[SEIYUU] Flavour of Spring 2015: Miyu Irino & Rie Kugimiya

We are about a third of the way through Spring 2015, so no time like the present to introduce this season’s seiyuu to listen out for. It was a tough call, but after sifting through numerous new episodes, we have finally decided on our flavours (or at least, if I was given carte blanche to do so~). And so, here’s presenting our seiyuu flavour for Spring 2015: Miyu Irino and Rie Kugimiya.

Who?

HE is known for playing some of the sweetest most gentlest anime characters we have ever heard – think back to the likes of Syaoran from Tsubasa Chronicles, vice captain Suga in Haikyuu!!, Akizuki Takao of Kotonoha no Niwa, Tadakuni in Danshi Koukousei no Nichijou, just to name a few. He is also one half of the singing unit KAmiYu, a collaboration with fellow seiyuu Hiroshi Kamiya, probably best known for the extremely addictive ED for Karneval, REASON.

SHE is voice actress veteran extraordinaire, and most anime-watchers would have at some point heard or heard of her. As the voice of Kagura in Gintama, Happy in Fairy Tail, Alphonse in Full Metal Alchemist, she has brought to life main characters of some of anime’s biggest titles.

Recent works

Miyu Irino had quite the run last year, and Spring 2014 proved to be his best season yet, seeing him appearing in a number of series such as Captain Earth, Kamigami no Asobi and Haikyuu!!. In each and every one of those roles, he truly lived up to his reputation as the sugary sweet seiyuu. One cannot help but go awwww at the characters that he voices.

Likewise, Rie Kugimiya has also been very prolific. But then again, when hasn’t she?! We heard her in No Game No Life as Tet, the one true god of play, the very poisonous Nora in Noragami, Rise in Persona 4 The Animation and Sena in Mangaka-san to Assistant-san – and that isn’t even half of it! Most recently, fans might recall a certain delightfully kooky character in Tokyo Ghoul by the name of Suzuya that she voiced. Yes, over the years, Kugimiya has shown time and again why she is one of the top players in the industry, acing every single one of the roles she has been cast in. It is always a treat to hear her, and one can rest easy that the role is in safe hands whenever her name is credited.

Spring 2015

As the male lead of this season’s highly anticipated Owari no Seraph – the noisy, overconfident, vampire-hating protagonist, Yuuichiro Hyakuya, Irino brings forth a side that we have never really heard of before. Hyakuya is every bit the opposite of what we are used to hearing from Irino, and it is a rather refreshing (albeit slightly sigh-inducing) variation of his voice. In just this role alone, and in just a few episodes at that, Irino has brought forth quite the range, showing that he can indeed play something other than the sweethearts.

There were many takers for female flavour, but we couldn’t possibly deny Rie Kugimiya as this season’s. She reprises her roles as Kagura in the return of Gintama, (and on a smaller scale) Juse in Danna ga and stars as Meika in the token noitamina series, Punchline. Granted, Kugimiya is voicing several roles that we have heard her in before, but one simply can’t ignore the fact that she is re-stepping into the said roles and bringing the house down with her stellar performances. Honestly, déjà vu never sounded better~

These two really are quite special, so do have a listen out for them.