We all love a good vice actor right? (Typo and it stays!) They are a huge part of any anime. Do you guys also secretly want to be voice actors?
Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like the blogs I read tend to go on much more about women seiyuus than men. I’m not at all complaining mind you, I’ve done my own share of gushing over the lovely ladies who voice some of my favorite characters. I just think this Friday I would like to give the gents a turn.
Some people are under the mistaken impression that voice acting is simple. That all you need is a great sounding voice and maybe some decent pronunciation and off you go. But you cannot overestimate the acting part of voice acting. A good performance can carry a show and elevated a character while a bad one can sink it. Just look at some of the horrible dubs from pas decades to see just how much impact voice acting has. You can render a great show unwatchable.
So today, I picked five talented actors who’ve not only given some great performances but have also voiced a lot of my favorite characters. In somewhat random order…















5. Junichi Suwabe
A voice actor and singer, Suwabe san has established himself as a fairly renown voice actor over the past 20 years. Starting his career out as Kouji in the classic Great Teacher Onizuka, he’s gone on to voice a ton of great characters, here are just a few:
- Aizawa – My Hero Academia
- Oda – Bungou Stray Dogs
- Van Helsing – Code Realize
- Tetsuo – Interviews with Monster Girls
- Archer – Fate series
- Greed – Fullmetal Alchemist
- Aomine – Kuroko no Basuke (why do I have a feeling he’s already someone’s favorite voice actor…)
- Undertaker – Black Butler
- Matoba – Natsume Yuujinchou
- Lunette – Pandora Hearts
- Dandy – Space Dandy
- Ren – Uta no prince Sama
- Fuuma – X
- Toji – Yowamushi Pedal
- oh, and let’s not forget Victor in Yuri on ice….
Not to mention roles in Bleach, Danganronpa, Daily lives of High School Boys, Barakamon, Fairy Tail, Gangsta, Hellsing, Hyouka, Gundam SEED, One Piece, Prince of Tennis and I am skipping a ton.
It may not be all that clear from my list but this man can make his voice sound so commanding while remaining soft spoken. He has something imposing in his tone that makes him great for characters that are supposed to have some form of authority. Really, go see this guy’s resume. I’m willing to bet one of your faves is on there.7
4. Mamoru Miyano
This guy started his career voicing video games at the age of 7, no wonder he’s such a pro. He has also had quite a bit of success as a singer but it’s his impressive resume of anime characters that lands him on this list. All these guys are masters with huge amounts of roles to their names so I’m doing my best to narrow it down to my very favorites but it’s hard to pick, you know!
- Ignis – FFXV
- Dazai – Bungou Stray Dogs
- Taichi – Chihayafuru
- Light – Death Note
- Kida – Durarara!!
- Rin – Free!
- Ling – Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
- Chrollo – Hunter x Hunter
- Fushimi – K
- Tamaki – Ouran Host Club
- Ryuuji – Persona 5
- Fuwa – Skip Beat
- Death the Kid – Soul Eater
- Ichinose – Uta no Prince Sama
- oh and seems he’s still getting work as Okabe – Steins;Gate
With notable roles in Ajin, Blame!, Cardfight, D-Gray Man, Days, Death Parade, Eureka 7, Gatchaman, Inazuma Eleven, Inu x Boku, Gundam 00, Overlord, Pokemon, Tokyo Ghoul, Vampire Knight, Wolf’s RainYowamushi, Yuri! on Ice…Again, I’m skipping like two thirds of his portfolio.
This man has a lovely deep background timber to his voice. Like an auditory aftertaste that lingers and brings a lot of depth to the sound, and yet his actual voice is light and clear enough to play younger characters. Look at this range. He seems to have done a lot of shows with Junichi, I wonder if they’re friends.













3. Nobuhiko Okamoto
A multiple Seiyuu Award winner (they may all be actually…) I feel like this guy just seems so sweet and positive. Every time I’ve seen this guy he was hyped up and cheery and just so much fun to watch. Like a sweet overgrown kid, which makes his roles that much more surprising…Here are a very few:
- Haeng-dae and Shin-ah – Yona of the Dawn (I haven’t seen this yet but it’s been warmly recommended by many people I trust so I’m just going to assume I will love it)
- Rin – Ao no Exorcist
- Bakugou – My Hero Academia
- Kazuma – Cheer Boys!
- Kominato, Ryousuke – Ace of Diamond
- Mikoshiba – Nozaki-kun (ok – this one kinda matches the guy)
- Nishi – Haikyuu!! (I never really talk about it but Haikyuu!! is one of my all time favorite series, top 3 and Nishi istied for my favorite chara)
- Takumi – Maid Sama
- Mizuki – Kamissama Kiss
- Saotome – Seraph of the End
- Tooru – Shiki
- Accelerator – A certain magical index
- and embodying my current fave Karma – Assassination Classroom
He’s also been featured in March comes in like a lion, Bakuman, Welcome to the Ballroom, Daily Life of Highschool Boys, Durarara!!, Is It Wrong To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon?, Kill la Kill, Log Horizon, Food Wars, Starmyu, Tiger & Bunny.Of course like a billion more
He has this way of inserting an almost unnerving calm in his voice. He can keep his voice very light and irreverent yet sound menacing and serious. I mean Mikoshiba! I have a huge soft spot for casual sounding voice actors.
2. Takuya Eguchi
Compared to the other men on this list, Takuya is a relative newcommer having been in the business for less than a decade yet he’s managed to wrack up a few juicy roles in that time and hopefully his career is just starting out. A multitalented artist, he’s also written and launched an autobiographical manga called Eguchi Takuya no Gainen Planet, which is just adorable.
- Nero – 91 Days (I really loved this performance!)
- Martini – Cocktail Prince: Making Love! (making this list is the first and only time I have ever heard of this – the MAL rating is 5.82 and I’m thinking it’s probably my favorite thing in the universe!)
- Maki – Ace of Diamond
- Kazuya – Gosick
- Yuuji – Haikyuu!!
- Nagi- IDOLiSH7 (Again have not seen this but firmly belive I will love it!)
- Mitsurugi – Konosuba
- Shinji – Kuroko no Basuke
- Hachiman – SNAFU (I just like that word so much)
- William Twining – Devils and Realist
You can also hear his work in Binan Koukou, Baby Steps, D-Gray Man, Danganronpa, Darling and the Franxx, Inazuma Eleven, Ino x Boku, Gundam AGE, Ore Monogatori! of course much more.
This guy sounds…well actually he doesn’t ever really sound the same so I’m not sure how to describe it…OK let’s go another way, this guys looks like this:
Yup he’s absolutely beautiful. I almost feel sorry that we don’t get to see him while he works…
1. Daisuke Ono
All right I cheat. You already know this about me… I’ve decided to splitétie my number one among the two hosts of Dear Girl Stories and frequent collaborators, Ono and Kamiya. I just couldn’t pick between them and you will soon find out why…
- Sei – Barakamon
- Shunsuke – Charlotte (I actually really liked this performance)
- Atsushi – Days
- Shizuo – Durarara!!
- Kokkuri-san – Gugure! Kokkuri-san
- Joutarou – JoJo
- Akira and Kurou – K
- Hades – Kamigami of the Mullets
- Fafnir – Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid
- Midorima – Kuroko no Basuke
- Sebastian – Black Butler
- Sinbad – Magi
- Yuuya – Muv-Luv
- Koizumi – The Melancholy of Haruhi et al (in my opinion the best of the cast)
- Aoi – Natsume Yuujinchou (one of my favorite charas even if he shows up for just one episode…)
- Daikoku – Noragami
- Jack – Pandora Hearts
- Hagiyoshi – Saki
- Erwin – Attack on Titan
A little taste of his other roles: 11 eye, 91 days, Air, Blue Exorcist, B-Project, Bleach, Brothers Conflict, Drifters, Gantz:0, IDOLiSH7, Higurashi, Karneval, Kino, Minami-ke, NTR, Norn9, Osomatsu-san, Seraph of the End, Persona 4, Planetarian, Saiki, Prince of Tennis, Tamako Market, Star Blazers, Uta no Prince Sama, Working!!!, Yamada-kun. Ok I actually skipped most of what this guys done. He works A LOT!
As you can see, this man has a nice rich deep voice and tends to go for calm occasionally emotionless character or badasses! I mean how could I leave him out. I couldn’t and I didn’t!
1. Hiroshi Kamiya
The other half of my dynamic voice actor duo, Kamiya won “Best Personality” at the 3rd Seiyuu awards (among other recognition) which really intrigues me for some reason. He has been working consistently in the field since 1992, so you can just imagine how long his credits list is. Here are a few:
- Mephisto – Blue Exorcist
- Kou – Arakawa
- Koyomi – Bakemonogatori
- Ranpo – Bungou Stray Dogs
- Sanada – Ace of Diamond
- Izaya – Durarara!! (yup the voice actors for Shizuo and Izaya are friends…)
- Shinji – Fate series
- Nozomu, Mikoto and Kouji Kumeta – Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
- Takeda – Haikyu!!
- Balder – Kamigami no Asobi
- Akashi – Kuroko no Basuke
- Michael – Devils and realist
- Yato – Noragami
- Levi – Attack on Titan (yup Levi and Erwin are friends…)
- Natsume!!!! – Natsume Yuujinchou
You may also know him from Angel Beats, Beatless, Binan, Break Blade, Brothers Conflict, Digimon, Honey and Clover, Inazuma Eleven, Karneval, Macross F, Gundam 00, AGE, SEED, One Piece, Prison School, Saiki, Towa no Quon, Working!!, and just way too many to list.
Try to imagine me realizing the Natsume is voice by the same actor as Izaya, Levi and Yato!!!! I am still picking little pieces of brain off my ceiling!
So what do all these characters have in common? Certainly not their voice. This man is a vocal chameleon. And he certainly seems to know how to pick a role. This is a really interesting career and I’m going to have to keep an eye on him since he obviously chooses anime I like.
So, do you have a favorite voice actor. Or maybe just a favorite performance? Do you go out of your way for certain voice actors? Let me know who I should discover next!
Yeah, I naturally tend to pay more attention to the ladies, where Kana Ueda (Rin Tohsaka, Saki Miyanaga, Momo from Girls und Panzer), and Aoi Yuuki (Madoka, Takakamo Shizuno, Tsuyu) have been my top two favorites for a long time.
On the guys’ side, though, I have to give a nod to Koichi Yamadera, a phenomenally talented VA who tends to get overlooked by Western anime fans because a lot of his most notable work is in older anime and dubs of American movies. I first heard him as Jubei Kibagami in Ninja Scroll, and his other awesome anime characters include Spike in Cowboy Bebop, Togusa in Ghost in the Shell, and more recently Sukeroku in Rakugo Shinju. Outside anime he was the Japanese voice of Donald Duck for a while, played several other notable Disney roles like Beast and the Genie – have a listen to his performance of Friend Like Me – and has dubbed a ton of live action movies from Lawrence of Arabia to Austin Powers (where he played all of Mike Myers’ characters).
Interesting – didn’t he also voice the monokubs? (bane of my existence admittedly, but that’s not his fault…)
Looked it up and yeah, he did. I don’t know anything about Danganronpa though, so that isn’t one that would have crossed my radar. Never seen or played any of them.
The games sort of ate me for a few months at the begining of the year. There was an impact on me…
Ooo some sexy choices here my dear I loved seeing Mamoru on here, he stole my heart as Ichinose from uta prince sama…. oh my god. I’m rubbish with Japanese names. But loved you put the actor who plays /noya from haikyuu. I love his voice really bubbly and encouraging. I’ll have to make my own post for this hehe
oh yeah Okamoto is amazing and he’s doing a wonderful job as Karma
Junichi Suwabe (Surprise right), Mamoru Miyano and Daisuke Ono are all voice actor I absolutely adore, I can also add Tatsuhisa Suzuki (Takao) to that list.
Makoto! Interesting!
Yes! Tatsuhisa also does Makoto voice and Viscount of Druitt in Black Butler
Boo, no Tomokazu Sugita.
But in all seriousness, great post and even greater title.
Gin…Yosuke..switch – Yeah I guess I gotta add him
Ooh, some big names for sure. I only mostly know male voice actors (since one of the big Binan Koukou jokes is that famous seiyuu voice monsters of the week as well as the student council), but can’t really pick out a seiyuu even if you paid me to. I sometimes try to guess who voiced what character and fail miserably…
I’ve already mentioned my favourite is Yuichiro Umehara, so it’s saddening to know I won’t be hearing him for a while. As for other voices, Tomoaki Maeno and Akira Ishida have been mentioned in this comment section and they’re great at doing a range of voices.
I thought Umehara was working a lot at the moment. He’s in Franxx right? (I’m not watching it but I still can’t escape it)
Yeah, he’s Goro in that and he had really been on the rise in the past few seasons. However, he got diagnosed with some autoimmune disease last month and subsequently put himself on indefinite hiatus, which makes the status of his future roles uncertain. (I know he was meant to be in Planet With next season, for one thing.)
I didn’t know that. It’s aweful he’s still young
So many great choices on your list and in the comments! For a couple of other names, maybe Tomoaki Maeno Tomoaki and Kenichi Suzumura? They both can pull off quite a range of characters, from the cheerful to the cold.
Daisuke Ono, all the way. One of the few voice actors I remember the name of and actively seek out anime that use him because I cannot get enough of that voice.
Great list though and I now will hopefully remember some other names.
Wait..You like Sebastien’s voice actor? Who would’ve thought…
I know. Total shocker.
Ooh, great list this. When I arrived at number one, I was confused: no Hisoshi Kamiya? How is this possible? I continue reading and it all makes sense… (If you’d left him off, I’d have had to say: “I’m in despair. Your lack of Hiroshi Kamiya has left me in despair!” But I was spared.)
Daisuke Ono’s great, too, though. I just love his voice, it’s sort of calming and comforting (if he plays the right roles). You should maybe watch, just for fun, Shirokuma Café. Hiroshi Kamiya plays Pengin-san, and Ono plays Llama. There are tons of cameos in this show. Miyano, for example, plays the leader of a group of porcupine idols. (If you don’t click with the gentle humour, though, the show will probably bore you.)
Artemis mentions Ishida Akira. I started remembering his name when I watched Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju. Ishida’s pefromance as Yakumo was stunning – both on and off stage. While the second season was running I realised he was also voicing the talking smartpad in Classicaloid. Gave me chuckle.
I’d have to add Namikawa Daisuke: Hisoka (Hunter X Hunter), Kazehaya Shota (Kimi ni Todoke), Squeeler (Shin Sekai Yori)… Quite a range, too, no?
Oh man…that is a range. I really am going to have to update this list sooner rather than later.
I’m a little afraid to tackle the ladies. I’ve a feeling people will really not appreciate me leaving anyone off that list
I love a good VA post! I love Ono in particular from this list! He is one of my all time favourites! I have way too many favourites if I’m honest haha!
Oooohhh. Can’t wait to see your list..nudge nudge
Haha I’ve actually been wanting to do a top VA list for a while (narrowing it down is going to be hard though xD) so hopefully it’ll be coming soon…wink wink
A really satisfying list, and the only problem I have with it is that it’s too short. In my book there should be some place for Akira Ishida and Takahiro Sakurai, but there’s only so many you can fit in a top 5. Unless you fit in more.
I know…the comments have made me realize how incomplete it is. But it was soooo long to write…
Jeez, I only just found my Waifu and you’ve got a whole harem!
Oh my friend yu have no idea…There’s sections and subsections and levels. It’s a whole production
Haha, well you have it all figured out
You pretty much listed all of my favorites–especially Hiroshi Kamiya. He’s voiced so many of my favorite characters, and I’ll watch just about anything if he’s in it! It always amazes me how he has such a recognizable and consistent voice, yet he still manages to make each of his characters feel feel incredibly distinct (I still cannot wrap my head around the fact that Natsume and Araragi are voiced by the same person!) As far as voice actors not on this list, the only one I can think of is Kōki Uchiyama. I think he has a great voice and I really admire his work–he plays Yuri Plisetski (Yuri!!! on ICE), Tomura Shigaraki (My Hero Academa), and Ruth (The Ancient Magus’ Bride), among many other excellent roles.
Ohhh Ruth did have an interesting voice. Well another one on the list (i think Yurio’s character design may have distracted me from the voice acting…)
This is awesome! I love that I’m now to the point where I can recognize some voices. Also that guy is cute and has an awesome voice… Whew… Life has certainly gifted some.
I would be jealous but somehow I’m ok with it…
Hiroshi Kamiya is a god!
…
So much so that even if you say harem, I’d have to include him. Reading interviews from this guy make me so happy! He really nails the actor part, just as much as he does the voice! This guy is the unforgettable voice behind my favorite character ever! (Araragi of course)
The only other super obvious one, off the top of my head, is Kana Hanazawa… cus seeing her play all those innocent roles-
Then seeing her play NADEKO, and a whole bunch of sadists? It’s fantastic!
…
Kinda sad I couldn’t answer anything besides two of the most loved voices in anime… I guess I still have a long way to go!
Kamiya is amazing. He adapts so well to each role that despite how much I love him and follow his carrer – I’m always surprised to find out a particular character is played by him…
Great pick for Daisuke Ono. He’s done a lot of great work.
He is coming up as a favorite among my readers!
Nice. He is certainly talented. I got to think about my favorite voice actors.
Two on your list are on my list of fav seiyus too! ^^ Takuya Eguchi’s voice is just too sexy for words in otome games xD and Junichi Suwabe is really freakin talented – I couldn’t believe at first that he was voicing the cold Van Helsing (in CR) then transitioned to the ever flamboyant Jae-ha in Akatsuki no Yona! ♥ Also, great post! We really should appreciate more male VAs. ^_^
I’m glad you liked it and I would love to know your list as well. I have some serious feels of otome/ VN voices…
All incredibly talented voice actors for sure!
I think my favourite male is probably Nakata Jouji, for his deep voice that we hear a lot for villainous / badass characters – like Alucard in Hellsing. He also does that sophisticated gentleman voice for characters like Nyanta in Log Horizon.
Ohhh another good one!
You’re right, this list is rigged . . . but I can’t complain since these actors are total GODS. To this day, one voice that I never get tired of hearing (be it harem anime or not) is Yuuki Kaji. Eren in Attack on Titan, Shion in No.6, Satoru in From the New World, Kenma in Haikyuu!!, Katsuhira in Kiznaiver, and so many more. The guy’s got a voice like butter that makes the young boys actually sound young and the older gents very masculine. Plus, he sings.
That’s an impressive picture layout you’ve got there, too—must’ve taken a lot of time to put together!
Thank you – It Took Forever!!!
and with these comments – I’m realizing I’m going to have to redo the list pretty much immediately.
why oh hy must I exist in a world filled with such talent!
I am fond of the voice actress who shouted “Oneesama!” all the time in A Certain Scientific Railgun, Satomi Arai. https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=26718 She’s a very experienced voice actress with a huge list of roles and currently runs her own voice talent agency. She’s also married with a son, so she’s not available, but she is very attractive and accomplished.
Another voice actress I enjoy is the one who did the voice for Revy 2Hands in Black Lagoon, Megumi Toyoguchi. Lots of roles playing sexy women in anime. https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/people.php?id=794 Lots of work in her resume and a very smoky voice. You would know her as the voice of Winry Rockbell in Full Metal Alchemist.
Yes – a lot of bloggers have favorite voice actress lists – those are popular
Likewise, I’m a huge Ono Daisuke fan. My voice actor harem would also be incomplete without Ishida Akira.
Byakuya and Kagari… I’m giong to have to redo this list now…
No harem king Matsuoka, disliked and unfollowed D:
it was bound to happen….
Honestly, he’s had a great career b7ut the man never voices any of my Husbandos…
True, since your husbando is my type! Hohoho~
oh my…
What a great list! Funnily enough the title of this post made me think this was going in another direction but it has inspired an idea of my own for an anime tag that I think will be fun and want to do and share with the ani-blogging community!
Oh well I can’t wait! You usually come up with really interesting lists – I love them
It’s amazing the amount of voices people can do!! Great choices! 💖💖🍻
Thank you!!!
I was really proud of chosing a voice actor based on his looks – seems progressive(?) of me
Ha ha! Well, it’s definitely nice to pin the face to the voices! Voice actors don’t get the “face time” they deserve! 👍👍
Great list of some great bois, but you’ll have to forgive me, because I’ll be stealing this idea now and reverse the genders instead.
well I already have my list! I bet they’re different though