Article

My Top Ten Male Anime Voices

January 27, 2016

Voices can make or break a character in a show and are very important. I’m sure you all have your favorites, but I thought I’d share mine. I’ve noticed a theme: deep, smooth, mature male voices are my thing. I even went way back to when I was a preteen watching anime on Toonami. I prefer subtitles to English dubs, but I’ve got some English voices on this list. Feel free to provide your favorites, as well as the kind of voices you don’t like.

Darien Shields aka Tuxedo Mask

10. Darien Shields (Sailor Moon, original English dub)/ Vince Corazza
The original English dub of Sailor Moon is forever stuck in my memories. I loved Darien’s voice, even if it was a bit pompous at times. It has a smoothness to it that just makes Darien seem like a cool character and perfect boyfriend. That is how I remember him as a preteen, anyway. He’s mainly here for nostalgia reasons.

Vince Corazza, compared to others, has a much smaller voice acting list with mostly non-anime roles. He has many more live-action roles. He’s voiced Zexion (Kingdom Hearts video game series), Steve (Beyblade), Alden Jones (Braceface), and Shickadance (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective).

Ulquiorra

9. Ulquiorra (Bleach)/ Daisuke Namikawa
Ulquiorra looks like an emo kid, but his voice lends him a dark maturity that easy on the ears. I could listen to him read a book (maybe even sing a song?). His voice is the auditory equivalent of the megane for me. He’s a bit high on the list but being on this list is no easy feat.

He’s voiced Dragon King Sukuna (Kamisama Kiss), Iori Asashina (Brothers Conflict), Osaki Kaname (Hakkenden: Eight Dogs of the East), Yuichi Komura (Hiiro no Kakera), Tetsuya Sendou (Ouran High School Host Club), and Ryan (Kyou Kara Maoh!).

Sesshōmaru from Inuyasha

8. Sesshoumaru (Inuyasha, English)/David Kaye
Everyone’s favorite villain from back in the day. He’s such a bishounen character, and fans fell in love with this seemingly cold-hearted villain who learned emotions thanks to a cute child named, Rin. He’s got the cold voice down pat and, along with a few others on this list, his voice can make a girl swoon. It’s not often an English dub actor accomplishes this for me. But hats off to English voice actor David Kaye for making Sesshoumaru memorable and sexy.

Davie Kaye has voiced a wide range of anime and western cartoon or video game characters including Shinigami (Death Note), Soun Tendo (Ranma 1/2), Iron Man (Fantastic Four: World’s Greatest Heroes), Shinichi Okazaki (Nana), Treize Khushrenada (Mobile Suit Gundam Wing), and Dr. Swineheart (The Wolf Among Us video game).

Sasuke with his wife, Sakura.

7. Sasuke Uchiha (Naruto)/Noriaki Sugiyama
I usually prefer smooth, calm voices and Sasuke’s voice actor Noriaki Sugiyama does it well to match Sasuke’s calculated and cold personality. Finding the right voice actor for a character is crucial. Although in real life we can’t choose our voices, anime has some artistic leeway in finding a voice actor suitable for a character’s personality or to show something about that character. As a consequence, I tend to gravitate automatically to similar types of voices and characters. My bias for Sasuke is not only because of his personality, but the voice to match.

His voice actor, Noriaki Sugiyama has done other voices to include Uryu Ishida (Bleach), Shukui Akito (NORN9 otome game version), England (Axis Powers Hetalia), and William T. Spears (Black Butler).

Jae-ha, a dragon warrior

6. Jae-ha (Yona of the Dawn)/Junichi Suwabe
Jae-ha is my favorite of all of the dragon warriors in Yona of the Dawn. His voice is similar to Son Hak (voiced by Tomoaki Maeno), but Jae-ha gets the edge for having such a comical tone to his deep voice. It’s not as deadpan as Hak’s voice. I think this makes him a bit different than other characters in my top ten.

Characters Junichi Suwabe has voiced includes Undertaker (Black Butler), Grimmjow Jaegerjaques (Bleach), Frau (07 Ghost), Shu Koibuchi (Princess Jellyfish), Abraham Van Helsing (Code: Realize Sousei no Himegimi otome game) and Kyousuke Kuga (Prince of Stride: Alternative). He’s got a lengthy list of characters he’s played and he’s voiced several characters I love dearly. So he gets a boost up higher in the list.

Daiki Aomine

5. Daiki Aomine (Kuroko no Basuke)/ Junichi Suwabe
When I hear Aomine’s voice, I hear a self-assured man, but a lazy person who needs a challenge. Although I love Midorima the best out of all the characters in this particular anime, Aomine has the voice that stands out the most. I have a bit of a bias, clearly, since I favor Junichi Suwabe. But it’s not just about the voice actor, the character’s personality and looks also count. Aomine reminds me of a tough, but gentle big brother. It was unintentional that Junichi Suwabe would end up on this list so many times. But here he is, and I decided to leave it like that because the point of this list is to emphasize character voices while giving a shout out to the actor.

I won’t repeat roles Junichi Suwabe’s characters here. I’ll just make a public note that I plan to collect his character and drama CDs.

STARMYU Song Series -SHOW TIME 9- Itsuki Otori & Tsubasa Hiragi album

4. Hiragi Tsubasa and Otori Itsuki (STARMYU)/Daisuke Hirakawa and Junichi Suwabe
Yes, I have two people listed as number four. For this, I felt I couldn’t have one without the other. I own their mini-album and the songs are absolutely wonderful. Plus, I needed to squeeze a megane (Otori) on this list. Those couple of things put them higher on the list. But in seriousness, I love their voices whether they are speaking or singing. They are so in tune with each other, which is interesting considering their conflict as brothers and members of the Kao Council. Despite external conflicts, they really do love each other. It’s always amazing when actors sing really well, too. I also ship them as a couple (but in an alternative universe where they aren’t related). >_<. I’m glad Japan has character CDs. Sure it’s a ploy to get fans to spend more money, but it’s worth it. These guys, along with my number one choice, are the reason I’m suddenly obsessing over character CDs. Oh, and my apologies, this makes Junichi Sawabe’s third appearance on this list!

I can go on and on about Junichi Suwabe (again) but I’ll just mention Daisuke Hirakawa who has quite a few roles under his belt. Daisuke Hirakawa’s voices include Shizuma Mayuzumi (Prince of Stride: Alternative), Natsumezaka Shiki (Dance with Devils), Yoichi Tanaka (Ao Haru Ride), Rei Ryugazaki (Free! Eternal Summer), Rei Sagara (Love Stage!!), and Aozora Hayato (Starry Sky).

Don’t let Vegeta’s (right) short stature fool you.

3. Vegeta (Dragonball Z, English)/Christopher Sabat
Vegeta’s voice is so entrenched in my head. I can hear him when I think Goku’s real name, “Kakarot!” Vegeta’s deep, gravelly voice matches his very masculine personality and features. There’s a fan video counting all the times “Kakarot” is said in DBZ (mostly by Vegeta). Vegeta will forever be unforgettable along with the entire show for influencing my interest in anime. Vegeta is one of my favorite characters all around.

Christopher Sabat voiced several Dragon Ball characters including Piccolo, Yamcha, and Mr. Popo. He’s also voiced Ayame Sohma (Fruits Basket), Woermann (Attack on Titan), Marquis Haruka (Snow White with the Red Hair), Ukyo Asahina (Brothers Conflict), Goro Sasabe (Free! Eternal Summer), and Ritsu Kasanoda (Ouran High School Host Club).

Spike Spiegel

2. Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop)/Steve Blum
It’s clear I like smooth, deep voices but Steve Blum’s voice acting for Spike Spiegel is the archetype (in my opinion) for the suave action hero. Yes, others have come before him, but none are as memorable. He’s played a lot of other characters I’m familiar with, but had no idea Blum voiced so many. Blum is an excellent voice actor. No one else can be Spike.

Steve Blum has a long list of characters using his voice. It’s clear this guy knows what he’s doing. Characters Blum’s voice include Sub-Zero, Reptile, Bo’ Rai Cho (Mortal Kombat X video game), Jake Martinez (Tiger & Bunny), Zabuza Momochi and Orochimaru (Naruto), Darcia (Wolf’s Rain), Wolverine (X-Men Legends video game), Starscream (Transformers: Dark of the Moon video game), and Sinamoi (Dead Island video game).

Lindo Tachibana

1. Lindo Tachibana (Dance with Devils)/Wataru Hatano
When I first heard Lindo’s voice in the Dance with Devils anime, I was shocked. In fact, it took me awhile to warm up to his out-of-place voice. But now I really love his voice. Perhaps I like his voice a little too much since I bought his character songs, the Dance with Devils OST (which features Wataru Hatano), and other music by Wataru. His voice is very deep for a character in a reverse harem anime (at least from what I’ve watched so far). His voice is fitting for an older, antagonistic character and not the protective older brother. This goes against what I said earlier about a voice matching a character, but here me out. I’m not even a fan of Lindo. He annoyed me a lot. BUT, Lindo is the reason I love character CDs so much. I love everything about Lindo’s voice (especially his character songs) that I’m willing to make Lindo the exception. His songs are replayed often when I listen to music. That’s why a character I don’t even like is number one.

Wataru Hatano voiced Murasaki (Hamatora series), Jin Aoi (Bonjour Sweet Love Patisserie), Sakuya Sazanami (STARMYU), Haruse (07 Ghost), and many more. I suggest checking out his music, to include songs for Dance with Devils.

1 Comment

Somehow I knew Jae-ha would be on this list! I’m lovin’ that anime, and the manga just keeps getting better! I watched the dub for Inuyasha, and I always loved Sesshy’s voice! But let me tell you, when I went to re-watch the Final Act recently and noticed some not so subtle cast changes, it was a whole different story. He also becomes a lot more talkative in the Final Act, strangely enough! And who doesn’t love Rin, amirite?
And I can’t imagine the voice actor for Sesshy playing Shinichi from Nana, he has such a baby voice there!

Ilana Jan 30, 2016