The Foreign Voice Over Industry Gains Insight From Japanese Voice Over Actors

Copyright (c) 2011 John V

Japanese voice actors have full-time careers and international stardom Foreign voice over projects require talented Japanese voice actors

When in need of translation services or foreign voice over production, it is important to know what kinds of multimedia services may be necessary. Knowing the background, history and particular skills of foreign voice over providers can be helpful when deciding what specific services to request. The following is a brief exploration of voice acting, Japanese voice actors and anime voice actors.

The practice of giving voices to animated characters in film, television shows, video games, radio, commercials, puppet shows and even amusement park rides is called voice acting. Japanese voice actors play a huge role in the worldwide profession of voice acting, lending their voices to popular characters in radio, movies, video games and television series.

The duties of a voice actor or actress may include singing, although a second voice actor might record a particular character's singing voice instead. In addition to performing voice acting for the entertainment industry in various capacities, voice actors also apply themselves in automated announcement systems, telephone hotlines, IVR recording, e-learning programs and more.

Japanese voice actors are called seiyu in Japan. Their primary tasks include acting in animated cartoons and video games, doing foreign voice over for international films, including American-made pictures, and giving narration to documentaries, news broadcasts and other types of programming.

Anime voice actors are popular in Japan because of the success of anime, manga and animated genres. Full-time Japanese voice actors have garnered their national fame for themselves and their work through their voice talents. Like Hollywood actors in America, seiyu cross over to other genres of entertainment, often singing theme songs for animated series. Many anime voice actors also branch out of animation and into audio dramas and image songs, which are songs sung from the perspective of a seiyu's most popular character. These songs do not enter the animated series itself but often include new information and adventures for these well-known characters.

In the United States, there are few very famous voice actors. Mel Blanc, who voiced such popular American animated characters as Bugs Bunny, Tweety Bird and Daffy Duck, is the most recognized and accomplished voice actor in American history. He was known was "The Man of a Thousand Voices" and when he died in 1989, an average of 20 million people heard his voice each day.

In Japan, however, there are many recognizable voice actors within the country and even internationally. Popular female seiyu include Kikuko Inoue, known for her roles in television and film anime, video games and original video animation, and Megumi Hayashibara, best known for roles in "Ranma ½," "Pokemon," and "Cowboy Bebop." Famous male seiyu include Noriaki Sugiyama, recognized for his roles as Sasuke Uchiha in "Naruto," Ishida Ury in "Bleach," and Shir Emiya in "Fate/Stay Night," and Masakazu Morita, famous for playing Ichigo Kurosaki in "Bleach," Tidus in "Final Fantasy X" and Troy Bolton in Japanese versions of "High School Musical" and "High School Musical 2."


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Japanese voice overs require great acting skills and talent. To learn more the foreign voice over industry, visit JBIStudios.com.