Top 10 Seiyuu Every Anime Fan Rookie Should Know - Part 1: Girl’s Side
I’ve decided to follow suit and bring up a “Top 10 Seiyuu Every Anime Fan Rookie Should Know” list. Blame posts like this one, this one, this one, and this one. Ha ha ha!
This will be a two part post. Like everyone else, I will do a female version. Oh. I will do a male version also. This is not by any means a list pair of “Who’s the Best?” or “Who do I Like?” here, but rather a list pair of seiyuu who have made a big impact. Whether or not these will be the lists that end all debates, I don’t know.
Okay! That’s that. I will start with the ladies first in part one because one, everyone has done the ladies and two, there’s that rule of “Ladies first”. Plus, I obviously had an easier time working with the ladies list than the guys list. Part two will follow the same format here and I will give some sort of omake at the end.
Oh! Honorable mentions. I’m sorry, but I have too many here. Some that I should mention are Tanaka Rie-san, Kawakami Tomoko-san, Ogata Megumi-san and Tsuru Hiromi-san.
Female
1. Hayashibara Megumi-san
One of the first seiyuu I weaned on, she was pretty much everywhere in the anime scene. Hayashibara-san can do it all. The list of credits is so long, it’s not funny. Don’t forget the fact that she’s a very good singer and that she was the idol. It’s hard to not watch a series that did not have her in it. Of course, she isn’t in many series these days because of her daughter, but she will always be one of the best ever.
2. Mitsuishi Kotono-san
Like Hayashibara-san, Mitsuishi-san has a list of credits that is so long. If you somehow managed to dodge an anime with Hayashibara-san in it, then you certainly couldn’t have seen a series without Mitsuishi-san. From those genki roles to those “Get serious!” roles, she can do them all and let’s not forget that she was part of two big singing groups during the mid-1990’s.
3. Inoue Kikuko-san
Onee-chan, Sakana-san, the ringleader of “Eien ni Junanasai”, people have their pet name for this person. What people can agree on is that Inoue-san’s one of the most established seiyuu ever. True, people pretty much know her for her gentle roles like Kasumi of “Ranma”, but she has done some sassy roles before like I-no of “Guilty Gear”. She is and has always been a top notch seiyuu.
4. Sakamoto Maaya-san
Though she wasn’t the first well-known seiyuu to start out at a young age, Sakamoto-san was the first one to start out at a young age with a real big role. Keep in mind that she was only 16. (On a side note, she’s probably the one that did strengthen the trend of having seiyuu start early in their lives.) Anyway, she may not have as many key roles as the rest of the seiyuu here, but she is a terrific singer.
5. Kawasumi Ayako-san
While I’m not a fan of her Tsubame team (as I’m a Kyojin guy), I am a fan of Kawasumi-san overall even though she’s not much of a singer. She has one of those voices that’s kawaii, but not overpowered to clamp her down severely (which is a good trait). Many of her roles tend to be gentle like Akari of “To Heart” and her debut role of “Outlaw Star’s” Melfina, but once you hear a role like Lafiel, watch out. Oh and she can play the piano too. (See “Piano”.)
6. Horie Yui-san
Horie-san, Hocchan if you want to be sassy, was a minor seiyuu early on and by that, I mean that she either played as minor characters of big series or main characters of series that didn’t get much attention. After ending up being “To Heart’s” Multi and following up with “Love Hina’s” Naru, the rest is history. She is a big influence of the 21st century without a doubt and she will continue to get better.
7. Kuwashima Houko-san
Kuwashima-san has been blessed to be part of the seiyuu craze of the 1990’s. She started out as the spirited Yurika of “Nadesico” and has managed to play as various characters since then. She’s that good of a seiyuu (aside from that one blunder [*coughs* “Dead or Alive” Kasumi]) and she’s a good singer as well. I definitely would want her in my games if I was given the chance.
8. Hisakawa Aya-san
Take away the first three seiyuu I said as well as the entry after this one and you have the definite queen of the 1990’s if you were to ask people pretty much. Most well-known as a seiyuu of “Sailor Moon” early on like Mitsuishi-san, Hisakawa-san, Hisakawa-han if I’m speaking Kansai-ben, is one of the most interesting seiyuu ever. She has a real delicate voice, but she can make a U-turn and be real energetic. Oh and of course, you have to love the Kansai accent.
9. Aoyama Minami Takayama-san
Whether you still say “Takayama-san” or “Aoyama-san” like me these days, you can’t deny that she is a real talent. Besides being married to a terrific mangaka, Aoyama-san has played pretty much every possible role. Rough, evil, innocent, she can do it all regardless of the character. Oh and there’s that act of hers called “Two-Mix” or something like that I believe.
10. Hirano Aya-chan
The last slot was hard to do. I wanted to at least add in one seiyuu that will be in the seiyuu world for a long time, but at the same time, I wanted to strengthen history. Well, I’ve done the latter already pretty much and I just had to add in Hirano-chan because it’s a name I have been hearing a lot as of late.
Besides being the only female seiyuu here younger than me (giving you an idea of how old I am if you don’t know), she has already started establishing a serious list of credits from Lumiere of “Kiddy Grade” to “Haruhi’s” title character. Who knows how much further she’ll go? She’s that hot right now.
