Thought it might be nice to discuss the ones we actually like, since we already have one for the ones we don't.
So, who are yours?
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Female : Orikasa Fumiko
Pacifica in Scrapped Princess
Rukia in Bleach
Miss Valentine in One Piece
Kirara in Samurai 7
…Male : Seki Tomokazu
Kyo in Fruits Basket
Van Fanel in Escaflowne
Touji in Evangelion
Murai in GTO
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Female:
Tanaka Rie - She has sweet voice plus she can sing well ^^
The voice actor of Kagura in Speed GrapherMale:
Koyasu Takehito
Souichirou Hoshi -
Hmmm…so many choices, there are. It's hard to settle on just one or two.
For male VAs, I'm thinking it'd have to be Yuji Ueda. He's incredibly versatile, and I don't think I've even once heard him in a bad role. I have, of late, also grown really fond of Noriaki Sugiyama, and would really like to see him (er, hear him) getting more roles, though that doesn't seem too likely since he's currently got a major role in two long-running series.
Female VAs...are harder. The majority of Japanese female VAs honestly sound pretty generic to me, and a lot of the really good English female VAs I've heard often end up cast in roles they're really not very good at. However, I'd say that I still think, looking at both sides of the ocean, that Laura Bailey and Ayako Kawasumi are both excellent exceptions to their respective rules. Both combine versatility with true talent.
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kyaaa!
I have quite a number of favorites, actually. Let's see…
For the male seiyuu, I love:
01 Miki Shin'ichirou. Loved him for ages, but even more so now, after lending his voice to FMP's Kurz Weber and Bleach's Urahara Kisuke.
02 Hirata Hiroaki. Of course, around these parts, we've come to know him as Sanji. But he does an equally beautiful job everywhere else, but especially as Sha Gojyo in Gensoumaden Saiyuki/Reload/Gunlock.
03 Onosaka Masaya. He's done quite a few roles, and yeah, he's most probably known for his Vash the Stampede, but most memorable to me is his Sendo Takeshi from Hajime no Ippo. Oooohhh…I just melted whenever he spoke in his all determined, fiery, spirited voice. :wub: And no, I'm not a fan of PoT the anime series, but since he's Momo-chan, I went ahead and got the epsiodes anyway. Oh, his character songs, too.
04 Rikiya Koyama. Also another memorable guy from Hajime no Ippo. He played Takamura to perfection. Anyone else who attempt to re-do/dub his work is doomed to failure.
05 Okiayu Ryutarou. Not limited to, but has such a knack for playing villains. And he's got one of the best singing voices ever. I'm glad he's Kaku.
06 Ueda Yuuji. He's just good. Very versatile.
Other honorable mentions include Miyamoto Mitsuru, Konishi Katsuyuki (who proved his worth by lending his talents to Asano Keigo, Bleach's relentless comic relief, after playing roles like Samurai Deeper's Kyo/Kyoshihiro and the insipid Tooya from Ayashi no Ceres) and Ohtsuka Yoshitada (whom I loved as Sendo Akira and Ni jen Yi…he's always had such a distinctive quality in his voice).
For female seiyuu, my faves are:
01 Touma Yumi. I loved her as Urd. Hell, I love her in anything. I am totally addicted to her speaking/singing voice. I collected all her albums and her songs are a staple in my daily playlist.
02 Yamaguchi Yuriko. I just love her. I do.
03 Iwao Junko. Talk about versatility. She can pull off anything. And she can really sing.
There's also Tomizawa Mitchie, Neya Michiko and Kakazu Yumi (who is quite exceptional, since I usually stay away from the smaller, more high pitched voices).
Ooh…I haven't named any English voice actors, but I think a mention for Wendee Lee is in order. She was absolutely flawless as Cowboy Bebop's Faye Valentine! She even did a much, much better job than Megumi Hayashibara. Actually, over all, Bebop was better dubbed than in the original Japanese, don't you think? That never happens, but I guess this was a good exception.
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Hmmm… I have several..
Bin Shimada (Foxy, Wapol): a great, humorous voice.
Juurouta Kosugi (Arlong, Scorpion Man, Asuma (Naruto), Allen (MAR), Xavier the 3rd (Champloo)): I just love the way his voice sounds, and the way he pronounces words.. and because of Arlong, I can recognize him everytime he does a laugh. He tends to go HAAAAAAA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!
Takehito Koyasu (Aokiji, Ilpallazo): Just a really great VA. His voice can sound all calm and cool, and menacing and crazy, etc.
Unshou Ishizuka (Kuina's dad, Zabuza (Naruto), "The Saw" Manzou (Champloo), Kukai (Flame of Recca), Quent Yaiden (Wolf's Rain), Jet Black (Cowboy Bebop)): Just another great voice actor.
There's a lot more I like, I'll post them later.
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Shin'ichirou Miki all the way. Just… hot, man. Also love Ueda Yuuji (I love his singing in Suboshi's song from Fushigi Yuugi) and Ishida Akira (voices a lot of my favorite characters, like Aracd from Megami Kouhosei and Fisheye from Sailormoon). I was in love with Koyasu Takehito in middle school and used to put pictures of him all over my lab reports in my science classes. O_o.; Yamaguchi Kappei's always fun, and Tanaka Mayumi is just awesome.
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Male:
1. Okiayu Ryoutarou –- Tezuka-buchou ownz me. Period. And Okiayu also voiced Scar from FMA and Kuchiki Byakuya from Bleach. <332. Kiuchi Hidenobu–- Dr. Kenzo Tenma from MONSTER and Oshitari Yuushi from PoT. Sultry, smooth, and heavenly. I didn't know Kansai-ben could sound so sexy... sighs
3. Konishi Katsuyuki –- Kajimoto Takahisa from PoT, Asano Keigo from Bleach, Agatsuma Soubi from Loveless, Fulle from Scrapped Princess (sobs), Toshiki from GetBackers. Teh smex.
4. Miki Shinichirou –- Who doesn't know him?
5. Nakai Kazuya –- Zoro's seiyuu. Perfect voice for the swordsman.
6. Moriyama Eiji –- Tenimyu's Momo-chan and Anipuri's Ibu Shinji. It's not his voice, though it's quite good, it's his face. XD
Female:
1. Tanaka Mayumi –- Luffy's seiyuu. A-frickin'-mazing.2. Ikue Ohtani –- Chopper and Pikachu's momma. huggles Cute, cute, cute. Adorable to boot!
There's quite an imbalance there... Hm.
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For American voice actors, I like Sparky Thornton, Steve blum, Wendee Lee, and Michael McConnohie (Schwartzwald's voice, and CAPTAIN GORDON, DEFENDER OF EARTH!)
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Starting from my fave:
Hirotaka Suzuoki - Tenshinhan, Kakyouin, Saito, Murakami, Bright, etc. The best deep voice ever.
Norio Wakamoto - The baddest of asses. Played Cell, Hol Horse, Gambino, Rugal, Oswald Lisker, M. Bison, and so on…. also my pick for Franky.
Juurouta Kosugi - Another deep voice. Played Elegen, Jotaro, Arlong, and Hakaider.
Matsuo Ginzo - The original Smoker. Just had a great feel. May he rest in peace.
Toshiyuki Morikawa - One VERSATILE guy. Played Ener, Hacchi, Ryu (Alpha series), Griffith, Naraku, and much more.
Also: Lex Lang, David Kaye, Shigeru Chiba, Mayumi Tanaka, Ako Miyama, Janyse Jaud, Kappei Yamaguchi, Monster Maetsuka, Rikiya Koyama, and Youko Soumi.
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yasuo yamada-original lupin 3rd voice
nobuyo oyama-doraemon voice
ooshi78
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Hmmm, for male I'll have to go with:
Seki Tomokazu– Van from Escaflowne, Chichiri from Fushigi Yuugi, Dee from Fake, and others that Roman mentioned (those there are just the ones I know him from). He's got an amazingly versatile voice, plus he does both drama (Van) and comedy (Dee) extremely well.
Takehito Koyasu: Rezo from Slayers, Hanataga from Saber Marionette J, Il Palazzo from Excel Saga, Touga from Revolutionary Girl Utena, Aokiji from One Piece, and many, many others. Another one with a wide range, from straight drama (Rezo, Touga) to some of the goofiest voice work I've ever heard in my life (Hanataga), and now with Aokiji has risen another notch in my esteem; doing a straight performance but altering his voice to the point where I actually had to listen to it again to be sure it was him. Since one of my favorite games is "Spot the Voice Actor", that's pretty unusual, especially for someone whose voice I'm so familiar with.
George Nakata: Gaav from Slayers, Folken from Escaflowne, Alucard from Hellsing. He's played pretty similar characters, at least as far as I'm aware, but what he does he does well. Alucard is a bit of a departure role for him as this is not a misunderstood or conflicted character, and it's probably my favorite. He gives the role such a casual air of menace, you get right off that he honestly doesn't care about killing innocent people that get in his way. I particularly liked his delivery in the episode where he was fighting that Valentine brother whose name I can never remember (coincidentally voiced by Takehito Koyasu) and he got excited, thinking he'd finally found someone interesting to fight, and then sounded both smug and disappointed when Valentine proved far less fun than he seemed.
For female, I'd have to go with:
Tanaka Mayumi: Luffy from One Piece. I haven't heard any of her other voice work but I don't think I need to, Luffy is a tour de force if I ever heard one. The woman's a diva, and not in a Celine Dion way.
Ohtani Ikue: Chopper and young Sanji from One Piece, Merle from Escaflowne. Usually plays young, cute characters, but she has a quality to her voice that provokes a genuine emotional response from me.
–Bevin
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Ikue Ohtani and Seki Tomokazu are my favourite seiyuu. A bonus that they can both sing well.
Tanaka Mayumi, Okiayu Ryutarou and Hirata Hiroaki are probably the most recognizable voices for me.
Edit: Oh, and Paku Romi is another favourite. Mostly for her actual personality though, she's a very cool lady.
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Are you guys serious, Takehito Koyasu plays Aokiji?! That just made my day.
My faves:
1. Takehito Koyasu
This man is a frickin' seiyuu legend. He's been in so many roles, it's not even funny. Doesn't hurt that he has one DAMN SEXY voice. My favorite roles of his include: Fool from Kaleido Star, Kuroyanagi from Yakitate! Japan, Zech Merquise from Gundam Wing,2. Yuuji Ueda
I love this guy, and his is a voice I can usually almost always spot, it's pretty distinct. I will love him forever for voicing the one and only Sanosuke from Rurouni Kenshin. Although I have to say he's doing a pretty good job right now voicing Hakim in Victorian Romance Emma!3. Joji Nakata
Another damn sexy voice, I first discovered him playing Folken in Escaflowne. Since Folken is one of my favorite anime characters ever, this guy instantly got a special place in my heart. But doing Alucard helped boost him up a few notches!
4. Hayami Shou
This guy I discovered only recently, as I was finally able to tie him into the many roles he's played. They include Muraki in Yami no Matsuei, Aizen in Bleach, Father Remington in Chrono Crusade, Meister Kirisaki in Yakitate! Japan, and Frank Archer in Full Metal Alchemist. At first I used to get him confused with Takehito Koyasu, but now I can differentiate. A very deep, soothing voices that I really like.5. Okiayu Ryuutaro
Ahhhh, the sexy voices never end. Except this time the sexy has a hint of "dork" in it. My favorite roles of his are Shigure from Fruits Basket, Treize from Gundam Wing, Tezuka from Prince of Tennis, and Byakuya from Bleach. Another voice I can recognize almost instantly.Fave females (only 3 this time):
1. Megumi Hayashibara
This lady can do everything, dear lord. I'll remember her for roles such as Lina Inverse from Slayers, Girl-Ranma from Ranma 1/2, Anna from Shaman King, and Haruka from Love Hina. I like her voice a lot, very good for young, spunky girls.2. Tanaka Mayumi
How can I not love the voice of Luffy? But seriously, a lot of people say that the voice acting in One Piece is excellent, and I think a lot of it has to do with her performance. But the only other thing she's done that I know of is Krillin from Dragonball, Koenma from YuYu Hakusho, and Pazu from Castle in the Sky. Well, at least she has the distinction of being in a Miyazaki movie.3. Paku Romi
A new favorite. She's like the shonen-voice machine, isn't she? I mean she's done both Edward Elrich from Full Metal Alchemist and Hitsugaya from Bleach. The only female role she's done that I know of is Temari from Naruto. -
Yamaguchi Kappei all the way!!!! I am sort of biased tho, because I'm just a Yamaguchi kappei fan…. maybe I should go watch again to find VAs who are good in terms of One Piece
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Chiba Shigeru. Hands down. I appreciate versatility in a VA, and he fits the bill with every expectation of mine (and beyond). He is the reason that Megane is actually a CHARACTER in Urusei Yatsura, for heaven's sake :lol: Another male VA I love is Kamiya Akira (not to be confused with Ishida Akira, though he's awesome in his own right). I hate having to toot the UY horn here, but his voice for Shutaro is half of what makes him my second favorite character. He is too good :lol:
As for the gals, definitely Tanaka Mayumi. She's absolutely brilliant as Luffy and Krillin, but, again, I first knew her voice as Ryuunosuke and HER voice talents are half of what makes Ryuu-chan my favorite UY character :lol: I honestly really couldn't tell you about female VA though. The guys stand out so much more for me and all those squeaky high voices sound the same to me… I really like Tomizawa Michie though. Vampire Hunter D, wahoo \o.
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Seiyuu (Female):
-Mayumi Tanaka (Monkey D. Luffy, One Piece)
-Ikue Ohtani (Tony Tony Chopper, One Piece)
-Megumi Hayashibara (Lina Inverse, Slayers)
-Minami Takayama (Conan Edogawa, Detective Conan)
-Fumiko Orikasa (Ruki Makino, Digimon Tamers)Seiyuu (Male):
-Kappei Yamaguchi (Usopp, One Piece)
-Hiroaki Hirata (Sanji, One Piece)
-Akira Ishida (Xelloss, Slayers)
-Akira Kamiya (Kogoro Mouri, Detective Conan)
-Goro Naya (Inspector Zenigata, Lupin III)Voice Actors (Female):
-Wendee Lee (Faye Valentine, Cowboy Bebop)
-Lisa Oritz (Lina Inverse, Slayers)
-Melissa Fahn (Ruki Makino, Digimon Tamers)
-Linda Young (Genkai, Yuu Yuu Hakusho)Voice Actors (Male):
-Stephen J. Blum (Spike Spiegel, Cowboy Bebop)
-Lex Lang (Sanosuke Sagara, Rurouni Kenshin)
-Justin Cook (Yuusuke Urameshi, Yuu Yuu Hakusho)
-Richard Hayworth (Kenshin Himura, Rurouni Kenshin)
-Tony Oliver (Lupin, Lupin III)
-Brian Blessed (Takato Matsuda, Digimon Tamers) -
My faves…
Jennifer Hale (Powerpuff Girls, Tales of Symphonia, Spider-Man the Animated Series)
Christine Cavanaugh (Rugrats, Dexter's Laboratory, Ahhh! Real Monsters), who unfortunately retired her voice acting career
Lisa Dal Bello (Sailor Moon, some random Canadian greek mythology toon)
Tasha Simms (Shadow Raiders, Spider-Man Unlimited, Action Man)
Doug Parker (Beast Wars, GI Joe, Dragon Ball Z)
Diane Delano (Superman the Animated Series, Ahhh! Real Monsters)
Joey Capps (Shadow Hearts: Covenant)
Chad Cline (Fruits Basket, Blue Gender)
Joel Heyman (Red vs. Blue)
John Stocker (Super Mario Bros., X-Men, Dinosaucers)
Corey Burton (GI Joe, Final Fantasy X, Kingdom Hearts)
Shigenori Soya (One Piece) -
Who did Jennifer Hale voice in ToS?
If you spoiler me, I will eat you with tater tots.
