Hime (Shiro) reaches out to Mizuki’s rival!
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Maki Minami
Translation/Adaptation: John Werry
What They Say
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?!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Hime’s school life and the Stragglers have been scarce the last several chapters. As if to remind us of their existence, Volume 5 kicks off with Hime taking a lakeside getaway with Tsukino, Sho, Mitchy, and – surprisingly – Ume. The premise for their vacation is weak, and because it is a single chapter one-shot, their 29-stamp rally has a rushed feel to it. However, this story is probably the closest this series will have to a summer vacation arc.
The manga then continues by introducing a rivalry. No, not for Hime. She lives up too much to her super-amateur/super-noob nickname to inspire anyone to challenge her. This rivalry is between Mizuki and his costar on the Four Gods Squad anime, Toru Fujimori.
Actually, the rivalry is more of a one-sided grudge. For Toru’s entire career, his success has been overshadowed by AQUA’s popularity, thus earning him the handle of Mr. Shade. As such, he is obsessed with beating Mizuki, but all his efforts to steal the spotlight wind up backfiring – badly. Mizuki, for his part, doesn’t care. That is, until Hime/Shiro gets involved.
For someone who is supposed to be a professional with a lead role, Toru’s attempts to outshine Mizuki are amateurish – as in Hime-amateurish. Not surprisingly, she sees in Toru a kindred spirit. The production then devolves to the level of a middle school play when Toru can’t get past his personal feelings to deliver his lines. Of course, Hime is compelled to help in Lovely Blazer fashion, but that only serves to irritate Mizuki, causing him to stoop to their level of immaturity. When this arc finally concludes, I can only wonder why they haven’t all gotten fired.
Lots of extras including embedded author’s remarks, translation notes, and four bonus mini-manga.
In Summary
Only a brief glimpse of the Stragglers and nothing at all of Holly Academy in Volume 5. Voice Over! continues to focus on Hime’s career and the other actors on the Four Gods Squad anime. But the amateurish flavor in Minami-sensei’s depiction of the voice acting world unfortunately also continues, making the professionals in the entertainment industry look anything but.
Content Grade: C
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: June 3rd, 2014
MSRP: $9.99
