February 19 is Irino Miyu-san’s birthday.

He debuted as a child actor in the 1990s and later became a voice actor, playing various characters.
In 2020, he was in “Mr. Osomtasu”, “Oda Cinnamon Nobunaga”, “Gon Movie: The Little Fox the Movie”, and played the main character in the stage play “Peter and the Starcatcher”.

To celebrate his birthday, we at Anime!Anime! conducted the same survey as last year asking “Who’s Your Favorite Character Played by Irino Miyu-san?”. We received 546 responses during the voting period from February 1 to February 7.
Most of the voters were female with a gender ratio of 90% female to 10% male, and the age range was on the younger side with 45% under 20 and 35% in their 20s.

■Todomatsu from “Mr. Osomtasu” takes back the top position!
1st Place
Topping the list was Matsuno Todomatsu from “Mr. Osomatsu” with roughly 40% of the votes, moving him up from last year’s 2nd place.

He received comments pointing out how they enjoy his wide range of acting, such as, “Not only does he portray the calculative cuteness of the youngest brother of the Matsuno family but also uses various voices to react to jokes or play a female character. The character let me find many new sides of Irino-san. He makes me laugh in every episode of the anime,” and “Totty’s energetic reactions keep ‘Mr. Osomatsu’ together.”

There was also a comment praising him as a voice actor, “Irino-san’s acting skills really show me the ‘work of a voice actor’.”
A character from the currently running popular series took back the top for the first time in 2 years.

2nd Place
Coming in 2nd was Sugawara Koushi from “Haikyuu!!” with roughly 18% of the votes, dropping a position from last year.

The kind and reliable character fascinated many fans, receiving comments like, “Suga-san played by Irino-san has is passionate and cares about his team. He looks like a calm young man but actually is quite merry! His voice matches the character perfectly in every scene,” and “Suga-san’s nice personality is drawn out even further with Irino-san’s voice and acting.”
“I admire Suga-san’s love for volleyball and how he focuses on the club!” is a comment that shows how fans also love the personality of the character.

3rd Place
Haku from “Spirited Away” took 3rd place with roughly 6% of the votes, keeping his position from last year.

Many comments for the character said, “This is the character that introduced me to Irino-san”. He’s also popular for his mysterious charm, “I love the kind, handsome, and beautiful Haku. He’s still a boy, while also giving off a mysterious charm of a dignified adult.”

There was also a teen fan saying, “I was glad to be able to watch his performance at the theater thanks to the revival viewing last year.”

■Here are some comments for other characters!

For Hyuuga Akito from “Code Geass: Akito the Exiled”, “The character doesn’t show emotions but the skillful acting portrayed anger, fear, and relief through the smallest amount of lines.”
For Haru from “Tsuritama”, “Irino-san is the only one who can portray the cute and pure alien, Haru. It’s one of the higher-toned voices among the characters played by Irino-san, but he still managed to pull off serious scenes. I also love the work itself.”

For Ariel from “Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms”, “I could see him as a boy growing up to become a man not only from the image but also from the voice. His not being able to express his feelings towards his parents in his adolescence was especially amazing, and I was moved by him crying for his mother.”

There were also votes for his two very different actings for the same character, Natsu from “Yes! PreCure 5”, “I loved the gap between the cute high-pitched voice as a fairy and the cool voice as a human,” and “I was surprised that the fairy wasn’t voiced by a female voice actor.”

The top 3 did change their positions but are still the same characters with unwavering popularity. Many fans loved the characters even more thanks to a new series being broadcast or having a revival screening in 2020 and 2021.

■Top 20
[Who’s Your Favorite Character Played by Irino Miyu-san? 2021 Edition]
1. Matsuno Todomatsu “Mr. Osomatsu”
2. Sugawara Koushi “Haikyuu!!”
3. Haku “Spirited Away”
4. Sora “Kingdom Hearts”
5. Hyakuya Yuuichirou “Seraph of the End”
6. Ishida Shouya “A Silent Voice (film)”
7. Syaoran “Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle”
8. Yadomi Jinta (Jintan) “Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day”
8. Nuts (Natsu) “Yes! PreCure 5”
10. Jean-nine “Ultraman Zero Side Story: Killer the Beatstar”
10. Tadakuni “Daily Lives of High School Boys”
12. Kageyama Ritsu “Mob Psycho 100”
12. Niwa Daisuke “D.N.Angel”
12. Haru “Tsuritama”
12. Manatsu Daichi “Captain Earth”
16. Astral “Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal”
16. Est Rinaudo “Wand of Fortune”
16. Nozaki Kei “Cuticle Detective Inaba”
16. Peter “Peter and the Starcatcher”
16. Hyuuga Akito “Code Geass: Akito the Exiled”

(Voting Period: February 1 to 7, 2021)