So now that I've made six different layouts for LLOM, I think it's about time I settle on one. I understand these hoverovers are something you guys enjoy, so I'll keep doing them. In the next few slices, I'll explain why Anthy is the prominent figure here. This is an Akio layout. Anthy is simply a means to an end. I could remove both his face and his hand and you'd still know he was there. Also, I've been trying for ages to sneak a picture from my NASA folder into a layout. Starry night, holy night...o wait holy has no place here!
See? You don't even have to see the rest of his face to know the expression he has. I love it. Yes, I added little pearly things to Anthy's hair. Shut up, they're cool. A woman's shoulders are the front lines of her mys-fuck, wrong devil. This, my friend, is an arched back. Look at her. And he's not even touching her yet. Menu's over there, dear.
I wish a gorgeous sadistic man like Akio would stop by and come-or wait...is it come and stop by? Damn, I'm confused. Hi Anthy! You seem less blank than usual. Akio's not Indian. He's just a black man that's also a vampire and thus pale for his race. You know, evolution shows women to be just as promiscuous as men. Had I known what an unholy pain in the ass this layout would be to code, I'd have...well..done it anyway.
Look, a chopped hovering gif. You guys just don't know how much I suffer for this stuff. Actually, I wish I was back in the city.
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger...might be a bad choice of music considering what I'm doing. MY ROOM IS A MESS. Well no, but my mind is. I DON'T WANNA GO TO CLASS. Fuck school. I'll like it better when my campus has a phallic tower and hot dean. ....but I'd settle for at least a hot student council official. I don't even have those. I really should be getting dressed for school... ....ok, a song titled 'Weapons of Mass Distortion' is no better... No more hovers! (They don't work in Firefox anyway.)

     Akio has one hell of a sexy voice. It's tactile. He can touch with it. Sometimes it's a hand resting on the small of someone's back, maybe just a millimeter lower than they’re really comfortable with. Other times it’s a finger drifting along the line of a collarbone. It can be lips pressed against the skin under one’s ear, or it can be the hands that hold someone down so they don’t get away. There are moments in the series where you need a cigarette just listening to him. Like when he reads the back of a cereal box.

    This page is primarily about Juurouta, Akio's original voice actor for the television series. The dub and his movie actor are discussed out of sheer obligation and compulsive thoroughness, but so are ultra-awesome Akio dubs in different languages. He is, after all, a cunning linguist.


Kosugi Juurouta
()
Birthday: 12/19/1957
Sign: Sagittarius
Blood Type: B
Born In : Yokohama, Kanagawa (near Tokyo)
Works For: Ohsawa Jimusho (production company)

     Without Kosugi Juurouta, Akio would be lines and solid colors. Granted, very attractive ones, but still just lines and solid colors. You’d never hear his voice slip under Utena’s top when he leans down to kiss her in the car. You’d never hear it carefully restrain his desire to beat Anthy to death with a cake tin after she tips Saionji’s last duel in her victor’s favor. You’d never hear how his tone of voice can change from friendly chit-chat to auditory molestation in a matter of seconds. In short, you would be missing out.

     If for some reason his performance in SKU doesn’t impress you on its own (ingrate), look at his list of roles. (Seen below.) Catch a trend? No, you don’t. He actually plays his roles, and he’s virtually unidentifiable from one role to the next. Sure, he could be the kind of actor that can only play one character, and if that character was Akio, I wouldn't really object, but as it is, he's quite versatile. So versatile that it took years of listening to him voice two of my favorite characters for me to find out. (If you're wondering, the other character is Dryden Fassa from Escaflowne. He's everything your fragile ego, broken spirit, and sore lips will need after being around Akio too long.)

     Aside from playing Akio in the series, Juurouta also plays Akio in the Utena video game on the Sega Saturn and in the drama tracks of OST 5, which are tracks of dialogue from the Utena manga.

Series Title
Role
 Aika  Gust Turbulance
 Boku no Sexual Harrassment*
 Honma
 Bubble Gum Crisis
 Frederick
 Crest of the Stars
 Admiral Trife
 Dirty Pair
 Darain
 Donkey Kong
 King Cruel
 Earthian
 K-001
 Fire Emblem
 Oguma
 Fushigi Yuugi**
 Tenkou (OAV 2)
 G Gundam
 Mirabo
 Golden Boy
 Kigure Hiroshi
 Heroic Legend of Arslan
 Giskarl
 Iria: Zeiram The Animation
 Glen
 Jojo's Bizarre Adventure***
 Kuujou Joutarou
 Key the Metal Idol
 Sergey
 Kimera*+
 Kianu
 Lamune & 40 Fresh**+
 Don Vodka
 Legend of Basara  Shido
 Legend of Galactic Heroes
 Lintz
 Magic Knight Rayearth
 Sol Zagato, Lantis (brothers)
 Monster Farm
 Muu
 Nadesico
 Gooto Holly
 Please Save My Earth
 Tamura
 Power Stone
 Pride
 Queen Emeraldas
 Gamoru
 Recca no Honoo (Flame of Recca)
 Lantis
 Rurouni Kenshin (movie)
 Tamono Eibin
 Samurai Troopers
 Rajura
 Shoujo Kakumei Utena
 Ohtori Akio
 Slayers
 Moranboran
 Sol Bianca (1999)
 Rammy
 Tekkaman Blade
 Tekkaman Lance
 Tenshi ni Narumon
 Papa
 V Gundam
 Kwan Lee
 Vision of Escaflowne*++
 Dryden Fassa
 Weiss Kreuz
 Persia
 Ys II
 Goto Dabbi
 Z Gundam
 Narrator, Henken Beckner
 Zenki
 Zenki
 Grandia (Video Game)
 Muelen

* Cute name, eh? Koyasu Takehito's in it, too.
** I'm NOT a fan of Fushigi Yuugi, but this character bathes in blood. A massive pool of blood.
*** This guy's a beefster. He has a baseball hat and more muscle than a Mr. Universe contest. Truly frightening is the character that would look bad in a business suit.
*+ My second anime ever!! The nostalgia!
**+ Don Vodka. Don. Vodka. If that's Don Vodka, what's Akio? Probably Don Cognac.
*++ DRYDEN!!!!!! <3 <3 <3 Hippie Renaissance-merchant-clothes-wearin', bookworm-intellectual, pretty-haired, sense-of-humor-havin' scruffy bastard, I love him.

"Come here, Anthy."
Grab it! (140KB) Boom chicka wah wah.

"Most people are but a single person amongst multitudes. However, given the slightest chance, they will shine with a light that they have never had before."
Grab it! (397KB) Akio playing wise teacher to Utena while chillin' on a reclined chair.
"I suppose you have no choice but to revolutionize the world. The way before you has been prepared."
Grab it! (356KB) Goodness but the cast loves to repeat things they hear Akio say.

"She's purring nicely, don't you think?"
Grab it! (192KB) There's another translation of this line that goes 'Pleasant vibrations, aren't they?', but this one makes for the more godless pun when Shiori and Ruka are getting it on in the backseat.

"::laughing:: You dummy."
Grab it! (139KB) I just like hearing him laugh. Even when he changes the way it sounds to not scare Utena. Especially when he changes the way it sounds to not scare Utena. He's such an actor.

"No way."
Grab it! (59KB) Makes a great system crash sound. Unfortunately Windows just doesn't crash much these days.

"I'll carry you on my back. Or would you prefer in my arms?"
Grab it! (376KB) You see he's suggesting something princely. God, Utena's easy.

"My real dream is turning the Chairman's Wing into a harem."
Grab it! (174KB) Well he's no Martin Luther King, but...

"Miracles happen every day. It's just that people don't realize it."
Grab it! (176KB) Deep down in that vacant space where his heart should be, Akio is smirking.

"Weren't the stars beautiful tonight?"
Grab it! (172KB) HEY I THINK HE MIGHT BE SPEAKING IN METAPHOR

Anthy: Good night, brother.
Akio: Do you still torment me?

Grab it! (289KB) Bitch.

"'All life's a stage.' All people are either actors, or spectators."
Grab it! (271KB) Only nerds and literature majors say things like that. Which is he? 

Touga: This is a game, isn't it?
Akio: Yes indeed.

Grab it! (246KB) 'So is Twister. That's what we'll be playing next.'

"Foolish lifeform. There never was any such thing as a Prince anywhere in the world in the first place."
Grab it! (305KB) If Akio can't have it, it doesn't exist. I wonder if princes also count as 'lifeforms.'

"Once again, even this sword fails? Tell me, when will I ever recover the Power of Dios?"
Grab it! (304KB) It doesn't seem like he's particularly disappointed, does it?


This next batch of files are a little long for straight .wav. I've converted them to mp3s to prevent file size homicide.)

Touga: That Saionji... and after I went to all this trouble to be his friend.
Akio: Are you enjoying this game?
Touga: Of course.
Akio: Then, it's all right, isn't it?
Akio: Be nice to your friend.
Touga: You're an evil man, you are.

Grab it! (266KB) This is sex pornographic. Don't listen sex to it in front sex of others. Sex.

Akio: That star conspicuously sparkling up there is Venus.
Utena: Ah...
Akio: The Morning Star..My name, Akio, was derived from the name of this star.
Utena: Wow, that sounds kind of romantic.
Akio: The Morning Star...also known as Lucifer.
Utena: Lucifer?
Akio: The star that was originally an angel, but chose to become the Devil. If you look up from this earth, it's always by the Sun. And unless the Sun sinks, it can never shine. And what do you suppose it thinks when it does shine?

Grab it! (431KB) It takes a massive ego to compare yourself to the Biblical adversary as a manipulative strategy.

Akio: And how is the real Chairman doing?
Kanae's mother: Who cares about that man. You. You're my only Prince.

Grab it! (366KB) Kanae's mother has a birth defect where the nerve endings that belong in her clitoris instead run along her shin. It's kind of like the movie Deep Throat.

Utena: Um, having fun until this late...When I get back I gotta make lunch for tomorrow right away. Um, what should I make? There's some salmon left, so ...salmon and...Then boil some asparagus...and fix some omelet real quick...Usually, we just use all the leftovers from dinner, see ...since there's two helpings for Himemiya and me.. What a mess. What'll I do? I can't think of anything. Salmon, and asparagus, and omelette...but what else? What should I do? Hey, what do you think? Maybe sandwiches? If I mix the asparagus and salmon with some mayonnaise, break in a boiled egg ...I don't know. What'll I do? Oh man. Isn't there anything else? I can't remember. And those are sitting out too...will they be okay? We always put them into you know.. and... in the fridge..., but today...um...What is eternity?
Grab it! (1.21MB) Hey, emotional conflict and turmoil! If this doesn't turn you on, I guess you aren't Akio.

Akio: She was beautiful.
Touga: Her, you mean?
Akio: Yeah. Pure, and magnificent. A peerless princess. My precious one.
Akio: ::BRAIN MELTING EVIL LAUGH::

Grab it! (241KB) That laugh makes me shiver.

Akio: Do you know what that is? It's Dios's, the Prince's Grave. When she became known as a witch, Dios perished. The Princely me no longer exists.
Utena: I guess I have no choice but to fight with you.
Akio: For Anthy? I thought that she was a goddess who sacrificed her body for the one she loved, for me. I once thought so too. And she really might have been, once. But now she's a witch. And she enjoys being a witch.
Utena: You're the one who's making her a witch!
Akio: Wrong. We love each other. She can't be happy any other way.

Grab it! (604KB) I love everything about this exchange, how full of lies and how full of truth it is. The way he says "The Princely me no longer exists." with an absolutely indifferent tone of voice.
     Why am I lumping the movie and the English dub together? Because they both suck and shouldn't exist. These files are not zipped, and will play if you click them. Right click and save as to keep them!

Series Akio's Dub

Voiced by: Josh Mosby
He sounds younger than Miki's dub, and that's wrong. I suppose no voice except the original would have satisfied me though, so I'll just do what I do with the rest of the dub and pretend it never happened. You gotta sort of pity the dub actor though; he signed on for episode 13 as a one off and didn't think he'd have to come back later and voice a guy that bangs his sister.
Download an example. (351KB)

Movie Akio's Seiyuu

Voiced by: Mitsuhiro Oikawa
Apparently this clown's a singer in Japan who felt like trying some acting work. You know, kinda like Jennifer Lopez except his acting is even more painful. Which is hard to believe, because she does romantic comedies.
Download an example. (117KB)
Download the absurd car jump 'Tou!'. (94KB)

Movie Akio's Dub

Voiced by: Josh "Moby" (Mosby)
Amazingly, the same guy that voiced series Akio's dub. I spelled his name strangely, because the movie CD box spells it that way. It seems to be a typo. Anyway, his voice fits much better on movie Akio, and I think for the first time in history, the dub does better. Then again, I hate movie Akio and his voice, so don't take it as a compliment.
Download an example. (94KB)
Download the absurd car jump 'Ciao!'. (140KB)

     This is a series that's enjoyed some popularity outside of Japan and the United States. It's been dubbed in several languages, and released in subtitles for many more. Here I present to you examples of Akio in some of these dubs, for your comparing and contrasting pleasure. They are not zipped, and will play from the site. Right click and save as if you want to keep them!
     Also, if you're aware of/have access to any other foreign language dubs of the series, for god's sake let me know! (I'd also love to know which languages the series has been subtitled in as well. How far does the rabbit hole go??)

Italian Akio
      Voiced by: Claudio Moneta
      (More on Claudio can be found here, though I warn you it's in Italian.)
     If it seems suspicious that I know the most about the Italian dub and happen to be of Italian descent, well I can offer no excuse, except that this is thanks to Tania, and my using the Italian dub as practice. Please note this man also voices Spongebob Squarepants.
      The Italian dub is by far better acted than the English dub; though whether that says much is up to you. It's also acted very differently, and this difference is most pronounced in Akio: his voice is more animated. You hear his amusement more often, and his anger slips through to his voice on many occasions. This casts a very different light on Akio, so much so that Italian viewers I've spoken to interpret Akio quite differently from people more familiar with the original Japanese. He's much easier for the viewer to sympathize with when he actually appears moved by things.

Wavs! Now with more sweet, sweet text in Italian! (Thank you Tania!)

Touga: Quel Saionji… E pensare che ho fatto tanto per lui in nome della nostra amicizia.
Touga: That Saionji... and after I went to all this trouble to be his friend.
Akio: Dimmi una cosa, Touga, ti piace il nostro gioco?
Akio: Are you enjoying this game?
Touga: Sì, naturalmente.
Touga: Of course.
Akio: Allora, lascia perdere. Sii gentile con il tuo amico.
Akio: Then, it's all right, isn't it? Be nice to your friend.
Touga: Sei un uomo malvagio, Akio.
Touga: You're an evil man, you are.

Grab it! (270KB, mp3) This is the beginning of a trend.



Akio: È stata fantastica…
Akio: She was beautiful.
Touga: Stai parlando di lei?
Touga: Her, you mean?
Akio: Sì. Lei è davvero magnifica, ed è così pura. Una principessa senza pari. Ed è la mia principessa…
Akio: Yeah. Pure, and magnificent. A peerless princess. My precious one.
Akio: ::BRAIN MELTING EVIL LAUGH::

Grab it! (266KB, mp3) I could have just learned what 'stai parlando' meant in my textbook, but so much more fun this way. Thanks, Touga!



Akio: Ho scoperto una cometa l’altro giorno. Una nuova… che nessuno ancora conosce… Non ho intenzione di annunciarlo. Non le ho neppure dato un nome… È strano, vero? Il fatto è che quando scopro una nuova stella è come se mi appartenesse, come se fosse solo mia. Ma in realtà una stella è una stella, non appartiene a nessuno… Non appartiene a nessuno…
Akio: I just found a comet. A new star that no one knows about yet. But I won't tell anybody...or give it a name. Strange, isn't it? I feel like when I discover a new star I make it mine. But a star is a star. It belongs to nobody. ...It belongs to nobody.
Anthy: Buonanotte, fratello…
Anthy: Good night, brother.
Akio: Vuoi continuare a torturarmi così?

Akio: Do you still torment me?
Grab it! (879KB, mp3) You could probably get laid reciting this to random women you run across.



Catalan Akio
     Voiced by: Wish I knew!
     Catalan is spoken predominantly in Spain and Andorra, though it pops up frequently in France, Italy, and other countries in that region of the world. It has very noticeable flavors of Spanish and Italian, and I found myself able to follow quite a bit of it. I fished this one up all on my own, I don't owe anybody any blasted thanks! That's right!

Wavs! (Text only given in English, I promise you the sound files are in Catalan.)

Utena: Is it weird to dream about my prince? I mean... After an underclassman asked me, I wondered which am I: adult or child?
Akio: How do you feel about it?
Utena: I don't know. First off, I'm not even sure of the difference between a child and an adult.
Akio: Hmm... As a star ages, it loses some of its brilliance. You might say it's the same with people.
Utena: You're the brightest one around right now, aren't you, Mr. Chairman? Snagging such a pretty bride...
Akio: I guess I am.

Grab it! (171KB, wav) It's good to know non-threatening background music is the same in all languages.



Touga: That Saionji... and after I went to all this trouble to be his friend.
Akio: Are you enjoying this game?
Touga: Of course.
Akio: Then, it's all right, isn't it? Be nice to your friend.
Touga: You're an evil man, you are.

Grab it! (264KB, wav) Wow I could swear they're repeating themselves in different languages.



Akio: Regarding what matter? I believe the performance of my duties is proceeding without incident. Could it be something that cannot be discussed over the phone?
mother: Akio-san...have you been avoiding my daughter, Kanae? Your position at this school is based on your getting married to my daughter. And don't forget that engagements can be canceled at any time.
Akio: I'm being good to Kanae-san. So much that I'm thinking of naming a comet after her when I find one. Besides. Look. This is Kanae-san's favorite fragrance. I'm always wearing the cologne Kanae-san likes, and when we're all alone together... And how is the real Chairman doing?
mother: Who cares about that man. You. You're my only Prince.

Grab it! (342KB, wav) This woman's voice is almost as deep as his. Wow!



Chinese (Specifically Cantonese) Akio
          Voiced by: Wish I knew!
     The wav and information here are provided thanks to Shen Jin, who had this to say about the Cantonese dub of SKU:
    Almost all the names are written the same way, save for Utena and Anthy, who's are just made to sound the same. Miki (at least I wanna say Miki) and Nanami have slightly different names since part of their names don't exist in Chinese, and Chuchu's name sounds like Chuchu in Mandarin, but the show's in Cantonese. Weird. Somtimes they add on "little" to the begining of Kozue's Name, and sometimes take away half of Ruka's. O_o Most of the other character's names don't sound alike though. Saionji just happened to be the closes and in that clip. Anthy also calls Utena 'dai ren' instead of 'sama,' like 'important person'. O__o
    And I SWEAR they call Miki 'Mikey.'


Wavs! I'm providing the text Shen Jin gave me. We all know what scene this is by now, but it's quite interesting to wonder at the difference in translation from Japanese to Cantonese was, if this is what becomes of the material when translated to English from there. Go go language translation messes!

Touga: Saionji really was useless; we chose the wrong person.
Akio: It looks like you've made a bad decision.
Touga: True, I've already said that, but I still think of him as a good friend.
Akio: Although, it's hard to say just what exactly a friend is.

Grab it! (348KB, wav) That's right, I got this scene in each language. You know. For comparison.

Resources
  • The Anime Seiyuu Info Page[deceased]
  • Seiyuu Database [deceased]
  • Series Scripts as translated by Project Utena Encyclopedia
  • Tania (an awesome Italian fan)
  • La pagina di CLAUDIO MONETA
  • Shen Jin (an awesome Chinese fan)