Anime Anime Global

May 5 is Maeno Tomoaki-san’s birthday.

Maeno Tomoaki-san debuted in the 2000s. He won Best Rookie Actors in the 4th Seiyu Awards. In 2021, he will be playing main characters in various titles, including “Cells at Work!” and “Skeleton Knight in Another World”.
From April, he will be in charge of the MC of “Say You to Yoasobi” on Monday. Anime!Anime! conducted an interview when he was chosen as MC.

To celebrate his birthday, Anime!Anime! conducted a reader survey titled ‘Who is your favorite character played by Maeno Tomoaki?’. During the survey period from May 16 to 23, a total of 371 responses were received. For the gender ratio, the females were the majority with about 90% while the males were about 10%. For the age distribution, we received the majority of responses from readers of younger ages: about 35% were from minors, and 30% were in their twenties.

■The top characters competed for higher positions by a close margin!
1st place
1st place went to White Blood Cell (Neutrophil) from “Cells at Work!” while came 4th last year. The support rating was about 13%.
The comments for White Blood Cell, who kills pathogens infecting the body, include, “He is cool when he attempts to protect his friends. While he is cool and hard on himself, he is also so kind that he watches over Red Blood Cell, who just started her job. He is a very amicable character”, and “He is nice to Red Blood Cell, but he defeats his enemies, saying ‘Die! You Filthy Germ!’. I like such a gap”. The readers are impressed by how he faithfully carries out his mission.
The character from the popular series, season 2 of which was released in 2021, topped the list.

2nd place
2nd place went to Hak from “Yona of the Dawn” while he came 3rd last year. The support rating was about 12%.
Hak is a bodyguard of Yona. The comments for him include, “He is a hero of ‘Yona of the Dawn’. I love the scenes where he risks his life to protect Yona. Only Maeno-san’s can play his strong but gentle voice” and “Maeno san’s strong but gentle voice matches the image of Hak”.
Some readers have high hopes for the sequel, saying “This is my No.1 title which I want to continue with a sequel”.

3rd place
3rd place went to Camus from “Uta no Prince-sama” while he got a lower position from last year. Those top 3 characters competed for the positions by a narrow margin.

The comments for him include, “The difference between the count ver. (low tone) and butler ver. (high tone) are amazing! Maeno-san perfectly recreates Camus’s feelings in his voice, and I really like his sweet voice”, and “How is it possible to play such different tones of voice… I respect him”. The readers were amazed at how skillfully he plays the character’s voice. Maeno-san also attracts his fans at live-performances as the comment shows, “I can tell how much Maeno-san loves Camus and the title from his perfect live-performance.”

■Let’s introduce other comments!!
For Dojo Atsushi from “Library War”
“I got to know Maeno-san from this title. I can tell how honest Dojo commanding officer is.”
For Schubert from “ClassicaLoid”.
“Maeno-san skillfully expresses him even though he is emotionally unstable. He performs rapping, reggae, and everything by himself. How amazing!”

For Veldora from “That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime”.
“Both the character and voice are exceptionally cool. It was impressive that Maeno-san was playing the brave dragon!”
For Crocodine from “Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai”.
“It’s rare to play an anthropomorphic crocodile. I like the unique voice and stand-up personality.”

In the survey 2021 ver., the ranking has changed from last year.　Some characters from the latest titles were ranked, so please look forward to the result of next year again.

■Ranking Top 20
Who is your most favorite character played by Maeno Tomoaki ? 2021
1. White Blood Cell (Neutrophil) “Cells at Work!”
2. Hak “Yona of the Dawn”
3. Camus “Uta no Prince-sama”
4. Schubert “ClassicaLoid”
5. Dojo Atsushi “Library War”
6. Yamanbagiri Kunihiro “Touken Ranbu -Online-” and other series
7. Asahina Natsume “Brothers Conflict”
8. Abeno Haruitsuki “The Morose Mononokean”
9. Hidaka Hokuto “Ensemble Stars!”
10. Mika “Drifting Dragons”
11. Sagamiya Konro “Fire Force”
11. Hayami Hiro “Pretty Rhythm: Rainbow Live” and other series
13. Arsène Lupin “Code: Realize − Guardian of Rebirth”
13. Crocodine “Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai”(2020 ver.)
13. Seki Daisuke “Stand My Heroes”
16. Yayoi Haru “Tsukiuta. The Animation”
17. Fukutomi Juichi “Yowamushi Pedal”
17. Yukina Kou “The World’s Greatest First Love”
19. Zhongli “Genshin Impact”
20. Goda Takeru “Tsuredure Children”

（Survey Period: May 16 – 23, 2021)

*This survey is intended to research the readers’ “interest in anime and characters today”. It is not intended to discuss the relative merits of each character nor work. We would be glad if this article can help you develop an understanding and interest in the anime and characters.