#japanese VAs

[historyhermann]

Behind the Screen: Japanese voice actors who bring fictional librarians to life!

Top row, from left to right: Sanae Kobayashi, Kaori Nazuka, Yumi Ichihara, Miyuki Sawashiro, Chiwa Saitō, and Marina Inoue. Bottom row, from left to right: Tomoaki Maeno, Akira Ishida, Tatsuhisa Suzuki, Kanji Suzumori, Haruo Satō, and Takahiro Sakurai.

Part of understanding fictional librarians is understanding those behind the screen, specifically when it comes to those who voice animated characters. Part 1 of this series focused on Black voice actors, Part 2 on Asian and Latin American voice actors, and Part 3 on Indian voice actors.

Reprinted from Pop Culture Library Review where this post was published on Nov. 15, 2022.

In this fourth part of this series, I am profiling the over 12 Japanese voice actors, men and women, who have voiced librarian characters over the years, in various anime.

About the voice actors

There are 12 Japanese voice actors which I'm describing here who voice librarians. One of the first I saw was Sanae Kobayashi, who voices Lilith in Yamibou and is a seasoned voice actress. Most recently, I was acquainted with Kaori Nazuka, as she voiced Fumio Murakumi in Girl Friend Beta. She has voiced over 200 other roles in shows like Restaurant to Another World 2, Revue Starlight, Akame Ga Kill, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Fairy Tail, and RIN: Daughters of Mnemosyne. 

There's also the three voice actresses who have roles in Kokoro Toshokan, otherwise known as Kokoro Library: Yumi Ichihara who voices Aruto, Miyuki Sawashiro who voices Iina, and Chiwa Saitō, who voices Kokoro, the main protagonist. Sawashiro also voices Asako Shibasaki in Library War and Mirepoc Finedel in Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra, perhaps the only person on this list who is shown as voicing three librarian characters. Miyuki, on other hand, is also a seasoned voice actress, even voicing a character in My Little Pony. The final actor I'd like to mention is Marina Inoue who voices Iku Kasahara in Library War. She has voiced many anime characters over the years.

There were five other Japanese actors, all in Library War. This included Tomoaki Maeno (who voiced Atsushi Dojo), Akira Ishida (who voiced Mikihisa Komaki), Tatsuhisa Suzuki (who voiced Hikaru Tezuka), Kanji Suzumori (who voiced Ryusuke Genda), and Haruo Satō (who voiced Kazuichi Inamine). Meano voiced characters in well-known anime series while Sato voiced characters in anime too, but also Western animations like the Powerpuff Girls and Totally Spies.

There is also Takahiro Sakurai as Riichi Miura in The Ancient Magus Bride: Those Awaiting a Star. [1] He is known for he voicing of characters in Le Chevalier D'Eon, Naruto Shippūden, Ace of Diamond, and many other series, like Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra where he voiced Ruruta Coozancoona. Ishida also voiced a character in the same series, Mokkania Fluru. There are undoubtedly many more, so this is only scratching the surface when it comes to these characters.

About the characters

top row, left to right: Lilith, Fumio Murakumi, Riichi Miura, Aruto, Kokoro, Iina, Asako Shibasaki, and Iku Kasahara. Bottom row: Atsushi Dojo, Hikaru Tezuka, Ryusuke Genda, Mikihisa Komaki, Kazuichi Inamine, Ruruta Coozancoona, Mokkania Fluru, and Mirepoc Finedel.

Lilith in Yamibou is the library's guardian. She is the third creator of worlds. She is also a lesbian attracted to Hazuki who she flirts with throughout the series. She dislikes Eve, who is the love interest of Hazuki, her adopted sister. She also is considerably wise and has a wide range of knowledge, while wanting to get Eve back to the library.

Fumio Murakumi is a main character in Girl Friend Beta, and third year student. She was once introverted and lonely, but Erena becomes one of her closest friends and she likely has a crush on her. She is often carrying a book and has a strong inner personality, while she can speak politely when needed, from time to time.

Riichi Miura in The Ancient Magus Bride: Those Awaiting a Star is a librarian of a library within a forest. He can be nurturing and gentle, even if a bit awkward at times. He helps out Chise Hatori, who took refuge from evil spirits in the library. Riichi later gets Chise a library card, lets her explore around the library, but she accidentally leaves the door open letting in monsters which eat all the books and seem to put him at death's door. In the final episode, Chise watches as the monster swallows up the library and Riichi while she gives the book back to the person she intended to go to. She tries to go back there later and the library is gone, with no evidence of it being there. Her mentor later tells her the library is like something out of a legend, and she bonds with her mentor, and others over the story.

Aruto in Kokoro Library is one of the protagonists and is a quiet girl. She works at the small library located on an unpopulated mountain, with a strong-minded girl named Iina and a girl who has the same name as the library, Kokoro. All three are sisters.

Asako Shibasaki, Iku Kasahara, Atsushi Dojo, Hikaru Tezuka, Ryusuke Genda, Mikihisa Komaki, and Kazuichi Inamine are all characters in Library War. Asako is a library clerk supervisor who is an intelligence specialist and helps Iku study the catalogs. She also tries to give Iku advice and later falls in love with Hikaru, another library clerk supervisor. Iku, the protagonist, is a new member of the Library Defense Force who struggles in training. Atsushi is another librarian who is part of the defense force and develops romantic feelings for Iku, with both later marrying. Ryusuke is a supervising librarian and veteran field commander. Kazuichi commands the Library Defense Force and is a big part on the battle with the Media Betterment Committee. Mikihisa is another librarian who is often  smiling or laughing at his coworkers, and pushed Iku to join the task force.

Some of the many characters in Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra, also known as Armed Librarians include Ruruta Coozancoona, Mokkania Fluru, and Mirepoc Finedel. Ruruta is director and founder of the Bantorra Library, while Mokkania is one of the strongest armed librarians, and Mirepoc is a third-grade armed librarian.

© 2022 Burkely Hermann. All rights reserved.

Notes

[1] IMDB breaks this up into Part 2, and Part 3 rather than putting them all under one show even though they all part of the same OVA, but doesn't have Part 1, so this ANN page serves as a source here.

[kiivg]

.He knows just what it takes to make a pro blush.

[balkanparamo]

Kasamatsu Shiro, Natsu no yoru (Hanabi to ie) 夏 の 夜(花 火 と 家) Summer Night

[koumori-1999]

this is actually a horrible VA joke no one asked for

[neonredhex]

No need to tell him, he knows exactly where his hands are

[pinkrose05]

Soooooo very normal about this skit btw

[marivanilla05]

Out of context dub scenes I found buried in my files

[0bticeo]

oooh but to be pinned down against the panel control by alastor during that one scene in stayed gone. maybe you're one of his contracted souls. maybe you're one of the poor souls seeking redemption. maybe you're one of his friends, if the radio demon has such a thing. maybe you're playing spy for vox. doesn't matter - you're here during his showdown with vox.

his façade drops. you take a step back, until your hip hits the control panels. there's nowhere to run. not with him looming over you. his ever-present smile stretches impossibly wide, fangs bared, hot breath fanning your skin. saliva trickles down his gaping maw. your breath hitches when it hits the tender skin of your neck, lips parting in a silent gasp.

"i'm gonna make you wish that i'd stayed gone."

his body contorts and stretches, limbs elongating until he encases you, studies you - pupils like radio dials emerging from a pool of black. he's close. too close. oh, and he's pissed.

you've never seen something as terribly beautiful as him.

his claws dig in your chin, craning up your neck just short of humanely possible until you meet his stare. he sings, still, static digging into your very bones until it steals your breath away, until it's only you and the radio demon watching you like you're his last meal. oh, and he's snarling his verse, voice dripping with venom as he goes, as you drown into him.

there's a distorted chuckle in his voice, the richness of his laughter merging with that of his audience's.

"oh, this will be fun."

[blaithnne]

Beakley's final sheet is here! I gave her a new surname because…. I wanted to, but I think she still uses Beakley sometimes. Half as a pseudonym, and half because it’s a little easier in an English speaking country. This, by the way, is the sparknotes version of her backstory, because there’s SO much stuff I didn’t have room for, and I barely had space to talk about her after joining SHUSH.

MORE Beakley content you ask? Say less

Meet the Cast!

╰┈➤ Canon ☄. *. ⋆

→ Scrooge McDuff → Matilda McDuff → Hortense McDuff → Qalhata Duiker → Ludwig Von Druska → Goldie O'Gilt → LÙ Huifen (pre-caseflies) → LÙ Huifen (post-casefiles) → Bradford Butcher

╰┈➤ OCs ☄. *. ⋆

→ Lucrais NicRiada

.ೃ࿐

[ofdarklands]

love that the watcher is possibly to scale

[quotidianish]

Charlie redesign .. Only redesigning characters with a relation to Adam lol

[devotion-disorder]

a lotta stressful irl stuff happening right now so ive taken the bold creative decision to become attached to a random fictional character. on an unrelated note does anyone else think that adachi persona 4's character sprites are like, really lewd

look at this loser's face. i want to trap him inside a hamster cage and feed him cabbage

[goatyuuji]

JJK Audio Drama Playlist:

They are not in order and to be honest I am making it for my sake lol...Anyways jjk audio drama playlist:

1. Itafushi wandering around the city and tailing Gojo:

Part 1 (Itafushi explore Akihbara on their day off)

Part 2 (Megumi obliterates Yuuji in Arcade games)

Part 3 (Itafushi tails Gojo, goes to Maid Cafe, this is my personal favorite)

Part 4 (most emo I have ever seen Gojo in the end lol)

Animatics

2. Fake Geto (Kenjaku) teaches Jogo and Hanami about humans (caption on):

Part 1

3. JUJUTSU SANPO JUPPON GRAND PRIZE with the 1st years (Nobara, Megumi, Yuuji):

Part 1 (Megumi is a fucking menace with the answers)

Animatics

4. The first-year trio get to know each other over a steak dinner in Roppongi:

Part 1

5. JUJUTSU SANPPO JUPPON GRAND PRIZE WITH 1ST YEARS AND 2ND YEARS (Nobara, Megumi, Yuuji vs Maki, Inumaki, Panda):

Part 1

6. Megumi, Nobara, Yuuji go to Sendai for a Business trip (Sendai is Yuuji's home town 🥹)

Part 1

7. Nanami and Gojo go on a mission together (this one is..dark nvm):

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Animatics ("oi oi oi nanami!")

8. The first-year trio visits Tachikawa:

Part 1

Extra: Not an audio drama but all the Jujusanpo panels drawn by Gege Akutami.

[empiireans]

don’t ask me why i sketched ginger and mugman as the princess and knight cookies respectively because i don’t have an answer to that

[bbq-potato-chip]

OMG I love ur art style the colorsss (⁠◍⁠•⁠ᴗ⁠•⁠◍⁠)⁠✧⁠*⁠。since ur taking reqs can u draw Tori? <333

he has NO SWAG!!!!!

[marivanilla05]

I saw a screenshot of this episode, and I was reminded that I rewatched it (and recorded some scenes) last month. Anyway, just thought some of you might want to see it.

(edit: added the tag "out of context detco dub" to all the related videos on my blog for easier searching)