First Impression: The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio

Sato Yumiko is two girls in one wrapper. To the public, she’s Utatane Yasumi: a wholesome, innocent idol voice actress. But deep down inside, when she’s at school, she can let her true colors fly, both literally and figuratively. In school, she’s a straight-up gyaru (oftentimes referred to as a “gal” or in the US as a “Valley Girl”—for examples, see Minami from Hokkaido Gals are Super Adorable, Marin from My Dress-up Darling, and Galko from Please Tell Me! Galko-Chan). One day while in school, Sato has an encounter with one of the girls in her class named Chika Watanabe. She’s rather plain, very aloof, and, after an accident in the classroom, it’s clear she’s not a big fan of Sato. As fate would have it, Sato has a new gig lined up—she’s going to be on a voice actress radio show with another fellow high school idol voice actress. However, the producer reveals quite a shocking twist: her co-host is none other than Chika Watanabe…also known as Yugure Yuhi. The news goes about as well as can be expected—neither of these girls are exactly excited about working with the other. But the show must go on! Or will it? Can these two actresses put their egos aside and put on a prodigious performance? Cue the shenanigans!

Okay, so it looks as though we’re having another “Behind the Scenes” type of show in the same vein as last year’s blockbuster Oshi no Ko. Except this time, instead of reincarnated twins following in their late idol mom’s footsteps, we have two high school girls who put on a mask for the public but are completely different in person, and of course, they’re forced into circumstances that have them working together and revealing their true selves to each other. It very much reminds me of a Horimiya or for you old anime fans out there, His and Her Circumstances. According to the source material, this looks to be a yuri or Girl’s Love series, so eventually we might see some romance develop between these two, and odds are good that their relationship will go in that direction with subsequent episodes. It’s the old dynamic that we’ve seen done quite a few times in anime: once bitter rivals soon come to like, and later love, each other. The true odd couple. Though admittedly, I like how they flipped the script, having Sato’s “real self” being a gyaru and her public persona being quieter and more demure. The one frustrating thing that I just couldn’t shake off during this one was the fact that Sato did not immediately recognize Yuhi when they met each other in the classroom, and vice versa. I mean, you LITERALLY have this girl’s picture in front of you, and Yuhi does not change her appearance in any noticeable way. Talk about asking us to suspend disbelief! Production-wise, the animation feels kinda…standard. Nothing special here, and if we’re being honest, considering the simplistic nature of the show, I wouldn’t expect anything jaw-dropping. The music sounds like something from a video game—nothing inspirational or uplifting here.

So where does that leave us with The Many Side of Voice Actor Radio? Well, I think there’s an interesting story here if you have enough patience to sit through it. Even though it feels to me like this show is just riding the coattails of Oshi no Ko, I’d be willing to give this one another couple of episodes to see if it finds its own voice (pun intended), and if the relationship between Yasumi and Yuhi gets better. But, if I’m being honest guys, if your viewing calendar is full of other shows to watch this season, I don’t think you’ll be missing too much if you skip this one.

The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio is available for streaming on Crunchyroll.

Josh
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