May 29 is Hayami Saori-san's birthday.
Hayami Saori-san debuted in the late 2000s, and won Best Supporting Actress in the 10th Seiyuu Awards. Anime!Anime! has interviewed her about various titles, such as “Kakegurui – Compulsive Gambler” and “Mobile Suit Gundam: The Origin”.
To celebrate her birthday, we conducted the same survey as last year, “Who is your favorite character voiced by Hayami Saori-san?”. We received 587 votes during the voting period from May 15 to May 22.
There were more male voters with the gender ratio at 65% male to 35% female, and the age range tilted towards the younger side with 45% being under 19, and 35% being in their 20s.
■Yukinoshita Yukino from “Oregairu” stays at the top for 2 years in a row!
1st place was taken by Yukinoshita Yukino from “My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU”. She kept her position from last year with roughly 18% of the vote.
Yukinoshita Yukino is a 2nd-year student at Soubu High, and is the president of the Service Club. She received comments such as, “At first glance, she seems cold-hearted, but she's actually hardworking, kind, and charming. Above all, how her emotional details are depicted through Hayami-san's acting is amazing,” and “How her voice matches the sophisticated and cool character of Yukinoshita Yukino, is so comforting. The gap between her usual self and the harsh side of her is also splendidly portrayed, and makes me love all aspects of Yukino.”
“I can sympathize with her becoming more humanly every episode,” and “Her becoming softer is just like the snow thawing out,” shows how her personality changing left a strong impression on the audience.
The heroine of the popular series, which fans are looking forward to its 3rd season, has reassured her popularity.
Coming in 2nd was Shirayuki from “Snow White with the Red Hair” with roughly 10% of the votes. She also kept her position from last year.
Shirayuki is the protagonist of the title, who escapes from the kingdom after refusing to become the prince's concubine. She was popular for working out her own future and received comments such as, “Hayami-san's voice perfectly matches the strong will of Shirayuki, and encourages me,” and “Shirayuki is an act-before-thinking type, which makes me want to root for her, and is the female figure I look up to! I both love and respect her.”
She also fascinated fans in the opening theme song, “Obviously her acting was amazing, but I was also surprised to know that the same person was singing the opening theme song. Both the acting and the singing hit me hard,” and some fans wish for another anime series, “I love how she's straight forward, a bit boyish, and follows the path she believes in. The original manga is still continuing and there are many more scenes I want to see as an anime.”
3rd place went to Kochou Shinobu from “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” right behind 2nd place.
Kochou Shinobu is one of the pillars of the Demon Slayer Corps, which uses Insect Breathing. Many fans commented on how they can't forget Hayami-san's acting that portrays the true feelings behind her smile saying, “It was amazing how her voice when confronting demons, was soft yet tremendously frightening. I think Hayami-san is the only one that can portray both her loving side and complex feelings towards the demons,” or “Shinobu-san is beautiful, cool, and a bit scary, haha. Hayami-san's clear and beautiful voice perfectly matched the character.”
■Here are some comments for other characters!
For Aragaki Ayase from “Ore no Imouto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai”, “It's so cute how she tries to hide her feelings by acting tsundere towards Kyousuke, who she loves,” and “I love how she is neat and clean but yandere!”
For Ogasawara Haruka from “Sound! Euphonium”, “The growth of her in the story was brilliantly depicted through her voice. How she said 'Kitauji fight!' with a distinct intonation in the last episode is one of the best lines from the show.”
For Takagaki Kaede from “The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls”, “It was amazing to watch how she portrayed not only her mindblowing singing abilities, but also the side of her that loves puns and alcohol.
For Sachi from “Sword Art Online”, which is a character that had a strong impact on the protagonist, “Though she only appeared in a few episodes for the anime, she had a big impact wit her strong presence.”
Compared to last years survey, the smash hit from 2019, “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba”, ranked high. Also because we included game characters, popular series such as “Tales of Xillia” reached the top 20.
■Top 20
[Who is your favorite character voiced by Hayami Saori-san? 2020 editon]
1. Yukinoshita Yukino “My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU”
2. Shirayuki “Snow White with the Red Hair”
3. Kochou Shinobu “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba”
4. Shiba Miyuki “The Irregular at Magic High School”
5. Aragaki Ayase “Ore no Imōto ga Konna ni Kawaii Wake ga Nai”
6. Takagaki Kaede “The Idolmaster Cinderella Girls”
7. Jabami Yumeko “Kakegurui – Compulsive Gambler”
8. Hanami Kotoha/Cure Felice/Ha-chan “Witchy PreCure!”
9. Ikaros “Heaven's Lost Property”
9. Nishimiya Shouko “A Silent Voice (film)”
9. Hiiragi Shinoa “Seraph of the End”
12. Aoyama Blue Mountain “Is the Order a Rabbit?”
12. Ononoki Yotsugi “Monogatari (series)”
14. Musubi “Sekirei”
15. Shiraishi Yuzuki “A Place Further than the Universe”
16. Azazel Ameri “Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun”
16. Meltlilith “Fate/EXTRA CCC”
16. Leia Rolando “Tails of Xillia”
19. Shiraishi Urara “Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches”
20. Visha “The Saga of Tanya the Evil”
(Voting Period: May 15 to May 22, 2020)
