April Fools 2020: male seiyuu’s creativity knows no boundaries

It is that time of the year. April Fools is here and, with no exception, male seiyuu took it to Twitter to surprise their fans with unique projects that will never see the light of day.

We take a look at this year’s April Fools’ pranks or fake projects created by your favorite Japanese voice actor. Some include debuting as a female idol, creating a rock band, turning into a professional enka singer and creating an anime for a radio show.

A note that the projects featured below are PRANKS / LIES told by male seiyuu on April Fools’ Day.

Aside from 1 project – that is dubiously too professional that it lies in a grey zone -, the rest of the announcements and projects are not official projects so don’t get your hopes high.

Shunichi Toki makes his debut as an enka singer

Shunichi Toki announced on his personal Twitter account that he is making his debut as an enka singer.

Under the stage name Masaru Shoujou, Toki released a short music preview of his debut song, 猩猩日和 (Shoujou Biyori).

If you watch the full video, there is even the cover art for the single, including its cassette version.

Junta Terashima debuts as an idol, JUNTAA (and, in the meantime, confuses recently debuted enka singer Shunichi Toki)

Junta Terashima put his creativity to the test and created an elaborate April Fools project for his fans. His Twitter account changed completely as soon as Japan hit April 1.

Profile photo featured a long-haired woman instead of Terashima, or so it would seem on a first glance.

The name Junta Terashima replaced by JUNTAA.

An original music video and song were released. I must hand it to Terashima, Hoppy Girl is a rather unique song and the music video is insanely quirky.

Fans were in stitches with this transformation and how ludicrous the whole lie is. Kudos to Junta Terashima for pulling off such an elaborate prank.

Also, bonus points for even confusing fellow seiyuu and Growth member, Shunichi Toki – now in his enka singer persona – by using slang in their exchange on Twitter.

四九四六。
ん？
モールス信号だろうか…
よろしくお願い致し

— 猩猩 大 (しょうじょう まさる (@tokishunichi) March 31, 2020

Dameraji gets their own anime

In an odd turn of events, Soma Saito and Kaito Ishikawa‘s Dameraji announced that their radio show was getting an anime.

Aside from the over-the-top news, the duo changed their personalities for a couple of seconds, with Saito being all passionate and loud whereas Kaito took on a calm and collected personality.

おす！　日付が変わって4月1日。
そう、4月1日ということで皆さんにお知らせしたいことがあります。

まずはこちらの動画をご覧ください。#ダメラジ #agqr pic.twitter.com/MqWo5uvtE4

— 斉藤壮馬・石川界人のダメじゃないラジオ (@dameradi) March 31, 2020

The announcement video hit Dameraji’s official Twitter profile as soon as April 1 hit and fans are in a midst of doubting the truth behind the announcement.

おす！　4月1日18時です！
テレビアニメダメラジについて斉藤さんと石川さんから動画でお知らせ。

今回はアニメの内容と、コラボについてお届けです！
ダメラジと言えばアレのコラボ企画が!?#4月1日#ダメラジ #agqr pic.twitter.com/w2h72EXwgm

— 斉藤壮馬・石川界人のダメじゃないラジオ (@dameradi) April 1, 2020

[ENDED UP BEING A REAL PROJECT] Yoshiki Nakajima and Yuichiro Umehara create their rock band, Sir Vanity

Perhaps the most believable project of them all – something that I could see happening down the line, especially knowing how Yoshiki Nakajima is such a creative individual – is Sir Vanity.

Starting off, the band looks strong on the visuals, with Yoshiki Nakajima and Yuichiro Umehara standing out in a charismatic photoshoot.

The rock band announced their lineup consisting of Yoshiki Nakajima (vocals and guitar), Yuichiro Umehara (vocals and guitar), Arte Refact’s Satoru Kuwabara (on bass) and taisei (as drummer) and left fans hanging with a “coming soon” for all other information.

Adding to the slick website is a professional photoshoot, styled by Yuuki Honda (best known as Soma Saito’s longtime stylist, and occasional stylist for other 81 Produce talents).

This is one of those projects announced on April Fools’ day that everyone wishes will materialize.

The odd timing for the announcement and how professional everything about the band looks is throwing off fans of both seiyuu – including myself – so, we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to know if the project is actually true or not.

It is a real project.

Daiki Yamashita has a sudden change of heart

Anyone that follows Daiki Yamashita on Twitter knows just how much he loves to eat meat. Every day there is a photo of some expensive meat that he is ready to feast upon. Today, things were slightly different.

やさいだぁいすき

— 山下大輝 Daiki Yamashita (@DaiKing_boy) March 31, 2020

He declared his love for vegetables to which his fans easily spotted the April Fools’ lie.

This is, by no means, an exhaustive list so we welcome any suggestions in our comments section.

Did your favorite male seiyuu pull off a prank on April Fools’? Let us know in the comments below, and the most interesting pranks / lies will feature in this article!