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Dated 8 February 2010: In praise of Aya Hirano

Lumiere
I wish someone would make a Rebuild of Kiddy Grade movie
based on the awesome original promo for the series.

I first noticed Hirano Aya when she dropped her normal voice an octave and gave Lumiere in Kiddy Grade an unexpectedly mature voice. After that, I don't think I noticed her again until Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuuutsu. That's pretty much when everyone else noticed her, too.

Ayu
Ayu from the Hyakko OP.

Hirano Aya became so popular after voicing Haruhi that the considerable backlash and stalkerish scrutiny to which she's consistently subjected now was inevitable. Her popularity also led to a lot of miscast roles as she became the new hot seiyuu. She was seeming crammed into every show possible whether she was appropriate for the role or not. (See, for example, Ayu in Hyakko.)

Misa
Misa from the second Death Note ED.

But when she's right for it, Hirano Aya is dead on. In the first season of Queen's Blade, it appears they gave her a case of Red Bull energy drinks and just told her to ad lib all her lines as fast as she could. It was magic. Kismet, you could say. Likewise, she was perfectly cast as the Kira-fanboy flibbertigibbet Misa in Death Note. It's largely thanks to Hirano Aya that Misa is basically the only character I actually like in the entire show.

Dated 8 January 2011: Kimi ni Todoke 2nd Season better have enough Ume

Ume
How about some potato chips to go with that rage, Ume?

I don't remember the Death Note reference from the first season of Kimi ni Todoke. Either it was a new segment added for the episode zero clip show narrated by Kurumi, or I just didn't get the reference because I hadn't watched Death Note yet at the time.

P.S. Hirano Aya's character was the best part of Death Note, too.

Dated 24 November 2020: Why Talentless Nana is better than Death Note

Kyouya
Dude needs a haircut.

The Munou na Nana (Talentless Nana) anime is schlock, but I mean that in the best possible way. Whether or not the Death Note anime actively encourages its viewers to regard it in a serious light, its fans certainly have a tendency to embrace that perspective and hold it high regard. I acknowledge it's somewhat unfair to judge an anime based on its fans, but even after more than a decade, it remains difficult to sever Death Note from its fandom, so I think the association is at least sort of justified. Munou na Nana, on the other hand, I started watching basically on a whim after seeing this admonition on the Twitter. Immediately thereafter came warnings that the manga is rated relatively poorly and also still ongoing, suggesting the single-cours anime's conclusion is likely to be disappointing.

L and Light
See, just like Jesus.

Whether or not that turns out to be the case, I'm at least enjoying Munou na Nana quite a bit for the time being. It's somewhat silly, and the juxtaposition between the internal monologues and the outward facades presented publicly is probably excessive, but that's also part of why I enjoy the show. I don't take Talentless Nana especially seriously, and I don't feel as if I'm expected to either. That was definitely not the case with Death Note, which was an all right show despite its serious tone, but not a great show because of it. Why am I even comparing Talentless Nana and Death Note at all? Because both shows concur on one of the great truths that transcend anime: Some people need killing.