Anime Anime Global

Feb. 25 is Hanazawa Kana’s birthday.

Hanazawa Kana made her debut as a voice actor in the 00s. She played the protagonist and heroines in many titles, and won the Seiyu Award for Best Supporting Actress at the 9th Seiyu Award. She debuted as a singer in 2012. An acoustic live tour titled “Kanameguri 2” is being held from Feb. 2020.

Here at Anime!Anime! we had interviewed her at the time of the anime adaptation of “Afterlost”.

To celebrate Hanazawa Kana’s birthday, we conducted a reader survey asking “Who is your favorite character voiced by Hanazawa Kana?”, followed by the same survey held the previous year. During the survey period between Feb. 11 to Feb. 18, a total of 519 responses were received.
There were more male respondents with the gender ratio being 60% male and 40% female. The age group was about 50% for those under the age of 19, and about 25% for those in their 20s, mainly focusing on youngsters.

■ Tsunemori Akane from “PSYCHO-PASS” and Sengoku Nadeko from “Bakemonogatari” tied at the top!
1st place goes to Tsunemori Akane from “PSYCHO-PASS” and Sengoku Nadeko from “Bakemonogatari” series, receiving the same percentage of votes equal to 12%.

Tsunemori Akane ranked up from 3rd place of the last year. Some comments were received from fans that love the way Akane has been following her own path as an inspector sticking to her beliefs, “I am very impressed by how she turned the character’s personality from an unreliable rookie girl to an attracting and dignified woman”, and “This anime made me realize how great her ability of expression is. Akane-chan’s phrases truly contained her stong will to confront justice and criminal cases.”
The latest production “PSYCHO-PASS 3 FIRST INSPECTOR” is scheduled to be released in spring 2020.

One of the heroines from the “Bakemonogatari” series, Sengoku Nadeko, ranked at the top just as she did in last year’s survey. There were some fans commenting, “This is the character who introduced me to Hanazawa-san”, while others appreciated the hidden personality behind her cuteness, “She’s not only cute, you can see various aspects of her personality in one single work!” and “Expressing a wide range of characteristics through a single character is what attracts me to Hanazawa-san”. Some fans also praised the OP theme “Love Circulation” saying, “I will never forget the cuteness perceived when I listened to it for the first time”.

3rd place goes to Onodera Kosaki from “Nisekoi: False Love” with an approval rating of 9%, ranking one place lower than the last year.

Onodera Kosaki is a classic heroine that received various comments such as, “Hanazawa Kana is great in voicing delicately a girl that is in everyone’s dreams, by using her warm and beautiful voice. When I first heard her, I was impressed and thought, ‘What a lovely and clear voice. It fits perfectly with Kosaki-chan’”. Many male fans fell in love with her, “It’s cute to think constantly about the protagonist” and “I can’t forget the scenes of her blushing”.

■ Let’s introduce other comments!!
Kobuchizawa Shirase from “A Place Further than the Universe”, “I felt like the expression of all human emotions was shown through the same character”.

Red Blood Cell from “Cells at Work!”, “Despite the unreliability due to her frequent mistakes and her complete lack of direction, she has a strong willingness. I like how she tries to do her best with everyone she meets”.

Midorikawa Hana from “Prison School”, “She was able to perform a dramatic role expressing cuteness, violence, and uncontrollable feelings. I take my hat off to her”.
Kanroji Mitsuri from the 2019 blockbuster series “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba”, “Her cute voice fits perfectly with her title Love pillar. It was awesome!”, and “She is so cute that my heart can’t stop pounding! I’m looking forward to seeing her playing the role in the sequel”.

In the survey conducted in 2020, characters of works broadcast in 2019, such as “PSYCHO-PASS”, “The Quintessential Quintuplets”, “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba”, and others ranked high. There are also many titles for which the sequel will be produced this year, making everyone impatient to watch the next releases.

■ Top Ranking 20
“Who is your favorite character voiced by Hanazawa Kana? 2020 edition”
1. Tsunemori Akane “PSYCHO-PASS”
1. Sengoku Nadeko “Bakemonogatari” Series
3. Onodera Kosaki “Nisekoi: False Love”
4. Kobuchizawa Shirase “A Place Further than the Universe”
5. Nakano Ichika “The Quintessential Quintuplets”
6. Kanroji Mitsuri “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba”
7. Nogi Sonoko “Yuki Yuna Is a Hero”
8. Red Blood Cell “Cells at Work!”
9. Shiina Mayuri “STEINS;GATE”
10. Kawai Ritsu “The Kawai Complex Guide to Manors and Hostel Behavior”
11. Kuroneko / Gokou Ruri “Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai”
12. Charlotte Dunois “Infinite Stratos”
12. Angel / Tachibana Kanade “Angel Beats!”
13. Matsuzaka Satou “Happy Sugar Life”
13. Yukishiro Nanako “Senryu Girl”
16. Saegusa Mayumi “The Irregular at Magic High School”
16. Roromiya Karuta “Inu × Boku SS”
18. Kawamoto Hinata “March Comes in Like a Lion”
18. iskill Lyra “Monster Strike”
18. Midorikawa Hana “Prison School”

(Survey period: Feb. 11 to Feb. 18, 2020)