The Finest Essay to Taste with Your Ears

The other day, the grand prize-winning entry of the contest "#Because I Made That Choice," co-hosted by Mynavi and note, was read aloud by voice actor Showtaro Morikubo.

The grand prize-winning work is "The Day I Stuck My Face Out of the Scarf" by Mimi.

Needless to say, it is a wonderful essay worthy of the grand prize.

To have a famous voice actor read your essay aloud—I am incredibly envious.

Personally, I strongly associate Mr. Morikubo with the Mini 4WD Fighter from "Let's & Go!!".

Having my own work read by that fighter's beautiful voice must feel like ascending to heaven.

As someone who was a voice actor otaku during my university days, it is no exaggeration to say that this is one of the goals I aim for as a writer.

When that time comes, it doesn't even have to be Showtaro Morikubo; it could be Hikaru Midorikawa, Tomokazu Seki, Kenjiro Tsuda, Akio Otsuka, Shin-ichiro Miki, Mamoru Miyano... No! Actually, anyone is fine! (The rapid-fire speech typical of an otaku).

Let's get back to the story.

To have such a wonderful essay expressed with such a wonderful, cool voice—it's bound to turn into something absolutely magnificent, isn't it?

What's more, Mimi herself was present at the recording session. Ugh! I'm so jealous!

While thinking about such things and looking at the aforementioned note from Mynavi with envious eyes, I discovered that you could actually download the audio data of the reading.

There is no way I wouldn't download this.

Click.

The preparations are perfect.

However, since I want to savor it slowly and carefully if possible, I'll save it as a treat for my day off from my part-time job.

And so, today is my day off. Come on, let's listen to it.

But then again, it would sink into my body more if I listened while reading the text, wouldn't it?

Thinking that, I launched the note app and searched for the page for "The Day I Stuck My Face Out of the Scarf".

Truly, truly ready now.
I started playing the audio data on my smartphone and began reading the note at the same time.

...

Mr. Morikubo's calm voice comes through without a hitch.

Moreover, he distinguishes the characters accurately just by the tone of his voice, making it feel as if I were actually there. The sense of presence and realism is amazing.

Wonderful...

Voice actors are amazing.
I've thought this for a long time, but I was moved once again by the power and potential that a voice possesses.

Not my sticky, muffled voice, which sounds like the first udon noodles I ever made, but Mr. Morikubo's smooth yet deep voice.
The melody played by that voice makes Mimi's wonderful essay stand out even more attractively.

Is it okay to have such luxury? It's like eating a chocolate parfait and a fruit tart at the same time.

After finishing listening (reading), I was immersed in an indescribable sense of satisfaction.

I never realized the marriage of text and narration could be this wonderful.

I was reminded once again of the brilliance of Mimi-san's writing and the magnificence of Morikubo-san's voice.

And, I renewed my determination to work hard so that I, too, can move people in this way.