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The female lead from one of one anime’s biggest recent hits stops talking in order to do some drinking.

Being an anime voice actress didn’t use to be such a multi-faceted job. Through the mid-1990s, generally all you had to do was show up at the studio and record your lines.

As otaku and Internet culture have exploded, though, the professional activities of popular voice actresses have become much more diversified. Aside from voicing characters, they’re expected to engage with fans at both live events and in prerecorded video messages, so it’s important for them to not only sound nice, but be photogenic as well.

While all of those extra responsibilities are a draw on a performer’s time and energy, they also have plenty of upsides. They help attract viewers to a voice actress’ current series, plus build a fanbase that will follow her to her next. And in the case of voice actress Ai Kayano, her newest side project lets her sample all sorts of delicious sake.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtA4Z7fWpkk

The 28-year-old Tokyo native, best known for her role as the mysterious Menma in Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, has just announced the start of a new web series to be shown on the animate Times YouTube channel. In the promo, Kayano reveals that she’s a huge fan of sake, as evidenced by the cup of Japan’s indigenous alcoholic beverage that she cheerfully drains and then promptly refills.

Titled Kayanomi (a combination of “Kayano” and nomi/”drinking”), animate Times says the program will follow Kayano as she visits sake breweries, samples their wares, and talks with members of the industry and other fellow sake enthusiasts. A release date for the first full episode is yet to be set, but Kayano’s fans no doubt are making a run to the liquor store and washing their sake cups in anticipation of virtually sharing a drink with the actress in the near future.

Source: Jin
Top image: YouTube/animate Times