Manga Review: Voice Over! Seiyu Academy, Volume 7, by Maki Minami

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: October 7, 2014

Volumes: 12

Spoilers?: No.

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

Volume: 1. 6. 8.

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 summer vacation is packed with work, and she's getting a lot of really great experience. But her successes are overshadowed by a new and looming fear--facing Senri Kudo! Ever since her reaction to his prerecorded voice, the thought of seeing him has sent Hime into a panic. Will her anxiety ruin the beginning of a beautiful friendship...and her career?!

Review:

I just love this series. Has that become apparent yet? Because I seriously do. I’m just a fan of Minami’s at this point, and am already excited to read her new series.

I love that Hime takes her budding career seriously. She is always thinking about her career and how to make herself better, and she’s hard on herself, pushing herself to do better. I respect that, and genuinely appreciate that there is time taken to develop her as a voice actor. Even with all the craziness and the budding romances and rivalries, there is time for the characters to grow. At least, for Hime. Plus, she just wants to make people happy, and I like that.

This volume focuses a bit on the friendships between the girls, including some backstory on Tsukino. I like their friendship, and it was nice to see Tsukino and Ume actually get over their problem. I hope that we get to see the performance they were working on in the next volume.

Then there’s the romances. Mizuki is pretty blatant about his attraction to Hime at this point, though she’s oblivious. And then, finally, Hime and Kudo had a real interaction! And it was fantastic. Plus, Hime is still freaking out when she has to hear Kudo’s voice, and I love it. I hope there’s more in the next volume.

This volume was fantastic, and since the next one is already on my shelf, I will be reading it immediately.