And a huge reason why Mahito is so memorable to us is the way he speaks.
Despite him being a sadistic, ruthless antagonist set on inflicting as much suffering as possible, many fans actually like Mahito a lot. It’s hard to blame them: he’s incredibly charismatic, and his voice actor’s performance is absolutely stellar, making the character feel very real.
The man behind the voice is Nobunaga Shimazaki, and he’s a very experienced seiyuu with a lot of roles. Let’s go through some fan favorites — and if you enjoy Mahito, perhaps you will enjoy some of these characters as well. There’s a good chance you’ve seen some of these, but didn’t recognize him, and that, in a way, is proof of a voice actor’s talent.
Nagi is a fan favorite in Blue Lock — despite not being the main character, he’s arguably liked more than the series’ protagonist, Yoichi. It’s understandable: people like geniuses, and Nagi’s unmotivated attitude to life speaks to the souls of many. For the fans of both the character and his voice actor — there’s a spinoff movie about Nagi releasing soon, and you don’t want to miss it.
While not a complete opposite of the aforementioned roles, Haruka from Free! is still strikingly different from them: he’s quiet, but confident and determined — and Shimazaki plays the character just as well. Arguably, this was one of his biggest roles — the franchise is incredibly popular in Japan, and with other cast members, he performs some of the theme songs for it (yes, he can sing as well).
Shun Kaidou from The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.
Probably the funniest of his roles, Shun is a chuunibyou character who’s set on fighting the mysterious group called “Dark Reunion.” Of course, no such group exists in reality, and it’s the fragment of Shun’s imagination — and the character often gets the short end of the stick in the series’ gags, as he’s completely unadjusted to society. While the viewers may feel pity for him, they also can’t help but laugh — partly because his seiyuu performs way too well for it to not be funny.
Eugeo only appeared in the Alicization series, but he was really important during it — arguably as important as Kirito himself. He actually has a well-written character arc (many people are skeptical about SAO, but yes, he does), and being a deuteragonist of Alicization, it was obvious he’d be a popular character. While his personality might be a little too similar to Kirito’s, it might be argued that that’s actually on purpose — Eugeo is the same kind of person Kirito was in the past.
Shido Itsuka from Date A Live
Many people were getting tired of wimpy and pathetic harem leads from the 00s and early 10s. In that sense, Date A Live delivered what they wanted: while Shido is hardly an overpowered, all-destroying force (he’s not a fighting type), and still occasionally gets flustered around girls, he’s competent and strong-willed. And as already seen in some of the examples above, Nobunaga Shimazaki is very good at playing those characters.
The new adaptation of Fruits Basket seems to have rekindled the popularity of shoujo anime. In part, it is because of the fact that it is incredibly well-made (and also adapts the manga very well). The “well-made” part refers to the casting choices as well, where Shimazaki plays Yuki. While he’s not as popular with the fanbase as his cousin Kyou, he’s still very much liked — and is a character integral to the anime’s plot and themes.
Gudao from Fate/Grand Order
The Fate series may be confusing to some. The adaptation of Grand Order is even more so — a lot of the chapters from the story have been skipped in the anime, and while the context is provided, you can’t help but wonder about the events that transpired before. Nobunaga Shimazaki is the voice for the protagonist (whose name is canonically Ritsuka Fujimaru, but the player character’s gender can be chosen in the game), and he absolutely nails the role. The interactions between Ritsuka and Mash in Babylonia are especially praiseworthy — they feel like the relationship between friends who went through a lot together. Which is actually true.
Yuno is Black Clover’s take on the “shounen rival” character trope. As Asta’s foster brother, he also adopts his dream of becoming the Wizard King. Despite his seemingly emotionless demeanor, Yuno actually cares about his friends and would go out of his way to protect them. It seems that this contrast between the outside and inside behavior is a recurring theme for Nobunaga Shimazaki’s characters — and we’re all here for it.
A fan-favorite member of the Inarizaki team, Rintarou is a deadpan analyst who plays as the team’s middle blocker. His calculated behavior earned him many fans, and while he was only in the latest two cours of the anime (To the Top), he still has a decent fanbase. And, of course, his popularity only increased with the release of the anime, where Shimazaki nailed his role perfectly.
Baki Hanma in Baki (from 2018 onwards)
With interest in the franchise rekindled with the Netflix-sponsored seasons, it is understandable this role ended up here. Shimazaki’s performance as Baki himself is awesome, and while some fans were concerned about the recasting of the character (played by Masami Kikuchi in the older anime and by Kappei Yamaguchi in the 1994 OVA), the decision to cast Shimazaki as him was perfect.
And a huge reason why Mahito is so memorable to us is the way he speaks.
Despite him being a sadistic, ruthless antagonist set on inflicting as much suffering as possible, many fans actually like Mahito a lot. It’s hard to blame them: he’s incredibly charismatic, and his voice actor’s performance is absolutely stellar, making the character feel very real.
The man behind the voice is Nobunaga Shimazaki, and he’s a very experienced seiyuu with a lot of roles. Let’s go through some fan favorites — and if you enjoy Mahito, perhaps you will enjoy some of these characters as well. There’s a good chance you’ve seen some of these, but didn’t recognize him, and that, in a way, is proof of a voice actor’s talent.
Nagi is a fan favorite in Blue Lock — despite not being the main character, he’s arguably liked more than the series’ protagonist, Yoichi. It’s understandable: people like geniuses, and Nagi’s unmotivated attitude to life speaks to the souls of many. For the fans of both the character and his voice actor — there’s a spinoff movie about Nagi releasing soon, and you don’t want to miss it.
While not a complete opposite of the aforementioned roles, Haruka from Free! is still strikingly different from them: he’s quiet, but confident and determined — and Shimazaki plays the character just as well. Arguably, this was one of his biggest roles — the franchise is incredibly popular in Japan, and with other cast members, he performs some of the theme songs for it (yes, he can sing as well).
Shun Kaidou from The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.
Probably the funniest of his roles, Shun is a chuunibyou character who’s set on fighting the mysterious group called “Dark Reunion.” Of course, no such group exists in reality, and it’s the fragment of Shun’s imagination — and the character often gets the short end of the stick in the series’ gags, as he’s completely unadjusted to society. While the viewers may feel pity for him, they also can’t help but laugh — partly because his seiyuu performs way too well for it to not be funny.
Eugeo only appeared in the Alicization series, but he was really important during it — arguably as important as Kirito himself. He actually has a well-written character arc (many people are skeptical about SAO, but yes, he does), and being a deuteragonist of Alicization, it was obvious he’d be a popular character. While his personality might be a little too similar to Kirito’s, it might be argued that that’s actually on purpose — Eugeo is the same kind of person Kirito was in the past.
Shido Itsuka from Date A Live
Many people were getting tired of wimpy and pathetic harem leads from the 00s and early 10s. In that sense, Date A Live delivered what they wanted: while Shido is hardly an overpowered, all-destroying force (he’s not a fighting type), and still occasionally gets flustered around girls, he’s competent and strong-willed. And as already seen in some of the examples above, Nobunaga Shimazaki is very good at playing those characters.
The new adaptation of Fruits Basket seems to have rekindled the popularity of shoujo anime. In part, it is because of the fact that it is incredibly well-made (and also adapts the manga very well). The “well-made” part refers to the casting choices as well, where Shimazaki plays Yuki. While he’s not as popular with the fanbase as his cousin Kyou, he’s still very much liked — and is a character integral to the anime’s plot and themes.
Gudao from Fate/Grand Order
The Fate series may be confusing to some. The adaptation of Grand Order is even more so — a lot of the chapters from the story have been skipped in the anime, and while the context is provided, you can’t help but wonder about the events that transpired before. Nobunaga Shimazaki is the voice for the protagonist (whose name is canonically Ritsuka Fujimaru, but the player character’s gender can be chosen in the game), and he absolutely nails the role. The interactions between Ritsuka and Mash in Babylonia are especially praiseworthy — they feel like the relationship between friends who went through a lot together. Which is actually true.
Yuno is Black Clover’s take on the “shounen rival” character trope. As Asta’s foster brother, he also adopts his dream of becoming the Wizard King. Despite his seemingly emotionless demeanor, Yuno actually cares about his friends and would go out of his way to protect them. It seems that this contrast between the outside and inside behavior is a recurring theme for Nobunaga Shimazaki’s characters — and we’re all here for it.
A fan-favorite member of the Inarizaki team, Rintarou is a deadpan analyst who plays as the team’s middle blocker. His calculated behavior earned him many fans, and while he was only in the latest two cours of the anime (To the Top), he still has a decent fanbase. And, of course, his popularity only increased with the release of the anime, where Shimazaki nailed his role perfectly.
Baki Hanma in Baki (from 2018 onwards)
With interest in the franchise rekindled with the Netflix-sponsored seasons, it is understandable this role ended up here. Shimazaki’s performance as Baki himself is awesome, and while some fans were concerned about the recasting of the character (played by Masami Kikuchi in the older anime and by Kappei Yamaguchi in the 1994 OVA), the decision to cast Shimazaki as him was perfect.
