When I wrote my Language Learning Reflection #2, I talked about how one of the things I was doing a lot of in 2025 was watching Seiyu to Yoasobi. And now season 8 of the show has drawn to a close, and I felt I had enough feelings about the whole thing that I wanted to put to paper (as it were). This isn’t really anything about language learning, and it’s really just rambling. But it saves me from posting some multithread monster on social media, and maybe I will stop spamming my timeline with it… until Season 9 next month, anyway.

So what is Seiyu to Yoasobi (henceforth just referred to as Yoasobi), I hear you ask. Well, it’s a variety show that has been airing on Abema since 2018 and began its 8th season in April 2025, where the airing schedule moved to a daily format (previously it was weekdays or weekdays + one weekend day. It has evolved a lot).  Each day has a dedicated pair of popular seiyu hosts who get up to all kinds of things. The content and variety tend to change a lot depending on who’s involved, but it’s stuff like acting scenarios, quizzes, talk segments and games, sometimes with audience participation (since it’s live except for weekends). They welcome guests to talk about anime or specific collaborations, too, so a lot is going on. But one of the things I appreciate most is that each group has corners that they come back to regularly, so you establish a routine and know what to expect from them over the course of the year.

I wrote a detailed article for Anime Atelier when this season began, so if you’re looking for more in-depth information on the format and the hosts for the year, I’d advise you to read that first. Having to repeat it all would just lead me to ramble, and since I’m liable to do that anyway, let’s not distract from the point.

So, how did I get into this? Well, let’s set the scene. It was April 2025, and new hosts were joining Yoasobi this year, one of whom was being teased as the return of Hiro Shimono, who had left due to scheduling conflicts previously. And then there was Reiji Kawashima, whom I’d grown fond of due to playing the lead role in Mission! Yozakura Family. I knew vaguely what the show was about, as I’d watched an episode or two previously, as well as clips (such as Natsuki Hanae smashing a monitor during a ping pong game the season previous, which has haunted him since), but I’d never committed to watching it properly. This seemed like a good opportunity to get into it, thanks to the new season starting up. And it also seemed like a good idea to help improve my Japanese, but I talked about that in my language learning reflection already.

Anyway, getting into this wasn’t simple. While they’d teased which new hosts were joining and we knew who was continuing from the previous season, the pairings and which days each host would appear on weren’t announced in advance. To find out, you had to tune in daily (which they’re doing again next season, of course…). And this didn’t work out simply for me, since Shimono ended up on Tuesdays, Hanae was on Thursdays and Kawashima on Fridays. By that point, I’d basically watched the whole week’s worth and ultimately followed through with doing so.

However, I remember confidently saying to my partner and friends that I would probably just watch my favourite pairs. After all, an hour and a half a day, every day (except the Connect off-weeks) is not a small commitment of time (even if I watched on my second screen while working). Oh, how naive I was. You see, while I have my favourite seiyu who were spread across three different days, I was also already familiar with Kobayashi from Monday, Namikawa from Wednesday, and Okamoto from Saturday to a degree, and I found myself curious enough not to stop watching their broadcasts at Week 1. At which point I watched week two entirely as well and then just… never stopped. Now we’re at the end of Season 8, and I’ve not missed a single episode, premium or bonus. I didn’t always watch live, but you bet I watched the archive later on.

That’s not to say it was all great TV. It took a couple of months for me to adjust to the Sunday show led by Yu Serizawa and Maria Naganawa. Serizawa had stayed on from Season 7, but Naganawa was a newcomer, and the chemistry between them was… stiff. Their shows weren’t as boisterous and chaotic as the boys in general, and it felt like they were trying too hard to lean into what viewers expected of them rather than being themselves. However, as the weeks passed, they gradually got closer to each other and let themselves unwind and have fun. Sunday never became one of my favourite days by a long stretch, but at this point, I was sad when Naganawa announced she was graduating and leaving the show behind. Maybe most of all because it took so long for them to fall into a comfortable routine.

My other problem was with the Connect week broadcasts. Now these are spaced out in order to give the regular hosts a week off, and rather than a daily live, they film one episode that’s then cut into 30-minute chunks for Monday through Friday, with a 1-hour 30-minute live on a Saturday or Sunday. These are led by Tomoko Kaneda, who absolutely loves this show, you can immediately tell, mascot Sobi and a rotating monthly host. This was a key structure change for Yoasobi, who had Connect before, but not in this format. Honestly, it was a hard sell to start with because it was trying too hard to be like the regular broadcasts, but without the time to commit to it. These small chunks didn’t lend themselves well to the established Yoasobi I was used to the rest of the time. Thankfully, these did also improve after the first three or so, and eventually I came to appreciate them as their own thing, but they were never as good. Well, with the exceptions of the lives which did have the time to match the usual broadcast.

As far as the rest of the days went, honestly, I always really enjoyed them. Everyone else had great chemistry and created such great individual content that was unique to their broadcasts, and I have been quite sad about those leaving the show before Season 9.

If I had to rank the regular broadcasts, it would probably be something like Wednesday > Tuesday > Thursday > Monday > Friday // Saturday > Sunday

What I did not expect when I set out was that Wednesday with Taku and Namikawa would become my favourite. I didn’t know a whole lot about Taku going into Yoasobi because while he was in anime I watched, it wasn’t nearly to the same quantity as the other seiyu I like, and for whatever reason, I didn’t see him in related promotional content. Namikawa, I was familiar with, but my impression of him was that he was a bit… stern? That said, whenever I saw him, he was being teased and lovingly bullied by Mamoru Miyano, so perhaps it’s no surprise I was left with that impression when he was dealing with that force of nature. Still, in previous seasons, Namikawa had been paired with Hanae, so moving to a different day and joining up with Taku gave him a new dynamic to explore. They’re both quite sporty and good at variety, so their day revolved around a lot of competitive segments, which often ended up being absolutely hilarious. See, the secret is that Yoasobi doesn’t seem to have a lot of budget to work with for the day-to-day, so the hosts are often given fairly cheap props and left to make do, which just makes it all the funnier because it increases the odds of something going wrong or them having to improvise in silly ways. I was relieved when we got through the graduation season with both of them choosing to continue on to Season 9. They might not be paired together again, but I’m really looking forward to seeing where and who they end up with next, if not together.

But Wednesday ending up my favourite, even over the other days with seiyu I was more familiar with at the time, speaks to the magic of this show. Because you spend so much time with each host week in and week out, it doesn’t take long to form an attachment to them. Especially when you’re watching them enjoy presenting this show together as much as those two did.

Naturally, Tuesday is high on my list because of Shimono. His broadcasts with Irino were always filled to the brim with chaotic energy, and even though these two weren’t particularly close when the season started, you can tell they’ve become really good friends over the course of the year. And I was thrilled recently when these two played a game idea I’d sent in. For the premium bonuses they film for subscribers of Abema, viewers can send in questions or requests for things they want to see the hosts do. I’d had a silly idea that felt like it would fit well, so I sent it in, not really expecting it to get read since they get a lot of requests, but it did! That’s one of those moments that make you realise the hours of grinding Japanese were entirely worth it. Sadly, Irino graduated this season, but Shimono is continuing on into Season 9, so I’m looking forward to seeing who he’s paired with next. I definitely would have been depressed if he was leaving again already because…

HANAE IS GRADUATING. T_T For his third year, Hanae was split off from Namikawa and paired with Ono Kensho for Thursdays, with whom he was already quite good friends. Apparently, the plan had been for him to graduate at the end of Season 7, but when he was offered to pair with Kensho, he decided to stay on for another year. And of course, I’m glad he did since it meant I got to see him host for the year and of everyone who’s leaving, I think I’m least upset about his departure. The thing is, I understand that filming/hosting this is a gruelling schedule. It airs live from 10pm to 11:30pm Japan time, and then they have to film the 10~ minute premium after, and I’m sure there’s stuff to wrap up behind the scenes that keeps them quite late. Doing that almost every week for a year alongside your regular work? I’m sure that’s tiring, especially if you have a young family as Hanae does. And leaving the show doesn’t mean never coming back as a guest or substitute host when the need arises; in fact, although Kensho is staying on for Season 9, he has a Harry Potter theatre production over the summer and Hanae has talked about substituting in for him while he’s busy with that.

So, if I’m ranking these based on my favourite seiyu more or less, how has Monday risen above Friday with Kawashima? Well, much like Wednesday, I put this down to the charms of Yoasobi. For Season 8, they brought in Chiaki Kobayashi and paired him with continuing regular Hiroki Yasumoto. Kind of like my issue with Sunday, it did take me a bit to warm up to these two, as Mondays were always a lot more relaxed than the other broadcasts. But over the course of the year, I came to appreciate this reliable and more chilled way of kicking off the week. It was a warm atmosphere. And this is what I mean when I say every pair had their own idea of what they wanted their show to be, no two days were ever the same in terms of content or how they chose to deliver it. Honestly, of everyone graduating, I am most sad to see Kobayashi leave. It sounds like he really wanted to continue into Season 9, but much like Shimono’s situation previously, they couldn’t figure out a way of making it work with his schedule. His departure felt less like leaving forever and more like he’ll return when schedule allows, so maybe Season 10 or later down the line. Yasumoto joked that they’d just be putting him into cold sleep for now, which I thought was a fitting way of thinking about it. It’s very different to how they’ve been handling the other hosts who are leaving, which have felt more final. And likewise, when Shimono left before, it wasn’t with the sense that he was ‘graduating’, but simply that he was done for now.

For Friday, they paired Kawashima (which I later came to realise was genius) with Tomokazu Seki, who has been hosting since the show began. Now I love Kawashima, but he’s a loose cannon who is always causing chaos, often completely unintentionally. He’s clumsy and needs someone to guide him, so placing him with Seki was the perfect choice. In fact, Friday won the ‘Blunder Award’ in the end-of-year show, because Kawashima really struggles to read cue cards – especially for the end-of-show closedown when they’re advertising currently airing anime… The thing is, Kawashima hasn’t done much consistent TV or promotional work like this, and when he started out, he was still adjusting to how it all worked and what he was supposed to be doing. That chaos makes for a good show, but also why it was important to be paired with someone who can step in to help him and be a reassuring presence. Since Kawashima and Seki are both staying for Season 9, I am fascinated to see if they’ll be paired together again or if Kawashima will be let loose with a newbie. [Actually since I started writing this, Kawashima seems to have confirmed on Twitter that their pairing is being dissolved, so I’m even more intrigued to see what happens now!] Ultimately, though, the reason I rank Friday so much lower than the others is that it’s much more of a talk show than any of the other days. And that’s not a criticism, but because they tend to have fewer corners and focus on one subject, my interest fades in and out a bit depending on how interested I am in that specific thing.

Saturday ended up being a bit of a strange one. In what I think is a Yoasobi first, they brought on three hosts for the day: Nobuhiko Okamoto, Showtaro Morikubo and Masaya Fukunishi (who was the only newcomer of the three). I wonder if they’d reached out to one too many newcomers with the uncertainty of Hanae staying for Season 8, and that’s why it ended up like this. Honestly, I was sold on these three the second they were made to build their own set in their very first episode. In fact, I even joked with friends on Discord at the time “how many seiyu does it take to build a set? More than 3 apparently… 😆”. Now, in fairness to them, apart from Okamoto’s chair (which needed an emergency fix in November), the chairs and table they built for themselves did actually last all season! But it sure didn’t look like they’d be particularly stable at the time! But again, this is just one of those ridiculous things that a show like Yoasobi asks them to do, and they get on with it. Saturday airs an hour earlier than the other days of the week, so I often ended up watching most of these on the bus back from work, and I think that disruption meant I never truly settled into a proper flow of getting to engross in their broadcasts the way I did the others. Could I have watched the archive later at a better time? Sure, but it’s difficult to fit in off the cuff, and I always wanted to know how they’d performed in the weekly game before the girls played it the following day. So I made do. Fukunishi is leaving already, but Morikubo and Okamoto are staying on for S9, which works for me as I like those two.

I already talked about Sunday earlier, so I won’t repeat myself. Looking back, although the season had its ups and downs and there are certainly broadcasts I enjoyed way more than others, I really enjoyed this whole year of viewing. I was fairly sure I’d end this year wanting to continue on into Season 9 with similar plans of watching everything, but that was never a certainty early on. However, at this point, I can’t really imagine not spending that time watching what the hosts get up to. It’s so much fun, and it’s a social thing too, since there are plenty of fans out there to discuss it with or enjoy the fan art and clips it generates. More than that, it’s a daily pick-me-up as I get to see the seiyu I love getting up to truly ridiculous activities.

Over the last few years, as I’ve been able to follow more content in Japanese, I’ve come to realise how important those daily sparks of joy are to me. People talk about how this happens in fan culture; you can do your best because of fandom activities. And it’s true, I can do my best because tomorrow there’s Yoasobi or a new episode of the drama/anime I’m following, or a radio program or a new chapter or volume of that series I love, or a seiyu I like just announced or posted something cute or interesting. Y’know, they’re little things, and maybe I’m just a simple creature, but there’s always something there. And I guess it helps that most of those things are on a set or at least a predictable schedule.

So yes, I will carry on into Season 9 of Yoasobi. With five hosts leaving, depending on whether they keep the schedule and number of hosts the same, we’ll be seeing four or five newbies come in, and I’m excited to find out who they’ll be! Personally, one of my predictions is that Shuichiro Umeda will join because he’s the seiyu who has been the most frequent guest this season (which is usually a good bet). He’s also friends/rivals with Kawashima since they debuted around the same time, so they could be a fun pairing to put together. The plan is that the new season will kick off on April 20th, with the new hosts being teased starting on the 13th. Similar to last year, we won’t know which host is on which day or who they’re paired with up until they go live that first week. I hated this last year ’cause I was at work and trying to tune in to the opening as I was just about getting home, but hopefully this year it won’t be as much of a pain (I’m pretty sure it started earlier last year, or Easter was later, which is what made it worse for me workwise). And although I’m sad about the hosts who left, I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what’s next. After all, starting Season 8, I wasn’t sold on all these pairs and yet Taku and Namikawa became my absolute favourite. Anything could happen, and I am here for it!

In closing: This year was a wild ride following this ridiculous show every single day, but I’m super glad that I did. I’m sure I’ll be writing another one of these reflections at the end of Season 9, but for now, I’m just glad I got all of this out of my system. I didn’t really expect to ramble on for almost 3,500 words. If you made it to the end somehow, thank you and well done.