[TRIVIA] Real Seiyuu Names in <Becoming a Seiyuu? I'm In!>

As I’ve promised in my introduction of <Becoming A Seiyuu? I’m In!>, I will divulge about the secret behind my characters’ names in this web novel.

Chapter 1

- Aki and Tori, two best friends who befriended since they were small. They were close and shared almost everything together. Tori was fully aware of Aki’s interest in anime and voice acting, hence he tried his best to help Aki.

- Doraemon, Chibi Maruko Chan, and Mirimo de Pon are a few of famous kid anime aired in my country when I was little.

- <Code G> is modified from Code Geass anime, so Elle Britannia is obviously Lelouch vi Britannia, while Nana Britannia is the little sister, Nunnally li Britannia.

- Code Geass was the first anime I get hooked to after Digimon Adventure.

Chapter 2

- I love chocolate-flavoured waffle, so I inserted my liking in this chapter.

- I always watched variety shows about celebrities disguising as commoners, so I came up with this setting in the beginning of the novel.

- “If you reprimand yourself from food, one day the food will run away from you” is originally my mother’s words to me.

- The “twig” nickname was originally my nickname among my friends because I was too thin. But I never body shamed anyone, trust me.

- While writing the hawker’s dialogue, I kept on replaying Lelouch’s voice in my head.

Chapter 3

- Aki is a left-handed, so do I. That’s why it’s hard for me to learn on playing violin, especially when everyone in my class is right-handed.

- Fuku is derived from Fukuyama Jun, my first and most favoured anime voice actor.

- <Holy Holic> is XXXHolic, but I never watched it.

- I applied Fukuyama-san’s character, Kishitani Shinra from Durarara!! in this novel for his personality.

Chapter 4

- Another original character in this novel beside Aki and Tori; Atsuko.

- Atsuko is the resemblance of my mother, unless the rich part. I came from a very moderate family.

- I imagined myself while writing this. My wish to enrol in a vocational school was rejected by my mother because she said with my examination result, I could go to much better school than vocational.

Chapter 5

- I’m not as smart and keen as Tori, but I did obtain news casually from my friends, random reading, and observation.

- Meitantei Konan is, obviously, Edogawa Conan of Detective Conan.

- The fourth original character of this novel, Miss Maeko. The name just popped up in my head.

- I created the name of middle school as Izumi Junior High School from one of Digimon Adventure’s character, Izumi Koshiro. He’s a pro in digital management.

- Hiro is derived from Kamiya Hiroshi, and I applied Takeda Ittetsu’s (Haikyu!) character as his personality.

Chapter 6

- I learned about setup of studios online, so I hope this chapter envisions a studio well.

- Aki’s been daydreaming is me when I was swayed by emotion.

- This chapter remarks Aki’s first hesitation in learning voice acting, though he has made up his mind here.

Chapter 7

- Mori is derived from Morita Masakazu, and I combined two characters for his personality; Hihara Kazuki of Kiniro no Corda and Kurosaki Ichigo of Bleach.

- Kishi is derved from Kishio Daisuke, and I applied Kanamori of Tenchi Souzou design-bu as his personality.

- These two are not explained in detailed in this chapter but since their names are mentioned, I’ll still divulge. Tani is derived from Taniyama Kishou, and adapted from his character Ikki of Amnesia. Ono is derived from Ono Daisuke and adapted from Yatogami Kuro of K-Project anime.

Chapter 8

- Why I made Hiro and Tani similar to each other? It’s because I re-imagined their characters in Bungo Stray Dogs, Edogawa Ranpo and Nakahara Chuuya. I want to see their interaction, to be honest.

- Mori is actually an observant too. That’s why he could read Aki’s behaviour.

Chapter 9

- I imagined the scene in Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto, where Sakamoto was bullied in the toilet cubicle, yet the bullies did not know he had an umbrella with him.

- I couldn’t shake off Kanamori’s (Kishio Daisuke’s) voice from my head (laugh)

- Actually, I wanted to convey the love letter incident and Aki’s feigning as a girl. But the time was limited so I put them in narration.

- The nurse named Akiko is just a side character. I purposely chose that name so that Aki could complot with the nurse to tease Kishi.

- Ito is quite mean. Kishi’s weakness of having sensitive stomach gives him opportunity to seek revenge.

Chapter 10

- I’ve always wished I could hang out on rooftop, so I put them there.

- Tori is actually hurt by Aki’s deed for overly relying on Kishi and Ito without once discussing with him.

- Among the seniors in the media club, Mori is the dumbest, Ono is the quietest, and Tani is the most respectable.

- Aki’s mischievous side has time limit. He’s fine on the day he brings Kishi to the infirmary, but he panics when Kishi looks for him.

Chapter 11

- Ito is the one reconciling Aki and Kishi because he’s aware of the fact that he solely has tortured Kishi.

- Kishi is reluctant to teach Aki because he is unconfident of his teaching ability. But he refuses to ask for Ito’s help too.

- <Titan Attacking>, as everyone can guess, is Shingeki no Kyoujin. Thus the Aaron character is Eren Jaeger.

- The dialogue Aki revised isn’t taken from Attack on Titan. I made it myself.

Chapter 12

- Nothing much about this chapter. It’s more about Kishi and Ito teaching Aki on voice acting. But I’ve tried my best in describing, so I hope my readers can envision it.

- <Academy of Hero> is Boku no Hero Academia. Hence, Bakku is Bakugou Katsuki, whereas Mitsuri is Midoriya Izuku.

Chapter 13

- Aki isn’t actually missing. His mischievous side returns, and instead of attending the class, he goes hiding in the media club room.

- I reminded my readers that Aki is the outspoken type so that my readers would be able to see how Aki has changed into a very quiet one.

- I’ve mentioned <Meitantei Konan> here, so Shichi Sudou is Kudou Shinichi of Detective Conan.

- I couldn’t come up with a decent name for Mori’s animation project, so I just named it as <0001>, adapted from James Bond 007.

Chapter 14

- It was my attempt to make this chapter as creepy, but I think it doesn’t work. I’m sorry (bow)

- I was clueless on how to end Aki’s so-called possession, but then I realized he shouted and cried a lot, so I made him losing his voice to stop his rave.

- Aki re-acts from <0001> script given by Ito and Kishi in the previous chapter, but he changed the main character’s name as Mori to intimidate the elder.

Chapter 15

- Although Tani is the most respectable senior, he’s also the only one who dares to mess and trick with Mori.

- Kishi and Mori eventually lose their ego and willingly apologize for the sake of their friendship.

Chapter 16

- I time skipped this story two years ahead, when Mori, Kishi, Ito, Tani and Ono have graduated from Izumi Junior High School and attended high school. Hiro, Aki and Tori are the third year senior.

- Even though Kishi and Ito entrusted their club members to take in Aki as main actor, Aki usually rejects the offer because he wants to avoid discrimination.

- The twins, Maya and Yuma, are Uchida Maaya and Uchida Yuuma. These two voice actors are siblings in real life. I once acknowledged their participation in Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi as Suzuran (Maaya) and Akatsuki (Yuuma).

Chapter 17

- Kokoro-sensei in <Assimilation Classroom> is Korosensei from Ansatsu Kyoshitsu. Obvious, right?

- I wonder if there’s any anime that has almost the same spelling as <Invisible King>, but I made up this name from K-Project. Fukuyama-san is in there too.

- The figure isn’t in the chapter, but I’ll tell anyways. Mura-san here is Murase Ayumu, and I derived his personality here from combination of Hinata Shoyo (Haikyu!) and Kokoro (I Chu Halfway through The Idol).

Chapter 18

- Aki has realized himself contemplating a lot because he has no reason to defy his parents.

- I wrote here “Atsuko is Aki’s birth mother”, but actually he just forced his mind and heart to believe it. In fact, she and Aki’s father are just foster parents.

- The longest research I’ve done for this web novel – Japan’s prefectures and cities.

- Takaishi Vocational School and Bushida Academy are total fiction. I don’t know any school with such names, but if there’s any, I don’t mean harm. This is just a fiction.

Chapter 19

- I read a lot about the prefecture but not the train lines. So I just put ‘train’ there.

- Yumi is like another side of Murase Ayumu-san, named as Murase Ayumi. Murase Ayumu-san has the ability to act as a boy and a girl.

- I have motion sickness (laugh)

- Yumi doesn’t expect to meet someone as enthusiast as Aki in real life.

Chapter 20

- Momo St is a fiction too. Please don’t find that street there.

- Initially I want them to live as neighbours. But suddenly I thought it would be much more thrilling if they lived together instead.

- Another original character mentioned; Yukiko as Tori’s mother, and Fuyu-san as Mura’s manager.

- Mura’s last sentence is adapted from a manga title Haven’t you heard? I’m Sakamoto!.

Chapter 21

- I purposely put the flashback of Mura and Ishi’s conversation to let readers know how they know Aki and Tori.

- Ishi is derived from Ishikawa Kaito, and the personality is derived from Kageyama Tobio (Haikyu!). Clever and tactical!

Chapter 22

- Mura’s plan is actually constructed by Ishi. Ishi made it with the help and information from Maya and Yuma the twins.

- While writing about them in Izumi Junior High School, I didn’t capitalize the first letter of the club’s name, but I did for clubs in Bushida Academy. It’s because I want to emphasize that it’s the most suitable club Aki and Tori have registered into.

Chapter 23

- I should reveal more about Kaji, Shimo, Taku, Matsu and Nami.

- Kaji is derived from Kaji Yuki, and his personality is taken from the combination of Akira (Kimi to Boku) and Yukine (Noragami).

- Shimo is derived from Shimono Hiro, and his personality is adapted from Karino Tadashi (Special A)

- Taku is derived from Eguchi Takuya, and his personality is derived from Kaji Akihiko (Given).

- Nami is derived from Namikawa Daisuke, and I applied K-Project’s Isana Yashiro as his personality.

- Matsu is derived from Matsuoka Yoshitsugu and his character that I opted out is Hashiba Natsuki (Nijiiro Days).

Chapter 24

- In this chapter, it seems like Ishi is forceful. But he actually isn’t.

- Ishi has been befriending Maya and Yuma all these while, but due to his relationship with Fuku, he reminds them to not reveal about him to anyone.

- When Ishi called Fuku, Fuku has just finished his recording for his anime.

Chapter 25

- I read a lot for this chapter onward. But mostly I reapplied real voice actors’ experience. There are a few of them sing, act, or become radio announcers. There are even some of them publish themselves independently on websites.

- Ishi really had no idea that Bushida Academy is Fuku’s alma mater.

- Instead of publishing them as singers, I made them singing as utaite to add more mysterious element in this web novel.

Chapter 26

- Tsuki is derived from Amatsuki, an utaite. You can find his channel on Youtube.

- The lyric in this chapter (the one they claimed as Tsuki’s song cover) is entitled Natsu Matsuri, sang by whiteberry. I was listening to this song while thinking of inserting songs in this chapter.

- The second song lyric is named Yamiyo sang by Eve, also an utaite. Yamiyo is the ending theme of Dororo anime. I was listening to this song too while typing this chapter.

- Aki is encouraging Kaji, Shimo and Taku to move on, just like him after he realizes the people around him are special.

Chapter 27

- Harajuku is my dreamt vacation spot, and I happened to have a travel guide in Harajuku so I used it wisely for this chapter.

- Treacherous Sunset is actually Uragiri no Yuuyake, sang by Theatre Brook. It’s an opening theme for Durarara!! anime.

- Wave and Wood is a direct translation of Nami and Matsu’s names. Nami = Wave, Matsu = Wood.

- Flower is actually Hana, sang by Orange Range. It’s an ending theme of Japanese movie Ima, Ai ni Yukimasu (Be with You).

- I don’t change the title. I purposely put Harehare Ya, but actually I’ve heard this song sung by Sou, an utaite. Since I’ve written its translated lyric here, I put the actual singer’s name, Flower.

- Luruh is Aki. In Malay (my mother tongue), Aki means ‘musim luruh’ (autumn season), and it’s too obvious if I just wrote it as ‘Autumn’, so I put Luruh instead.

Chapter 28

- Ishi’s keenness nails it!

- Nothing much but them getting stalked by someone. But it isn’t a stalker to begin with.

Chapter 29

- I must say Tori, Ishi and Mura are so… overprotective. They are just mad over Aki’s accident.

- I totally forgot about Aki through the chapter. I just remembered to insert him in after I’ve finished writing.

- I wonder if voice actors are really befriending utaite in real life, but I believe there must be some.

Chapter 30

- Amatsuki and EVE are my favourite utaite, but I like others too; Luz, Sou, and Urashimasakatasen.

- Tetsu-san is derived from Kakihara Tetsuya, and I didn’t apply any of his characters in here. But, Kakihara-san really built a company, Zynchro.

- I have a soft spot for singers with tenor voices.

Chapter 31

- I don’t know what building I was conveying here. Just imagine its existence.

- Coincidentally I watched a deco television program, so I reapplied the furniture in it into this chapter.

- Fuku is my man! So does Fukuyama-san.

- Miyu is derived from Irino Miyu, and I applied the combination of Tachibana Chizuru (Kimi to Boku) and Sugawara Koushi (Haikyu!) as his personality.

Chapter 32

- Kenji-san is the character that I dislike, but I don’t hate him. It’s just that I have to create such character so that there will be some sort of tense on Aki.

- Kenji is derived from Tsuda Kenjirou, and I used his character in Fire Force, Joker.

- Provoker in <Fire Rescuer> is actually Joker in Enen no Shouboutai, and Nari Akihito in <ID Destroyer> is actually Narihisago Akihito in ID: Invaded.

Chapter 33

- Nae-kun isn’t supposed to appear on the same day as their visit, but I lacked of time so I just compile his audition day with Miyu’s.

- Nae is derived from Hanae Natsuki, and the character I’ve implied here is Kaneki Ken of Tokyo Ghoul.

- <Kyoto Ghoul> is, obviously, from Tokyo Ghoul.

- “One thousand subtracted by nine” please, I’m still wheezing.

Chapter 34

- I was trying to display Aki’s trauma in this chapter. I wonder if it’s effective.

- <Hush> movie is adapted from A Silent Voice, with Ishida Shoya as the main lead. I purposely retained the name so that readers could guess how <Hush> came from.

- Despite that, the script Aki is reading isn’t originally from A Silent Voice. It’s totally my creation.

- The winner of the battle isn’t Nao, but Kenji is too egoistic to announce Aki.

Chapter 35

- Since Aki had mental breakdown in previous chapter, I wrote this chapter to loosen the tense and explanation, including Mura’s identity and Fuku’s former high school.

- Fuku is very concern of everyone in his surroundings, which explained his guilt over Aki’s trauma.

Chapter 36

- I don’t know if this chapter ever needs trigger warnings, but I did have some uneasiness in my chest while writing this. This never happens in my life, or perhaps it once happened but I’ve unconsciously forgotten.

- Atsuko loves her adopted son very much, but she wants him to be much more successful than average teens at his age. This is why she dislikes Aki’s ‘petty’ ambition.

- For Aki’s weird behaviour during vacation, they’re all related to voice acting. Aki visited Tori frequently during summer vacation because they practiced together. Aki shut himself in his room on winter break for secretly watching utaite’s performances. And he invites Tori to his house during spring holiday because they are constructing a plan to bring Fuku to Niigata.

- The crossed sentences in the end of this chapter are actually Aki’s vague memory recollection over his discussion with Tori. There is no cross along the final sentence because it’s the most important part of Aki’s reasoning to be a voice actor.

Chapter 37

- I concluded everyone’s life, including those in Izumi Junior High School and Mura’s manager Fuyu-san, and their parents.

- Most probably my favourite chapter in this novel, because everyone seems happy with their own lives.

- Mori, Tani and Ono are students of a vocational college, but I didn’t have time to prepare its name. Ito and Kishi are mass communication students, but their performances has led them to stage acting.

- The radio announcers, Nobu and Naka, are derived from Okamoto Nobuhiko and Nakamura Yuuichi.

- Eno, Toshi, and Rai are derived from Enoki Junya, Toyonaga Toshiyuki and Sakurai Takahiro. They are voice actors under Tetsu-san’s company (not in real life).

- Uchi-san, the owner of UK Agency, is derived from Uchiyama Kouki. Thus, UK stands for Uchiyama Kouki.

- Kimu, Yama, and Saka are derived from Kimura Ryohei, Yamashita Daiki and Ousaka Ryouta. They are voice actors from UK Agency owned by Uchi (also not in real life).

- These new names in this chapter haven’t had proper introduction about them because I plan on proceeding this novel in a sequel.