Manga Review: Voice Over!: Seiyu Academy, Volume 5, by Maki Minami

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: June 3, 2014

Volumes: 12

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 4. 6.

Goodreads Synopsis:

Hime Kino's dream is to one day do voice acting like her hero Sakura Aoyama from the Lovely ? Blazers anime, and getting accepted to the prestigious Holly Academy's voice actor department is the first step in the right direction! But Hime's gruff voice has earned her the scorn of teachers and students alike. Hime will not let that stand unchallenged. She'll show everyone that she is too a voice acting princess, whether they like it or not!!

Hime's producer Yamada has decided to let her have some time off for good behavior, so he sets up a trip to a lake for her and the rest of the Stragglers. But will Hime ruin the vacation when her idea of a fun time turns out to be a bust?!

Review:

Sadly, this volume had a lack of Senri Kudo, but it was still its usual hilarious, crazy goodness. Given how much Senri was in the last couple volumes, it makes sense. We needed to see the other characters again. Still, I missed him.

I mean, the extras at the end focused on him, but that wasn’t enough for me.

The first chapter we saw Hime with her school group, on a small vacation. It was a sweet chapter, showing Hime that her friends enjoy spending time with her just as much as she does with them.

Then the rest of the volume had Hime dressed as Shiro to work on the television show. There was a lot of Mizuki, who is clearly starting to feel strongly for Hime, as well as Fujimori, who hates Mizuki. Hime/Shiro had to play the go-between for them, given that their characters in the show like each other, and Fujimori has a hard time acting that.

Fujimori is now starting to like Shiro, who he thinks is actually a boy. He’s reluctant, but he’s also not completely denying that to himself. That’s one part that I think is well done—the stereotype of Hime pretending to be a boy isn’t really a thing for her. She doesn’t worry about actually acting like a boy, or changing her voice. She’s still naïve, touching people and holding hands to support the others, smiling and laughing. She doesn’t even think about acting manly or whatever. She’s just herself, whether she’s a girl or a boy. And Fujimori is falling for her, even if he thinks she’s a boy. I appreciate that.

There was also a bonus chapter at the end focusing on Ume and Takanagi. Takanagi has decided to help Ume find her prince. It hasn’t gone very well so far, but I’m enjoying seeing their relationship develop. It’s going slowly, but I’m looking forward to it going even farther.

This is a great series. It’s definitely hilarious, I'm loving it,and I’m excited for the next volume.