The man, the legend. Respected by many, intimidating for some, Show Hayami is one of the coolest and most talented seiyuu of his generation.
Show Hayami
KANJI: 大濱 靖
BORN: August 2, 1958
OCCUPATION: seiyuu, singer, actor
HEIGHT: 174cm
Show Hayami (stage name) was born Yasushi Ohama on August 2, 1958, in Takasago, Hyogo, Japan. He’s the youngest of 3 siblings.
He’s represented by Rush Style, seiyuu talent agency founded by him in 2013.
Seiyuu
Show Hayami’s journey as a seiyuu is quite the interesting one. Hayami was initially a stage actor working with a theatre troupe.
One day he decided to leave the troupe and, by mere chance, as he was reading a magazine, he saw an advert for a seiyuu contest in which the winner would win 10.000 yen.
Hayami didn’t want to be a seiyuu, he just wanted the money, however, little did he know by that time that his participation in that contest would change his life. Out of 30.000 contestants, Hayami emerged as the winner of the grand prize.
By winning that contest, Hayami not only won the money prize but also got an opportunity to experience voice acting with a couple of minor roles in 1980. He would eventually find voice acting to be a fun job and the more word he did as a voice actor, the more he fell in love with it.
1980 – 1990
Breakthrough right off the bat
Something that is really interesting in Show Hayami’s career is that contrary to what was the trend back in the 80s – seiyuu took quite a long time before getting a leading/main role or even a good supporting role -, Hayami sure did get his first supporting role within 2 years of his debut as a seiyuu.
And it would end up being for one of the classic and critically acclaimed mecha anime series, Macross.
Maximilian Jenius is one of the supporting characters in Macross yet one with quite the overarching storyline that is fleshed out across several installments in the Macross series. Show Hayami first voiced the character in 1982.
Max is a genius pilot for the U.N. Spacy. He’s reserved and considered by many characters in the series as the perfect gentleman. With a strong sense of duty and justice, this was a character that, despite not part of the main cast, fans were rooting for and interesting in knowing more of.
This would be the role responsible for Show Hayami’s breakthrough as a voice actor as well as the start of his work in mecha anime (and later on, games).
Show Hayami’s first leading role would arrive in 1983. He was cast as Kei Katsuragi in the mecha anime Choujikuu Seiki Orguss.
In many aspects, this anime seemed to be similar to the critically acclaimed Macross – even from the same director – however, it paled in comparison in terms of depth of the story as well as character development.
Katsuragi went in a completely different direction from his previous roles. He’s a Second Lieutenant of the Freedom Space Corps that, for plot reasons, traveled in time to 20 years in the future.
However, put aside the gentlemen and bring out the womanizer. Katsuragi is a womanizer through and through, charming and flirting with other characters in the franchise even though – at some point – he’s in a serious relationship.
After this role, Show Hayami went on a streak of minor or supporting roles with barely any importance to the anime series those were featured in. Most of his work from 1984 to 1987 was in mecha anime series.
In 1987, Show Hayami was cast as the antagonist in the military and sci-fi anime series Akai Koudan Zillion.
With a controversial storyline and, at times, questionable art direction, Show Hayami’s role as rockstar Koji Nanjo in the OVA Zetsuai 1989 would end up being his 1st BL credit.
Hayami would end up reprising his role as Nanjo in two additional OVAs released in 1994 and 1996.
Although not a main or leading role, in 1990, Show Hayami was cast as Zarbon in the original Dragon Ball Z.
Freeza’s right-hand man, known for his raw power and a rather futile way to analyze things based on how attractive they are.
Show Hayami was back to voicing a main character in anime in 1990. He voiced Exkaiser in the mecha anime Yuusha Exkaiser.
According to Hayami, this is a role he holds very dear to him as young kids in the 90s sent him letters thanking him for “saving the world”, something that filled him with happiness and a renewed passion for voice acting.
Although he’s mentioned this a couple of times, you can always check him talking in detail about it on a special interview for Sora’s Sempai in 2021.
Other anime series he’s voiced characters in this decade include:
- Seisenshi Dunbine (1983)
- Kikou Kai Galient (1984)
- Juusenki L-Gaim (1984)
- Aoki Ryuusei SPT Layzner (1985)
- Machine Robo: Cronos no Dai Gyakushuu (1986)
- City Hunter (1988 – 1991)
- Doraemon (1988)
- Saint Seiya (1988)
- Juushin Liger (1989)
- Ranma ½ (1989)
1991 – 2001
Diversifying his repertoire
After a whole decade of building up his repertoire with several strong characters – villains and otherwise – primarily in mecha anime, it was time for diversifying his repertoire and while mecha was still a recurrent music genre for the anime series he voiced characters in, he started to branch out to romance, racing, comedy, and drama.
In 1991, he was cast as Osamu Sugo in the racing anime Future GPX Cyber Formula. Despite it not being a leading role but a supporting one, it was quite an interesting role for Hayami.
Sugo starts as an ambitious racer, joining various racing teams and always showing his best until something happens that hinders his ability to drive. He then transitions to manager and test driver, respected by many for his managerial skills.
A year later, Hayami returned with a leading role in a mecha anime, once again voicing a robot.
He joined the cast of Densetsu no Yuusha Da Garn and voiced Da Garn, a robot that protects Earth alongside the main character in the series Seiji.
After a couple of quiet years, Show Hayami would be back to voice a character part of the main cast of an anime series.
He joined the cast of the military and comedy anime Musekinin Kanchou Tylor as the straight-laced military Makoto Yamamoto.
In 1994, Show Hayami would end up reprising his role as Maximilian Jenius in Macross 7.
In 1998, Show Hayami was cast as the hedonist womanizer Nicholas D. Wolfwood in the action and drama anime Trigun.
Despite his behavior, Nicholas is actually working in an attempt to have money to help the children in the orphanage he runs.
To balance things out, Hayami was back to voicing an antagonist character, this time around Ashram in the fantasy and magic anime series Lodoss-tou Senki: Eiyuu Kishi Den.
Hello 2000 and hello another antagonist role for Show Hayami that by the later 90s, early 00s was establishing himself as one of the best voice actors for antagonists.
He was cast as Kazutaka Muraki in the horror shounen-ai anime series Yami no Matsuei. Muraki is a master manipulator, a sociopath that has a “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” behavior throughout the series.
Chilling performance by Show Hayami, fleshing out this character in a way that it still remains as one of his most iconic roles to date.
Other anime series he’s voiced characters in this decade include:
- Kikou Keisatsu Metal Jack (1991)
- Yokoyama Mitsuteru Sangokushi (1991)
- Nangoku Shounen Papuwa-kun (1992)
- Crayon Shin-chan (1996 – 2011)
- Cutey Honey F (1997)
- Detective Conan (1998)
- Petshop of Horrors (1999)
- PROJECT ARMS (2001)
2002 – 2012
Respected Veteran
By the time 2002 arrived, Show Hayami was already one of the most coveted seiyuu when it came to voicing antagonists in anime.
No matter how cold, how sociopathic, Hayami could pull those off with a lot of ease, delivering chilling performances one after another.
And the following decade would end up solidifying that idea about him.
He was cast in the mecha anime Choujuushin Gravion as Klein Sandman, smart billionaire and commander of the Earthgertz.
Although this is a supporting role, Hayami ended up reprising the role in Juusou Kikou Dancougar Nova (2007).
In 2002, Show Hayami was cast as the calm and collected Nobutsuna Naoe in the romance and supernatural anime Honoo no Mirage.
A year later, he voiced Ewan Remington a powerful fighter and influential member of the Magdalan Order with a mysterious aura.
Perhaps one of Show Hayami’s most iconic roles in anime is Julious in the Angelique OVA adaptation.
Stemming from the pioneer otome game – and massively popular franchise -, the OVA was a special project to reward the fans of the franchise and not made for the regular anime audience (something that explains the polarizing opinions on this 3-episodes special).
In 2005, Show Hayami was cast as Tenzen Yakushiji in the historical anime Basilisk: Kouga Ninpou Chou. Tenzen is one of the antagonists in the series seeking to destroy the Kouga Clan.
Still in the same year, Show Hayami would voice one of the most iconic villains in anime, he voiced Sousuke Aizen in the popular action anime BLEACH.
Aizen plays an interesting act by being initially extremely polite and soft-spoken, always with a solution to any problem.
However, as the series progresses, he shows a manipulative and cold demeanor, doing a 180 to his personality. Hayami’s performance really made that transition from gentle, respected captain to suave villain all the more impressive.
It was everything about nuance in his performance and it really made him quite the impressive villain.
In 2009, Show Hayami was cast as Ayanami in the military anime 07-Ghost. Moved by nationalism, Ayanami is the type of character that is passionate about his country willing to kill and die for what his beliefs.
This was a return to antagonist roles for Hayami and it was just as awesome as previous roles in this wavelength.
Still in the same year, Show Hayami reprised his role as Akechi Mitsuhide in the anime adaptation of the popular hack and slash game Sengoku Basara.
Mitsuhide is a vassal of Nobunaga Oda and has is a sadistic psychopath with a passion for watching the suffering of others.
Fairy Tail started airing in 2009 however Show Hayami only joined the cast in 2010. He voices Ichiya Vandalay Kotobuki, the eccentric – and hilarious – leader of the Blue Pegasus Guild.
A year later, he joined the cast of Shakugan no Shana III (Final) as the noble and self-controlled Sairei no Hebi, one of the crimson gods.
Before the end of the year, Show Hayami voiced the “perfect”, arrogant and cold-hearted magi Tokiomi Tohsaka in the popular action and fantasy anime Fate/Zero.
He’s a powerful and manipulative magi that is focused on winning the Holy Grail war at the expense of his family’s happiness.
Other anime series he’s voiced characters in this decade include:
- Samurai Deeper Kyou (2002)
- Shutsugeki! Machine Robo Rescue (2003)
- Yakitate!! Japan (2004)
- Samurai Champloo (2004)
- Black Cat (2005)
- Inukami! (2006)
- Juushin Enbu: Hero Tales (2007)
- Saint Beast: Kouin Jojishi Tenshi Tan (2007)
- NANA (2007)
- Baccano! (2007)
- Gintama (2007)
- Kurogane no Linebarrels (2008)
- Shinkyoku Soukai Polyphonica Crimson S (2009)
- Starry☆Sky (2010)
- Ozma (2012)
- K (2012)
2013 – 2017
Show Hayami’s career started to quiet down around this period of time.
The number of leading roles Show Hayami got was drastically reduced and he was mostly voicing supporting characters in a wide variety of anime series however mecha in which he continued to have some work.
In 2014, Show Hayami was cast in the mecha anime Aldnoah.Zero as the proud Cruhteo, Count, and member of the Orbital Knights. He reprised his role in the 2nd season that aired in 2015.
Hayami voiced Gengo Kuramitsu, captain of the alliance’s flagship Cygnus.
Contrary to most military roles voiced by Show Hayami in mecha anime, Gengo proved to be quite the laidback captain, having a refreshing vibe.
Still in the same year, he joined the cast of the popular horror and psychological anime Tokyo Ghoul.
He voiced Kousuke Houji, a Special Class Investigator, he’s rather calm and collected, focused on mastering the usage of his quinque.
In 2015, he was cast in Assassination Classroom as Gakuho Asano, one of the supporting characters in the series. Asano is a shrewd individual that prioritizes pedagogy over basic morality.
Other anime series he’s voiced characters in this period of time include:
- BROTHERS CONFLICT (2013)
- AKB0048: Next Stage (2013)
- High School DxD (2013)
- Samurai Flamenco (2013)
- JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders (2015)
- Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans (2015)
- Bloodivores (2016)
- Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma: The Third Plate (2017)
2018 –
A slightly revitalized career
After joining the Hypnosis Mic franchise in 2017 – and it imploding in popularity -, Show Hayami saw his career as a veteran voice actor revitalize a bit. While usually, seiyuu tend to have a decreasing number of roles as veterans – and especially when they are in their late 50s – Hayami was going the completely opposite way.
Everyone wanted his voice back in anime. Of course, leading roles were scarce but he was back to being a regular feature in anime.
This 2nd rise in popularity for Show Hayami in a way opened doors for the seiyuu industry to have a good look at all the experienced and highly talented veterans it has and rethink their place and importance in anime.
Younger anime fans love their veteran seiyuu’s voices and when, up until 2017, being a veteran seiyuu meant a slow fade to black in their career dubbing anime, it now means that veteran seiyuu have the chance to keep being relevant for longer.
That was noticeable by how many veteran seiyuu started to be cast in the supporting or even main roles for popular anime shows aiming for young teens or even joining 2D music projects.
In a way, the success Show Hayami experienced as part of the cast of Hypnosis Mic ended up revitalizing not only his career but also those veteran seiyuu that still want to dub anime and were struggling to find roles that fit them due to their veteran status and age.
Hayami kicked off 2018 with supporting roles in Pop Team Epic, Goblin Slayer, Gundam Build Divers, Cardfight!! Vanguard G: Z, Gakuen Basara, and Ace Attorney Season 2, just to name a few.
He got 19 roles in anime in that year, the most roles he ever got up until then in his career as a seiyuu.
2019 carried over the momentum and Hayami was cast in 14 anime series (supporting roles only). Some of those include ACTORS: Songs Connection, Z/X Code reunion, 7 Seeds, between many more.
The hype would fade a bit away in 2020, as Show Hayami saw the number of roles in that year to stay below 10. The most buzzworthy role of the year was, indeed, that of Jinguji Jakurai.
He reprised his role as Matenro’s leader Jinguji Jakurai – from the music and drama parts in the Hypnosis Mic’s CDs – for its anime adaptation Hypnosis Mic: Division Rap Battle – Rhyme Anima.
Despite its unique premise (and potential to be a genuinely good anime), its execution was rather strange to the point that even some fans of the franchise found themselves genuinely confused about the story.
The anime ended up getting mixed reviews.
The lack of focus on whether to target the anime adaptation to fans or newcomers made its execution and plot sound confusing to not only newcomers but also core fans of the franchise.
With 13 episodes covering 4 core crews and 12 core characters (not to mention a whole new crew just for “plot” purposes and even the party of words main trio), it proved to be a massive challenge to pull off a consistent, logical, and engaging plot. As a result, the adaptation ended up having sloppy work across the board.
Don’t get me wrong, Hypnosis Mic: Division Rap Battle – Rhyme Anima is an entertaining anime with a couple of good songs in it.
However, the franchise surely deserved a proper – at least a “good” – adaptation of the early stories up until the recent timeline, something that could please core fans and be the perfect starting point for newcomers.
Instead, we got the gimmick of “random, episodic story in which crew X fights crime by rapping“, with the creators praying that everything tied up and made sense in the end. 2 episodes for each crew felt like it was too little, in the case of some crews you really only get a very superficial view into them, their problems and or intentions, not to mention there’s very few screen time for every seiyuu in the cast.
Given the franchise’s popularity, even if it was an okay anime series, it may quite possibly spawn new seasons however, with the story already straying away from the content that is considered “canon”, it seems like it may go the Utapri route and completely disregard the source material in future installments (if there are any).
2021 kicked off pretty quietly, with Show Hayami having a couple of supporting roles in anime series such as Idoly Pride, Sayonara Watashi no Cramer, Record of Ragnarok, Gokushufudou and more.
In his 60s, Show Hayami is still as relevant as when he was in his peak popularity in the 90s and early 00s.
He’s managed to stay afloat in the industry due to his iconic bass voice, impressive voice acting skills, and constant will to learn from the younger generations (something that, eventually, helped to open the doors for other veteran seiyuu to challenge themselves in things they’d never do, for example, join 2D music projects and be active members of it).
Other anime series he’s voiced characters in this period of time include:
- Kitsune no Koe (2018)
- RobiHachi (2019)
- Bakumatsu: Crisis (2019)
- Doraemon (2019)
- Zoids Wild Zero (2019)
- ARP Backstage Pass (2020)
- Infinite Dendrogram (2020)
- Shin Sakura Taisen the Animation (2020)
- Fire Force Season 2 (2020)
- Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken (2020)
- Digimon Adventure (2021)
Awards
In 2019, at the 13th Seiyuu Awards, Show Hayami and the main cast of Hypnosis Mic – members of Buster Bros!!!, MAD TRIGGER CREW, Fling Posse and Matenro – received the Singing Award.
Show Hayami attended the ceremony alongside Subaru Kimura, Kouhei Amasaki, Yukihiro Nozuyama, Ryuichi Kijima, and Haruki Ishiya.
Radio
While one would think someone with such a booming low voice tone would be perfect to do radio work, surprisingly, Show Hayami does not have many credits in this field.
Since the start of his career as a voice actor in 1982, Hayami has picked up very few radio hosting gigs. As a radio host, Show Hayami is actually quite relaxed.
He is courteous and friendly with guests regardless if they are seniors or juniors to him, something that usually leads to a relaxed environment during the shows he’s hosted/co-hosted over the years.
One thing that sets Show Hayami apart from all other veteran seiyuu – for example, those of the same generation as him – is that he actually listens to his juniors, does not tease them, and tries to learn as much from them as he gets to teach them interesting or useful things in the seiyuu industry.
This really sets him apart. He cares and doesn’t use his status as a veteran to pick on juniors just for variety’s sake. This makes it so that although slightly intimidated at first with his booming voice, importance, and relevance in the seiyuu industry, most juniors end up admiring him and turn into rather close friends.
As a guest, Hayami is as friendly yet a bit more reserved. He listens more, rarely jumps on top of others to speak his mind. Once again, being a gentleman among seiyuu.
His first radio gig was in 1993 for “Rajimention MOONWAVE Boku no Chikyu o Mamotte“, co-hosting with fellow seiyuu Yuri Shiratori. The radio show aired from July 1993 to October 1993.
It would take almost a decade for Hayami to return to radio, co-hosting “Meikai Uesugi-gun Radio Station Aniplex Anime Koushiki site” with fellow seiyuu Toshihiko Seki. The radio show aired from July 23 – September 17, 2002.
The show returned for a 2nd run in 2004, lasting only a couple of months.
In 2005, Hayami co-hosted Radio S.S.D.S.Ai no Kaitai Shinsho with Jun Fukuyama. This would be the very first of various radio shows that S.S.D.S would have over the years.
One of the most popular spin-off radio shows was Hayami Show × Masuda Toshiki no Anata o Iyasu Radio ~ Hakui de Sasayaite ~ that aired from 2015 up until 2019.
Following it, Show Hayami brought in long-time friend and fellow seiyuu Daisuke Hirakawa to co-host “S.S.D.S. Iyashikei Radio Hayami Show & Hirakawa Daisuke no ai no Kaitai Shinsho NEO“.
The radio show kicked off in 2019 and, at the time this Seiyuu Digest was written, it is still ongoing.
Outside of his passion project, from 2020 up until March 2021 Show Hayami was a regular in the NHK radio show “Tokui aozora no ani getchu!“.
Games
Show Hayami has a vast repertoire of characters voiced in games.
He started voicing characters in games in 1991 – with a role in EFERA & JILIORA The Emblem From Darkness – and after that, he’s been commonly found in action and RPG games.
In the 90s and early 00s, he was frequently featured in otome games, namely the Angelique franchise – the first-ever otome game franchise.
His deep bass voice has that twist that makes it easy for him to both voice smooth gentlemen as well as cool, intimidating villains.
Since the list is quite extensive – Hayami has more than 100 credits in games – I welcome you to check his official Japanese Wikipedia page for any roles that may not be featured in this Seiyuu Digest.
Below are some of the most iconic roles (or participations across various entries in the same franchise) in his career when it comes to games.
Julious in Angelique franchise (1995 -)
In 1994, Show Hayami would end up joining the cast of the Angelique franchise, the 1st ever otome game franchise in history as well as the longest-running, having stemmed various main entries and spin-offs in the franchise, with the most recent dating back to 2021.
He was cast as Julious, Guardian of Light that and serves the queens in the game’s universe. This would end up being the role that put Show Hayami on the radar of thousands of women in Japan.
Woodrow Kelvin in Tales of franchise (1997 -)
In 1997, Hayami joined the cast of the popular RPG franchise “Tales of”.
Since then he’s voiced the chivalrous and kind Woodrow Kelvin in Tales of Destiny (1997), Tales of Destiny 2 (2002), Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology (2006), and Tales of the Rays (2017).
Various characters in Super Robot Wars franchise (2000 – )
In 2000, Show Hayami would reprise his role as Maximilian Jenius in Super Robot Wars Alpha.
Since then he’s been a regular presence in the franchise’s games, voicing a wide variety of characters that include Laodicea Judecca Gozzo, Ginias Sahalin, Kei Katsuragi, Klein Sandman, Gengo Kuramitsu, between many more.
If you’re into mecha and the Super Robot Wars franchise is your thing, you’ve got a high chance of coming across Show Hayami voicing one of the characters.
Akechi Mitsuhide in Sengoku Basara (2005 – )
In 2005, he would voice Akechi Mitsuhide in the high-octane hack and slash game franchise “Sengoku Basara“. Mitsuhide has been a regular presence in the franchise’s games since 2005, being one of the fan-favorite characters.
Due to the popularity of the franchise, in 2009, an anime adaptation premiered in Japan.
Game S.S.D.S. ~Setsuna no Akogare~ (2005)
Still in the same year, Game S.S.D.S. ~Setsuna no Akogare~ was released.
The game fits right into the S.S.D.S universe that Show Hayami had created – first starting with the live events, then expanding to music and games – and counts with a star-studded cast and scenarios written by Hayami.
He reprised his role as Dr. HAYAMI.
The game is well known for its multiple “bad endings” and an incredible amount of choices throughout.
Reiji Ishioda in Yakuza: Like a Dragon (2020)
In 2020, Show Hayami joined the cast of Yakuza: Like a Dragon as Reiji Ishioda, a patriarch of the Ishioda Family (a subsidiary of the Omi Alliance) and one of the game’s antagonists.
Jinguji Jakurai in Hypnosis Mic – Alternative Rap Battle – (2020 -)
Hayami reprised his role as Matenro‘s kind and mysterious leader Jinguji Jakurai in the smartphone game, Hypnosis Mic – Alternative Rap Battle –.
The game counts with several story parts however those are considered an “alternative” story to that told in the manga, anime, and music.
Other games he’s voiced characters include:
- Tengai Makyo: Fuun Kabukiden (1993)
- Emerald Dragon (1994)
- JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure (1998)
- Persona 2: Innocent Sin (1999)
- The Legend of Dragoon (1999)
- Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side (2002)
- Phantasy Star Universe (2006)
- Ar Tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica (2007)
- Armored Core: For Answer (2008)
- Bleach: Soul Resurrection (2011)
- Saint Seiya: Brave Soldiers (2013)
- Valkyria Chronicles 4 (2018)
- Fate/Grand Order (2019)
- Code Vein (2019)
- Fairy Tail (2020)
- ALTDEUS: Beyond Chronos (2020)
Acting
Stage acting is but a fraction of the work Show Hayami does.
He did start his career as a theatre actor, even being part of a troupe, however, frustrated with how his life was, he decided to quit it, later coming across voice acting by chance.
That encounter pivoted his career focus from live acting to voice acting however Hayami never forgot his routes and although it is not a major focus in his career, he’s always made time to do a bit of acting through a passion project of his S.S.D.S. 〜Super Stylish Doctors Story〜.
S.S.D.S. 〜Super Stylish Doctors Story〜 (2003 -)
This is actually one of those projects that were created by mere chance and the result of a reaction by fans to Show Hayami dressed as a doctor for one of the sessions of Toshiyuki Morikawa’s yearly live talk show (including the trademark live reading play with seiyuu crossdressing or even cosplaying) “Omaera No Tame Darou“.
It was by mere chance that Hayami dressed up as a doctor however, the response he got from the fans in the audience was crazy. Among shrieking and ecstatic fans he concluded that “Maybe I onto something here (seeing the reaction by the audience)”.
A couple of months later “S.S.D.S. ~ Super Stylish Doctors Story ~” would see the light of day. It started out as a science fiction comedy set in a hospital and based on an original script by Show Hayami.
As an interesting bonus, Hayami enlisted not only long-time friends in the seiyuu industry to act alongside him – Horiuchi Kenyuu, Toshiyuki Morikawa, Ryotaro Okiayu, Toshihiko Seki but also brought along seiyuu that he felt deserved the spotlight as well as rookies.
The premise of the story is the following: the story takes place in the world’s finest medical facility, The JOY Zaburo Memorial: St. Laforet Hospital.
This is a place where the most stylish of all stylish doctors – men and women – coming from all around the world provide the best medical care to their patients through “love” and “joy”.
And thus, “S.S.D.S. ~ Super Stylish Doctors Story ~” ends up fulfilling the fantasies of the audience while giving a platform for both veterans and youngsters to showcase their skills.
Among the youngsters that have been featured in “S.S.D.S. ~ Super Stylish Doctors Story ~” are Takuya Sato, Toshiki Masuda, Subaru Kimura, and Yukihiro Nozuyama.
Show Hayami not only is the creator but he is also the scriptwriter and actor for every single piece of content in the – now – franchise.
It all started in September 2003, when the first drama CD “Ai no Kaitai Shinsho” was released. Since then “S.S.D.S. ~ Super Stylish Doctors Story ~” includes drama CDs, music CDs, games, variety and reading events, web radio shows, and even a Nico Nico channel.
What started by mere chance ended up being one of the longest-running variety/events held by and featuring seiyuu and one of the very few platforms in which seiyuu can showcase their acting, voice acting, singing, and variety skills all in the same place.
Narration / Dubbing
A perk of being in the seiyuu industry for 40 years has made it possible for Show Hayami to not only do a wide variety of narration jobs but also do so in a wide variety of formats from cassette to CD-ROM and the now, common, CDs.
Contrary to what you might expect coming from a seiyuu with such an awesome voice – perfect for narration – Hayami actually doesn’t have many gigs in his repertoire.
With particular expression in the 90s, he’s done narration for a multitude of TV commercials for games. Since 2015, he hasn’t been doing any narration work.
Now, when it comes to dubbing foreign movies and series, Hayami has quite a strong presence. Although not official, Hayami tends to be responsible for the Japanese voice for Nicholas Cage.
Over the years he’s lent his voice to the Japanese dubs of foreign movies and TV series like The Cotton Club, Outlander, The Mask, The Hunchback, Kill Chain, PRIMAL, NCIS, HAWAII FIVE-0, THE MENTALIST, X Files, between many more.
Drama CDs
In his career spanning over 4 decades, Show Hayami has participated in a multitude of drama CDs – from anime tie-ups to special voice drama CDs included with manga and even to otome content – and has impressed since day 1 with his skills and bass voice tone.
He was one of the very first seiyuu to participate in otome drama CDs – as part of the Angelique franchise – and had a strong presence in BL/Shounen-ai work.
Contrary to the usually strong, villainous vibe of Hayami’s characters in anime, when it came to drama CDs, he was usually the suave gentleman, making the best use of his booming, reverberating low voice tone.
Some of the most important drama CDs (or series/franchises) he’s lent his voice acting talents to include:
- Angelique Series (as Saint Julius, Guardian of Light)
- Vampire Hunter D Series
- S.S.D.S.series (as DR. HAYAMI)
- Street Fighter II Chun-Li Flying Legend
- Sengoku BASARA 2 series (as Akechi Mitsuhide)
- Tales of Destiny 2
- Trinity Blood R.A.M
- Joker series
- Future GPX Cyber Formula Series
- Fate / Zero Sound Drama Series (as Tokiomi Tohsaka)
- Hypnosismic -Division Rap Battle- (as Jinguji Jakurai)
Given as the list is too long to go on about it, I thoroughly welcome you to check his Japanese Wikipedia entry for an extensive list of all the drama CDs he’s worked in.
Music
Show Hayami is one of the very first male seiyuu to have a career as a solo artist.
Owner of a low, sweet bass voice and with a lot of emotion in his performances – perfect for those beautiful ballads featured in his albums -, Hayami went on to have a really solid solo career from 1992 up until 2007 when he last released music.
He made his solo debut in 1992 signed to Cyclone, music label with which Hayami would part ways soon after the release of his debut album.
Hayami made his solo debut with the album 優雅な条件 (Yuuga na Jouken). This was a full-length album and, to date, it is an incredibly rare CD to the point that there is no song previews online.
In 1994, Hayami signed to Sony Music Records and made his comeback with the 2nd full-length album “Liaison“.
For this album, Show Hayami didn’t introduce himself as a “seiyuu” but as an “artist”. Additionally, he changed the writing of his name from kanji to Latin script, something that further highlighted his want for this album to be one not looked at as “music by seiyuu” but as “music by an artist”.
Sony Music Records made sure that it wasn’t promoted as just a CD by a seiyuu.
And truth is, to those that had the pleasure to listen to the 14 songs in “Liaison“, the album felt like a proper, full-fledged pop album by an artist.
Hayami had completely distanced himself from the music other seiyuu artists had been releasing up until then, impressing with this album.
The way between his 2nd and 3rd full-length albums was quite long. Hayami was once again on the move, having left Sony Music Records soon after the release of “Liason”.
He released his 3rd full-length album “ORDOVICES” in 1997, after signing with PolyGram. The album included 10 tracks and, in comparison with the previous release, it had a really lukewarm reception.
In the same year, he released 3 singles “Eien No Okusoku“, “Shadow Maker” and “Cactus“.
Another album and 3 singles later and another music label change for Show Hayami however, this would be the last music label change he’d undergo. Show Hayami signed with Lantis in 2000.
He released the 4th album “Garnitures” – his first with Lantis – featuring the title track written by his wife Rei Igarashi.
Contrary to his previous work, “Garnitures” sounded more mature and calmer than usual. This change in Hayami’s sound was refreshing, showcasing a different side to himself as an artist.
A year later, in 2001, Hayami released his 5th full-length album “Chaine〜連鎖〜” (Chaine~Rensa).
This was quite the unique release as it was a self-covers album, with Hayami breathing new life into previously released songs of his.
In 2002, Hayami would make a comeback with his 6th full-length album “LOVE BALANCE“. The album features songs with lyrics written by Hayami himself about “mature love”.
2003 arrived and with it came Show Hayami’s 7th full-length album idee〜いま、僕が想うこと〜 (Idee 〜Ima, Boku ga Omou Koto〜).
The album kept a seductive tone throughout, with Hayami’s deep, smooth voice dazzling through each track.
Hayami would then go on a 2-year hiatus before making a comeback in 2005 with the 8th album すべては僕から始まった (Subete wa boku kara hajimatta).
The songs for this album were mellower, with “rain” serving a motif throughout. The album features songs and narration tracks.
2007 would end up being the last time Show Hayami’s fans would get to hear him perform as a solo artist.
Hayami bid goodbye to his solo career that year with the 9th album “LOVE STORY“, CD that mixed once more narration with singing, creating a unique aesthetic that had been a trademark since the early 00s.
Although his solo career came to a close, Hayami was still participating in character songs for anime series such as BLEACH, showcasing his talents.
Matenro (2017 -)
In the last quarter of 2017, Show Hayami was announced as part of the lineup for one of the most ambitious and original projects in the seiyuu business, Hypnosis Mic. He was to join Shinjuku’s crew, Matenro.
Hayami’s casting came as a big surprise as 2D music projects / mixed media projects seldom cast seiyuu well over their 40s. At the same time Hayami did not have any experience rapping prior to joining the franchise.
It was through a mix of persuasion – by the project’s creators before the project was launched – and later on, when he accepted to join the franchise – help by Subaru Kimura and other cast members and staff – that Show Hayami would end up developing a comfortable rapping style that would both fit his booming voice but also the passion in Matenro’s Jakurai.
The most popular crew in the Hypnosis Mic franchise draws inspiration in all ways of “living” a person can experience.
Their introspective, relatable lyrics and unique instrumentals quickly clicked with the fans of the franchise, making Matenro a crew that is a constant presence on the digital charts as well as one of the best-selling crews in the franchise (matching Fling Posse and MAD TRIGGER CREW).
Matenro released “Matenrou -Onin Rinshou-” in December 2017 and quickly climbed in the popularity ranks with what turned out to be a complex and powerful release.
Comparing with the performances of his crewmates Ryuichi Kijima and Kento Ito, Hayami‘s performances are ones full of introspection about the meaning and worth of life.
His solo performance for 迷宮壁 (Meikyu Heki) was haunting.
From the introspective lyrics questioning the meaning of life – and raising interesting points throughout – to Hayami’s somber tone filled with unsettling intensity, everyone was drawn and baffled by this track and performance.
Hayami can put up quite the powerful performance, being Matenro’s heart, especially in a live setting.
After the release of the introductory singles for each crew, Hypnosis Mic kicked off their 1st Battle Season series.
Matenro faced and beat Fling Posse in the second round in Fling Posse VS Matenro. The CD was certified Gold by RIAJ in 2018.
This was a quick and easy win for Matenro as the group was already massively popular – even in comparison with Fling Posse’s rising popularity.
While BATTLE BATTLE BATTLE was a clear win for Fling Posse, however when it came to the group’s representative songs, Matenro more made a case for themselves with “Shinjuku Style～warawasu na～“, even if the song strangely flirts with copyright infringement of Limp Bizkit’s “Nookie” (in case you haven’t checked, the chorus in “Shinjuku Style” is a carbon copy of “Nookie”).
After beating Fling Posse, Matenro battled against the winners of the Buster Bros!!! VS MAD TRIGGER CREW battle, MAD TRIGGER CREW.
The battle was fierce, something that quickly translated into the massive sales numbers MAD TRIGGER CREW VS Matenro pulled. The album was certified Gold by RIAJ in 2018.
Matenro won the hard-fought battle – votes-wise – as, weirdly enough, the performances in “DEATH RESPECT” were completely tame in comparison with both crew’s participation in the 1st round.
Crowned Kings, Matenro were set to release a special CD “The Champion“.
The CD counted not only with Matenro’s winner song but also with a song by The Dirty Dawg titled “T.D.D LEGEND“.
In 2019, the crew released the stylish パピヨン (Papillon), featured in the compilation album, Enter the Hypnosis Microphone.
The crew returned in 2020 with the release of Matenro Before The 2nd D.R.B, critically acclaimed album that brought a contrasting set of songs that, once again, approached the theme “life” from completely different perspectives.
Hayami performed 君あり故に我あり (Kimi ari yue ni Waga ari), a gospel-inspired track with a children’s choir in the background.
This is one of the most refreshing songs in the franchise – both in tone and instrumental, packing quite the emotional punch through Hayami’s performance.
In a live setting, Matenro is a solid crew however far from perfect – in comparison with Buster Bros!!! and Fling Posse’s impressive chemistry and harmonizations in a live setting.
Show Hayami sets the tone for the live performances however, with Kent Ito and Ryuichi Kijima with deeply contrasting singing tones, the group tends to not sound as neat live as they do on record.
Still, they bring a lot of intensity through their unique performances.
The first franchise release on Blu-ray and DVD is Hypnosis mic- Division Rap Battle – 4th LIVE @ Osaka, massive live held in 2019 that counted with Buster Bros!!!, MAD TRIGGER CREW, Fling Posse, Matenro, and the, then recently announced, Dotsuitare Honpo and Bad Ass Temple.
In 2020, and due to issues with Coronavirus (COVID-19), Hypnosis Mic’s ambitious MetLife Dome live, SIX SHOTS TO THE DOME was cancelled.
Instead, all crews performed on 29/03/2020 on a special broadcast by AbemaTV, Hypnosis mic- Division Rap Battle – 5th LIVE @ AbemaTV – SIX SHOTS UNTIL THE DOME that counted with millions of live views.
In February 2021, the Hypnosis Mic held its 6th live “2nd D.R.B”, with the 3rd battle counting with Bad Ass Temple vs Matenro.
The crew arrived with the heartwrenching “TOMOSHIBI” in “Bad Ass Temple vs Matenro“, album that served as the catalyst for this live show, Matenro won the battle against Bad Ass Temple.
The final battle in the 2nd Division Rap Battle series pitied Matenro against Buster Bros!!! and Fling Posse in “Buster Bros!!! VS Matenro VS Fling Posse”.
“SHOWDOWN” ended up being more than just a battle, it was all about each crew stating their intentions, telling their story, and showing their worth for the title of “Champion”.
Later in August 2021, the crew performed live at Hypnosis Mic 7th live “SUMMIT OF DIVISIONS”.
The final results were announced on November 28, 2021. All members of Buster Bros!!!, MAD TRIGGER CREW, Matenro, Fling Posse, Dotsuitare Hompo, and Bad Ass Temple were in attendance at the special broadcast on AbemaTV.
Fling Posse (130346 votes) won the Final Battle in the 2nd Division Rap Battle series after beating Matenro (101981 votes) and Buster Bros!!! (115227 votes) in a 3-way battle that included live show votes + CD votes + VR battle.
Kicking off 2022, Matenro participated in Hypnosis Mic’s 2nd full-length album “CROSS A LINE“.
Still in the same year, the crew was back on stage for Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle- 8th LIVE《CONNECT THE LINE》.
In 2023, the Hypnosis Mic franchise held a large-scale live show featuring all crews titled Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle- 9th LIVE ≪ZERO OUT≫.
Division All Stars (2017 – )
Division All Stars‘ original lineup consisted of Buster Bros!!!, MAD TRIGGER CREW, Fling Posse and Matenro. In 2019, with the addition of Dotsuitare Honpo and Bad Ass Temple to the franchise, the group now houses all groups.
Their first release was Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle- in 2017. This was the explosive start even before anyone knew how each crew would end up sounding.
The song was an instant hit and brought a massive following from overseas to the project.
In 2018, Division All Stars returned with the electrifying Hypnosis Mic Division Battle Anthem. The success it met was even more than on their debut song.
Now that the project was popular, it was a matter of a couple of days until it hit 1 million views.
In 2019, Hypnosis Mic released its first compilation album. Enter the Hypnosis Microphone featured all of Division All Stars‘ songs plus a new ensemble track, Hoodstar.
The release also included new songs for each group including the legendary The Dirty Dawg – from which Hayami’s character, Jakurai, was a part of.
The song was quickly followed by Hypnosis Mic – Alternative Rap Battle-, song featured as the theme song for the smartphone game, Hypnosis Mic -Alternative Rap Battle-.
Still in the same year, Division All Stars returned with a new take on their debut song, Hypnosis Mic Division Battle Anthem.
After the franchise introduced 2 new units to the franchise, Dotsuitare Honpo, and Bad Ass Temple, the classic track got a revamp, thus Hypnosis Mic -Division Rap Battle-+ was released.
In 2020, Division All Stars made their comeback and once again revamping one of their hit songs. Hypnosis Mic -Division Battle Anthem- was revamped, adding Dotsuitare Honpo and Bad Ass Temple into the mix, creating Hypnosis Mic -Division Battle Anthem-＋.
And in 2020, Division All Stars released the fan favorite, and up until July of the same year, in-game exclusive, Survival of the Illest.
Still in the same year, Division All Stars released the funky tune “SUMMIT OF DIVISIONS“. The song was included in the franchise’s Hypnosis Mic – Division Rap Battle – Official Guide Book.
A year later “Hypnosis Mic-Glory or Dust-“ was released.
The song featured a 3D CGI animated music video – the first one in the Hypnosis Mic -, going in line with the franchise’s recent bet in VR and CGI technology to improve the visibility of its contents.
A couple of months later and still in 2021, Division All Stars released an extended version of the groovy hit tune “Survival of the Illest“.
The reworked song was titled “Survival of the Illest+” and included Dotsuitare Hompo and Bad Ass Temple in the recording.
In 2021, Division All Stars released the funky hip-hop tune with a ’90s touch “Hang out!“.
Still in the same year, the group released a new – extended – version of “Hoodstar”. Now including the rapping by Bad Ass Temple and Dotsuitare Hompo, “Hoodstar+” was released.
In 2022, the Hypnosis Mic franchise released its 2nd full-length album “CROSS A LINE“.
In this album, which included new songs by all crews, there is the groovy self-titled all-star song.
Books
Aside from being a voice actor, scriptwriter, and radio personality, Show Hayami is also an author.
In his career, he’s released 2 books: Shoseki Kioku Recollections Hayami Show Visual & Audiobook (1998) and Hayami Show Kotoba ni ikiru, Koe ni komeru (2019).
Hayami Show Kotoba ni ikiru, Koe ni komeru covers Hayami’s path to voice acting, how to become a full-fledged voice actor, voice acting history, the fun of singing, his position as a teacher for the younger generations of seiyuu as well as a candid talk with junior and mentee Yukihiro Nozuyama.
Variety
Contrary to the recent trend of seiyuu having to be featured in a wide variety of “variety” shows in order to boost their popularity and making themselves know, Show Hayami keeps his variety appearances to the minimum.
For most of his career – 1980 up until 2010 – Hayami wasn’t featured in variety shows because it was still a norm for seiyuu only to appear in games or anime events at that time, nothing much. Especially in the 1980s and 1990s, it was not common for seiyuu to show their face and very few people knew them by name, instead referring to them for the names of the characters they’ve voiced.
Hayami experienced the times in which seiyuu didn’t have to “sell” their face and personality in order to be active, respected and known in the industry. Then, in the late 10s, everything changed, with seiyuu now being invited to attend variety shows and even TV shows to promote their work or even themselves.
He sure has adapted to the new times but he still keeps his variety appearances to the minimum.
When it comes to Show Hayami, the variety guest/participant, fans can expect a lot of frank talk.
He does not sugarcoat what he feels nor the reasons why he does his work. He will, for sure, ad-lib to throw off other seiyuu during live skits at otome events.
He’s also quite open to learning new things so you can expect him to join in the games and showcase a lot of passion for winning or, at least, do a good job to impress his fans.
Below are some – out of the various – variety/event appearances of his.
NeoRomance events (1993 -)
Show Hayami was a household name when it came to NeoRomance’s yearly events to promote otome games.
As the voice of the popular Saint Julius in the Angelique franchise, he has always been a sure-fire presence at NeoRomance’s events.
The NeoRomance events include candid talk between cast members, live performance corners (character songs), and a live reading.
Hayami Show & Nozuyama Yukihiro no Kyo, nani yomu? (2020 -)
In 2020, Show Hayami teamed up with Yukihiro Nozuyama – junior seiyuu part of RUSH STYLE, same talent agency as Hayami – to host 速水奨＆野津山幸宏の今日、何読む？(Hayami Show & Nozuyama Yukihiro no Kyo, nani yomu?).
The show airs on RakutenTV since July 2020.
This is a variety show that expands upon the simple idea of “live reading” by having the seiyuu even reading instructions manuals or the back of a pack of tissues and featuring a corner in which the seiyuu will dress up accordingly to a brief reading section.
Aside from the live reading sections on the show, fans can also expect manzai-like conversation between the two personalities and seiyuu guests.
Some of the seiyuu that guested on the show include Ryuichi Kijima, Yuki Sakakihara, Soma Saito, Takuya Sato, Kent Ito, Yoshiki Nakajima, Taichi Ichikawa, and more.
Hypnosis Mic variety (2020)
Still in 2020, Show Hayami participated in Hypnosis Mic -Division Variety Battle @ ABEMA alongside fellow Matenro members Kent Ito and Ryuichi Kijima.
The variety show included impromptu rap battles, information corner – on the latest Hypnosis Mic news -, and a Super Difficult Love Trial! Division Pressure Q, a variety challenge in which both crews in attendance on a given episode had to face each other in a difficult quiz.
TALKING STAND MORINOTH #50 (2021)
In 2021, Show Hayami was invited to TALKING STAND MORINOTH, talk show hosted by fellow seiyuu Showtaro Morikubo and counting with his helper Kouhei Amasaki.
In this show, Hayami covered a bit of his career, his passions, and his roots.
Horiuchi & Hayami’s “Say U Play!” (2021 -)
Long-time friends and fellow seiyuu Kenyuu Horiuchi and Show Hayami co-host the special veterans-only variety show “Horiuchi & Hayami’s “Say U Play!”“.
Friends for over 35 years, the pair shows everyone how they hangout together in a series of videos that included candid talks, cooking sessions, between many other activities.
Facts
Forever young
It is well known within the seiyuu industry that despite being one of the legends in the seiyuu industry, Show Hayami is, contrary to other veterans in the industry, a voice actor that likes to have the younger generation around.
He’s mentioned before in interviews that he learns from them as well as he likes to help them out – voice acting issues or otherwise -, something that has turned him into one of the most respected and loved seiyuu among the younger generation of voice actors in Japan.
Hayami is the veteran that embraces his career like an eternal junior, and that is an awesome thing that makes him a unique, refreshing sight in the seiyuu industry.
The Mentor guiding a new generation of talents
Being one with the younger generations of seiyuu, Show Hayami has ended up being like a mentor to some seiyuu as well as being a full-fledged, intentional mentor to others.
Through S.S.D.S. 〜Super Stylish Doctors Story〜, Hayami has managed to put the spotlight on several seiyuu that he believes are massive talents and deserve a chance at the spotlight.
Some of those include Takuya Sato, Toshiki Masuda, Yukihiro Nozuyama, Daisuke Hirakawa and more.
Toshiki Masuda has cited plenty of times that Show Hayami is his mentor.
Hayami took him under his wing rather early on in his seiyuu career, giving him experience in radio – S.S.D.S. Love Ultimate Diagnosis (2014) – as well as event hosting experience by having him join several of his S.S.D.S. events. Masuda highly respects Hayami, even calling him his “Master“.
Yukihiro Nozuyama, a promising seiyuu talent part of Hayami’s talent agency RUSH STYLE, is yet another seiyuu that Hayami is actively mentoring, easing his transition to voice acting, and helping him out by co-hosting variety shows with him.
Nozuyama has mentioned in both radio and TV/events that he is indebted to Hayami’s guidance.
A good cook
Although a bit timidly, Show Hayami confirmed that he does know how to cook and, as confirmed by fellow seiyuu Kenyuu Horiuchi, he’s a genuinely good cook.
You can check a recipe of his in the first episode of Horiuchi & Hayami’s “Say U Play!”.
Massive Kamen Rider fan
Show Hayami has mentioned a couple of times in interview that he loves the Kamen Rider series. Since he was a kid he has loved the franchise but he only started watching the series in 2000 (Kamen Rider Kuuga).
He’s mentioned that he does envy Toshihiko Seki for voicing Kamen Rider Den-O.
Dreamed about being an Olympic volleyball player
In an interview in the mid-00s, Hayami mentioned that when he was a kid his dream was to win a gold medal in men’s volleyball at the 1972 Munich Olympics.
When he was in middle school, he joined the volleyball team to become the ace attacker and captain.
He continued to play volleyball at high school however, he would end up leaving the club because of his slow growth (although not explicitly mentioned, presumably in height).
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