[Interview] Asami Imai reflects on her 20 year long career

We had a chance to sit down with veteran voice actress Asami Imai (known to her fans as Mingosu) at Anime Central to chat her long tenure as a voice actress and how she feels about voicing a character for a last 20 years.

KKS: Hi Asami-san, it’s great to have you here at Anime Central. How’s your trip to Chicago been?

Asami: Before working, I got to go around town and just do a lot of sightseeing, and got to celebrate my birthday. And everywhere I went, everyone celebrated my birthday for me, so it felt like all of Chicago was celebrating with me.

KKS: Well a Happy Birthday to you!

Asami: Thank you so much!

KKS: For the next question. What’s the funniest or most interesting thing you have to do in a recording session?

Asami: So, I do a lot of video game voice acting, and it’s usually just me and the staff vs having the rest of the cast there. Rather than auditioning I get offered a lot of roles. So when I go in to record they ask me “How did you prepare for this role and how did you envision this character in your head?” When I’m able to surpass their vision of the character, everybody in the room gets excited and I love that feeling very much.

KKS: Which of your characters do you have the most fondness for?

Asami: Right. So, that is actually very much the hardest question always… that we get asked. To pick one character that we love so much, because… There are just so many. But there are certain characters that changed my life and one of them is Chihaya from The IDOLM@STER. Again, I’ve done so many roles so I can’t pick just one, but another role that stands out to me and changed my life is Makise Kurisu from Steins;Gate. And then one more is I have loved Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure ever since I was little. So I’ve been reading it ever since probably later years of elementary school and it wasn’t in the anime but in one of the games I got to play Sex Pistols, Mista’s stand, and it was an unbelievable feeling that I actually got to be a part of Jojo’s since I was such a fan as a child. Also Dragon Quest is another series like that is, again, it was a big part of my childhood and I can’t believe it was another unbelievable experience that I got to be a part of it all. So I was very happy that I got to be a voice actress.

KKS: What’s it like to have played a character like Chihaya for 20 years now

Asami: So, I never thought when I first got the role that I would be playing her for so long, and when we were creating the character, we’re not the same person, but I got to put a lot of myself into her creation, so part of her is actually me, and so we basically have an unbreakable bond. So we are pretty much together forever in our lives, and I honestly think that’s a miracle all on its own.

KKS: Next year, you will perform a solo live as Chihaya Kisagi from IDOLM@STER making it the first Idolmaster solo performance at the famous Budokan. What would you tell your younger self 20 years ago how you got to this point?

Asami: So out of the tons of Idolmaster characters, the staff said that Chihaya would be the only option for the first person to be able to perform at Budokan. And it will be next January in 2026 for two days. So obviously I am very happy. And then it was only obvious that it would be Chihaya that would be doing that role. In Japan, every artist pretty much strives or works towards performing at Budokan. So to be the first Idol in IDOLM@STER to reach that goal is an absolute milestone. And I’m very much happy for her from the bottom of my heart.

Chihaya actually had a press conference the other day just like we’re doing right now. This is slightly behind the scenes but I was actually literally behind the scenes speaking for her. So I was slightly nervous, but I knew the questions and still adlibbed some parts knowing what Chihaya would say just because we spent so much time together. And it just felt like Chihaya was actually alive. I would know how she would answer because we have spent 20 years together and we walked down the right path together. At the press conference there were like 10 reporters. They were so moved that they started crying. In a good way that made me feel happy seeing that they were so moved by her. And it really is an amazing feeling. It makes me understand that these girls are actually alive and people are able to go to these concerts and actually feel that as well.

KKS: That’s an amazing response. Thank you so much. Also, congratulations on your first Vtuber album debut, what have you learned the most about being a Vtuber?

Asami: The reason I wanted to become a Vtuber was as a hobby. I wanted to make friends with other Vtubers and be part of their group. Everyone is great at communicating and then something that I started as a hobby I ended up getting an offer for a CD debut so it was becoming a job and then I asked why did they ask me to do this and apparently the music team behind this decision was part of a compilation album I was in and they liked how I approached doing the music and how I did all the motion capture. I was just doing my own thing and didn’t put that much thought into it. I was just doing what I did for years but then realized in the last 20 years I gained so much experience with doing all of my seiyuu and idol work and again I didn’t realize it till now but because I’ve always just concentrated what’s right in front of me so doing anime, games and performing 200 or so songs at so many concerts that I didn’t really get that much feedback because it was just part of my job but then suddenly I’m getting this feedback and this praise so I felt all my effort in my work for all these years was for this moment. Being a Vtuber I want to also give myself a little bit of praise: I’ve been doing seiyuu work since 1999 or so. This was the moment that I realized that I made the right choice in my career!