I am Naufal from KAORI Nusantara, Indonesia’s most trusted anime website. Now, I’m here with Ryoko Shiraishi. She has many roles, Angelica from Fate/Kaleid Prism Illya, Hayate Ayasaki from Hayate the Combat Butler and then Himeko from SKET Dance, my favorite one. So, Ryoko-san, do you having a good time in the event?
It’s very fun, and this is the first time I’m in Australia. Melbourne is so beautiful and there are so many people in Australia who come to see me and I am really grateful for that.
Can you tell us about your debut as a voice actor, how hard isit ?
The first time I heard my voice on TV, it felt great because I always wanted to become a voice actor since I was young. I’m really happy to hear my voice on TV.
Second question, you played both male characters such as Hayate and female characters such as Angelica and Himeko. Are there any difficulties voicing a character of different gender?
In my opinion, because I am a woman, I’m having a hard time to voice male characters because it is difficult to know what kind of voice I should use for them. But on the other hand, when doing voice for anime, you don’t have to show your face so the viewers don’t really know who’s behind the character if it is male or female.
So, I watched Fate/KALEID Prisma Illya this season. You played as Angelica, who is the villain of the series. Compared to Himeko from SKET Dance or Hayate from Hayate the Combat Butler, who is a hero in the series, is it hard to play as a villain?
Hmm, for example, when it comes to Hayate or Himeko, because they are the main characters of the series, it’s easier to follow their storyline because they appear often. But, for Angelica because she is a villain, it was difficult to express that feeling and how to make it feel more villain-ish. And the character does not appear in the anime every week, so it was kind of difficult to follow the storyline. However, it was fun back then.
Beyond anime roles, you also did Japanese dubs for Western or English-language works. Are there any differences compared to voicing anime?
Before I went to dub the works, I think it was difficult. But when I got into the room and see the actors on screen, I feel that I can voice them if I can see the person in real life. It is pretty interesting. Unlike in anime where there’s a time for a bit of action in the scenes, like doing “HAAAAAA” shouts like that; when you see the real actor acting on that and you voice them correctly, I feel really-really happy.
After voicing so many characters. Which one is your favorite? and why?
I have played so many characters and the biggest one, I think is Hayate from Hayate the Combat Butler. He was an important character in my career. From now on, I really want to become a voice actor that whenever epople hear voices like Hayate’s, and they’ll be like, “oh, this one is Ryoko Shiraishi!”.
Do you mind if you give us a little bit something for your next project?
Because that anime has not been announced yet, I can’t say much about it but I will voicing a young boy and the anime will be about cats. Please look forward to that! I have everything on twitter related to my work, so just check my twitter, that will be nice. However it is in Japanese though.
Haha, I do have some friends who can do Japanese, so I think we’ll be looking forward to it. And also, for my final request, can you do a tsukkomi just like Himeko from SKET Dance?
Because there are so many tsukkomi from Himeko, I’ll just do a random one. Nandayo-ne!
Very lovely! Thank you and enjoy the rest of your stay in Australia!
Indonesian Anime Times by KAORI Nusantara | Text and photo by Naufal B. Pawenang
