Anime rating game

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Karasuma Chitose, Who Claims to Be a Genius

A small competition is underway in the recording studio on the second floor of Musashino.

Besides Masamune and Mashiro, the two directors were also sitting side by side not far away.

To ensure the quality of the animation, while we don't give too much preference to voice actors from our own agency when selecting voice actors, we will give priority to those whose voices are suitable.

[Otherwise, Xiao Lu will...]

Listening to the sounds coming from the recording studio, Mashiro gently tugged at Masamune's sleeve and whispered:

"The lines she recited were very strange."

"This is what's called 'wooden reading'."

Masamune sighed helplessly. He never expected that after playing so many minor roles, Karasuma Chitose would still make such a basic mistake.

Was it due to excessive nervousness? Lack of experience? Or overconfidence leading to carelessness?

"Wujing, has Your Highness practiced at home?"

"Very few, I suppose."

Karasuma Gojō thought for a moment, then added:

“When we practiced together at home, her performance was actually pretty good.”

Although it wouldn't be bad to let her sister give up being a voice actress, Karasuma Gojo couldn't help but speak up for her to prevent her from secretly crying under the covers.

"So, where do you think her problem lies?" Masamune asked again.

"It's a multifaceted issue. The main problem is mindset; I didn't maintain a calm attitude and instead treated it like acting."

"Indeed, her acting was so overt that it became the worst kind of monotone reading."

Under everyone's gaze, Karasuma Chitose's face turned pale in the recording studio, her eyes slightly vacant, clearly overwhelmed by the tense atmosphere and immense psychological burden.

"I see everyone is tired, let's take a ten-minute break."

"clear."

The people in the recording studio came out one after another. Karasuma Chitose kept his head down the whole time and left at a very fast pace.

Seeing that Karasuma Gojō wanted to follow, Masamune reached out to block him and shook his head slightly.

Then, he leaned close to Mashiro's ear and whispered:

"Mashiro, could you please go to the restroom with her to check on Chitose and offer her some words of comfort?"

"it is good."

Mashiro got up and followed him out.

Seeing Shiina Mashiro walk away, Karasuma Gojo sighed softly and sat down next to Masamune.

"President, I'm sorry."

"This is nothing to apologize for; everyone has off days."

"Eh……"

Karasuma Gojō let out a soft sigh.

Thanks to the recent expansion of the industry and the promising future of animation, coupled with the president's gentle personality, even mediocre newcomers like Chitose are able to continuously get opportunities.

However, she became arrogant and overconfident, constantly inflating her ego by comparing herself to other students at the voice acting school, completely ignoring the fact that her skills were not yet up to that level.

Of course, Chisui herself has great potential. Although her acting skills are not very good, perhaps it is her fearless and shameless personality that makes her always have a sudden outburst at strange times.

To put it simply, if she plays the right role, she can really impress people. But when she plays ordinary roles, she only performs at a mediocre level.

As for her appearance, since she is my biological sister, my opinion might be biased, but to be conservative, she is also super cute.

In terms of personality, he is very emotionally unstable. He is clearly an idiot, but he also has a bit of cunning cleverness. He is strict with others but lenient with himself. To put it bluntly, he is trash.

Overall, however, she has a promising future as a voice actress.

"President, is it alright to hand it over to Ms. Shiina?"

"Don't worry, this is a growth opportunity for both of them. Besides, are you going to chase them into the women's restroom?"

"...That's true."

……

Hearing the sobbing sound coming from the innermost toilet, Mashiro hesitated slightly, and after a moment's hesitation, gently opened the toilet door.

"What are you doing? Can't I even cry by myself for a while?"

"Why are you crying?" Mashiro asked softly.

"Why is there no reason? I tried my best, but this is the result."

Karasuma Chitose buried her head in her thighs, sobbing softly.

"I know, the reason is obvious: I haven't tried hard enough."

"Compared to Shizuka, who practices her voice on the bus, and Nanami, who practices at home until her voice is hoarse, my efforts, which I consider to be very hard, are nothing at all."

"However, compared to my past self, I have increased my practice time significantly."

"At the voice acting school, I was always number one and the one who was always praised by the teachers."

"Why can't you succeed without trying? Rather, there are too many people in the world who have done nothing but are already standing at the finish line."

"In that case, even if I didn't try hard enough, I've already tried my best, so it doesn't matter if I get a little praise, right?"

"Anyway, my goal isn't the finish line, it's just the place I can see ahead."

Mashiro pondered for a while before gradually understanding her meaning, and couldn't help but ask:

Do you still want to be a voice actor?

"Of course. It's just a minor setback, not the end of my career. But then again, that's not quite right. I haven't even officially debuted yet, my professional career hasn't even begun. So what are you here for?"

"I'll comfort you."

"Oh...how are you going to comfort me?"

Mashiro thought for a moment and gently ruffled her hair.

"Is that all the comforting?" Karasuma Chitose stared at her blankly.

"It's over." Mashiro nodded gently.

"You're an idiot too, no, there's no 'too,' only 'you.' I'm a genius who's been praised by my teacher many times."

Karasuma Chitose couldn't help but laugh, wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"I am often praised as well."

"No. You're not a voice actor. Even if you're a genius, my level of genius is definitely higher than yours."

……

Upon seeing Karasuma Chitose and Shiina Mashiro return together, Karasuma Gojo immediately came to greet them.

"Are you alright, Chitose?"

"What could possibly be wrong with me? They didn't even offer me a word of comfort. Wujing-jun is truly heartless."

"Instead of offering comfort, I think you need guidance right now. Time is limited, so I'll keep it short. Relax, immerse yourself in the role, and put yourself in the character you're voicing. You've read the script many times and analyzed the character's personality extensively at home, so you should be very familiar with it by now."

"understood."

"Use your imagination and imagine yourself as someone in the story. Both of these animations are set in modern times, so it shouldn't be too difficult to immerse yourself in them."

"Fine, huh... Watch my performance!"

Karasuma Gojō was speechless. That's the good thing about being an idiot—you can regulate your emotions quickly, and your anger or sadness only lasts for a short while.

The match resumed, and after a break to adjust, Karasuma Chitose performed much more steadily when he returned to the court.

Although there is still a gap compared to the others, it has reached an average level.

Near the end of the competition, when she played Yumiko Miura in Oregairu, she suddenly had a strange burst of energy and gave an extremely impressive performance.

As a result, the previously absent-minded supervisor, Yasuyuki Takeuchi, straightened his back and listened very attentively.

"This is... exactly the Miura I imagined."

"The compatibility is indeed very high." Kinoshita Seiichi, who was standing next to her, nodded repeatedly. "She was just a newbie just now, but suddenly she became amazing. Listening to her voice, it's as if the scenes from the anime are appearing right in front of me."

“That’s exactly what I wanted!” Yasuyuki Takeuchi chuckled.

"That's right, this level of compatibility is sufficient."

Hearing their conversation, Karasuma Gosho finally put his worries to rest.

While Miura Yumiko's role and lines aren't extensive, she's still an important supporting character with a name and a memorable presence. If she performs well, she can leave a lasting impression on the audience, which is more than enough for her debut role.

Although my younger sister is a little slow-witted, she adjusts her mood quickly and doesn't dwell on negative emotions from failures. She definitely has a bright future as a voice actress.

“Her performance has suddenly improved,” Mashiro said softly.

"Yes." Masamune nodded slightly. "Gojyo, does she often practice this role at home?"

“Not really,” Karasuma Gojo said in a low voice. “I think it’s just that she has some similarities with the character that makes her perform so well.”

Is this a natural performance?

"That's it."

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Childhood is no longer what it once was.

At noon, Masamune was carrying two lunch boxes and was about to find a suitable place to have lunch with Mashiro when he noticed Aoi Miyamori carrying a box of documents and walking downstairs.

Judging from her rough handling of the documents, they didn't seem to be anything important.

"Miyamori, would you like to have lunch with us?"

“Sure. I’ve arranged to have lunch with Ema on the second floor of the restaurant next door. President, you guys go ahead first. I’ll throw these documents in the garbage room on the first floor before I go.”

The garbage room is a special room for storing garbage. The accumulated garbage is sorted and stored together, and is collected by an environmental company once a week or every two weeks.

"What kind of documents are they?"