Anime Anime Global

April 22 is Saito Souma’s birthday.

Saito Souma won the Excellence Award at the 2nd 81st Audition in 2008, and later made his debut as a voice actor. He won the Best Rookie Actor Award at the 9th Seiyu Awards and the Singing Award at the 13th as a member of Hypnosis Mic.
In 2021, he is scheduled to appear in a variety of titles, including “Moriarty the Patriot” and “Mobile Suit Gundam: Hathaway’s Flash”.

So, to wish Saito Souma a happy birthday, we conducted a reader survey titled “Who is your favorite character played by Saito Souma?” We received responses from 723 people during the survey period from April 8 to April 15.
The male to female ratio was about 5% male and 95% female, with the majority being female. The age group was mainly young, with about 60% under 19 and 30% in their 20s.

■”Ainana”’s Kujou Ten Tops for Third Year in a Row; New Series Expected
1st place
The 1st place went to Kujou Ten from “Idolish Seven”. With an approval rating of about 28%, he took the top spot for the third year in a row.

There were comments such as “I was struck by the fact that he is the youngest member of TRIGGER but plays the role of the center, is a perfectionist, and doesn’t let his fans feel sad”, “His professionalism and stoicism are similar to Souma-kun’s, and I can respect both of them”, and “Although he is a perfectionist, he also has a boyish youthfulness, and Souma-san’s voice really matches him”.
From July, the third season of “Idolish Seven Third BEAT!” will be broadcast. There were comments like “The third season will focus on TRIGGER, so I’m looking forward to it!”

2nd place
In 2nd place was Yumeno Gentaro from “Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle-“. With a support rate of about 25%, this is the second year in a row that he has come in 2nd.

“It feels fitting that the role of the novelist is played by Souma, a book lover. The way he plays Gentaro, whose facial expressions and tone of voice change from one novel to the next, from glossy words, to mischievous lies, to a strong figure who earnestly protects his friends, is wonderful!” and “The reason for his popularity is that he can enjoy a variety of performances. ‘I’m sure that the line ‘It’s a lie’ shot everyone’s heart’” As for rapping, many fans were captivated by his literary and beautiful lyricism.

3rd Place
3rd place went to William James Moriarty of “Moriarty the Patriot”. With a support rate of about 12%, the main character of the title, which is currently airing its second cour, came out on top.

As the second son of the Moriarty family and the famous nemesis of Sherlock Holmes, the protagonist of this work attracts fans with his mysterious voice, such as “His elegant, intelligent, and mysterious personality matches Saito-san’s voice and acting, which is wonderful” and “His lustrous and somewhat underhanded voice leaves an impression. I’m sure you’ll agree. I was surprised to hear that she was able to distinguish between the gentle voice of a university professor and the lustrous voice of a criminal advisor.”

■Here are some of the other comments!
For Tsubasa Okui from “TSUKIPRO THE ANIMATION”. “He’s cool and confident, but he’s actually making a lot of effort, and he cares about SolidS as a unit. I love the Tsubasa-like gestures that Saito-san suddenly shows at events.”
As for “Terror in Resonance” Twelve, they said, “Behind his cheerful and cheerful personality, you can see his loneliness, solitude, and darkness, and I think he’s a very memorable character”.

As for Vinegar Doppio from “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure,” they said, “Doppio’s expression of both timidity and ferocity is superb. In particular, the phone ring tone was perfectly reproduced and is truly the best.”
For Aoi Hinata of “Ensemble Stars!”, “I like the way she is kind to her twin brother Yuta. She plays two roles and has a great singing voice”.

In the 2021 Edition of the survey, titles from works whose anime aired in 2020-21 were prominent. There are many titles that have new series coming up, and we can expect to see how the rankings will change next year.
Looking over the Top 20 lineup, we can see a wide variety of characters ranked in, including elementary school actors and non-human characters.

■Top 20 Ranking
[Who is your favorite character played by Souma Saito? 2021 Edition]
1st Kujou Ten: “Idolish Seven”
2nd Yumeno Gentaro “Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle-“.
3rd William James Moriarty “Moriarty the Patriot”
4th Yamaguchi Tadashi “Haikyu!”
5th Tsurumaru Kuninaga “Touken Ranbu -ONLINE-“
6th Aoi Hinata “Ensemble Stars!”
7th Okui Tsubasa”TSUKIPRO THE ANIMATION
8th Aoi Yuuta “Ensemble Stars!”
9th Twelve “Terror in Resonance”
9th Namazuo Toushirou “Touken Ranbu -ONLINE-“
9th Honda “Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san”
12th Kain “Kyoukai no RINNE”
13th Vinegar Doppio “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: The Golden Wind
13th Mizuno Tasuku “Sanrio Danshi”
15th OkamotoTama “Uchitama? – Uchino Tama Shirimasennka? –“
16th Kamijou Haruta “Haruchika – Haruta to Chika was Seishun Suru”
17th Takao Yuuto “12 years old”
17th Yamagi Gilmerton “Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans”
19th Utsumi Shou “SSSS.GRIDMANN”
19th Hermes “Kino no Tabi -the Beautiful World- the Animated Series”
19th Tatsumi Madarao “Ai★Chu”
19th Reiya “#Compass [Combat Providence Analysis System]”

(Response period: April 8, 2021 to April 15, 2021)

※ This questionnaire is part of a survey of readers’ awareness of current anime works and characters and is not intended to determine the superiority or inferiority of any one character or work. We hope that this article will provide you with an opportunity to learn about new works and characters and deepen your understanding and interest in them.