Yuuki Aoi 悠木碧 has one of the liveliest, sharpest, best controlled seiyuu voices around, especially for someone so young (17).One of her fans on 2channel says today that he clipped out her sponsorship message at the beginning of each episode of Yumeiro Pâtissière and has been using it for the past two months as his daily alarm clock. "It's a good way to wake up," he says. I imagine he loaded it on his phone for the purpose.Now, you may not want to use it as an alarm, but I invite you to admire how exact, varied, and lively Aoi-chan's voice is -- in character as Ichigo, the star of the enjoyable young-shoujo anime Yumeiro Pâtissière:<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.mydatanest.com/files/hashihime/18661_sln1v/player.swf" id="audioplayer1" height="24" width="290"> <param name="movie" value="http://www.mydatanest.com/files/hashihime/18661_sln1v/player.swf"><param name="FlashVars" value="playerID=audioplayer1&soundFile=http://www.mydatanest.com/files/hashihime/69969_9ua18/yumepatalarmfull.mp3"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="menu" value="false"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></object>What is she saying? Ohayo! Yumeiro Patishieru wa Konami to goran no suponsaa no teikyou de okuri shimasu! "Good morning! Yumeiro Pâtissière is brought to you by Konami and these sponsors." A list of sponsors is shown on screen. The show is broadcast at 9:30 am Sunday mornings.If you'd like the sound file, you can download it here. And here is a version without the musical intro and outro, clipped down to just her voice.In Yumeiro Pâtissière, Aoi-chan plays Ichigo, a clumsy girl who has an excellent sense of taste, and who develops the ambition to be a pâtissière (female baker of sweets). She attends a special high school where students train to be pâtissiers, and is put into the team consisting of the three bishounen who are the best bakers in her year. All four are befriended by little pixies called "sweets spirits," who are their mascots and occasional helpers. Only the very best students have spirits, whom the other students cannot see. Ichigo goes through learning experiences of all kinds, both in baking and with her studies and friends. The show may be aimed at ten-year-olds, but I'm enjoying it immensely. I must admit I find myself with happy tears in my eyes at the end of many episodes. And I'm getting some little pointers on baking, too. The show is part of a merchandising campaign centered around branded books, cards, tea-sets, baking sets, etc., sold by Konami.I also love Yuuki's work in the very different role of Mina Tepes, the vampire queen in Dance in the Vampire Bund. She played Murasaki in Kure-nai, opposite Sawashiro Miyuki, and says Sawashiro-san is who she admires and wants to emulate. She has the talent. It may just be a matter of time before she reaches that level.
(Read the rest of this entry)
(Entry meta)