Seiyū

A is a Japanese vocal actor. Seiyū work in radio, television, and movies; they perform voice-overs for non-Japanese movies; they provide narration; and they work as anime and video game character actor. Conventional use among English-speaking fanatics is to use "seiyū" to refer to the Japanese actor and "vocal actor" when speaking of a character actor in a series translated into English. Japan currently produces 60% of the animated series in the world. Because the animation industry in Japan is so prolific, seiyū are able to achieve fame on a national level and are able to have full time careers performing voice-overs. Seiyū are able to take greater charge of their careers than character actors can in other countries. Japan also has institutions to support the career path, with around one hundred and thirty seiyū schools and troupes of vocal actors that work for a specific broadcast company or talent agency. Seiyū frequently branch into music, and many have also branched into... full article at wikipedia