Anime Anime Global

Aug. 18 is Ootani Ikue's birthday.

Ootani Ikue debuted as a voice actor in the 1980s. She is famous for playing a wide range of roles, from female characters to boys and non-human characters.She won the Kids Family Award at the 6th Seiyu Awards. Also known for playing main characters in multiple long-lived anime that have continued for over 20 years, including “Detective Conan”, “Pokemon”, and “One Piece”.

Here at Anime! Anime! to celebrate Ootani Ikue's birthday, we conducted a reader survey titled “Who is your favorite character played by Ootani Ikue?” 106 people answered during the survey period from Aug. 3 to Aug. 10. The ratio of males and females is about 35% for males and about 65% for females. The age group was about 35% minors, and about 35% for those in their 20s, with the younger generation being the main group.

■Cute characters gathered together!
1st place
The first place went to Pikachu from “Pokemon”. The approval rating was about 35%.

Many readers praised the ability to express various emotions through only sounds, “It's easy to understand all character's fellings only through 'Pikachu' no matter what. Ootani Ikue's acting abilities are amazing!”, and “She's so cute! But not only that, but she also has the strength to overcome any troubles with Satoshi, so I think she's cool (laughs). I'll always support their duo with Satoshi!”

“I cried because of the deep love that was revealed for Satoshi,in 'You got it!'and the secret of the film, and “I love 'Pikachu's Song,' the lyrics of which are all in Pikachu language! are some comments mentioned about the character's song.

2nd place
The second place went to Tony Tony Chopper from “One Piece”. The approval rating was about 20%.

Readers commented, “If you think of him as the Straw Hat Pirate's mascot, he is a reliable ship doctor and strong enough as a combatant.”, “His line 'Konoyaro!' is a very cute habit”, and “He's already a national character. Sometimes he is hesitant, but in fact, I think this is an amazing performance of strong Chopper.”
Chopper, who is attractive both as a doctor, a friend, and a mascot character, ranked high.

3rd place
Third place is Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko from “Detective Conan”. The approval rating is about 10%, and he remains in the top 3 from 2018.

Many readers pointed on the performance of reliable boy-detective, “A smart, intelligent, kind, and very good boy! In the world of “Conan” where there are so many troubles, a lot of people have been saved by his purity.”, and “Both sides, cute Mitsuhiko, who seems to be in the first grade of elementary school, and sharp and smart Mitsuhiko are performed well.”
Some people think it is also the reason why she has played the character for more than 20 years, “Amazingly, she has been playing a first-grade student for many years”.

■Let's introduce other comments
About Cande from “Smile PreCure!”, “Of course she's cute in terms of her looks, but she's also cute when she adds “~Kuru” to the end of a word and when she spoils her brother Pop. She's a reliable fairy who sometimes helps Pretty Cure too.
About Hana from “Magical DoReMi”, “I was impressed by the rotation between performances of the baby and six-grade girl”

About Nonohara Himeko from “Hime-chan no Ribbon”, “I love this bright and lively cute girl. I also think that Himeko's expression of various emotions seems very real.”
Some people commented about Yabe Akio from “eBASEBALL Powerful Professional Baseball 2020”, popular character released this year, “Oh, Ootani-san's performance of “Yansu” remains same”

Various characters such as boys, girls, and animals have been ranked in the 2020 survey.

■ Ranking Top 10
“Who is your favorite character played by Ootani Ikue? 2020 version”
1st Pikachu “Pokemon”
2nd Tony Tony Chopper “One Piece”
3rd Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko “Detective Conan”
4th Candy “Smile PreCure!”
5th Zatch Bell “Golden Zatch Bell!!”
5th Hana-chan “Magical DoReMi”
5th Fu “Uchi no Sanshimai”
8th Tabata Kobo “Kobo-chan”
8th Yahiko “The Morose Mononokean”
8th Unicon “PriPara”

(Survey period: August 3 to August 10, 2020)

※This questionnaire is part of the survey of readers regarding their “interest and attention to current anime works/characters”. Regarding the result, we do not intend to decide the superiority or inferiority of any character or work. We hope that this article will give you a chance to learn about new works and characters, as well as play a role in deepening your understanding and interest.