September 3 is Kaji Yuuki-san’s birthday.

He debuted as a voice actor in the middle of the 2000s. He won the Best Rookie Actors in the 3rd Seiyu Awards and Best Actor in Leading Role in the 7th and 8th Seiyu Awards for two years in a row.
In 2021, he is playing roles in a variety of media as well as TV anime and movies, such as “Back Arrow”, “The Seven Deadly Sins: Cursed By Light”, and “My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission”.

To celebrate his birthday, we conducted a readers’ survey, “Who is your favorite character played by Kaji Yuuki-san?”. There were 884 votes during the survey period from August 18 to 25.
For the gender ratio, the females were the majority with about 80% while the males were about 20%. For the age distribution, we received the majority of responses from readers of young ages: about 65% were teens, and about 20% were in their 20s.

■Todoroki Shoto from “My Hero Academia” remained at the top. The movie is now screening.

1st Place

1st place went to Todoroki Shoto from “My Hero Academia”. The support rating was about 23 %.

The readers said that Kaji-san perfectly embodies Todoroki Shoto that is usually calm but sometimes shows his passionate aspect, saying “Todoroki-kun is usually calm, but I like him getting extremely excited when he protects or energizes his friends. I always think ‘Sasukaji……!’ when I watch the scenes of his voice cracked and the gap between him being excited and calm”, and “Todoroki sometimes screams, giving a groan, and Kaji-san’s play clearly conveys Todoroki’s emotions, thoughts, and his firm determination”.

Also, some readers mentioned the attractions unique to the series with a long history, saying “Even though he used to be shy, he seems to be getting more and more frank with his classmates. I can tell his growth while facing a feud with his father from the voice”.
The character, who is currently playing a major role in the latest movie “My Hero Academia: World Heroes’ Mission” topped the list.

2nd Place

2nd place went to Eren Yeager from “Attack on Titan”. The support rating was about 14 %, and he also remained in 2nd place as last year.

The TV anime series began to be broadcast in 2013. The readers said that Kaji-san’s play directly conveys the protagonist’s feelings when he is fighting, crying, or shouting. The received comments include, “Even though Eren used to be rich in emotions before, he is now suffering the darkness of his heart. Kaji-san has been perfectly playing his various aspects. I wouldn’t expect anything less from Kaji-san!”, and “Kaji-san stays close to Eren, and even shares pain with him. He is wonderful”.
The fans seem to have rising expectations toward the completion of the anime series, saying “Eren has been growing up from a boy, and Kaji-san has been playing him perfectly. I cannot wait to see how he plays at the end of ‘The Final Season'”.

3rd Place
3rd place went to Kozume Kenma from “Haikyu!!”. The support rating was about 10 %. The top 3 went to the same characters as last year.

The readers said that they are somehow attracted to this character even though he doesn’t usually reveal his emotions. The received comments include, “As Kaji-san usually plays energetic characters, I was surprised to know that Kaji-san would play Kozume Kenma, who is lethargic and hates getting tired. However, when I listened to Kaji-san’s performance, it perfectly matched the character’s image. I understood the reason for the casting”, “The spiritless and mechanical-sounding voice is impressive. I realized again how wonderful voice acting is when I watched the scene where the character got angry with such spiritless voice”.

■Let’s introduce other comments!!
Alibaba Saluja “Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic”
“He always tries as hard as he can, and is thoughtful about his friends. That’s so cool! Kaji-san’s voice and play straightforwardly convey such personality, and make me feel that I would be able to do something even though I’m not especially good for anything.”
Hyodo Issei “High School DxD”
“I cannot forget ‘Oppai Dragon no Uta’ that was also used as the ending theme.”

Mozart “ClassicaLoid”
“The character is innocent and cheerful, but talented. You can fully enjoy a variety of Kaji-san’s voice, from excited and cute voice to low-toned and cool voice.”
Hovernyan “Yo-kai Watch”
“He apparently looks cute but is actually brave. I like such a gap!” A non-human character also won some votes.

The top 3 of the 2021 edition has not changed from last year. The three characters were so popular that they won almost half of all the votes. Let’s look forward to seeing if they maintain such enduring popularity next year.

■Ranking Top20

[Who is your favorite character played by Kaji Yuuki-san?]
1. Todoroki Shoto “My Hero Academia”
2. Eren Yeager “Attack on Titan”
3. Kozume Kenma “Haikyu!!”
4. Meliodas “The Seven Deadly Sins”
5. Isara Mao “Ensemble Stars!”
6. Alibaba Saluja “Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic”
7. Sabito “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba”
8. Mochizuki Sota “Kokuhaku Jikko Iinkai” “Our Love Has Always Been 10 Centimeters Apart”
9. Mozart “ClassicaLoid”
10. Gaon/Zenkai Gaon “Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger”
11. Mikumo Osamu “World Trigger”
12. Shindo Arata “Psycho-Pass 3”
13. Yukine “Noragami”
14. Kuro “Servamp”
15. Shiwasu Kakeru “Tsukiuta. The Animation”
16. Ouma Shu “Guilty Crown”
16. Nishikata “Teasing Master Takagi-san”
18. Narumiya Mei “Ace of Diamond”
19. Akechi Touma “The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.”
19. Shion “No.6”
19. Hovernyan “Yo-kai Watch”

(Survey Period: August 18 – 25, 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.