

I read somewhere that anime studios do their animation work followed by voice
recording. Whereas, in Western animation, they pre-record the voice before
doing animation so as to accurately draw the lip movements of the characters
through the voice actors.

I am wondering if it's still true, and if there are anime works which use the
Western approach? I heard Natsuyuki Rendezvous pre-recorded their voice work
before doing animation.


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2014-02-02T14:14:37.870
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question
anime-production
Do anime studios pre-record their voice actors before animation?


According to Washi's blog post from 2011 titled ["Anime Production – Detailed
Guide to How Anime is Made and the Talent Behind
it!"](http://washiblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/18/anime-production-detailed-
guide-to-how-anime-is-made-and-the-talent-behind-it/), all of the voice work
and sound recording happens in post production. These processes are compiled
from studios like Sunrise, Production I.G., AIC, etc.

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/qeRzT.jpg)

I've read about certain productions where some animatics (simplified mock-up
animation of storyboards) are used with voice acting. Not sure if they
actually do recording there or whether it's used as part of the creative
process. However, Wikipedia's [Voice Acting in
Japan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_acting_in_Japan#Anime) notes that:

> A voice actor's role in anime consists of reading the lines before the
> production is finished. In Japan, the lines are usually performed before the
> anime has completed. The artist then draws in every expression to the key of
> the voice actors reading it off. This is the most common way of prerecording
> in Japan.

But the passage lacks any citation.

Additionally, [voice actors are paid for a chunk of work, regardless of the
number of lines or how long the session takes](http://www.riuva.com/?p=111),
so it's logistically easier to do it all in one go as opposed to being linked
closer to the production of the actual animation. When the animation is
(mostly) done, the voice acting and sound engineering can all be done in one
go.


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answer