Hiroki Yasumoto, the voice actor of Sado in Bleach recently in an interview revealed the secret behind anime’s legendary voice acting. He also mentioned, that the director of Bleach, Noriyuki Abe, had a very hands-off approach to voice acting and this style of voice acting was relatively uncommon at the time in anime. The majority of anime directors were tyrannical and would closely supervise the voice performers. However, Abe’s faith in the voice actors enabled them to provide their greatest performances, contributing to Bleach’s status as one of the most-watched anime ever.
Sigma Seven is connected to the Japanese voice actor and narrator Hiroki Yasumoto. In the anime series Bleach & Bleach: TYBW, he provided the voice of Sado. His other famous performances include King in One Punch Man, Apis in Ranking of Kings, Kon Shiu in Jujutsu Kaisen Season 2, and Elfman Strauss in Fairy Tail.
How Do Bleach Voice Actors Perform So Well?
In an interview with Mantan Web, Hiroki Yasumoto, who plays Yasutora Sado (Chad) in the anime Bleach, shared a secret about the anime’s renowned voice acting. He claimed that allowing the voice performers to all improvise their lines was essential to the show’s success.
“It’s a minor thing, but I think it’s one of the reasons why Bleach is so popular. The director, Noriyuki Abe, gave us a lot of freedom to improvise our lines. He didn’t tell us how to act or what to say. He just said, ‘This is the character, and this is what he’s feeling. Go with it.’ That gave us a lot of creative freedom, and I think it really showed in our performances.”
This method of voice acting, according to Yasumoto, was relatively uncommon at the time in anime. The majority of anime directors were tyrannical and would closely supervise the voice performers. However, Abe’s faith in the voice actors enabled them to provide their greatest performances, which contributed to Bleach’s status as one of the most-watched anime ever.
What Are Hiroki Yasumoto’s Opinions About New Voice Actors?
According to Yasumoto, new voice actors may be talented but are unable to do proper “mic work” and perform well while recording with other people, which was earlier known to be common work in the industry.
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“Even things like adjusting the microphone, it’s better if the younger actors who are naturally closer to the microphone handle it. Because they’re used to working with just one microphone, everyone ends up sitting in the middle, and the person who speaks the most ends up at the edge. It’s a minor thing, but it would be good to properly teach them about these aspects, don’t you think?”
In an episode of a popular show, Hiroki Yasumoto and Yusuke Shirai discussed about “mic work” (a crucial aspect of the voice acting industry which mostly goes unnoticed). The two voice performers discussed the value of using the right microphone methods, particularly while recording with others. They said that the new trend of remote recording made this problem of the highest importance.
Source: AnimeHunch
