Sora Amamiya exemplifies the trend of modern Japanese voice actresses who blend their anime performances with idol-like activities. As a member of the three-person vocal group TrySail, the 25-year-old Tokyo native has released seven singles and two albums, regularly appears on anime news and variety TV shows, and co-hosts the radio program Momo Sora Shiina Talking Box with her fellow TrySail members and voice actresses Momo Asakura and Shiina Natsukawa.
Even Amamiya’s anime voice acting roles have an idol connection – in addition to portraying Monster Musume’s Miia and Tokyo Ghoul’s Touka, she has also played Shiho Kitazawa in The Idolmaster, one of Japan’s most popular fictional idol franchises.
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Despite her various idol-like activities, Sora Amamiya doesn’t like to be referred to as an “idol.” In fact, she used to despise the term, as she revealed to her fans during the November 25th episode of her radio show’s segment on the topic “Things I don’t want people to say about me.”
She Said,
I really hated being called an idol. Nowadays, there’s a whole section of the voice acting industry who’re called ‘idol voice actresses,’ but I don’t like being called one.”
…
“I didn’t like having to be the projection of someone’s ideal image, having that be my job. I don’t have any idea what other people’s image of perfection is.
“It takes all my effort just to chase after my own ideals, so I wanted to tell everyone else to just back off…I didn’t want to do ‘cute’ stuff. I wanted people to say I was ‘cool’ instead, so I didn’t want them to call me an idol.”
“But now I can understand that different people have different ways of thinking. Some people are nice enough not to call me an idol when I say I don’t like it, but I don’t want to interfere with how other people think, so now I’m more like ‘Say whatever you want.’ I think I’ve realty matured a lot in that regard.”
In Japan, the English word “idol” (pronounced with a Japanese twist as “aidoru”) is commonly used to refer to idol singers. However, Amamiya pointed out that the term’s original meaning was that of a symbol of worship. This is a weighty role that she has no desire to assume, and even if she were willing to, she wouldn’t know where to start.
Amamiya’s use of both past and present tenses indicates that her aversion to being labeled as an idol was at its strongest when she was just starting out in the industry (her first anime role was credited in 2012). However, in the five or so years since then, she has become more open-minded and has softened her stance on the matter.
Source: Sora
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