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May 31 is Hidaka Noriko-san's birthday.

Hidaka Noriko-san started her career as a child actor, and began her idol and voice actress activities in the 1980s. She has played the roles of heroines and various characters. In 2020, she will be taking part in popular works such as “Detective Conan: The Scarlet Bullet”, “The Genie Family 2020”, and “Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!”.

To celebrate her birthday, we at Anime!Anime! have conducted a survey asking, “Who is your favorite character voiced by Hidaka Noriko-san?” There were 232 votes during the voting period from May 19 through May 26.
There were more female respondents with the gender ratio being 25% male and 75% female. The age group was about 30% for those under the age of 19, about 25% for those in their 20s, and 20% in their 30s.

■Characters from popular series ranked high!
Taking 1st place was Tendou Akane from “Ranma ½” with roughly 25% of the votes. She moved up a position from last year.
She received votes such as, “Hidaka-san is the only one who can take on the role of Akane-chan, who has both a strong, lively side and a cute, girly side!”, and “Akane-chan is the best Hidaka-character since she has both of Hidaka-san's amazing voices. The gracious feminine voice and the powerful shout.”

Other comments pointed out the character's charm, “The scene where she cut her hair short left a strong impression on me. Though she can be a bit awkward and jealous, her bright smile and her true feelings that sometimes show are so cute. She is a relatable heroine,” or Hidaka-san's dialogue with other characters, “Hidaka-san is the only one that could pull off those lovey-dovey fights with Yamaguchi Kappei-san as Ranma!”
This result reassures how popular this character is even if it has been 30 years since the anime.

Coming in 2nd is Sera Masumi from “Detective Conan” with 20% of the votes. She dropped a position from last year.
“Needless to say she is both cute and cool, I like her double tooth and how she refers to herself as Boku,” and “She's usually boyish and cool, yet she can be so cute when it's about her big brother!”, shows fans love her for her various charms. There were also many comments expressing their high expectations for the latest film, “The Scarlet Bullet” such as, “Her past and her family are gradually being unveiled, and it makes me love her even more. I'm excited to see 'The Scarlet Bullet' since it centers on the Akai family!”

3rd place went to the Dominator from “Psycho-Pass”. With 15% of the votes, it moved up significantly from last year's unranked position.

The Dominator is a special gun that appears in the series. Many fans pointed out how her lifeless voice with emotions left a strong impression with comments like, “It's amazing how her voice can be so beautiful even if it's something difficult like a mechanical voice. The Dominator is a very important item in the series so it left a strong impression on me,” and “Though it's an AI, it sounds as if it might have feelings, or not. The balance of the two sides was awesome.”
“It surprised me to hear Hidaka-san's cold mechanical voice, which is completely different from her usual warm and gentle voice,” shows that the gap between her other roles was also popular. The 3rd season released in Oct. 2019 was maybe the reason for its growing popularity.

■Here are some comments for other characters!
For Kikyou from “Inuyasha”, “Her voice portrayed her feelings for Inuyasha and it was so empathetic,” and “I had an image of Hidaka-san playing cheerful, energetic characters, so it amazed me how she could take on a role of such a cool character.”
For Shalnark from “Hunter × Hunter” (2011 series), “Hidaka-san voicing Shalnark without changing her tone really matched the smart, cool personality of the character!”

For Seta Soujirou from “Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story”, “She nailed both scenes where he is emotionless and where his suppressed emotions explode. I was knocked out by his elegant voice and aura.”

There were also votes for a mother character, the Chairwoman, from “Love Live!”, “It was impressive how she portrayed the two different sides of her: Kotori's mother and the school chairwoman.”

Characters from a wide range of ages received votes. Well known characters such as Asakura Minami from “Touch” and Satsuki from “My Neighbor Totoro” also made it in the top 10.

■Top 10
[Who is your favorite character voiced by Hidaka Noriko-san? 2020 Edition]
1. Tendou Akane “Ranma ½”
2. Sera Masumi “Detective Conan”
3. Dominator (Sibyl System) “Psyco-Pass”
4. Takaya Noriko “Gunbuster”
5. Asakura Minami “Touch”
6. Kikyou “Inuyasha”
7. Seta Soujirou “Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Swordsman Romantic Story”
8. The Chairwoman (Kotori's Mother) “Love Live!”
9. Erica Fontaine “Sakura Wars”
10. Kusakabe Satsuki “My Neighbor Totoro”

(Voting Period: May 19 to May 26, 2020)