It stemmed from a random idea from veteran seiyuu Jouji Nakata. And now, it’s really happening! After revealing the first batch of participants for the Seiyuu Kohaku Uta Gassen, the show’s staff revealed even more participants.

For the women’s team, AKA the red team, the new members will include Noriko Hidaka (Ranma 1/2’s Akane), as well as Wake Up, Girls! seiyuu, Junko Tange. They also announced new additions to the White Team (the boys) as well. Their team will now include Natsume’s Book of Friends’ Kazuhiko Inoue, Yo-kai Watch: Shadowside’s Takaya Kuroda, and Free!’s Daisuke Hirakawa.

The idea all started with a casual tweet from Nakata, floating an all-seiyuu version of the New Year tradition. And wouldn’t you know it, they even made it official! As for its founder, he still couldn’t believe it went through. He says he’s still surprised on how much support he received from fans with the idea.

It will happen on 14 April 2019, and they already have a host! And yes, he’s a seiyuu too, and he’s Junichi Suwabe. He will be acting as moderator as well, alongside fellow-seiyuu Kana Ueda. They’re also crediting Nakata as the official founder of the contest itself. As for the participants, they will announce more of them soon enough.

source: Mantan