Dec. 8 is Mitsuishi Kotono's birthday.
She has voiced various roles since her debut. At the 8th Voice Actors Award, she received the Takahashi Kazue award, which is given to the women who have promoted the profession of voice acting.
In 2019, she appeared in popular works such as "One Piece: Stampede". She also gathered attention by taking part in "Out of Order", the 5th performance of the stageplay unit "Laughing Live", for the first time, acting as a married couple with Yamadera Koichi.
Here at Anime! Anime!, we had the same survey as last year asking "Who's your favorite character voiced by Mitsuishi Kotono?". We received 86 votes during the survey period of Nov. 24 to Dec. 1.
The male-female ratio was about the same at 45% being male and 55% being female. The age group of the respondents was on the younger side with 40% being under 19 and 25% being in their 20s.
■Sailor Moon was at the top with her famous catchphrase.
1st place was taken by Tsukino Usagi from "Sailor Moon" receiving roughly 30% of the vote and rising to the top from last year's 2nd place.
She received comments from a wide range of fans such as, "When it comes to Mitsuishi-san, Sailor Moon is the first character that comes into mind. I love the cute and strong Usagi!" and "Her energetic and charming voice best suits the cheerful character of Usagi. I can't stop loving her!".
The catchphrase of her transforming into Sailor Moon has left a strong impression on the fans saying "Mitsuishi-san is the only one that can pull off the line, 'In the name of the moon, I shall punish you!' in such a cool way."
2nd place is Katsuragi Misato from "Neon Genesis Evangelion" with roughly 12 % of the vote.
Her outstanding qualifications as a commander leading the protagonist Shinji have brought comments saying "I wish I had a boss that was good at balancing rewards and punishments just like her!". Mitsuishi also narrated for the preview of the next episode. Her "Sa-bisu, Sa-bisu!" ("Service" in Japanese pronunciation, used here to mean she's giving you special service) is memorable.
3rd place is Yamada Tae from "Zombie Land Saga" with roughly 7% of the vote.
Taking the odd role of a zombie in the popular 2018 anime, she received a comment saying "She did a great job in portraying the character gradually learning how to speak." In this series, she also played difficult roles such as a rooster, and many fans said that "this was the character that showed me the great ability of Mitsuishi-san".
■Here are some comments for other characters!
"Mitsuishi-san's voice perfectly matches the noble and confident attitude of Hancock-sama. It's amazing how well she portrays both her supple voice as the most beautiful woman in the world and the voice of a girl in love with Luffy." for Boa Hancock from "One Piece".
"Mitsuishi-san is famous for her role in 'Sailor Moon', but Mireille is a woman living in the dark side of society, the complete opposite of Usagi-chan. It was nice to see her playing a different role." for Mireille from "Noir".
Many motherly characters ranked in with comments such as, "I could feel her motherhood as she supports the protagonist Kira as an adult." for Murrue Ramius from "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED", and "She's the best character that depicts a strong mother" for Oiroke from "Crayon Shin-chan: Blitzkrieg! Pig's Hoof's Secret Mission".
Many of the characters were strong and caring women supporting the antagonists.
■Top 10 Ranking
"Who's your favorite character voiced by Mitsuishi Kotono?" 2019 edition
1. Tsukino Usagi/Sailor Moon "Sailor Moon"
2. Katsuragi Misato "Neon Genesis Evangelion"
3. Yamada Tae "Zombie Land Saga"
4. Boa Hancock "One Piece"
4. Nobi Tamako (Nobita's Mother) "Doraemon"
4. Mizunashi Rena/Kir "Detective Conan"
7. Nico's Mother "Love Live!"
8. Hummy "Sweet PreCure"
8. Murrue Ramius "Mobile Suit Gundam SEED"
10. Arisugawa Juri "Revolutionary Girl Utena"
10. Mireille Bouquet "Noir"
10. Ariake no Kata "Shuriken Sentai Ninninger"
(Survey period: Nov. 24 to Dec. 1, 2019)