Seriously, hearing all of these wonderful stories about how open and attentive teh Mamiko was with her fans this past weekend at Otakon just makes me love her all the more. I’ve talked up her work in the past, of course, but I’ve never revealed my favorite of her roles. Without a doubt, it’s Toudou Shimako of Maria-sama ga Miteru. While Shimako may not be my favorite character from that particular franchise (rest easy, Yoshino), I definitely find her the most alluring, if you catch my drift. She’s sexy. Simple as that. And, in all honesty, I think Mamiko Noto’s voice work has a lot to do with that. I can’t think of anyone else who could have handled that particular role with such grace.
However, I should also mention that I’m especially fond of her work as Ana Coppola in Ichigo Mashimaro. I think her voice work is a big part of why Ana grew to be my favorite of the show’s characters over time. How she manages to sound both innocent and ostentatious in the same breath, I don’t know. It’s absolutely adorable.
Shimako’s lovely, a kind of lovely which i like her being apart of in Marimite. She’s no Sei though.
For all you Mamiko fans!!! ^_^
I’m not sure how many, or if there’s are people in the production buisness that’d make me seriously consider making the jump to attend an anime con, but Mamiko Noto probably one of the few that manages to raise my interest bar high enough to possibly achive that :/
And yeah, Shimako is the role that captivated my attention towards her work, even if I had seen a couple of other shows where she had a pretty prominent role by that point.
…And I guess it did for a lot of other people too seeing the type of characters she plays most of the time :p
She’s no Sei though.
…And that’s what makes me like her in the first place ;).
Mamiko wanting to act the role of Sachiko I find pretty amusing in a way - I’m sure she could pull it off splendidly, but I have this funny contrasting image in my head on how the current Miki Itou-Sachiko would do/does things and how a would-be Mamiko Noto Sachiko would portray the same things, and I just can’t help but be amused by it :P.
Someone should actually make an experimental 5-10 minute shortfilm/OVA around such a premise or something - Have the story be exactly the same, but have several versions where different voice actors are allowed to do their own impression of the story’ characters.
Oh, and the snippet from the Tomokazu Seki panel where he does his impression of her is just GOLDEN :p.
BUT YOU STILL DID NOT COME :P
Noto kawaiiyo noto~
And Jal finally, for a change, displayed great taste by selecting the right Marimite character.
>BUT YOU STILL DID NOT COME
Money D: .
I’d love to go, particulary as I’d gotten to meet you bunch of loons too, but virtually any sort of longer trip/expenditure I take I have to plan for almost a year in advance. Being a student sucks :/.
And Jal finally, for a change, displayed great taste by selecting the right Marimite character.
But…but, …he picked Yoshino O_o ! D:
O, right.
I mean, I suppose he could’ve picked Rei. Actually, that might even be more preferable.
I’ve still not managed to watch Maria-sama…. even with the premise of having to hear Noto-sama in one of her more famous roles. Perhaps soon I will… but dear god.. I really can’t take those “serious” type of yuri.
What made me really notice Noto Mamiko was Ana-chan from Ichigo Mashimaro. Till date, Ana’s still my favourite IchiMashi girl and top Noto-sama role for me, as like you said, she manages to truly be cutely ostentatious.
/me wishes for more IchiMashi anime and for more awesome roles for Noto-sama.
She’s been my first favourite seiyu who I could also clearly recognize in other roles. I’ve noticed her first as the other Anna in Monster and I think her fits the role perfectly. Usually she’s really easy to recognize but she’s actually more versatile than one might assume. I guess most directories simply won’t “that” soft voice she excels at. She also lent her voice to Yukinari in Girls Bravo which shows that she has quite a bit of variation to offer.
I think she was a horribly miscast for Witchcraft but I think the whole “adaption” (You could say rape?) by Gonzo sucked anyway.
Nowadays I recognize a few other seiyu as well albeit I don’t really remember their names. For example, I like Revy’s voice (Sei’s in Marimite) quite a lot. Another favourite is Ichijou from Pani Poni Dash whose Seiyu also play major roles in Negima?! and Zetsubo Sensei. It’s really a shame I only know them by their voices but not their names and I’m too lazy to look it up at animenewsnetwork as well. Shame on me.
@Chris: “For example, I like Revy’s voice (Sei’s in Marimite) quite a lot. Another favourite is Ichijou from Pani Poni Dash whose Seiyu also play major roles in Negima?! and Zetsubo Sensei.”
Megumi Toyoguchi (also Winry in FMA) and Ai Nonaka, respectively.
My personal favorite Mamiko Noto role is Angol Mois from Keroro Gunsou, but I think that series is probably one of the best-cast of all time, so that’s not surprising. She’s easily one of my favorite female seiyuu (just edged out by Satsuki Yukino), and despite her easily recognizable voice, has a surprising amount of range, from Shinji in FMP! to Sayoko in AMG.
And she’s hot. Don’t forget that.
I’ve still not managed to watch Maria-sama…. even with the premise of having to hear Noto-sama in one of her more famous roles. Perhaps soon I will… but dear god.. I really can’t take those “serious” type of yuri.
You should take it as ’serious’ type of shoujo because that’s what it is first and foremost before anything else - just a series about a bunch of schoolgirls who happen to attend a rather archaic all-girls school.
Unless you just abhor the style of somewhat overwrought melodrama (”much ado about seemingly nothing”) marimite uses, I don’t think you should have any problems watching it.
Not saying the series doesn’t deserve its infamous(?) reputation for hurr-hurr subtext because there certainly is a lot of material to interprent in whatever way you want. But that’s just exactly how far it goes - It’s mostly the sheer amount of (emotionally) close girl-girl interaction that raises the allusions, but the context (archaic school) and style of approach (shoujo) makes up for a leeway that makes you just accept things just as they are.
That is to say, it’s not “lol, lesbians”, but “lol, drama” (or rather, “lol, characters”) that it all is about ;).
When it comes to Marimite, my general opinion is that it’s only as serious as you make it out to be. And the, “ZOMG YURI!” thrill kind of wears off once you get accustomed to the setting and the characters… you eventually come to realize that there are only a couple of characters who are (likely) honest-to-goodness lesbians. Like Muey, I think it’s more a shoujo show than anything else.
I actually find the show as silly as it is serious. I think that’s a big part of what makes it work… it’s a good balance.