Anime Anime Global

January 18 is Shirai Yuusuke-san’s birthday.

Shirai Yuusuke-san debuted as a voice actor in the 2010s. He won the Singing Award as a member of “Hypnosis Mic: Division Rap Battle” in the 13th Seiyu Awards.
In 2020, he took part in popular works such as “Idolish7 Second Beat!” and “Hypnosis Mic: Division Rap Battle: Rhyme Anima”. He is playing the main character in the winter 2021 TV anime, “Wave!! Surfing Yappe!!”, which had an advanced release in the theaters.

To celebrate his birthday, Anime!Anime! conducted the same readers’ survey as last year, asking “Who is Your Favorite Character Voiced by Shirai Yuusuke-san?”. There were 237 votes during the voting period from December 30 to January 6.
Most of the voters were female with a gender ratio of 10% male to 90% female, and the age range was on the younger side with 45% under 20 and 25% in their 20s.

■Group leaders secured a 1-2 finish!
1st Place
Topping the list was Nikaidou Yamato from “Idolish7” with roughly 45% of the votes, keeping him at the top from last year.

The oldest member of IDOLiSH7 was popular for being reliable and received votes saying, “Shirai-san’s performance adds color to his big-brother characteristic as the leader that brings the idol group together and how he struggles with the conflicted feelings of his past,” and “He’s like a big brother to the other members, and I love his calm and accepting voice and manner of speech.”

Another comment pointed out his performance that brings out his
personality, “The character’s hidden complex feelings matches Shirai-san’s elegant deep to middle ranged voice.” He also fascinates fans on concerts, “Shirai-san singing and dancing on the stage was Nikaidou Yamato himself.”

2nd Place
Coming in 2nd was Amemura Ramuda from “Hypnosis Mic: Division Rap Battle” with roughly 28% of the votes, pushing him up a position from last year.

The character is the leader of Fling Posse, the representing team of the Shibuya Division. Fans were surprised at the switching of his voices, “He’s usually a cheerful, cute character, but also has a dark side, and how Shirai-san captured it was fascinating,” and “He portrayed the duality of the character really well. The gap between his cute, calculative voice and deep, malicious voice is irresistible!”
Though the anime was aired in 2020, there was also a fan commenting on an episode from the CD drama, “His performance in the drama track ‘Marionette no Kodoku to Namida to Kibou to’ (The marionette’s loneliness, tears, and hope) was amazing, and I felt my heart being crushed.”

3rd Place
Naruko Io from “Cute High Earth Defense Club Love!” took 3rd place with roughly 9% of the votes. He dropped a rank from last year but is still in the top 3.

There were many readers who became fans of him through this character and received a comment saying, “This is Shirai-san’s first main character in an anime. He doesn’t express his feelings that much, but I love how he actually cares a lot about the Defense Club!” Another comment said, “Shirai-san has played various roles, but I think this character’s voice is the closest to his true voice. The character and his song are both unique and is packed with Shirai-san’s charm.”

■Here are some comments for other characters!
For Wakazato Haruna from “The Idolmaste SideM”, “The funny but caring voice perfectly matches the character.”
For Shimada Seijirou from “Bungou to Alchemist”, “I can’t help but appreciate his talent of how he performs the Chunibyo lines.”

For Usui Masumi from “A3!”, “He’s the youngest of the Spring Troupe, and how he purely cares for the director makes me want to cheer for him,” and “He’s overly mature for a high school student, but sometimes he shows his childish side. The gap is so cute!”
An animal character also made it in the top 10. For Kiso Tora from “Uchi Tama!? ~Uchi no Tama Shirimasen ka?~”, “The cheerful and positive personality is what you would expect from a boy tabby cat, and his mischievousness is so cute. Also, the rock’n’roll ending theme song he sang was cool and is my favorite among all the songs from the show.”

Looking at all the characters, the ones that received votes were not only those from anime and games but also characters from drama CDs.

■Top 10
[Who is Your Favorite Character Voiced by Shirai Yuusuke-san? 2021 Editon]
1. Nikaidou Yamato “Idolish7”
2. Amemura Ramuda “Hypnosis Mic: Division Rap Battle”
3. Naruko Io “Cute High Earth Defense Club Love!”
4. Usui Masumi “A3!”
5. Wakazato Haruna “The Idolmaster SideM”
6. Kiso Tora “Uchi Tama!? ~Uchi no Tama Shirimasen ka?~”
7. Oosoto Masaki “Tasokare Hotel”
7. Shimada Seijirou “Bugou to Alchemist”
7. Tama-chan “Rilu Rilu Fairilu”
7. Hiyama Takaomi “Stand My Heroes”

(Voting Period: December 30, 2020 to January 6, 2021)