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![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) lady_nara | |
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As is often the case, I began writing a comment to someone else's post, but wound up deciding not to put it up after all because it got too long and off-topic. ^^;
I decided that it was an interesting enough topic to stand on its own in my journal, however, so here are some thoughts on Naoe's voice: Naoe is extremely clever in giving subtle spins to what he says, and just in using his voice effectively in general, whatever body he's in. At first I had thought that it was just the cleverness of his phrasing and the beauty of his voice as Yoshiaki, but then I remembered that Kaizaki's voice seemed to have the same effect on people. So rather than relying on the excellence of a particular body's voice, a lot of it must be in the intonation, I'm guessing. The skill of the musician draws out the full potential of the instrument. Naoe is well aware of the effect his voice has on people, especially when it's right up close to their ears, and he uses that to his advantage shamelessly. Even Takaya is affected, though he tries hard not to be. But he can't hide it anymore when Kaizaki corners him in that tourist attraction, ha! I keep thinking back to that one scene in the Wadatsumi arc where he's talking with a bed partner the morning after, and she starts raving about how handsome he is, how he's so good in bed (the best she's ever had) that she'd thought she would die, and how much his voice turns her on, especially when he's talking dirty. In fact, she says that his low and beautiful voice in her ears makes her feel like he's already inside her...XD
Naoe, of course, is completely unsurprised and entirely smug. That whole scene cracked me up SO much. It made me think, too, that if Naoe's voice low and right in someone's ears can feel so sensual, intimate, and overwhelmingly, er, penetrative, it's no wonder that it causes Takaya to freak out so much- both in the sense of turning him on against his will, and also in causing him to panic.
We see the lighter side of this in the cd telephone tracks which ai_no_tsubasa made available and skinintheway translated. Naoe keeps murmuring teasingly in Takaya's ear while Takaya keeps protesting and saying how gross it is. "Ew," right, Takaya. WE ALL KNOW WHAT YOU'RE REALLY FEELING. Naoe certainly does, anyway. I was thinking to myself the other day that Naoe's voice is kind of like Kagetora's eyes. It gives him power over other people, whether he's trying to persuade, calm, mock, intimidate, or seduce. Of course, one major difference would be that when Naoe uses his voice to manipulate people, he's not lying exactly, but he is making them hear what he wants them to hear. The virtue of Kagetora's eyes, on the other hand, is their extreme clarity. His eyes are truly windows to his soul, and his soul is so overwhelmingly powerful and beautiful, that people are swept away. Of course, when Naoe couples his gorgeous voice with passionate sincerity, it completely blows Takaya away. Fair enough, as one glance into Takaya's eyes is enough to render Naoe utterly mesmerized, as he admits himself.
I have to admit here that while Naoe's voice (seiyuu Sho Hayami's) in the anime and drama cd's is beautiful, I am much more taken with Takaya's voice (seiyuu Toshihiko Seki's). I especially adore the way Seki-san does Kagetora's voice, and yes, there is a big difference. At times it does seem like Seki is overplaying Takaya's teenage-dirtbag-baby-ness in the way he speaks, which is a little annoying when you realize how gorgeous Kagetora's voice is, and how the extreme teenage speech patterns can sometimes obscure that.
But I think probably the one at fault for that is really the director rather than the seiyuu. I recently came across an interview of Seki for MoB in which he mentioned that the director made a big deal about the fact that the seiyuu who were acting young people needed to be careful that they came across as young, since the seiyuu themselves were much older than their characters. Seki laughingly admitted that he and the others had felt a bit self-conscious about their age, after that.
So if Seki perhaps goes a bit overboard on trying to make Takaya sound like a bratty teenager, it's not entirely his fault. He certainly does do a good job of differentiating Takaya's voice from Kagetora's, in any case. Kagetora's voice is deep, vibrant, and powerful. And really, really hot. Or did I already mention that? ^____^
I would describe Naoe's voice, on the other hand, as low (though not as much as Kagetora's, surprisingly), rich, and possessing a sort of sensual, languid* quality while being very exact in pronunciation and controlled in intonation. Bascially, Naoe's voice is like a finely-tuned instrument wielded with finesse. Or, a better comparison, given the way he uses it, might be a sword of elegant design borne with practiced grace.
Takaya's voice, when he's in uber-brat mode, makes me laugh. Naoe's voice makes a good counter-point, anyway, especially when they're being naughty together and teasing Kousaka or something (see the drama cd with the part-time job hell or whatever it was called).
*I think I stole the word "languid" from Petronia for describing Naoe's voice...it just fits so well, I couldn't think of a better adjective. Tags: commentary, mirage
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