Note: this will touch upon the TL doujin series ‘The Man Who Saved Me on my Isekai Trip was a Killer…’ and the recently released anime promotional video for said series.
The real name of the seiyuu involved in the promotional video will not be mentioned for various reasons.
You can view the promotional video here (R-18 content, heed the warning):
With the recent release of a certain TL (teens love) doujin promotional trailer, casual anime fans have found out that voice actors and voice actresses have pseudonyms (some have hilarious ones, like One Night Love) that they use when working on adult-rated media, such as H games, R-18 BL games, R-18 otome games, and situational CDs, to name a few.
In Japanese, pseudonyms are referred to as 源氏名 (genjimei, a.k.a. professional names). Albeit in another vein, hosts working in host clubs also use an alias/genjimei. This also happens in certain convenience stores to prevent staff harassment/stalking issues.
A bit of background: before your favorite voice actor/voice actress became popular and mainstream, at one point in their life, they have had to do adult media work to put food on the table because being a seiyuu is not an easy job, the roles are scarce, the pay is low (most end up taking multiple part-time jobs), yet they need job experience to get better at what they do, and to be able to stand out among the rest. After all, what better way to improve your skills than to work on adult media?
While that information may be mindblowing to those not familiar with R-18 media, there are some (mostly underaged kids who have no idea how the world works) who choose to be morally upright all of a sudden and try to “cancel” (just try, I fucking dare you lmfao) said voice actor for getting involved in a work that is not for their consumption.
For one, the very reason why said voice actor used his alias is because of potential issues that may arise when working on adult-rated media… specifically this very issue, wherein kids think it’s cool to cancel people for doing their fucking job as a voice actor.
Second, morality has nothing to do with their job as a voice actor. Althought this may be akin to a certain voice actor’s cheating scandal wherein the cheating is a private matter that had little to no connection to his work, Kaiouraku’s situation is a bit more simple than the cheater’s.
So what makes their situation different?
Simple: using the alias Kaiouraku when he got the role to promote an R-18 TL doujin, he did his job to voice the Killer to the best of his abilities, called it a day, and went on with his life.
Lastly, if it’s difficult for you to understand that there are situations wherein a job is simply what it is, a job, then maybe you need to go outside and understand how life works. Is it really that mind-boggling that people can get work done without getting attached to it? Sometimes, a job is simply a job you just do what you gotta do, and move on to the next opportunity… and that is exactly what Kaiouraku is doing. The man is living his best life, is at the peak of his career, and deserves to be happy.
Please do not tag nor call out the voice actor’s real name on social media when you do find out the voice behind the Killer. Not only is it rude, it’s crass, and you’re giving all the foreign seiyuu fans a bad name.
The internet is listening to everything you say, and there is no expectation of privacy. For all we know, Kaiouraku is already aware of people talking shit about him.
If you do need to discuss about it, do it privately, or at least keep on using the pseudonym.
Wanderlust 