Anyway! With the huge boom in fictional idols, I’m here to cover the voices behind our characters though especially other idol stuff. (And… let’s call it “idol-adjacent”; I can think of a couple other things focused on things like rock bands or stage musicals that kind of end up with a similar feel to idol media, especially the smartphone games feel a lot like idol ones.)
I’ll try to hit like 3-5 titles they’ve had a major role in, and a fairly comprehensive list of idol and similar stuff. Though not exhaustive, I’m only human and I’ll probably miss stuff! I’ll even cover the party Mirages too, there’s enough that’ve done a solid base of stuff even if a couple later ones I’ll just have to go “uhhhhh this is an actor that exists and was in a Fire Emblem once”.
Today, we have our protagonist and his Mirage!
Itsuki Aoi, voiced by Ryohei Kimura
I’ve been growing increasingly fond of Kimura lately, he’s got a good acting range! I’m not too big on his singing voice, but I think that kind of works here since Itsuki’s just kind of “okay if I’ve gotta be an idol to support Tsubasa here, sure”?
Major roles:
- Shoma Takakura (Mawaru Penguindrum)
- Ryota Kise (Kuroko’s Basketball)
- Sorey (Tales of Zestiria)
- Hirotaka Wakamatsu (Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun)
- Kirito Kamui (Psycho-Pass)
Idol roles:
- Shun Shimotsuki of Procellarum (Tsukiuta)
- Tsumugi Momose of reve parfait (Dynamic Chord)
- Mikado Kiryu of Rexx (Root Rexx)
- Aoi Kakitsubata of Tenjo Tenge (I-Chu)
- Yamato Hyuga of Heavens (Uta no Prince-sama (anime-only))
Chrom, voiced by Tomokazu Sugita
So it turns out Sugita’s been active and having major roles for even longer than I realized? Dude’s been getting cast as the lead in stuff since at least 2002, I’d figured Suzumiya Haruhi was his big break. He’s been kind of a lot of protagonists, though I think he’s at his best when he gets to chew the scenery instead.
Major roles:
- Hideki Motosuwa (Chobits)
- Yuichi Aizawa (Kanon (the 2006 anime))
- Kyon (The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi)
- Gintoki Sakata (Gintama)
- Joseph Joestar (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure (EDIT: specifically young Joseph))
- Ragna the Bloodedge (Blazblue)
- Yusuke Kitagawa (Persona 5)
Idol roles:
- Raging Otori, manager of Heavens (Uta no Prince-sama (anime-only))
- … that’s it. That’s not even an actual idol. But he does get to have scenery-chewing contests with Norio Wakamoto in it sooooooo. Enjoy a longer list of major roles instead.
