Anime Anime Global

Jun. 4 is Hirakawa Daisuke’s birthday.

Hirakawa Daisuke made his debut as the voice actor in the second half of the 1990s. In spring 2020, he plays characters in the anime such as “Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These” and “Kingdom” 3rd season.
He also dubs characters in movies, including the role originally played by Will Turner and Orlando Bloom in “Pirates of Caribbean” series, and Jang Keun-suk in “You’re Beautiful”. In 2019, he played characters in the movies including “T-34 Legend of War” and “Aladdin”, the movie series which were also popular among the anime fans.

Here at Anime!Anime!, to commemorate Hirakawa Daisuke’s birthday, we conducted the reader’s survey titled “who is your favorite character played by Hirakawa Daisuke?” following the survey conducted last year. The survey was conducted from May 24 to Jun. 4, and 130 people answered the survey.
The female readers made up the majority, making up approximately 70% of the overall number of votes, while male readers made up approximately 30%. For the age group, the yung readers made up the majority, with 19-year old or younger readers made up approximately 40%, while 20’s made up approximately 20%.

■Ryuugasaki Rei from “Free!” ranked in the top for 2 consecutive years! The characters from dubbed movies also ranked in!
The 1st place was Ryuugasaki Rei from “Free!”. The support rating was approximately 20% and ranked top as he did in the previous year.

Ryuugasaki Rei is the character who enters the swimming club although he used to be a member of the track and field. He was related by the many fans for working hard with his own logic as a beginner, and the comment mentioned that said, “I liked how he learned other swimming skills although he only knew how to swim butterfly in the beginning”.
Rei was also popular for both being logical and comical, and the comment related to it said, “I love how the gap between logical and comical part became evident by Hirakawa-san’s acting”.

The 2nd place was Kakyouin Teruaki from “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders”. The support rating was approximately 15%.

The comments said, “I believe that only Hirakawa-san can play Kakyouin, who is smart, kind ,and has a beautiful voice. I still love him”, and “Strong, low voice with dignity matches perfectly with Kakyouin. I especially love the acting in the last scene of Kakyouin”. Kakyouin was remembered by the fans for being a wonderful partner of the protagonist while he was on the journey. There were supporting messages from the fans of the manga, and one comment said, “I was happy because many wonderful lines and quotes were expressed in such a wonderful way. The image of the character matched well, also”.

The 3rd place was Sakamaki Laito from “DIABOLIK LOVERS”. The support rating was approximately 8%.

Sakamki is a sadistic with stalking personality and there were many readers who surprised at his true identity. One comment said, “He was a character whom I did not imagine from the character trends of Hirakawa-san, so I remember how shocking it was. I was surprised only at the beginning; I quickly became interested in the anime”.
The dangerous charm of Laito fascinated many characters, and comments mentioned that said, “I love how he has both sadistic and masochistic characteristics…! Hirakawa-san’s charm becomes evident by playing him”, and “I love the gap of his voice because he is usually has a sticky voice, but changes into lower voice when he is serious”.

■Introducing Other Comments!
Natsumezaka Shiki from “Dance with Devils”: “His setting varies depend on the gaming device or the route you choose, but I love how Hirakawa-san act differently while the character stays as the single person”.

Melvin Weins from “The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II: Rail Zeppelin-Grace note-“: “I love how he distinguishes between when the character speaks with easygoing attitude, while suddenly speaks seriously.”

Franz d’Epinay from “Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo”: “I felt that Hirakawa-san is a voice actor who neatly expresses the complex feelings of the character. I still love the character although 15 years passed since the end of the broadcast.”

Legolas from “Lord of the Ring” Series: “I want to keep listening to Hirakawa-san’s beautiful language of Elf.”

There were many votes for dubbed movies.

The top characters did not change compared to the previous year, but the characters from “Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo”, the title which he played the main character for the first time, and the latest tile including “The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II: Rail Zeppeling-Grace note-“, and dubbed movies including “Pirates of Caribbean” received votes.

■Ranking Top 20
[Who is your favorite character played by Hirakawa Daisuke? 2020 Ver.]
1st: Ryuugasaki Rei from “Free!”
2nd: Kakyouin Teruaki from “Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders”
3rd: Sakamaki Laito from “DIABOLIK LOVERS”
4th: Itou Makoto from “School Days”
5th: Ken Mayuzumi from “Aikatsu Friends!”
6th: Natsumezaka Shiki from “Dance with Devils”
7th: Will Turner from “Pirates of Caribbean” Series
8th: Irie Naoki from “Itazura na Kiss”
8th: Enmu from “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba”
10th: Asahina Ukyou from “BROTHERS CONFLICT”
10th: Momotarou from “Hozuki’s Coolheadedness”
10th: Franz d’Epinay from “Gankutsuou: The Count of Monte Cristo”
13th: Shirayuki Rei “On Air!”
14th: Iwaaski Shuusaku from “Seraph of the End”
14th: Onozuka Satoshi from “Toshishita Kareshi no Renai Kanriguse”
14th: Omejima Nanami from “The Ones Within”
14th: Hiiragi Tsubasa “Star Musical”
14th: Melvin Weins from “The Case Files of Lord El-Melloi II: Rail Zeppelin-Grace note-”
14th: Legolas from “Lord of the Ring” Series

(Survey Conducted from May 24, 2020 to Jun. 4)