Seiyuu Digest # 15 – Kensho Ono

A child actor and voice actor, Kensho Ono, grew up to be on of the most respected male seiyuu in the industry. This month we take a look at the career of the multi-talented seiyuu, stage actor and singer.

Kensho Ono

KANJI: 小野 賢章

BORN: October 5, 1989

OCCUPATION: seiyuu, stage actor, singer, radio personality

HEIGHT: 170cm

Note: This article is undergoing a deep update. There may be some information missing.

Seiyuu

Kensho Ono‘s first steps into the industry were not the fastest ones.

In 2001 he debuted in the seiyuu industry and it was only five years after, that he had his first role in the anime Tsubasa Chronicles in its 2nd season as Chaos, a minor role, but nevertheless, a good start for him to gain some experience in the field.

After this first time, Ono started to get, at least, one role every year and in known anime-like, in 2008, he had a role as Ryo in Pokémon Diamond & Pearl, in 2012 he played Tetsuya Kuroko in Kuroko’s Basketball, the role that gave him a push and helped him get more popularity and recognition.

After that, one can say that Ono hit the jackpot because in the following years he got a role in the extremely hyped anime Magi: The Kingdom of Magic as Ren Hakuryuu. 

In 2013, a year later, he was really nailing leading roles in various anime productions such as Aldnoah.Zero as Slaine Troyard, in Ace of Diamond as Raichi Todoroki, in Bakumatsu Rock as Souji Okita, in Shounen Hollywood: Holly Stage for 49 as Shun Maiyama.

From 2014 and on, Ono has been getting more and more work and this year, for example, he returned to Ace of Diamond‘s second season as Raichi, was in Charlotte as Takato, and is in the currently airing anime series Seraph of the End (in both the 1st and 2nd season) as Mikaela Hyakuya.

In 2016 he’s already scheduled to be in the anime Bungou Stray Dogs as Ryounosuke Akutagawa.

Narration / Dubbing

Something we can’t forget to mention is that Kensho is officially Daniel Radcliffe’s voice in movies, such as in the Harry Potter series, but that’s not all, he’s also dubbed other movies like Pearl Harbor as Young Rafe McCawley.

Ono also has a role in Toy Story 3 as Andy Davis. 

This part of his career serves to show you how talented and versatile he is, and let’s be honest he’s only 25 years old and already has this big resume, so we cannot say it isn’t impressive.

Acting

Kensho Ono has been doing acting since the very start of his career.

He’s got plenty of acting roles in theatre, musicals, and even TV series and movies. He’s a methodical actor, grasping all the small details in the roles he is playing, with that being noticeable in his acting in The Prince of Tennis musical as well as, years later, in Bokukoe 2.

His first job in this area was in 1999 in the play 少年H (H Boy) as Itchan, a minor role but nevertheless a good way to gain experience. Two years later he was the main character in ライオン・キング ( The Lion King) as Yangushinba.

 In 2012 he was in the musical of the second season of The Prince of Tennis as Muromachi Touji.

Yabu no Naka (2013)

Afterwards Kensho Ono started to make a reputation as a stage actor, obviously gaining lots of experience throughout the years, he had already the opportunity to co-act with other fellow seiyuu that also stage actors, such as Kenjiro Tsuda, Yuki Fujiwara, and Shouta Aoi in 2013 at Yabu no Naka as Tajoumaru, one of the main characters.

Especially in 2014, he has been getting lots of main roles in stage plays, which supports what it has been said since the beginning of this SEIYUU DIGEST, Kensho Ono does it all and he does it well which, in return, helps him land more roles.

He was in My life〜 ima yori mo, sukoshi dake takai basho e 〜 as Akira Toudou, in Solid Star Produce Vol. 2 `Yobikou!’ as Akira Jinbo.

Darekoe (2018)

In 2018, Ono made his debut as an actor in the Bokukoe spin-off series, Darekoe.

He got to showcase his singing, dancing and acting skills as a member of GENMEPER, the focal point of this 5 episode spin-off.

GENMEPER consists of Kensho Ono, Yuma Uchida, Shunichi Toki, Anri Katsu (was in the original Bokukoe series) and Kento Hama. The group performed the theme song for this spin-off titled 幻滅交響曲“いい歌じゃねぇ” (Symphony of Disillusionment​​ “It’s not a good song”).

The series kept the members’ identities a secret right until the end of the season.

GENMEPER joined the cast of Bokukoe‘s 2nd season, joining the extended and luxurious lineup for this series.

Radio

If being a seiyuu and a stage actor was not enough, from time to time, he also hosts radio shows.

His best-known radio iteration was in Kuroko’s Basketball Broadcasting Commission alongside fellow male seiyuu, Yuki Ono, since 2012.

He has also hosted a radio show with Ryohei Kimura, fellow seiyuu and a close friend of his, Kensho to Ryohei no The CRANEKINGDOM radio, and in 2013 it was Disorder6 ~a radio connected by chains, so we can say that he also has experience in this field.

Music

Solo

Having debuted in 2014 with Fantastic Tune he won the JpopAsia Music Awards as Best New Artist.

This single, embracing rock music from start to finish, was the ending theme of Kuroko no Basket’s second season.

After his first release, he has been continuing his career in this area and he has also released his first mini-album Touch the Style, and also a second single titled Zero.

 Kensho has been going to Lantis’ festival almost every year, promoting his work.

Kensho is an all-rounder seiyuu that really does a splendid job in each and every work he does, be it singing or acting (on stage or as a seiyuu).

He is one of those voice-actors that really give their best to deliver the best to the public and do it with professionalism which is really good.

Groups / Units

Procellarum (2012 -)

In 2012, Ono was announced alongside Ryohei Kimura, Wataru Hatano, Tetsuya Kakihara, Takashi Kondo, Shouta Aoi, as part of Tsukino Production’s pop unit, Procellarum.

So far the group has released 2 singles:

• ONE CHANCE? (2015)
• LOLV -Lots of Love- (included in the Tsukiuta. THE ANIMATION Theme Song CD)

The best of albums Shirotsuki (2016) and Kuro Mochizuki (2019) featured group and solo songs.

Procellarum released a new single in June 2020 titled White Sparks.

IDOLiSH7 (2015 -)

The 7 member group consisting of Toshiki Masuda, Tsubasa Yonaga, KENN, Atsushi Abe, Takuya Eguchi, Kensho Ono, and Yusuke Shirai debuted in 2015, part of the rhythm game of the same name.

The game was an instant hit due to its well-done blend between a rhythm game and its story components.

This wasn’t like other idol games out there, focusing on delivering a rich story alongside high-quality music, ending up attracting a lot of people to this game with that formula.

Kensho Ono voices Riku Nanase, IDOLiSH7‘s hardworking and passionate center.

Since their debut, IDOLiSH7 has released several singles as a unit, cross units, special sub-units, and solo tracks, all of them well-received by their fans. Back in 2016, IDOLiSH7‘s first-ever full-length album “I7” set a record among seiyuu/2.5D units.

It was the first-ever album to score a #2 on Oricon Weekly in the album category.

The album had an impressive number of sales, sweeping the charts when most people doubted they would be able to pull off anything like that at that time.

That feat showed the franchise’s popularity when it was only promoting itself through the game and music (no live events nor anime adaptation plans at that time).

Their record was later broken by none other than TRIGGER, a rival unit also from this franchise.

IDOLiSH7 performed live for the first time at IDOLiSH7 ROAD TO INFINITY, live event held on 07/07/2018 and 08/07/2018 at MetLife Arena.

Ono’s professionalism on stage – going for the most delicate details in Riku to deliver a performance as if Riku was actually on stage – impressed a lot that attended the franchise’s first live.

However, Ono had already performed live as Fly Away (Riku and Iori’s sub-unit) at IDOLiSH7 Fan Thanksgiving vol.3 “Kimi to motto motto, ai o kataranaito!” held in May 2018.

For IDOLiSH7, Kensho Ono is singing in a rather high-pitched and not too polished way, however slowly evolving to more robust and consistent performance, consistent with Riku’s growth in the IDOLiSH7 universe.  

His performances are energetic and youthful, shining as the center in all group songs and delivering quite a good performance when in a solo setting.

In 2019, Ono participated in IDOLiSH7 REUNION, live show that, for the very first time welcomed ZOOL on stage.

After the group having released several singles both for the anime adaptation as well as the game, it was announced in 2021 that IDOLiSH7 was going to release its 2nd full-length album.

Excitement was through the room among fans of the franchise.

“Opus” was released in January 2022 and blew everyone away with the group’s growth.

When “Opus” wraps up you have, indeed, the group’s best album to date. One that illustrates the growth IDOLiSH7 has gone through in the last couple of years, looking fondly to those memories while with an optimistic outlook for the future.

A couple of weeks later, IDOLiSH7 held its first-ever one-man live show.

IDOLiSH7 LIVE BEYOND “Op.7” was held at Saitama Super Arena (as well as livestreamed in over 15 countries around the world) on January 22 and 23, 2022.

As part of the celebrations of the 7th anniversary of the IDOLiSH7 franchise, it was announced a special cast event to take place in August 2022 as well as the release of group songs to celebrate their debuts.

At the same time, and following the 5th season of the story in the game, IDOLiSH7 are going to release a new single titled マロウブルー (Mallow blue).

The group is also confirmed to perform the opening theme for the 2nd cour of IDOLiSH7 Third Beat that will premiere in 2022.

STATION IDOL LATCH (2021 -) + Aither (2021 -)

In 2021, Kensho Ono joined the cast of STATION IDOL LATCH!.

STATION IDOL LATCH! is the name of the mixed-media franchise created by AOI Pro., Amuse, and Origamix, supervised and in collaboration with JR East.

This franchise features a 30 character cast, with characters representing the 30 stations in the Yamamote line, the iconic train line that circles central Tokyo.

Each character has its design and personality inspired by each of the 30 neighborhoods.

Later on in the same year, the franchise announced the formation of units in the series. As Rion Shoji, Kensho Ono joined the idol group, Aither.

The includes vocals by Kensho Ono, Atsushi Tamaru, and Nobunaga Shimazaki.

Since their debut as a group, Aither has released 3 songs:

• LATCH! ~Sore ga Mirai no Tobira~ (2021)
• Way Up High (2021)
• Leading lights (2022)

The group performed live for the very first time at 1st LIVE “All aboard!!”, live show held in 2022.

The franchise released its 1st CD “THE FIRST TRAIN” in 2024. The CD was available in three editions and included “Leading Lights”, song released in 2022.

At the same time, the CD included “Going My LATCH!“, song performed by YAMANOTE LATCH ALL STARS.

Variety

Tokimeki Recipe (2014)

Shouta Aoi joined Kensho Ono for Tokimeki Recipe’s DVD back in 2014.

Tokimeki Recipe was a variety show in which two seiyuu would be paired up and work together to cook several dishes with available ingredients.

Between cooking, game corners to earn ingredients or hints, and challenges, the duo was cracking jokes and getting along in an entertaining way.

Kensho Ono no Tabitomo (2016 -)

This is his flagship traveling variety show series.

Tabitomo puts Kensho Ono and a guest – or 2 guests – on a trip to a location to enjoy its local food, entertainment and participate in unique quizzes or challenges.

So far, Tabitomo counts with 9 DVDs featuring as guests Ryohei Kimura, Nobuhiko Okamoto, Soma Saito, Kaito Ishikawa, Yoshimasa Hosoya, Junichi Suwabe, Takuya Eguchi, Shouta Aoi, Daiki Yamashita, Yuki Ono, Natsuki Hanae, Ryota Osaka, Yusuke Kobayashi and Yuichiro Umehara.

Diamond no Ace All Star game II (2016)

In 2016, Kensho Ono attended Diamond no Ace’s outdoor event, Diamond no Ace All Star game II.

He ended up winning the tournament as part of the “rivals” team B (Tatsuhisa Suzuki, Toshiki Masuda, Kenichi Suzumura and Soma Saito).

His unique entrance – with a backflip – is in the memory of many fans and led to seiyuu like Toshiki Masuda and Kenichi Suzumura to mimic it but refrain from pulling off that athletic flip.

IDOLiSH7 Kimi to Aidolish naito! (2016)

IDOLiSH7 released their first album “i7” in 2016. To celebrate its release all members attended the special broadcast IDOLiSH7 キミと愛ドリッシュないと！(IDOLiSH7 Kimi to Aidolish naito!).

Lady Borden Icecream theme song (2017)

In 2017, Kensho Ono lent his vocals for Lotte‘s Lady Borden ice cream theme song alongside Yuki Kaji and Shouta Aoi.

IDOLiSH7 Fan Thanksgiving vol.3 “Kimi to motto motto, ai o kataranaito!” (2018)

Ono participated in two out of the three IDOLiSH7 fan meetings held in 2018.

He was the MC for the 3rd fan meeting – IDOLiSH7 Fan Thanksgiving vol.3 “Kimi to motto motto, ai o kataranaito!” – that counted with the presence of Yusuke Shirai, Atsushi Abe, Toshiki Masuda and Soma Saito.

Aside from his mc skills in the talk corner and acting in the live skit, Ono performed live as part of the sub-unit, Fly Away.

Although he had an advantage in the industry, by joining the industry so early, he did never got sloppy while working and he also did not get to comfortable with his “current” position instead, he is always searching for ways to improve and to give a better performance in every little or big project he works in is an extremely talented seiyuu that really has fame because of his work.

This is it for this SEIYUU DIGEST’s edition. We’ll be back next month with another brief look into a male seiyuu’s career.

This digest was published in 2015. A small update was made in October 2020. A complete revamp of this digest is going to be made in 2021.