Anime Anime Global

January 21 is Mizuki Nana-san’s birthday.

Mizuki Nana-san debuted as a voice actor in the late 1990s. In 2020, she played the main character in titles such as “Monster Strike the Movie: Lucifer – Zetsubō no Yoake” and “The Gymnastics Samurai”.

As a singer, she performed in her first online concert, “Nana Acoustic Online”, in November 2020, and on January 10, 2021, the opening theme song of the TV anime “Levius”, “Link or Chains”, was released digitally. Also, her getting married attracted much attention from her fans.

To celebrate her birthday, we at Anime!Anime! conducted the same survey as last year asking, “Who’s Your Favorite Character Voiced by Mizuki Nana-san?”. There were 160 votes during the voting period from January 4 to January 11.
The gender ratio was about half and half, and the age range was spread out with 35% under 20, 30% in their 20s, and 25% in their 30s.

■The top 3 are fixed! A new character she played in 2020 also ranked in.
1st Place
Topping the list was Hanasaki Tsubomi from “HeartCatch PreCure!” with roughly 20% of the votes, keeping her position at the top for 2 consecutive years.

Cure Blossom, the PreCure that Hanasaki Tsubomi transforms into, was once called the “weakest PreCure of all time”, but was popular for her attitude to do her best, receiving comments such as, “It made me happy to see Tsubomi growing in the anime,” and “I like how she’s clumsy but does her best.”
There were also many fans pointing out her signature phrase, “I love how she gets angry at the enemy and says, ‘Kanninbukuro no O ga Kiremashita!’,” or the interaction with her partner, “I like how she helps Cure Marine, who uses strong words.”

2nd Place
Coming in 2nd is Hyuuga Hinata from “Naruto” with roughly 15% of the votes, she also kept her position from last year.

Some fans said how they enjoyed the different performances as the character grew, “I was introduced to Nana-san through this character. Her voice that is a bit high but has a strong core, perfectly matched Hinata, who started off shy and hesitant but got stronger to get closer to Naruto, who she admired. Even after 10 years, she’s still my favorite character,” and “I was amazed by how Nana-san changed her voice as she played Hinata from a child to becoming a mother.”
There were also several votes from female readers saying, “I love her strong mind and devotion towards Naruto.”

3rd Place
Fate Testarossa from “Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha” took 3rd place with roughly 13% of the votes, and the top 3 all kept their positions from last year.

She also received comments pointing out her growth, “She started as the enemy of the protagonist, became her best friend, and even was like a mother to her,” and “I enjoyed watching her growing up from a child to becoming an adult.” She also fascinated fans through the song during the show, “Of course, her visual and design were great, but also the background of the character and the lyrics from Fate’s perspective were also amazing. I want Fate-chan, who devotes herself to Nanoha, to become happy…”

■Here are some comments for other characters!
For Oboro from “Basilisk”, “I love how she keeps caring about her love though they have to fight to the death with each other.”
For Ange from “Cross Ange”, “Nana-sama’s powerful voice perfectly matches Ange’s strong spirit, and I always looked forward to watching the next episode.”

For Hoshina Utau from “Shugo Chara!”, “Her strength to carve out her own future is cool! The songs in the anime are all amazing, and how she’s tsundere and can’t express her feelings is so cute!”
There were also votes for a new character from a winter 2020 anime. For Ayu from “The Gymnastics Samurai”, “I was surprised at her speaking manner! I think her voice also matched the serious lines.”

In the 2021 survey, popular characters stood out, but also new characters made the list. Dubbings of characters from foreign films and dramas, such as “Captain Marvel” and “iCarly”, also made it in the overall ranking.

■Overall Ranking
[Who’s Your Favorite Character Voiced by Mizuki Nana-san? 2021 Editon]
1. Hanasaki Tsubomi / Cure Blossom “HeartCatch PreCure!”
2. Hyuuga Hinata “Naruto”
3. Fate Testarossa (Fate T. Harlaown) “Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha”
4. Kazanari Tsubasa “Symphogear”
5. Vanessa Enoteca “Black Clover”
6. Ange “Cross Ange”
6. Colette Brunel “Tales of Symphonia”
8. Hoshina Utau “Shugo Chara!”
9. Kafuu Saki “Is the Order a Rabbit?”
9. Rue (Princess Kraehe) “Princess Tutu”
11. Ayu “The Gymnastics Samurai”
11. Usami Kaoruko “Junjo Romantica: Pure Romance”
11. Oboro “Basilisk”
11. Carly Shay (played by Miranda Cosgrove) “iCarly”
11. Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel (played by Brie Larson) “Captain Marvel”
11. Shirakawa Hotaru “Memories Off 2nd”
11. Yamato Sora “Flint the Time Detective”

(Voting Period: January 4 to January 11, 2021)