Anime Anime Global

November 20 is Kusao Takeshi-san’s birthday.

Kusao Takeshi-san debuted as a voice actor in the late 1980s. He has appeared in various titles.
He has played young boys, laid-back adults, and non-human characters as well as passionate protagonists. In 2020, he is currently playing in “Digimon Adventure:”.

So, here at Anime!Anime!, to celebrate his birthday, we conducted the reader survey titled ‘Who is your favorite character voiced by Kusao Takeshi?’. During the survey period from November 6 to November 13, a total of 118 responses were received.
For the gender ratio, the females are the majority with about 60% while the males are about 40%. For the age distribution, readers of all ages responded to the survey: about 20% are from minors, 25% are in their twenties, 20% are in their thirties, and 25% are in their forties.

■From kid to adult, and also an alien had ranked in!
1st place
1st place goes to Sanada Ryo from “Ronin Warriors”. The support rating is about 20%.

A lot of fans said that they got to know Kusao-san through this work. The readers’ comments received are ‘The leader has benevolence, and his gentle voice was impressive’ and ‘I feel really comfortable to hear his sweet voice’.
Some other comments referred to the enthusiastic condition of those days: ‘I went to see the live performance of NG5, which is a unit by the five main cast’, and ‘I still keep carefully the CD that I bought those days’.

2nd place
2nd place goes to Sakuragi Hanamichi from “Slam Dunk”. The support rating is about 14%.

Sakuragi Hanamichi is a member of the Shohoku High School basketball team. As a complete beginner, his talent blooms. The readers of all ages voted for this character. The comments received are, ‘When I watched the anime, I immediately thought, “This is definitely Sakuragi Hanamichi’s voice!” I can feel passion from his playing, which is amazing!’, and ‘Influenced by my brother, I am watching the rebroadcast The voice and character are perfectly matched’.
Some readers are looking forward to a sequel: ‘If National Championship becomes an anime adaptation, I hope Kusao-san plays Hanamichi again!’.

3rd place
3rd place goes to Trunks from “Dragon Ball”. The support rating is about 10%.

Trunks is a son of Vegeta and Bulma, and has been depicted at various ages as the comment shows, ‘He has perfectly played Trunks’ childhood and adolescence’.
Among them, adolescent Trunks that has traveled back in time was the most popular.
Some comment has arrived for “Z” playing an active role: ‘I fell in love when he first appeared. Serious and handsome boy character is rare in “Dragon Ball”. His nice voice is irresistible’. Another comment referred to him being back in the episode of “Super”: ‘I thought he was too cool to watch “Future” Trunks’.

■Let’s introduce other comments!!
For Sanada Yukimura from “Samurai Warriors”.
‘Kusao-san perfectly plays various scenes such as Yukimura that is usually calm, Yukimura that is courageous in battles, and Yukimura that is classic in Sanadamaru. I am drawn into his play.’
Lamuness from “NG Knight Lamune & 40”.
‘The silly combination with Da Cider and love? with Milk were wonderful!’

Coco / Kokoda Kouji from “Yes! PreCure 5”.
‘I was always looking forward to the development of the romance with Cure Dream! I wonder if he appears in the film to be released next year.’ ‘I was surprised to hear the different voice of him being a human and mascot.’
Lance Corporal Dororo from “Sgt. Frog”.
‘He usually doesn’t have much of a presence, and he is sometimes coward, but he becomes very strong and reliable in battles’. ‘It is amazing that Kusao-san plays both him in his childhood and at present.’ Some readers voted for the playing as mascot and alien.

In this survey, many readers commented, ‘He perfectly plays different roles’. As a result, handsome characters, cute characters, and other various characters have ranked in.

■Overall Ranking
‘Who is your favorite character voiced by Kusao Takeshi?’
1. Sanada Ryo “Ronin Warriors”
2. Sakuragi Hanamichi “Slam Dunk”
3. Trunks “Dragon Ball”
4. Coco / Kokoda Kouji “Yes! PreCure 5”
5. Lance Corporal Dororo “Sgt. Frog”
6. Ky Kiske “Guilty Gear”
7. Sanada Yukimura “Samurai Warriors”
7. Bankotsu “Inuyasha”
7. Lamuness “NG Knight Lamune & 40”
10. Cress Albane “Tales of Phantasia”
11. Kougaiji “Saiyuki”
12. Shinoda Masafumi “World Trigger”
12. Doubleclouder “Transformers: Super-God Masterforce”
12. Wolfgang “GeGeGe no Kitaro” (The 6th season)

（Survey Period: November 6 – November 13, 2020）