Anime Anime Global

Apr. 22 is Saitou Souma-san's birthday.

Saitou Souma-san debuted as a voice actor after winning the Grand Prize of the 2nd 81 Audition in 2008. He also won the Rookie Voice Actor Award in the 9th and the Singing Award as a member of Hypnosis Mic in the 13th Seiyu Awards.

Here at Anime!Anime!, we had an interview with him concerning works, such as the film “Lu over the Wall”, and the game app “DanMachi: MEMORIA FREESE”.

To celebrate his birthday, we conducted the same survey as last year asking, “Who's your favorite character voiced by Saitou Souma-san?” There were 639 votes received during the voting period from Apr. 11 through Apr. 18.
The voters were mostly female with 92% of them being female and 8% being male, and the age range was on the younger side with 70% under 19 and 20% in their 20s.

■Kujou Ten from “IDOLiSH7” kept its position at the top!
1st place went to Kujou Ten from “IDOLiSH7” with roughly 30% of the votes keeping his position from last year.

“It's amazing how he perfectly depicts the duality that comes from his extraordinary professionalism. The angel-like voice that gives priority to the fans and the dignified voice of him being strict/stoic towards everyone including himself. His voice really complements Ten-kun's charm,” and “His teaser side of him as an idol is so cute, but I also love how he is stoic towards his profession as an idol in his private life!” are some of the comments he received regarding his strong professionalism.

Also, comments like “He's usually strict, but his embarrassed looks when he sometimes speaks his true feelings is so cute!” shows that many fans are attracted to his cute side of him acting his age.
The professional idol took the top position for 2 years in a row.

Coming in 2nd was Yumeno Gentaro from “Hypnosis Mic: Division Rap Battle” with roughly 25% of the votes.

Yumeno Gentaro is a member of Fling Posse. The lying novelist received comments pointing out him being an enjoyable character from various perspectives, such as “He keeps telling lies, changes his tone, and refers to himself with different pronouns, making it difficult to see his true nature. It's amazing how Saitou-san portrays such a character,” and “It's a treat to hear many voices of Souma-kun through the impressions Yumeno Gentaro does.”

Other comments like, “The character with a beautiful choice of words has much in common with Saitou-san being a literary person, making the character even more convincing, classy, and tricky,” and “The combination of Saitou-san, who likes books, and Gentaro, who is a novelist, is awesome,” show that fans felt that the character was meant for Saitou-san, who loves to read.

3rd place was Yamaguchi Tadashi from “Haikyuu!!” with roughly 8% of the votes.

The freshmen of Karasuno High received comments expressing their attraction towards his hard-working attitude, such as “I love how he improves himself by learning from his failures. He really makes me want to root for him!” and “Saitou Souma-san perfectly portrays the character's kind yet strong passion.”
He is also popular for his connection with his childhood friend Tsukishima Kei with comments like “The way he says 'Tsukki!' depicts his emotions.”

■Here are some comments for other characters!!
For Aoi Yuuta and Hinata from “Ensemble Stars!”, “It's amazing how he expresses the difference between the two twins. The detailed depiction of the changes in their feelings is empathetic.”

For Honda-san from “Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san”, “He's a very comical character, and he nailed the role,” and “I like how Souma-kun's pop/crazy act is at full throttle.”

For Glenn Radars from “Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor”, “Glenn is basically a bastard, but I love how his voice becomes so cool during battles. I can hear Souma-san's voice even when I'm reading the original light novel.”

For Okamoto Tama from “Uchitama?! Have you seen my Tama?”, which was aired in 2020, “His cat-like behavior acting relaxed and a bit off is cute. Him getting along with his owner and friends was so heartwarming.”

The top 3 characters of this survey were all from the latest animes aired in 2020.

■Top 20
“Who's your favorite character voiced by Saitou Souma-san?”
1. Kujou Ten “IDOLiSH7”
2. Yumeno Gentaro “Hypnosis Mic: Division Rap Battle”
3. Yamaguchi Tadashi “Haikyuu!!”
4. Tsurumaru Kuninaga “Touken Ranbu” Series
5. Aoi Yuuta “Ensemble Stars!”
6. Okui Tsubasa “Tsukipro The Animation”
7. Aoi Hinata “Ensemble Stars!”
8. Kain “Rin-ne”
9. Okamoto Tama “Uchitama?! Have you seen my Tama?”
9. Twelve “Terror in Resonance”
11. Tachibana Yukinojou “King of Prism” Series
11. Tatsumi “Akame ga Kill!”
13. Hermes “Kino's Journey -the Beautiful World- the Animated Series”
13. Honda “Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san”
15. Utsumi Shou “SSSS.Gridman”
15. Kirschtaria Wodime from “Fate/Grand Order”
15. Hiura Kirina “Inazuma Eleven: Ares”
15. Ryuenji Tasuku “Future Card Buddyfight”
19. Namazuo Toushirou “Touken Ranbu” Series
20. Lolo “Star Twinkle PreCure”

(Voting Period: Apr. 11 through Apr. 18, 2020)