Anime Anime Global

August 11 is Taniyama Kisho-san’s birthday.

He made his debut as a voice actor in the mid of 1990s. He won the Best Musical Performance as a member of ST☆RISH from “Uta no Prince-sama” in the 6th Seiyu Awards. In 2021, he is playing characters in popular series, including “Attack on Titan The Final Season”, “Bungo Stray Dogs Wan!”, and “SHOW BY ROCK!! STARS!!”.

In 2005, he formed a rock band GRANRODEO. On June 30, they released “GRANRODEO Live Session vol.1”, which includes the performances on their first live session.

To celebrate his birthday, we conducted the same readers’ survey as last year, “Who is your favorite character played by Taniyama Kisho-san?” There were 688 votes during the survey period from July 26 to August 2.
The voters were mainly female with a gender ratio of 92% female to 8% male. The age range was 45% under 20, and 25% in their 20s.

■The popular characters are still strong

1st Place

1st place went to Nakahara Chuya from “Bungo Stray Dogs” as last year. The support rating was about 52%.

The readers mentioned that he brings out the character’s various attractions, saying “The gaps between, his small physique and unusual power, and his cute looks and manly personality, are wonderful”, “Chuya-san’s bad boy vibes are well expressed, and his shouts in the battling scenes are especially cool!”, and “This character brings out the best of Kisho-san’s wide range of voices”.

Especially, the readers seem to be attracted by the interactions with Dazai Osamu, who used to form a duo with Chuya. The received comments include, “While he pretends to hate Dazai-san, he actually trusts Dazai-san and sometimes even ends up going along with him even if he doesn’t want to… This is the perfect role for Kisho-san”, and “Although he and Dazai are said to hate each other, they are in perfect sync. I like their cordial relationship”.

2nd Place

2nd place went to Shinomiya Natsuki/Satsuki from “Uta no Prince-sama”. The support rating was about 14%, and he also remained 2nd place as last year.

Even though Natsuki is a gentle and a nice young man, he is also a complicated character in that his different personality Satsuki appears on a certain occasion. The readers applauded both his acting voice and singing voice, saying “I like how he differently plays calm and cute Nacchan, and cool and stylish Sacchan”, “This character allows me to enjoy Kisho-san’s skillful performance such as different personality of Natsuki and Satsuki, and songs that require singing skills”, and “I am attracted by Kisho-san looking cute while singing, although he usually sings cool songs”.

3rd Place

3rd place went to Jean Kirstein from “Attack on Titan”. The support rating was about 11%, and the same characters remained in the top 3 as last year.

The character’s humane manner attracted many readers, and the received comments include, “Jean is one of the characters that have grown up the most throughout the series. Taniyama-san faithfully plays such figure, so I cannot help empathizing with the character”, and “I love him being more thoughtful than anyone else because he knows both his strength and weakness.”
You cannot miss out on the broadcast of “The Final Season Part 2”.

■Let’s introduce other comments!!

Natsume Kenji “Ahiru no Sora”
“He has a Hiroshima accent, and sometimes speaks harshly. However, it is due to his passion toward basketball, and trust or consideration for his friends. I was attracted by his passionate side that he doesn’t usually reveal.”
Crow “SHOW BY ROCK!!”
“His singing voice is straight and sharp like a needle, and it is so cool. It matches the sound of Shingan Crimzonz, which is also wonderful. I wouldn’t expect anything less from the Hedgehog race!”

Panda “We Bare Bears”
“I have an image that Taniyama-san usually plays bossy characters, but Panda is cute, and he is not good at singing. This character is contrary to my image, but doesn’t make me feel uneasy. In fact, Panda’s cuteness is being doubled.”

Utsushi “Monster Hunter Rise”
“He calls a player ‘favorite pupil’, and leads the player to a right direction with his own bright, passionate, sometimes annoying, and gentle manners.” A character in a popular game has also won some votes.

In 2021 edition, the same characters remained in the top 3 as last year. Some cute animal characters have also been ranked in.

■Ranking Top 20

[Who’s Your Favorite Character Played by Taniyama Kisho-san? 2021 Edition]
1. Nakahara Chuya “Bungo Stray Dogs”
2. Shinomiya Natsuki/ Satsuki “Uta no Prince-sama”
3. Jean Kirstein “Attack on Titan”
4. Tsukimori Len “La Corda d’Oro”
5. Himuro Tatsuya “Kuroko’s Basketball”
6. Crow “SHOW BY ROCK!!”
7. Natsume Kenji “Ahiru no Sora”
8. Stiyl Magnus “A Certain Magical Index”
9. Ikki “AMNESIA”
10. Sakaki Shuji “Psychic Squad ”
11. Utsushi “Monster Hunter Rise”
11. Shou Mei “Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo”
11. Togane Chiaki “La Corda d’Oro 3”
11. Piers “Pokémon: Twilight Wings”
15. Gunji “Togainu no Chi”
16. Aoidos “Granblue Fantasy”
16. Kirigaya Akira “La Corda d’Oro Starlight Orchestra”
16. Sloth “Shirokuma Cafe”
16. Narumi Takayuki “Kimi ga Nozomu Eien”
16. Hanai Azusa “Big Windup!”
16. Panda “We Bare Bears”
16. Mori Nagayoshi “Fate/Grand Order”
16. Rodeo “GraP & RodeO”

(Survey Period: July 26 – August 2, 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. I would be glad if this article can help you develop an understanding and interest in the anime and characters.