Applicants should be fans of animation, video games, dramas, and movies, and have an interest in expressing themselves with their voices, such as through recitation. They should also have a rich imagination and sensitivity.

Whether it is the voice of a character in an anime or video game, or the Japanese dubbing of a character in a foreign movie or drama, the job is to express and act out joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure with one's own "voice". The job requires a technique to deliver lines in accordance with the mouth movements of the characters and actors, and sometimes the actor may use several voices and play multiple roles in a single program. In addition to dialogue work, there is also commercial work and narration work.

Voice actors have a strong image of standing in front of a microphone in a recording studio and acting only with their voices. However, with the recent popularity of anime and video games, voice actors have come under close scrutiny and have more and more opportunities to put their "faces" in front of fans. Voice actors are becoming more and more like celebrities and idols, and many popular voice actors are now releasing CDs as artists, holding concerts, having radio shows, appearing on TV variety shows, and taking on a wide range of other activities on the so-called "public stage".

Although voice actors do not need academic background or qualifications, they do need to learn the basics of voice acting, such as breathing techniques, vocal techniques, and acting. The fastest way to learn is to enroll in a full-time course at a voice actor training school run by a production company that has voice actors. If you pass the entrance examination, you will then be screened for advancement to the next level. Whether or not one is able to graduate and join a voice actor production depends on the audition. Even after belonging to a production, newcomers have to go through a series of auditions for shows and other events in order to get a role.

There is also the option of studying from the basics at a vocational school that offers voice actor courses and then re-entering a voice actor training school or auditioning for a theater company or voice actor production company. The main points to consider when selecting a school are: (1) whether the school has famous voice actors as instructors, (2) whether the school has adequate facilities such as studios, (3) whether the school offers tours and trial enrollment, and (4) whether the school's graduates are active. After graduation, once you have been assigned to a school, you will still have to go through auditions.

With the proliferation of multiple channels and the Internet, the number of opportunities for voice actors to be active in animation, movie dubbing, video games, and other fields has increased dramatically. This trend is expected to continue. In addition to voice work, there will be more opportunities for multiple activities, including live-action dramas, stage productions, and artistic activities.

Some top voice actors earn tens of millions of yen a year from their main job plus talent activities, while others work part-time and seek opportunities through auditions. Be prepared, however, that very few are high earners. The lowest rank for a newcomer is about 15,000 yen for a 30-minute TV animation. The best pay is for commercial narration, where even newcomers earn around 50,000-60,000 yen per piece.

While most work for TV anime recordings is done on weekdays, irregular recordings for major movies and games are often done on Saturdays and Sundays. In addition, events for fans of anime and games are usually held on holidays. The more popular voice actors work on weekends and holidays.

Basically, it is a recording studio. In a small space, everyone from seasoned veterans to newcomers is crammed together, and even the use of a microphone requires careful attention.

It's a chart that shows at a glance the main routes to getting a job as a voice actor!