Seiyuu Digest #28 – Yoshimasa Hosoya

Seiyuu Digest 28 Yoshimasa Hosoya

Yoshimasa Hosoya. This is a name that you just can’t miss in the seiyuu industry. What would be of anime without his delightful voice and his impressive emotional performances?

Yoshimasa Hosoya

Yoshimasa Hosoya

KANJI: 細谷 佳正

BORN: February 10, 1982

OCCUPATION: seiyuu, narrator, radio personality

HEIGHT: 175 cm

A note, this article was written in 2017 and is currently undergoing a deep update.

Some information below may be dated or not updated.

Seiyuu

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Little did everyone that in 2004, one of the most sought-after, award-winning seiyuu would make his debut. Before making his debut he was part of the theater department in high school.

After completing high school, Hosoya left Hiroshima, took his chances and came to Tokyo to enroll in Tokyo announcement school (some of the famous graduates include Noriyaki Suguyama, Takuma Terashima, Soichiro Hoshi, Toshiki Masuda, Hiroki Takahashi, and Kapei Yamaguchi), graduating successfully in 2002.

Yoshimasa Hosoya made his debut as a seiyuu under Mausu Production, talent agency known for their talents Daisuke Ono (now freelancer) and Miyuki Sawashiro (now with AONI Production).

Contrary to most seiyuu, Hosoya‘s first work as a seiyuu was for a video game – when he was still a trainee (he took extra classes in Mausu‘s own training school before making his official debut). It wasn’t until 2005 that he’d take his first anime roles.

Once again Hosoya‘s path was a bit different from most seiyuu.

For over two years he only took minor roles in anime (Naruto, Bleach, between many others), at the same time he started to make a name for himself dubbing movies and overseas drama series. With all the experience he earned from those activities, it was already time to make his breakthrough.

2006 – 2007

Breakthrough

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Shiraishi Kuranosuke in Prince of Tennis

Three years after making his debut, Hosoya was still an unknown name in the seiyuu business.

But things were about to change when he auditioned for an OVA for Prince of Tennis, sports anime that has one of the major followings in Japan.

His role as Shiraishi Kuranosuke was indeed his breakthrough.

Kuranosuke is one of the most popular characters in the Prince of Tennis universe (despite being presented in the series only when the representatives of each team gathered for the National Tournament), especially due his mysterious demeanor and impressive talent. His flawless performance earned him a loyal following ever since then.

2008 – 2012

Working his way up

Building upon the success that his character in Prince of Tennis gave him, he started to slowly branch out, earning roles in various genres – otome, shounen, seinen, josei, mecha.

This period of time, although still considered of transition between being unknown all the way up to a top seiyuu, has several characters and anime worth mentioning.

The first one we need to point out is: Ryunosuke Kurosaki in 2009’s hit romance anime Kaichou Wa Maid Sama!.

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Ryunosuke Kurosaki in Kaichou Wa Maid Sama!

Part of the comedic “The moron trio” (that counts with Takuma Terashima and Mitsuhiro Ichiki) that are sort of hardcore fans of the main character, always coming off as a bit weird and hilarious, his performance was actually one of the things that shone in the secondary character department for this series.

Despite the fact that the main focus in this series is clearly far away from this trio and Hosoya‘s character, the few instances in which his character takes an important spotlight.

He’s actually one of the first characters introduced in the series, and is one of those that changed dramatically from the first encounter.

Originally a delinquent, Kurosaki changes his opinion on the main character after a certain event. What was initially a cold encounter turned into an obsession with him and the rest of the trio becoming fans of the main character.

In the story, he’s used as a sort of comic relief element alongside the trio.

Another character that deserves to be mentioned is Shichika Yasuri in 2010’s action/drama anime Katanagatari, one of Hosoya‘s most memorable roles as he once stated in an interview.

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This character is clearly different in tone from the previous one. Shichika Yasuri is the protagonist of the anime series. Being raised as a weapon, Yasuri is often expressionless, lacking in emotions.

Hosoya‘s portrayal was on point, with lots of fans of the original light novel series turning into his fans with each episode that was broadcasted.

Once again back with a women-driven story, we have Hosoya‘s fantastic portrayal of Arata Wataya in the 2011 josei anime Chihayafuru.

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Arata Wataya

Considered by man as his best shoujo character to date, Wataya is the one that encouraged the main character to play karuta, claiming that she had the talent for it.

In what is more than a series dedicated to a traditional game, we’re surprisingly faced with a deeply emotional journey alongside the main characters.

Just like the others, this character faces a lot of challenges and frustrations (we’ll not dive into details regarding the story as it’s still ongoing).

The Wataya‘s gentle and shy demeanor plus his high intelligence have made him one of the most popular characters in the josei/otome world – winning or charting in the top for most popularity polls.

And if his character in Chihayafuru wasn’t enough of an emotional rollercoaster, there came NO.6 and one of its protagonists: Nezumi.

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Anime fans across the world literally stopped everything to watch what was a sweeping performance by Hosoya as Nezumi, a cynical but rather intelligent teen living on the other side of the utopia.

He met Shion (main character played by Yuki Kaji) under certain circumstances as a young boy only to run away to safety, only reuniting with Shion at a later date and once again in weird circumstances.

Nezumi started to care for Shion due to the events that occurred when he was young.

Then as both started to hang out closely,  it made his protective instincts stand out in a way that he didn’t even want to shock him in any way. This emotional growth was well portrayed by Hosoya.

Why do I say this? By the end of the series, fans couldn’t help but feel heartbroken at his flawless emotional performance, making it impossible to watch the final episodes without shedding a tear or two.

2012 was the year in which sports anime was making its big comeback into the anime universe. Kuroko no Basuke was – and is – a major hit.

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Junpei Hyuga is Seirin’s captain, a calm and collected individual for most of the time.

He’s a mature captain that cares for his team more than anything. Hosoya‘s performance made his personality come to live in an interesting way.

While being caring with most of the members, Hyuga is quite proud of his senpai status and gets quickly offended with Taiga Kagami doesn’t regard him with respect, leading to funny situations between the characters. His leadership and natural charisma made him one of the most memorable characters on Seirin‘s side.

Sakamichi no Apollon was a total surprise in the anime world.

Despite being categorized as a common genre – josei -, this anime is much more than that. Starting from the era in which it’s set – 60’s – to the story, everything is different from what we’re used to. This is a story of friendship, love, and jazz music.

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Sentaro Kawabuchi

Sentaro Kawabuchi is a delinquent that has his life changed bymusic. Despite having a tough exterior, he’s actually caring and warm, actually hitting it off with the main character when most people would deem it impossible due to their contrasting personalities.

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Rensho Sorinozuka

Other important roles include Rensho Sorinozuka in romance/drama anime Inu x Boku SS. This character was completely different from what Hosoya had been doing up until now.

Completely laidback, brotherly, and a bit lazy, Sorinozuka tends to use as a comic relief character in the anime series (in the manga series he’s shown a bit differently).

He treats the main character as a little sister –  due to some things that happened in the story. Hosoya‘s usual gentle tone is a major reason why Sorinozuka sounds so brotherly and warm.

Still in 2012, there was a new anime in town. Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic was all the talk in town during that and the following years due to its fresh story – a mix of Aladin, Alibaba, and the forty thieves, lots of action, comic relief, magic, and adventure.

But its stellar cast was also the main reason as to why the anime’s popularity skyrocketed. Takahiro Sakurai, Daisuke Ono, Kenichi Suzumura, Toshiyuki Morikawa, Kaji Yuki, Kensho Ono, Tomatsu Haruka, Ryohei Kimura and many others were joined by Hosoya.

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Masrur

Masrur has a cold, distant demeanor mainly due to his height and power. He’s one of the few pureblood Fanalis natives. He doesn’t speak much but proved to be essential to help one of the characters develop his skills.

Once again Hosoya portrays a quiet character that has a warmth inside of him that few would notice. He respects Sinbad more than anything and holds a soft spot for one of the characters.

2012 also meant reprising his role as Shiraishi Kuranosuke in the second season of Prince of Tennis.

2013 – 2014

Explosive popularity

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This period of time is the most prolific in his career.

In a span of three years, Hosoya managed to grab more than 100 anime roles, more than in any of the first eight years of his career.

His popularity exploded in 2013, a result of his impressive performances in Kuroko no Basuke in 2012 and NO.6 in 2011.

It’s no wonder he was facing a peak in his popularity.

Known for putting his all into the character he’s voicing, his portrayals have always managed to sway the viewers, regardless of the character’s demeanor or actions.

He reprised his roles as Arata in the second season of ChihayafuruHyuga in Kuroko no Basuke, and Masrur in Magi: The Kingdom of Magic.

Hosoya branched out to various anime genres and by this time he was playing characters in mecha with Aldnoah.Zero, Gundam Build Fighters Try. Space Battleship Yamato 2199 and the two seasons of Valvrave the Liberator, sports with Baby Steps, Diamond no Ace, Free! and Haikyuu!!, action with Akame ga Kill, Attack on Titan, Chaika – The Coffin Princess and Terra Formars and shoujo/romance with Brothers ConflictKimi no Iru MachiKamigami no AsobiLa Corda d’Oro Blue Sky, Okami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji. He even ventured to parody/comedy with his performance as Pet in Ixion Saga DT.

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The array of emotions and a wide variety of characters he played showcased once again that he’s beyond a one-hit-wonder. He’s got backbone and a versatile tone that fits almost every anime genre and character.

He played antagonists, was once again a reliable captain (Diamond no Ace) with a personality close to that of Hyuga in Kuroko no Basuke; he played heroes, laidback characters (Haikyuu!!), played conflicted characters, and was also a god. If we really took the time to analyze each and every character we’re sure he’d have a thesis in hand.

First award at the Seiyuu Awards

That time of the year had come. As per tradition, the 8th Seiyuu Awards were held in March.

The competition in 2014 was more than fierce with several productions and seiyuu being more than certain for some of the awards. What no one was expecting was that one certain man would be the recipient of an award.

And that man would receive that award based on a completely secondary that wasn’t that loved in the anime series.

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Yusuke Asahina in Brothers Conflict

While there were many more secondary characters in his repertoire, many of those with a more important role and even better performance, it was thanks to his role as Yusuke Asahina in the otome anime adaptation “Brothers Conflict“, that he got the chance to receive this great honor.

Usually, the award in question is shared with another actor. In 2014 the “Best Actor in Supporting Roles” award was solely given to him. He humbly accepted what would be his first but not last award in this category.

Going freelance

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2014 was proving to be a big year for him.

Not only his popularity was on a rise but he was also being one of the go-to seiyuu that every production wanted to work with. But there was something more pressing for him as July was approaching.

This was the year that marked the end of his 10-year contract with Mausu. Many people thought that the smart move would be to move to a more powerful talent company like Aoni (Hikaru Midorikawa, Hiroshi Kamiya and Nobunaga Shimazaki) or 81 Produce (Takuya Eguchi, Soma Saito). Others speculated that he was thinking of going towards the same route as Daisuke Namikawa and Takahiro Sakurai.

Being a free agent is a temptation and a dream for most seiyuu as they can start managing their schedules as they see fit, choose the works they want to be part of, and ultimately not having to share the money earned for each job.

Given Hosoya‘s massive popularity it was a no-brainer that he was better off as a free agent, now that he had reached their top seiyuu status and taking into account Namikawa and Sakurai‘s experiences, it was actually something that would certainly work out for him.

And that’s exactly what happened. In July 2014, Hosoya opened a website, leaving a statement in which he announced his new adventure as a free agent.

With total freedom over what he could do the result is the insane amount of roles he managed to play in between 2014 and now. Nothing seemed to be able to stop him from being in almost every production especially in the 2014 – 2016 span.

2015 – 2016

Top seiyuu status

Kuroko no Basuke 3rd season, Diamond no Ace 2nd season, Haikyuu!! 2nd season, Terra Formars 2nd season (Revenge), Arslan Senki 2nd season and Baby Steps 2nd season are just some of the series in which he reprised roles.

But not everything was about reprising roles. There were a lot of characters – almost 50 – that he played during this short span of time, most of them we won’t have the opportunity to cover.

The number of characters he played that had relevance to the story – either being the main character or a secondary with some importance – grew significantly.

He was back in music-related anime this time around with Show by Rock!!, Tsukiuta the animation and Star-Myu: High School Star Musical.  In the last two, he was active, releasing character songs and proving once more why he’s considered a top singer.

His rough, cold, and imposing characters were back as well: Iaian in major hit parody/action anime One Punch ManMakoto Narumi in Seraph of the End: Battle in Nagoya, Ginti in Death ParadeOrga Itsuka in Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron- Blooded Orphans, Daryum in Arslan Senki are just some of the examples.

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Reprising 2014’s greatness

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Yoshimasa Hosoya @ 10th Seiyuu Awards

2016 arrived and we were once again in award season.

The 10th Seiyuu Awards opened with plenty of surprises, one of them being Hosoya‘s being award for the second time in his career, with the exact same award he had received two years ago. “Best Actor in Supporting Roles” this time around was split with Kenichi Suzumura.

His roles as Orga Itsuka in Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron- Blooded Orphans and Ginti in Death Parade are the ones that earned him that award.

Mob Psycho 100NanbakaSaiki Kusuo no Psi-nanWWW.WORKING!! marked Hosoyan’s return to comedy with hilarious performances. Bungou Stray Dogs, although not a comedy-centric anime, features some funny scenes with his character Doppo Kunikida.

While Hosoya was part of the main cast in the rugby-themed anime All Out!!, in Yuri!!! on Ice he played a secondary role as Otabek Altin a quiet, ice figure skater from Kazakhstan that is in fact kind of warm and friendly.

2017

Established seiyuu

2017 has started off at a good pace for him already with 15 roles under his belt, we don’t know if there’s more to come – but compared with previous years, it seems like he’s going to follow the trend and managed to be in almost every anime.

He’s reprising or set to reprise his roles in the newest seasons of Attack on Titan and My Hero Academia, Nanbaka and Star-Myu: High School Star Musical 2.

Dubbing

As we’ve mentioned before, Hosoya is well known as a dubber, doing it parallel with his anime and game works. Dubbing movies, dramas and documentaries have been a normal thing for him, amounting to an extensive list of credits under his name.

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Triangle – Korean drama series starring JYJ member Kim Jaejoong

It’s a normal thing in Japan to certify a seiyuu as the official voice for a certain foreign actor.

For example, Toshiyuki Morikawa is the official voice of Tom Cruise or Daisuke Hirakawa is the official voice of Tom Hiddlestone.

Hosoyan is actually another seiyuu that ascended to their ranks, being the official voice of Taylor Lautner in the Twillight franchise, as well as the official voice of Kim Jaejoong (having dubbed “Code name: Jackal” and “Triangle” – this one alongside Katsuyuki Konishi and Yuto Suzuki – so far).

Other series he’s dubbed include iCarly, 24 -TWENTY FOUR-, THE BRIDGE, Smallville, Monk, Dream High 2, Dollhouse, Supernatural and Criminal Minds. Due to his versatile voice tone, he’s been able to dub more than 40 different actors across the most varied genres.

Games

It’s no joke when we mention that Hosoyan has more than 200 credits in games alone. Otome, platforms, even dubbing foreign games.

He’s been everywhere when it comes to this entertainment medium ever since 2012.

Some games include Sengoku Basara franchise, Custom Drive (2012), Brothers Conflict franchise, Black Wolves Saga franchise (2012), ROBOTICS;NOTES (2012), AMNESIA franchise, Attack on Titan (2016), Kiniro no Corda 4 (2016), Banketsu (2016), Street Fighter X Tekken (2012), Tales of Xillia 2 (2012) and Fire Emblem If (2015).

Radio

For someone as busy as himself, Hosoya found time to branch out to radio hosting. His first radio show was titled 「細谷佳正・増田俊樹の全力男子」 (Hosoya Yoshimasa & Masuda Toshiki No Zenryoku Danshi), hosted alongside fellow seiyuu and Hiroshima-born Toshiki Masuda back in 2011.

The radio show lasted two years and in that span of time both of them formed a boy group named MaxBoys.

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Dragon & Tiger Yume Boken – Yoshimasa Hosoya and Takuyuki Kondo

Although he isn’t a fixed guest, Hosoya tends to stop by Dragon & Tiger: Yume Boken, radio show hosted by Daisuke Ono and Takayuki Kondo. OnoD once asked him to host the show alongside Kondo due to his absence.

Dragon & Tiger: Yume Boken is a downright funny radio show, with his presence it was one of the most hilarious episodes – he labeled himself as “turtle” to fit into the “Dragon & Tiger” theme, putting all the studio staff choking with laughter.

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Credit: @tensaigunshi on Twitter

Then in 2014, alongside Hiroki Yasumoto, he started hosting “天才軍師 (Tensai Gunshi), a radio show that is said to be refined, a place showcase their skills and ideas, it’s a radio show aimed at making the seiyuu industry more interesting.

In the past he’s hosted or shared hosting duty with several other seiyuu. Some of the radio shows he’s worked in include: The Prince of Tennis On The Radio, Dystopia Radio No.6 (2011 – 2012), Kami Aso Radio (Kamigami no Asobi radio in 2014), RADIO TERRAFORMARS (2014 – 2015).

Music

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Hosoya never got to make his solo debut despite the fact that his fans have been begging for that since MAXBOYS‘ disbandment. 

Whenever there’s a top about the best seiyuu singers, or seiyuu with the best singing voice, Hosoya is always in the top 10.

There’s no way around it.

He’s a known vocal powerhouse, owner of one of the most technical and natural vibrato in the business and with a flawless falsetto technique to go perfectly along with it.

His vocal range goes from low to high notes (he hasn’t unveiled or certified his vocal range – thing that seiyuu Hikaru Midorikawa and Kenji Nojima have done in the past), but he certainly can reach some of incredibly low notes and impresses when he pays a visit to the other end of the spectrum.

Interesting enough, he said it in an interview that he’s got a love-hate relationship with singing – sometimes he enjoys singing, others he doesn’t.

That might explain why he hasn’t made a solo debut even after all the good reviews and praise he gets from his peers and fans.

Also, contrary to popular belief, he doesn’t like going to karaoke which only proves that his talent is something outstanding and innate.

Character songs: The case of Shiraishi Kuranosuke

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@ Shiraishi Kuranosuke Live Tour 2010

Hosoya started to make a name for himself in the music business with the character songs for Prince of Tennis.

His character, Shiraishi Kuranosuke, is one of the fans’ favorites and is the owner of the best character songs out of the whole franchise.

Not only he displayed his stunning vocals but he also surprised everyone with his dancing skills throughout the concert.

Medicine or …?, released in 2010, was a bold shot in the dark, but it was the first time a fictional character was releasing a full album and was receiving this kind of feedback. This bold gamble turned out to have a fantastic return.

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This album was perfectly tailored for Hosoya‘s vocals, sounding more like his own album rather than the character’s. Medicine or …? beat and set new records in the Prince of Tennis franchise.

It ranked 1st in the Oricon Weekly chart and the single “POISON“, released in the same year, was ranked 6th in the same chart. No one was expecting this kind of hot feedback from the fans.

Medicine or …? is still the highest-ranking album/release in the history of the Prince of Tennis character songs. The songs I, Ng, Ever free and Hajimari wa, Ecstasy” are major hits among the fans.

I, Ng is actually one of the best tracks in the album, a song in which Hosoya displays his top-quality falsetto, dazzling everyone once again.

If that wasn’t enough to impress everyone, what followed stunned not only his fans or fans of the franchise but also Hosoya himself. During the summer of 2010, Hosoya actually toured to promote the album.

The Prince of Tennis Kuranosuke Shiraishi Kuranosuke Special Live Tour 2010 Poison and Medicine” was the tour that visited three cities in Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, and Fukuoka), managing to sold-out venues for its 4 performances.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_D4XtcYfyPk

An outstanding total of 9000 people watched Hosoya perform Shiraishi‘s songs in what was a trully engaging set of concerts. Later, a DVD containing the live performance was released.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzzw4tRL7fs

This explosive reaction left him speechless, something big had started, never in the seiyuu history, a fictional character concert had attracted so many people – of course, this record has been broken by another franchise’s concerts, but as a solo artist, it remains to be seen such a well-received tour.

He claims that this is one of the most memorable moments in his career.

But that isn’t all in his long list of character song credits.

2011 arrived and with it so did Hosoya‘s role as Nezumi in No.6.

The anime set in a utopic world literally broke a lot of hearts with its story and characters. Out of the several highlight moments in the series, some of them included in the best ever featured in anime, what impressed everyone the most besides the story, was this one song. This one performance.

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Kaze no Requiem is quite possibly the best vocal performance anime fans were presented with – to date.

This heartbreaking acappella featured in the anime, has so much raw emotion that it really breaks you slowly and painfully into tears, all this while you’re being shown the extent of Hosoya‘s vocal talent.

His vibrato made the whole song sound even more fickle. This is considered by many as the epitome of his vocals.

The recorded version is slightly different, featuring accompaniment from the piano, slow-paced drums, and an acoustic guitar.

The final arrangement of the song took away a major part of the emotion but the fact remains, it’s one of the most beautiful moments in anime, and it was sung by none other than him.

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Hosoya‘s Tsukiuta character songs are also well known among his fans. His duets with KENN are highlights in the Tsukiuta universe, impressing with this insane combination of vocal prowess.

The pop-rock song “Rainy Day” is a great example of how well both of them clicked vocally. KENN‘s seductive mid-tones and vibrato mixed with Hosoya‘s powerful vibrato and falsetto and result in an incredibly technical and energetic vocal performance.

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Black Wolves Saga

In 2012, Hosoya‘s participation in Rejet‘s Black Wolves Saga shone more than expected. When the character song was released, his fans were confronted with what was a match made in heaven for that duet.

Hosoya and KISHOW were the ones in charge of singing “限りなく透明に近い黒“, the best song in the series.

This time around the singers was evenly matched, both of them owners of powerful and highly controlled vocals, sharing almost the same vocal range and having the exact same vocal techniques in their arsenal.

Hardly we find a song in which there’s as much vibrato together as this one (for a second we’ll pretend that we don’t know just how much Kenji Nojima and Toshiyuki Toyonaga usually use that technique as solo singers). Adding to that vocal performance is the fact that both fit the rock genre exceptionally well.

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“Custom Drive” featured single “LOVE☆ROCKET急接近!!”

Still in 2012 fans were gifted with yet another great song.

This time around to be featured in the PSP otome game “Custom Drive“.

The song that really made a lot of people excited about was none other than Provocative, song sang by Hosoya, Toshiyuki Toyonaga and Ryohei Kimura.

This trio was yet another good match-up for him.

The result is an impressive and addictive rock tune with a pop twist in the lyrics that is certain to grab your attention right from the bat.

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We reach 2014 and he was one of the top actors singing “Reason for…“, song featured as the ending theme for otome anime Kamigami no Asobi.

The song was a major hit among the fans of the series mainly due to the fast pace, dance-oriented tune crafted by ELEMENTS GARDEN.

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Power vocal trio: Toshiyuki Toyonaga, Miyu Irino and Yoshimasa Hosoya // Credits: on pic

Of course, we can’t forget that the cast counted with a star-studded cast that included: Hiroshi Kamiya, Daisuke Ono, Toshiyuki Toyonaga, Miyu Irino, and Yuto Uemura. In the middle of this group, Hosoya shone with his melodies.

In the exact same year and with the second season of hit anime “Free!“, we were presented with yet another great character song or should we say, an amazing character single? Sousuke Yamazaki‘s character songs were great to showcase his sweet vocals and trademark vibrato.

A final highlight in his character song repertoire is “君、舞い降りる“, song that is part of the character song’s for Tsukiuta.

Once again Hosoya was tackling a fast-paced punk-pop song with melodic guitar riffs and bassy drums. His vocals fit the song perfectly, reminding us why he’s one of the angels in the seiyuu business.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEtPc9Yvn_o

Japanese and international fans alike still rave about his vocal performance.

MAX BOYS

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In 2011, alongside a young Toshiki Masuda, the seiyuu unit MAX BOYS was created. Hosoya and Masuda were at that time, hosts of their own radio show 「細谷佳正・増田俊樹の全力男子」 (Hosoya Yoshimasa & Masuda Toshiki No Zenryoku Danshi), when Masuda was only a rookie and Hosoya was already making a buzz in the seiyuu industry.

The group experimented with pop and rock, making an interesting blend that led to the release of one of their best tracks “Sakura” back in 2012 for their album 大切なうた.

Despite the fans’ interest in this group, MAX BOYS eventually disbanded in 2013 after releasing a total of 3 singles and a full album. Since then Hosoya hasn’t been part of any seiyuu unit project nor made his solo debut.

Facts

Columnist

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Not many people know this but from 2010 to 2014, Hosoya used to write a monthly column for the free newspaper
Anikan“. It was well-received by his fans during the time it was serialized, due to that interest, or should we say, renewed interest in his columns, Hosoya decided to include them on what is called “細谷佳正のちょっと聞いてって~♪♪♪” (Listen to Yoshimasa Hosoya for a moment ~ ♪ ♪ ♪).

The essay book includes all his columns over the years plus some new manuscripts he wrote after that (a total of 55).

The essay book also came with exclusive photos from his childhood up until the present, a CD journal [It has come to our attention that there’s no CD included in the release – CDJAPAN states it but everyone who bought the essay book didn’t get that], an in-depth interview with him plus 109 questions answered about almost everything. 

Lack of social skills?

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He has said more than once that he lacks social skills.

He’s incredibly shy and quiet and tends to not know how to react, leading to awfully awkward encounters – he’s described before an awkward but hilarious exchange of words between him and a hairstylist.

Like many of the characters, he’s portrayed, deep inside Hosoyan is actually incredibly gentle and warm.

Despite his self-proclaimed total lack of social skills, he’s friends with several fellow seiyuu. Daisuke Ono, Yuki Ono, Takahiro Sakurai, Takuya EguchiNobuhiko Okamoto, Kensho Ono, Miyano Mamoru and many others feature his list of close friends.

Technology is really not his thing

Hosoya and everyone close to him has said it before: he can’t be close to technology because he doesn’t know how to deal with it.

Some of the seiyuu close to him have said before that whenever he has a mild tech problem, he always has to call for help. It’s one of the reasons why he doesn’t have any Twitter or Facebook account.

It’s also the reason he prefers to print his documents at a print shop, to avoid any kind of complications.


And with this we conclude yet another Seiyuu Digest. Be on the lookout for next month’s Digest.

Vanessa Silva
Vanessa Silvahttps://www.handthatfeedshq.com
The Hand That Feeds HQ founder, content creator, and music reviewer. Basically, the only person managing everything at The Hand That Feeds HQ. Stumbling upon Mamoru Miyano's "Orpheus" in 2011 was the start of this journey. If music is thought-provoking or deep, you may find her writing almost essays (not limited to, but it happens a lot with Soma Saito's music). She's the producer and host of the male seiyuu-centric podcast, SEIYUU LOUNGE (see Spotify link in this profile).

Latest News

Out this Week | xxx of darkness and zip your LIP

Double CD release in the DYNAMIC CHORD with the franchise's bands shuffling for another set of awesome releases.

Showtaro Morikubo to release new single “Breathing”

The veteran seiyuu and rocker is back with new music, performing "Breathing", marking the first new single in approximately two years.

Gray Sheep to release “Gray Sheep Song Notes 01” in March

Gray Sheep's GOAT and BAD SKUNK are back in September with the franchise's 3rd CD "Gray Sheep EP03".

SparQlew LIVE 2025 JACKPOT to be held in March

Popular seiyuu unit SparQlew is back on stage for a special 2-day live show titled "SparQlew LIVE 2025 JACKPOT".

5 COMMENTS

    • Sorry for the late reply. It’s one of the best character songs Hosoyan has ever sang. Personally, I think he fits quite well with rock and that song really did justice to his voice and talent. But I have some side remarks to do about it though. It might not sound like it to most people but Hosoya’s voice sounds too damaged (which can explain his announcement of hiatus for the rest of the year to treat his throat) – his vibrato is weaker than before – that’s one of the things that quickly sounds too different. But even with his vocals damaged, he still gave one hell of an impressive performance.

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