Anime Nano - Series - Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

hashihime 橋姫

09/30/2008 04:15 PM EDT

Seiyuu Sawashiro Miyuki -- One of a Kind >>

SAWASHIRO Miyuki 沢城みゆき is a great seiyuu and a strange bird. She spends her time reading, likes classical music, dresses older than her 23 years, and speaks gently, but with great confidence in her own opinions.She started in anime at 14 (born in Tokyo 1985.06.02), and has been working ever since. She graduated from university earlier this year, and now is branching out into live theatre.At an age at which other seiyuu are considered newcomers, she is a seasoned veteran, with 110 anime roles under her belt, including her first role of Puchiko in Di Gi Charat, and her most famous role, that of Shinku in Rozen Maiden. She was Claire in Red Garden, Hagino in Blue Drop, and Shinkuro in Kurenai, and has important roles in three new shows that start this week.She describes herself as "terribly laid-back," and speaks softly and carefully in interviews (such as this one). She seems fairly serious and controlled, but has a dry wit and a wonderful happy laugh.But she tells people exactly what she thinks, without regard for age or experience. Some older seiyuus (Kaneda Tomoko, for one) have been taken aback by her pointed criticisms. So has the director of Kurenai, who said plaintively that she kept changing the lines he had written.Miyukichi (her nickname) is among the most versatile of all current seiyuus. She can play everyone from little girls through young men to mature women, and from flying cat-boys to sleepy nature goddesses, and her voice can be everything from sweet to harsh to sexy.Some people call her a jack of all trades and master of none. I think that is because she is so versatile that you can't identify her with one particular voice. But it is true that there is something so under-control about her work that it can seem dry. She is not so much a pretty voice as a fine vocal technician who is a good actress and becoming a better one.rolesThe role that really turned me on to her work was Hagino in Blue Drop (2007), but she is most famous for Puchiko in Di Gi Charat (her debut role, 1999) and Shinku in Rozen Maiden (2004). (mouseover photos for captions, click to enlarge) Her Claire in Red Garden (2006) was also outstanding, as was her Shibasaki in Library Wars (2008).She was Mint Blancmange in Galaxy Angel, Kagura in Onegai My Melody, Ibara-hime in Otogijushi Akazukin, Shinkuro in Kurenai, Reika in Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun, and the landlady in Hidamari Sketch. I could go on and on. There is a list of some of her roles at the end of this piece. Here is a video digest of her main roles. She has prominent roles in three interesting shows this fall season: she plays Kotoha in Yozakura Quartet (starts Thursday), Satoru in Linebarrels of Iron (starts Friday), and Aoba in Kannagi (starts Saturday).careerSawashiro-san's career began in 1999, when she was 13. At a public audition for the lead role in Di Gi Charat, she impressed the producers so much that they gave her the role of little Puchiko in the show. Even at the audition (YouTube), you can hear the energy, range, and precision of her voice, and can see how self-possessed she seems for someone so young.She kept working, getting more roles year by year through high school, then burst forth with 24 roles in 2006. That has dropped back to a somewhat more manageable 16 and 17 roles in 2007 and 2008. Her agency is Mausu Promotions, which also represents Ono Daisuke (whom Miyukichi calls "O.D.") and Ishida Akira.controversyThrough this past summer, 2channel has had a running argument about comments made by Matsuo Kou, the director/writer of Kurenai, in which Miyukichi starred as the male protagonist Shinkuro. The director said she did not address him with the proper respect and kept changing the script.But listening to the radio show on which he said it (nicovideo), it sounds to me as if his comments were made in good humor. And now Matsuo-san has chosen her to star in his new show, Yozakura Quartet. In fact, she appears to be his favorite seiyuu, having acted in his other shows Rozen Maiden and Red Garden. He probably first met her when he was a unit director on Galaxy Angel. personalityTanaka Rie says that on the set of Rozen Maiden, Miyukichi always seemed to be the chairman of the group, even though the other seiyuus were older than she was.And she is evidently fairly free with her opinions of others' approaches. "Sawashiro-san really scolds me," Kaneda Tomoko once said.There is a series of features on the Blue Drop DVDs (YouTube) in which Miyukichi interviews director Ohkura Masahiko (left) and mangaka Yoshitomo Akihito -- and manages to talk as much as either of them.She gives the feeling that she is outwardly mild, but inwardly clever and challenging. She seems an irresistible force, like water.She dresses older than her age, and sometimes wears seriously frumpy outfits. She does not always look as pretty as she is -- although I like all these photos, anyway. And she has had many different hairstyles, some fairly awful, as she makes extreme and but usually fruitless efforts to disguise how (beautifully) broad her face is:Bits and pieces:she does not eat meat, but does eat fish. she has one sibling, a younger brother. she likes classical music. she went to a college in Tokyo, but we don't know which one or what she majored in. her English pronunciation is passable, and she has spoken English in a couple of her roles, for example in the second ED for Red Garden.when she played the eldest sister in Kokoro Toshokan, she was the youngest among the seiyuus. friendsHer closest friend in the business appears to be Sanada Asami (below, left), who won that long-ago audition to play Di Gi Charat. If you watch video #4 of the audition, Asami is #12 and Miyukichi is #15. They have now been together in several shows over the years. She is also supposed to be friendly with such seiyuu as Nazuka Kaori, Koshimizu Ami, and Sanpei Yuuko, as well as Kugimiya Rie, Kobayashi Yu, Tamura Yukari, Tsuji Ayumi, and Kimura Haruka. She and Yukarin have been seen in close conversation at an event, knee to knee, stroking each other's hair. She has also been friendly with Gotou Saori, her co-star in Rakugo Tennyou Oyui, although there are rumours that they have fallen out for some reason. talentMany people have recognized her talent, but a quote from top seiyuu Seki Tomokazu stands out: "Make no mistake, this is a being who will take the seiyuu world somewhere."She is an excellent vocal technician, with a wide range of voices and intonations and the ability to use them at will -- despite the fact that she never did go to seiyuu school. And now she is concentrating on dramatic acting, as you can hear in Red Garden or Blue Drop or Kurenai.I'm sure a director can feel confident that she will produce a good voice for almost any character. But I think she's still finding something that will make her roles more memorable. I have a hunch that Miyukichi has only just begun, and will be showing us more and more in the years ahead.She joined the comic theatre group Gekidango late last year, and has been in three of their productions. To see a bit of what she is doing on the live stage, go to this page and click the little TV screen near the top right of the page for a brief video. The photos below are from the theatre group's site: videostalk for Seattle Gekidangoquick digest of roleslonger digest of roles part 1 part2 part 3 part 4at Di Gi Charat audition -- full audition here (she appears in part 1 at 7:45 and part 4 at 2:50)song with Shintani RyoukoGekidango stage performance (click TV screen near top right of page)YouTube search pageon Kurenai radio #8 (audio only)with Fuken Misato at Strike Witches OVA event Roles (selected):(1999) Di Gi Charat (TV) as Puchiko/Petit Charat(2001) Galaxy Angel (TV) as Mint Blancmanche(2001) Kokoro Library (TV) as Iina(2002) Pita Ten (TV) as Higuchi Kotarou(2004) Rozen Maiden (TV) as Shinku(2004) DearS (TV) as Khi(2004) Onegai My Melody (TV) as Kogure Kakeru(2005) D.C.S.S. ~Da Capo Second Season~ (TV) as Kudou Kanae(2005) Pani Poni Dash! (TV) as Serizawa Akane(2005) Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid (TV) as Xia Yu Lan(2005) My-Otome (TV) as Sara Gallagher(2006) Utawarerumono (TV) as Aruru(2006) Otogi-Jushi Akazukin (TV) as Ibara-hime(2006) Red Garden (TV) as Claire Forrest(2007) Les Miserables - Shoujo Cosette (TV) as Beatrice(2007) Nodame Cantabile (TV) as Chiaki (young)(2007) Kamichama Karin (TV) as Kujyou Kazune(2007) Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (TV) as Maria Taro Sekiutsu(2007) Dead Girls (OAV) as Claire Forrest(2007) Naruto Shippuuden (movie) as Shizuku(2007) Blue Drop: Tenshi-tachi no Gikyoku (TV) as Senkouji Hagino(2007) Goshuushou-sama Ninomiya-kun (TV) as Houjou Reika(2007) Shugo Chara! (TV) as Yoru (Ikuto's shugo chara)(2008) Kure-nai (TV) as Kurenai Shinkurou(2008) Library War (TV) as Shibasaki Asako(2008) Hidamari Sketch × 365 (TV) as Landlady(2008) Strike Witches (TV) as Perrine-H. Clostermann(2008) Yozakura Quartet (TV) as Isone Kotoha(2008) Linebarrels of Iron (TV) as Yamashita Satoru(2008) Kannagi: Crazy Shrine Maidens (TV) as Aoba Tsugumiroles by type:110 anime roles50 games (no ero-games)15 dubbing roles2 stage performances9 radio shows, two current51 music CDs (for characters, not in her own name)98 drama CDsanime roles by year:1999-12000-22001-32002-52003-72004-82005-102006-242007-162008-17plus 17 OVAs and movieslinksagency pagevoice samplesAnime News Network page (complete list of roles)Wikipedia pageJapanese Wikipedia pageGekidango theatre group pageMiyukichi's posts on Gekidango blogcurrent 2channel threadfansite (last updated 2007.12)
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