The Seiyu Awards, which honor the most successful voice actors of the year, will hold its 20th annual awards ceremony on March 15th. While the Seiyu Awards always bring together the hottest voice actors of the moment, what was the lineup like 10 years ago? Let's take a look back at the 10th Seiyu Awards in 2016.
◇The "Danmachi" duo is also a hot topic.
At the 10th awards ceremony, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka , known for " Sword Art Online ," won the Best Leading Actor award, and Inori Minase, known for "The Anthem of the Heart," won the Best Leading Actress award. Both Matsuoka and Minase are still popular voice actors active on the front lines today, and it was particularly memorable to see Minase, who was 20 years old at the time, appear at the awards ceremony in a fresh-faced kimono.
Matsuoka and Minase also played the main character and heroine in "Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?" (DanMachi), which aired its first TV anime season in 2015, and their nomination for Best Leading Role as the "DanMachi duo" became a hot topic. "DanMachi," which has reached its 10th anniversary, has also announced that a sixth season will be produced, making it a long-loved series.
◇Voice actress idol unit that is "selling better" than it did 10 years ago
The Best New Actor awards went to Yuichiro Umehara, Shunsuke Takeuchi, and Ayumu Murase, while the Best New Actress awards went to Sumire Uesaka, Rie Takahashi, and Aimi Tanaka—a truly impressive lineup. These are all popular voice actors of today, but just 10 years ago they were newcomers.
The voice actress idol unit "i☆Ris," which won the singing award, is now a five-member group after some members graduated, but they are still very active. At the time, "PriPara," in which all members appeared as voice actresses and also sang the theme song, was a hot topic. Although there have been ups and downs over the past 10 years, as the members said in an interview last year, "we are the most popular right now," and it seems that their momentum is increasing.
The 20th edition will cover works, streaming, and announcements made between October 1, 2024, and September 30, 2025, as well as the voice actors who appeared in them. We look forward to seeing who will be featured. (Manami Anima/MANTANWEB)
◇10th Seiyu Awards Winners (titles omitted)
Best Actor: Yoshitsugu Matsuoka; Best Actress: Inori Minase; Best Supporting Actor: Kenichi Suzumura, Yoshimasa Hosoya; Best Supporting Actress: Shizuka Ito, Saori Hayami; Best New Actor: Yuichiro Umehara, Shunsuke Takeuchi, Ayumu Murase; Best New Actress: Sumire Uesaka, Rie Takahashi, Aimi Tanaka; Best Singing Performance: i☆Ris; Best Personality: Kenichi Suzumura; Most Votes: Hiroshi Kamiya; Lifetime Achievement Award: Sachiko Chijimatsu, Tadashi Nakamura, Michiko Nomura; Synergy Award: Chibi Maruko-chan-chan; Kei Tomiyama Award: Showtaro Morikubo; Kazue Takahashi Award: Kikuko Inoue; Kids & Family Award: Pierre Coffin; Special Award: A応P
