In Honor of Shimazaki Nobunaga's Birthday! Who is your favorite character of his? Will the winner of 2019, Nanase Haruka from "Free!", win 2 years in a row!?

Dec. 6 is Shimazaki Nobunaga's birthday.

Shimazaki Nobunaga debuted as a voice actor in the later half of the 2000s. At the 7th Seiyu Awards, he received the "Rookie of the Year" award. In 2019, he voiced many main characters from popular works such as "Astra Lost in Space", "Fruits Basket", "Fate/Grand Order – Absolute Demonic Order: Babylonia", and so on.

So continuing from last year, we asked our readers at Anime!Anime! "What is your favorite character that Shimazaki Nobunaga has played?". 131 people answered our survey during its run between Nov. 20 and Nov. 27. The ratio of men to women was 30% men to 70% women, with more women. The age range was 40% under 19 years old, with about 35% being in their 20s, the results thus centering around a younger age group.

■Nanase Haruka from "Free!" was the top choice again!
1st place went to Nanase Haruka from "Free!" He received about 21% of the votes, and kept the top position since last year. There were many comments such as "He (Haruka) doesn't have many lines and doesn't show much expression, but he (Shimazaki) understands the changes in emotion and expresses them accordingly. Nobunaga-san has grown along with Haru-chan from his middle school years to university years, and beyond, and I want to continue watching them for a long time." and "I can still hear the line "I will only swim freestyle" in my head." We've got a lot of comments that "Haru is the first character to know Shimazaki Nobunaga".Thus the role he played in multiple series kept its top position for 2 years in a row.

2nd place went to Eugeo from "Sword Art Online: Alicization". It received 16% of the votes. Comments praised the way he portrayed Kirito's partner well, saying, "Eugeo can only be played by Nobunaga-kun! He expresses his cuteness, kindness and strength perfect" and "The gentle voice that seems to come naturally from within contrasted with Kirito well." The dialogue between him and Matsuoka Yoshitsugu, who plays Kirito, was popular as well.

3rd place went to Kaidou Shun from "The Disastrous Life of Saiki K." with 10% of the votes. His earnest portrayal of the "Chuunibyou" (self-aware stage of going through puberty) character was widely talked about, saying "The gap between his energetic burst of "Chuunibyou" and his true innocent side is the best," and "The way he's awkward yet does his absolute best passionately and courageously is so cute". There were also comments about how viewers could sense the atmosphere behind the scenes, saying, "It seems like Shimazaki-san is having a lot of fun playing him".

■Other comments introduced below!!
For Furuya Satoru from "Ace of Diamond", "The sight of him struggling as the ace, suffering from setbacks – they're all cool."
For Souma Yuki from "Fruits Basket", "Even though Shimazaki-san's Yuki-kun is androgynous, you can tell that he's a boy. It's supposed to be a very hard role, but he is living up to my expectations."

For Yuno from "Black Clover", "He doesn't make fun of Asta who, being the exact opposite of himself, doesn't have any magical powers, but instead recognizes his earnest hard work and its power. I think that's the most attractive thing about Yuno."
For Fujimaru Ritsuka from "Fate/Grand Order – Absolute Demonic Order: Babylonia", there were votes for the currently airing work, saying "I'm envious of how he can talk to many Servants".

In the 2019 survey, several characters from works that aired this year, such as "Fruits Basket" and "Astra Lost in Space" placed in the results. The next page has the full results. Don't forget to check it out!

■ Full results
"What is your favorite character Shimazaki Nobunaga has played?"
1st – Nanase Haruka "Free!"
2nd – Eugeo "Sword Art Online: Alicization"
3rd – Kaidou Shun "Disastrous Life of Saiki K."
4th – Furuya Satoru "Ace of Diamond"
5th – Yuno "Black Clover"
6th – Souma Yuki "Fruits Basket"
7th – Tanaka Taichi "TARI TARI"
7th – Licht Jekylland Todoroki "SERVAMP"
9th – Arjuna "Fate/Grand Order"
9th – Fujimaru Ritsuka "Fate/Grand Order – Absolute Demonic Order: Babylonia"
11th – Aizou "Kokuhaku Jikkou Iinkai"
11th – Itsuka Shidou "Date A Live"
11th – Kagura Sousuke "ClassicaLoid"
11th – Charce Lacroix "Astra Lost in Space"
11th11th – Sunakawa Makoto "My Love Story!!" – Sonken Gundam "SD Gundam Sangokuden Brave Battle Warriors"

(Survey Period: Nov. 20, 2019 – Nov. 27, 2019)