Anime Anime Global

November 11th is Mikako Komatsu’s birthday.

Mikako Komatsu began working as a seiyuu in 2010. As of 2019, she takes on the role of main characters in animes such as 「Kemurikusa」 and 「STAR☆TWINKLE PRECURE」.
Going forward, Komatsu will continue her role in popular works like 「Arte」 and 「Eizouken ni wa te wo dasu na!」. In November, Komatsu is scheduled to appear in a talk show and birthday event at Gakushuin Daigaku’s school festival.

Just like last year, in order to celebrate Mikako Komatsu’s birthday, Anime! Anime! surveyed our readers regarding the question: “What was your favorite character that Mikako Komatsu has performed as?”.

We received 103 responses during the survey period of October 29th to November 5th.
The majority of respondents were male, with 70% of respondents identifying as male and 30% identifying as female.
The age ratio of our respondents was as follows: 35% under the age of 19, 30% in their 20s, and around 25% were in their 30s, showing a diverse array of respondents.

■Top Response: 「STAR☆TWINKLE PRECURE」 – Princess Madoka

The character in the number one spot was Madoka Kaguya from 「STAR☆TWINKLE PRECURE」. Madoka received about 35% of all votes, and was the top of all characters from new anime in 2019.

We received comments such as, “Up until this point, the roles Mikako-san has performed as were strong-spirited women, but Princess Madoka is a character that is the complete opposite of that” and “Madoka is skilled in both the literary and martial arts, but at the same time does not know much about the world. The lively way she acts when she makes mistakes is cute.” “I like that she enjoys cute things and an interest in UMA (Unidentified Mysterious Animals) at the same time ” was one of the more surprising responses we received.

The number two character was Rin from 「Kemurikusa」. She received about 10 percent of the votes, and is also another role from a new anime released in 2019. According to one reader, Rin, who works to survive with her sisters in a ruined world, “is a fundamentally level-headed and cool character, but she is also very cute when her tsundere side comes out”. Her interactions with Wakaba, a youth suffering from memory loss who has lost their way in the world, are quite popular. Characters from widely-discussed works found their way into the top rankings of the survey.

Third in the rankings is Iori Sei from 「Gundam Build Fighters」. Iori received around 6 percent of the vote, and ranked up from 6th in last years’ survey.
A middle school buy who loves Gunpla building, comments such as “His knowledge and love of Gundam is spectacular”, “I started to like Gunpla after watching Sei-kun grow little by little through the series” display the appreciation given to Iori for his love of Gundam. Mikako’s performance in a male role as also praised: “After all, the voice of the young boy used in that role was able to bring out Iori’s charm”.

■Other Comments
Miuna Shiodome from 「Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea」:”I really love this anime. The performances for both childhood and middle-school Miuna are wonderful, and I can’t watch the second half without crying.”
“This is THE shojo character. I still love this character!”

Cinnabar from 「Land of the Lustrous」: “Cinnabar’s body produces poison, which must be very harsh, but the fact that Cinnabar is trying their best is very brave. ”

Susamaru from 「Kimetsu no Yaiba」: “Susamaru has good lines, a nice laugh, and a terrific performance that makes you think they should have been the main character. I could really feel this evil character’s madness.”

Finally, a vote for a regional character, Ise Shima’s Ame Mascot, Aoshima Megu: “As someone born in Mie-ken, I was very happy that Komatsu-san, who is also from Mie-ken, performed this character from our home town. Her use of the dialect is, of course, very natural, and her cheerful performance of the character makes her even more cute.”

There were fresh and new characters that ranked into the top spots in our survey this year. The results also showed that a wide-variety of characters – shonen roles, evil roles, even regional characters – are beloved by our readers.

■Complete Rankings
[What was your favorite character that Mikako Komatsu has performed as? 2019 Edition]
1. Madoka Kaguya/Cure Selene 『STAR☆TWINKLE PRECURE』
2. Rin 『Kemurikusa』
3. Sei Iori 『Gundam Build Fighters』
4. Miuna Shiodome 『Nagi-Asu: A Lull in the Sea』
4. Susamaru 『Kimetsu no Yaiba』
4. Ito Suzuno 『Pretty Rhythm – Rainbow Live』
7. Cinnabar 『Land of the Lustrous』
7. Seishirou Tsugumi 『Nisekoi』
9. Kato Marika 『Bodacious Space Pirates』
9. Sanzo Genjo 『Fate/Grand Order』
9. Penne 『Zoids Wild』
9. Kotori Mitsuki 『Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal』
9. Lupusregina Beta 『Overlord』
9. Hina Wada 『Detective Conan』

(Response Period: October 29th, 2019 ~ November 5th, 2019)