Whenever I watch an anime, one little thing that I like to do is figuring out the person behind some characters. I’d jump out of excitement and be like that DiCaprio meme if I recognize a similar voice across different anime.
Although my interest in the voice acting in anime comes from my leisurely hobby, I kind of spiraled down the seiyuu rabbit hole. You know, reading some seiyuu’s bios and looking up the history behind the industry. A pretty standard activity to do at 1 a.m.
A Brief Summary In The History Of Seiyuu
Apparently, the history stems way back into the 1920s. In that time, the popularity of Japan’s radio drama started to hatch. Many of the radio drama voice actors began to get an unexpected boom in their popularity. The term “seiyuu” first emerged from the radio drama broadcasting in this era.
Fast-forward to the 50s, these radio dramas only got even more popular. To the point that many of them got adapted into films, series, and other stage acts. For example, Kimi No Nawa was actually a radio drama that got its first movie adaptation in this era. It later got the 2016 adaptation directed by Makoto Shinkai which everyone loves.
Voice actors or seiyuu in Japan have also been exploring their talents not only on the screen. What I love about them is they dare to jump into musical career path. In the 70s, Akio Nojima, Kazuyuki Sogabe, Akira Kamiya, Tōru Furuya and Toshio Furukawa formed their band called Slapstick. This is the first musical group comprised of voice actors.
In this period, the introduction of idol culture into the seiyuu profession also happened. Animage‘s founding editor, Hideo Ogata, started to make editorials on seiyuu. Other magazines followed suit and made their own section of voice actors. However, Animage’s exclusive magazines on seiyuu, Voice Animage, didn’t make its first publication until the 90s.
Nowadays, the seiyuu profession is so nuanced. Seiyuu don’t come only from voice acting agencies, but it’s normal for many seiyuu to enter this profession from various sides of the entertainment industry.
For example, prolific singer, Nana Mizuki, was first trained as an Enka singer. She debuted her voice acting career not long after her first single. On that note, here is the list of the seiyuu I have keeping myself updated on their career.
Kaede Hondo
I think Kaede Hondo deserves more attention, especially after she takes on probably one of the most popular female character in 2023. She voices Hakari Hanazono in The 100 Girlfriends Who Really Really Really Really Really Love You.
Kaedo Hondo made her debut in 2015. She then joined the voice acting agency I’m Enterpriese after completing her training in Japan Narration Actor Institute. She made her anime voice acting debut playing minor roles in Aoharu × Machinegun. However, she quickly made her name known. She won as one of the Best New Actresses in the 13th Seiyuu awards.
She has a uniquely natural alluring voice as Hakari, which many fans appreciate of course. But, she also a knack for voicing bright and fun characters like Hana from Mieruko-chan and Mapple from BOFURI. Also, she will play as yet another “sunshine” character in the anime, A Sign Of Affection.
Sugita Tomokazu
Sugita Tomokazu’s career got its popularity jumpstart when he voiced Gintoki. But, he actually had started his career much earlier. His first debut was his role as the gift announcer in Kamen Rider on SKY PerfecTV!. He got his first leading role as Hideki Motosuwa in Chobits.
However, his role that caught my eyes, or ears, was Hidenori in Daily Life Of High School Boys. Because he lives rent-free as a comedic voice in my head, I first couldn’t believe when I heard his voice in a serious character. He voices the stone hashira, Gyoumei Himejima, in Demon Slayer.
Atsumi Tanezaki
I first learned about Atsumi Tanezaki when I watched Spy X Family for the first time. I couldn’t get over Anya’s cuteness and still can’t, thanks to Atsumi Tanezaki’s voice acting. Something about her voice in Spy X Family accurately conveys the child-like wonder Anya has.
Atsumi Tanezaki is now affiliated with Tokyo Actor’s Consumer’s Cooperative Society or also known as Haikyo. Previously, she was under the management of Toritori Office. She made her first major role in My Little Monster as Asako Natsume in 2012. Other than that, she had many voice acting roles in various video games.
Anya isn’t the only character she voices in 2023, though. Atsumi Tanezaki also voices Frieren in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Gyokuyou in The Apothecary Diaries, and Serina Yoshida in The Dangers In My Heart.
Makoto Furukawa
When One Punch Man first aired, I found his whole hero-for-hobby thing hilarious. Saitama can obliterate every enemy and monster he encounters, and he only needs one hit to do so. Makoto Furukawa‘s nonchalant and overly casual voice acting plays a big comedic effect on his character.
Voice acting isn’t his only career, though. Makoto Furukawa made his solo singer debut back in 2018, with his single Miserable Masquerade. He debuted his singer career under Lantis music recording company. What’s interesting is that he actually graduated from Fukuoka School of Music. But, he then quickly started his professional voice acting career as Satoshi Yoshino in Busou Chuugakusei.
When I first watched Kaguya-sama: Love is War, I was pleasantly surprised to hear his voice. Makoto Furukawa voiced Miyuki Shirogane, a typically serious character in this anime. But, when he caught off guard or in his own comfort, he would break his seriousness with a hilarious outburst or a flat tone.
Rie Takahashi
When I first watched Re: Zero, I thought I heard someone familiar. It’s almost like something was about to explode every time Emilia spoke. Well of course that’s the case, it’s Megumin’s voice actor I was hearing, Rie Takahashi.
She actually voiced a bunch of characters from other anime that I like, such as Hime from Kakushigoto and Tomo from Tomo-chan Is A Girl! I think Rie Takahashi has a wide voice range. I swear I thought Megumin, Hime, and Tomo were voiced by different people.
On top of voicing a literal idol character, Hoshino Ai from Oshi No Ko, Rie Takahasi actually has her own solo singer career. She debuted her singing career back in 2021 with her mini album, Toumei Na Fusen. Her songs are available to stream on various streaming services such as Spotify.
Seinenrider 
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