Junji Majima falls in the category of some seiyuu that have a solid career with over a decade of experience in the industry, however, popularity never hit them for much time and even when it did, it did not persist for long. With a voice that not many other seiyuu have, Majima is owner of a career that is followed by 20 years of work as a seiyuu, and through its ups and downs, he has overcome many challenges.
Some seiyuu throughout the years become caught up in a specific type of characters, yet what we can say for Majima is that he has worked to not be too stuck on one archetype, so it is not uncommon to find him being casted as characters that are total opposites in anime and/or games.
Junji Majima
KANJI: 間島 淳司
BORN: May 13, 1978
OCCUPATION: seiyuu,
HEIGHT: 173 cm
Seiyuu
Born in Nagoya, Aichi on May 13, 1978, Junji Majima has been discreetly and shyly going on in his career since he has debuted. After attending Nagoya University, Majima auditioned for I’m Enterprise and has been, since his debut, a member of the company’s roster. Since his debut he has been actively been making an effort to be prolific in all branches in the entertainment industry, more noticeably when it concerns games and anime.
1999 – 2007
The debut
Majima‘s start in the seiyuu industry was, much like other seiyuu, slow and far from being prolific in the first couple of years of his career. Indeed, that appears to be the same path the vast majority of seiyuu has taken. With that being said, it is true to say that the fact that Majima’s first role came a little after his debut remains unchanged, and although we mention his first role dating back to 2000, we shouldn’t forget that his presence in the anime Dokidoki Densetsu Mahojin Guruguru as several minor characters. From then on, his first couple of years in the seiyuu industry were not easy, as it would be expected. Between his debut in 1999 up until 2002, not only was Majima still stuck to the minor roles but he also appeared to be struggling with appearing in several anime, which therefore reduced his chances of getting his name out there.
In 2003, however, he got what was his first role as a main character in the anime BASToF Syndrome as Fake and some other minor characters, and did so until 2004. Still in 2003, Majima played Prince Forsis in Scrapped Princess. Then, in 2004, his career seemed to be picking on the fast pace of the seiyuu industry, and we began noticing that Majima was starting to be more present and frequently casted in anime, even though not always as important characters to the plot of the anime. Destiny of the Shrine Maiden enabled him to play Souma Oogami, the main character in this mystery anime. Majima played a character with a strong sense of duty and a heavy burden put upon him due to unknown circumstances.
Then came his turn to get on the sports anime wagon, and in the same year, Majima was playing Takehiro Douguchi, a supporting character, in the anime Monkey Turn which has a rather unconventional sport as the main focus, namely professional speed boat racing. At the time, the fans enjoyed the fact that the anime was rather realistic with a main character that did not only win and had struggles along the way in order to improve his future performance. All the attention the anime got was beneficial for Majima as it enabled people to have a chance to notice him, despite the fact that his role is not the main character.
Gunparade Orchestra was his sole role with some importance between 2005 and 2006, in fact it seemed that all the momentum Majima had been slowly but surely building up until that moment simply faded with no apparent reason whatsoever. Him playing Hiroshi Ishizuka was surely his way to stay afloat during the aforementioned period.
Fast forward to 2007, Majima appeared to be making a comeback and to once again building up him momentum. His role in Goshusho-sama Ninomiya-kun as Shungo Ninomiya, the main character in the anime, a boy whose talent in martial arts is the subject of envy of many. At the moment the anime was airing the review of many were not the most positive as there were many who claimed the plot was at times exaggerated.
Some of the other roles Majima has played include names such as DEAR BOYS (2003), Midnight Horror School (2003) as Volocha, Uta∽Kata (2004), DearS (2004), Futari wa Purikura (2004), Rose Maiden (2004), SHUFFLE! (2005), ToHeart2 (2005), Majimeni Fumajime Kaiketsu Zorori (2006), Pumpkin Scissors (2006), ZOMBIE-LOAN (2007), Skygirls (2007) and Saint Beast (2007).
2008-
Back on track
If there is something that Majima has been doing since his sort of comeback in 2007 is getting roles, at least in a more consistent and frequent manner, so as to stay relevant in the seiyuu industry, however, at the same time, it is also true that he has been more concerned with which roles to get.
Toradora! aired back in 2008 and with it Majima portrayed Ryuuji Takasu, the main character in the romance anime. With a mean demeanor and delinquent like looks which oftentimes gives cause to misunderstandings and other sorts of issues for Takasu, this teenage boy is nothing like his outward appearance. With virtually no confidence in himself he is slow on the uptake when it comes to other’s feelings or even his. Unlike his appearance Takasu is smart and self-sufficient, calm at almost all times and is the one that can control Taiga’s explosive temperament, and consequently becomes in charge of handling her enabling him to spend more time with this small girl. Takasu is one of the most iconic characters Majima has played so far, and one that makes fans remember him.
Following his roles in Toradora! Majima was pretty much incognito for the rest of the year, one making himself noticed the next year as Majima was casted in Sora no Manimani as Takeyasu Roma, a teenage boy with a weak constitution rendering him easily found coughing blood or passing out. If anything, this character goes on a completely different category when taking his past roles into account.
It seems that from this year onward, Majima appears in several anime, however his presence as a main character is seldom felt. If there is something seiyuu that have never become extremely popular has constantly into account is that if there is one way to stay relevant in the industry is to assure his presence in all anime seasons and at least get a main character role per year, or at least that appears to be the case some times. Although not exactly as this tendency, he has been more or less following this pattern.
In 2012, he got casted in Is This a Zombie? as Ayumu Aikawa. With a live that took an unexpected turn as a specific event took place, Aikawa is a zombie brought back to live with a mission to achieve. Then he played Toru Miyagishi in Hanasaku Iroha. Still in the same year, Majima played the main character in Aria the Scarlet Ammo as Kinji Tooyama, a student at Butei High school. Thought to be in the same category as the students with the lowest combat ability, Tooyama is a Level E student at his school.
With the coming of 2014, Majima got some important roles, namely as the main character – Yuuya Kanzaki – in the anime Saikin, Imouto no Yousu ga Chotto Okashiinda ga.. The comedy and romance anime was his first main role of the year and although the anime was an adaptation of the manga and novel its adaptation was not that well received as people were complaining that the lot was predictable and cliché as well as the characters being your typical and not much enthusiastic to watch.
The spring of 2014 was indeed a prolific moment for Majima, as he got roles in two anime that either had gripping story lines or memorable characters.
Come 2014, Majima reprised his role in the popular bl game DRAMAtical Murder as Virus. As one of the many mysterious and often misjudged characters in the game, Virus is by far not the main focus of the main plot, which does not disable his ability to cause problems to the main character, Aoba. Majima‘s character, although similar to another, is not his twin and with a sneaky nature and ill-intentions, he is a yakuza in the fictional city of Midorijima. When it comes to Majima’s performance as this character was perfect to the very last detail. Virus is known for saying harsh things with a smile and to say truths with a sarcastic tone, and Majima managed to transpose that into a playful tone and oftentimes cold or flat tone as he impersonated Virus. Despite the anime not having been all that well received by the fans, Majima’s performance is a different subject. Many claimed that the animation was lacking or that the storyline and plot had been either altered, shortened or overly condensed to fit all the routes in 12 episodes. While there was some issues with the anime adaptation of the game, for some of the seiyuu’s fans, this role is probably one of the ones that Majima is known for having portrayed throughout his career.
Still, in the same year, Majima’s role as Toru Acura in Hitsugi no Chaika, both first and second seasons, amazed many as he played the main character in the anime. Acura is a former soldier that now that the war has issues in settling in in a peaceful world seeing as his skills as a saboteur are no longer needed and don’t particularly enable him to get employed. That is until Acura and his adopted sister, Akari, find a little girl with a coffin on her back and decide to help her, and therefore, become employed by this mysterious girl. Although, at first Toru may come off as a person who loves conflict, throughout the two seasons, he grows into a man that cares about others and eventually becomes focused on his mission, to help the little girl called Chaika achieve her goal. Through the highs and lows, Majima‘s performance as Toru was incredible. Once again, the seiyuu showed his prowess in bringing the character’s emotions to life with his talent, even in emotional scenes, he never failed to deliver a perfect performance.
It is not all that common for Majima to play a main character in anime, so when the occurrence becomes reality, it is often worth of our attention. Later on in 2014, Daitoshokan no Hitsujikai aired and Majima played the main character, Kyoutarou Kakei. As one of the smartest students in the school, Kakei is ever so interested in books, to the point of him enrolling in a school with a wide and vast variety of books. In his new school, he is a member of the Library Club. With a personality that often others call of killjoy, this teenage boy often prioritizes books over other things, but even still girls still think he is lovely and others admire him.
As by now, one much have noticed, Majima is not really stuck to one genre of characters, so it is not rare to notice that he has shuffle between genres or archetype of characters. His role as Kimihito Kurusu in Monster Musume no Iru Nichijou or in Nejimaki Seirei Senki: Tenkyou no Alderamin as Matthew Tetojirichi.
Other entries in his repertoire include ARIA The ORIGINATION (2008), Golgo 13 (2008), Asuno Yoi Chi! (2008), FAIRY TAIL (2010), Tamayura〜hitotose〜 (2011), Sukitte Ii nayo (2012), BTOOOM! (2012), GON (2013), Love Stage!! (2014) as Tenma Hidaka, Log Horizon 2nd Season (2014) as Roreil Dawn, Saikin, Imouto no Yousu ga Chotto Okashiinda ga. (2014) as Yuuya Kanzaki, Akame ga Kill! (2014) as Run, Haikyuu!! (2014) as Takehito Sasaya, GANGSTA (2015), Charlotte (2015), TRICKSTER (2016), Kyokai no RINNE (2017), 3D Kanojo (2018), BEATLESS (2018), SSSS.GRIDMAN (2018) and B-Project (2019).
Stage Acting
Although for many, the fact that Majima has participated in stage plays may come as a surprise, it not that shocking of a piece of information as it may seem. Some of the works he has participated include FREEMAN Dai Ikkai Hataage Kaisan Koen “Emuzusutairu” (2008), Kamigami no Itazura PRESENTS Koen “Binwan Gumi” (2009), The third performance of the Ems Style, “Ems Style-Universals!” (2012), and several plays for the theatrical Company, Suzuki-ku in Tokyo.
Radio
Majima has been in the radio scene since 2002, so when it comes down to hosting radio shows he is no stranger to the task. With a good sense of humor and a pleasant voice, he is often the choice when it comes to radio shows. Although, he has been working in this branch of the seiyuu industry for quite some time now, the fact is that he has several entries in his repertoire, but most of them have already ended.
Tora Doradio! (2008- 2009)
First aired back in 2008, this radio show was created because of the popular anime Toradora!, and the two hosts were the main characters in the anime. Majima and Eri Kitamura hosted the show throughout its run, until 2009. With these two names as the hosts of Tora Doradio! there is little room for any doubts that its episodes were funny and comic, when needed as the two hosts are known for their sense of humor.
Although the show ended in 2009, in 2018 Junji and Kitamura reunited for the purpose of hosting the special episode to celebrate the 10 years since the anime and radio show aired.
MajiPon! (2012-2018)
The radio show that was hosted by Junji Majima and Masayoshi Suganuma, the two good-friends, who by the way are also members of DABA. As one might’ve guessed this radio show was everything but your typical one. With challenges to accomplish and variety corners in the radio show, MajiPon! is probably one of the wildest shows hosted by seiyuu. This show aired for quite some time and because of that not only did the guests been more than few, but the corners lived for a long time.
This duo released several radio DJCDs and even appeared on MARINE SUPER WAVE R 2012.
Some other radio shows Maijma either hosted or was a guest include names such as Radio Kaminazuki (2004-2005), VOICE CREW (2006), Nura Magorajio Hyakkiya GO! (2010-2011), Hekiru Junji NATURE (2007-2011), Nihon Ichi Radio (2010-2018), Radio Shochubu (2011-2012), Majima Junji Shimono Hiro no Otoko Gisan Chain (2013-2014) and Hitsugi (Radio) no Chaika (2014), just to name a few.
Dubbing/Narration
Not all seiyuu have to be involved in all areas of the seiyuu industry as it is not mandatory, but more often do we see seiyuu taking their chances in other branches of the entertainment industry than not. With that being said, Majima is no stranger to the dubbing scene, although he is not exactly a famous name either, so if one had to say, he has done some work in this branch but has never been too invested.
As aforementioned, Majima is owner of a great voice with a tone that not many can emulate, so if anything that works wonders for him, but when it comes to narration, that is not enough to deliver a good performance, there is a need for technique and skill, something someone as methodical as him possesses.
Some of his works include names such as “Wolf Creek” as Ben Mitchell, “Without a Trace” as Owen Rollings, “KAMEN RIDER DRAGON KNIGHT” as Brandon, “Speed Star” as Lach and “Teen Night” as Benjamin Prenel.
When it comes narration Majima has but one entry, namely “Asa wa Vitamin”, a morning program.
Drama CDs
Drama CDs are a way for a seiyuu to easily stay relevant in the seiyuu industry, and it is not uncommon to find seiyuu, with no care for their age and/or career years, so it is no surprise that Majima has quite the long repertoire in this branch of his career.
Although some of his entries in this part of his repertoire include drama CDs of anime and/or games he has been casted in, it does not disregard the fact that Majima has been an extremely prolific seiyuu when it comes to this part of the entertainment business. Owner of a mid-tone voice, at times seductive and at others stern and cold, he has all the tools to portray any type of character, no matter its age or any other background information, Majima will perform it perfectly and leave no room for failure. And, much like he approaches his roles in anime, he tries not not to stay stuck to a genre or archetype of characters, so hence the variety in his repertoire.
Majima’s repertoire includes names such as PETIT IDOLM@STER Twelve Seasons! as a Producer, Ikemen☆Album【BlueButterfly, Akiba’s Trips, Cross Edge, Utawarerumono, eden, Dengeki Gakuen: Cross of Venus, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, Memories Off series, Touken Ranbu, Z/X -Zillions of enemy X- NC DramaCD 3 and NightS.
Games
If there is one branch of the entertainment business in which Majima has invested quite some effort and time throughout his career is the games branch. Since his debut that he has been credited in several games and due to that tendency, not only is his repertoire vast but when going through his entries one understands that there are some characters he has played for so many years that they have become iconic of Majima. However, unlike many of the seiyuu, he has not been very active on the rhythm category of games, meaning that there is little probabilities of Majima being found in that territory.
If there is on entry in his repertoire that fans will surely know about is his several roles in the Memories off franchise, in fact it was precisely for one of their games that Majima played his first roles in a game, back in 1999, when he debuted. As Shin Inaho, Majima has reprised his roles throughout the years, and perhaps due to that he has managed to attract quite some fans that have followed both his growth of Inaho and his skills betterment. With the first few years in this branch of the entertainment business, he essentially reprised this role.
Amidst al the supporting characters in other games, Majima had a couple of years until his first role as a main character in a game. Reprising his role in Gunparade Orchestra as Hiroshi Ishizuka in 2006 was his starting point. Following that Majima reprised his role in the anime Toradora! as Ryuuji Takasu in the game that was released back in 2009 Toradora! Portable.
Throughout his many characters he has played it is safe to say that Majima does not stick to one archetype, no matter the platform. That the example of his character in Eden* They Were Only Two, On The Planet. as Haruna Ryou, a soldier that has grasped a full control over his emotions.
Then came 2012 and DRAMAtical Murder came out. Majima plays the sleazy and sneaky character that only brings disarray to others. Other than having a mysterious background that no one really knows about, Virus has all the characteristics to get one run from him at his sight. Calculative, playful and constantly talking with a subtle, most of the times, ironic tone, this character was brought to life by Majima’s impressive performance as this conundrum of a character. Later on, he reprised his role in the fandisc DRAMAtical Murder re:connect. Even though we mention Virus as the vicious character that he is, truth is he does not appear that often in the game, the same, however cannot be said in the fandisc, as he got his proper route.
On another note, Majima has also made his endeavors in to the romance game category. In 2013, he was casted as Jill Christophe, the main character, in Ikemen Oukyuu ◆ Mayonaka no Cinderella. As the princess’s tutor, Christophe has a calm personality, a completely different personality from previous characters Majima has played.
Other games include names such as Disgaea Infinite (2009), Game demo, Papa no Iu Koto o Kikinasai! (2012), Rakuen Danshi ~Beast Harem~ (2013), Tears to Tiara II: Haou no Matsuei (2013), Senjou no Waltz (2014), Tengai ni Mau, Iki na Hana (2018) and Otome Ken Musashi (2019).
Music
Majima is not a very prolific seiyuu when it comes to the music industry. So far he has sung several character songs, of anime in which he played a character, but aside from that, he has not shown any signs to pursue a solo career nor with a unit.
CABA
Majima is a member of the Project Daba‘s seiyuu unit CABA. The members of this unit are no strangers to one another as they’re all friends born in 1978, and they consist of Daisuke Ono, Junji Majima, Hisayoshi Suganuma and Takayuki Kondo. Unlike other units, CABA‘s main focus lies in singing cover songs. Since 2016, the group has released a total of three cover albums, the last one having been released in 2017.
Variety
Throughout the years the group has announced several branch projects, some of them include several and entertaining releases, including DABA‘s Cops and Robbers, Realistic Escape and Horse Life Game.
In the Cops and Robbers, Majima proved that he is smart enough to devise a strategy in order not to be caught by the cops, in fact his strategy was so good that for some time he was pretty much police ridden.
In Horse Life Game, because of Kondo having sustained an injury he did not participate as a member, but instead he was the MC. Needless to say that the other members did not tone down on the joking and laughing.
With that being said, Majima was no exception. He did not waste anytime and since the beginning he either tricked Kondo into apologize out of nowhere or he plainly ignored the orders Kondo, as the MC and horse owner, had given.
Majima to Junji no GanganGA channel (2015 -)
The show counts with several corners – free talk, guest interview, games -, each of those showcasing the duo’s presentation skills as well as the comfort in front of the cameras.
GanganGA channel has several hosts, each pair with its show so, since 2017, Majima has only hosted one episodes featuring Yuuichiro Umehara.
Facts
Chairman of the Suzuki-ku Recorder Culture Association, Tokyo.
Majima has surprised everyone with the fact that he is the chairman of a theater company. Suzuki-ku Recorder Culture Association has staged several comedies over the years.
Left-handed
Majima is also another of the few left-handed seiyuu in the industry.
Gamer
Majima has expressed several times that his favorite game is Monster Hunter 3 and he often publishes on his blog about his accomplishments and whatnot.
And that was it for this month’s Seiyuu Digest.
