It goes without saying that we here at grape Japan are big fans of anime and manga. We translate and post content by independent manga artists regularly, and are always on the look out for cool events like this exhibition of a thousand anime figurines in Tottori. More recently, we covered the move by CryptoGames Inc. to jump on the digital collectables bandwagon by offering NFT art of their vtubers.

Nevertheless, earlier this month entertainment product company Space Factory released an original new app for the aspiring actors and actresses among us. Titled "SAY-U," (an obvious play on the Japanese word for voice actor, seiyū), the app allows you to dub new manga serials.

Numerous titles are featured in “SAY-U” and include releases in comedies, actions, horror, and other genres. Users simply choose a title and record narration of the written content. Finally, the dubbed anime can be played back with basic animation.

Vtuber Kizuna AI explains

Hip to the news, the world's top Vtuber Kizuna AI took a moment to demo the product. Have a look for yourself—push cc for captions:

The Vtuber is internet famous for her pitch-perfect anime voice, so she is a natural fit to trial the new app. She opens the app and dives in by choosing a script to narrate. There are several to choose from, but she eventually settles on one about an android high school student—how fitting.

Kizuna AI begins narrating one of the characters in the piece. Doing so, she is guided through the character's lines by the app and given a moment to record each using her phone. The app appears to function quite smoothly. However, it seems she was not close enough to the mic, and the audio is somewhat muted on playback.

Nevertheless, she continues recording another script. She still has a little trouble getting the volume right, but the program seems to work well when she speaks up. Indeed, the combination of her colorful voice acting and the animation incorporated in the app makes for an entertaining experience. All in all, "SAY-U" seems like a good way to have a little fun.

Interested readers should head to the Space Factory website for more information and download the app. The company plans to rollout more scripts encompassing various genres and idols over time. Enjoy!


By - Luke Mahoney.