November 2 is Ishida Akira-san’s birthday.

He debuted in the 1990s. He won the Best Actors in Supporting Roles award in the 1st Seiyu Awards. In the TV anime that started broadcasting in the fall of 2021, he is appearing in “Digimon Ghost Game” and “You and Fitness Boxing”. He also appears in the films such as “Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time” and “Shinkai no Survival!”.

To celebrate his birthday, we conducted an annual readers’ survey, “Who is your favorite character played by Ishida Akira-san?”. There were 1,883 votes during the survey period from October 6 to 13.
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 young ages: about 40% were teens, about 2% were in their 20s, and about 20% were in their 30s.

■The characters from the titles completed in 2021 came in the top 2!

1st Place

1st place went to Katsura Kotaro from “Gintama”. The support rating was about 24%, and he is topping the list again following last year.

The readers said that Ishida-san pulled off a serious but goofy character here. The comments received include, “Although the scenes in this work range from serious ones to comical ones, he has a presence in any scene! This character allows us to enjoy a variety of Ishida^-san’s performances”, “I like Ishida-san’s crazy energy here, which cannot be seen in other works, such as rapping and saying blue jokes”, “Ishida-san changes the way of saying his catchphrase ‘Not SYRUP! It’s KATSURA!’ depending on each scene, and I also enjoyed his interactions with other characters”.

The movie released this year was also popular, and received a comment such as “He was taking an active role in ‘The Final’ and was giving off a brilliance”. The character from the title, the anime of which has celebrated its 15th anniversary, is topping the list, receiving a higher support rating than last year.

2nd Place
2nd place went to Nagisa Kaworu from “Neon Genesis Evangelion”. The support rating was about 18%, and he has come in 2nd place for two years in a row.

Ishida-san fascinated the fans with the mysterious vibes here. The comments received include, “Ishida-san’s ephemeral and sexy voice multiplies Kaworu-kun’s charms. His warmth toward Shinji-kun looks that of the Holy Mother in spite of being an apostle”, “I still remember him humming Symphony No. 9 when he appeared for the first time. He appeared in only one episode throughout the TV anime, his strong presence owes a lot to Ishida-san’s performances”.
Another comment is, “It has been 25 years since I was first impressed by watching the TV series… I never expected that I am fascinated by Kaworu-kun again! I wanted to watch more episodes about Nagisa Shirei… Even though I am glad that the series made it to its completion, I still feel sad at the same time”. The titles that were completed in 2021 occupied the top 2.

3rd Place
3rd place went to Athrun Zala from “Mobile Suit Gundam SEED”. The support rating was about 6%. The characters coming in the top 3 are the same as last year.

The character makes an impression of being swayed by wars. The comments received include, “I was impressed by Ishida-san’s wonderful expressions that convey Athrun’s struggles, anger, and sorrow. I also listened to the radio and participated in events, so this title brings back a lot of memories”, “He is an all-rounder that was born in a rich family. However, his efforts sometimes end up being unrewarded, which I like as it is very human. I like him in that he makes his decisions by himself and takes actions while struggling”, and “I feel sad to see him being caught in the middle of reality and rightness. Only Athran allows us to see such dilemmatic performances”.

Some readers got into the work from this title, and they seem to be hyped up toward the theatrical project announced this year, saying “‘SEED’ is the first title that I watched among the Gundam series. Gunpla that I first built was Infinite Justice Gundam, which Athran is boarding”.

■Let’s introduce other comments!!

Cancer Cell “Cells at Work!”
“When it comes to betrayal characters, I think of Ishida-san. He was pretending to be a normal cell and cheating White Blood Cell and Killer T Cell, which was a perfect match! He is the antagonist with sad experiences, and I cannot hate him despite being a cancer cell.”

Yuki Makoto (Protagonist) “Persona 3”
“In the game, this protagonist was initially prepared solely for the players to manipulate in the game, so his voice could be heard only in the battles. However, he was named Yuki Makoto from the movie. Ishida-san plays some other important characters in ‘Persona 3’, so I like it.”

Xellos “Slayers”
“He is a mysterious character that bothers people around me as he always says ‘That is a secret’. Despite being such an unknown existence, he helps the protagonists anyway, which I like.”

Jack Dawson “Titanic”
“The breath of him freezing while sinking to the bottom of the icy cold ocean. I felt as if I were freezing as well by seeing it.”
The protagonist of the Western film, the dubbed version of which was on air this May, won some votes.

In the survey 2021, the top 3 characters remained the same, showing their deep-rooted popularity. The titles that announced the sequel, such as “Gundam SEED” and “Saiyuki” were also highly ranked.

■Ranking Top 20

－Who is your favorite character played by Ishida Akira-san? 2021 Edition－
1. Katsura Kotaro “Gintama”
2. Nagisa Kaworu “Neon Genesis Evangelion”
3. Athrun Zala “Mobile Suit Gundam SEED”
4. Cho Hakkai “Saiyuki”
5. Akaza “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train”
6. Xellos “Slayers”
7. Natori Shuichi “Natsume’s Book of Friends”
8. Eighth Generation Yurakutei Yakumo (Kikuhiko) “Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju”
9. Ayabe Kihachiro “Nintama Rantaro”
10. Fyodor D “Bungo Stray Dogs”
11. Gaara “Naruto”
12. Yuki Makoto (Protagonist) “Persona 3”
13. Fisheye “Sailor Moon Super S”
14. Kagari Shusei “Psycho-Pass”
15. Jack Dawson “Titanic”
16. Xerxes Break “Pandora Hearts”
17. Reid Hershel “Tales of Eternia”
18. Togami Byakuya “Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc”
19. Abe no Yasuaki “Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time”
19. Guy Crimson “That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime”
19. Takenaka Hanbei “Sengoku Basara”
19. Mizuki Hajime “The Prince of Tennis”

(Survey Period: October 20 – 27, 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 anime and characters.