#Apparently season 2 comes out this month but probably the Japanese dub only so I’ll probably wait

[bluewithpurplepolkadots]

The Apothecary Diaries is great, like damn.

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh Season Zero: Yuugi Gets a Tomagachi Pt 2

So because I spent like...weeks away from Yugioh I recently decided to kinda review what was even going on in this show, and so, as I was quickly going through my own recaps this week while putting this Season Zero episode together, I was reminded about this observation I made so innocently so long ago.

I keep making jokes with this show and then the jokes end up being real. Like it just keeps happening, so I don’t know why I bother trying to dive so far into the hypothetical thinking “Yugioh would never possibly do this” but...I’ll keep trying.

So, lets see just how dangerous a Season Zero Tomagachi can be. (v bad)

So about 3-4 days have passed since Honda left school for maternity leave despite the fact he is a 14 yo biological male and was never pregnant. I’m glad he’s here to break gender norms and I’m glad that the teacher has just accepted this.

Anzu has decided it’s time for an intervention and thinks, “if I can talk sense into Yuugi occasionally, maybe I can talk some sense into this purple haired alien that we’re also friends with?”

Miho, I swear.

(read more under the cut)

Yuugi has decided to show off his digital pet, which looks a whole lot like the Olympics mascot from 1996.

Izzy. That was the name of the Olympics mascot from 1996. I got the stuffed animal of him for my birthday and that’s the only reason I remember this weird ass 90′s fact.

I do not like the weird bangs that are Tomagachi arms, and it says a lot about the volume of Yugi’s bangs that they could have tiny arms attached to all those little bangs and it would...match up.

Now I watched a dubbed version done by English voice actors (hence why I’m getting all these names wrong) and I figured, I may as well take you on the same journey I went through watching this episode, starting with the name of Yuugi’s pet here.

Some of you, who know every single thing about Yugioh, are right now like “oh girl, do you not even see how you’re getting played all over again? Do you not realize what you JUST walked into?” and don’t worry, we’ll get there. But first, I have to go through this entire episode. Don’t worry, I’ll address the elephant in the room shaped like “the Joshua Tree” but with bangs that are hands.

(if you are too young to know about the lore behind U+Me=Us, then please look it up and listen to their entire discography and know that we were so hardcore about U+Me=Us that, for a very little while, they topped TRL over Destiny’s Child and Britney Spears)

And so they decide to do the very awkward fusion thing where you slap the butts of these Tomagachis together, but Jounouchi’s tomagachi is way too tsundere to date.

Anyway, in walks this boyman who I think gets bigger and bigger every scene he is in, like Violet Beauregarde. I mean...the door is...only so big. One of y’all brought up in the comments (I think gingerninja) that his name means “whale” in Japanese. Indeed he is.

He decides to show us his shiny golden pet, and remember this is 1999, so here’s some...1999 technology alright.

Dear lord, never draw these nips again.

Just...never again.

This is just...

How is this the only post I’ve made in months that hasn’t been flagged?

...Anyways, Kujirada’s monster, instead of going on awkward play dates, just kind of devours whoever he goes up against in a battle. It’s sort of confusing though because like...the same process for battle is the same as for this weird social network/dating scene.

Like there was absolutely no battle system until just now, when this thing started eating other people’s little monsters.

RIP Johnny and Somomo, who we knew for like all of 4 seconds. Truly one of the most devastating blows of Yugioh lore to see the death of these little monster assholes that have consumed all the time that these kids should have spent studying/actually attending school.

And then, our hero arrives and he’s a freakin mess because he hasn’t slept in 3 days.

And I was fully expecting for Honda to also lose and gain a valuable lesson in how to better use his time. I was waiting for Yuugi to pull out his little pet and go through a whole transformation sequence right here and now. But, something impossible happened.

I can’t believe the episode is already over and it was Honda that won. You heard it here first, kids, always skip school for video games, the Yugioh way.

I mean...kudos to Honda, I guess. I’m just really surprised he won something. I mean, the last time I saw him play a game he full on died by being tossed into a pit of lava and then he got turned into a robotic monkey for like 12 episodes.

Haiyama, meanwhile, did not take this very well, since he was the one from the bathroom who was being coerced into giving money to Kujirada in order for Kujirada to buy the golden pet, who just lost within a day of buying it.

As Haiyama leaves, we kind of assume that Haiyama is about to get his ass kicked in, because he’s small and cute and wears glasses, and this is Yugioh Season Zero, and those are all the things required to get your ass kicked in.

When just...everything starts to get really, really weird.

Also, this happened,

And FYI whenever I do these Season Zero episodes, I also look into the other translations on Youtube and the one I looked at seems to have also noticed that the Warehouse situation in Yugioh has gotten a little bit out of hand.

Ah, I see what you did there, random Youtube guy. I mean I love the abandoned warehouse, personally, he’s a core actor in this show. But yes, I do see how it’s turning into a little tiny bit of a meme.

Hilariously, Kujirada makes sure to run directly past Yuugi on his way to the abandoned warehouse district while carrying this girl in a sack over his back.

It is the middle of the freakin day.

So you’ve probably guessed the main twist by now, mostly because of the lack of characters, but as Tristan comes to the end of this warehouse, out steps our very large 3 Stooges boy who keels over and is...entirely covered in bloody lashes????

For your consideration--Haiyama has the yellow glasses and this face type, yes? and Kujirada has the hair? You stick the two together and remove entirely the problematic whipping sequence and you have yourself a

Of course I say this and maybe Weevil is also in S0 and Haiyama is just his own type of nut.

With a whip for some reason. OMG why does this child have a bullwhip?

Also how on EARTH did he manage to get Miho all the way up there???

So Haiyama explains, while pulling out a photo album of just tons of people in it, a comically large photo album of people that I guess he just keeps in his butt pocket, that these were all the people who were doing dirty deeds for him in exchange for money. No idea how the hell Haiyama got all that money, but he likes to blow it all on what is essentially slavery because apparently once you get money from Haiyama, you’re stuck with Haiyama for life.

Like really there is so much gang imagery in this show, it’s like a big PSA of “Don’t Join a Gang, Kids! Or Your Classmate Will Whip You With a Bullwhip Until You Pass Out In an Abandoned Warehouse” and it’s like damn Yugioh fine, I wont, damn.

But like the whole murdery photo album was certainly something because uh--there were more people in there than Kujirada so it’s like...did they die? Did all those people die? Did you in fact murder all those people, Haiyama? Did you manage to kill all those people at age 14 like you’re some sort of Bakura? Like, it’s Yugioh, so I really am just assuming they died but like...can’t add it to the death count until they outright say, right?

And then Yuugi’s timing was pretty excellent.

colorist kinda messed up on Yuugi’s teeth here. It happens. Cartoons are hella hard to make so we’ll give it a pass.

The TRAJECTORY.

Haiyama then decides to point out to Honda that Miho is essentially using Honda like he uses Kujirada and that was...kind of cathartic for me, actually. Thank you, villain, for recognizing that this whole Miho obsession thing is uhhhh kind of wrong. I guess we’ll see if the fact that Haiyama pointed this out to Honda will actually stick or if Honda will forget it by next episode.

Although, in Miho’s defense, she may be too stupid to know that she’s actually using Honda. She may just be that stupid. I honestly can’t tell what her deal is at this time.

But then Haiyama decides to try and extend the great offer to Honda of being whipped and manipulated for the rest of his life in exchange for keeping Miho alive, which um. Wow Yugioh, this is a 14 year old kid. Wow, that’s some dark stuff wow, this basically serial murderer has just been hanging out in the back of their class for their what we assume is their whole lives, and NO ONE NOTICED?

Like again, this entire class is just...they gotta be plants. There’s gotta be at least 3 people in this class being made in test tubes underneath Domino by Gendo Ikari, there’s just no way they aren’t.

And what’s crazy about Zero vs the rest of Yugioh is that in Zero they just happened upon a freakin maniac. They didn’t like...search this guy out, or enter a contest that they knew was freakin cursed. No, they just wanted to play with a Tamagachi. That was it. Instead, they found out that their one classmate has been abusing their other classmate to the point of hospitalization for the past several years.

They just wanted to play with a Tomagachi.

After that, Yugi had a fun intro sequence into Yami Yugi where a beam of light expanded across his face from the middle and that was actually a very nice effect 10/10 I can’t actually cap the animation but you can trust me. For a low budget thing that this season appears to be, that was a nice low budget way to do a good effect.

(seriously, if Yuugi lived a normal life would he have ever known he was cursed? Would Pharaoh have ever woken up at all?)

Honda at this point passed out due to the constant whipping, which is very surprising because I’m so used to Tristan, who once threw Double Spike Mullet Man over his shoulders. Honda is kind of a weakling in comparison.

So, Yuugi looks down at this device with a little monster in it and is like “yo I have a great idea, lets make the monsters fight eachother” and so we got like...a Yugioh meets Pokemon aesthetic, and FYI Yuugi’s monster still has the weird hand bangs. It’s...it still looks like that.

And, turns out the kick that Jounouchi’s monster gave to Yuugi’s monster made Yuugi’s monster learn how to hate, enough to gain a new power.

...so, in the end, Yuugi spent a really long time making his monster just a very nice guy, and would have absolutely lost if Jounouchi’s tomagachi hadn’t kicked Yuugi’s tomagachi’s ass. I guess that’s symbolic.

PS never forget that these are Tomagachi’s with a 20-50 pixel screen.

and there you are, Haiyama eaten by his own Tamagachi.

Yuugi was like “and THAT’s why you don’t whip the people who are your pets. You treat your pets with love.” and it was like wtf that guy was devoured by his own Tamagachi.

And then you think about it a second later and it’s like “WTF YUUGI. Yuugi. That’s still not a very good message.” And like I figured...this is probably a translation error that they accidentally made Yugi seem like he was cool with using people so long as you’re nice about it, but it was in the other version I watched as well so I think the real desired meaning just...didn’t quite make it to the final draft. I hope.

Straight up, this episode would have scared me absolutely to death while I was still in the Tomagachi craze and feeling very guilty about not taking care of them. Like can you imagine just killing your Tamagachi over, and over when you’re 10 and then watching this episode? Like Gremlins did irreparable damage to me as a kid, can you imagine what this episode would have done?

This guy was devoured by a Tomagachi and Yuugi just watched.

Don’t worry, Miho says “momma” here so she is still about as blase towards Honda as ever.

They did pan down to show us that Haiyama is still alive after this whole event. Of course he’s...passed out so he’ll probably just end up in the hospital wing in Domino they’ve reserved for Yuugi’s classmates.

...Eaten by a tamagachi.

Now, a little bit of story time, in the process of putting these caps together, I figured well after the fact that I should, youknow, go and check on the spelling of all of these characters (because again, I watch the dub so I have no subs to tell me how things are spelled) and the sub version had omitted quite a bit of the episode, including the parts where Yuugi says his pet’s name.

...so I was like...is Yuugi’s pet named Yuutou or Yuutsu? And surprisingly enough, when I typed into Google “what is the name of Yugi’s tamagachi” ...

DAMN IT, YUGIOH.

HE REALLY DID CANONICALLY NAME HIS PET U2!

Freakin U2. SPELLED LIKE IT LOOKS LIKE.

That makes no freakin sense, whatsoever. Yuugi is the type of person who listens to weird grungy alternative from whatever local show his weird anti-establishment cousin tells him about and would just--I mean he has so many accessories and eyeliner, he does not put in his Mom’s CD of U2 and drift off, no, he puts in a burnt CD of early Radiohead while he spends 2 hours dying his bangs in the sink. There is no universe, let it be Season Zero or Season whatever where Yuugi acknowledges U2.

I can’t believe this is Canon.

I just...Wow. U2.

U2.

Y’all I am shook that Yuugi is a closet U2 fan.

FYI, I have been listening to U2 for the entire time I’ve typed this. I mean, Pride is a good jam.

Anyways, I know none of you that are too young to know 2gether looked this up when I mentioned it earlier, so here you go, one of the best worst songs ever made. In case you were wondering what I was busy doing as a young tween instead of having a Yugioh phase.

[natsthinkitythinkthinkthonk]

Seiyuu Challenge (#1+2): Favourite and Least Favourite Male Seiyuu

Least Favourite?

I’ll start by saying that I don’t have a least favourite. I just have a lot of seiyuu that I don’t like as much as the rest of you like. Those ones will be revealed in question [blank].

Favourite?

We’re going to be doing this in the form of a top fifteen list.

I’m going to try to put a “keep reading” line because this is SUPER DUPER LONG. This took me quite a while to complete, and I’m too lazy to proofread, so whatever happens happens.

Honourable Mentions:

Takehito Koyasu 

(the hate for him transcends animation; no gif of Takehito Koyasu on Tumblr)

Here’s to the guy who almost always gets cast as the villain. Seriously, his voice suits it too well. He even looks like an action-movie villain in real life. Some people are just born with a resting villain face I guess. But he’s not just that, he has played a nun, Deadpool (for Japanese dubs), and Excalibur from Soul Eater. All his other roles are mostly villainous stuff though in things like Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Gintama, Re:Zero, and others. I still need to watch a lot more of his stuff. He is the voice behind the infamous Dio. I think that’s enough to get him onto this list.

Roles | Singing

Kenichi Suzumura

(Maaya Sakamoto and Kenichi Suzumura would make a god-tier kid)

I know him best for playing Okita from Gintama. Okita is a great character though who I know will get a lot of development moving forward in Gintama. He also surprised me in Osomatsu-san since he was responsible for the “SHEEEEEEH”. He won an award for that too. Hikaru from Ouran Host Club was a role that surprised me a little because he wasn’t expected to be a love interest from my perspective. Speaking of love interest, I may be a bit bias towards him because he has a really cute relationship with one of my favourite seiyuu Maaya Sakamoto. They also acted in the Kara no Kyoukai franchise together where they took on the two main characters. If it wasn’t for that movie’s timeline (eight movies, all out of order), I might’ve finished it. I love his work in Honeyworks. He’s good at singing, and I plan on watching more of his stuff in the future (especially D. Grayman)!

Roles | Singing | The Full 1080p “SHEEEH” Experience

Toshiyuki Toyonaga

(The news that he had a child surfaced a while ago. Congrats to him!)

He just won the best lead actor award at the Seiyuu Awards a few months ago for his performance in Yuri On Ice, and he fully deserves it. He’s a talented musician, and he has such a soft-toned voice at times that can go to really deep in a matter of seconds. I haven’t seen him in shows like Free, SAO, Tokyo Ghoul Root A, Katekyo Hitman Reborn, Karneval, or Code: Breaker, but I have seen him in Yuri on Ice where he exceeded my expectations and definitely deserved that award (his speech was great too). He played Mikado who was a fun unexpectedly interesting character  in Durarara, he shocked me in Zetsuen no Tempest where he Mahiro Fuwa who I didn’t like, he had an appearance in Bungou Stray Dogs as Tanizaki, he was Takeru in Kamigami no Asobi, and I really liked his role in Kimi to Boku as Shun Matsuoka (I really liked that anime in general).

Roles | Singing | Bonus: Seiyuu Award Speech, “Day You Laugh” Durarara OP, Zetsuen no Tempest Duet (ft. Kouki Uchiyama)

Daisuke Ono

(He looks like he forgot the rest of his lines)

He either gets those roles like Sebastian from Black Butler where he’s smooth and charismatic, or he gets those roles like Shizuo from Durarara where he’s the rugged thug. He is the fifth sextuplet in the notorious Osomatsu-san. Jyushimatsu is the loudest of the six, but he has the best episode in the entire show. If I remember correctly, I think it’s the second half of episode nine (I watched this a year ago). He has his own little episode where he falls in love, and it was nice to watch. My favourite roles from him personally are Sinbad from Magi, Shizuo from Durarara, and Handa from Barakamon. All of those anime were really enjoyable, and my favourites wouldn’t be the same without his voice.

Roles | Singing | Bonus: Kokkuri, “When you’re left with everyone’s bill” (Seiyuu Event Subbed), Barakamon (Highlights), Magi (Sinbad Highlights)

Ryouhei Kimura

After watching Silver Spoon and Kids on the Slope, I just had to include him here. I first knew Ryouhei Kimura for playing Judar from Magi, and even though he did well playing the heavy eyeshadow magi, when he takes the spotlight as a really well-developed character, it makes it that much better. After watching him in shows like Gekkan Shoujo, Akame Ga Kill, Tokyo Ravens, Kimi to Boku, Grand Blue, that BNHA OVA with the zombies, I can say that he earned the spot on his list.

Roles | Singing | Silver Spoon clip (WARNING: CONTAINS COW BIRTH)

Miyu Irino

(This whole thing is quite extra and overdramatic, isn’t it?)

His role in A Silent Voice left me shocked. Saori Hayami and his performance blew my expectations. They are both really talented individuals, and that movie was packed with feels. Even though I like Saori better, I think he deserves a place here. Sugawara from Haikyuu reminds me of a mom, and I think that’s kind of common. He gives the character a kindhearted voice (with a few exceptional moments). Todomatsu is another sextuplet in Osomatsu. I mention this show often because it’s really crazy. I can’t say I would recommend it to everyone, but the seiyuu definitely make the show funny at times. Ritsu Kageyama from Mob Psycho 100 is a character that is one of my favourite in the show because he is such a relatable person who just gets a little lost at times. And I’ve got to say that Miyu portrayed him well. I enjoyed that show a lot. Jintan from Anohana continues to be a show that I remember because it gave me the feels. I won’t get deeper into that because of spoilers and digging up old wounds and feels. But to end on a lighter note, if you like Osomatsu, I recommend checking out Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou because it has a hilarious cast in a bunch of sketches that can be quite funny.

Roles | Singing | Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou “RPG Quest”, Koe no Katachi SPOILERS

Jun Fukuyama 

(You can see the moment the failure seeps his soul)

Koro-sensei and Lelouch would not be the same without him. He has given these two characters life. He was Souta Takanashi in Working!!, Ichimatsu from Osomatsu, Shinra from Durarara, Yukio from Blue Exorcist, and King from The Seven Deadly Sins. I recently watched him as the Dark Flame Master-- I mean Yuuta Togashi. The way his voice went from Dark Flame Master to Yuuta was funny even if it wasn’t realistic for a first-year high schooler. Same goes for Nura Rise of the Yokai Clan (which I haven’t finished). Bundo from Deadman Wonderland was fun to watch since he was a twist that I probably should’ve seen coming. Kassim from Magi is one character that I will never forget from him though because that backstory was sad, but his character along with Yuki Kaji’s performance really laid out one of the most exciting parts of season one of Magi.

Roles | Singing Compilation | Ichimatsu Compilation (Season One), Koro Sensei’s Weak Points

Satoshi Hino

I first saw him as Sai in Naruto, but since then, he has been in so many anime that I’ve seen as all types of characters. He’s Kineshi Hairo in Saiki, Ash Landers in Black Butler, Momonga in Overlord, Emil in Yuri On Ice, Akito Takagi in Bakuman, Daichi in Haikyuu, Shinku from Yowamushi Pedal, and the renowned Tomoda from Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun (the real MVP and hero we do not deserve). But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. I’m looking forward to watching him as Kamui in Gintama.

Roles | Singing

Top Fifteen

15. Yoshitsugu Matsuoka

Despite being one of the most sought-after harem seiyuu, I can say that I don’t watch any of those. I haven’t watched The Pet Girl of Sakurasou or Food Wars or that Dungeon anime. I watched him as Sora in No Game No Life, but I didn’t like that anime. I put him on this list because of his smaller roles that I see him on. Titus from Magi is a perfect example. He may not get the most screen time, but when he’s on, he does a wonderful job playing his characters. His range is outstanding from playing the infamous Kirito to a crazy monster to an alleyway cat that got stuck (if you’re curious, watch Saiki). He also made me laugh quite a bit as Lubbock from Akame Ga Kill. Ah, that anime is just a tragedy. But speaking of tragedy, he apparently has a tough time talking to the people he works with which I relate to. Especially when he does harems (which have a lot of girls), you really can’t blame him. Plus, they make fun of him too. 

Roles (This one is a little longer, but it includes extras and everything) | Singing  

14. Toshiyuki Morikawa

I first saw him as Minato in Naruto, but I didn’t realize how prolific he was until I watched him play a wide range of characters from the villain Boro in One Punch Man to the crazy priest Azuma in Deadman Wonderland. He has such a calm and soothing voice too. This is especially apparent in Magi where he plays Ugo. He has so many miscellaneous characters in so many anime, and I just like his voice in general. 

Roles | Singing

13. Akira Ishida

(This is almost the only gif??)

He has said that he turns down a lot of roles now, but he has still done so many. He is Katsura in Gintama. That in itself is enough to land him on this list. Katsura is one of my favourite characters in Gintama. Name a more iconic duo than him and Elizabeth. Exactly, it’s impossible. He’s also Gaara from Naruto which is where I first saw him. Yunan from Magi is a polar opposite. He’s such a mysterious kind soul. He has been in Danganronpa, the Fate series, Mirai Nikki, Fairy Tail, Kekkai Sensen, Parasyte, Natsume’s Book of Friends, Evangelion, and so many other shows. He’s been around since the 80s, so it’s really no surprise that he is in so many shows. His voice is so versatile that it’s almost scary. He inspired Aoi Shouta to become a seiyuu too because he was a “beautiful woman with a beautiful voice”.

Roles | Bonus: One Man, Seven Voices, Katsura Raps, Trivia

12. Sakurai Takahiro

He plays too many characters to count, and like Akira Ishida and Satoshi Hino, he has been around for a long time. He has characters that I’ve hated, loved, and wanted to “accidentally” push onto the road for them to get hit by a truck. I’ve watched him as the leader of Osomatsu-san who is just too insane for works, Fitzgerald from Bungou Stray Dogs who probably doesn’t know how it feels to be broke, Suzaku from Code Geass who I liked and hated at the same time, Yukiatsu from Anohana who you can’t help but pity, Jafar in Magi ho made me laugh lots, Arataka from Mob Psycho 100 who made me laugh so much with his antics, and Sakurai from (one of my more recently finished anime) Net-juu no Susume. He’s also kind of funny to watch in Ad-Live, but there aren’t any clips of that.

Roles | Singing | Bonus: Cringy Pick-up Lines, Anohana Festival, Osomatsu

11. Kensho Ono

I first saw him as Hakuryuu from Magi where he gave a great performance. He’s a talented singer as well as a stage actor. But besides Magi, I’ve liked his role in A Silent Voice where he plays Tomohiro (who is just such a precious character). His role as Akutagawa in Bungou Stray Dogs eventually did grow on me as I got used to him being the edgy, scarcely eyebrowed Port Mafia member. But one of the most standout characters I’ve watched from him (besides Hakuryuu and Akutagawa) is Arata Kaizaki from ReLife. He seems like a useless NEET that couldn’t stand the world at first, but then we find out that he’s a useless NEET who couldn’t handle the really tough world. But in all seriousness, he’s a character that seems really bland at first, and now that I’ve finished it, I can say that he gets some development that makes you realize that he might be that same average guy, but the plot and the people surrounding him make things really interesting. Kensho Ono is also a part of Ad-Live.

Roles | Singing | ReLife Clip, Magi Clip 

10. Kaito Ishikawa

(I just read a fake article about how he was attacked with shuriken during a home invasion. Fake articles are wild.)

I know Kaito Ishikawa for playing characters in a lot of new shows. A lot of the roles are the ones that I haven’t watched, and some roles were a miss because the anime was a miss (Tokyo Ravens wasn’t excruciatingly bad, but even with the good cast, they couldn’t save a lot of its flaws.) Some people didn’t like Zankyou no Terror, but I still enjoy it. The performances were quite strong even with the cringy “Engrish”, and the music was phenomenal. His portrayal of the colder part of the duo “Sphinx” was one of the highlights of the show. Kouto from Noragami didn’t get too much of a chance to show what he’s truly capable of (since they ended it when his role was becoming more apparent). And even though his time on Bungou Stray Dogs was short, I certainly enjoyed the time that we got to see his character Rokuzou. Kageyama from Haikyuu is a great main character from him. He’s such good friends with Hinata’s seiyuu Ayumu Murase, and he’s so involved in the My Hero Academia cast as Iida Tenya (as we’ve seen from many of the highlights of the cast). His role as Iida was really good especially during the Hero Killer arc. His role as Genos had me laughing a lot of the time even though it’s ironic because he was a very stiff serious character. I hope to see him a lot more in the future.

Roles | Singing

9. Junichi Suwabe

(I relate to this too much because I don’t know where I am unless I’m inside my house)

His role as Aizawa-sensei made him too relatable. I’ve seen several pictures of him cosplaying as his characters which I have massive respect for. His role as Viktor in Yuri On Ice has probably wooed a lot of fangirls, but what stands out the most for me (besides Aizawa) is his role as Odasaku in Bungou Stray Dogs. That performance left me shaken up (especially from the storyline), and I’m sure a lot of Bungou Stray Dogs fans feel the same way. That scream near the end of the arc sent chills. He is also in a bunch of other things that I haven’t watched from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Kuroko no Basket, Black Butler, Fate, Food Wars, Nana, Natsume’s Book of Friends, Space Dandy, and a few others. I have watched him in some supporting roles like Jamil from Magi (that was a great three episodes where he appeared as a spoiled rich guy), Jae-ha from Akatsuki no Yona, Freed from Fairy Tail, Juuzou from Danganronpa, and Junichi (yes, Junichi) from Sakamichi no Apollon. That was rollercoaster of a role, but his singing was so good.

Roles | Singing

8. Tomakazu Sugita

You would think that with a voice like that he would be voicing a lot more serious characters. I guess that’s because I first watched him as Karasuma in Assassination Classroom. In reality, he’s a real jokester (especially when around Yuuichi Nakamura). His role in Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou was funny. It was thirteen episodes of craziness, and it features many of the regulars from Gintama. Speaking of Gintama, the reason why he’s on this part of the list is quite simple. Gintoki. If you’ve watched Gintama, you’d know that Gintoki is such a vibrant character with so much dick jokes and screaming that you really can’t imagine anyone else playing him. I say this as a compliment when I say that he yells just as much as Nobuhiko Okamoto. Just watching Gintama mentally strains your vocal cords. 

Roles | Singing | Bonus: “Voice Acting Meme”, Gintoki Exclusive, Yukana helping out Sugita, Sugita x Nakamura (Seiyuu’s Little Forest)

7. Mamoru Miyano

I know everyone knows him for voicing Light from Death Note, but I haven’t watched that anime (don’t judge me, please). His evil laugh was good though. Speaking of other characters I haven’t watched from him, there’s also Rin Matsuoka from Free, Kiba from Wolf’s Rain, Lucifer from Hunter x Hunter, or Konoha from Mekakucity Actors. There’s probably a bunch more too, but let’s get to the stuff that I have seen. He has been around for so long, and his best characters are the types that appear goofy on the surface but have inner anguish and more depth to their personality. Dazai Osamu from Bungou Stray Dogs is such a character, and he’s the main reason why he’s high on this list. Dazai is such a funny weirdo. Kida Masaomi from Durarara is kind of like Dazai in an odd way too, and I don’t just mean his voice. He has humour that seems to hide something... or maybe that’s just me. Okabe from Steins;Gate (even though I haven’t watched that anime in its entirety) and Ling Yao also seems to keep up this trend. Shuu Tsukiyama from Tokyo Ghoul is just crazy though. It was fun to watch though. He brings so much fun to the characters, yet when they finally show a more vulnerable side to themselves, he still portrays them well. Not to mention, he has a great sense of humour and an awesome singing voice.

Roles | Singing  

6. Hiroshi Kamiya

He’s way too easy to identify. Honestly, the first role I remember him for is probably Otonashi from Angel Beats. That gave me a bit of feels too, so I had to mention that. Besides that, he has had too many other notable roles, but I’ll try to mention a few supporting roles: Takeda from Haikyuu, Mephisto from Blue Exorcist, Araragi from Monogatari, and Ranpo Edogawa from Bungou Stray Dogs. Some roles I want to expand on are Natsume from Natsume’s Book of Friends. His chemistry with Kazuhiko Inoue is great, and they make for such an entertaining show. Izaya from Durarara is insane and neurotic, but he seems like a character with so many underlying insecurities. I haven’t watched the full series (only the first two seasons), but I still remember them (whether it’s because I hate him or not). Levi is a badass that I’m sure a lot of people know from Attack on Titan. He’s proof that short guys like me have a chance. Choromatsu is just crazy. He’s the most productive out of his siblings, but that’s like saying he’s the tallest among dwarves (shout-out to Veronica Sawyer for that quote). With that being said, my best role from him is easily Yato from Noragami. The cast of Noragami is strong, and he is the protagonist. He has so many funny moments and maybe serious ones as well. I could go on all day how he does a good job voicing Yato, but I’ll just leave it at that.

Roles | Singing

5. Yuuki Kaji

He truly does have the voice of a main character. Sometimes his voice is a bit too recognizable for me, and sometimes I think that he does get some roles that don’t fit him as well as I’d like, but I think that’s more up to the casting director than Yuki Kaji. I didn’t like his portrayal in Ao Haru Ride and found it really cringy. A lot of the other anime I don’t like him in is because I don’t like the anime in general. Diabolik Lovers, Guilty Crown, and High School DxD are a few examples of that. Besides that, he has had many outstanding performances. His roles as Takami from Deadman Wonderland and Ayato Kirishima from Tokyo Ghoul were okay. Eren from Attack on Titan which just from the clips I watched were epic and emotional. The amount of strain you can feel for his vocal cords (especially considering that he takes hours for a single episode). Yukine from Noragami was not liked by many at the beginning, but I actually really liked this character, and he portrayed his hardship really well. Todoroki from My Hero Academia sounds like a complete badass. And even though he’s really stoic, he had made me laugh as the “Hand-crusher”. Sonic from One Punch Man made me laugh a few times (RIP his nuts). Shion was great, and his chemistry with Nezumi (Hosoya Yoshimasa) is almost touching. When he got bitten by the wasp, I felt bad for him. This anime does not get the credit it deserves as a nice post-apocalyptic anime). But above all, my favourite role is Alibaba from Magi. I read the manga (slowly but still), and I still hear him doing Alibaba’s voice. He nails the character’s strength, goofiness, positivity, and his overall personality. I’m looking forward to watching Kouichi from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, Soramaru from Donten ni Warau.

Roles | Singing | Bonus: Kaji100 Staff, An Interesting Conversation with Hiro Shimono, Slippers

4. Yuuichi Nakamura

Okay, so maybe he has had a few questionable roles that I won’t bring up, but we’re going to ignore those for now. I first saw him playing Gray from Fairy Tail, but I later saw him portraying Nozaki from Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun which made me laugh more than it should have. I haven’t watched Clannad yet (partially because I still want my soul intact), but from the funny clips I’ve seen, he certainly does a good job playing Tomoya. Greed from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Sanada from Kimi ni Todoke (who I relate to on a personal level because names just don’t stick in my mind), Ren Kouen, and that dude on a bike from One Punch Man are his other notable roles I’ve seen in the past. But for the most recent ones I’ve seen, Sweetness and Lightning and Poco Udon’s World are two anime that I just finished. They are both very similar, and they bring out his fatherly side which he even said himself cleanses his soul a little. Sure, he has a lot of not-so-family-friendly-or-morally-right-roles, but he also has a lot of good ones too. A lot of these recently watched shows have given me a lot more respect for him too. I actually watched his full Ad-Live performance (only one of them since he has been a part of a bunch), and the fact that he was able to put up with the costumes, ridiculous lines, and everything else also brought him into a new light. Seriously, he was stuck acting as a moving truck guy who’s a robot.

Roles | Singing | Ad-Live: Download link (Subbed by Anokoe)

3. Kouki Uchiyama

Let’s just skip Raku from Nisekoi. I didn’t like it. But onto the good roles. Hiroshi from Barakamon is a supporting character who doesn’t get a whole lot of screen time, but when he does, he certainly provides a lot of laughs. Tsukishima from Haikyuu is a character to rival the king of the court himself. Yuri(o) from Yuri on Ice is so edgy and butthurt all the time. He’s a salty ballerina, and his fans are supposedly very motherly which is fitting since he’s going through teenage angst. Takumi from Anthem of the Heart is a role I wasn’t expecting to like, but he actually kind of pulled it off. Shout-out to Hosoya for telling him about the movie! Gin from Hotarubi no Mori e is a role that brought me feels. If you haven’t watched it, you really should. Akira from Devilman: Crybaby is a role that was too intense for me to get through. It was an extremely demanding role which is kind of funny because he thought he was going to end up as Ryo. Tomura Shigaraki from My Hero Academia (I call him “The Man Who Needs a Hand”) is another one of my favourite roles from him because he has such a creepy aura thanks to character design and his voice. Soul from Soul Eater (who I like despite not being original). I really want to see more roles from him (preferably edgy).

Roles | Singing: Honeyworks (Vocaloid cover ft. Nobunaga Shimazaki), Zetsuen no Tempest Insert Song (ft. Toshiyuki Toyonaga) | Bonus: Yurio “HAAAA” Compilation, Horror Movies (ft. Ryouhei Kimura and Nobuhiko Okamoto)

2. Yoshimasa Hosoya

Some people are just not like the people they portray on-screen. Number two and one are just like that. Here, we have a guy who usually plays brash characters actually being a timid softy whose backbone seems to be made of silly putty. I’m going to try to name a few of his roles that I’ve liked without drowning this whole post. Tokoyami from My Hero Academia whose quiet darkness I really respect especially with these new episodes. We need to see more of him! Asahi from Haikyuu who is the closest to him personality-wise that we will ever see. Daiki from Anthem of the Heart whose ending shocked me. Masmur from Magi who’s an underrated character. Braun from Attack on Titan who I know is a titan, and that shouldn’t count as a spoiler because everyone knows that by now. Saiki from WWW.Working whose his English wasn’t as bad as some shows. Seriously, Hosoya took an exam for English proficiency. He’s not that bad. In terms of outstanding roles, Nezumi from No.6 who is one of my favourite openly gay characters. He’s a badass, and along with Shion, they are an iconic duo in an anime that I found really enjoyable. Kunikida Doppo from Bungou Stray Dogs is the Armed Detective Agency’s soccer mom. He is responsible, keeps his ideals in check, and deserves happiness and a nap. 

Roles | Singing Compilation | Bonus: “Ghost Story” (First 5 minutes), Guess the Profile (ft. Yoko Hikasa), Inu x Boku Radio

1. Nobuhiko Okamoto

This is a bit of an odd choice comparing to the usual popularity polls, but hear me out. This dude has range. He shares my love for sweets and chocolate. He does all kinds of crazy characters. He can voice the angry Katsuki Bakugou from My Hero Academia whose screams a lot. Let’s be real, he is not what we expected when we heard “Hero”. Some of his scenes can send chills down spines. The charismatic Karma from Assassination Classroom is another kind of crazy. He is quite popular in the series, and he has this personality that makes people scared and allured by him. Even in an anime I didn’t like, Juuni Taisen, he did an amazing job portraying the flamboyant crazy Usagi who only kills in fabulous stilettos, suspenders, and bunny ears. He voiced the best version of Obi in Akagami no Shirayuki with his laid-back attitude and confidence. I guess that’s why he’s cast for Otome games? Anyway, Obi was probably my favourite character from that anime, and he was just such a likeable dork who’s going to lose out in the end. Poor secondary love interest. Speaking of likeable, Rin from Blue Exorcist was fun to watch. Not for the story or anything (since that was lacking at times), Nobu provided a performance that was really enjoyable. He nails Nishinoya’s energetic personality in Haikyuu (”ROLLING THUNDAAAAA”), and he does a good job with Mikorin’s bashfulness and awkwardness in Gekkan Shoujo. Honestly, Mikoshiba is my favourite character in Gekkan Shoujo along with Seo who’s a legend. I haven’t watched Taoru Kagaku no Railgun, but Accelerator looks like such a fun character who I would like. Too bad I couldn’t get myself to like that anime.

Roles | Singing Compilation | Bonus Runniart Compilation Video