Voice acting is one of those things I never really noticed until I started watching anime. Then I went and compared the original Japanese-language audio tracks of a couple anime to their English-language dubs and heard for myself the difference a voice performance can make. For some series, it’s not that big a deal. For example, I prefer the original Japanese language audio for Fullmetal Alchemist, but still enjoy the English language dub. But for other series, the difference is huge. There are some series that I love in their original Japanese versions that I find wholly unwatchable in their dubbed English versions. (*coughcough* Cowboy Bebop *coughcough*)

From time to time, I’ve noticed individual voice performances that have, in their own way, made a series. So here’s a Friday Five of my favorite voice acting performances in anime.

Alphabetical by series:

1. Orikasa Fumiko as Kuchiki Rukia (Bleach): Here’s the thing about Rukia in Bleach: she spends large parts of the first few episodes of the series pretending to be a very peppy Japanese schoolgirl when she is, in fact, a gruff 200-year-old soul reaper whose primary source of information about modern life is shojo manga. I hope you can see the potential for hilarity here. To her credit, Orikasa Fumiko milks this for all its worth: her flip-flopping from Rukia’s usual brusque speech to her fake schoolgirl mode is comedy gold.

It’s worth noting that Orikasa Fumiko has voiced characters in several other series that I’ve watched and that none of those characters have made much of an impression. So this seems to be a case of a series finding a perfect match for an actor and a role, and I am glad it did!

2. Paku Romi as Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist): Fullmetal Alchemist, like many anime, puts its protagonist, Edward Elric, through a lot of ups and downs over the course of the series. What’s amazing about Paku Romi’s performance as Ed is her sheer range: she’s perfect in every circumstance, from the comic relief moments where Ed is being touchy about his height (or lack thereof) to the more emotional scenes where Ed is facing an enemy or worrying about his younger brother. I think the English-language Ed, Vic Mignogna, does a fine job in this role, but Paku really just blows him out of the water when it comes to emotional expression. (Sorry, Vic!)

3. Orikasa Ai as Quatre Raberba Winner (Gundam Wing): Gundam Wing is a giant robot anime series that is probably best described as “so bad it’s good.” In other words, I find it terribly amusing, but I can’t really bring myself to recommend it to others as a quality piece of entertainment. Quatre, the character played by Orikasa Ai, is one of the mecha pilots in this series. He is the soft-spoken and gentle one . . . until the middle of the series, when a sequence of events makes him, well, go a little insane. This is where Orikasa really shines. Her performance of Quatre’s transformation is incredibly convincing: it’s very easy to hear the sweet character we already know and like in the very dangerous character that he’s become.

On a side note, Orikasa Ai and Orikasa Fumiko (mentioned above) are sisters. Apparently voice acting talent can run in the family!

4. Kamiya Hiroshi as Takemoto Yuuta (Honey and Clover): Honey and Clover is a series about five friends attending the same Tokyo art college: it’s a meditation on friendship, love, art, and talent. The story is told from multiple points of view, but one of the main things that holds it together is the narration of the main character, Takemoto. In the hands of a lesser voice actor, that narration could seem cheesy or overly sentimental. Lucky for us, that role went to Kamiya Hiroshi, who does an excellent job of conveying Takemoto’s mixture of youthful confusion and hope. This a subtler performance than the three I’ve already described, but that doesn’t make it any less memorable.

5. Sugita Tomokazu as Kon (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya): This is another series with an unforgettable narrator–and an unforgettable performance of a voice actor as that narrator. In The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Kon is an average Joe who finds himself inexplicably drawn into the weirdness surrounding his very beautiful classmate, Haruhi. He shares his displeasure regarding this state of affairs through his high-speed and generally very aggravated narration, which rather frequently devolves into grumbling and rants about Haruhi’s latest eccentricities. It’s one of the funniest things in a very funny series, and Sugita Tomomkazu is pitch perfect from beginning to end.

Honorable Mentions

Miyano Mamoru has turned in some fabulous performances, especially Tamaki in Ouran High School Host Club and Light in Death Note. (He probably deserves a mention for Light’s maniacal laughter alone!) Also, that first sentence alone should give you a good sense of Miyano’s range.

And kudos in general should go to the voice actors Miki Shinichiro, Suwabe Junichi, Koyasu Takehito, and Neya Michiko for being (1) generally quite good (2) extraordinarily recognizable and (3) present in a ridiculous number of the series I watch.