tj_han86′s comment that Mamiko Noto is the worst person to pick for the lead role of Masane Amou in Witchblade reminded me of Moyism’s wish that she wouldn’t get typecasted so much. I’ve only seen one episode of Witchblade and am feeling wishy-washy: it’s not a complete disaster so far and there’s potential but I’ve yet to be convinced. (Feedback from those who have seen the ten episodes so far?) Overall, Ms Noto’s voice and history of roles appears to severely constrain her possible roles, but I think that her range wider than what most of us assume it is and if she pulls off Witchblade, it will further increase her already large fanbase and widen the choice of roles available to her – which I think is no bad thing.

The role that Ms Noto appears to have been typecasted into fall under the rubric of “quiet girl with a distinctive voice” e.g. Hecate above who hardly ever says anything but also pulls a huge screaming fit in Shana Ep 24. Actually given how seiyuu are paid the same pittance per episode no matter how many lines they have, this might be a pretty lucrative niche.

Yakumo’s maternal if slightly hapless nature is conveyed perfectly by Ms Noto. While Yakumo is one of School Rumble’s more popular characters, personally I’m with Jeff Lawson when he said: “Yakumo can stick to romancing cats and small woodland creatures for all I care.” Which is not to say that Mamiko Noto didn’t do a good job but the passivity of the character that Ms Noto does so well to express didn’t find favour with me – especially when contrasted against characters like Mikochin, Eri and even Karen Ichijou.

“Do I really sound the same no matter what role I play? orz” I remarked that Ichigo Mashimaro’s Ana Coppola sounded a lot like MariMite’s Shimako Toudou, especially in the first few episodes and Ana’s didn’t develop a distinct personality until a few episodes later as Ms Noto settled into the role.

One of the biggest problems, I suppose, is how the role of Shimako came to dominate the way fans heard Ms Noto’s voice and amply illustrated by the parodies above. For me, Shimako was probably Ms Noto’s defining and most successful role. A real class act that balanced a quiet stillness with weariness and passion all in one character.

But a more charitable take is that there are subtle differences in each of the above roles and it’s those subtle differences that many of her fans appreciate. For Ana, I think the role came into its own once the comic elements of her inability to speak English and her relationship with Nobue were established which then created the context for her to express herself in a way that was unique to the show. Context really helps e.g. I much prefer Yukino in Mai Otome compared to the more repressed and hesistant Yukino in Mai HiME – but in both cases, her voice acting was faithful to script and direction.

One of her roles which I really enjoy hearing is Angol Moa in Keroro Gunso where she has the personality of an airheaded kogal with the power to cause Armageddon and who loves Keroro. Like Tamama, I find her shiny happiness to undefeatable. Normally I hate these type of Super Happy Go Lucky characters but Ms Noto sounds like she genuinely enjoys the role so much that I find myself enjoying her portrayal, almost against my will. (;^_^)

The role that gives me great hopes for Mamiko Noto’s potential was Azuma Hazuki in Yamibou. Here we had Ms Noto voicing an aggressive, sword-wielding heroine who had plenty of outbursts of lesbian lust and angst and doing an excellent job throughout. Unfortunately as it’s not the most popular or ‘easy to understand if you’ve not played the game’ series, it isn’t cited as much as it should as evidence of Ms Noto’s possible range.

Range, diversity and adaptability are considered to be virtues in voice actresses (e.g. Megumi Hayashibara as Lina Inverse, Faye Valentine and Rei Ayanami or the Good/Evil sides of Rei Tanaka and Ayako Kawasumi) but perhaps the line between niche and typecasting is a fine one. In the vein of jpmeyer’s brilliant definition of over/underrated, the former means "sounds the same but we like all ‘em" while the latter is "sounds the same but all t3h suxx0r". So far, my impression has been generally positive – Mamiko Noto’s unique voice has been well-deployed but there’s room for growth into more assertive roles.

©2012 hontou ni sou omou?. All Rights Reserved.

Keeping the momentum going, here’s my top 10 list of favourite anime elder sister types [edit: from recent series]. Seems that the hontou ni class of anime blog has captured the siscon niché of the market (;^_^) – with Stripey specialising in girls who like their brothers a bit too much while one area of focus for me is Oneesama types. Pretty big difference still, within this niche. Stripey gets his shivers down the spine from such instances as Nemu’s “Niiiii-san!” or Pacifica’s “Daisuki dayo!” so technically his niché is “cute girls with elder brother complex” (but that’s too wordy so he’ll just stick to "siscon". In contrast, I get my thrills from the girls listed below.

The screencap above says a lot about my criteria. She must be an actual older sister to someone or if not, she is addressed as such or have the term associated with her. Hawtness is an obvious criteria. Significant screentime rules out Suzuka’s elder sis or Motoko Aoyama’s aneeue (both of whose names escape me). Character traits like natural leadership, bossiness, domineering also given high weight. Respect and ownage a big bonus while extra credit is given for oneesamas with imouto admirers who want their “gouhoubi”.

10. Tenma Tsukamoto (School Rumble) barely squeaked in but my sample is skewed towards whatever anime I have on hand right now. What finally got Tenma in for me was her use of “Oneechan power” to arbitrarily win her argument for Yakumo not to talk to Harima during the camping trip.

9. Lunamaria Hawke (Gundam SEED Destiny) gets some points for being an elite combat pilot, giving Meyrin an inferiority complex about her waist size, berating Meyrin for not visiting her in the sickbay and for being blog mascot. Loses points for getting pwned by her little sister’s escape with Athrun and major major point deduction for final choice of boyfriend.

8. Margery Daw (Shakugan no Shana) gets the “Anee-san” honours from Tanaka. Nice character growth, has beaten Shana and Mr Thousand Transformations from the Baal Masqué, drinks like a fish, great comedic double act with Marcocius. Not really sure why she doesn’t float my boat more though.

7. Taiga Fujimura aka “Fuji-nee” (Fate/Stay Night) is one of the reasons why I haven’t gone Yawn/Good Night yet. Love her antics and while she’s been pwned by Saber in combat and Rin in negotiation, she’s clearly respected by Shirou and Saber and well loved by her students.

6. Asa Shigure (SHUFFLE!) is on a bit ambiguous ground since the “oneechan” thing was self-declared. Plus points include getting the guy against all the odds, being cooking instructor to Kaede and Nerine, a very liberal girlfriend and shaping up well to be primus inter pares in a polygamous arrrangement plus having a “best friend” in the gorgeous Kareha. Loses points for her silly reason for not using magic.

5. Nobue Itou, (Ichigo Mashimaro) on the other hand, has no question about her qualifications. Elder sister to Chika and addressed as Oneechan by Miu and Matsuri, Oneesama by Ana. Has her own lolicious harem with one of the girls actually having da hots for her (even though I try not to think of it too much lest I get ridden down and trampled by the RCMP).

4. Juliet Nao Zhang (Mai Otome) gets the “Oneesama” tag from Nina. I know that there are so many others in Otome that could qualify but Shizuru’s fan club is big enough already and her fan worship plentiful enough. Nao gets a lot of points for actually being useful – saving the girls from pinches, providing crucial bits of info and protection – and for being able to wind up Ms Maki Maki effortlessly. Really happy for her when she was chosen as a Pillar or “Colum” but loses points for the awful Spiderwoman robe (I don’t actually mind the French mime outfit that much).

3. Melissa Mao (Full Metal Panic!) gets addressed as elder sister by Weber and what a Master Sergeant to have! Big robot operator, having the guts to challenge TDD captain, the fighting-in-underwear scene in the last episode of FMP!’s first season, the knife fight with half of Twincest and that wig and evening dress followed by rocket launcher and that evening dress in Ep 5 of The Second Raid. Pity she didn’t get more screentime.

2. Natsumi Hinata (Keroro Gunso) may only be 13 but she’s more than just big sis to Fuyuki, being able to pwn the Keroro Platoon’s best fighter, Giroro, with just a leek and her briefcase as well as enslaving Keroro to be housemaid. Utterly hot and as Earth’s Ultimate (and Only) Line of Defence is only really vulnerable on the Aki, Saburo and Slugman fronts. Also has a ninja girlfriend.

1. Sei Satou, (Maria-sama ga Miteru) Rose Gigantea and Oneesama to the elegant Shimako Toudo, is my top yuri girl as well. That she doesn’t have any magical or technological or other powers makes her even more special. Love her range – from honours student mode when dealing with parents and official external Yamayurikai business to dirty old man mode with pretty girls; from tormentor and tease of our lead character, Ordinary Girl Yumi Fukuzama, to being her trusted confidante, advisor and emotional shelter. Loved by girls like Shiori Kubo and Shizuka Kanina. Even Sachiko is jealous of how comfortable her Yumi is with Sei.

©2012 hontou ni sou omou?. All Rights Reserved.

Some great LOL moments in this second installment of the OVA. Again, lovely Harima-Eri interaction in Tenma’s presence. Eri is normally a very bright and observant person but given her feelings about Harima and Tenma not even appearing on her competition radar (which had already zapped Mikoto and Yakumo), I suppose it’s understandable that she didn’t link Harima’s changes in behaviour to the only variable that was controlling it.

The SD style is always funny. Like the way how the animation shifts from normal to SD or to the hyper-imagination mode when characters see their love interest in an ideal light or when characters see themselves as they imagine themselves rather than the reality.

The caveman thing had a lot of potential to end up being WTF but turned out well with LOL. It seems only natural that Eri is the queen of the caveman tribe. And was that woolly mammoth (devil tusks?) CG-rendered? Of course, it must have been the most powerful characters in Sukuran, Ichijou and Lala, that brought it down. Speaking of which, I like how Ichijou’s character inverts the stereotype of the shy “ano-eto” girl by giving her the greatest combat power but other than Lala’s rivalry with her and her attraction to Imadori, there’s been precious little development. The imagined HariTen children were a riot and I laughed really hard for quite a while.

Now this was an interesting development, if only a momentary one. I wonder what Yakumo will make of this and how things will develop from here. It would certainly be interesting if Yakumo develops feelings for him (with Harima being oblivious to it) and learns how to stand up to Eri’s bullying.

Much preferred Yuko Ogura’s ED song to the Galaxy Express ED in OVA Ep 1. Even though I don’t really think much of her singing or her ED MV – something about her just gives me the creepy feeling that she’s being abused by her management or something – the delivery and content of that song is really suitable for this series.

Akira with that white sundress and guns needs Salvo Nos from the Noir OST. Rather puzzled why Harima was the only man in Yakumo’s ED scene since Hanai was clearly interested and actively pursuing her. A really cute ED.

Overall some of the scenes in the OVA (particularly the starting scene with the orange-haired guy) were rather WTF but I still enjoyed them overall. I haven’t been keeping up with the manga so I have no idea what to expect but it has certainly whetted my appetite for more School Rumble in the Spring season!

Requests: Hot Yakumo x Sara yuri! Hot Eri x Mikoto yuri! More Akira gunplay!

©2012 hontou ni sou omou?. All Rights Reserved.