j1m0ne's blog

Let me just say – I don’t like yaoi/BL/whatever the proper term is. Not a single bit. At all. I don’t like bishounen either. I hate Prince of Tennis. I like guys to look like guys, which is why I think Johnny Depp is hot and why all boybands suck. I like yuri though. Don’t ask why, it’s just a preference….

The criteria I listed for female seiyuu almost entirely goes out of the window for the guys cos:
1. Voice
-Guys sound like guys and that’s it. They don’t do girls voices for obvious reasons, and I really don’t think I want to hear their attempts either. The episode of ARIA The NATURAL where Hiro Nojima did a female version of Akatsuki gave nightmares for a week ^^;
2. Personality
-This one is still valid, but a bit useless for me cos a lot of the media available for male seiyuu don’t really appeal to me, and focus on ppl I’m not too hot about (Sakurai Takahiro, Hoshi Soichiro, Ishida Akira etc).
3. Singing Ability
-Please. Spare. My. Ears. I think I can count on one hand the number of male seiyuu whose singing doesn’t spontaneously cause my ears to bleed.

Top 10 Male Seiyuu (no particular order)
01. Koyasu Takehito

-So his voice is probably as limited as Kaneda Tomoko’s, but he makes good use of it. Koyasu’s got comedy timing that is unrivalled. All he needs to do is open his mouth and I’m already bursting out with laughter. Fool from Kaleidostar, Kuroyan from Yakitate, Aburatsubo from Mahou Tsukai Tai and the majestic Illpalazzo-sama from Excel Saga are examples of his comic genius. At the same time Koyasu can excel at roles that require a bit more seriousness – the likes of Keiki (12 Kingdoms), Touga (Utena) and Zechs Marquise (Gundam Wing) spring to mind.

02. Konishi Katsuyuki

-Probably the first male seiyuu I really, really, really liked. All thanks to Ayashi no Ceres‘ Touya… it was one of the first few anime I watched (it’s a bit rubbish come to think of it). He looks and sounds like a guy \[^o^]/ Most ppl will know him for his recent roles as Sergaaay in Mai-Otome, Usui Kenta in Karin, Komui in D.Gray-man and Kamin in Gurren Lagann. His list of credits in the last 5-6 years is pretty mind-boggling.

03. Nakata Jouji

-Gets my pick over Wakamoto Norio (Yeah he’s good but it’s tiresome). They both possess very distinct voices that you’d be able to recognise from twenty thousand leagues under the sea. Why? Giroro. Alucard. The Count of Monte Cristo >> Onsokumaru.

04. Okiayu Ryotaro

There was a point early on where I kept mixing Okiayu and Suwabe Junichi up for some reason. I solved it by thinking ‘Suwabe-ugly. Okiayu-ugly, but not as ugly as Suwabe’. Again, he’s been around for quite a long time and built up an impressive list of credits but I will always love his hilarious laugh as Shigure in Fruits Basket most. Oh, and he’s Mitsui in Slam Dunk, Scar in Fullmetal Alchemist, Dark in D.N.Angel etc etc.

05. Mizushima Takahiro

Probably the newest and youngest male seiyuu on my list. Nicknamed Daichuu (his given name 大宙 can be read that way), he’s not had a lot of roles. In fact, I’m not sure anyone would know most of the stuff he’s done – the one I really liked was Christopher Armalite in Scrapped Princess. There’s also Takeru from KonoMini, Kouta from Stellvia and Sasakura from Bartender but this season Daichuu’s got the lead roles as Nagasumi in Seto no Hanayome and Romeo in Romeo X Juliet.

06. Seki Tomokazu

-So he shot himself in the foot by revealing important My-HiME plotlines a few years ago ^^; But Seki’s arguably the most versatile male seiyuu around – I remember hearing him as Junpei in Those Who Hunt Elves and thought WTF, that is so NOT Seki Tomokazu. He gets so many lead roles, and deservedly so. Ultra-talented dude, with a really lively personality too.

07. Seki Toshihiko

A 20-year industry veteran with an impressive CV (Mousse in Ranma, Duo Maxwell in Gundam Wing, Legato Bluesummers in Trigun, Sanzo in Saiyuki). Seki’s probably one of the few male seiyuu whose radio shows I make an effort to catch; he’s very likeable. And of course, Kobayashi Yu managed to unknowingly insult him once on a Higurashi radio show by describing him as being a dandy.

08. Yoshino Hiroyuki

Generic male voice No.1 perhaps, but the fact that he was Pete Pumps in Ginban Kaleidoscope – probably one of the most unintentionally hilarious characters ever, earns him many points from me. Also Hibiki Tokai in Vandread, Z in Kiba, Roa in Tsukihime + way too many BL drama CD roles for my liking, lol. Pretty sharp looking bloke too.

09. Namikawa Daisuke

He looks like a male escort (or maybe a transvestite) with his well-plucked eyebrows but of course, that’s not the reason I like him. I’d already taken quite a liking to Namikawa when I watched Onegai Twins but it was his performance as stupid superhero Dokkoida that did it for me. Since then he’s moved from strength to strength with loads of great roles; Koyuki in BECK, Benawi in Utaware, Fye in Tsubasa + too many others to mention. His frequent appearances in Koyama Tsuyoshi’s blog have made him more endearing too ^^;

10. Onosaka Masaya

Oh, what’s that serious expression on his face in the pic above??? But hey, he’s wearing an extremely loud shirt to make up for it. Onosaka is one of the more popular Osakan male seiyuu around – he also has a coupla big name roles that a few would recognise – Vash the Stampede in Trigun, Takakura-senpai in Mahou Tsukai Tai, Kinnikuman and of course; he’s one of the three mainstays of the Moetan CDs (with Yukarin & Ueda Yuji) and gets to display his woeful grasp of English. He gets to reprise the role in the anime version this summer too.

Bubbling under:
-Ono Daisuke: A new favourite of mine. He’s quite cute too y’know…..
-Suzumura Kenichi: Divides opinions. I used to think he was incredibly bland, but I’ve warmed up to him quite a bit since Noein, Gintama and Ouran.
-Tsuda Kenjiro: Not done a whole lot, but what he’s done I liked.
-Kiuchi Hidenobu: Kenzou Tenma, Jose in Gunslinger Girl & now Hei in DtB.
-Kishio Daisuke: Suginami in Da Capo ^_^