Turning Japanese

KARYLLE has stumbled on a new career as a dubber.

Watching the singer-actress and “Showtime” judge lend her voice to anime heroine Mizuki in “Lovely Idol” is to catch a lesson in persistence.

She concedes that “breathing” can be one of the challenges in her new job. “When you act or dub scenes in a movie, you have to breathe properly,” she notes.

In the anime world, characters talk machine-gun style. “That’s the accepted technique in anime. It can be tricky especially if I have to deliver long lines quickly.”

<strong>Plus factor</strong>

Being a singer is a plus factor, she concedes. “It helps. It’s just that I don’t normally talk that fast.”

Fortunately, she got to train with the best in the industry. “For my last movie ‘Dalaw,’ I got to work with a great dubbing coach, Lucy Quinto. I learned to immerse myself in a scene even though I’m just in the studio.”

It’s not uncommon for her to act out what’s unfolding on the screen to capture the right vocal inflection and mood.

“It can be embarrassing, emoting by yourself in a studio,” she admits. “I just imitate the action on the monitor so that my delivery would become more realistic.”

She has always wanted to dub for an animated show.

As a kid, she was a fan of “Rainbow Brite” and “Care Bears” and wished to join the characters’ colorful world. In college she did voice work for a school project. “I did an audio-book, narrating a story.”

For “Lovely Idol,” she gets to try things she would never do in real life.

For starters, “Mizuki has violet hair and wears big pink ribbons,” she says. “Her look is very Katy Perry in the music video ‘ET.’”

Headstrong leader

Karylle plays the headstrong leader of a girl group. (The “Star Power” girls Monica Sacay, Akiko Solon and Krissel Valdez provide the voices of Mizuki’s bandmates.)

Since it’s set in the music biz, Karylle somehow relates with Mizuki’s struggles. “In one scene, Mizuki expressed her insecurities about a song she had written. She was worried other people wouldn’t like it.”

Karylle can very well empathize especially since she wrote 11 of the 12 songs in her new CD “Road Trip.”

She’s pretty hands-on in making this CD because she’s its producer as well. “I recently met with radio people to ask for their help.”

In doing the voice of Mizuki, she has discovered a lot about Japanese women and the music biz, too.

“It’s a rich culture. They’re artistic and professional at the same time. Mizuki and the girls insist on perfection.”

“Lovely Idol” airs on SkyCable’s Hero TV every Saturday.