he wants, though, he becomes extremely awkward and wonders why he's trying to give her a word of comfort anyway, and flat out tells her that she should just go home.
With that, Hime is brought back to life. She declares that she's not leaving at all, surprising everyone there. She remembers her goal and is pumped up once again.
Sugawara notes Hime's determination, but Yamada writes it off as being simple-minded. He recognizes Hime's great personality, but she's useless if she doesn't have anything good to offer. He still wonders what happened to the time when she played the prince.
Hime watches on with killer intent. she plans to observe Senri during his turn so she can take in the work of a pro. Yamada tells Senri where to start, and once it all begins, Hime witnesses a complete change in Senri's demeanor, one filled with anger and hatred.
Senri: "Were...you the one...who killed my father...?"
After saying this one line, Hime is astounded and amazed. It's as if in an instant, Senri was not "Senri", but the protagonist who has sworn to kill the one person he trusted who killed his father.
Hime: "...How is it....he can be like that...?"
Female seiyu: "That's because we create each character we're given. Even the one-line mob character is still a character. It feels like you don't "play", but you "become the character".
Hime: "Become the character."
Hime isn't the only one who's satisfied about Senri's acting. Yamada reflects on his own views of Senri.
Yamada: "He understands performance so well the his body automatically reacts. This kind of young male actor is rare...He's too precious. How far will I have to go to get him in my production?"
(He's creepy -.-)
Hime exits the recording room and sits down in the hallway to prepare her role properly. She recalls that she's created roles with Snow White before. She tries to imagine how a thug would say, "Wait a damn minute, bastard!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By the time Senri's turn is over, the sun has set and Hime has fallen asleep. Senri spots her on the bench and silently watches her. She begins making frustrated face movements and Senri, like a curious little boy, beings poking her forehead. She blushes and makes the strange "pupi" sound with a cat-like expression. Senri's mood completely brightens up.
Senri: "Go...Gonzales..."
Hime wakes up to see Senri this way and is quite confused to say the least. Senri gasps and immediately reacts by pushing her against the wall and quickly dashes away.
Hime: "Wait a minute, Senri Kudou---!"
Hime thought: [Hah! That was it!!!]
Hime's turn arrives and Sugawara sure doesn't look like he's up for it. However, Hime feels that this time she has her character down. Ever though she's called an amateur with this thug role, if she is to grasp her target then she has to completely overpower that target. Both her and Thug B.
Hime says the thug's line, only with the same fierceness and movement she experienced when Senri pushed her, times two. It overcomes Yamada, Sugawara, and the rest of the cast watching her, completely shocking them all with this unexpected performance. Hime reaches her hand out, showing a fleeing Senri in her sight.
The cast notes that her body seemed to just react on its own, and they wonder when she become that talented. Speechless and still disconnected for a moment, Yamada soon ends the session saying it was a very good job. Sugawara notices Yamada's behavior and tries to snap him out.
Yamada: "Good work. It's too bad, but you won't be used for this. You're disqualified."
Hime becomes silent, only managing one questionable sound. Even Sugawara is confused.
Yamada: "It's no big deal. Since it just occurred to me that I want to use that kid more."
Hime continues to look into the sound room speechless, seeing Yamada with a suspicious look on his face.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I missed the other 3 dropouts in this chapter. Oh well. They have plenty of time after this chapter. There's even been a few more Idol Unit AQUA characters introduced as of chapter 7, and I like 'em all!
I get a bad vibe from Yamada. He's a creep. It's like he could kidnap Senri or Hime at any given time. Doesn't mean I dislike him now, though. We'll see....you just wait Yamada-sama...
Senri is adowable~! He's the same age as the brother I dote on, so of course I feel exclusively that way. And, well, he is adorable! Did you see his expression when he was poking Hime's head? Gah! There's one thing not adorable about him in this chapter is his shirt: GoxTo Hell. But it's still rather funny that he's wearing that shirt when he's poking Hime's head and looks rather innocent...(XD)
Hime is learning more and more as she goes along. And technically, Senri helped her out in this chapter, even if it may have not been intended that way. (LOL) Man, I can't wait to see more interaction between her and Senri.
In a dream, Senri remembers one of his most precious friends, who was a scraggly cat named Gonzales. Whenever he would scratch his forehead he would make a weird "pupi" purring sound.
Suddenly, Gonzales turns into Hime and she makes that exact same sound. Taken aback big time, Senri wakes up and screams.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Earlier that day for Hime, she called Producer Yamada for any role he had for her. However, he got straight to the point and and told her that the host role had already been decided. He mocked her for being too late and for being a huge amateur.
Hime recalled her own version of Senri scoffing her and telling her she'll never become a seiyuu. This refueled her ambition and she began begging Yamada to giver her a second chance at anything.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At school, Miura-sensei has just finished telling the class their assignment when Hime interrupts and asks to be excuse early for a recording session. Everyone, including Miura-sensei, is left agape and doubtful.
When she arrives at the studio, she recaps on the situation. The role she's been assigned to is a very minor character from a mob. However, it's not quite set in stone yet. The day before that, Yamada told her that if she performed it well then the part would be permanently her own, but if she didn't bother to show up then he wouldn't give her another chance. Hime faces her challenge ahead with determination!
Meanwhile, the music director, Yuki Sugawara, is skeptical about letting a newbie in without even so much as an audition. He wonders if it'll really be alright to let Hime have the script. Yamada smiles and has no clue what's going to happen, which just furthers Sugawara's worries. Yamada sees no problems with it. If she doesn't do well then they'll just find someone else to do it. But if it all goes well then he'll get to reel in the money. (Money hog... XD)
When Hime enters and meets up with the other cast, she's surprised and annoyed to see Senri there (and trust me, he feels equally the same way when he sees her).
Hime: "Why are you here...?!!!"
Cast member: "K...Kudou-kun, is she a friend of your's?"
Senri: "Nope. Not a chance."
Hime's inner mind: JERK!!
Hime would've never guessed that Senri would be at the recording session too. She flips to the cast list in the script and is even more frustrated when she sees that Senri is one of the leading roles in this anime. (The anime, BTW, is titled "Lesson Detour".)
Yamada arrives and seems delighted to see that Hime chose to come perform. After everyone greets him, he makes sure Hime is prepared for what's to come, which she confirms without a doubt. He opens the script and points to her role, which is just a one-line character. His official title is Thug B, appears in scene 3, and has the one line, "Wait a damn minute, bastard!" He reminds her that if she performs this role well then he'll give it to her.
This line of work, however, is more difficult than what Hime's non-existent experience can handle. She accidentally bumps into the actress playing the female character, she makes the huge mistake of flipping her script right in front of the microphone, and her thug line sounds robotic.
In the sound room, Yamada and Sugawara are quite disappointed. Sugawara wonders why she was even brought there, and Yamada takes back his assumption that she could perform.
Hime struggles to bring out the best of her, but it is not enough, since she's taken out of the session and scheduled to do an individual recording last. She overhears a couple women questioning why they let an amateur in. After hearing their comments Hime realizes to the deepest extent that she's not doing well at all.
Meanwhile, Senri, who has been waiting for his turn, sees "Hime-kitty" once again looking really, really sad. He hesitantly speaks up to catch her attention, looking a bit concerned. Once she asks what he wants, though, he becomes extremely awkward and wonders why he's trying to give her a word of comfort anyway, and flat out tells her that she should just go home.
With that, Hime is brought back to life. She declares that she's not leaving at all, surprising everyone there. She remembers her goal and is pumped up once again.
Sugawara notes Hime's determination, but Yamada writes it off as being simple-minded. He recognizes Hime's great personality, but she's useless if she doesn't have anything good to offer. He still wonders what happened to the time when she played the prince.
Hime watches on with killer intent. she plans to observe Senri during his turn so she can take in the work of a pro. Yamada tells Senri where to start, and once it all begins, Hime witnesses a complete change in Senri's demeanor, one filled with anger and hatred.
Senri: "Were...you the one...who killed my father...?"
After saying this one line, Hime is astounded and amazed. It's as if in an instant, Senri was not "Senri", but the protagonist who has sworn to kill the one person he trusted who killed his father.
Hime: "...How is it....he can be like that...?"
Female seiyu: "That's because we create each character we're given. Even the one-line mob character is still a character. It feels like you don't "play", but you "become the character".
Hime: "Become the character."
Hime isn't the only one who's satisfied about Senri's acting. Yamada reflects on his own views of Senri.
Yamada: "He understands performance so well the his body automatically reacts. This kind of young male actor is rare...He's too precious. How far will I have to go to get him in my production?"
(He's creepy -.-)
Hime exits the recording room and sits down in the hallway to prepare her role properly. She recalls that she's created roles with Snow White before. She tries to imagine how a thug would say, "Wait a damn minute, bastard!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By the time Senri's turn is over, the sun has set and Hime has fallen asleep. Senri spots her on the bench and silently watches her. She begins making frustrated face movements and Senri, like a curious little boy, beings poking her forehead. She blushes and makes the strange "pupi" sound with a cat-like expression. Senri's mood completely brightens up.
Senri: "Go...Gonzales..."
Hime wakes up to see Senri this way and is quite confused to say the least. Senri gasps and immediately reacts by pushing her against the wall and quickly dashes away.
Hime: "Wait a minute, Senri Kudou---!"
Hime thought: [Hah! That was it!!!]
Hime's turn arrives and Sugawara sure doesn't look like he's up for it. However, Hime feels that this time she has her character down. Ever though she's called an amateur with this thug role, if she is to grasp her target then she has to completely overpower that target. Both her and Thug B.
Hime says the thug's line, only with the same fierceness and movement she experienced when Senri pushed her, times two. It overcomes Yamada, Sugawara, and the rest of the cast watching her, completely shocking them all with this unexpected performance. Hime reaches her hand out, showing a fleeing Senri in her sight.
The cast notes that her body seemed to just react on its own, and they wonder when she become that talented. Speechless and still disconnected for a moment, Yamada soon ends the session saying it was a very good job. Sugawara notices Yamada's behavior and tries to snap him out.
Yamada: "Good work. It's too bad, but you won't be used for this. You're disqualified."
Hime becomes silent, only managing one questionable sound. Even Sugawara is confused.
Yamada: "It's no big deal. Since it just occurred to me that I want to use that kid more."
Hime continues to look into the sound room speechless, seeing Yamada with a suspicious look on his face.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I missed the other 3 dropouts in this chapter. Oh well. They have plenty of time after this chapter. There's even been a few more Idol Unit AQUA characters introduced as of chapter 7, and I like 'em all!
I get a bad vibe from Yamada. He's a creep. It's like he could kidnap Senri or Hime at any given time. Doesn't mean I dislike him now, though. We'll see....you just wait Yamada-sama...
Senri is adowable~! He's the same age as the brother I dote on, so of course I feel exclusively that way. And, well, he is adorable! Did you see his expression when he was poking Hime's head? Gah! There's one thing not adorable about him in this chapter is his shirt: GoxTo Hell. But it's still rather funny that he's wearing that shirt when he's poking Hime's head and looks rather innocent...(XD)
Hime is learning more and more as she goes along. And technically, Senri helped her out in this chapter, even if it may have not been intended that way. (LOL) Man, I can't wait to see more interaction between her and Senri.