On the TV, the anime content continued.
After introducing herself, Shizuka Sakaki entered the recording studio.
The sound director looked at Shizuka Sakaki inside the recording studio and said, "Are you ready? We're about to begin."
"Yes!"
Shizuka Sakaki replied loudly.
Her voice was full of nervousness, and a bead of sweat could be seen on her face.
"It's all written in the materials; I think you should be clear about it," the sound director reminded her.
"Huh?"
Shizuka Sakaki panicked for a moment.
"The older sister in 'Harem 11'," the sound director offered.
Shizuka Sakaki hurriedly flipped through the materials, and then heard the sound director say, "Please try to sound a bit more arrogant. Once the signal light turns on, please state your name and character name before you begin."
"Yes," Shizuka Sakaki replied earnestly.
After that, the signal light turned on.
At first, Shizuka Sakaki didn't react, but after a reminder from the sound director, she realized what to do, quickly announced her name and character name, and then began the audition.
After all, it was her first audition; she was so nervous that it was audible in her voice. Her hands, holding the script, were even trembling uncontrollably. She got stuck just a couple of sentences in, but the sound director told her to keep going, so she gritted her teeth and pushed on with the dubbing.
Seeing this, Nishi Yano felt completely immersed in the scene.
Although she wouldn't consider herself a voice actor, she had some experience with voice acting. For a rookie voice actor, dubbing for a production for the first time, it's very easy to get nervous.
What's more, this wasn't even a real production, but an audition—the pressure was even greater.
It was too realistic.
The obviously nervous voice could naturally be picked up immediately.
In the animation, the producer sitting in the mixing room couldn't help but say, "She's just too nervous."
"Indeed," the on-site producer agreed.
The supervising director, Shoichi Shinbo, remarked, "However, I think there's something good about this unpolished, gem-in-the-rough quality."
Good as it might be, unfortunately, after listening for a while longer, Shoichi Shinbo still put an 'X' next to Shizuka Sakaki's name on the voice actor list.
The scene cuts to the evening. Shizuka Sakaki is walking home, the high-rise buildings on either side and the twilight sky framing her figure, making her look quite forlorn from behind.
Tears well up in the corners of her eyes as she walks in silence.
Everything is left unsaid.
Soon, the camera returns to the main character.
Compared to Shizuka Sakaki's bitter experience, things are going very smoothly for our protagonist.
She finishes her day's work and arrives home. As she's heating up dinner on the induction stove, she suddenly receives a call from home.
It's her mother.
"Ah, it finally went through. I watched it, that 'Exodus!'"
"It's 'Exodus!'"
"Right, that one."
"Doesn't the local station over there not broadcast it?"
"Your dad got cable TV. At the end of the show, we saw your name, 'Aoi Miyamori.' I kept replaying that part over and over."
"You only watched that part?"
"While I was watching, I kept thinking that you've been working really hard, Aoi. Though, we didn't really understand the show itself. But your dad, he was so happy to see your name, he even said he'd mail you some rice."
The previous audition was very realistic, and the phone call between the main character and her mother here feels even more so.
Just because their daughter participated in the production, they would watch an animation they didn't even understand, and would even feel happy seeing their daughter's name appear on TV—this is what parents are like.
After the casual, everyday conversation ended, the main character called Shizuka Sakaki, having received an email from her.
On the phone, she asked about the audition. Shizuka Sakaki gave a low "yeah," sounding extremely dejected.
Guessing it probably didn't go well, the main character said after a brief silence, "We'll hear the details from you tomorrow."
After hanging up, Shizuka Sakaki sat in silence for a few seconds before slowly getting up to find Seven Lucky Gods of Syncretism, the animation they had made back in their high school animation club, and watched it by herself.
It seemed that only by watching this animation could she continue to firmly hold onto her dreams and belief.
The next morning, as agreed, the five good friends met at Kichijoji Station.
After greeting each other, they went to watch an animated film together. Once it finished, they found a place to eat and discussed the film, each from their own area of expertise.
Afterward, the group headed to Inokashira Park, a sacred site for Benzaiten, one of the Seven Lucky Gods, to hang out for a while.
It wasn't until evening that they went to the place where Shizuka Sakaki worked part-time to eat and drink.
As they drank and chatted, the conversation soon turned to work.
"Even though I love drawing, all sorts of issues arise when it becomes work. I get depressed because I'm clumsy, and I panic because of tight deadlines," Ema Yasuhara said first.
"I can totally relate," Misa Toudou quickly followed up. "I'm always getting scolded by my seniors too—that my modeling is too rough, or that I need to pay more attention to proportions and space. I thought I could do better than this."
"Same here, same here."
The main character nodded. "Me too. I was a complete mess during the fourth episode, but thanks to my colleagues, they gave me all the help I needed."
Except for the university student, Midori Imai, the other three were all worried about work, which made Shizuka Sakaki, who couldn't even land a voice acting job, sigh and say, "It must be nice. Being able to worry about work means you're all working hard. Unlike me, I haven't accomplished anything big yet."
"Anything big?" Midori Imai asked, feeling a bit confused.
Shizuka Sakaki explained, "I mean, just doing a local shopping district mascot..."
Before she could finish, Misa Toudou immediately said, "A mascot? Isn't that quite popular right now?"
"...of the antagonist's minion or something," Shizuka Sakaki added, feeling a bit embarrassed.
For a moment, everyone fell silent.
Soon, Ema Yasuhara brought up a job Shizuka Sakaki had received at a TV station, but according to Shizuka Sakaki's explanation, it was just a voice-over for a variety show... dubbing for a foreigner. Nobody would even know it was her; it couldn't compare to a real voice acting job.
After saying this, Midori Imai immediately asked about the audition: "I heard you went for an audition yesterday?"
"Yeah," Shizuka Sakaki replied.
She lowered her head, was silent for a moment, then quickly forced a smile and said, "Oh, I blew it. I was so nervous that my hand holding the script wouldn't stop shaking, and I cracked my voice at the crucial part. It was just awful... and Chiwa Saito was also there auditioning for the same role."
That night, Shizuka Sakaki drank until she was drunk, and in the end, Midori Imai had to take her home.
In front of the television.
Nishi Yano felt a pang of heartache as she watched.
The job of a voice actor was just too heart-wrenching.
However, precisely because it was heart-wrenching, she felt she didn't need to hesitate any longer.
Although she performed better in the voice acting classes, it would be better to specialize in animation.
For an animation artist, the initial pay was also quite miserable, but at least it wouldn't be to the point of not being able to get any work at all. And if she could get into L.S Produ after graduation, she would have some security, even in the early stages.
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