Forum - View topicAnswerman - Why Do Voice Actors Work On Yaoi Drama CDs?
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VinceA
Posts: 126 Location: Bayonne, NJ |
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Lemonchest
Posts: 1771 |
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Was a pretty amusing part in the Japan Gaycation episode where they go with some fujoshi to a kareoke booth & listen to yaoi CDs because they like how embarrassing it feels to listen to men pretend to have loud sex.
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Paiprince
Posts: 593 |
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I see even Japan isn't immune to the male homosexual favoritism and double standards the West has imposed in itself in this regard. Claiming that BL/Yaoi is "cleaner" when it's still smut is pretty laughable.
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maximilianjenus
Posts: 2864 |
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cleaner than hentai, a fair comparison would be to compare it to yuri, the purest form of love.
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wolf10
Posts: 906 |
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I can think of a few rising star male VAs who I first heard in hentai. Kinda funny when you see them credited with their real name in one episode, and a pseudonym in the next, as if that's fooling anyone. There's also one particularly smutty BL game I played a while back that had a good chunk of its cast end up as the leads in back-to-back Tales games.
Male homosexual favoritism? It's cleaner in comparison to hetero porn series, not yuri. You're still infinitely more likely to see a FxF couple in a mainstream series than a MxM couple. It's not like notable female VAs never end up in GL works, there's just not nearly as much of a market. If you consider that most anime these days seem to have half a dozen female characters per one or two males, there's probably a lot more work for them on the mainstream circuit. If the tradeoff is Hiroshi Kamiya going gay-for-pay, I can live with that. |
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ice_tea
Posts: 74 |
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I don't think male VAs on yaoi drama CDs get paid a lot more than female ones that voice hentai (anime or game). Generally in the industry, game and drama CD pay is negotiated and also depends on the "level" of the voice actor (while anime pay as I know has its standards). You won't find Hanazawa Kana and the likes voicing hentai. I think voicing an H game can pay better than voicing an hentai anime (not based on a game). There are veteran female seiyuu who you can't see often in normal anime, and who mostly work on H games (with pseudonyms of course). Hardcore otaku are familiar with them because they are the ones who play and buy a lot of H games. Also there are those seiyuu start-ups (male or female) voicing hentai. Usually their level is still not that high in the industry and producers won't pay them a ridiculous amount of money. I have to tell you guys: yes, so and so went "gay-for-pay", only when he was poor, new and not yet that established. He is now SO famous and doesn't do that anymore! I have noticed that, when a male seiyuu gets popular, has a of of anime lead roles, and becomes a high-level seiyuu, he will sort of stopped doing yaoi CDs. It's a fact that most of a famous male seyuu's yaoi works were produced when he was relatively new (newer and low level seiyuu don't get high pay). I don't think he got paid that much then solely for doing the yaoi drama CDs (or games). The reward they are aiming for, I believe, is popularity later, apearing in anime events, releasing their solo drama and music CDs, etc. Of course there are those older male VAs who are still releasing yaoi CDs. They are the ones who usually don't get many anime lead roles (some are even not heard much in anime at all). Their pay and popularity level defnitely is no where near those of the current "big name" VAs. Last edited by ice_tea on Fri Mar 11, 2016 9:23 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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crosswithyou
Posts: 2892 Location: California |
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A-list seiyuu were not always A-list. Some of the now A-list actors once had to supplement their paycheck by acting in BL CDs and hentai. For hentai (and sometimes BL, usually games), they often use a pseudonym since, as the article mentioned, it could sully their career later should their name be associated with that type of work. Some of the BL they act in may become long-running series so they may be obligated to reprise the role even after they no longer need BL work to put food on the table.
Using Kamiya and OnoD as an example, they have not voiced any new series in at least 5 years. The only new BL CDs they've put out have been sequels. It's quite clear that they are not taking on any offers for new BL CDs that they have not previously been involved in. So some people kind of fade out of the genre once they no longer need that type of work to help sell their name, and some, such as Morikawa, don't seem to mind the work and continue to do them, presumably because it's work and puts a few extra bucks into their pocket. FYI, BL CDs have made enough sales to rank on the Oricon chart before so likely the pay for them is pretty good. I would assume they pay more than an anime episode for roughly the same number of hours in the studio. |
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ice_tea
Posts: 74 |
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Toriumi is the one who has done a lot of smutty yaoi drama CDs and games. He has also done a few hentai anime, as well as R18 otome games. Yes, he voiced all those sex scenes. Maybe that's the reason voice actors use pseudonyms in hentai. They don't want the "mainstream" (Naruto audience??) to find out! They obviously don't consider fujoshi part of the mainstream. So they have no problem showing their names on the cover of a BLCD. Have you noticed that the amount of drama CDs (BL, otome or otherwise) produced in Japan is amazing. And I agree that if the CD sales are decent, the voice actors can get paid quite well, better than voicing anime. That's why they do drama CDs, BL or otherwise. |
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AnimeLordLuis
Posts: 1626 Location: The Borderlands of Pandora |
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Voice Actors are Actors too? I never would have guessed what is this world coming too when even VA are Faking there roles.
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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Those are pretty different though. That's direct narration, usually with a single person, and are meant to be a substitute for reading a novel (such as consuming it when driving, for instance, or for those with vision problems). These are essentially radio dramas, which English-speaking people largely associate with the earlier parts of the 20th century and are no longer taken seriously as a storytelling medium. It's a shame, really. I would love to see a return of the radio drama. There are a few over satellite radio though.
Yeah, that was the answer I was predicting going in--these actors are getting a paycheck for it, and if it fits in their schedule and they're comfortable playing the roles, why not?
Does that mean that some of these audio CDs will resell for high prices because one or more of the actors got popular later on? |
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crosswithyou
Posts: 2892 Location: California |
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If the CD is out of print, it's possible. The Cyberphase label went out of business so their CDs can be pretty expensive. The S series (Konishi x Kamiya, novel available in English from DMP) was published by Cyberphase, and usually commands 8000-10000 yen per CD via auctions. Pre-order bonus CDs that are no longer available if you buy the CD now can also bring quite a premium. |
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leafy sea dragon
Posts: 7163 Location: Another Kingdom |
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Thanks for the reply. So if they sell well, they'll make more prints of them. That makes sense.
But yeah, I was guessing there'd be at least one case where the actor becomes famous but his or her early work is obscure or unpopular during its own time. I'm not familiar at all with yaoi audio dramas, but I can think of how James Cameron directed Piranha 2 before moving on to The Terminator and Titanic as an example. |
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Puniyo
Posts: 271 |
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You'd be surprised - there actually is quite an English following for Otome CDs. The most popular CDs in Japan of course don't line up with the most popular in the west, though. Mostly either Yandere CDs or CDs that already have a translated Otome game (like Amnesia) get fan translations.
I think it means 'cleaner' more in the way it's written. BL CDs are aimed at females, usually they only have one smut track and the other six or so are all fluff. |
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As3ann
Posts: 59 |
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My favorites are Plot wise: COLD Series Smells Like Green Spirit Utsukushii Koto and Itoshii Koto Saezuru Tori wa Habatakanai Fluff-wise: Fukigen Amai series Datte Maou-sama Kare ga Kirai Udagawachou de Mattete yo BLCD is life, BLCD is love. But I'm still wondering as to why many voice actors decide to retire from BLCD in a certain point of their lives because veteran VAs usually do not get many new roles in anime, so I thought they would continue in CD path or smth. Too bad Akira Ishida retired from BLCD because in the early 2000s he was like an uke king to BLCD world. Haha. Takahiro Sakurai retired from BLCD since 2009 but recently he sort of slowly coming back (read:Junjou S3) Last edited by As3ann on Sat Mar 12, 2016 5:41 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Maidenoftheredhand
Posts: 2633 |
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People keep mentioning they wish there was the return of the radio drama but it HAS returned in the form of podcasts.
Also if you like radio drama BBC radio 4 extra plays tons and they are free (well at least for a period of time) My particular passion in this category though is Big Finish known for their Doctor Who audios but they do a ton more. Although they aren't free. https://www.bigfinish.com/ As for Japanese drama CDs I wish I could understand them. I have a couple from Akatsuki no Yona but I don't go out of my way to seek them out. I do sometimes look on YouTube for clips of my favorite Seiyuu (including Kamiya Hiroshi) and I have heard some BL scenes that way. But yeah I expect language barrier is why we don't get them in the West. Last edited by Maidenoftheredhand on Sat Mar 12, 2016 5:40 am; edited 1 time in total |
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