Seiyuu Digest #3 – Mamoru Miyano

A pioneer and bona fide superstar as a solo artist as well as a versatile voice actor, Mamoru Miyano is a reference in the seiyuu and music industries.

Estimated reading time: 51 minutes

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

Mamoru Miyano

KANJI: 宮野真守

BORN: June 8, 1983

OCCUPATION: seiyuu, actor, singer, radio personality

HEIGHT: 182cm

 Seiyuu

Born in Saitama on June 8, 1983, the popular seiyuu started to build up his legacy at the age of 19.

Despite only starting to be active as a seiyuu in 2001, truth is that Mamoru Miyano‘s journey in the entertainment industry started way earlier than usual for most voice actors in Japan.

He’s been active as an actor since 1990, participating in plays, musicals, and even TV dramas. Alongside fellow seiyuu Ryohei Kimura and Miyu Irino, Miyano is one of the big veterans in the seiyuu industry despite not being even 40 years old.

The 3 voice actors (and Toshiyuki Toyonaga to an extent) were signed to the same talent agency – Himawari Gekidan – from a very young age.

Miyano cites that it was his older brother that influenced him to try out acting and join Himawari Gekidan, theatre troupe that, to this day, still represents him.

At the beginning of his career, Miyano seemed to be trying out a bit of everything in the entertainment, checking what suited his acting style and his passions.

Miyano has mentioned on several occasions that despite joining Himawari Gekidan, early on he didn’t attend many of the classes.

And that’s because he was unsure of what his future could be and decided to focus on music theory classes instead of dance and singing classes (that Mamoru claims he skipped).

Miyano ended up not specializing in a specific area, and is now known for his versatility and quality as a seiyuu, actor, singer, variety, and radio personality. Due to that, he’s got a rich and varied repertoire filled with interesting projects and memorable performances.

2002 – 2005

Getting some screen time and showcasing his skills

Mamoru Miyano made his official debut as a seiyuu in anime in 2002. Back then, even with the vast acting repertoire he already had, Mamoru was an unknown name.

It wouldn’t take him more than 4 years until he started to be in the eyes and ears of press, industry specialists and fans of anime.

His first role was in Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Children as the calm and collected Akira, one of the main characters. This role would be the first step towards a career filled with exciting roles and memorable performances.

Arguably one of his most popular roles in anime, in 2003, Miyano was cast in Wolf’s Rain as Kiba, a lone wolf who is the sole survivor of his pack after it was slaughtered.

Despite his tragic past, this character aspires to find “Paradise”, a place whose coordinates reveal to be virtually impossible to know.

Both the anime and Miyano’s acting were commended at that time. Fans loved the story and his performance as Kiba was certainly turning some heads his way.

The nuances of “less is more” in the way emotions are portrayed is something that Mamoru put to test as he voiced Kiba, character that, due to its tragic past, doesn’t speak more than necessary.

In the following year, Miyano was cast in more anime than he’d ever managed to.

He got several supporting and minor characters to voice however, the biggest highlight in 2004 was his role as Naoto Ooizumi in the comedy/romance anime series, Love♥Love?.

The seventeen-year-old character is a scriptwriter for child Tv shows and finds itself in the middle of the craziest and most hilarious shenanigans he could have. This was Miyano’s first comedic role in anime.

Miyano challenged himself as a voice actor and kept being cast in anime series of different genres and requiring completely different things out of his emotional range.

In 2005, he was cast in the sports anime Eyeshield 21 (2005-2008) as Haruto Sakuraba, a model and pop idol turned wide receiver (position in American football) for the Ojo White Knights.

Although initially pessimistic and with an inferiority complex over the series’ protagonist, Sakuraba finds his passion and focuses on becoming a better player, earning his place in the team as well as genuinely concluding that he loves playing sports professionally.

Miyano’s excitement and passionate acting made Sakuraba a character that many fans of Eyeshield 21 love.

In the same year he was cast in Soukyuu no Fafner: Right of Left – Single Program as Ryou Masaoka, the school council president and pilot of a Titan-model Fafner, and overall he is very caring a friendly character, something the seiyuu had not done yet.

At this point, it became evident that Miyano was trying a little of every genre and type of character, hence why his repertoire, in this early stages, had such different characters.

2006 – 2012

Rise to stardom

The first 4 years were those of trying to score as many voice acting credits as he could while branching out and showcasing his acting skills and voice range.

2006 would end up being the year that turned everything around in Miyano’s career. From this point on, everyone would know his name and anticipate his work.

He was cast as Tamaki Suou in Ouran Highschool Host Club, a goofball character showing a strong presence of narcissistic tendencies as well as some emotional bouts, and much to one’s surprise is unexpectedly dedicated to his host activities.

With Suou fans got yet another showing of Miyano’s talent for comedy, in fact, it is almost impossible not to laugh at some scenes in which Suou is interacting with Haruhi Fujioka voiced by Maaya Sakamoto.

There is one scene in particular in which Fujioka is trying to describe the type of person Suou is, according to her perception of him, and after pondering which word described him best she says he’s obnoxious rendering him completely depressed.

This is simply one of the several comic episodes in one of his most iconic roles at the beginning of his career.

It was from this role onward that many people understood Miyano’s innate talent to portray characters with eccentric or goofy personalities and that comedy was a genre that would incredibly well with his skillset as a voice actor.

After Ouran Highschool Host Club came the psychological anime Death Note, now considered one of the all-time best anime series and a must watch for anyone getting into anime.

Miyano’s role in the psychological, thriller, and mystery anime Death Note as Light Yagami is one of his most memorable roles for more reasons than one.

Yagami is a genius third-year high school student, a proponent of justice in an inordinate manner, which then translates into him having or revealing his psychopathic tendencies when attempting to achieve his Utopian and twisted ideals of justice.

Not only did this role attract all the attention to Miyano for his terrific performance as Yagami but also for his disturbing laughter, a trademark for the anti-hero character he played.

Throughout the anime, fans of the series saw the teenage boy grow into an even more twisted and manipulative young adult, and although Yagami is the anti-hero, at times that fact might’ve taken a backseat for many, especially in the most emotion-packed scenes involving life or death situations.

Still in 2006, Miyano was cast in the romance anime Tokimeki Memorial Only Love (2006-2007) as the series’ protagonist Aoba Riku.

Although a supporting character, Miyano voiced the friendly exorcist and member of the Black Order European Branch, Chaoji Han in D.Gray-man (the 2006 original).

In 2007, he was cast in El Cazador de la Bruja, as L.A., one of the supporting characters.

L.A. is a mysterious young man with obsessive tendencies towards other people, but at the same time has a deep-rooted hatred towards humans. Aside from his mysterious personality, his existence does have quite a lot of fog camouflaging the truth.

Another important role in Mamoru’s career is Setsuna F. Seiei in the mecha/action anime series Mobile Suit Gundam 00.

This was yet another anime series with a dark and grim plot, and Mamoru was voicing yet another character with a strong sense of justice.

Seiei is an introvert and seems to be quite the idealist mind as he is against the war and believes there are ways to present disturbances to peace and harmony. This taciturn teenager ends up having a personal vendetta to settle. At some point, he admits that he wishes to study human intentions and dark thoughts.

Mamoru was back to voicing obsessive characters. He was cast as in Koutetsu Sangokushi as Rikuson Hakugen.

Hakugen is a selfless person whose only purpose in life is protecting his master, to the point of it becoming an obsession that affects the way he thinks and acts, often causing him to clash with his comrades, though later on, he learns the importance of comradeship.

By the time 2008 arrived, Miyano was already the go-to voice actor for angsty and anti-hero roles. He found himself being typecasted around this time, with most of his characters falling into the “bishounen” category while still having either a strong/twisted sense of justice or being downright eccentric.

He was cast in the Vampire Knight as the series’ main romance option for the protagonist, Kiryuu. And, interestingly enough, this would the very first time that Mamoru would voice twins.

Kiryuu gives off the idea of being ill-mannered and not concerned with others, we might even go further and say that he seems to be rather contradictory in the way he acts towards Yuuki Cross, he either says she is annoying or comes to her help when it is most unexpected.

Despite his icy and cold words and glares, Kiryuu is nothing more than a boy whose fate has been twisted by someone with ill intentions.

Son of a vampire hunter family, he himself feels quite a lot of hatred towards vampires, and that includes Kaname Kuran, a pureblood vampire that shares a special relationship with Yuuki Cross.

In the second season, Miyano got cast as Zero‘s younger twin brother, Ichiru Kiryuu.

Ichiru has a slightly frail tone to his voice, but the fact that both twins share a twisted fate does not affect Mamoru’s emotional performance.

Changing things a bit around – but still in the middle of the “voicing bishounen characters” typecasting, Miyano was cast in the romance and comedy anime Skip Beat! as Sho Fuwa, an overly confident idol/rockstar and childhood friend of the series’ protagonist.

Playing the role of a playboy, deceiving and manipulative teenager aiming for stardom as an idol, Fuwa has the looks and the talent however his personality is not what you would exactly say pleasant.

If there is one thing that he knows how to do is making others work for himself, hence why he convinced Kyouko Mogami, his childhood friend and the series’ protagonist, to come with him to Tokyo, ending up being his maid.

Unlike his appealing looks, he is childish and narcissistic, traits that Mamoru’s acting helped flesh out to the point that the character can both make your laugh to no end in a second and, in the other, you’ll be annoyed at his behavior.

More vampires ensued in 2008, with him being cast as the skillful swordsman Kurou in the historical/sci-fi anime Kurozuka.

Still in the same year, Miyano was cast in Soul Eater as Death the Kid, a character that shows nothing but OCD tendencies.

Other than being the son of the Shinigami, thus being used to be singled out as others fear him, Kid has a severe case of obsession with perfection and symmetry, something that leads to hilarious shenanigans.

There are several moments in the anime in which he remembers leaving his house and the toilet paper not being symmetric, he stops a battle midway through worried of how he left his stove, and he often feels hopeless because the stripes on his hair are not symmetric.

In 2009, Miyano reprised his role in the games as Kaji Aoi in the popular music anime in Kiniiro no Corda Secondo Passo.

Aoi is acquainted with Kahoko, the main character. Before he enrolled in his school he saw her playing in a park and was mesmerized by her performance.

Formerly a violinist, Aoi plays the viola and ends up having quite the pushy attitude towards Kahoko since he is his number one fan, self-proclaimed. Despite the way he may look, Aoi does not feel confident in his performances claiming that he lacks practice.

He was also cast in Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood (2009) as Ling Yao.

Despite its apparent silly and friendly personality, often being the source of the comedic moments in the series, Ling Yao has more to himself.

This is a rather complex role that Mamoru was portraying. While in the past he’s voiced characters that have silly sides, none had, up until then, the depth and complexity of Ling Yao.

Yao is a determined young man behind that silly mask. He’s quite observant – to the most minimal detail – and uses that to his advantage. At the same time he is good at reading people and can manipulate them to his will. His tenacity stands out as well.

This character ended up being perfect for Miyano to showcase his emotional range and ability to play silly characters with a two-faced/mysterious twist.

With 2006 – 2010 being filled with memorable roles in some of the most high-profile anime series airing in Japan, 2010 proved to be a transition year for Miyano.

From this point onward, Miyano had already become one of those seiyuu who are featured in a vast number of anime series per season, so in a way, fans were exposed to Mamoru’s voice more than ever.

While giving off a similar aura to Kiba in Wolf’s Rain, Mamoru was cast in Betrayal Knows My Name as Shuusei Usui.

Usui is part of the guardians. As a person with a “sixth sense” he often helps to solve crime with the police. Despite his frail quiet looks he does not hesitate to take action.

One of Miyano’s most popular roles is, undoubtedly as Kida Masaomi in Durarara!!.

Masaomi is, on the outside a happy-go-lucky character with quite the goofy side to itself.

However, there’s more going on with Masaomi, as he tends to hide his true feelings and, at its core has an unpredictable behavior.

Among the main cast, Masaomi has quite a lot of importance for the main story and the moments he appears on the scene are always something to look forward to.

Miyano was then cast as Rintarou Okabe in the popular anime series Steins;Gate (2011-2018).

Okabe fits the bill of a mad scientist and to top it all off, it has a dramatic and eccentric personality that Miyano fleshed out in quite an interesting way.

Although Mamoru Miyano was already popular by 2011, there was one role that put him on the spotlight and I dare say, it’s because of it that his popularity did implode to superstar status.

In 2011, Mamoru reprised his role as Tokiya Ichinose/HAYATO in the anime adaptation of the Utapri games titled Uta no☆Prince-sama♪: Maji Love 1000%.

The cool, stoic type is one type of character that surprisingly enough is a good match with Mamoru.

As a matter of fact, this anime not only enabled him to remind his fans of his talent, but it also provided him with a chance to boost his solo career by performing the opening theme to the first season of the series titled Orpheus.

Ichinose is a character that throughout the several seasons that have aired has grown to be more sociable and not so cold anymore. At the same time, he’s grown as a singer sounding like a true star among the members of STARISH.

He’s had the opportunity of reprising this role for 3 additional anime series and one movie, Uta no Prince-sama Maji Love Kingdom (2019).

Still in the same wavelength, Miyano was cast as the smart, hard-working, and cocky Taichi Mashima from Chihayafuru (2011-2019), the popular karuta anime.

Mashima is a character with the conflict of liking his childhood friend yet that friend only has eyes for another of her childhood friends.

In 2012 and in a darker, dramatic twist, Miyano was cast as the third-in-command of Scepter 4 and a former member of HOMRA Saruhiko Fushimi in the anime K.

This is one of those rare roles in his repertoire as the character leans towards the calm and collected type more than the eccentric, oftentimes over-the-top roles Mamoru voices.

The year couldn’t wrap up without Miyano acting in an anime series with a bit of comedy in the mix. He was cast in Inu x Boku SS as Zange Natsume being responsible for some of the most hilarious moments in the series.

Not only is Natsume rather mysterious looking, but he certainly resembles a prankster, playing around to get reactions off of his “victims”, all while playing innocent.

Other roles in his repertoire in this period of time include:

• Gakuen Alice (2004),
• Aim for a Hit (2004),
• Yu-Gi-Oh ☆ Duel Monsters GX (2005),
• BUZZER BEATER (2007),
• Hakushaku to Yousei (2008),
• Western Antique Cake Shop (2008),
• Inazuma Eleven Series (2009-2012),
• Jewel Pet (2009),
• Soten Koro (2010),
• Highschool of the Dead (2010),
• Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto (2010),
• Phi Brain: Puzzle of God (2011),
• Kimi ni Todoke 2nd Season (2011),
• Dog Days (2011),
• Shirokuma Café (2012),
• Natsuiro Kiseki (2012),
• Zetman (2012).

2013 – 2016

Aiming for the stars

Now with a repertoire filled with popular characters, iconic performances and with all eyes and ears on him, Mamoru Miyano was experiencing massive popularity

2013 arrived and Miyano was back in the cast of a sports series. He was cast as the passionate and competitive Rin Matsuoka in the hit anime series FREE! (2013-2018).

This was a role that boosted Miyano’s popularity, making him a superstar in the seiyuu industry. There was nothing else that anime fans talked about in 2013. FREE! was the anime to watch and for every installment, its popularity never wavered.

The anime series still led to the creation of STYLE FIVE, seiyuu unit consisting of the main cast of the FREE! series.

Changing things around a little bit was his antagonist role in Gatchaman Crowds. He voiced Berg Katze, an eccentric character with an over-the-top way of speaking.

2013 couldn’t be complete without talking about Karneval‘s Yogi.

Always bright and cheerful as well as with a noticeable eccentric personality, Yogi stands out in the middle of the cast of Karneval and arrives with funny shenanigans with his love for nyanperona, a mascot.

However, like most of the characters Miyano voices, Yogi has a mysterious past.

In 2014, Miyano was cast as Joker in Black Butler: Book of Circus.

This was your typical comical and playful character, however, what struck us as different was the fact that the character was supposed to have a Kansai accent, and instead, Miyano didn’t manage to pull it off well, something that made fellow seiyuu Daisuke Ono joke around that he’d created a whole new dialect “Mamo-ben”.

He was also cast in Kiniro no Corda Blue♪Sky as Sei Amamiya. Mamoru was one of the few members of the original cast of Kiniro no Corda to voice a different character in the series.

Amamiya is a member of the Chamber Music club at Amane High School and is quite the calm and friendly individual.

In a drastic turn of events, Miyano would end up voicing the most eccentric character so far in his career. He was cast as the creepy psychopath Shu Tsukiyama/Gourmet in the popular anime series Tokyo Ghoul (2014-2018).

Needless to say, Miyano cranked up a notch his performance as Shu, making him come across as creepy right off the bat.

As the series progresses, his extravagant and eccentric personality is replaced by obsessive and misadjusted behavior that creates a unique, almost dreadful vibe about him.

He was then cast as Saburo in Nobunaga Concerto.

Saburo is your typical, or not, a teenage boy that one day was transported through time as he was walking and fell down and arriving the era of Nobunaga Oda.

That same year, he was actually cast as the carefree and reckless Nobunaga Oda in Nobunaga the Fool, an anime that mixed samurai with mecha.

2015 ended up being a quiet year for Mamoru Miyano, grabbing a couple of supporting roles but nothing that stood out particularly.

The following year breathed fresh air in Miyano’s career, as he was back to voicing leading and main characters.

In 2016, he reprised his role as Takuto Kirisawa in the anime adaption of the game Scared Rider Xechs.

One of the biggest roles of the year is Osamu Dazai in Bungou Stray Dogs.

Dazai is a character constantly in the search of ways to commit suicide, contemplating that concept and actually attempting suicide in the most varied of ways only to fail time and time again.

Still, Dazai is a capable character that proves instrumental in some of the plotlines going on in the series.

Miyano was back to intense roles and dark setting as he was then cast as the serious Kei Nagai in the horror and mystery anime Ajin.

And then, there’s Jean-Jacques Leroy in the popular ice skating anime Yuri on Ice!!, an overly confident athlete representing Canada.

Things would quiet down in 2017, as Miyano went once again under the radar when it came to work in anime.

In that year he voiced Nobuaki Kanazawa in Ousama Game The Animation, considered one of the worst anime in that year for its ludicrous plot, focus on shocking viewers with gruesome deaths instead of having character development or, at least, a character or 2 with common sense.

He was also cast in Yowamushi Pedal: New Generation as Takuto Ashikiba, the gentle and emotional cycler for Hakone Academy Bicycle Club.

He would end up reprising his role in Yowamushi Pedal: Glory Line.

Fast-forward to 2018, Miyano got cast in Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai as Kaoru Ijuuin, Tada’s childhood, and best friend.

Although Ijuuin gives off an aura of not being particularly reliable, the fact is that behind that goofy and always happy-go-lucky attitude, he’s a teenage boy that is always ready to help his friends and worries a lot about them as well.

He was also cast in the political / mecha anime Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These – Kaikou as the military genius and political idealist Reinhard von Lohengramm.

Still in 2018, he would reprise his role as Ryuuji Sakamoto in PERSONA 5 The Animation. Part of the series’ main cast, Sakamoto is a problematic student showing strikes of rebellion and mischievousness.

In a funny turn of events, Miyano was cast in the anime series Zombieland Saga as the eccentric and arrogant idol producer Koutarou Tatsumi.

However, more than the anime or the character standing out, the focus was on Mamoru Miyano, that completely embraced the character’s look, appearing on several promotional videos for the series dressed as him.

Fans of his ended up checking the anime in return given how eccentric he was acting in any promotional videos. It has gotten to the point in which his fans ask whether Mamoru is voicing Tatsumi or the other way around.

Seeing on Miyano has been focusing since 2018 on stage acting, live acting, and his solo career, it came as no surprise the drastic reduction in the number of roles (and importance of those) in anime that he gets per year.

In 2019 he voiced Homura Shizuka in Psycho-Pass 3. Shizuka is a congressman that seldom shows emotion. He’s the type of character that follows the motto “archive your goals by any means necessary”.

A year later, he was cast as the quiet Kuro Sakuragawa in the supernatural/romance anime series “Kyokou Suiri“.

In Haikyuu!!: To the Top, Miyano voiced the carefree, condescending and perfectionist Atsumu Miya.

This role marked Miyano’s return to voicing characters in sports anime as well as a character with a thick Kansai accent, something that, this time around, he managed to pull off with a bit more success.

In 2020, Miyano was cast as the shy and mostly expressionless Kaname Shigeyoshi in the sports anime Ahiru no Sora. Throughout the series, Shigeyoshi grows a bit and other characters start to experience his sarcastic remarks.

Wrapping up the year, he was cast in The Millionaire Detective – Balance: UNLIMITED as Haru Kato, a detective that loves justice and despises people that use money to solve problems.

In 2021, Miyano is cast in Uramichi Oniisan as Iketeru Daga and is going to reprise his role as Shu☆Zo in SHOW BY ROCK!! STARS!!.

Other roles in anime during this period of time include:

• RDG: Red Data Girl (2013),
• Magi: The Kingdom of Magic (2013)
• Arata Kangatari (2013),
• Soul Eater Not!  (2014),
• Nanatsu no Taisai (2014-2018),
• Mahou Sensou (2014),
• New Initial D Movie (2014)
• Mekaku City Actors (2014),
• Hajime no Ippo: Rising (2014),
• Ame-iro Cocoa (2015),
• One-Punch Man (2015),
• Kekkai Sensen (2015),
• Koutetsujou no Kabaneri (2016),
• DAYS (2016),
• Devils Line (2018)
• Sarazanmai (2019),
• Levius (2019),
• Carole & Tuesday (2019),
• Enen no Shouboutai (2019),
• Bungou Stray Dogs Wan! (2021).

Awards

Mamoru Miyano is no stranger to accolades.

He won the Best Leading Seiyuu award at the 2nd Seiyuu Awards in 2008 for his roles as Setsuna F. Seiei in Mobile Suit Gundam 00 and Hakugen Rikuson in Koutetsu Sangokushi.

In 2012 at the 6th Seiyuu Awards, Mamoru was awarded Best Actor in a supporting role alongside fellow seiyuu Ryohei Kimura as well as received the Best singer award as a member of ST☆RISH.

At the 14th Seiyuu Awards held in 2020, Mamoru won the Influencer award.

At WEIBO Account Festival in Tokyo 2020, he won the Best Voice Actor Award.

Radio

Miyano’s no stranger to hosting, co-hosting and guesting on radio shows.

As a host, he’s friendly at all times, playing around with the guests in order to make them comfortable. He’s the type of host that listens with a lot of attention to what his guests are saying, something that is a bit rare among seiyuu that host radio shows.

When he’s hosting his own radio shows, Miyano makes what could be an awkward setting – after all, hosting radio shows as a solo personality is completely different in dynamic from hosting with guests or even co-hosting – instantly a place in which happiness and good vibes overflow.

He’s a good and natural speaker and storyteller, ending up entertaining his listeners even with the simplest of stories from his daily life.

Miyano’s first steps in radio work were taken in 2006. The first radio show he co-hosted was “Paku Romi・Miyano Mamoru no Pokegoe Fight!” alongside fellow seiyuu Romi Paku.

They had an awesome dynamic, hosting the show from 2006 to 2011 in a really friendly and fun fashion. The pair would end up releasing a single together titled “Fight!” that was featured as the opening theme for the radio show.

A year later, Miyano would get the chance to host his first-ever solo radio show “Mamoru Miyano no Lunchtime Music Treats“.

From 2008 to 2014, Miyano co-hosted “Oshaberi yattemasu“, radio show featuring comedians, gravure idols, and voice actors talking about inside stories in the entertainment world.

In 2008, Miyano teamed up with the long-time friend, actor, and seiyuu Shun Takagi to create the radio show SMILY☆SPIKY no Kya-cha-ri!. The show ran from 2008 to 2009 and was extremely popular, stemming 2 radio CDs.

But this wouldn’t be the last fans of the duo would hear about them.

The duo would start hosting SMILY ☆ SPIKY no “Namaha Koe!” in 2009, show that, to this day is still up and running, counting with a lot of crazy shenanigans, candid conversations, and a lot of laughs in the mix.

Other radio shows he’s done or participated in include Tokimeki Memorial-Dokidoki Memorial (2007), Miyano・Yusa no Kotetsu Sangokushi ~ Rajioden ~ (2007), Ai to Mamoru no Shukan El Cazador Tsushin! (2007), Solestal Station 00 (2008), SOULEATER RADIO (2008 – 2009),

Games

[IN CONSTRUCTION]

Stage Acting / Acting

Mamoru kicked off his career in the entertainment industry through acting in 1990. Since then he’s been cast in a multitude of stage plays, musicals, movies, and TV dramas.

He’s particularly good in comedic roles but he’s known for being an all-rounder, shining in whatever role he’s cast in.

Perhaps one of the best-known musicals in Mamoru’s career is The Prince of Tennis Musical in 2003. He played Tetsu Ishida alongside fellow seiyuu and stage actor Yuki Fujiwara.

In 2010, he was invited by Daisuke Namikawa – in his directorial debut – to be the lead actor in the movie Beautiful World.

In 2011, Miyano joined the cast of “Kami Voice: The Voice Makes a Miracle”, performing alongside Yuki Kaji in what ended up being a quirky scene.

His role was eccentric, teaching seiyuu trainees how to tackle roles that they would usually say that they “can’t” or “don’t know” how to act.

The movie is an adaptation of a famous manga written by Yoshiki Sakurai and Team G.V. and illustrated by Kuroko Yabuguchi. The live-action premiered on November 19, 2011.

The movie is deeply connected with the seiyuu life and shows the hardships one has to face to enter and strive in that field of work, especially when something goes awry that can put that career in jeopardy.

The cast counted with the notable presences of Takuya Eguchi, Showtaro Morikubo, Rikiya Koyama, Romi Paku, Daisuke Namikawa, Arthur Lounsbery, and Yoshimasa Hosoya, among many others.

In 2018, Miyano was cast in the TV series “Yube wa o tanoshimideshita ne” as Onita, Animate’s store manager.

In 2019, and in sponsored fashion, Miyano starred in a promotional Sci-fi drama for Nissin Foods titled U.F.O. Tabe Time Leap.

U.F.O. Tabe Time Leap depicts the tragedy of a company employee who is interrupted by his boss, his subordinates, and zombies every time he tries to eat a cup of Nissin Yakisoba U.F.O. – yakisoba noodles.

Still in the same year, he was cast as Tony in the world-renowned musical – getting its very first Japanese musical adaptation -, WEST SIDE STORY.

His role as Tony was a double cast, with him splitting acting duties with fellow male seiyuu and KING RECORDS solo artist, Shouta Aoi.

In 2020, Miyano was cast in the most popular and longest-running TV drama, Hanzawa Naoki.

The Hanzawa Naoki TV drama series is adapting the novels by Japanese author, Jun Ikeido. These follow the story of Naoki Hanzawa, a worker at the Tokyo Chuo Bank.

In this drama, Miyano plays Furuya is an inspector of the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission at Japan’s Financial Services Agency. The character enters the series mid-way through.

And in 2021, he was cast in the Japanese adaptation of the Waitress musical as Dr. Jim Pomatter.

The musical is based on the 2007 film of the same name, written by Adrienne Shelly. It tells the story of Jenna Hunterson, a baker and waitress in an abusive relationship with her husband Earl.

After Jenna unexpectedly becomes pregnant, she begins an affair with her doctor, Dr. Jim Pomatter. Looking for ways out of her troubles, she sees a pie baking contest and its grand prize as her chance.”

Drama CDs

These days, Miyano is not commonly found cast in drama CDs.

He used to reprise roles from anime series or games in special/tie-in drama CDs however, he barely has any work in situation CDs, for example. As of late, drama CDs are a field in which Miyano hasn’t done work in.

Some of the drama CDs he’s voiced characters include Vampire Knight Series, Uta no Prince-sama series, Ouji-sama (Warau) series, Ouran Host Club Series, KARNEVAL series, Kizoku tantei Edward, Kiniro no Corda series, STEINS;GATE series, Starry☆Sky series, FREE! and Real Rode series, between many more.

Narration/Dubbing

When it comes to dubbing, Miyano is a regular feature.

He’s the official Japanese voice for the American actor Lucas Till, having dubbed him in 3 movies/series: Double mission, Hannah Montana The Movie, and MACGYVER.

Aside from dubbing Lucas Till, Mamoru has dubbed actors such as Yoo Seung-ho, Ethan Hawke, Joey Zimmerman, Chris Rankin, Johnny Depp, and more.

Some of the movies/TV dramas he’s voiced include Cats, Harry Potter (as Percy Weasley), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (as Willy Wonka), Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (as Percy Jackson), X-Men Origins: Wolverine, The Musketeers, Monster Hunter, The Magician, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (as Peter Parker/Spider-Man), Trolls World Tour, The Grinch, between many more.

As for narration, Miyano has done narration for several commercials for anime series and TV shows.

Music

A bona fide superstar paving the way for seiyuu artists

Mamoru Miyano’s path in the music industry is one of exploring the unknown, unknowingly opening the doors for other seiyuu to venture towards having a career as solo artists.

It’s no understatement to say that as a solo artist, Miyano has paved the way for the wide variety of solo artists with a seiyuu background that we now have in the music industry.

Miyano’s solo career kicked off in 2007 with “Kuon“, song that was featured as the ending theme for the anime series Kotetsu Sangokushi.

However, in an odd turn of events, Mamoru Miyano doesn’t count that single as his official solo debut as he was signed to a different music label at that time and it appears that the single in question was meant to be a one-off release.

Instead, Miyano considers his solo debut to have been made with “Discovery” in 2008.

After these two releases, Miyano released Kimi e… that ranked a bit higher on Oricon’s charts. This was still a single exploring R&B, something that suits Miyano’s vocals.

In 2007 with his singles Dream Fighter and Orpheus Mamo embraced pop/pop-rock, which came as a pleasant surprise that granted him the 10th and 15th places on the charts, making a huge impact given the thought that he was always in the top 20 until that moment.

In 2012 he started to experiment with a more danceable genre, especially in his single Ultra Fly but also in 2014 with New Order, both singles had songs arranged by STY and Jin Nakamura; Canon was a different story because its songs were composed and arranged by Elements Garden known by their fast piano and more melodic songs, in this case still showing a little of rock elements, but also by the fans of Uta no Prince-sama, anime in which Mamo starred. 

Since his debut, Mamo-chan has released more than 16 singles. Some of the most recent being The Birth, Sotto tokete yuku yo ni, Boku wa Hero and most recently Encore and a total of 7 albums being the last two The Love achieving 6^th place on the charts and M&M the Best It was precisely after he released his 1st album that he also had his first tour confirmed.

Currently, he has started to write more the lyrics of his tracks and still is working with STY and Jin Nakamura that helped him create his addictive sound that everyone who listens to it will get hooked on.

His voice is so angel-like that it’s bliss to listen to his tracks and when he starts using his vibrato it’s like you’re on cloud nine, also he’s capable of singing with falsettos making one stunned with his singing ability.

Mamoru has shown the fans that he can be very versatile and be good in every department, with his music hitting in genres like R&B, pop, pop/rock, a more danceable genre, or even a jazzy and loungey genre that we can find in his most recent releases.

With all the things I’ve said about him, I think it’s very easy to say that he is a diamond in the rough that has been polishing himself to improve and create the best work for the fans every single day.

Currently, Mamoru has been promoting himself more in other countries such as Taiwan in an attempt to expand his fan base.

Units/Groups

When it comes to seiyuu units and 2D groups, surprisingly, Miyano is not as active as you’d expect given his popularity and recognized singing skills.

In his career, he’s only been part of 2 seiyuu units and 1 2D idol group.

As part of a group or seiyuu unit, Miyano serves as a core vocal, not trying to hog the spotlight nor try to go unnoticed either. As a result, his performances as part of groups and seiyuu units aren’t flashy and, in a way, pale in comparison with his work as a solo artist.

Romi Paku & Mamoru Miyano (2007)

In 2007, Mamoru Miyano and Romi Paku released the single “Fight!“. The title track was featured as the theme song for their radio show “Paku Romi・Miyano Mamoru no Pokegoe Fight!“.

SMILY☆SPIKY (2007 -)

Stemming from their radio show SMILY☆SPIKY no Kya-cha-ri!, SMILY ☆ SPIKY consists of Mamoru Miyano and Shun Takagi. Since their debut, the duo has released 3 singles and 1 mini-album.

The duo’s debut was with “ONE“, mini-album released in 2007. The mini-album included 2 group songs, 2 Miyano solo songs and 2 Takagi solo tracks.

“ONE” didn’t sell many copies but the few that there are out there belong to their owners as the mini-album is not available for purchase anymore.

Then, they released “Hajime yoze” in 2008. The song included 2 songs performed by the duo.

In 2009, the duo released the single “Blow Wind / Time Machine ga oshi yo“. The title track was featured as the opening and ending theme songs for the PS2 game adaptation of Skip Beat.

A couple of months later, the duo released the single “VeryVeryFunTime!!“.

In Miyano’s 2009 full-length album “Break“, the song 卒業デイズ (Sotsugyo Days) was included. That song is performed by SMILY☆SPIKY.

Like most music performed by seiyuu to be featured on their radio show’s SMILY☆SPIKY‘s music is bubbly pop meant to entertain their listeners not to have much depth. As a result, their songs are always on the fun side, perfectly complementing their radio show.

ST☆RISH (2011 -)

It’s almost impossible to be part of the seiyuu fandom without knowing this unit.

STARISH is an all-star seiyuu unit founded in 2011 and is quite possibly one of the most successful units in Japan and a bit over Asia in these past 5 years.

Topping charts with its unit, group, solo and cross-unit releases, Starish has established itself as one of the most powerful units in the business.

STARISH includes the main cast of the Uta no Prince-sama series: Kenichi Suzumura, Kishow Taniyama, Hiro Shimono, Takuma Terashima, Kousuke Toriumi, Miyano Mamoru, and Junichi Suwabe.

The unit features experienced singers and all of them have solo and/or band/unit projects under their belts. With the franchise’s popularity, this group rose to fame and whenever a new season is in place, fans don’t shy away from making their releases reach some interesting places in the Oricon charts.

The group grew insanely in popularity. What was the first stage in a small hall gave way for 2016’s performance at the sold-out Saitama Super Arena, proving the group’s massive popularity.

The unit has changed a bit since its debut in terms of its musicality, embracing a more danceable, electronic sound than it did back when it started.

Besides this, the unit’s core is still the same, and compositions in their repertoire often impress the listeners because of the beautiful piano parts and vocal performances.

Some of the unit’s releases include Uta no☆Prince-sama♪ Maji LOVE 1000% ED Single – Maji LOVE 1000%, Uta no Prince Sama♪ Shining All Star CD, Maji Love 2000%,  WE ARE ST☆RISH!!, Setsugetsuka, Uta no Prince-sama ♪ Maji LOVE Kingdom Special Unit Drama CD collection.

STARISH is, by far, Miyano‘s most successful 2D unit endeavor.

Style Five (2013 -)

The other seiyuu unit that Mamoru is a part of is Style Five, which once again was only created with the purpose of promoting the anime FREE! in which the members are also voicing the main characters.

Not to forget to mention that this seiyuu unit usually have famous seiyuu, but in this case and also with the previous one aforementioned it is the same, they’re all known which in some way gives more impact to this units.

The unit has released Splash Free, Future Fish, Rising Free, FREE-STYLE SPIRIT, and Gold Evolution.

Photobook

It comes as no surprise that Mamoru has released his first photobook, in collaboration with Junon and SHUFU TO SEIKATSU, Mamoru Miyano 1st Photo Book | Player.

The theme behind this photobook was that of “STAR“, a title that could not fit Mamoru better. Aside from that theme, there are some shots that include a “mature sensuality”.

Variety

[IN CONSTRUCTION]

Tokyo Ghoul:re Promotion Broadcast (2018)

In 2018, after Tokyo Ghoul:re‘s anime started airing, the variety show Tokyo Ghoul:re Promotion Broadcast kicked off.

Mamoru Miyano was a guest – alongside Megumi Han – for a 2-parter episode that was absolutely bonkers.

Miyano was in character, completely disregarding personal space nor the flow of the show, leading to Natsuki Hanae wanting to take control of the show however failing completely because Mamo was focused on making that task impossible.

Mamoru Miyano’s Road to LIVING! (2020 -)

Mamoru Miyano kicked off his own YouTube show Road to LIVING! in 2020 to get closer to his fans.

All kinds of crazy shenanigans – yes, the pineapple is back – to behind-the-scenes footage of the recording sessions for his singles, music video and cover shooting, Mamo’s fans can enjoy a lot of content showing different sides to him.

Facts

Social butterfly

It is no surprise that Mamoru is considered to be a social butterfly if you take into account the fact that he is always bright and cheerful and loves to interact with others.

Not only that but he has an approachable aura, which makes him one of the seiyuu who has the most friends in the industry, but everyone in the industry wants to get to know him.

He’s notoriously good friends with Yoshimasa Hosoya, Tatsuhisa Suzuki, KISHOW, Yuki Kaji, Takahiro Sakurai, Daisuke Ono, Romi Paku, Shinichiro Miki, Hikaru Midorikawa, Daisuke Namikawa and many more.

“Romi Paku and Shinichiro Miki are like parents to me“

Miyano has mentioned a couple of times that, in the seiyuu industry, Romi Paku and Shinichiro Miki guided and taught him everything he knows.

He says that both are like parents to him and he feels both blessed and indebted to them for everything they’ve done for him.

Wants to adopt Yuki Kaji

On multiple occasions, Mamoru Miyano has mentioned that he’s really close to and almost treats Yuki Kaji like his son as a matter of fact, Miyano said that, if he could go back in time he’d steal baby Kaji just so that he could raise him.

Interestingly enough, Kaji wouldn’t mind having Miyano as his father mentioning that he is “gentle and has taught him a lot of things”.

Idol status

It may not seem like it but from the past few years, it has become more noticeable but Mamoru has turned into a real-life idol. He started off his career as your usual seiyuu but with his most recent album The Love, Mamoru has been promoting on every platform possible like your typical idol.

Master impersonator

Miyano lists “impersonations” as one of his best skills and, as a matter of fact, he’s got quite the unique impersonations repertoire including Ken Shimura, Shingo Yanagisawa, Hiromi Go, and Takeshi Kitano.

In one live event for Kiniro no Corda around 2008 – 2011, Miyano went on to impersonate KISHOW, Satoshi Hino and even Hideo Ishikawa, rending both the seiyuu and fans to tears with how accurate – quirks included – those impersonations were.

Used to play football

While it is true that Miyano used to play football back when he was still a student, and in fact, he has actually shown that he knows how to play on some occasions, the problem is when he confessed that he “was always a mid-bench player“, so you can guess that he was not a regular.

That was it for this month’s Seiyuu Digest.