Seiyuu Digest #71 – Daiki Hamano

Despite being owner of one of the sweetest bass voices and overflowing with talent in the singing department, Daiki Hamano, is still a highly underrated seiyuu.

Daiki Hamano

KANJI: 濱野 大輝

BORN: March 30, 1989

OCCUPATION: seiyuu, singer, narrator

HEIGHT: 175cm

Daiki Hamano was born on October 11, 1989 in Saitama, Japan. Hamano studied abroad, in Australia, when he was a teen. He ended up falling in love with voice acting while he was attending college.

He enrolled at Katsuta Voice Actor Academy as well as the Japan Narration Actor Institute and upon graduating, he joined Arts Vision, talent agency that has been representing him since his debut.

Seiyuu

2013 – 2016

Kicking off in the right foot

Hamano made a rather later debut in the seiyuu industry.

He was 24 when he joined, already behind most seiyuu by 6 years, which as you must know by now, tends to be an handicap to being noticed by potential fans and standing out in the industry itself.

Of course, the first years for a rookie seiyuu are not always graceful and full of opportunities however Hamano found himself racking up quite a lot of minor roles in his first years as a seiyuu – something that it is rare among rookie seiyuu.

2013, the year of his debut, was quiet, with no roles coming his way. Things changed around in the following year, with him raking up minor roles in anime series such as:

• DRAMATICAL MURDER (2014),
• Yu☆Gi☆Oh! Arc-V (2014),
• Toaru Hikuushi e no Koiuta (2014),
• Sword Art Online II (2014),
• Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans (2015),
• Charlotte (2015),
• Shirobako (2015),
• NARUTO Shippuden (2015),
• Shokugeki no Souma (2015),
• Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso (2015),
• Arslan Senki (2015).

2016 enabled Hamano with the very first roles in anime with some level of spotlight.

He was casted in the sports anime, All Out!!, anime focused on rugby, sport that Daiki Hamano used to play when he was a kid.

For this series he voiced the quiet and intimidating Hirokuni Kasuga, supporting character that plays for the same team as the series’ protagonist.

A year later, Hamano was back to voicing a supporting character in a sports anime. He was casted as Hayase Takanobu in the football anime, Days.

Other anime he’s voiced characters in during this period of time include:

• Terra Formars: Revenge (2016)
• NEW GAME! (2016)
• Mob Psycho 100 II (2016)
• Macross Delta (2016)
• Handa Kun (2016)
• Bungou Stray Dogs (2016)

2017 –

Maintaining consistency, adding depth to his repertoire

Things were still pretty quiet for Daiki Hamano until 2017 arrived.

Hamano was almost everywhere in this year, even if those were, mainly, minor roles.

Out of all the roles he raked up up until now, during this period there are a couple need a bit of highlight.

in 2017, Hamano was casted as Yatouji Ryou in the sci-fi and mecha anime, Re:CREATORS.

He was then casted in the popular adventure anime, Nanatsu no Taizai (2017) as Nanashi, a foreign swordsman.

He would end up reprising his roles several other times throughout the series.

Still in the same year, Daiki Hamano was casted in the music / slice-of-live anime, TSUKIPRO The Animation. He voiced Makoto Sugai, ZIX’s leader.

For the episode the duo appeared in, it was obvious from the start that ZIX were not on good terms with Growth, unit they’re mentioned as rivals of.

Although short – the episode puts a major focus on Growth instead of ZIX, the new group – Hamano’s performance – and singing – surprised many fans of the franchise that were, at that time, caught by surprise with the announcement of a new unit joining the franchise, especially a rival unit.

His deep voice and professional demeanor were natural, with Hamano’s deep toned voice doing the rest of making him sound confident and imposing, even if Makoto Sugai‘s exterior is welcoming yet with a bit of coolness.

Sugai appears in the 2nd season of Tsukiuta, Tsukiuta。 THE ANIMATION2, that premiered in October 2020.

A year later, in 2018, Hamano reprised his role as Yuu Kashima from the drama CDs in the OVA adaptation of Yarichin☆Bitch-bu.

Daiki Hamano is also confirmed to voice Gauma, protagonist of the mecha and sci-fi anime, SSSS.DYNAZENON. This is going to be Hamano’s first ever leading role in a full-length anime series.

In this period of time he’s voiced characters in anime such as:

• Yu☆Gi☆Oh! VRAINS (2017)
• Sakura Quest (2017)
• IDOLMASTER SideM (2017)
• Blend S (2017)
• Strike the Blood II (2017)
• Hinamatsuri (2018)
• JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken Part 5: Ougon no Kaze (2018)
• Goblin Slayer (2018)
• Boku no Hero Academia (2018)
• The iDOLM@STER SideM: Wake Atte Mini! (2018)
• Piano no Mori (2018)
• Tensei shitara Slime Datta Ken (2019)
• Toaru Majutsu no Index III (2019)
• Isekai Quartet (2019)
• Fire Force (2019)
• Kabukichou Sherlock (2020)

Hamano is still trying to find his stride and manage to break away from the minor roles that, 7 years since his debut, are still the majority of his work in anime.

He does have the talent, only needs to score a role with substantial spotlight for people to notice his acting skills.

Radio

You might think that with Daiki Hamano having the powerful, low voice that he has, he would be all over the radio, right?

Unfortunately, that is not the case for him as he only has 4 credits in radio.

Out of all 4 credits, 3 refer to radio shows that kicked off in 2017, in the wake on the insane raise in popularity of the IDOLMASTER SideM franchise.

As a host, Hamano has a calm demeanor although he can, with ease, switch to a more playful or straight up hilarious host if paired with other male seiyuu he’s friends with.

The radio shows he’s hosted so far include:

IDOLMASTER SideM Radio 315Night! (2017)

Alongside fellow THE kogadou‘s members Junta Terashima and Shohei Komatsu, Hamano hosted the radio show IDOLMASTER SideM Radio 315Night! in 2017.

For this show the trio invited members of the franchise’s cast for an entertaining show filled with a great, warm vibe, fun corners and a lot of crazy shenanigans.

RADIO M4!!!! (2017 -)

This is Hamano’s longest running radio show. RADIO M4!!!! kicked off in 2017 and counts with the entertaining quartet – Daiki Hamano, Kouhei Amasaki, Takuma Nagatsuka and Taichi Ichikawa – hosting the show.

The radio show ended up leading to the quartet’s debut as M4!!!!, dance-pop group with some sprinkles of rock on top.

Idol DTI 〜 Hadaka Jio is-Bi 〜 (2017 – 2018)

Idol DTI 〜 Hadaka Jio is-Bi 〜 (アイドルDTI〜裸ジオ is 美〜) kicked off in 2017 and counted with the dynamic and energetic pairing – Daiki Hamano and Tasuku Hatanaka – as its hosts.

The show went on to complete 56 episodes before bidding their fans goodbye.

Gekkan Shin Otokomae Tsushin Rokugatsugo 〜 Gekkan Hamano Daiki (2018)

In 2018, Hamano was given the opportunity to host, for a whole month, the radio show Gekkan Shin Otokomae Tsushin Rokugatsugo 〜 Gekkan.

Games

Hamano has been building up his repertoire in this entertainment medium.

Since his debut, he’s managed to have roles in games with some consistency, voicing heroes and villains alike and in a wide variety of genres, including mecha, otome, hack & slash, RPGs and action / adventure.

His first ever role in a game was in the J-RPG, Tears to Tiara II (2013).

Other games he’s voiced characters in include: DYNAMIC CHORD feat.apple-polisher, SNOW BOUND LAND, Enkeltbillet, Godzilla, Dynasty Warriors 8: Empires, Magical Days the Brats’s Parade, CARAVAN STORIES, X fragments, SD Gundam G GENERATION CROSSRAYS, SHOW BY ROCK!! Fes A Live and many more.

His most important role in games so far is:

Michiru Enjoji in THE IDOLM@STER SideM (2015 -) and SideM LIVE ON ST@GE! (2017 -)

In 2015, Daiki Hamano joined the cast of the popular idol franchise, THE IDOLM@STER SideM. The game, of the same name, was released in 2017 and mixed elements of music, story (incredibly toned down) and idol nurturing/farming.

He voices Michiru Enjoji, former ramen shop owner and member of THE kogadou. He has a gentle and passionate demeanor, acting almost as a father figure to the group’s 2 other members – that love to pick fights with each other at any given time.

Live reading

Hamano does not have many credits in this field although, as of late, he has been getting opportunities to doing some live reading.

In 2018, he was casted in the adaptation of the classic stage play “Cyrano de Bergerac” to live reading play, Cyrano.

Still in the same year, he was casted in the live reading play Bungou, soshite Satsujinki, returning in 2020 for another run of the same play – yet with some of the cast shuffled around.

Narration / Dubbing

If there is a field in which Daiki Hamano is active, it’s in narration.

He does have plenty of narration credits under his belt, much due to how cool and collected his deep voice sounds, being perfect for documentaries or even for dubbing of foreign movies, animation and series.

Some of his credits include: X-Men: Apocalipse, Son of a Gun, If I Stay, A Star is Born, Aquaman, Sonic the Hedgehog, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: OUT OF THE SHADOWS, Bumblebee, TWO WEEKS, My First First Love, Splendid Politics, Zoo, THE FOLLOWING, Transformers: Robots in Disguise, between many more.

Drama CDs

Hamano is still taking his first steps in the drama CDs field. He’s got a couple of roles in BL – boys love – drama CDs, with the best known being his main role in Yarichin☆Bitchibu, manga that was first adapted to drama CD and, given its response and massive sales in both mediums, latter gave way for an anime adaptation.

He’s often found voicing deep voiced characters, ranging from mature men up to college and high-school kids with intimidating auras.

Some of his credits in drama CDs include: DRAMATICAL MURDER DramaCD Vol.3, given, Aiken Honey 〜Amore〜, THE IDOLM@STER SideM ST@RTING LINE -11 Altessimo, ALIVE Growth DramaCD vol.2, Shitteruyo, 10DANCE and more.

Music

Although Daiki Hamano is yet to kick off a solo career, he’s been pretty active when it comes to 2D idol groups and seiyuu units.

He’s been instrumental to all groups he’s a part of, lending his deep vocals and versatility – dabbling in singing and rapping in most projects -, proving that he not only has the voice but also the chops to make his powerful voice stand out in a way that will make the listener want to know “who that voice is” as soon as they come across his singing.

Hamano’s singing has a bit of a nasal undertone and a his singing has bit of a husky feel, not necessarily 100% smooth – those vocals have that edge of sounding a bit too raw and raspy at times, something that has worked well for him in both ballads, rock and EDM.

Below are some of the projects Hamano has been a part of since the start of his career as a seiyuu.

THE kogadou (2015 – )

In 2015, Daiki Hamano joined the cast of THE IDOLM@STER‘s male version, IDOLM@STER SideM.

He was cast as Michiru Enjoji, former ramen shop owner and member of THE kogadou. Junta Terashima and Shohei Komatsu complete the lineup for this unit.

The trio is known for their intense sound and fighting / battle themes in both their songs and live performances.

The group tends to be really physical on a live setting, going for mock sparring to flips and cartwheels on stage, usually raising the tension in their songs and, at the same time, managing to impress the audience.

THE kogadou have participated in single series, shuffle releases, collaborations and the anniversary releases, always bringing to the table their passionate performances.

Up until now the trio has released 1 single, THE IDOLM@STER SideM ST@RTING LINE-12 THE Kogadou (2016).

Although the group had a small cameo in the IDOLM@STER SideM anime, the group ended up not releasing any music for the series.

Aside from these singles, THE kogadou have participated in several cross unit and solo song projects within the franchise.

The trio has participated so far in 3 IDOLMASTER SideM stages: 2nd STAGE 〜ORIGIN@L STARS〜 (2017), 3rd STAGE 〜GLORIOUS ST@GE!〜 (2018) and THE IDOLM@STER SideM 4th LIVE STAGE 〜TRE@SURE GATE〜 (2019).

Voyage Wave (2017)

Voyage Wave’s hosts, Daiki Hamano and Hidenori Takahashi participated in Artsonic’s Double Dare Covers. 

For this album, the duo covered じれったい (Jiretai) by Koji Tamaki and 接吻 KISS (Seppun KISS) by ORIGINAL LOVE.

ZIX (2017 – )

In 2017, ZIX were introduced to the Tsukipro SQ and Alive franchises.

The group is comprised of Daiki Hamano and Takumi Watanabe and made their debut in Tsukipro the Animation, being introduced as Growth’s rival group.

A year later, the duo released their 1st single, Brilliant.

Their sound is a mix of rock and jazz, something that flows pretty well with the members’ contrasting vocals and was rather interesting to find in a group that actively is the opposite of Growth’s completely in-sync, lyrical singing and dramatic, fantasy-imbued instrumentals.

Then, in a strange turn of events, Tsukipro/Movic had the group going on a 2 year hiatus, with news about the duo surfacing only 2020 when it was announced the release of their 2nd single, Z.I.X.A.G.

M4!!!! (2018 – )

In 2018, and stemming from RADIO M4!!!!, M4!!!! made their debut as a group under Marine Entertainment.

M4!!!! consist on Daiki Hamano, Kouhei Amasaki, Takuma Nagatsuka and Taichi Ichikawa and, since their debut, their sound and image has changed quite a bit.

Daiki Hamano does a little bit of everything in this group but his fast, fancy rapping skills have been an asset for M4!!!! since the beginning.

The group used to have a generic pop-rock sound but slowly have been evolving towards a more mature sound and vibe.

They made their debut in 2018 with the single, ONLY LOVE / 4 Me!!!!.

This single was marked by its fast tempo – with the usage of break beats and drum and bass being king.

Soon after, in 2019, the group released a follow up to it, the mini-album, Gravity.

This release was marked with a change of sound for the group, with electronica taking the spotlight, leading to a high tension release made for the dancefloor.

A couple of months later, in 2020, M4!!!! released their 2nd single, Dear my friend / My Sweet Shine.

Their sound changed yet again, going the dramatic route with some Latin influences creating a danceable, ear-catching and refreshing sound for the group.

This sound winked at the group’s previous experiences with pop, rock and electronica and toned it down while keep it classy.

A couple of months later, in April 2020, the group released the single, Advance. This release marked the return of the group to high tension electronica however being bigger and bolder than their debut release.

There were noticeable improvements on the vocal end, with the group sounding more concise and, individual, many of the members going for an upgrade on their consistency and technique – mainly when it came to flourishes such as falsetto and vibrato.

It is a well conceived single, filled with its emotional and funky moments plus a whole lot of vocal highlights.

Anthos* (2019 – )

In 2019, Daiki Hamano joined the ambitious and unique project, Hana Doll.

Hana-Doll* is an idol project created by movic (TSUKIPRO, VAZZROCK, Tsukiuta, etc) in 2019. 6 idols are part of Anthos, group signed to the fictional talent agency Amagiri Production.

Anthos was originally comprised of Toshiki Masuda, Kento Ito, Wataru Komada, Toshiki Masuda, Shunichi Toki and Seiichiro Yamashita.

In 2020, the group welcomed a new member, Shun Horie, and stylized their name as Anthos*.

So far, the group has released 5 singles:

• Birth (2019)
• BOXED (2019)
• IDOLls (2019)
• Message (2020)
• For… (2020)

Their unique sound completely strays away from regular idol projects.

The lyrics delve into darker themes, the instrumentals do not focus on what is trendy, instead the focus is put on a minimalistic electronica sound with elements of hip-hop and tropical house that captures the listeners’ attention.

Variety

When it comes to variety, Hamano is quite the interesting fellow. His hosting style is quite relaxed but always professional – even if, sometimes, he does stray away from the script to have some fun.

As a guest he has always shown that he does have a thing for logical puzzles and challenges that involve riddles and the sort. He’s also pretty solid in mind games, being able to fake his way in a cops and robbers game with relative ease.

Some of his variety show appearances include: Nekoribi Danshi, Futsal Seiyuu,

Nekoribi Danshi (2015 -)

Since 2015, Daiki Hamano co-hosts, alongside Yusuke Shirai and Atsushi Kousaka, the monthly relaxing, cat-filled, variety show, Nekoribi Danshi. 

Tokyo Otome Restaurant 2 (2015)

In 2015, Hamano joined the cooking / variety show, Tokyo Otome Restaurant 2. The show stemmed from the smartphone – now discontinued – featuring its cast in a variety of challenges alongside hosts Showtaro Morikubo and Natsuki Hanae.

Alongside Taku Yashiro and Koutaro Nishiyama, Daiki Hamano was part of the helpers’ team that would undertake special tasks for the show.

Seiyuu sake 〜 Senpai × Kouhai (2016)

In 2016, Daiki Hamano joined fellow seiyuu and respected veteran, Kousuke Toriumi for the TV variety show, Seiyuu sake 〜 Senpai × Kouhai.

The pair talked about alcohol, future ambitions, how is life as a seiyuu, among other serious themes.

Real treasure hunt in Yokohama (2017)

In 2017, Daiki Hamano participated in Marine Entertainment’s well-known Treasure Hunt variety show.

Alongside fellow male seiyuu, Sho Nogami, Hamano did their best to avoid being robbed by the Uchida-Yoshitaka team, strayed far from the “on a date” team – Osaka and Uemura -, and kept themselves behind the tracksuit team – Sato and Akabane – yet far from the “airheaded” team – Hanae and Yashiro – in Yokohama.

Despite working well together, the duo faced some setbacks that, ultimately, robbed them of what could have been a sure win.

Hamano led the way being responsible for bringing Nogami back from playing around to a more serious, “we have to win” mentality.

As soon as their teamwork started to show, both were solving challenges pretty quickly as well as having fun along the way.

Jinro Battle (2018 -)

Hamano has been a consistent presence at Marine Entertainment’s well-known variety, Jinro Battle. He has participated in various recorded and live editions.

In all sessions, he’s shown that he’s got wits and he can find his way through the mind games in this classic game of Cops and Robbers.

Some of his participations include: Jinro Battle lies and the truth 2020 FEBRUARY, Jinro Battle lies and the truth 2019 AUGUST, Jinro Battle – Jinro VS Kaito and Jinro Battle THE NIGHTMARE.

MARINE SUPERNOVA 2018 and 2019

As part of M4!!!!, Daiki Hamano has participated in Marine Entertainment’s annual variety + live performances event, MARINE SUPERNOVA.

Futsal Seiyuu (2019 -)

In 2019, Hamano joined the cast of Marine Entertainment’s sports variety, Futsal Seiyuu.

He’s participated in the 1st edition in 2019 – Futsal Seiyuu Section 1 – alongside fellow male seiyuu Shoya Chiba, Yoshitaka Yamaya, Taichi Ichikawa, Reona Irie, Takeru Kikuchi, Kodai Sakai, Yusuke Shirai, Yusuke Nagano, Shugo Nakamura, Toshinari Fukamachi and Takuya Masumoto.

He then participated in the 2nd edition, Futsal Seiyuu 2019 SEPTEMBER, which counted with Yoshitaka Yamaya, Taichi Ichikawa, Reona Irie, Shimoduru Naoyuki, Kodai Sakai, Tetsuro Noda, Akihiro Arai, Sho Karino, Yuki Shin, Tomoki Atsuta, Yusuke Nagano, Shugo Nakamura, Toshinari Fukamachi and Takuya Masumoto.

Steal Treasure Run!! (2019)

Marine Entertainment’s treasure hunt variety returned in 2019 under a new format, with a different lineup and dynamic.

Daiki Hamano participated in Steal Treasure Run!! along fellow Marine Supernova members: Kouhei Amasaki, Taichi Ichikawa, Takeru Kikuchi, Tatsuya Tokutake, Takuma Nagatsuka, Sho Nogami, Shoya Chiba and Taku Yashiro.

Facts

Loves sports

Before becoming a voice actor, Hamano was extremely involved in sports.

He used to play Rugby as a wing and halfback when he was in junior high, played futsal – sport that he still has the possibility, from time to time, to play alongside fellow male seiyuu for variety DVDs, basketball and, in general, loves exercising (gym routines and the sort).

He is really active and passionate about sports and having a healthy lifestyle.

Passionate about football 

It is no surprise that Daiki Hamano loves sports but one that he is particular about is football.

He is an avid fan of Premiere League’s Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, often following the team’s games while commenting on his twitter account about what is happening.

At the same time, and it has happened, when the team played Liverpool, he engaged in pretty funny banter with another avid football fan among male seiyuu, Yusuke Shirai.

Comfortable speaking and writing English

Hamano went for high-school in Sidney, Australia and love practicing conversational English whenever possible.

Some of his tweets – especially when Football related – have English and, at times, he replies generically in English when he spots comments in that language by some of his fans.

Passionate about music

Aside from sports and voice acting, Daiki Hamano loves music. His favorite artist is the legendary guitarist, Eric Clapton.

With this we wrap up another Seiyuu Digest. In the meantime, don’t forget to check past Seiyuu Digests (some of those recently updated) – HERE.