Bottom-tier voice actress wants to become a big star on VTuber.

"Shimizu, you got him! Hodaka Morishima from 'Weathering With You' is yours!!"

"Really!?" Shimizu Toru suddenly stood up from the sofa, his heart pounding.

Another heavyweight! This time, the Best Newcomer award is a sure thing. You know, many voice actors who have been in the industry for several years have never won this award!

Volume 1: Chapter 114 NG Dream's Invitation

For the next week or so, Toru Shimizu devoted himself entirely to the dubbing work for "Weathering With You," as the film was set to be released on the 19th of next month, and time was tight and the task was heavy.

Even live streaming has had to slow down, from twice a day to once every two days.

Fortunately, Hinano and the others had already laid a very solid foundation, so he no longer needed to keep an eye on them every day. They could just continue to hone their skills step by step.

As a perfectionist, Makoto Shinkai has his own understanding of the requirements for voice acting. He pursues a sense of realism and strives to make the audience unable to detect any trace of acting.

This requirement is somewhat contrary to Shimizu Toru's previous experience, because voice acting requires acting skills, and normal people cannot speak like anime characters.

Fortunately, he hadn't been in the industry for very long, and this idea hadn't yet become ingrained in his mind. After being reminded a few times by Makoto Shinkai, he gradually got the hang of it.

"Thank you all for your hard work today. Tomorrow is the final episode, let's all cheer each other on!"

"Oh!!"

After shouting out into the crowd, Shimizu Toru was about to pack up and go home when Sakura Ayane called out to him, "Shimizu-san, are you free right now?"

—The character voiced by Ms. Sakura is named Ayane Hanazawa, who is a love rival of Kana Hanazawa, who is voiced by Kana Hanazawa. Ironically, she is actually Kana's only fan. Makoto Shinkai has quite a twisted sense of humor.

"It's hard to say if it's someone else asking, but if it's Sakura-senpai, I'm always available~"

"Eh~ Even if you have the god-like looks of Yamada Ryosuke, such frivolous words don't make anyone's heart flutter at all."

Ryosuke Yamada is a male artist under Johnny & Associates who has no shortcomings except for his height, and is known as the most handsome man under 170cm.

Incidentally, due to his excessive love for video games, this person later opened a YouTube channel under the name Leo-sama and frequently collaborated with Kuzuha and others.

Because they had also worked together on "Carole & Tuesday," the two became much more familiar with each other than when they first met, reaching a level where they could exchange lighthearted jokes.

Incidentally, Kana Ichinose, who voices Tessde, also voices the early female lead, Yoshio Ogawa, in "Dr. Stone," and will continue to work with Toru Shimizu.

Voice actresses who are currently very popular usually get three or four roles that make it into the cast list every season. The hardest-working actress in this July's anime season is M·A·O, who got seven roles.

This season, Shimizu Toru has secured roles in the three main anime series he's been vying for, and all of them have made it into the cast list. There are only about thirty people of similar caliber, both male and female, which puts him among the top in the industry.

As the economy has improved, he no longer needs to rely on voice acting to make a living, so he rarely takes on small roles with only one or two episodes, unless they are particularly memorable.

"Come on, let me buy you a drink. Someone asked me to pass on a message."

After the two arrived at a coffee shop, Ms. Sakura ordered herself a banana juice and took a delightful sip.

Shimizu Toru, who doesn't like coffee, ordered a milk tea instead. Seeing how happy the other person was drinking it, he suddenly remembered something.

If I remember correctly, because she only drank beverages and not water, Ayane Sakura developed fatty liver.

The physical examination results were very unhealthy, D-, with breast hyperplasia to the point that there was no fat left in the breasts, not to mention stomach ulcers and three cases of gastritis.

Should we remind her to get a medical check-up? If she had gone for a check-up a few years earlier, the situation might not have been so serious, and it could have been remedied.

—If breast hyperplasia hardens, it can be fatal, not to mention the risk of fatty liver developing into cirrhosis.

"Hey, let me get straight to the point. Bushiroad wants to invite you to participate in their all-male band project. You should know about NG Dream, right?"

"Of course, I really like your covers of 'The Cry' and 'The Sentinel'. NG Dream is a great project."

Sakura Ayane, who had been all smiles, immediately stopped laughing upon hearing this: "Damn it! My biggest regret now is getting on that pirate ship!"

Before joining Bondori, Sakura's personal profile listed her hobbies as "singing".

It's said that it disappeared after that, but I can't guess why.

"Ahem, you almost dragged me in. Anyway, nG Dream has a new all-male band project and would like to invite you to participate."

Taking a sip of milk tea, Shimizu Toru's reaction wasn't very enthusiastic: "A band project? I've looked into it before."

The all-male band ARGONAVIS was supposed to hold their 0st launch live at the end of last year, and after accumulating a lot of popularity through offline live performances, they gradually shifted to anime development, creating anime series and mobile games.

However, due to the differences in parallel universes, the Bushido project was inexplicably delayed by half a year; otherwise, the first official concert would have been held last month.

A few months ago, Shimizu Toru had considered joining the band, otherwise he wouldn't have taken the initiative to learn electric guitar.

But that was then, and now it is now. Having successfully secured the lead role in the first drama and the movie, he no longer needs to rely on the 2.5 project to gain fans.

However, he couldn't very well refuse Ayane Sakura's kind offer outright, so he said he needed to discuss it with his manager and company to get through to the end.

As for the experience, it was only mentioned in passing. Whether Miss Sakura would accept this well-intentioned reminder was something Shimizu Toru couldn't guarantee.

After all, the two are not very familiar with each other, and it is impossible to force each other to go to the hospital for a physical examination, as it would be easy to be regarded as crazy.

When Shimizu Toru said he wanted to discuss this with the company, he wasn't just making excuses; he told Sakazaki Daisuke about it on the train.

To his surprise, the other party immediately agreed: "What's there to hesitate about! What a great plan!"

"Huh? What opportunity?"

"It's an opportunity to gain fans based on looks! Voice acting is still a behind-the-scenes job, nothing compares to live performances and concerts."

Shimizu Toru's lips twitched. To put it bluntly, he still had to sell his face, right?

Although he's not entirely against using his looks, after all, being good-looking is a talent, and for people in the entertainment industry, it's the greatest talent.

"Besides, haven't you been practicing guitar for so long just to prepare for this day? Wouldn't it be a waste of your practice if you didn't participate?"

"Hiss~ What you said does make sense."

Right, if I don't participate, wouldn't all my electric guitar practice be for nothing? I can't exactly save it to form a band with Sasaki and the others, can I?

Seeing that he had successfully persuaded Shimizu Toru, Sakazaki Daisuke breathed a sigh of relief: "Leave the rest of the communication issues to us. You can just relax and wait to rehearse with the rest of the band."

"OK, I trust you to handle things."

Volume 1: Chapter 115 Recording Begins for the July Anime Season

Vinland Chronicles, also known as Vinland Chronicles, is adapted from Makoto Yukimura's manga of the same name. The first season was produced by WIT STUDIO, so the art style is very similar to Attack on Titan.

Like "Carole & Tuesday", it is also a 24-episode half-year series. Since the first episode will be broadcast on July 7th, and it will be an extended version of nearly half an hour, the voice work has already begun.

As the voice actor for the male lead Thorfinn in his childhood, Shimizu Toru only had screen time in the first eight episodes, but it's not far from being considered a main character.

But actually, he auditioned for the role of Prince Knut of Denmark, played by Kensho Ono, who is the husband of Kana Hanazawa.

As a result, the director, Shuhei Yabuta, asked him if he could speak in a boyish voice and asked him to try playing young Thorfinn. Then, Shimizu Toru, in a daze, took over the role originally intended for Shizuka Ishigami.

"Otsuka-san, it's nice to meet you again. I look forward to working with you from now on."

Throughout the entire "Vinland Saga" recording studio, the only person who had worked with Toru Shimizu was Akio Otsuka, although the two didn't have any scenes together in the first episode.

The voice actors for Thorfinn's father, sister, and mother are Kenichiro Matsuda, Hitomi Nabatame, and Midori Takahashi, who married Shinnosuke Tachibana two years ago.

The representative roles of the characters are Kenpachi from "Bleach", Kazusa Touma from "White Album 2", and Chihaya Himemiya from "Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru".

None of them are the most popular voice actors, but they are all seasoned veterans with solid acting skills, giving the impression that serious dramas don't need popular celebrities.

"Oh, it's Shimizu-kun. I don't have many lines today, so I might not be able to take care of you—hahaha, just kidding."

After making a small joke, Grandpa Otsuka introduced Shimizu Toru to the others. With this senior figure as the introducer, the atmosphere became very harmonious.

Before long, the recording officially began. It was quite simple to record a seven or eight-year-old boy like this, as there were no complicated psychological processes involved.

As long as he portrays the childlike side, he'll be pretty much there. Anyway, the young Thorfinn later on has nothing to do with him.

Shimizu Toru wanted to stick to his principles, but unfortunately, the agency didn't have enough influence to force him into a position of power.

The first season's focus was actually on Thors, the character voiced by Kenichiro Matsuda, while Thorfinn didn't have much screen time.

It only had about twenty or thirty lines in total. After finishing the lyrics, Qingshui Tou went straight back. It wouldn't be appropriate to bring someone who could only drink juice along if others wanted to drink together.

Sitting on the tram, I took out my phone from my pocket and opened the group chat, only to see that Green Fairy was spamming the screen again.

[Green Fairy: Has everyone prepared their passports? Don't wait until you're about to leave to realize you haven't got them ready!]

[Green Fairy: I'll leave the translation work to Lily; none of us are very good at English.]

[Green Fairy: I heard that white food is particularly bad, so remember to bring a couple of bottles of chili sauce. If all else fails, just eat noodles for three days!]

Today is June 19th, and there are only about ten days left before heading to the US to attend the Anime Expo. Including BML, everyone has already made arrangements for their time.

Unfortunately, apart from Toru Shimizu, the 3D models of the other performers are still in production, and LA does not support 3D performances.

Fortunately, Bilibili's VR event has a dedicated 3D performance stage. If Nijisanji moves quickly, they should be able to catch up with BML.

[Shimizu Toru: America isn't very safe, and it's the same in Los Angeles. Everyone should try to stay home as much as possible.]

[Takamiya Rion: Okay, okay, you've mentioned this several times already, we'll be careful.]

[Dragon's Gallbladder: Tou-jun even specially recommended a video of zero-yuan shopping to me, it feels so scary]

[Xu Hai Bed: They also massaged it for me, and even showed me pictures of those zombie-like drug addicts on the streets of New York. It was really scary.]

【Machida Chima: +1, I was so scared I had nightmares last night】

[Shimizu Toru: I'm just worried you might be taking chances. What if something really goes wrong if I don't shatter your illusions about America beforehand?]

[Sunset Lily: Toru is right, everyone must remember this, it's very dangerous abroad!]

Even in Japan, where guns are strictly prohibited, it won't be safe in a few years, with indiscriminate and disgusting knife attacks occurring frequently.

The killers were all teenagers, and their targets were mostly women traveling alone. They had no prior grudges against each other, highlighting the randomness of the crime.

Therefore, Toru Shimizu plans to move to the safer University of Tokyo after Nijisanji goes public, and if necessary, he can fly back to Japan when there are events.

I haven't told Xiyang Lili and the others about this idea yet, mainly because the timing isn't right.

Once his personal assets reach tens of billions of yen, even if he doesn't want to leave, Japan's lousy tax policies will force him to go.

After returning home, Shimizu Toru first went to the vegetable garden to harvest all the vegetables that had ripened that day. The kimchi and chili sauce that she had made earlier had all been taken by Midori and the others, so she had to make them all over again.

Luckily, the kimchi jars were too heavy for them to move, otherwise Qingshuitou would have had to put up a sign at the door.

"Huh? The garlic is all cooked? Then can we make that pickled garlic you mentioned last time?" Rion Takamiya asked, seeing the bundles of garlic cloves on the ground.

"These are for seed. If you want to make pickled garlic, I'll buy a bag tomorrow."

Garlic, like scallions and ginger, is not grown in large quantities. The harvested garlic bulbs are only enough for seed production and for everyday cooking.

I did plant quite a few chili peppers, since the ones I bought weren't very spicy. Otherwise, they wouldn't have caught the eye of Green Fairy and the others after I made them into chili sauce.

"Should we soak these long beans like before? We haven't finished eating them yet."

It can only be said that green beans truly live up to their reputation as a nightmare for the people of Shandong. Even though Qingshui Tou and the others make and eat them every day, they still can't keep up with the speed at which new green beans grow.

"Instead of soaking them into pickled cowpeas, I plan to dry them into dried cowpeas. In winter, whether I use them to make stews in an iron pot or simply soak them and stir-fry them, they will taste delicious."

"I'll help too. Should we cut it first, or just leave it to dry like this?"

"Cut them into two lengths, the long ones are about 20 centimeters long, and the short ones are about 10 centimeters long."

Long, dried green beans, when added to a stew in an iron pot, are truly more delicious than meat, though they require more pork ribs, goose, or braised pork.

Thinking about this, Shimizu Toru felt it was necessary to plant some more potatoes, the kind that are small but extremely starchy and soft, while the larger ones are more suitable for stir-frying shredded potatoes.

Anyway, potatoes have a high yield, so planting just a little is enough for stewing in an iron pot, and the extra can be roasted in the winter.

Hmm, we should plant some sweet potatoes too. It's a pity that Japan doesn't have the Yanshu No. 25 variety, but Japan itself has quite a few sweet potato varieties suitable for roasting.

For example, the famous Japanese three sweet treats, Hongyao, Narisa, and Marisa, all have a sweetness level of 44-55 after saccharification.

Which one to plant depends on which one you can buy when the water is clear.

-----------------------

The air conditioner unit next door is incredibly noisy; even wearing earplugs can't block it out.

To get better rest, I had to change my sleep schedule to go to bed at 8 pm, which means I'm really going to bed early and waking up early now.

Volume 1: Chapter 116 Argonavis

June 23, cloudy weather, temperature gradually rising, the beginning of summer.

Shimizu Toru returned to the motion capture studio, but this time it wasn't Nijisanji, but rather "Sanjigen," a company that has a partnership with Bushido.

All the 3D performances in the BanG Dream! series are handled by Sanjigen, and this time is no exception.

The rest of the band Argonavis had already been recruited, except for lead vocalist Toru Shimizu.