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TV Job Documentary Features Voice Actor Hiroshi Kamiya
posted on by Jennifer Sherman
NHK's Professional Shigoto no Ryūgi (Professional: Work Style) documentary television program highlights the working lives of people in various professions in Japan. The official website for Tokyo News Tsūshinsha's Weekly TV Guide magazine revealed on Wednesday that voice actor Hiroshi Kamiya will be the focus of the episode that will debut on January 14.
According to TV Guide, there were only about 370 voice actors in Japan in the early 2000s, and that number has tripled to about 1,200 over the past 15 years. There is stiff competition within the industry because there are relatively few roles. The program will delve into the working conditions for members of the modern voice-acting industry.
Kamiya's episode of the program will preview his work as Levi on Attack on Titan. Kamiya noted his approach to "erase the individual" in his voice acting. Based on his questioning of producers and the original creator, Kamiya aims to produce a voice that sounds like someone other than himself.
The program will also preview Kamiya's work on the Kiramune Presents Reading Live 'Colors' show. In front of a live audience of 2,000 people, Kamiya performed lines in his own voice. The show ran at Maihama Amphitheater in Chiba on October 28-29.
Finally, the program will reveal milestones in Kamiya's career that led him to be the actor he is today. After being involved in a car accident in 2006, Kamiya did not regain consciousness for nearly a month. He was overwhelmed with anxiety and doubted whether his career would take off and he could continue as a voice actor. However, Kamiya went on to win the Most Votes Award at the Annual Seiyū Awards for five consecutive years, and he has enjoyed a very successful career.
Besides Levi, the prolific voice actor's other anime roles include Takashi Natsume in Natsume's Book of Friends, Shinji Matō in Fate/stay night, Ranpo Edogawa in Bungo Stray Dogs, and Tieria Erde in Mobile Suit Gundam 00.
The NHK program has previously provided sneak peeks of works such as Hayao Miyazaki's samurai manga and the Detective Pikachu game.
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