Anime Anime Global

Mar. 13 is Hatano Wataru-san’s birthday.

He debuted as a voice actor in the 2000s and won the Rookie Male Voice Actor of the Year in the 2nd Seiyu Awards.
From 2019 to 2020, he voiced the characters from titles such as “Ensemble Stars” and “Twittering Birds Never Fly”.

Here at Anime!Anime!, we have conducted the same survey as last year asking, “Who is you favorite character voiced by Hatano Wataru-san?” to celebrate his birthday. We have received 230 votes during the voting period from Feb. 25 to Mar. 3.
Many of the respondents were female with the gender ratio at 15% male to 85% female, and the age group was on the younger side with 40% under 19 and 40% in their 20s.

■Yaotome Gaku from “Idolish7” received almost half of all the votes!
Taking 1st place was Yaotome Gaku from “Idolish7”. He received roughly 45% of the votes making the victory even more overwhelming than last year.

Yaotome Gaku is the leader of the popular idol group TRIGGER. Comments such as “I like his straightforward and earnest personality. His good looks and his leadership in TRIGGER make him so attractive” and “He can say things with a straight face that other people would be too embarrassed to say and that makes him so awesome!” show that his manly personality makes him popular. There was also a comment mentioning him working at a Soba shop, “It’s amazing how he switches from idol mode, Soba shop mode, off mode, and so on, according to each situation.”

Coming in 2nd was Utsuki Chikage from “A3!” with roughly 8% of the vote which made him rise significantly in the ranking from last year’s 7th place.

Utsuki Chikage, who is a member of Spring Troupe of MANKAI Company, is a character with a mysterious charm. He received comments such as, “His secret behind his smile makes him mysterious and it really matches Hatano-san’s mature tone of voice,” and “I love the duality of his painful past and his elusive personality!” Another comment says, “My favorite solo track is ‘Petenshi no Yuuutsu’,” shows that his singing voice is also highly praised.

3rd place went to Oda Nobunaga from “Nobunaga no Shinobi”, with roughly 5% of the vote keeping him at the same position as last year.

He played a different Nobunaga than the usual history-based works and received comments such as “I like how he loves sweets even though he’s a warlord from the Sengoku era,” and “Hatano-san’s vintage but warm voice goes really well with Minase Inori-san as Chidori.” The series being a long run with 78 episodes may be another reason he left a strong impression.

■Here are some comments for other characters!!
For Gajeel Redfox from “Fairy Tail”, “He starts off with the worst relationship possible with Levy, but my heart was beating so fast as they start to open up to each other.”
For Fuzuki Kai from “Tsukiuta. The ANIMATION”, “He well expresses a ‘Summer Man’ vibe born in July and it’s so cool.”

For Otogari Adonis from “Ensemble Stars!”, “His voice, though being low-key, has a calm and kind characteristic. I wish I could listen to him forever.”
For Tachibana Lindo from “Dance with Devils”, who is the brother of the protagonist, “He’s the ideal big brother. He protects his sister with his life, he’s kind, he can cook… He’s definitely the No. 1 character I want as a big brother.”

He’s passionate, cool, kind… The results reconfirm how wide his range of character roles are.

■Overall ranking
“Who is you favorite character voiced by Hatano Wataru-san? 2020 edition”

1. Yaotome Gaku “Idolish7”
2. Utsugi Chikage “A3!”
3. Oda Nobunaga “Nobunaga no Shinobi”
4. Kajii Motojirou “Bungo Stray Dogs”
4. Gajeel Redfox “Fairy Tail”
4. Fuzuki Kai “Tsukiuta. The ANIMATION”
7. Otogari Adonis “Ensemble Stars!”
8. Tachibana Lindo “Dance with Devils”
8. Touhou Jousuke “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle”
10. Shinsou Hitoshi “My Hero Academia”
10. Noda Gon “Uchitama?! -Uchi No Tama Shirimasenka?”
12. Toudou Shinnosuke “Junjo Romantica: Pure Romance”
12. Mikuri Tomokazu “Yumeria”
14. Araya Hiroshi “Baby Steps”
14. Hakuba Shingoku “Kings of My Love”
14. Harold “Thomas the Tank Engine”
14. Masuko Tooru “Ace of Diamond”
14. Mibuchi Reo “Kuroko’s Basketball”
14. Murasaki “Hamatora”

(Voting Period: Feb. 25 to Mar. 3, 2020)