The talk about a Seiyuu’s pay never being enough is always around. As seen over at SankakuComplex, according to an industry insider, many are surviving because of their additional employment!

The insider is しろがねしょおむ / Shomu Shirogane, the director of agency Winner Entertainment, and this is what he has to say about voice acting:

“How many seiyuu are thee in the country at present?”

“It’s thought there are about 1600. Of that figure, about 10% are “free” (freelance as opposed to agency employed) seiyuu, and some 80% can’t make ends meet with just their voice acting work, so they work other jobs part-time.

The numbers go up a bit if you include all the actresses, idols, talent and so on. It’s said if you go so far as to include all the potential seiyuu candidates, the number swells to around 80,000, all in all.”

“There are that many? That’s quite harsh. What do you have to do to become one?”

“Probably the main shortcut is enrolling in a specialist seiyuu school, or in a training school run by an agency. By the way, there are actually more than 50 such specialist schools in the country, just for training seiyuu. Of course, just getting into one is no guarantee of becoming one.

In the seiyuu business there are also thought to be more than 850 seiyuu who are not actually formally employed by their agency, but are instead temporarily attached.

Even if they do get formally employed, it’s no guarantee they’ll find work soon, they have to keep auditioning constantly whilst working part time. Their income is by no means stable.

And then even if they land a part, they may only be employed if their fee is low – if it climbs too high they are no longer wanted.”

Clearly, I do know that there are many seiyuus, too many that I can’t remember all of them ^^”. I only keep myself updated with the ones I am in love~ XD. It is not hard to imagine just the number of seiyuus in the industry and how hard they are all working to get a role in the upcoming anime series for the coming Anime Season.

I vaguely remember reading somewhere on the internet that when Hocchan first started out as a Seiyuu, her pay could been peanuts that she had to accept this TV show that showed her doing some odd jobs. (Not really sure, mind is fuzzy at the moment), but yeah you get the picture. True, after all her hard work and perseverance, she is an extremely well-known seiyuu that I’m sure you spot her name somewhere in the anime series you’re watching!

Of course there is also Nana Mizuki, one of my loves. She is a seiyuu and a singer. Gotta say her voice as Fate was what made me noticed her (singer).

Then again, there are other seiyuus out there who are singers too. One example is Aya Hirano. A recent post only showed that she took up a fast-food restaurant job. -.- But then again, I believe this is all for publicity. No way is she not having a proper salary, she’s involved in almost all the anime shows I’m watching!

So at the end of the day, we ask ourselves what have we done to contribute to the salaries of the Seiyuus of the industry? I don’t buy anime shows anymore, since we have some various license issues in Singapore. Locally-produced goods have horrible subtitles, and the anime released for sale is really really outdated! Ordering through the net will result in some problems, as most likely the anime series will get screened by the MDA (They’re in charge of rating the media – make sure we’re good girls and boys!) And after screening, you’re forced to pay some fees for their “service”. Overall, the cost of bringing in original animation is costly and as such, I rather support the industry in another way!

What other way? The seiyuus I am in love with are also singers, hence I support them by buying their singles, albums and LIVE Concerts. My lootings is the proof of my support for them! :D.