Who is the best voice actor/actress?

[genki sakura]

Who has the best voice in anime? I can't seem to narrow one down.
:)

[Airman]

Noda Junko is the best (in my opinion, of course) followed closely by Asakawa Yuu.

[AyaReiko]

I can't pin it down to just one. In a way, I could say that Megumi Hayashibara and Kotono Mitsuishi are tied for #1 in my book.

[Sakura-Chan]

I like Ogata Megumi a lot. And for some reason, I like Shoutarou Morikubo a lot, as well.

[Taleweaver]

In terms of "best voice" and not "best voice acting skill", I give my vote to Sakamoto Maaya. She doesn't have a range as wide as Hayashibara Megumi or Mitsuishi Kotono, but her voice is absolutely beautiful.

[PassiveObserver]

I like Kentaro Oe's dubbed voice from golden boy. That voice is just to awesome.

[Dewprism]

Megumi Hayashibara and Seki Tomokazu, I think they've done they're roles very well. ^_^

[Kahuna]

Hayashibara Megumi and Sakamoto Maaya are my picks, but there are just sooo many that are great.

[Mira]

Originally posted by Taleweaver
In terms of "best voice" and not "best voice acting skill", I give my vote to Sakamoto Maaya. She doesn't have a range as wide as Hayashibara Megumi or Mitsuishi Kotono, but her voice is absolutely beautiful.

I agree. I think she is wonderful. Though personally my list is short. I should know more of the names associated with the work I love most.

mira

[Recoil]

As far as American I'd say Luci Christian. She seems to have a great variety of vioces

[Youta84]

Megumi Hayashibara's voice is hypnotizing :)

[shinigamikender]

Tomokazu Seki is full of energy and really great fun to listen to, but when Itou Kentarou as Yuuhi in Ayashi no Ceres screams in one of the later episodes, I felt my heart breaking. That had to be the best seiyuu performance I'd ever seen.

[Knives]

Megumi Hayashibara ... her depth is amazing

[Alex]

In terms of "best voice" rather than "best", as in acting skill/range, Steve Blum/David Lucas. I love his voice. Could listen to it for hours.

[Zelkiiro]

I like:

- Megumi Hayashibara-sama!! (too many roles)
- Kotono Mitsuishi (Mireille, Excel)
- Hikaru Midorikawa (Zelgadis)
- Akira Ishida (Xellos!!!)

[Recoil]

Originally posted by Alex
In terms of "best voice" rather than "best", as in acting skill/range, Steve Blum/David Lucas. I love his voice. Could listen to it for hours.

Yep, he's my favorite American male voice actor.

[Zero]

Dub-wise, Crispin Freeman is a particular favorite of mine. Definitely one of the higher end VAs out there.

[‚È‚¾‚êFROST]

im not sure. im only a recent convert to the anime phenomenon,(though by no means am i less enthsiastic), so most of what i see is in english.

i dont quite see the fascination with the voice actors. i usually ascribe the voice to the charachter and not the actor.

[Renzoku Hikari]

I like all the ones that I have heard mentioned, but my favorite is Takayama Minami. http://www.tcp.com/~doi/seiyuu/takayama-minami/roles-anime.html that is a list of the majority of her roles in anime...she rocks!

[Phelddagrif]

Originally posted by AyaReiko
Megumi Hayashibara

Well put. She is by far the best seiyuu in the biz right now.

[bwing55543]

In terms of "best voice" rather than "best", as in acting skill/range, Steve Blum/David Lucas. I love his voice. Could listen to it for hours.


I agree when it comes to English voice actors. He was awesome as Ares in God of War and as Spike in the English version of Cowboy Bebop.

I really like Ayako Kawasumi's voice, but she really can't do a very big variety of roles. Aoi from Ai Yori Aoshi and Melfina from Outlaw Star seemed a little too similar.

[Sae]

Hilary Haag is best in my terms.

Sae

[Ghostmaster]

I think Steven Blum is a pretty good voice actor. He just has this awesome voice and it works for the characters he portrays, like in Samurai Champloo and Cowboy Bebop and stuff. (I still must see Cowboy Bebop)

[Starwind Amada]

STEVEN JAY BLUM.

'Nuff said.

[bwing55543]

Hilary Haag is best in my terms.

Sae

Who/what did Hilary Haag voice?

[Starwind Amada]

Hilary has voiced roles such as Nene in Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040, Tessa in Full Metal Panic!, Rosette in Chrono Crusade, Milk in Super Milk-chan and Shammy in Macross.

[LadySage]

Crispin Freeman and Melissa Williamon/Mary McGlynn are my favorite English VAs, and Seki Tomokazu, Megumi Oogata, Junko Iwao are among my favorite Japanese actors.

[aeroshadow]

I scream whenever I hear Mamiko Noto's voice.

[animanic_critic]

I'm not really into American/English seiyuus, but as for the Japanese counterparts, I tend to prefer Ayako Kawasumi, Megumi Hayashibara, Atsuko Tanaka, Norio Wakamoto and Jouji Nakata.

On another note: One seiyuu I veer away from is Ishida Akira. I don't hate his voice, but the characters he voices for always get on my nerves for some reason.

[LadyYuina]

American side:

Richard Cox(Inuyasha) and Richard/Vincent Hayworth(Kenshin Himura) are among some of my favorites.

[NausicaaBoy]

Hikaru Midorikawa

[bwing55543]

One thing I've noticed was with seiyuu Yuko Miyamura. She could be both the wild Aisha ClanClan from Outlaw Star and the timid Toki Takatsuki from Rurouni Kenshin: Requiem for the Ishin Patriots. That was one large change I've noticed.

Another was with Yuji Ueda. He managed to play both Sanosuke from Rurouni Kenshin and Lee Sampson from Cowboy Bebop: the Movie.

[hayama22]

I give the credit to Junko Minagawa for one simple moment of acting during episode 24 of Fantastic Children:

Thoma's scream to Agi as he realizes that he is Seth will always send chills down my spine. There is a childishness to it that makes his situation all the most pitiable. Honestly I have never heard or seen a more powerful moment of acting outside of Bjork's performance in Dancer in the Dark.

[Starwind Amada]

I think my favorite Japanese voice actress would have to be Mari Iijima. Then again, that's probably because I heard her in the Macross dub.