Anime Anime Global

June 19 is “Reading Day”.

It was established basing on the words play “Ro (6) Doku (19)” (‘Roudoku’ lit. means ‘reading’ in Japanese) in 2002 by the NPO Japan Reading Culture Association. It is a memorial day dedicated to popularizing reading as an art culture, and in mid-June, annual reading volunteers and reading contests are being held.

Voice actors who make characters alive may also appear in recitation plays or read aloud in audiobooks. I think there are many fans who like reading aloud, which has a different charm from anime.

Here at Anime!Anime!, we conducted an annual reader survey entitled “Among voice actors, whose ‘reading’ you want to hear?” Responses were received from 1,266 people during the survey period from June 7 to June 14.
The male-female ratio is about 15% for males and about 85% for females. About 40% of the age group were teens, and about 30% were in their 20s.

In this article, we will announce the results for the voice actors edition.

■ Voice actors with reading experience are ranked high!
1st place
1st place goes to Shimono Hiro with an approval rating of about 7%, a big jump up from last year’s 7th place.

Many comments were received from readers who had actually enjoyed reading Shimono-san, “I listened “The Restaurant of Many Orders” on YouTube. I was impressed by being drawn into the world view in no time!”, and “The reading of ‘Run Meros’ was wonderful, so I would like to hear more.”.

Many readers praised reading techniques, “He skillfully manipulates his voice from cute to cool, and the usage between them is really amazing! I was impressed by him as a professional.”, “Not only the characters’ plays, but also the narrated reading tone is a gentle and calming voice, and I love it because it is so comfortable to listen to.”, and “The expressive power that can do anything with a wide range of gentle voices and intense voices is amazing.”

2nd place
2nd place goes to Ishida Akira. He is only a few votes behind the top.

Many readers commented how works took their hearts, “I have a reading CD with Ishida-san, and all of them have a pleasant gentle voice. Since each character is played carefully, I am happy that it is easy to understand the situation of the story.”, “Not only is Ishida-san’s lustrous voice attractive, but I also think that his sincere attitude to consider and challenge the reading subject is wonderful.”, and “Even though there is only a voice, I can clearly see the movements and facial expressions of the characters’ mouths. Thanks to Ishida-san, I realized the fun of reading aloud.”

3rd place
3rd place goes to Kamiya Hiroshi with an approval rating of about 6%.

Readers commented, “He plays different roles by himself, and all emotional expressions are really real. I am fascinated by his technique that makes me think that even a little breathing is happening in front of me.”, and “The expressive power that can do anything with a wide range of gentle voices and intense voices is amazing.”

Playing multiple roles with many monologues in anime is another reason why people want to listen to recitation plays.

Voice actors who are already involved in reading are ranked high, such as having performed a reading drama in the male voice actor edition and being in charge of narration in an audiobook. It is also characterized by the conspicuous votes from fans that frequently go to recitation plays.

■ Ranking Top 10
[Among voice actors, whose ‘reading’ you want to hear? 2021 Edition]
1st place Shimono Hiro
2nd place Ishida Akira
3rd place Kamiya Hiroshi
4th place Saito Soma
5th place Sakurai Takahiro
6th place Tsuda Kenjiro
7th place Nakamura Yuichi
8th place Ishikawa Kaito
9th place Sugita Tomokazu
10th place Kimura Ryohei

(Response period: June 7 to June 14, 2021)
■ Ranking Top 20
[Among voice actors, whose ‘reading’ you want to hear? 2021 Edition]
1st place Shimono Hiro
2nd place Ishida Akira
3rd place Kamiya Hiroshi
4th place Saito Soma
5th place Sakurai Takahiro
6th place Tsuda Kenjiro
7th place Nakamura Yuichi
8th place Ishikawa Kaito
9th place Sugita Tomokazu
10th place Kimura Ryohei
11th place Kaji Yuki
12th place Umehara Yuichiro
13th place Matsuoka Yoshitsugu
14th place Yusa Koji
15th place Suwabe Junichi
16th place Uchiyama Koki
17th place Takahashi Hiroki
18th place Ono Daisuke
19th place Fukuyama Jun
20th place Yasumoto Hiroki

(Response period: June 7 to June 14, 2021)