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Apr. 17 is Kuroda Takaya's birthday.

Kuroda Takaya worked as an actor before making his debut as a voice actor in the 2000s. Recently, he's been voicing the main character in various titles such as, “Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun” and “Yo-kai Watch Shadowside”, and is also dubbing impressive roles in video games.
He is active in the rock band Kuroda Takaya & Goodfellas and participated at the event “Seiyuu Kouhaku Uta Gassen 2019”, where he held a singing performance to a large audience.

To celebrate Kuroda Takaya’s birthday, here at Anime!Anime!, we conducted a reader survey asking, “Who is your favorite character played by Kuroda Takaya?”. During the survey period between Apr. 6 to Apr. 13, a total of 115 responses were received.
There were more female respondents with the gender ratio being 35% male and 65% female. The age group was about 30% for those under the age of 19, about 25% for those in their 20s, and about 20% for those in their 30s.

■Kiryuu Kazuma, the protagonist of the popular game “Yakuza”, which depicts the life of a man, is on top!
The 1st place goes to Kiryuu Kazuma from “Yakuza” with an approval rating of about 30%.
Kiryuu Kazuma, who is the main character in many titles in the “Yakuza” series, is a legendary former yakuza.
Many readers commented on how Kuroda perfectly suits to the character, “If Kiryuu's acting voice hadn't been Kuroda-san, the series wouldn't have been as long as it is now. He is great at expressing Kiryuu's 'man' side”, and “I can't think of anyone other than Kuroda who can give a sense of gentleness while performing with a powerful and harsh voice!”.
The comical elements that were shown outside of the main episodes were also popular, “Besides his cool voice, the mischievous and natural acting performance in the substories is very charming”.

The 2nd place goes to Amayado Rei from “Hypnosis Mic: Division Rap Battle” with an approval rating of about 20%.
Amayado Rei is a conman with a dark aura, but he also has a strong sense of duty and always keeps his promises. A lot of comments were received about the strong resemblance between him and Kuroda, “The character's sex appeal is amazing, and the appearance is very similar to that of Kuroda!”.

The 3rd place is tied with Sullivan from “Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun”, Jibanyan from “Yo-kai Watch Shadowside”, and Misuzu from “Natsume's Book of Friends”.
Sullivan, the principal of the Babirus Demon School that adopted the protagonist Suzuki Iruma as his grandson, was considered a charming character for his two-sided personality, “I was impressed by the duality of the grandfather who spoils his grandchild and the fact that he is actually a powerful demon”, and “He voices him superbly by combining kindness, playfulness, and dignity”.

Jibanyan from “Yo-kai Watch Shadowside” has a different and scary appearance than the usual characters. Among the fans, some of them showed interest in seeing the performance of a completely different character; “I love his dandy voice!”, and “I can hear the meow meow in that low-pitched voice”.

Misuzu is a youkai with a human body and a horse's head. Comments were received such as, “I love him because Kuroda's low-pitched, slightly powerful voice fits well with Misuzu's noble and intimidating atmosphere”, and “Most of Kuroda's roles have a scary image, so I thought that would be the case this time too, but… He is a kind character who shows his feelings to Natsume”.
As a result, demon and youkai characters received the same number of votes ranking in the same place.

■Let's introduce other comments!!
Hyperion from “Saint Seiya Omega”, “He has a frightening look, but he's actually a good guy who cares about the others”.
Saiki Creed from “Viper's Creed”, “Despite his fierce look and Kuroda-san's stern voice, I was struck by the gap shown while he drinks coffee with a lot of sugar”.
Also, were received votes for Oscar from the Drama CD titled, “Kindan Vampire ~ The Wiseman of Purple Roses ~”, “This is the first work that introduced me to Kuroda Takaya. I was relieved by his sweet, gentle, and warm voice, and I thought he was a character just like Kuroda himself”.

Starting with Kiryuu Kazuma from “Yakuza” on top, non-anime characters stand out in the ranking.

■Top 10
[Who is your favorite character played by Kuroda Takaya?]
1. Kiryuu Kazuma “Yakuza”
2. Amayado Rei “Hypnosis Mic: Division Rap Battle”
3. Sullivan “Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun”
3. Jibanyan “Yo-kai Watch Shadowside”
3. Misuzu “Natsume's Book of Friends”
6. Hyperion “Saint Seiya Omega”
7. Fergus mac Róich “Fate/Grand Order”
8. Abygale “Future Card Buddyfight”
8. Lieutenant Colonel Tendo, “Joker Game”
8. Hattori Hanzou “Samurai Warriors”
8. Masked Takenouchi “Cromartie High School”
8. Yaiba of Darkness “GoGo Sentai Boukenger”

(Response period: from Apr. 6 to Apr. 13, 2020)

* The questionnaire is part of an attitude survey related to the interest of the readers towards the current anime works and characters. Regarding the results, there is no intention to determine any kind of relative merit of any character or production. We hope that this article will be an opportunity for you to get to know new works and characters, and also deepen your understanding and interest in them.

■Overall Ranking
Kiryuu Kazuma “Yakuza”
Amayado Rei “Hypnosis Mic: Division Rap Battle”
Sullivan “Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun”
Jibanyan “Yo-kai Watch Shadowside”
Misuzu “Natsume's Book of Friends”
Hyperion “Saint Seiya Omega”
Fergus mac Róich “Fate/Grand Order”
Abygale “Future Card Buddyfight”
Lieutenant Colonel Tendo, “Joker Game”
Hattori Hanzou “Samurai Warriors”
Masked Takenouchi “Cromartie High School”
Yaiba of Darkness “GoGo Sentai Boukenger”
Iroha “Otoko Yuukaku”
Oscar von Weiseheldenburg “Kindan Vampire ~ The Wiseman of Purple Roses ~”
Cranky “Thomas & Friends” (TV Tokyo, NHK)
Gorio “A Destructive God Sits Next to Me”
Saiki Creed “Viper's Creed”
Simon Brezhnev “Durarara!!”
Venus “Atashi no Shimobe-kun”
John Hancock “Fallout 4”
Kinjou Takeru “After School Dice Club”
The Guardian “Nintama Rantarou”
Asami Ryuuichi “Finder”

(Response period: Apr. 6 to Apr. 13, 2020)