Futaba Ichinose
- Affiliated Agency: Aozora Production
Roles: Pipo in Buddha Fighter Bodhisattvon, Uma in SPIRAL CAFÉ (Drama CD), Ashley (zombie), unnamed cheerleader, unnamed boy, and background people in Cry of the Zombie: The Devil's Bloody Legend (Japanese Dub), Frill in Malreich, Unnamed character in Mochi-Kuma, Boy (A) in Western Detective
Voiced by: Rie Takahashi
Futaba is the protagonist of our story. She is a New Meat voice actress attempting to break into the industry out of pure interest in the challenging environment the industry provides. Like all ordinary people, she grows up watching anime, but did not went deep into becoming an Otaku, leaving her at a grave disadvantage in industry knowledge and radio show hosting flexibility compared to her colleagues. Add her lack of on-stage performing arts training, she has to overcome her stage fright and poor dancing skills as an Idol Singer.
- Embarrassing Nickname: She gets the nickname of Futa-Futa from Hikari when she appears on her radio show.
- Girls Love Stuffed Animals: She has a plush doll of Korori (the main character from her favorite childhood anime) that she often talks to.
- Gray Rain of Depression: After Futaba finds out that Rin got a part that she had been hoping to reprise from a Drama CD, because it meant that she'd be able to work with Rie Kugimiya again. Ichigo even points out that the forecast had said it'd be sunny.
- Heroic Self-Deprecation: Most voice actresses don't become Idol Singers with their own radio show after only a year in the industry. The fact that she even has parts on a semi-regular basis is impressive. This doesn't stop her from apologizing onstage to Ichigo and Rin for being the weakest link in the group.
- Idol Singer
- In-Series Nickname: Futa-Futa
Ichigo Moesaki
- Affiliated Agency: Voice Entertainment
Roles: A student in Buddha Fighter Bodhisattvon, Sapporo in Kuroneko of Eternya 2
Voiced by: Yuki Nagaku
A New Meat voice actress who grew up faithfully indulging in the ACG note hobby, and vows to become an Idol Singer voice actress.
- A Day in the Limelight: Episode 5 focused almost exclusively on her. Futaba and Rin only really show up at the beginning and the end.
- Daddy's Girl: Despite her dad's personality, it's established that she really is close to her father, worries about him and vice versa.
- Did I Just Say That Out Loud?: When she refers to Yui Horie as Hoi Yurie."Hoi Yurie": Hoi?
- Girlish Pigtails
- Given Name Reveal: Her real last name is Kagawa as revealed in Episode 3.
- Idiot Hair
- Idol Singer
- In-Series Nickname: Futaba and Rin occasionally call her "Poison Ichigo".
- Mr. Imagination: Ms. Imagination: Ichigo created a persona of being a princess from the Strawberry Planet to make herself more memorable and will occasionally switch into it mid-sentence.
- Ojou Ringlets: Invokes this in her Strawberry Princess persona.
- Otaku: She claims that she's not, but she considers going to Comiket "the duty of a citizen".
- Closet Geek: Although she tries to deny this at first.
- Princesses Prefer Pink: She pretends that she's a princess from the Strawberry Planet. As such, all of her non-work outfits are pink.
- Small Name, Big Ego: Played with. Ichigo is aware that she's not famous or popular, but she is convinced that she will be.
- Stage Name: Ichigo Moesaki isn't her real name. We never knew what her true name really is.
- Meaningful Name: She basically calls herself a "Moe-smile Strawberry."
- Trademark Favorite Food: Ichigo is obsessed with strawberries to the point that she has an entire persona built up about how she's a princess from the strawberry planet and just about everything in her room has a strawberry on it. Although the obsession is not because she particularly likes them, she's just making a pun on her Stage Name.
Rin Kohana
- Affiliated Agency: Sakuranbo Theatre
Roles: Operator in Buddha Fighter Bodhisattvon, Uma in SPIRAL CAFÉ (Anime), Unnamed character in Classreiter, Mina in Weekend Patissier
Voiced by: Marika Kouno
Rin is a child actress currently in 9th grade middle school note who's been taking voice acting cases every now and then.
- A Day in the Limelight: Episode 10 dealt with her learning to balance her life with work and how it would affect her relationship with Sayo.
- Always Someone Better: In the eyes of Futaba and Ichigo, she is this since she has more experience
and popularityin the industry than them. - Childhood Friends: With Sayo.
- Curtains Match the Windows: Green eyes and green hair.
- The Cutie: Futaba and Ichigo both comment on how adorable she is when they first met her.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: The epilogue shows that she changed her hair after starting high school.
- Expy: She's the painfully shy version of Sakura Kinomoto of Cardcaptor Sakura, especially visible with how she wore her Girlish Pigtails when she was little, top it with the same red ball accessory bands.
- Friend-or-Idol Decision: Literally. The crux of episode 10 is that she has to decide whether she will give up her voice acting/Idol Singer career and stay at Hakuo, or go to apply to a high school where she can continue it (leaving Sayo behind). Ultimately, she chooses to apply to a different school, but Sayo points out that they can still see each other during their free time.
- In-Series Nickname: Rin-Rin
- Joshikousei: She's often seen in her Hakuo Academy middle school uniform since she heads to work right after school.
- Meta Casting: In-universe example. Rin was cast as Mina in Weekend Patissier because the director wanted someone who could naturally play a normal 15 year old girl. Unfortunately Rin has been acting almost her entire life and doesn't have much experience with being normal.
- School Uniforms are the New Black: Is seen almost exclusively in her school clothes.
- Shrinking Violet: The reason why her parents sent her to acting class, was in hopes that it would help her overcome her shyness around people.
- Strong Family Resemblance: Rin looks just like her mother.
- Token Mini-Moe: The youngest of the trio, where Futaba and Ichigo are implied to be older than her.
Hikari Shiodome
- Affiliated Agency: Aozora Production
Roles: Esther, one of the main characters, and unnamed little boy in Buddha Fighter Bodhisattvon
Voiced by: Hitomi Nabatame
Futaba's sempai of the same agency who's been making celebrity headlines within the ACG note business recently.
- Big Sister Bully: On Futaba, for the fun of it.
- Cool Big Sis
- The Nicknamer: She's the one who coined the nickname, "Futa-Futa" for Futaba; then "Kon-Kon" for manager Konno.
Taisuke Yamori
- Affiliated Agency: Aozora Production
Roles: Mirok, one of the main characters in Buddha Fighter Bodhisattvon, unnamed character in Cry of the Zombie: The Devil's Bloody Legend (Japanese Dub)
Voiced by: Nobuyuki Hiyama
A famed, high-profile, veteran voice actor in the business who also happens to be Futaba and Hikari's sempai of the same agency.note He usually gives off a cool, non-expressional demeanor and acts particularly firm towards newbie voice actors in order for them to get their acts straight in a faster pace.
- Canon Immigrant: Taisuke did not show up in the manga. He's an anime-based character.
- Knight of Cerebus: As to what Fubata sees him as. The atmosphere would become drastically stressful to her whenever Yamori is in her sight.
- Meaningful Name: His surname means "Family Protector." As in "safe-keeping his agency's reputation."
- The Stoic: Just how did he managed to voice-over a cheerful fireworks moment with his poker face? It's probably a skill only he knows how.
- Tareme Eyes: He's got quite a pair of sleepy eyes, being a voice actor sure is tough alright.
Mr. Sekigami
- Roles: A main villain in Buddha Fighter Bodhisattvon
Voiced by: Tomomichi Nishimura
A veteran voice actor in the business since The '70s.
In episode 1, Sekigami was one of the first few actors to be greeted by Futaba, not long after that, Sekigami was shown saying "hi" to Rin as a subtle way to "hint" Futaba that Rin was also a voice actress despite being a middle school student. He played alongside Masako Nozawa as a villain standing against The Hero in Buddha Fighter Bodhisattvon.
- Cool Old Guy: As of 2016, he turns 70.
- Ink-Suit Actor: Even though Nishimura wasn't assigned to use his real name for this character, this character however, is still practically himself.
Masako Nozawa
One of the female voice acting legends in Japanese Animation History. Nozawa is known for portraying most of the boys of the Son Goku family in the Dragon Ball franchise.
In-Universe, she's cast as the Ace Pilot and main character, Kite within the anime, Buddha Fighter Bodhisattvon. And all voice actors has to literally wait in-line to greet her one-by-one on their first day of recording.
- Granny Classic: She may be known for playing the rude Son Goku, but her true self is probably one of the nicest ladies in the business.
Hiroshi Kamiya
Kamiya is a contemporary celebrity voice actor who holds a lot of fangirls in his possession.
In episode 2, he showed up as Futaba's sempai of the same agency note , and was really fond of the cat T-shirt Futaba wore to office.
He came back in episode 10 to star in an anime feature movie called Weekend Patissier alongside Rin, who was cast as his little sister. During their break, he shared with Rin about his own insecurities as a voice actor, and how he's trying his best to work his part of the chain within the anime and game industry.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: Most of his conversation with Futaba was him showing her pictures of his cat.
Yukari Tamura
- Voiced by: Herself
One of the contemporary celebrity voice actresses and anime theme song singers in the business.
In-universe, she was a guest in one of Hikari's radio shows, which the Earphones trio gets to meet since they were also there to promote their upcoming Buddha Fighter Bodhisattvon promotion radio show.
- Bishie Sparkle: She literally walks with them.
- Girlish Pigtails: Practically her trademark look.
- Older Than They Look:
She doesn't look a day over 17. - Special Guest: In-Universe example. She takes part in Hikari's radio show.
Banjo Ginga
Ginga is a well-respected veteran voice actor who was active in the 70s and 80s anime.
In-universe, he was cast as the Character Title Super Robot, Bodhisattvon in Buddha Fighter Bodhisattvon. Futaba bumped into him during their Buddha Fighter Bodhisattvon's completion party, and was courtesy enough to share with her some voice-acting advice during their brief talk.
- Gentleman and a Scholar: Being a man with class has always been his trait.
- Graceful Loser: He shares his extensive experience of being the resident Red Shirt with Futaba, and mentors her with the mindset that "If you know you're gonna get killed, then you might as well get yourself killed off the stage gracefully." "No matter if you're The Hero, or The Mook, each character is important to the plot. And it's the actor's job to bring all you got to the stage."
Yui Horie
- Voiced by: Herself
Like Yukari Tamura, Horie is also a celebrity voice actress who's active in live performances in the industry.
In-universe, she's cast as the lead heroine of the game Kuroneko of Eternya 2 and shared the same makeup room with Moesaki during their game's stage event.
She guest-starred again in episode 12 working with Futaba in an unnamed project, where Futaba showed concerns regarding her teammate Ichigo hiding her injuries which could affect their first concert performance. Horie then shared how she enjoyed working within an unit note , noting Futaba on the importance of getting along with colleagues and to have each others' backs in times of distress.
- Bishie Sparkle: She had quite a bucket full of them, but she can't wear them as her own accessories like how Yukari Tamura does.
- Idol Singer: We see her give a concert at the end of the Kuroneko of Eternya 2 promotional event.
- Opaque Lenses: Before getting changed.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Inverted. When she first shows up in Episode 5, she looks like she just got out of bed. The dissonance between that look and how she looks in public appearances is enough for Ichigo to have to call her Hoi Yurie just to process it.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Both times we see her, she's eating melon bread.
Rie Kugimiya
- Roles: Aretha in SPIRAL CAFÉ (Drama CD and Anime)Voiced by: Herself
A voice actress who rose to popularity in recent years and has won The Seiyuu Awards Best Voice Actress of 2008, very much well known for voicing little girls and mostly those with Tsundere qualities.
In-universe, she stars in a Drama CD adaption of the manga series, SPIRAL CAFÉ, which turned into an anime adaption shortly after.
Rikiya Koyama
- Roles: The protagonist in Cry of the Zombie: The Devil's Bloody Legend (Japanese Dub)
Voiced by: Himself
A stage performer-turn-voice actor who's mostly known for his dubbing performance of western dramas and movies. It wasn't until the late 2000s that he started earning more important anime roles and branching himself further into anime voice-acting.
- Perma-Stubble
- Spoiler: By law, actors are forbidden to release any type of information regarding the artistic property of whatever they are working on. But info-dumping about other projects will eventually, bound to happen whenever a voice actor meets up with a fellow cast mate who he works together with while small talking, in Koyama's case, it's Yamori on a western drama series called, Hard Guy, in which Futaba's a fan of. Unfortunately for Futaba, her being in the presence of Koyama and Yamori means she has no choice but to overhear them spill the beans of the fate of her favorite characters.
Yūji Machi
- Voiced by: Himself
Machi is a veteran voice actor who reigns in the field of television show narration , movie, and live-action dubbing. He's not really an animation voice actor type-of-guy, therefore, he only takes on the roles of background characters, such as Usagi Tsukino's Dad, Kenji Tsukino of the Sailor Moon original series. He is mostly remembered as the voice of Ultraman Tiga in the tokusatsu series, Ultraman Tiga.
Noriko Hidaka
- Voiced by: Herself
A veteran voice actress who's pretty much named as one of the forerunners of the "Idol Voice Actress" phenomenon in Japanese voicing acting history, known for her cuties, genki girls, and Nadeshikos. She was famous for her portrayals of Akane Tendo of Ranma ½, Satsuki Kusakabe of My Neighbor Totoro, but for most of the first generation otakus in Japan, it's has to be Minami Asakura of Touch.
Noriko Hidaka was a former child actress who went onto becoming an on-screen Idol Singer durning her teenage years. But her popularity never improved, and was out of the spotlight for a few years; it wasn't until she took note of a fan indicating her voice as "quite unique," that she considered transferring into the voice acting field.
In-universe, she was working in a studio one day and came across managers Atsumari and Konno, taking Futaba into an audition within the same building. Not long after Futaba's audition, she overheard Atsumari disciplining Konno for her actions on Futaba, and shared her thoughts on how she was glad her managers pushed her to audition for roles she's never enacted before. Which in her case, were boys. note
- Audible Gleam: She may not have flashy bishie sparkles like the new generation idol actresses, but oh her background was packed with Moe twinkle sounds that will make everyone's heart melt.
- The Cutie
- Older Than They Look: Obviously the character designers wouldn't dare to draw her beyond the age of 20, that would shatter the dreams of her now 40-year-old fans.
- What Could Have Been: If she hadn't took that step in challenging boy characters early on in her career, we wouldn't be able to see her as Danpei of Honoo no Toukyuuji Dodge Danpei, and certainly not as Near.
- Yamato Nadeshiko
Ryōko Shiraishi
- Roles: Detective Macaroni in Western Detective (Anime)
Voiced by: Herself
A contemporary voice actress who tends to receive boy characters, and strong women characters sporting the Kansai accent. Her notable roles are Hime Onizuka of Sket Dance, and Hayate Ayasaki of Hayate the Combat Butler, which Futaba's a fan of in-universe.
Futaba plays alongside Shiraishi in the anime, Western Detective. Just a few days into work, Futaba overworked herself and caught a cold, which can potentially be damaging to her career. note Upon meeting up with Futaba since her absence, Shiraishi actively approached her to generously provide Futaba her bag of cough drops she takes with her everywhere she goes. And shares with her the importance of personal health and it's relation to their survival within the industry.
- Bishie Sparkle
- Cool Big Sis: She's very generous in showering Futaba with loads of cough drops, and panics when she thought she scared the soul out of Futaba when she shared her experience of getting throat surgery.
- The Fashionista: Shiraishi's known for being a fashion-forward gal.
- Genki Girl
Masumi Asano
- Affiliated Agency: Aozora Production (In-Universe)
Voiced by: As Herself
An experience voice actress as well as the original writer for the Sore ga Seiyuu! manga. She tends to voice genki girls in her early days, but has recently expanded her range to voice cool-headed, smart and mature ladies.
- Creator Cameo: As the writer of the manga, it's a given.
- Money Fetish: Apparently her goal is to get rich.
- Recurring Extra: A Running Gag. Asano makes one appearance per episode posing as some background character with different job positions.
Ms. Atsumari
- Position: Manager at Aozora Production
Voiced by: Ami Koshimizu
Atsumari's an experienced manager hired in Futaba's voice acting agency, Aozora Production. She's currently in charge of taking the New Meat of their department, Konno under her wings in training her the ropes of their business.
Voice Acting Managers in general are tasked in pitching their talents to recording studios they are assigned to, grab as many auditioning opportunities for their agency as much as possible, and scheduling their talents' cases. Managers are not responsible for babysitting a certain selected group of talents, but whichever manager receives a case for a talent, that manager has the duty to serve as the middleman between the recording studio and the voice actor.
- Big Sister Mentor: Of Konno.
- Cool Big Sis
- Meaningful Name: Her surname means, "to gather," and "to collect."
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: She normally scares her agency talents with her no-nonsense poker face, but she will not hesitate to give off a warm smile when they've done their best at work.
Aoi Konno
- Position: New Meat Manager at Aozora Production, and voice actress idol unit, EARPHONES.
Voiced by: Nozomi Furuki
- A Day in the Limelight: Episode 9, showing what she had been doing for Futaba behind the scenes throughout the series.
- Hidden Depths: Episode 9 shows that she dreams of being a top manager and she has been doing everything in her power to assure that Futaba was able to live her dream of being a voice actress.
- I Will Only Slow You Down: Parodied in episode 9. Futaba and Konno were stuck in traffic while trying to get to a voice recording, so they decided to run instead. Along the way, Konno trips and received a bloody nose, yet she urges Futaba to leave her behind and move on. Futaba makes it on time, but Atsumari pointed out that they could have just called and let the studio know they were running late.
- Idiot Hair
- In-Series Nickname: "Kon-Kon", coined by Hikari.
- Meaningful Name: Her name translates to "Blue Bluefield," dresses in blue from head-to-toe.
- Minor Injury Overreaction: Played for comedy, Konno treated her nose bleed incident as if she was mortally wounded, resulting in the I Will Only Slow You Down reaction above.
- Sugar-and-Ice Personality: She's basically a cute Emotionless Girl who really wants to help her coworkers achieve their dreams into stardom.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Gyūdon
Mr. Kaibara
- Position: Producer of Radio Bodhisattvon, and voice actress idol unit, EARPHONES.Voiced by: Kenta Miyake
A producer within the anime industry who partook in the production of Buddha Fighter Bodhisattvon. He selected cast members Futaba, Ichigo, and Rin as the DJs of Bodhisattvon's promotion radio show, Radio Bodhisattvon for their refreshing energy and good chemistries with each other. When he felt they had earned enough potential for further popularity, he proceeds to package them into a brand-new voice actress idol unit, naming them EARPHONES.
- Idiot Ball: The girls silently think this of him In-Universe. He booked a 2 hour concert for them in a venue that seats 500 despite the fact that they only have 3 songs and the release of their first single had less than 40 attendees (including store employees) in a room that seated 80. Then he went and spent 500,000 yen on getting them custom outfits for the concert. Had the concert failed, he would have been bankrupt.
- Opaque Lenses
Korori
- Voiced by: Rie Takahashi
- Companion Cube: She's a plushie that Futaba treats as a source of advice and comfort.
- Mr. Exposition: She spends most of her time directly addressing the audience, informing them about the various aspects of the voice acting industry.
- Series Mascot
Sayo
- Voiced by: Ayane Sakura
- Childhood Friends: With Rin.
- Exotic Eye Designs: We all thought her "heart-shaped pupils" was just a mere artistic indication of her obsession for Rin, but episode 10 proved to us that she was born with them.
- I'm Your Biggest Fan: For Rin. She was also her first fan.
- Joshikousei: Like Rin, she attends Hakuo Academy Middle School.
- Satellite Character: She basically exists to be Rin's classmate, childhood friend and borderline obsessive fan.
Futaba's Fan
- Voiced by: Hiroshi Narishima note
The first known fan who supports Futaba. He's a sweet young man from the Saga Prefecture
who took notice of Futaba's act since her debut. Despite her low profile and his way far-off living distance, he managed to loyally attend all of her events in person; and follow all of her interviews, and works to-date. He even went his way to own the same Korori plush Futaba has to bring along with him to cheer Futaba up.
- Back for the Finale: He's shown attending the EARPHONES concert calling for encores.
- Undying Loyalty: Towards Futaba. And
Word of God did mentioned in her Twitter that it's these kinds of fans that encourages them performing artists to keep striving in their field of profession.
Ichigo's Dad
- Voiced by: Kentarō Itō
The father of Ichigo. His face hasn't officially been shown in the anime as of yet, but judging by his outfit and background, Ichigo seems to have come from a rural family background.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents / Over-Enthusiastic Parents: After Ichigo accepts to take part in the radio show, she realizes that not only has her father started following her on Twitter, he's sharing it with the entire family and posting pictures of when she was in kindergarten.
- Back for the Finale: He was shown attending the EARPHONES concert. However, it was also implied through Futaba's "smirk" backstage that she played a part in contacting Ichigo's family to have their whole entire clan buy-off as much of the remaining tickets as they can to fill the concert hall, leaving a glorious 20 out of 500 seats left unsold.
- The Faceless
Rin's Mom
- Voiced by: Satomi Sato
The mother of Rin. She noticed Rin being socially awkward ever since she started kindergarten, therefore she decided to place Rin in acting school to help her gradually step out of her shell.
- Curtains Match the Windows: Just like her daughter.
- Genki Girl
- Strong Family Resemblance: Her daughter looks just like her, except for her personality and deeper green hair and eyes.
- Yamato Nadeshiko
