Voice Actor/Actress Appreciation Post #1

Okay, so today I decided to do something brief, but something new. Today I have chosen a voice actress to spotlight for their achievements and what I like about them/their respective character(s) that I know of. Anywho, without further ado, the first VA I chose to highlight is Kayano Ai.

Kayano Ai (Image taken from: myanimelist.net)

Kayano's characters that I know of and loved include: Menma from Anohana, Mashiro from Sakurasou, and Inori/Mana from Guilty Crown. Menma was actually dead the entire Anohana series but existed as a ghost. While her character was immature and often acted childish, since Menma had died when she was fairly young, she had some good points. Even though she was dead, her spirit came back and insisted on getting her old group of friends back together. What really caught me about Menma's character was closer to the end. Her friends had gotten back together and continuously tried to fulfill Menma's wish so she could pass on entirely, and at the end of the series, they finally do. Of course, as with any dramatic anime, the ending is packed with tears and emotions and whatnot, Menma very much included. Also, a few scenes kind of made Menma seem awkward in a sense, since she was so childish mentally yet her friends had grown up to high school age along with their maturity levels for the most part. Anyways, not my favorite of Kayano's VA-ed characters, but still great.

Menma from Anohana (Image taken from: anivision.org)

Next off on my checklist is Mashiro from Sakurasou. Mashiro is an extremely talented artist, but she has no real common sense to compare. She's socially awkward for the vast majority of the series, barely knows how to do household tasks (like laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc.) and often makes more of a mess in the process of trying to do those things herself. Her character overall tended to be rather blunt but oblivious to how blunt she was being. She'd get right to the point in most cases, but also had times where she was absolutely clueless and left it to the other people at Sakurasou to help out. Ai's VA-ing for Mashiro got me hooked too. The tone of voice often seemed monotone (yes, monotone in Japanese) but still very much fitting the role.

Mashiro from Sakurasou (Image taken from: fanpop.com

Finally, Inori and/or Mana from Guilty Crown is another role of Kayano's. Honestly, I'm not sure whether I'd call Inori my favorite or Mashiro my favorite, but Inori is still up there. Mana on the other hand... she's a bit demented in the series being the "Eve" figure (you'd understand if you watched the series/knew enough about what 'Lost Christmas' was) but in a very twisted way. Inori though... she was a lot like Mashiro in the sense that Kayano had a monotone often (less often for Inori), but Inori could fight and do just fine. Inori was a member of the rebellion group in Guilty Crown, and proved just how able she was for the cause throughout the series. Towards the end Mana is extracted, for lack of a better word, from Inori and thus personality changes occur and I kind of cringed a bit. I preferred Inori, who was strong in battle, yet weak otherwise. She relied on Shu, she had good, strong emotions, and I liked that. All in all, Kayano Ai did a great job matching her voice to each of the characters, and therefore the characters were convincing in their respective animes.

Inori from Guilty Crown (Image taken from: theakiba.com