In recent years, music works by voice actors have become more and more acclaimed. Last year, Kana Hanazawa, a popular female voice actress, invited musicians from the Shibuya or POST Shibuya series (Kitagawa Victory, Nakatsuka Takeshi, Kaji Hideki, etc.) to tailor her first solo album "claire". And Takeda Ayana also collaborated with Okii Reiji, Tsurumi Kyohei, Okukako, Suemitsu Atsu, Kawamoto Makoto and others to release her own album "Apple Symphony". It's not uncommon to collaborate with other musicians to release albums like this, and there are some of them that have been blockbusters. Among them, there are even benchmarks like Nana Mizuki who have achieved great success as a singer.

And since the beginning of this year, the phenomenon of voice actors releasing albums has become more and more common. Sumire Uesaka will release her third single "Parallax·view" on March 5, which is also the ending song of the new "Ghost Lamp Cold", and this single invited Kenji Otsuki and others to write lyrics; And on March 12, Yui Horie's new work "The? World‘s? "End" will also be fully released, and Qinglongren is responsible for all the songs of this new work. In addition, the aforementioned Kana Hanazawa also collaborated with Kitagawa Shengsheng again, and invited Nishitera Gota and Yusuke Koide to produce her second album "25" (released on February 26).

In the past, it was not uncommon for voice actors to release songs. However, in recent years, there has been a trend of activity (of course, this may have been a few years ago, but it has not attracted much attention). Voice actors are highly regarded as singers, but why has this become more and more popular in recent years? Regarding this issue, there are industry insiders (people who are familiar with the voice actor and singer industry) who have analyzed it.

"Almost all of the songs sung by the voice actors are produced in the mode of commercial collocation & animation theme song, which can be described as 'production zuò party dominant'. In this way, their songs have more of the color of anime songs. Recently, however, voice actors have begun to pursue their own individuality, inviting singers from other industries to produce zuò songs together, creating a 'one-man-led' situation. As the number of people using this technique increases, the role of voice actors in singers has become more and more important. Today's voice actor and singer trend is also inseparable from this. And Toyosaki Aisei, Sumire Uesaka, and Kana Hanazawa are all of this type. ”

And in order for this kind of "individual-oriented" song to sell well, there are some important conditions that need to be met.

"According to the current trend, people who freely introduce their upbringing, interests and other topics to the audience through media such as guò online radio can often be recognized in the song market. For voice actors, this kind of radio can win the most basic fan base, and it is also a powerful means for them to promote their songs. They can introduce and broadcast their favorite songs on the radio, so that on the one hand, they can make their image fuller, and on the other hand, when they release the album, they don't have to be limited to the royal anime songs, but can create works that cater to their interests. Fans listen to the radio and accept their views from the audience's point of view. For example, when Kana Hanazawa talked about what songs she sang when she went to karaoke, she mentioned the songs of the combination of 'Chatmonchy' and 'Relativity'. And Sumire Uesaka also recommended a lot of Kenji Otsuki's works, so it was imperceptibly promoted. ”

In this way, the practice of introducing yourself to fans in advance and then boldly collaborating with partners who match your preferences often touches the hearts of listeners, which is also beneficial for the development of voice actors.

I believe that in the future, more and more voice actors will show their potential as singers in the form of broadcasting. Even among these voice actors, there may be voice actors like Nana Mizuki who have made a name for themselves in the singer world. Let's look forward to it.