Current Events > Japan has a new professional basketball league exclusively for anime VA

(+) Yeah! (+)

Three-on-three league for young ladies sounds like the plot of an anime series itself, but its a real-life sports organization.

It used to be that vocal acting ability was pretty much the only criteria for becoming an anime voice actress. But in todays world of cross-media promotions and fan meet-and-greet events, thats no longer the case.

Becoming a star of the industry now often requires voice actresses to be photogenic and poised in front of an audience, as their jobs have come to more closely resemble those of mainstream entertainers and media personalities. And now comes a venue asking voice actresses to display talent in a field thats even farther removed from the core of their profession, with the formation of the SJ3 League.

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SJ3 is an acronym standing for Seiyu (the Japanese word for voice actor/actress) Junior Three-on-Three, Japans newest basketball league. Officially recognized and supported by the Japan Basketball Association, the SJ3 League will consist of eight teams, with all of their players being young voice actresses working in the anime and video game fields

The three-on-three format (as opposed to the traditional five-on-five) is likely due in part to the difficulty in finding professional voice actresses who can also play basketball at a competitive level. However, its probably also motivated by three-on-three basketball making its debut as an Olympic event at the 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.

Seven of the eight teams (who have names like WONDER ROCKET, PuaPureParty!, and Cherubiacci) are based in Japan, with the remaining club (Bei Dou) headquartered in Shanghai. The leagues first game is scheduled for September 30 at the Minami Nagasaki Sports Center in Tokyos Nerima Ward, and the league plans to have tournaments in both the spring and fall. Organizers are also hoping to expand the SJ3 to anime, manga, and/or video game-related content.

In speaking of the leagues genesis, SJ3 director Dogi Minamisawa (whos also the president of voice acting talent agency 81 Produce), said:

Weve had the idea of a voice actress basketball league for about two years now. The voice acting industry has been going through major changes recently. Some people may be doubtful, asking Why have voice actresses play basketball? but this is a way for voice actresses to have two sets of skills, and not be just single-faceted. This league was born out of that idea.

Its an admirable goal for the fledgling sports organization, but a video from the first press event makes it a little hard to tell how committed the SJ3 League is to being a genuine showcase of athletic ability, and how willing it is to simply be a spectacle of cute girls running around a basketball court and giggling.

But given the choice between promoting themselves as basketball players or swimsuit models, some voice actresses would likely prefer the former, and for them, the SJ3 League is now here.








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So how long until they actually make an anime about this league? An actual girls' basketball anime that isn't about girls competing against guys (like quite a few other sports anime) or about a bunch of lolis doing slice-of-life stuff with the team just an excuse to bring them together (you can't trick me, Ro-Kyo-Bu) would be fun to watch.
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Calwings posted...

or about a bunch of lolis doing slice-of-life stuff with the team just an excuse to bring them together (you can't trick me, Ro-Kyo-Bu)

I was actually surprised at how good the actual basketball parts of Ro-Kyu-Bu are

That's the color scheme to success.
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I'm down to see KanaHana get run up on.
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I hope there's a team exclusively for hentai actresses

Every grunt they make will sound like they're being violently molested
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I want see a few games, I'm curious how well they will play.
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I don't recognize these faces

wheres Rie Takahashi / Aoi Yuuki / Saori Hayami
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I think the most painful thing about this, is that it seriously might generate more interest than the WNBA ever could.

Sephiroth1288 posted...

I hope there's a team exclusively for hentai actresses

Every grunt they make will sound like they're being violently molested

This should happen.

Calwings posted...

So how long until they actually make an anime about this league?

You've already got the actresses; it's the most logical conclusion for this.
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I'd watch it tbh
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get sugita in there and it'll be great

Is this in memory of all the VAs who died young?

And of course they're all female.
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Kisai posted...

And of course they're all female.

It'd be unfair for men to be in there