Top 20 Seiyuu

It's been a while since I've posted my Now it's time to let the fangirl loose.



I was planning on giving reasons for each person, but I realized they'd all be the same: vocal versatility, wide variety of roles, etc. So instead I singled out a role that particularly stood out to me and talked about that.




20. Makino Yui - Sakura (Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles) - I wish she was cast more often, too. Considering all the moe, I'm surprised she only gets about a single role every other year or so, because her voice is adorable. She has a lot of musical talent as well, and her singing isn't so bad. She sings a lot throughout Tsubasa. which is also the role she's most famous for. I hope she gets more than one role this year.



19. Uchiyama Koki -Usumi Natsuki (Tsuritama) - He first got started as Roxas from Kingdom Hearts, and then had his anime debut as Soul (Soul Eater) in 2008. Since then he's really made a name for himself and has been cast as a lot of lead roles with a variety of personalities. Excluding Roxas, my favorite of his characters is probably Natsuki (Tsuritama). He cracked me up a lot.



18. Saitou Chiwa - Senjougahara Hitagi (Bakemonogatari) - Saitou Chiwa's performance is one of the best things about an already excellent character. I think it's definitely the role that gained her prominent attention, and now she's also a Shaft seiyuu staple. (Pun not intended.)



17. Tamura Yukari - Furude Rika (Higurashi no Naku Koro ni) - Her voice is naturally nasally sounding. I'm not gonna lie, when she uses her really really high-pitched voices (I.E. Harime Nui (Kill la Kill)) it annoys me. But she still gets cast in a lot of things for a reason. I also find it hilarious that two of her main typecasts are the genki girls and the cryptic, mysterious girls such as Rika. (Whom I guess is actually both, so there you go.)



16. Sakamoto Maaya - Nino (Arakawa Under the Bridge) - Even though her singing voice is very high pitched and even annoying sometimes (see "Buddy Complex"), her speaking voice is surprisingly low and chill. It's a shame she doesn't get cast more often, but at least she has a lot of good roles under her belt.



15. Wakamoto Norio - Oskar von Reuenthal (Legend of the Galactic Heroes) - The ultimate gar voice. Wakamoto is the man, and it reflects in the roles he gets. Oskar was one of my top favorite characters in LoGH which is definitely a manly show.



14. Ogata Megumi - Ikari Shinji (Neon Genesis Evangelion) - She should be cast more as well. Considering how well known she is for voicing Shinji, and how well she acts, I'm surprised about how sparse her resume is.



13. Ohara Sayaka - Ichihara Yuuko (xxxHOLiC) - Yuuko was the only role I really identified with Ohara Sayaka for a really long time. When I listened to her normal tone of speaking on tone of the Horitsuba Gakuen Drama CDs, I thought it was hilarious at how soft-spoken and demure she sounded.



12. Sugita Tomokazu - Star (Arakawa Under the Bridge) - Even though Sugita Tomokazu is excellent at portraying serious and heartfelt characters, I like him best when he plays the hammy and comedic ones. No one does ridiculous and over the top like he does.



11. Hisakawa Aya - Keroberos (Cardcaptor Sakura) - Definitely one of the most versatile seiyuu out there in my opinion. Cardcaptor Sakura was the first anime I watched in Japanese, so obviously I first heard Hisakawa Aya as Kero. Such a memorable performance.



10. Fukuyama Jun - Shimao Atsushi (Natsuyuki Rendezvous) - I don't even know how to describe his voice it's just so distinct. This guy is so famous for his comedic and over-the-top characters, so hearing him as a passive aggressive ghost was extremely refreshing.



9. Nakamura Yuuichi - Okazaki Tomoya (Clannad) - Usually he gets the bishie roles. Even though I'm not really a Clannad fan anymore, Tomoya still stands out to me because it's one of the first roles I first heard him as. His other role as a broody KyoAni bishie, Oreki Houtarou is also a good one.



8. Sakurai Takahiro - Masakaki ([C]) - Even though I didn't really like much about [C], I chose Masasaki because it's really going against typecast. Sakurai Takahiro is primarily cast as bishies and also broody characters. So hearing him as a Faust-esque maniacal clown was pretty cool.



7. Paku Romi - Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood) - Most famous for portraying younger males, and Edward is definitely my favorite. Paku Romi gave such a powerful performance as Edward, and in both incarnations of Fullmetal Alchemist, too. I do love it when she plays women, though.



6. Miyano Mamoru - Okabe Rintarou (Steins;Gate) - Another guy who frequently portrays pretty teenage boys. I was actually pretty shocked when I saw that Miyano Mamoru was the one behind Okabe. I had no idea that he could make his voice that deep and manly sounding. I wish he played more adults.



5. Ono Daisuke - Hosaka (Minami-ke) - He got famous for his role as pretty boy Itsuki from Suzumiya Haruhi, so he plays bishies pretty often. This is why his role of Hosaka is awesome because the entire character is a spoof on the archetype. Hosaka is basically the only thing that made me laugh in the Minami-ke series, and Ono Daisuke does an excellent job at voicing him.



4. Kawakami Tomoko - Tenjou Utena (Revolutionary Girl Utena) - As if there was any doubt that I would choose Utena's performance. Kawakami was chosen as the role because she came off as much more natural and also naive when she was auditioning. I wouldn't have wanted Utena portrayed any other way, and I'm glad the people who were casting went with Kawakami's version of the character. RIP, Kawakami.



3. Hiroshi Kamiya - Natsume Takashi (Natsume Yuujinchou) - One of Shaft's flagship seiyuu. I think he needs to stop being cast as teenagers so often because he really doesn't sound like a teen that much anymore. Natsume is a bit of an exception though.



2. Ishida Akira - Nagisa Kaworu (Evangelion) - Ishida Akira has a tendency to play teenage boys (often with white hair) who are pretty awesome and who usually end up kicking the bucket. Kaworu is my favorite of those. I do wish they didn't die, though. I like Ishida Akira's white-haired pretty boys.



1. Mizuki Nana - Alois Trancy (Kuroshitsuji II) - This should've been obvious. In retrospect, I really don't like Alois too much. But hearing Nana portraying an insane character is a rarity enough, no less voicing a male character. Either one should happen more often, but I just miss hearing her in anime in general.



The top few were pretty easy, but it got difficult as I kept making this list. There are still a fuck ton of amazing seiyuu that I love and didn't include on this list. But I'll mention some of them right here so I don't feel as bad: Seki Tomokazu, Saiga Mitsuki, Yamaguchi Kappei (saw him at Otakon '08), Kuwashima Houko, Namikawa Daisuke, and Fujiwara Keiji. (Of course I'm still missing some people.)
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