Koki Uchiyama, the voice actor for Shinpei in Firefly Wedding, may have voiced one of your favourite anime characters. Let’s take a look at some of his other notable roles in anticipation of Firefly Wedding’s release!
I was talking with my friend about how excited I am for the upcoming Firefly Wedding anime, when they brought up how much they love Shinpei’s voice actor. As I am primarily a manga reader I don’t pay much attention to who voices who, but upon a quick google search, I realized that I am also a fan of this voice actor and just hadn’t realized it.
So, who else have they given a voice to?
My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999・Yamada-kun
When oh when will the manga come off of hiatus, I wonder… Worries aside, the first character I recognised when I started looking into his past roles was that of Yamada-kun!
This is a romance series following university student Akane, a girl who casually plays a certain online game, and is member of a guild in said game (a group of people who all play together). After getting broken up with by her boyfriend, she ends up getting into a relationship with one of the more aloof members of her guild, high school student Yamada-kun. This is a slow-burn romance series, as we follow the two as they go from internet strangers to eventual couple.
Horimiya・Miyamura
Not too different from Yamada-kun, he also give Miyamura his voice!
Horimiya is a very fun romance series, following two high school students who one day discover each other’s secret. Miyamura, a somewhat scruffy-looking, studious boy, actually secretly has tattoos and piercings! Hori, a social butterfly when at school, is actually in charge of her family home while her parents are away at work. The romance in this series moves at a fast pace, and we watch Hori and Miyamura as they get along both at school, and at Hori’s house.
To The Forest of Firefly Lights・Gin
Probably the most devastating character on this list, Koki Uchiyama also voiced Gin from Hotarubi no Mori e.
This is a movie based on one chapter of a one-shot written by the author of Natsume’s Book of Friends. It’s a fantastical story about a forest spirit named Gin, who befriends a lost little girl one day. After becoming entwined, the girl comes back year after year to visit her new friend, but things become emotional as he remains the same as the day they first met and she continues to grow up into a young woman.
Don’t watch this one unless you’re ready to cry a little.
Nina The Starry Bride・Sett
Sett is a character I have a complicated relationship with, but I love him all the same.
Nina the Starry Bride tells the tale of Nina, a young woman who is one day made to erase her old life and live a lie for the sake of her kingdom. As Nina is able to pass for a princess despite not actually being one, she is shipped off to be the bride of Sett, a prince with a notoriously violent history. This is a very complicated political romance series, with two captivating male leads. Are you on team Sett, or are you on team Azure?
Soul Eater・Soul
Lastly, we have one that brought me back to my middle school days—Soul Eater! I had forgotten just how much I loved this series. I hope one day we can get a new season…
Soul Eater is a fantasy series, following a group of students as they work together to create “death scythes”. This is a unique story, focusing on the balance of sanity and madness, and good and evil as the students fight monsters to collect their souls. The students work in groups of two or three, with one working as a “meister”, and the other(s) working as a “weapon”—these students can literally transform into various weapons.
I most enjoyed the themes of friendship and community found in this series, but I do know some people who view Maka and Soul’s relationship as a romantic one.
These are just a few of my favourite roles Koki Uchiyama has done, but is by no means all of them. He’s also the voice of Inumaki from Jujutsu Kaisen, and has even worked in Kindgom Hearts! Most surprisingly, he was also the voice of Mr. Hand-Face from My Hero Academia (Shigaraki).
Leave a comment