I don’t give voice actors enough credit on my blog. They can really make or break a character and an anime, but other than Daisuke Ono I’ve never really focused on the voice actors in shows. However, with the return of Bungo Stray Dogs I decided to turn my attention to yet another voice actor I’ve really enjoyed over the years and am sharing my Top 5 characters voiced by Miyano Mamoru. I’d love to know some of your favourites so be sure to let me know in the comments below.
Number 5: Setsuna F. Seiei from Mobile Suit Gundam 00
While some of his other roles will show off a much wider range of emotion and expression than Setsuna, I really love the way Setsuna was portrayed in Gundam 00. His level and unemotional delivery for the most part really sells the tragedy that has occurred as Setsuna is very much a product of having grown up surrounded by war and conflict. Where a lesser voice actor might have made his character come across as dull, there’s intensity and nuances to the delivery of Setsuna F Seiei that make for an interesting performance and one that made him a fairly memorable character even if I didn’t realise until far later that Setsuna was voiced by Miyano Mamoru.
Number 4: Dazai from Bungo Stray Dogs
Arguably the reason this list exists as Dazai’s character continues to both amuse and frustrate, I have to give absolute credit to the performance delivered by Miyano Mamoru here. Dazai can be an infuriating character for both the audience and the rest of the cast but the changeable nature from serious to playful and back again, the vaguely knowing and taunting tone that he delivers when teasing others, the sheer crazy or bored depending on the situation, everything about the performance is tailored to the situation and it works. As much as I might criticise aspects of Bungo Stray Dogs, I certainly can’t fault the voice acting for Dazai’s character.
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Number 3: Fushimi from K
Another fairly over the top performance but one that again shows a nice range as Fushimi can go from the bored and disinterested character to intense and borderline obsessed in a very short span of time. Fushimi is definitely a character who stands out in K, which is saying something in a large cast of zany and interesting characters, and a lot of the reason for that is the vocal performance. Regardless of the situation, Fushimi delivers his lines in a way that makes you pay attention and again we see that even when delivering lines as though bored, there are nuances to the performance here that make it interesting rather than dull to listen to.
Number 2: Okabe Rintarou from Steins;Gate
Come on, there was no way I was making this list without Okabe being on it. Given the sheer amount of dialogue packed into Steins;Gate, if the VA’s weren’t spot on it could make for one very dull viewing experience. Fortunately, the cast are all superb and none more so than the lead. Miyano Mamoru is the cackling self-proclaimed Mad Scientist who can deliver insane statements as if they are solid truths and can declare the invention names with absolute conviction even when they aren’t complete. While there are plenty of reasons to love Steins;Gate, the vocal performance delivered here is probably one of the best.
Number 1: Light from Death Note
It is a tough act to beat Okabe Rintarou in terms of vocal performance but I’ll have to put my favourite character voiced by Miyano Mamoru as Light Yagami. Sure, Light has his moments of crazy, declaring himself a god amongst other things, but he’s also the model student, the good son, the seductive manipulator and takes on literally whatever role he needs to in order to achieve his goals. All of that means he needs a versatile voice that matches the occasion and Miyano Mamoru rises well and truly to the occasion to create an unforgettable character.
That is my list for this week but there are a lot of other great characters voiced by Miyano Mamoru so please be sure to let me know your favourites.
Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James
I don’t really focus on voice actors either because I don’t really follow their careers or know enough about them…but I agree absolutely, the voice acting is of paramount importance to an anime’s success or failure. Perhaps I will start paying more attention in future…
I’m inlove with this man. Like seriously. He’s funny, flamboyant and cute. I just can’t get enough of him! 🙂 My top 5 are Light, Okabe, Dazai, Chrollo and Kotaro. I wanna add Shuu Tsukiyama as well. <3
Nice choices.
You know, in looking at his list I realized that I’ve actually watched surprisingly few shows where Miyano had a starring role. Besides Dazai, his only other lead roles I could say I watched enough to count are Cinque from Dog Days and Taichi from Chihayafuru. I liked him in all three of those, though, so that’s fine. The male actors that I feel like I especially run into a lot in the shows I watch are Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (that despite never watching a minute of SAO) and Yuichi Nakamura.
Miyano turns up in a lot of anime that I quite enjoy so maybe the genres of anime I enjoy just happen to be the ones he tends to turn up in.
Did you know he also is a singer?
I also love his songs.
Oh yeah. If you look up a list on the characters he has voiced, it is AMAZING. It is so long…
I know. It is incredible how many characters he’s voiced and while some of them are quite similar, there’s quite a range in there as well.
He’s definitely one of the most talented people I’ve ever seen; his vocal range is superb. But I think when he does the “ikemen” or “cool” type of characters, that’s certainly his forte.
And to add another thing, there was this YouTube video of the Durarara cast at a public event, where Mamoru acted cold towards fellow cast member Shimono Hiro as part of a hilarious skit. It’s better if you actually watch it lol but it was such a great example of how good of an actor he is.
I agree, his vocal range is excellent and I love how nuanced his performances are.
This is a good topic. I noticed several favorite voice actors who turn up different performances in various places. The voice actress best known for Louise Valiere has done some much better work in ToraDora, and the actress who suffered through the tiny Lesbian in Railgun/Index is also responsible for a breakout role in a much older show about a girl with MPD, and turns up in random stories because she’s running a voice acting agency now. The guy in Haruhi Suzumiya turns up in a bunch of different anime, and is in his 40’s. The guy in Golden Kamuyi has been working steadily too. There’s fewer male voice actors, so the ones who work turn up more often.
I love his narcissistic image song for Ouran (and his role as well), but also a shout out for when he has to be a girl (Ichiko) in the Uta no Prince-sama series.
I haven’t seen that but that sounds like it could be fun.
If I was to make a list I would obviously have Fushimi on that list and then Rin (Free!) of course Dazai and I really like his performance as Tsukiyama. in Tokyo Ghoul.
No surprise to see Fushimi in the line up. Great choices.
I’m predictable and loyal
Great picks but im missing chrollo and koutaro from zombieland saga. Death Note remains one of the rare anime i saw in english dub only but i think it would be worth the rewatch in sub just for miyano’s performance alone
There’s a youtube clip I found once that has Mamoru performing one of the scenes from Death Note. It’s pretty amazing to watch him.
Yeah i did actually saw a bit of it from clips, i definitely should do the full rewatch
I also loved when he was Tamaki (Ouran), Kiba (Wolf’s Rain), and Death the Kid (Soul Eater)! I guess those plus Light and Okabe are my top 5. But he was also hilariously absurdly fantastic as Tsukishima in Tokyo Ghoul… that almost makes my top 5… and I don’t even like Tokyo Ghoul very much.
Tsukishima almost made my list, and Kiba. He just has so many great roles and does such a great job with them.