Gundam Seiyuu Part 2
I arrived at work the next day real early. I don't know why, maybe some crazy idea of giving the other seiyuu a good impression, or maybe it was just that I didn't want to get on my manager's bad side. What I had told Hilde before was no lie, Relena Darlian was a real tight ass and I had no desire to get between her and whatever she wanted to get done at the studio. In any case I arrived at OZ studios before the rest of the cast and was forced to spend the extra time on a couch near the sound room looking over the script, there was no one to talk to.
The problem of being alone in a new studio didn't last long though. About ten minutes after I arrived the place began to fill up with various people. Two in particular caught my attention: a short blond female and a slightly taller brown haired man. The female was petite, as females go, short and had a very cute face. Her misty blue eyes sparkled with laughter, which echoed from her mouth as she smiled at the boy beside her. She wore a fitted purple summer dress with a layer of pink flowers along the bottom edge. Her blond hair was cropped short in a very boyish style but it only served to add to her cuteness. Too bad I don't go for overly cute blonds, or I would have been all over her. And of course there was also the small detail of the silver band around her one finger, she was engaged, and I'd wager that the boy next to her was the 'lucky man' so to speak.
The boy next to her seemed almost like a mix between a ghost and a cat. He moved in a long graceful stride, like a spirit and yet with the quickness of a cat. As he entered the room his emerald eyes scanned it, out of what seemed like habit, and settled on me. He raised an eyebrow in question but otherwise didn't seem to care about me that much. The entire time he was smiling softly at his companion's glee. The two seemed to perfectly mirror each other.
The girl spotted me a few minutes later and let go of the boy's arm to race over to meet me, a very cute smile crossing her face. "You must be Duo."
I grinned. "The one and only."
"I'm Quatre Winner and this," she grabbed the boy's arm and yanked him closer with a laugh, "is my new fiancé Trowa Barton." She positively beamed with happiness about the new fiancé part.
"Well, congratulations." I sighed. "And it seems that once again another cute one has slipped out of my grasp." I grinned over at Trowa. "Pretty good, you caught her before I even got a chance to meet her." I shook his hand and received a very soft smile from the joke, meanwhile Quatre blushed at the obvious flirt.
"I need to speak with Darlian-san, I'll be back." Trowa placed a light kiss on Quatre's cheek then headed out of the room and down the hall toward the boss' office. Apparently he trusted me completely, even after the joke about stealing away his soon-to-be wife. Either that or he knew that she was far too happy to even consider straying. I was betting for the latter, which was fine by me since, as I said before, she wasn't really my type.
"So, who's part did you get?" Quatre asked excitedly, taking a seat next to me on the couch. She peered over my shoulder at the script, which lay open in my lap.
"Solo Reaper," I declared proudly. I'd read through the entire script for the first episode and already I liked the guy, even though he didn't have that many lines, yet.
"Oh! I was wondering who they would get for that role. I heard they offered it to Fred Luo (1) but- well that's great!"
"So which one are you?"
She smiled. "I get to do Miki Karou."
I raised an eyebrow at that. Flipping through the script I turned to the cast list to confirm my suspicions and I was right. "But, I thought Miki was a guy, uh no offense." I added quickly. I couldn't help it but my eyes drifted to her chest to make sure that my initial impression was correct, basically to check and make sure this was really a girl I was speaking to. So sue me! Anyway, I was right, Quatre Winner was definitely a girl (2).
She giggled. "None taken. I almost always get guy's parts, mostly because Darlian-sama likes to use female voices for young boys on her shows. I don't mind, it's actually kind of a running joke and the reason behind this." She ran a hand through her short blond hair and smiled. I got it, the male hair cut was an inside joke for the studio. Cute, real cute.
I opened my mouth to ask her a few more questions when another boy entered the room. This one was attractive, even by my standards and I usually don't look at men. Honest I don't! But, well... He has stunningly beautiful blue eyes, but they were a glimmering bright blue, not the misty blue of Quatre's eyes. His brown hair was short and unruly, laying haphazardly around his face yet at the same time looking like it was put that way on purpose. He wore a simple pair of well-fitted jeans and a green tank top, a jean jacket slung over his shoulder in one hand. Like I said, he was attractive, I hoped he was on the cast.
"Ohayo Heero!" Quatre called out happily waving toward him. Heero glanced toward us and gave a small grunt of acknowledgement then headed toward the sound room.
"Not much of a talker, is he?" I asked after he was out of earshot.
"Naw, he always acts like that. You'd be surprised what he's like around friends, or on stage (3)."
I raised an eyebrow. "On stage?" That gloomy teen was a jpop artist? Surely you jest! There was no way, I just couldn't picture someone like him up on stage singing.
Quatre nodded quickly and leaned forward, whispering conspicuously. "Yeah, he's a singer, but it's kinda a secret. I mean he uses another name when he sings it's-"
"Quatre."
Quatre stopped immediately and laughed nervously as Heero stepped around the corner to glare at us. Obviously he didn't want his other name spread around. I wondered how Quatre had found out, then immediately hit myself. Of course Quatre knows while the majority of the other world doesn't. The majority of the other world didn't see Heero at his acting job, therefore didn't know about it. Stupid me.
Heero walked toward us, his hand free hand in his pocket while the other still held his jean jacket. He aimed a glare at me, silently asking who I was. But it wasn't asking, his expression was pretty much demanding who this stranger in front of him was. I stood up and reached out a hand, to shake his.
"Duo Maxwell." I gave him my best grin, the one that looked innocent and scheming at the same time. He merely glared back and ignored my hand, nodding a greeting.
"Heero Yuy," he responded dryly then turned away from us, though he shot a warning glare at Quatre. As soon as he had left the room again Quatre let out a sigh of relief.
"I restate my case," I said, dropping back onto the couch. "Whatever you say, I still can't see him dancing or singing on stage, 'specially with that 'I hate the world and everyone on it' glare crossing his face."
Quatre snickered and shook her head.
We talked for a while longer about unimportant things as the other members of the cast and crew arrived. Most of them were techies that would be handling the equipment or playing the 'cannon-fodder' parts behind the main characters. Of the other main voice actors there was Wufei Chang and Milliardo Peacecraft who arrived. With their quick entrance and exit I was beginning to see why girls like my cousin oohed and ahhed over seiyuu for the different anime series, was there any of them that weren't attractive in some way or another? I mean, you'd think that since they did the voices of animated characters and didn't have to worry about anyone seeing their real faces that they would be ugly, or at least normal looking. But no, of course not. If Hilde had been here she would have melted into a puddle on the floor long ago.
Wufei entered into the room with a more severe version of the 'Heero-Yuy-I-hate-the-world' glare and didn't even acknowledge our presence as he made his way for the main sound room. Yet, despite his very angry looking manner he was attractive in an exotic way, long straight black hair pulled back into a tight ponytail which fell down over a traditional white Chinese suit.
Milliardo Peacecraft, on the other hand, was exactly how my cousin had described him millions of times. He entered the room wearing a tasteful gray and white suit with a light red tie. His long white-blond hair was certainly long and had I approached him from the back I would have been surprised to find out he was male thanks to his thin figure and the way he moved around the room with such grace. If I'd paid attention to my cousin's ranting correctly he was the completely embodiment of a bishonen. I couldn't help but laugh as he entered the room and gave a small flip of his hair, causing it to sparkle lightly in the bright lights. He winked at me and then headed after Wufei to the sound room. I got the impression that he flirted with everything, still I didn't mind it. This job would certainly prove to be very interesting.
Trowa crossed the room to the sound room and Quatre stood up to follow. "C'mon! It's almost time to start."
I grabbed my script and followed her into the room. I took my place at the empty microphone facing the screen and grinned at Heero, who stood next to me. Quatre leaned over from the other side and poked Heero in the side.
"You ready for your really complicated lines, He-chan?"
Heero shot her an evil glare and she giggled, leaning toward Trowa as if to hide behind her love. I filed that one away for future knowledge, so Heero didn't like being called Hee-chan? I grinned; this was going to be fun.
The lights flashed on in the room next to the screen and Relena Darlian took her seat. Holding up her hand she counted down with her fingers. This was it, the first take. I took a deep breath and watched her count down. Here goes! Four. Three. Two. One. The screen in front of us flipped on and showed the ending of what looked like the opening to the show. Then the show started, showing the first scene. I grinned as I watched the animation and listened to the others doing their parts. Hilde was going to die over this series, and I made a mental note to make sure I was in the room when she watched the first episode.
Everyone in the sound room was quiet the majority of the time. Except during certain time when their seemed to be small inside jokes that passed between the other cast members, I caught onto a few of them but most went straight over my head. I did however join Quatre in silent laughter each time Heero repeated the line 'Nimue Ryoukai' which I swear he did five times in one episode. Between Quatre's barely contained laughter, Heero and Wufei's glares and Milliardo's flirtations with the entire I cast I found it incredibly hard to stay silent, it was a real challenge, especially when you wanted to make cracks about some of the obviously cheesy dialogue and strange references. But I managed.
All in all the day was one of the most fun I'd had in a long time and I felt like I was back in school with a group of very close friends. So, naturally, when Quatre invited the entire cast to celebrate the engagement and the recording of the first episode who was I to decline? I went and partied with the rest of them. Though it was disappointing that Heero declined the invitation.
TBC...
(1) Fred Luo, from the cast of Outlaw Star, was also voiced by the same seiyuu as Duo Maxwell, I couldn't resist!
(2) Yes, you read that right. In this story Quatre is female, because his voice actor actually is and I thought it would add a fun twist. :P
(3) *snickers* The voice of Heero is also a jpop artist. Don't believe me? Try downloading the song 'Knights of Fire' and laughing your ass off. It sounds nothing like him and it's a damn funny mental picture!
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