Last year, Nakata shared his casual idea of a singers roundoff on Twitter and received an unexpectedly immense amount of support from fans. Later, Junichi Suwabe and Kana Ueda joined as moderators. The contest split female and male singers into different teams and put them against each other.
Later adopted as a New Year’s Eve tradition, the competition was modeled after NHK’s annual Kōhaku Uta Gassen (“Red and White Song Contest”), and fans loved the whole format. This year’s contest, however, fell into the trap of COVID-19 as Japanese Prime Minister Shizo Abe declares an emergency.
Contest staff announced on Monday that the second annual Seiyū Red and White Singing Contest has been canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The official statement said, “I wish you all the best and hope that this situation will end as soon as possible.”
Nakata also thanked all performers and fans for their support on Twitter, stating that he is “pissed off at that Corona bastard.”
RT> 一年間キャスティングを含め色々ご尽力頂いたスタッフ。応援してチケットを予約して楽しみに待って頂いていたお客様…今回快く出演を決めスケジュールを空けておいて下さった皆様…ありがとう、感謝します。
— 中田譲治 (@joujinakata123) April 6, 2020
全く頭に来んなーコロナの野郎！皆んなで力を合わせ、一刻も早く終息させようぜ！
RT > The staff who made various efforts including casting for one year. Customers who cheered and booked tickets and waited for pleasure … Everyone who decided to appear happily this time and set aside the schedule … Thank you, thank you. Don’t come to my head-Corona guy! Let’s all work together and end as soon as possible!
English Translation
This year’s contest was scheduled to be held on May 2 at the Pacifico Yokohama National Convention Hall.
This year’s participants are as follows:
- Kikuko Inoue (Oh! My Goddess, Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions!)
- Ai Orikasa (Sakura Wars, Tenchi Muyo!)
- Hiroko Kasahara (DNA², Magic Knight Rayearth)
- Sumi Shimamoto (Maison Ikkoku, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind)
- Rie Tanaka (Strike Witches, Mobile Suit Gundam Seed)
- Noriko Hidaka (Ranma 1/2, Little Witch Academia)
- Kazuhiko Inoue (Natsume’s Book of Friends, Naruto Shippūden)
- Tomokazu Seki (Fate series, Full Metal Panic!)
- Shunsuke Takeuchi (King of Prism: PRIDE the HERO, STARMYU)
- Ryusei Nakao (Dragon Ball Super, One Piece)
About Seiyū Red and White contest
Started in 2019 as Nakata’s casual idea of a singers roundoff, the contest split female and male singers into different teams and put them against each other. Later, Junichi Suwabe and Kana Ueda joined as moderators.
Later adopted as a New Year’s Eve tradition, the competition was modeled after NHK’s annual Kōhaku Uta Gassen (“Red and White Song Contest”).
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