When it comes to well-versed seiyuu with innate talent and many years of experience under their belts, you can’t forget about Kouki Uchiyama.
Kouki Uchiyama
KANJI: 内山昂輝
BORN: August 16, 1990
OCCUPATION: seiyuu, radio host, narrator, actor
HEIGHT: 177cm
Seiyuu
Born in Saitama, Uchiyama began his career earlier than the majority of seiyuu. At the tender age of 3, he had already debuted in the entertainment industry as a child actor.
It was only when Uchiyama became a middle school student that he debuted as a seiyuu marking the start of a career many and younger fellow seiyuu envy.
At that time, Uchiyama had already 11 years of experience under his belt which made him all the more imposing to others.
Uchiyama has been a Himawari‘s talent since his debut, and mind you fellow seiyuu Mamoru Miyano, and Ryohei Kimura, just to name a few, were also members of the theater company at some point at the beginning of their careers.
2000-2003
First steps
Contrary to what the numbers say, Uchiyama‘s first steps in the seiyuu industry were not all sunshine and roses one of his first jobs dates back to 2003 in the movie Momono, you can hear a frog singing as Riki Kuramoto.
Despite his first role being a main character, we have to say that the pressure must have been tremendous as although Uchiyama had always been involved in the entertainment industry truth is, that this was his first job as a seiyuu.
Aside from him being a newbie, he had to make sure that he did his job well, to ensure other roles in the industry seeing as that the seiyuu had only made an appearance in the OVA Animatrix Beyond (2000) as Yaji, a minor character.
2004-2012
On the right track
Just as quickly as Uchiyama built up his momentum he fell off the radar, leaving a gap of 5 years in which the seiyuu made no appearances in anime, focusing his attention elsewhere.
Uchiyama’s first role after this “break” was one of the main characters in the Soul Eater franchise, Soul Evans.
Soul is certainly a character with the perfect balance between a competent and goofy personality as his attempts to act differently from his true self are more than just a few.
The source of this behavior lays in him wanting to be cool and hence why he aims to act accordingly at all times.
Needless to say, more times than he should, Evans simply embarrasses himself in the process, so all in all this character is somehow the catalyst to a few comic relief scenes in the anime.
Aside from Uchiyama‘s performance as Soul, the anime itself was praised by many for its visuals, compelling plot, and animation overall. All these factors played a huge role in drawing attention to the anime and consequently to the seiyuu playing one of the main characters of the story.
And with that in mind, it did not take long for the effects to be noticed. In this industry, more often than not seiyuu become typecasted.
Uchiyama, however, appears to have been quick on the uptake and after his praise-worthy performance as Soul in the shounen anime Soul Eater, the seiyuu allowed us yet another glimpse into his talent.
In 2010, the horror/thriller anime Shiki aired. Taking place in a small village where the anime focuses on the macabre events that have been befalling the villagers.
As all the favorable conditions to give place to a horror story are in place, Natsuno Yuuki (Uchiyama’s character) is one of the few who struggles to stay afloat.
Truthfully, as often as not vampire stories romanticize the tragic events that take place, yet Shiki does not go through that trouble, so you can expect ruthless, coldhearted, and instinct-driven creatures roaming around among the villagers, hence why the response to the anime was so positive.
With the popular shounen anime Fairy Tail (2010-2015) airing, Uchiyama did not lose his chance to come aboard.
Aside from his flamboyant appearance and eccentric personality, Midnight is another character that certainly served as an example of why Uchiyama is so often cast in shounen anime.
The seiyuu knows how to portray characters in a way that they don’t become boring, no matter how similar they may be, and that is the case with Midnight.
This character could’ve simply be just another role, however, Uchiyama worked his magic and brought the best performance possible.
Still in 2011, the seiyuu was cast as Ichika Orimura, the main character in Infinite Stratos.
Much like other characters Uchiyama had played until that moment, Orimura comes off as being too slow on the uptake, not being able to read the atmosphere, and giving away his plans, so all in all, he is dense yet somehow famous.
Similar to his role in IS, Yuuta Asaba, one of the twins in Kimi to boku, comes off as aloof yet Asaba is merely watching carefully his surroundings.
While the twins are both popular, Uchiyama’s character tends to keep to himself, so his expressing what he truly feels is either a rare occurrence or not even considered an option.
On the other side, Uchiyama was cast in C: The Money of Soul and Possibility Control as the main character Kimimaro Yoga with a mundane life marked by his efforts to make ends meet.
Some of his other works include: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal (2011) as Kaito Tenju and Guilty Crown (2011) as Daryl Yan.
2012 –
An established name in the industry
With the coming of a new year, Uchiyama was cast in several roles, a happening that comes as something natural to the seiyuu.
Throughout a seiyuu’s career one is bound to have one or two roles that become extremely popular and consequently reach the status of recognition so high that almost everybody knows about that particular role and therefore knows the seiyuu behind the character’s voice.
In Uchiyama’s case, one of those is his character Yoshino Takigawa in the anime Zetsuen no Tempest whose influences from Shakespeare’s plays such as The Tempest and Hamlet are easily felt even by the most distracted viewer.
Takigawa gives off the image of the good-looking teenage boy who lacks competence, yet that has never been more wrong. Amidst all the chaos and flashbacks, one comes to terms that Takigawa is far more than just a pretty face there are more than just a couple of moments where we can understand that despite him being a nice guy at all times, that’s not all there is to his personality.
As aforementioned, this anime has some hints of the tragedy in Shakespeare’s plays, so it was expected for there to be quite some tempestuous scenes with characters expressing opposite and strong emotions, therefore it was an anticipated performance from the seiyuu that corresponded to the expectations.
Needless to say, both Uchiyama and Toyonaga (voicing Mahiro Fuwa) did an exceptional job of portraying the character’s intense feelings.
2012 was prolific for Uchiyama, not only did he get a major role in Zetsuen no Tempest, but he also was cast in several other anime.
Among them, there’s Tsuritama, in which the seiyuu plays Natsuki Usami, one of the main characters in this sports and comedy anime.
Although, at first, one might be taken aback by the plot of Tsuritama, the response of the viewers was unexpectedly positive, as the anime was praised for its storyline being exceedingly striking.
Following these noteworthy characters, Uchiyama set his eyes on the fantasy and mystery anime Kami-sama no Inai Nichiyoubi whose plot has a lot of ressonance with a post-apocalyptic dystopian world.
His character, Alice Color, is nothing like he seems to be.
At first, Color acts like a delinquent but he is calm and collected for the most part, though this mask comes off when he becomes frustrated by the fact that he seems to not be able to save the ones he cares for.
Despite this being a supporting role, Color indeed served as the medium to solve one of the irregularities in that world and the process also got him to be saved by another character of the main characters.
In more or less the same wavelength, RDG: Red Data Girl offers a plot with a lot of magic and fantasy to the mix.
Although the storyline follows almost the same guidelines as others in the same genre, it ended up getting mixed reviews as some mention the fact that the plot is lackluster, while others make mention of the design of the anime or the characters as the strong points.
What is certain is that Uchiyama’s character Miyuki Sagara, the main character’s childhood friend and perhaps someone who also holds a certain task to perform, is worth mentioning.
Sagara’s personality comes off as gentle and calm, the typical good-looking teenage boy, yet, in this case, appearances do fool.
If there is a type of character Uchiyama portrays exceptionally well is the ones that end up being a gag by themselves or with the help of others.
Hiroshi Kido in Barakamon is indeed a prime example of that. Uchiyama’s performance as Kido made people burst out laughing with either normal situations that became distorted or misunderstood by other characters.
Often as much Kido gets caught up in the mess and rarely leaves it unscathed.
Kei Tsukishima from Haikyuu!! is more or less the same type, although, in Tsukishima’s case, we have a different personality in the equation, so things change a bit.
This teenage boy has what one would call confidence in his abilities, which often as not comes off as him either cocky or that he is bragging about it.
Tsukki is blunt and enjoys riling up other team members, though he has expressed his dislike towards people with too much excitement since he gets tired from interacting with them.
Amidst several moments of banter between the team members, Tsukishima reveals a more competitive side to himself instead of the typical aura he gives off of being able to do everything without much effort, and consequently not putting much effort into it.
Much like Tsukishima, Uchiyama’s character in Death Parade (2015), Clavis equally takes us by surprise when the elevator operator has no qualms about saying harsh words all the while smiling.
A talented seiyuu such as Uchiyama has a myriad of characters he has performed perfectly, despite its different quirks. Granted, gaggy characters or the cool types are just the tip of the iceberg.
When it comes to drama and tragedy or an overall plot driven by strong emotions, Uchiyama has already made his expertise clear as the day with his character in Zetsuen no Tempest back in 2012.
Since then, although not so frequently, the seiyuu has occasionally gotten roles with similar specs. Take the example of Yuu Otosaka in Charlotte (2015).
Even though many didn’t like the plot of the anime claiming it lacked individuality, Uchiyama’s performance as the lead character is surely worth mentioning. Along more or less the same lines, we have Goldov Auora in Rokka no Yuusha (2015) and Dio Weinberg Junyou in Buddy Complex (2014).
Both characters have a cold personality and are loyal to their values. Then there’s Makoto Tsukimoto in Ping Pong The Animation (2014), which falls in the quirkier category as he rarely shows any expression even when talking to others, but doesn’t hesitate to hum while playing.
Almost as if pursuing this streak of roles in sports anime, Uchiyama was cast as the main character in Battery (2016) as Takumi Harada. By now, it is no surprise when the seiyuu has to portray socio-phobic characters as well as some similar vibes to Tsukishima.
Speaking of sharptongued characters, in 2016 Uchiyama’s role as Yuri Plisetsky, the young Russian skater takes that notion to another level and creates some waves.
Plisetsky not only looks like a delinquent wearing flashy patterned clothes, but his way of talking with others is nothing like what his delicate looks imply, as one can notice earlier on. Yuri!!! on Ice was applauded by many as it goes deeper than the layers of simply being a sports anime.
Aside from the luxury cast, the plot is well constructed which enables the viewers to see the characters grow and improve as both athletes and people.
Tsuyoshi Naoe in Nijiiro Days (2016) and Momo Sakaki in Fukumenkei Noise (2017) share a similar personality.
Naoe is unpredictable and mostly cool and collected, Sakaki however, despite apparently being calm and collected he quickly learns that that is nothing but a façade, a guise he uses to hide, or not, his cold and slightly sadist personality, but most of all, to avoid being honest about his feelings, though at times Sakaki appears to be a lost case in that department.
For mysterious characters, Shin from Evil or Live (2017) is the way to go.
When it comes to comedy we have Masahiro Adachi from WWW.Working!!. Although Adachi’s personality is calm he is by far one of the sanest characters in their workplace.
His efforts to not pass out when a certain event takes place are constantly for naught and end up becoming a gag.
Most recently, Uchiyama has made his return to the sports genre with his role in track and field anime Kaze ga Tsuyoku Fuiteiru as Takashi Sugiyama.
Some of his other roles include:
- Hunter x Hunter (2011),
- Hotarubi no Mori e (2011),
- Aquarion Evol (2012),
- Love Lab (2012),
- Mobile Suit Gundam Unicorn (2010-2014) as Banagher Links,
- Captain Earth (2014),
- Soul Eater Not! (2014),
- Diamond no Ace (2014),
- Nobunaga Concerto (2014),
- One Punch Man (2015),
- SHOW BY ROCK!! (2016),
- Boku no Hero Academia (2016) as Tomura Shigaraki,
- Macross Δ (2016),
- Dive!! (2016),
- Mahoutsukai no Yome (2017),
- Fate/Apocrypha (2017),
- Violet Evergarden (2018),
- Free! -Dive to the Future- (2018).
Radio
When it comes to Uchiyama’s presence in the radio shows, one cannot say we have a lack of him, as throughout the years the seiyuu has either hosted or been a guest to several radio shows.
Uchiyama’s first contact with this department was in 2008 when he was hosting Soul Eater Radio Shibu Seikai alongside fellow seiyuu Chiaki Omigawa who played the role of Maka Albarn.
Following that, the seiyuu hosted Shiki’s radio (2010). In 2011, Uchiyama and Kimura hosted the radio show of the anime Kimi to Boku. The show lasted one year.
From 2012 to 2014, Uchiyama hosted a radio show with fellow seiyuu Toyonaga Toshiyuki called Toshiyuki Toyonaga · Kouki Uchiyama’s Weekly Sound Wing ~ Otowa Editorial Department ~.
Both seiyuu were no strangers to each other so that ended up being a plus, as we could enjoy the show while laughing. There is one episode in which Uchiyama even showed that he knows how to speak English with a Swedish woman.
Between translating to Toyonaga what he was saying to the woman and him excusing himself claiming that his words wouldn’t come out, this episode was by far one of the most memorable.
Needless to say, his co-host laughed his heart out. Currently, the seiyuu has been hosting his own radio show called Kouki Uchiyama 1 Cour!, which has been airing since 2015.
In this show, we have the privilege to listen to Uchiyama talking about movies that he has recently watched and much more.
In 2016, the seiyuu hosted the Yuri!!! on Radio, once again, alongside fellow seiyuu Toshiyuki Toyonaga.
Dubbing/Narration
When it comes to dubbing, Uchiyama has been going strong in that department, from movies to TV shows he has done it all.
A versatile vocal range is a plus when it comes to doing a seiyuu’s job and Uchiyama has nailed that for a long time, hence why the plethora of roles he has dubbed.
Some of the dramas and movies consist in:
- A.I (2001)
- Santa Claus · Returns! Christmas Crisis (2002)
- Harry Potter and the Secret Room (2002)
- Lord of the Rings (2002)
- 12 Dads (2003)
- Shark Boy & Magma Girl 3 – D (2006)
- Doctor Who (2006)
- Shinjuku Incident (2009)
- Terminator 4 (2009)
- Big Mama House 3
- Three Musketeers (2011)
- CSI (2012)
- Shadow Hunter (2013)
- Jurassic Park (2015), and
- Mr Robot (2016).
When it comes to narration, Uchiyama has also done his fair share.
He has voiced Rinne Roukudou from Kyoukai no Rinne in the CM version, Yugami-kun ni wa Tomodachi ga Inai’s CM as Yuuji Yugami, among others.
Games
Uchiyama is known for being prolific in the game industry, be it for his popularity or for some of the characters the seiyuu has played.
In 2005, the game Kingdom Hearts II was out and it was none other than Uchiyama voicing Roxas, probably the most popular character the seiyuu has played in the early stages of his career.
In his debut year in this department of the entertainment industry, 2005 was relatively fruitful for the seiyuu as he then reprised his role as Roxas two years later in Kingdom Hearts Final Mix.
Another project in which Uchiyama was involved was Sky Crawlers Innocence Teisesu as Hagami (2007). In 2008 and 2009, he reprised his role as Soul Evans in the games of the Soul Eater series, as well as his role as Roxas in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 days.
In the same year, the seiyuu got a role as Banagher Links in the Gundam series and reprised it in the following three years. In 2011, Uchiyama was Lean in Final Fantasy Type 0.
In the following years, Uchiyama reprised his roles in Fairy Tail (2012) as Midnight, Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 Remix (2012) as Roxas, Infinite Stratos (2014-2017) as Ichika Orimura, Nisekoi Marriage? (2014) as Raku Ichijou, Haikyuu!! (2014) as Kei Tsukishima, Buddy Complex (2014) as Dio Weinberg Junyou, and My hero Academia (2016-2018).
Some entries in Uchiyama’s repertoire include names such as:
- Little King’s Story (2012)
- SOL TRIGGER (2012)
- Dream Drops (2012)
- Rune Factory 4 (2012)
- Chaos Heros Online (2013)
- Cardboard Senki (2013)
- Uncharted Pirate King and the Last Hidden Tale (2016)
- Valkyrie Anatomia – The Origin (2016)
- Chain Chronicle 3 (2016), and
- Draguaria Lost (2018).
Acting
Uchiyama began his career first as an actor in 1993, when he had merely 3 years. However one cannot say that the seiyuu has a vast repertoire, in fact it is quite the opposite, though it is understandable, since Uchiyama began to focus on his seiyuu career and naturally his acting gigs stopped being the focal point.
Some of the movies/dramas include:
- Hojo Tounne (2001),
- Ultraman Cosmos (2001),
- Toshiie and Matsu – Kaga Hyakumangoku Story (2002),
- Seikei Beauty (2002),
- Chasing a dream (2003),
- Love Constellation (2009), and
- Messiah (2011).
Music
In an era where is appears to have been a trend to debut as a singer while being a seiyuu, Uchiyama remains pretty much unfased. Throughout his vast career, the seiyuu had not sung more than character songs, until 2017 when we got the news that the seiyuu and Nobunaga Shimazaki would be part of a unit.
Some of the character songs include:
- Soul Eater Character Song 1 (2008),
- Kimi to me. Vol. 4 BD · DVD Limited Edition Bonus (2012),
- Zetsuen no Tempest (2013),
- Crimson Quartet (2015) and
- WWW.WORKING !! (2017).
LIPxLIP (2016 -)
This unit debuted in 2016 and is part of the Honeyworks’ idol series. The group consists of Aizo (voiced by Nobunaga Shimazaki) and Yujiro (voiced by Kouki Uchiyama).
The duo debuted with the song “Romeo“. Since then, they released 7 singles and 2 full-length albums.
Out of all the singles released, it is worth mentioning that LIPxLIP exists both in Honeyworks’ idol series as well as outside.
How? They release music within their universe but also provide songs to Japanese TV dramas – that have nothing to do with 2D music or even this idol series.
As such, they’ve had some of their songs serving as openings for TV dramas and even provided music for TV commercials.
“Nonfantasy”, song included in the single of the same title, was featured as the opening theme for the movie Itsudatte Bokura no Koi wa 10 cm Datta..
The single “Repaint” was featured in the live-action series Aoharu Kokou 3-nen C-gumi, “Koi wo Shiyou” was included in the Koi Tsuru Hada Kyun commercial, “Yume Fanfare” was featured in the animated series Hashiritsuzukete Yokattatte, and “Yappa Saikyou!” was used in the 2019 Commercial Food High School Grand Prix.
All of those songs – featured outside of the idol series – show a unit that has transcended its original project and has gone on to provide music to TV dramas, series and anime like “regular” idols would do.
In 2019, the group released its 1st full-length album “Docchi no kiss ka, Erabe yo.“. The album included a total of 12 songs (6 previously released and 6 new).
And in 2023, the group released its 2nd full-length album “Umarete Kita Koto ni Kansha Shinasai!“.
The album included 13 songs, compiling previously released singles with a couple of new songs.
I feel this unit is perfect for fans of traditional bubbly idol groups. Even if the group has more serious songs – from time to time -, a big part of their repertoire is comprised of sweet or bubbly pop performances that will please fans of those.
When it comes to the vocals, I feel they have talent and a lot of potential. One thing that plays in their favor is how close – not similar but close – Shimazaki and Uchiyama’s voices are, to the point that their unisons practically sound like 1 voice only.
Shimazaki and Uchiyama have never performed live as LIPxLIP.
Drama CDs
Uchiyama‘s presence is felt in all departments of the entertainment business. Although, not as prolific as in anime itself the seiyuu has done a handful of drama CDs. Most of them, however, are but the reprisal of his roles in anime. Uchiyama‘s main focus is by far not this department.
Some of his works include names such as:
- Infinite Stratos,
- Boku to Kimi,
- Guilty Crown,
- C series,
- Zetsuen no Tempest,
- Soul Eater series,
- Tsuritama series,
- Nijiiro Days,
- Haikyuu!! series,
- Messiah,
- RDG: Red Data Girl,
- Fukumenkei Noise,
- Liar x Liar series,
among many others.
Variety
When it comes to live events, Uchiyama has been to several throughout the years, some were more memorable than others, be it because of the other guests or because of things the seiyuu said.
In 2011, at the Kimi to Boku event, Uchiyama spoke quite a lot, despite the cool and stoic image that he may give off.
One of the funniest moments of the event was when the cast was asked “Which character from the anime is the coolest?“.
Needless to say, as soon as the seiyuu said he wanted to give his answer one could notice that nothing good was coming from his mouth.
Uchiyama replied to that question saying that he likes Azuma-sensei giving emphasis in the fact that he is a working adult and therefore has money.
Fast forward two years and we have yet another case of Uchiyama making others laugh, this time around because of something his character said.
In 2013, at the Zetsuen no Tempest Seiyuu Event ～a WHODUNIT party ～ 前編, Takigawa somehow starts sounding like a salesperson trying to sell the DVDs that had come out with the excuse of people re-watching the character’s journey.
At the Haikyuu!! event in 2014, it was another chance for Uchiyama to shine.
In the quiz corner, Uchiyama alongside fellow seiyuu Soma Saito, gave birth to what we could call the “Tsukishima Incident“.
As the name implies, no matter the question or character they had to choose, these two would always pick Tsukishima, to the point that in the night event, it was prohibited the use of that answer.
It is in these instances that we get to notice that Uchiyama is in fact sassy, always making comic remarks.
Facts
Graduated from a distinguished college
Oftentimes seiyuu’s college and their major are related to the entertainment industry, but in Uchiyama’s case that is not the reality.
As an alumnus of Waseda University with a major in Cultural Studies, the seiyuu not only has been working in the industry for a long time now, but he also managed to get into one of the most reputable colleges in Japan.
Other seiyuu who are Waseda University alumni include Yuki Ono, Soma Saito, and Shoya Chiba.
Movie buff
For those who have been listening to his current radio show, this comes as no surprise.
Uchiyama has admitted that he is a moviegoer, and usually, he enjoys going to the cinema alone to check on the current movies available, paying no heed to the genre.
Not afraid of his voice aging
In past interviews, Uchiyama, unlike the vast majority of seiyuu, claims he does not worry about his voice losing its quality, meaning its youth, as the seiyuu explains that is but the natural course and that he enjoys noticing how his voice has changed throughout the years.
And this was this month’s Seiyuu Digest. In the meantime, don’t forget to check past Seiyuu Digests (some of those recently updated) – HERE.
Last updated on 12/05/2024 (soft content update)
