The Many Sides of Voice Actor Radio

Episode 4

Forget about the imminent end of the radio show alluded to last week; now Yuhi herself is the one who's wound up canceled! After all the internal bickering that's driven the conflicts of Voice Actor Radio so far, this episode drops a serious outside conflict into the laps of our constantly combative heroines. The result is about as uneven as the anime has been so far, just so in different ways. Dealing with rumors that Yuhi had an illicit affair to secure her latest role, the series is trying to tackle other "real" aspects of the voice acting/idol industry similar to some of the inside-baseball stuff previously glimpsed. But being beholden to an ongoing plot and the overall writing approach means it can't help but stick out as the dramatization it is. At least I'm primarily here for the drama.

To its credit, the opening segment of this episode of the Voice Actor Radio show pulls off an emotionally exhausting encounter in a manner that's uncomfortable in a way I think it's intended to be. After foregrounding Kimura as a red herring last week, the sudden appearance of Shimizu as Yuhi's spurned, reputation-wrecking stalker comes somewhat out of nowhere. But the left-fields of his arrival contribute to the disorientation inherent in the whole scene, as he shows up ranting and raving while broadcasting Yuhi's discomfort for the whole internet to see. It's hard to watch in a way beyond your standard secondhand embarrassment, enhanced by the standoffish social mores of the classmates, save for Kimura at least attempting to do something.

It means there's plenty of overt monologuing demonstrating the entitled nature of some idol fans and the responses said idols might have to them—I'll allow it in this case, though, since so much of the teardown that Yasumi delivers of Shimizu's vile actions is something many "fans" probably need to hear themselves. Plus, after all the skin-crawling build-up, it's pretty damn satisfying to have Yuhi herself be the one to slug him. Then Yasumi knocks him down a second time on her way out; it's all very cathartic. Whether actual performers in this industry would ever be able to recover from a situation like this is secondary to the swirl of entertainment at the moment. It's as fantastical as the forced fanservice bathtub hang-out in the last episode, except it makes you pump your fists instead of dreading that this will be the moment your roommate walks in.

The continued suspension of disbelief over this whole constructed situation is what will likely be the make-or-break moment for a lot of viewers for Voice Actor Radio overall. Yeah, Yasumi probably wouldn't get away with breaking contract and character to hold a renegade radio broadcast in her true gyaru persona, telling all the fans that, no, really, Yuhi is principled and would never resort to sleeping her way to the top. Part of it works outside of that immediate narrative utility, letting Yasumi express her complex feelings of respect and irritation with Yuhi in a way where she can spell them out the way this story loves to have its characters do. It's an effective B-side to Yasumi's earlier apology to Yuhi, acknowledging that her accusation that her co-worker resorted to the casting couch was over the line, especially in light of what she had to deal with immediately after. And it's nice to see Yasumi spell out for the fans and viewers what she appreciably already realized: that Yuhi clocked Shimizu specifically to prevent Yasumi's own secret school identity from being revealed.

All that doesn't prevent the whole spiel from airing with the air of "and then everyone clapped" hanging over it. It's spelling out the contradictions of fake idol personas and the sincere fan worship of them, at least within the same ballpark as something like Oshi no Ko, but via its own extremely blunt methodology. It doesn't help that the follow-up is for Yuhi herself to arrive, as well as her secret superstar anime director father, all with the exact right dramatic speeches and digital receipts to clear her name. It's Voice Actor Radio daringly playing Jenga with its shakily assembled plot contrivances, and the only thing that keeps it from collapsing is Yasumi's earnestly hilarious reaction to the morbid absurdity of Yuhi's situation and her realization of how cringingly unnecessary her efforts were.

It's all functional as far as wrapping up this first story arc, but mostly only interesting in terms of what it potentially sets up for the plot going forward. Yasumi and Yuhi get to "start over" both their relationship and the radio show based around it. Their true personalities are now firmly out on the table, and while that includes their begrudging respect for one another, it seems like even they realize that they work better when they're making a point of being just a bit real and spicy with each other. I wish that would come through more heavily in the "new" version of the radio show heard after this episode, but who knows how much of a factor that will be in the plot going forward? Will their identities and personas being out in the open affect the story's takes on artifice in this industry? Will it believably impact their careers and pursuits of fame? It's an interesting swerve for Voice Actor Radio after the elements it leaned on at first, so the rest of its run will depend on what it does with it.

Rating:

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

The many sides of Chris include reviewing anime, playing rhythm games, and treating himself to too many Transformers toys. You can find him posting about all of these and more over on his Twitter, or occasionally going more in-depth on his blog.

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Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. One or more of the companies mentioned in this article are part of the Kadokawa Group of Companies.