Aya Hirano Strikes Back

The trials and tribulations of embattled seiyuu/idol Aya Hirano continue.  August has been a busy month for her, as she was embroiled in a sex scandal.  Apparently she was caught sleeping with 3/4ths of her touring band (poor bass player!).  She was summarily dumped from her agency Space Craft, and had her website and fan club shut down.

She didn’t take it lying down though (snort!), signing on with new agency Grick.  She has promised to open a new fan club and pick up her career right where she left off.  She’s nothing if not resilient, as she’s absorbed abuse from one scandal after another.  One could say that she brought a lot of this on herself, as she’s refused to play the perfect little virginal queen demanded of most good-looking young seiyuu.

If she winds up changing the perception of seiyuu from fantasy to a more realistic picture, then she should be praised.  Most anime otaku are frustrated “cherry boys” who use their favorite anime heroines (and their seiyuu by association) as fetish fuel.  They fantasize about taking the virginity of (and in the process losing theirs) their favorite seiyuu.  If you’re young and attractive, like Aya is, then so much the better.

She violated this silent contract by admitting on television that not only is she not a virgin, but she prefers rich, older men.  She apparently also doesn’t like the taste of condoms, either.  Too much information got her in hot water.  There was an outcry from the frustrated basement dwellers, and she went into anime hiding.  She was forbidden to take on any new roles, though she could work on previous roles and sequels.  The sheer volume of work she had done previously kept her working steady, though her frustration must have been building.

She’s been a seiyuu for half her life, so she literally grew up in anime.  She turned to her producers and handlers (mostly older men) for comfort and guidance, and now that the truth is out, it’s bit her on the bum.  As a Westerner, I don’t really understand the fuss.  Yes, we love gossip about our favorite actors.  However, few are surprised when they turn out to be human beings with needs and urges.

Perhaps this is what Hideaki Anno referred to when he said that Japan was immature.  Grown ups have sex.  We all know it.  We don’t begrudge other adults for having sex.  There also seems to be a double standard for older seiyuu.  Around the time Aya’s troubles were coming to light, Maaya Sakamoto announced she was marrying fellow seiyuu and childhood friend Kenichi Suzumura.  Sakamoto is 31, an age most otaku consider old ladies.  Hirano is 24, and right in her prime.  Now that she seems sullied in the eyes of otaku, I wonder if Aya will be left alone to ply her craft in peace.

My guess is no.  Because the other troubling thing about the Hirano affair is the implied sexism.  Strong-willed, independent women are frowned upon in patriarchal Japan.  The most brazen way a woman could exert her power is through her sexuality.  Aya isn’t just taking a poke at delusional fanboys, but the entire structure of Japanese society.

I for one welcome her back into anime.  She’s an experienced and professional voice actor, and an improving singer.  I care not a whit about her private life.  I just want to hear her in the various anime series I watch.  My wish is Aya Hirano is the first crack in the wall to let seiyuu be human and not worried about being stalked by psychotic shut-ins trying to police some made-up purity laws.