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Japanese Voice Actor Shares Industry Updates Amid COVID-19

Japanese Voice Actor Shares Industry Updates Amid COVID-19Things are a long way from normal in Japan, but efforts by health professionals and citizens doing their best to stay home have led to a reduction in cases in Tokyo and elsewhere.

Meanwhile, it looks like anime voice actors, who were largely on standby during the early days of the crisis, are slowly getting back to work.

That’s the word from Matsuo Yamaguchi, also known as Kappei Yamaguchi, the voice of Usopp (One Piece), L (Death Note), Shinichi Kudo (Detective Conan) and many other iconic characters.

Yamaguchi wrote on Twitter that “our work is restarting little by little, but we’re mostly recording our performances one at a time.”

In Japan, anime recording sessions are typically done in a large room with several voice actors at a time so that they can play off fellow actors’ performances. It also serves to speed up the process. (Check out the clip below for an example.)

Yamaguchi continued: “It must take such a long time to do the recording for just one show,” following up the statement with a sweat emoji. He then expressed concern for the well-being of staff members working on shows.

It sounds as if creating anime in the current situation is a delicate balancing act, trying to move forward while keeping everyone involved safe.

https://twitter.com/ENma_Dororon/status/1260475387487846407

Source: Otakomu

Matt Schley

Matt Schley (rhymes with "guy") lives in Tokyo, and has been OUSA's "man in Japan" since 2012. He's also written about anime and Japanese film for the Japan Times, Screen Daily and more.

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