is a Japanese four-panel

dōjin In Japan, is a group of people who share an interest, activity, or hobby. The word is sometimes translated into English as " clique", "fandom", "coterie", "society", or "circle" (as in " sewing circle"). Self-published creative works produced ...

manga Manga ( Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is ...

series. The manga is written by voice actress

Masumi Asano is a Japanese voice actress, singer and narrator who worked for Aoni Production, but now as of January, 2021 a Freelancer. Biography Asano was born on August 25, 1977 in Noshiro, Akita and studied at the Kokugakuin University Faculty of Litera ...

, with art by

Kenjiro Hata is a Japanese manga artist, best known as the creator of the ''Hayate the Combat Butler'' series. He likes to collect anime related items, like figurines, and was once an assistant of Kōji Kumeta. He is married to voice actress Masumi Asano. Ca ...

, and is released under the circle name Hajimemashite. The manga launched at

Comiket , more commonly known as or , is a semiannual ''doujinshi'' convention in Tokyo, Japan. A grassroots market focused on the sale of '' doujin'' (self-published) works, Comiket is a not-for-profit fan convention administered by the volunteer-r ...

81 in December 2011, with further releases at each subsequent Comiket until August 2017. An

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series adaptation animated by

Gonzo Gonzo may refer to: People * Gonzo (nickname), a list of people with the nickname * Radislav Jovanov Gonzo (born 1964), Croatian music video director Radislav Jovanov, also known as Gonzo * Matthias Röhr (born 1962), German musician whose sta ...

aired from July to September 2015.

Plot

The series is centered on three friends who are all rookie

voice actresses Voice acting is the art of performing voice-overs to present a character or provide information to an audience. Performers are called voice actors/actresses, voice artists, dubbing artists, voice talent, voice-over artists, or voice-over talent ...

; Futaba Ichinose, Ichigo Moesaki and Rin Kohana. As the girls go through their individual troubles of working in voice acting, they end up hosting a web radio show together and form the unit, Earphones.

Characters

Main characters

; : :A shy and nervous rookie voice actor, who has a tendency to overthink what kind of performance she should give. In between jobs, she works part-time at a convenience store. She has a stuffed doll called that she occasionally voices to in order to give herself encouragement (in the anime, Korori-chan is also used to explain the various aspects of the voice acting industry). She is a member in the unit Earphones ; : :A hyperactive girl who often claims to be a princess from a strawberry planet as part of her character. She works part-time jobs which she sometimes gets fired from due to absences. She has a cheerful character that can make Futaba and Rin carried by the atmosphere. She is a member of the unit Earphones ; : :A polite 15-year old girl who does voice roles while also attending junior high school. Although her age is the most young, she has an excellent ability as a voice actress. She also is a part of the unit Earphones.

Aozora Production

*: Futaba's senior voice actress from the same agency. *: New manager at Aozora Production who starts off as Futaba's manager and is later put in charge of Earphones. *: Senior manager at Aozora Production. *: Futaba's senior voice actor who was being harsh on her but came to acknowledge her after her performance when they dubbed a foreign horror film together with Rikiya Koyama.

Production staff of Budha Fighter Bodhisattvon

*: Producer who scouted Futaba, Ichigo, and Rin to host web radio and form Earphones. *, *,

Sakuranbo Theater Group

*: Rin's childhood friend and classmate who also claimed herself as Rin's first fan. *,

Voice Entertainment

Earphones's family

*, *,

Media

Manga

The

manga series, written by

with art by

, was first published at

81 in December 2011 under the Hajimemashite circle label, with subsequent releases sold at each following Comiket.

Anime

television adaptation aired in Japan from July 7 to September 29, 2015. The series was licensed for streaming by

Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

in North America and by AnimeLab in Australia and New Zealand. The opening theme is by Earphones (Rie Takahashi, Yuki Nagaku, and Marika Kouno), while the ending theme is by Earphones, with each episode featuring a "Request Corner" section covering a popular anime theme song. The ending theme for episode six is by Earphones, which is also used as the theme for the web radio show, while the ending theme for episode 13 is by Earphones.

Episode list

Voice actor unit

is a real life

seiyū Voice acting in Japan is an industry where actors provide voice-overs as characters or narrators in media including anime, video games, audio dramas, commercials, and dubbing for non-Japanese films and television programs. In Japan, and ...

unit formed of the series' main cast;

Rie Takahashi is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with 81 Produce. She had a leading role in the anime series '' Seiyu's Life!'', where she became part of the musical unit Earphones. She voiced Futaba Ichinose in '' Seiyu's Life!'', Megumin in ...

, Yuki Nagaku, and Marika Kouno under Evil Line Records of the King Records label. They continue to release songs and perform live even after the anime ''Seiyu's Life!'' ended.

References

External links

Anime official website
* {{Gonzo Anime series based on manga Comedy anime and manga Doujinshi Funimation Gonzo (company) Tokyo MX original programming Voice acting Yonkoma