Taishi Murata is a talented seiyuu who has showcased his skills for over a decade. In this Seiyuu Digest, you get to know more on his career.
Taishi Murata
KANJI: 村田 太志
BORN: May 13, 1982
OCCUPATION: voice actor
HEIGHT: 168 cm
Taishi Murata was born on May 13, 1982, in Kochi, Japan, and is currently represented by Across Entertainment.
Seiyuu
His path towards becoming a seiyuu started in middle school. During that time, he was part of the baseball team and he was quite active. However, as his health deteriorated, he couldn’t play baseball anymore.
He then shifted to the track and field team and that’s when he became friends with a fellow student who was an anime enthusiast. As such, young Murata started watching anime.
As he watched anime series, he started to want to know who were the people behind the characters he loved. And that’s when he developed a strong admiration for voice actors.
There were moments when he was astonished by the power of a seiyuu’s voice, thinking, “It’s amazing how someone can captivate others with just their voice“.
In an interview, he admitted that during his time in the baseball club, he was ignorant of entertainment, but after moving to the track and field team and feeling liberated, he was suddenly drawn into it.
Tomokazu Seki was one of the seiyuu that stood out the most for him. He noticed that while the characters Seki voiced were tough-looking individuals, Saki actually had a completely different look, having a surprising gap for Murata that made him want to try out and become a voice actor.
It was at that point that he started practicing voicing characters from manga.
That would end up triggering his want to pursue a career as a voice actor. However, he was met with strong opposition by his parents.
In the summer of his third year of high school, around the time when his club activities ended, he dropped out of high school and saved money by working part-time jobs.
He enrolled at Osaka Animator School however, he struggled to grasp the art of voice acting and was on the verge of giving up. He decided to give it another shot and enrolled at a voice acting training school in Tokyo and graduated.
He was now set for a debut as a voice actor following his signing with the talent agency, Across Entertainment.
2009 – 2011
A slow start to his career
Taishi Murata made his debut as a voice actor in 2009 with a minor role in the anime series, Yumeiro Pâtissière.
In the following two years, he voiced minor characters in the movies Towa no Quon and Blue Exorcist -Movie version- as well as the series Kimi to Boku, GOSICK, and more.
2011 would actually be the first character in Murata’s repertoire to get plenty of exposure on TV, being featured in two seasons of the popular anime series, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal.
He voiced Takashi Todoroki, one of the main supporting characters in the series, the class rep, and an extremely organized person, planning even the most subtle details in his battles.
This was the very first role to put Murata in the spotlight and still to this day one of his most beloved roles among fans.
Other anime series he has lent his talents to include:
- HIGH SCORE (2011)
- Sengoku☆Paradise Kiwami (2011)
2013 – 2016
Making a name for himself and first leading role
In 2013, Taishi Murata ended up joining the cast of the popular sports anime series, Diamond no Ace, despite the fact that he voiced multiple characters in the series, it was his role as Keisuke Miyauchi that stood out the most.
And why was that? This role was nothing like what he had done before. The character was not the smart, introspective type and he was neither an excitable, youthful one. Miyauchi has a deep voice and rather stoic demeanor, something that, on first listen, was impossible to notice it was Taishi Murata giving a voice to.
While part of the supporting cast, Miyauchi is important in shifting and improving the battery dynamics for Seidou High School. Although his passage through the series is rather brief, the character ended up being quite beloved by fans of the series.
A year later, he was cast to voice Deneb, a Silver Key Celestial Spirit with a rather pessimistic attitude, in the popular action/fantasy anime series, Fairy Tail.
But the biggest role of the year and, by far, his career, is as the methodical and perfectionist tennis player Eiichiro Maruo in the sports anime series, Baby Steps.
This role was massive for Murata, putting him in the spotlight voicing a character in a series that was really well-received in Japan and overseas.
The series was massively praised for its realism and Murata’s performance, perfectly fleshing out the diligent and studious Eiichiro, was yet another standout part of the series. Despite its slow pacing and a lack of “wow” moments or “powers” like some sports anime series have, Baby Steps ended up being impressive in and of itself.
The series spawned 2 seasons, with the second airing in 2015.
In 2015, things would change completely as Taishi Murata was cast as the manipulative Hiroto Shijima, one of the main antagonists in the anime series, Durarara!!x2 Ten.
This was the first time that he tackled the challenge of voicing a villain in an anime series yet his performance was one that exuded experience in such role, which was impressive.
In the same year, he was cast as Touya in the short anime series, Onsen Yousei Hakone-chan. This was a return to a more relaxed voice register and style of performance.
In 2016, he was cast as the calm and collected Shun Ibusaki, one of the supporting characters in the popular anime series, Shokugeki no Souma: Ni no Sara.
Still in the same year, Murata was cast as the cheerful and eccentric Norba Shino, one of the supporting characters in Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans 2nd Season.
We also cast as the aggressive and, at times, violent Masaru Ebumi, one of the characters in the main cast of the rugby anime series, All Out!!.
This was a role that instantly contrasted from all others Murata has given voice to up until then. While his repertoire is filled with calm and collected characters and the occasional upbeat one, voicing a character with a relatively violent demeanor was a first for him.
2017 would be the year in which Taishi Murata would get his opportunity to reprise his role as Ren Munakata, in the anime adaptation, TSUKIPRO THE ANIMATION.
Polite and serious, Ren is SOARA’s keyboardist. Despite his quieter vibe – which often leads for him to be pranked by SOARA’s bassist, Nozomu -, he is quite ambitious and determined.
The anime series spawned two seasons, with the second airing in 2021.
Still in the same year, he was cast as Soma Haruto, one of the main characters in the romance anime series, Just Because.
While this character didn’t get as much spotlight as others in the main cast, it was actually Soma who was at the core of the best developed romance in this series. The performance by Murata and his counterpart – voiced by Lynn – was highly praised for its emotional depth and reliability.
Other anime series he has lent his talents to include:
- Sakura-sou no Pet na Kanojo (2012)
- Garden of Words (2013)
- AKB0048 next stage (2013)
- Ore no Kanojo to Osananajimi ga Shuraba Sugiru (“013)
- Hataraku Maou-sama! (2013)
- Gin no Saji (2013)
- Golden Time (2013)
- Log Horizon (2013)
- Kenzen Robo Daimidaler (2014)
- Tokyo Ghoul (2014)
- Aldnoah.Zero (2014)
- Gundam: G no Reconguista (2014)
- Shirobako (2014)
- Aki no Kanade (2015)
- Gangsta. (2015)
- Dragon Ball Super (2015)
- Noragami Aragoto (2015)
- Subete ga F ni Naru (2015)
- Monster Strike (2015)
- Prince of Stride: Alternative (2015)
- Sousei no Onmyouji (2016)
- Yu-Gi-Oh! THE DARK SIDE OF DIMENSIONS (2016)
- Saiki Kusuo no Ψ-nan (2016)
- Demi-chan wa Kataritai (2017)
- Made in Abyss (2017)
2018 –
Slowing down
After a couple of years of consistently getting solid supporting roles and shining whenever he got an opportunity to be in a leading role, Taishi Murata saw, starting in 2018, a shift in his career.
2018 was a quiet year for him with very few roles and 2019 proved to be equally quiet with the only standout role being Gale Wind in the action anime series, One Punch Man 2nd Season.
2020 was a weird year for the seiyuu industry – the world as a whole -, changing many things for seiyuu. With the Covid-19 pandemic taking over, studios closing and every country in the world going into quarantine, there wasn’t much work for Murata to do that year besides what had already been set for that year (and wasn’t cancelled).
One such role was that of Akinori Konoha, a third-year student and wing-spiker at Fukuroudani Academy, in the popular sports anime series, Haikyuu!!.
He reprised the role in two seasons and 2 OVA series.
Still in the same year, he was cast as the novelist Shun Hashimoto, the protagonist in the BL movie, Umibe no Étranger.
In 2021, he was cast as Nayuta, one of the supporting characters in the anime series, Kyoukai Senki. The rest of the year was quiet.
When 2022 arrived, Murata was cast in anime series such as Toku: Touken Ranbu – Hanamaru – Setsugetsuka, Made in Abyss: Retsujitsu no Ougonkyou, and Romantic Killer.
In 2023, he was cast as Pieyon, one of the quirky supporting characters in the anime series, Oshi no Ko.
Other anime series he has lent his talents to include:
- Mazinger Z/INFINITY (2018)
- Monster Strike THE MOVIE Kanata Sorano (2018)
- Gakuen Babysitters (2018)
- Zoku Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru (2018)
- Hakyuu Houshin Engi (2018)
- A.I.C.O. Incarnation (2018)
- Gundam Build Divers (2018)
- Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken (2018)
- Gundam Build Divers Re:Rise (2019)
- Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai? Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen (2020)
- Gleipnir (2020)
- Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon Eternal Movie 1 (2021)
- 86 (2021)
- Edens Zero 2nd Season (2023)
- Sugar Apple Fairy Tale (2023)
Radio
If you are looking for a radio show hosted or with Taishi Murata as a guest, it’ll be quite hard to find.
Despite having over a decade of experience as a voice actor, Murata is not as active in radio shows as other seiyuu with the same experience and time in the voice acting industry.
The few radio shows he has participated in/hosted were all tied up with anime or games series and, at the time of writing this article, he has yet to host his own radio show.
Ikerebo live radio ★ Secret tea party (2016 – )
Since 2016, Murata has been the host of the radio show Ikerebo live radio ★ Secret tea party, a show stemming from the popular smartphone games series, Ikemen.
With a high level of energy, Murata hosts this show, receiving fellow seiyuu – voicing characters in the games series – as guests. Depending on the guests, his energy will rise a lot and he’ll start speaking insanely fast, others he will be struggling to have guests follow the script and behave themselves.
In all situations, it is hilarious to listen to him host the radio show and navigate all the chaos that is thrown at him.
Oshi no Ko (2023)
In 2023, Murata was a guest on the radio show “Oshi no Ko“. The show stemmed from a TV anime series in which Murate voices the character Pien.
Games
Since his debut as a voice actor, Taishi Murata has lent his voice to characters in games. However, he has never had a prominent leading role in a game, instead several minor or supporting ones in high-profile games.
From action to RPGs, sports, and romance (otome/BL) games, you can find him voicing characters in games of almost all genres.
He’s voiced characters in the following games (list is not exhaustive):
- Bloody Call
- CLOCK ZERO
- FAIRY TAIL PORTABLE GUILD2
- Mobile Suit Gundam SEED BATTLE DESTINY
- Double Score ~Cosmos×Camellia~
- Meiji Tokyo Renka
- Yu-Gi-Oh! Zeal Clash! Duel Carnival!
- Tales of Link
- Touken Ranbu
- Shokugeki no Soma
- Prince of Stride
- Shinobi Nightmare
- Band Yarouze!
- Super Dragon Ball Heroes
- I★Chu
- JUMP FORCE
- SD Gundam GENERATION CROSSRAYS
- Olympia Soiree
- Captain Tsubasa RISE OF NEW CHAMPIONS
- Shin Megami Tensei III NOCTURNE HD REMASTER
- Mobile Suit Gundam Arsenal Base
- CARAVAN STORIES
- Yakuza: Like A Dragon
between many more.
Narration / Dubbing
As far as dubbing goes, Murata has credits in dubbing foreign movies and series such as:
- ALPHAS
- Step Up 5
- Soul Surfer
- Anarchy
- Contagion
- Secret Circle
- HAWAII FIVE-0 S5
- Malibu Rescue Team: The Series
- Malibu Rescue Team: Next Wave
- Back to the Future
With narration, Murata does have fewer credits but he has lent his voice to several programs about Gundam as well as for the mini live-action series Final Fantasy XIV: Hikari no Otousan.
Drama CDs
When it comes to drama CDs, Taishi Murata has various credits.
Most of his work in this field has been done as part of SOARA in the TSUKIPRO franchise but he has also lent his voice to anime/games tie-up drama CDs.
At the same time, although he’s not as active, he has plenty of work in boys’ love (BL) drama CDs.
Some of the drama CDs he has lent his talents to include:
- ALIVE (Tsukipro) SOARA
- Mobile Suit Gundam Iron-Blooded Orphans
- samurai drive
- Starry☆Sky ~in Winter~
- 07-GHOST
- Bloody Call
- Liar x Liar
- Vanilla Resort
- Mr. Convenience
- Links
- Our House Love Trouble
- Harukaze no Etranger 2
between many others.
Music
Contrary to what is the trend among male seiyuu, Taishi Murata actually has very few credits when it comes to singing as part of 2D groups. His first and, easily, the most popular 2D music project he joined is TSUKIPRO.
He also joined the cast of I-Chu, voicing one of the managers in the franchise, and would, ultimately, end up performing as part of MG9 although the group has barely released any music.
As far as Murata’s singing skills go, he is a steady singer who works really well within a group. He may not be the most technical singer however, fans haven’t had the opportunity to listen to him performing solo more than once (in the TSUKIPRO franchise), so there is not much to dive deep into.
Throughout his career, Taishi Murata has only joined the cast of one 2D music project, TSUKIPRO.
SOARA (2015 -)
SOARA consists of Toshiyuki Toyonaga, Yuki Ono, Makoto Furukawa, Taishi Murata and Chiharu Sawashiro.
The group/band made its debut in 2015, joining the TSUKIPRO franchise and quickly establishing itself as the youthful pop-rockers that aimed to put a smile on the fans’ faces.
Early on, the group had an odd dynamic. Toshiyuki Toyonaga and Yuki Ono were the founding members and, for what seemed like half a year, they were supposed to be a duo.
Turns out that, by the end of 2015, TSUKIPRO announced the addition of 3 other members to this band: Makoto Furukawa, Taishi Murata, and Chiharu Sawashiro.
Starting from there the group increasingly added more lines to these three members and now, by the end of 2019, there is an equal distribution of lines among members.
With that change and the realistic passage of time in the TSUKIPRO franchise, the band has been maturing with their sound having recently ditched its youthful vibe in favor of a mature, slightly more serious yet nostalgic style of pop-rock.
Since the end of 2015, Taishi Murata has been featured in all drama CDs and participated in all series within the franchise.
The group has participated in all CD series in the franchise. Those include:
- ALIVE Side:G Series (ALIVE Side:S Vol.1, ALIVE Side:S Vol.2, ALIVE Side:S Vol.3, ALIVE Side:S Vol.4)
- KACHOFUGETSU Series (Ai no Hana, Lapis Blue, Soyokaze no Uta, Mikazuki Fantasy)
- Unit Song Series (Wonder Wand)
- TSUKIPRO THE ANIMATION Theme Song Series (ALIEL, FRIEND, Start Line ~Boys, Be Mighty~, Mirai e no Okurimono, Dear Dreamer,)
- RE:START Series (vol.3 SOARA and vol.6 SOARA)
- CARDS Series (CLUB and HEART)
- TSUKIPRO THE ANIMATION 2 Theme Song Series (Gonna Be Alright, LET IT BE, Himitsu no Treasure and Best Wishes,)
- Anokoro no Bokura wa
As far as character songs go, Taishi Murata has performed as Ren in the following CDs:
- X Lied Series (Vol.4 REN・NOZOMU X MAMORU)
- RE:START Series (vol.2 Soshi & Ren & Nozomu, vol.5 Sora & Ren & Nozomu)
- Neo X Lied Series (Ren, Nozomu & Mamoru “Neo X Lied Series vol.4”)
When it comes to the live performances, SOARA has performed in several franchise live events. The unit’s live debut was at TSUKIPRO LIVE 2016 in Nakano.
A year later, in 2017, the group performed at A.L.P -ALIVE PARTY 2017 SUMMER-, event specifically featuring ALIVE’s groups: SOARA and Growth.
In 2018 and now following the premiere of the first season of TSUKIPRO THE ANIMATION, the franchise held the big live event TSUKIPRO LIVE 2018 SUMMER CARNIVAL.
In 2022, after 3 years of no live events for the franchise – due to Covid-19 -, SOARA was back on stage at TSUKIPRO LIVE 2022 WINTER CARNIVAL.
In 2023, Murata finally got his first opportunity to perform as Ren Munakata in a solo song.
“Bloom -Koiuta-“ was released as part of the solo CD series, Ano Koro no Bokura wa My Dear Days..
MG9 (2018 – )
In 2018, Taishi Murata joined the cast of the rhythm game, I-Chu. He voices Go Hayami, I♥B‘s manager and a member of MG9 (Manager 9).
MG9 comprise Tasuku Hatanaka, Taishi Murata, Tomohito Takatsuka, Atsushi Abe, Fujii Kohei, Masatomo Nakazawa, Takato Nagata and Junta Terashima.
The group released their debut single in 2018 titled Nice to Meet You! ~ We are MG9! ~.
Variety
While Murata is not one of the most active voice actors when it comes to making appearances on variety or talk shows, he does have some appearances under his belt.
You can expect him to, usually, be in a veteran role, guiding his juniors or presenting himself in a rather serious way – as opposed to any goofy shenanigans that his juniors may be in. However, if need be, he can be quite goofy as you can see whenever he is the same even as fellow seiyuu Makoto Furukawa.
Some of those include:
Animemashite (2014)
In 2015, Taishi Murata co-hosted TV Tokyo’s Animemashite, a show focused on the anime and seiyuu scenes, with fellow seiyuu Ryota Osaka.
The recording was split into two, with a part of each episode focusing on each seiyuu, their likes, ambitions, and what was the catalyst for them to enter the seiyuu industry.
The show’s concept allowed the seiyuu to interview each other and then interview other guests – who went there to promote their shows and/or music releases.
Real Treasure Hunt (2017)
In 2017, Taishi Murata participated in Marine Entertainment’s variety show, Real Treasure Hunt.
The cast of Real Treasure Hunt “Challenge From Fuma” in Odawara included Shoya Chiba, Yuto Adachi, Yuichiro Umehara, Daiki Yamashita, Yusuke Shirai, Junya Enoki, Makoto Furukawa, Taishi Murata, Daiki Kobayashi, Yoshiki Nakajima and Hiroki Yasumoto (narrator).
He was paired up with fellow SOARA member and friend Makoto Furukawa in a quest to find the treasure.
The duo started really well, solving complex puzzles really fast while Furukawa claimed he is the “type of man that solves everything”. However, midway through, ironically it was due to Furukawa that the duo started to fall behind in the competition, being stuck on one of the challenges.
During the whole event, Taishi Murata was always quite observant and wary of the other teams – who were actively trying to get information from them (without their knowledge). He provided a grounding element to Furukawa’s chaotic approach to the game.
The chemistry and laidback vibes of junior-senior in this duo were a delight to watch. Between Murata’s calm and attentive demeanor and Furukawa’s relentless focus on the challenges, there was never a dull moment whenever the camera paned at them.
Gakutomo Channel (2019)
In 2019, he was invited by Gakuto Kajiwara to join him for an episode of Gakutomo Channel. Alongside Genki Muro, the trio talked about how they met, and their impressions, all while casually hanging out or getting into crazy shenanigans.
Kobayashi Bakufu (2021)
In 2021, Taishi Murata appeared on Yusuke Kobayashi’s talk show 小林幕府 (Kobayashi Bakufu). The show is all about Kobayashi being bored and in need of new hobbies.
With a wide variety of guests and a lighthearted vibe, this has been a delight for his fans to follow as Kobayashi tackles new hobbies and interviews fellow seiyuu.
Murata and Kobayashi have been quite close since the anime series “Golden Time” aired and they talk extensively about their first meeting, impressions of each other, and what they’ve learned in this episode. Expect as well plenty of laughs as they show how close they are with their banter.
Facts
Was really shy when he started his work as a voice actor
And because of that, Taishi mentioned in an interview that his agency’s president advised him to build confidence by trying something daring like bungee jumping, which he did.
He even documented the process leading up to the bungee jump in a video that he posted online.
Speaks two dialects
During his appearance at Animemashite, back in 2014, Murata mentioned that despite having been born in Kochi, he does know how to speak in Tosa and Kansai dialects.
He was a backup dancer in a music video
In an odd turn of events, Taishi Murata appeared as a backup dancer in the music video for “T.P.I.T.P.”, song performed by Ken from L’Arc〜en〜Ciel.
With this, THTFHQ wraps up another Seiyuu Digest. In the meantime, don’t forget to check past Seiyuu Digests (some of those recently updated) – HERE.
