Anime Anime Global

June 19 is “Rodoku Day (Reading Day)”.

Nihon Rodoku Bunka Kyokai (Japan Reading Culture Association), a nonprofit organization, established the day based on the wordplay “Ro (6) Doku (19)”. The anniversary aims to promote reading as an art culture, and a volunteer reading project and reading contest are held in the mid-June.

Voice actors, who play characters, have opportunities to participate in a stage reading, and read stories for audio books. There will be a lot of fans who like such different attractions.

Therefore, Anime!Anime! conducted an annual reader survey titled ‘Whose “reading” would you like to listen to among voice actors/actresses?’. During the survey period from June 7 to June 14, a total of 1,266 responses were received. For the gender ratio, the females were the majority with about 85% while the males were about 15%. For the age distribution, we received the majority of responses from young readers: about 40% were from teens, and about 30% were from those in their 20s.

In this article, we will announce the result of the Voice Actresses Edition.

■There are many reasons why people might want to listen to a reading by this popular cast!
1st place
1st place went to Hayami Saori. The support rating was about 12%, and she moved up from 2nd place last year.

The comments received were, “Her clear voice is easy to hear, and she is good at expressing emotions. I just want to keep listening to her perform forever”, “I like her calm voice. I can easily understand the story development through her voice, and I get enchanted by her voice”, “Her calm voice conveys the story well, and deepens the worldview”. Many readers praised her enchanting voice.
As is the case in Voice Actors Edition., some readers who actually heard her reading commented, saying “I listened to her reading a novel on YouTube, and it was moving.”

2nd place
2nd place went to Sawashiro Miyuki. She came in a close second.

The comments received were, “Her flat narration in a news program is impressive, but a live-reading of anime was incredibly powerful. I thought she has a great sense of timing with her words. I would like to listen to her reading a story written in literary style such as Higuchi Ichiyo”, “I like the part about reading a picture book inserted in ‘Rozen Maiden’. I would like to listen to her reading some masterpiece”, and “Her reading of ‘Gauche the Cellist’ is really easy to understand”. The readers praised her readings through various media.

3rd place
3rd place went to Uchida Maaya. The support rating was about 9%.

Many readers mentioned the reading section in a variety show “Say You to Yo Asobi”, saying “She enjoyed playing various characters” and “The reading section was so amusing that I was surprised by her potential”.

She has been playing different types of characters, which is another reason why the readers want to listen to her reading. We also received comments like, “She skillfully plays various types of characters from a boy, a cute girl to a mature woman! I would like to listen to a reading where various characters appear” and “She can play a romance between a woman and a man alone”.

In the Voice Actresses Edition., multitalented actresses came in top positions. They have been playing different types of characters, have a calming voice, and have played in a stage reading. In addition to being active in anime, voice actors who narrate TV programs also made the list.

■Ranking Top 10
[Whose “reading” would you like to listen to among voice actors/actresses? 2021 Voice Actresses Ver.]
1. Hayami Saori
2. Sawashiro Miyuki
3. Uchida Maaya
4. Hanazawa Kana
5. Minasa Inori
6. Sakura Ayane
7. Noto Mamiko
8. Paku Romi
9. Sakamoto Maaya
10. Kugimiya Rie
（Survey Period: June 7 – June 14, 2021)

■Ranking Top 20
[Whose “reading” would you like to listen to among voice actors/actresses? 2021 Voice Actresses Ver.]
1. Hayami Saori
2. Sawashiro Miyuki
3. Uchida Maaya
4. Hanazawa Kana
5. Minasa Inori
6. Sakura Ayane
7. Noto Mamiko
8. Paku Romi
9. Sakamoto Maaya
10. Kugimiya Rie
11. Hayashibara Megumi
12. Yuuki Aoi
13. Ogata Megumi
14. Nozawa Masako
15. Kitou Akari
16. Takayama Minami
17. Ito Miku
17. Inoue Marina
17. Kayano Ai
17. Tanaka Atsuko

（Survey Period: June 7 – June 14, 2021)