Matt Schley
August 13, 2019 
It’s hard out there for a voice actor these days. In addition to, you know, voice acting, you have to appear at live events, on the radio, and a whole host of other “extracurricular” activities. At the same time, you’ve got fans on all ends of the spectrum, from stalkers to those who are disgusted at the sight of your face. And you’ve got sempais like Masako Nozawa criticizing you for sounding like a “copy of a copy.” Tough stuff!
Add another voice of criticism to the pile. This time, it’s from sound director Yukio Nagasaki, a industry vet who’s worked on projects like Dragon Ball Z Kai, Gatchaman Crowds, King of Prism, Love Live and more.
Nagasaki took to Twitter August 9 with some not-very-kind words for newbie voice actors, criticizing them for wooden performances. Here’s our translation of his tweet:
I don’t know if it’s a lack of interest in humanity, or a lack of observational skill, but recently, new voice actors can’t give lifelike performances. For example, [a performance of] a high school girl, or parent-and-child passers-by, or a mailman. [The performances] are so lacking in human reality that even stereotypical performances would be better. I want them to become aware that if you can only play a lead role, you can’t consider yourself a complete voice actor.
長崎行男@Kameari_Kanata最近の新人声優は、人間に興味がないのか、観察力が劣っているのか、血が通った芝居が出来ない。
例えば、女子高生とか、通りすがりの親子とか、宅配便のお兄さんとか。
紋切り型の芝居の方がまだマシなくらい、人としてのリアリティーに欠けている。
主役だけじゃ成り立たないことを自覚して欲しい。
Ouch.
Some commenters on Japanese social media agreed, with comments like “that’s because only anime otaku become voice actors these days” or “they just copy other voice actors.” Others blamed a lack of interesting scripts, or poor salaries for voice actors. Others criticized Nagasaki as “just a grumpy old man.”
What’s your take?
Source: Otakomu
