Respect for Rica Matsumoto

In the first year of posts on this blog, I wrote a post on praises for Ikue Ootani, the voice actress behind the distinctive characteristic voice of Pikachu. However, I haven't written another post for one who is just as important: the Japanese voice actress for Ash (Satoshi) himself, Rica Matsumoto. Now, after having become able to sing a few of her songs, particularly those that can be considered character songs for said character, I feel that it's time to do so. She too deserves a lot of respect.

Part of that respect concerns her musical talents. She was one of the founding members of JAM Project, a band composed of popular anime song singers, though she hasn't been too involved for at least a decade now. Beyond her musical work with Pokémon, she has contributed songs for a few other anime and even tokusatsu series. One of the songs for the latter came to my attention when a friend showed it to me when we met at the last event where I sang. It's masterful, just as masterful as her other works involving Pokémon. And being that I'm heavily oriented to Pokémon, I can almost hear Ash singing it, which my friend didn't disagree with. In a word, it's impressive.

As for her voice work, most of the past twenty-plus years of that voice work involves Pokémon to an extent. Yet along with that, she is also involved in a wide range of voice work for other anime, as well as roles in tokusatsu, video games, and prominent dubbing roles. Some of these roles might be for characters similar to the profile of Ash, while others might be of typical women roles; many are minor and specific, but quite a few are also major and recognizable. Furthermore, it's a career that has spanned thirty-plus years, which is certainly longer than the existence of Pokémon itself. Not only is this impressive, it also borders on unbelievable.

As with Ikue Ootani, Pokémon has practically given Rica Matsumoto a great claim to fame as the voice of a young boy whose goals are as lofty as the sky... or higher. Combined with her musical work, this makes her and her career illustrious. It is therefore prudent to be thankful and to give respect for all that she has done. I suppose, as a Pokémon fan and now part-singer, that would mean in part being able to sing more of her songs that are related to Pokémon. I'm sure I'll be doing just that.

One year ago: Throwing Poké Balls
Two years ago: Cosplay: East and West