Seiyuu Digest #80 – Yuya Hirose

Since his debut, Yuya Hirose has been steadily showing his versatility and range in a wide variety of projects, proving to be one of the biggest talents of his generation.

Yuya Hirose

KANJI: 広瀬裕也

BORN: April 9, 1996

OCCUPATION: seiyuu, singer

HEIGHT: 170cm

Yuya Hirose was born on April 9, 1996, in Chiba, Japan. He’s represented by Arts Vision, one of Japan’s most influential talent agencies (on par with Aoni Production and 81 Produce).

Seiyuu

When Hirose was in junior high school, a friend of his suggested that he watch the popular anime CLANNAD. Upon watching the series, Hirose started to dream about being a voice actor, sharing his intentions with his parents.

According to Hirose in an interview, his parents weren’t all that on board with his dream, especially taking into account that voice acting is a job that does not pay well.

As such, they made a deal with him.

He was allowed to go audition to enter Japan Narration Actor Institute however if he failed or couldn’t enter because of any reason, he’d have to give up on that idea of being a voice actor.

Hirose passed the audition and entered Japan Narration Actor Institute, later on graduating and joining Arts Vision.

Due to that deal he made with his parents, Hirose has a “never give up” mentality about his work.

2013 – 2014

A rough start

2013 was the start of Hirose’s career as a seiyuu however, it wasn’t the smoothest of starts to a career. His debut role in anime was in Kitakubu Katsudou Kiroku.

It was a minor role featured in a couple of episodes. And after that… nothing for 2 years.

There may be some things that explain why there was that 2-year hiatus for Hirose. In 2013, he was still a teen and hadn’t even graduated. So that time may have been to focus on graduating high school and venture to college.

Perhaps it was really because Hirose was not passing the auditions and even minor roles weren’t coming his way.

Truth is, no one really knows why there’s such a 2-year gap between his first role and the subsequent roles he had.

2015 – 2017

Back at it

2015 kicked off with a main role in the short comedy anime Ganbare-bu Next!.

The anime featured chibi versions of Japan’s national volleyball team. Hirose voiced the chibi version of the pro volleyball player Yuki Ishikawa.

A year later, Yuya Hirose voiced Junichi Aizawa, a supporting character in the comedy anime series Handa-kun.

Aizawa was a role that Hirose in the spotlight for enough time for viewers to take notice of his voice and technique.

In 2017, he was cast as the clumsy and forgetful Shou Nagahara in the romance anime series Tsuki ga Kirei.

In 2017, Hirose reprised his role as Aki Kashii in the anime adaptation of DYNAMIC CHORD.

The anime was met with a lot of criticism due to lazy animation, lack of plot – and if there was one, it was far from being related to the original stories for each band.

Aki wasn’t anywhere near being the main character and even as a supporting character, he felt more like an extra.

Lack of lines and exposure made this character basically invisible to the fans of the franchise and close to an unknown to newcomers just checking the anime.

Other anime series in which he’s voiced characters during this period include:

• Go! Princess PreCure (2015)
• Shokugeki no Soma (2015)
• Aoharu × Machinegun (2015)
• Starmyu (2015)
• The Disastrous Life of Saiki K. (2016)
• Cheer Danshi!! (2016)
• Fuuka (2017)
• Re:CREATORS (2017)
• Kino no Tabi -the Beautiful World- the Animated Series (2017)
• THE IDOLM @ STER SideM (2017)

2018 –

The first leading role

Things started to slowly change for Yuya Hirose as he got his first-ever leading role in 2018.

He was cast as Yuta Hibiki in the popular mecha anime SSSS.GRIDMAN. This was the first role in anime to give a lot of exposure to Hirose.

Due to a certain chain of events, Hibiki wakes up with no recollection of what has happened – and remains like that for a big chunk of the season -, Hirose embraced that confusion and re-discovery of everyday life things/happenings sound believable.

At the same time, when it was time for that fighting scenes, he never sounded over the top. His grounded performance made Hibiki a rather enjoyable protagonist, especially later on in the season.

Still in the same year, Hirose was cast in the popular action/horror anime Tokyo Ghoul.

He was cast as Keijin Nakarai, a first-class ghoul investigator, in Tokyo Ghoul:re 2nd Season.

Although a supporting role in an anime known for having a big cast of supporting characters with varying degrees of impact to the main story, Nakarai was part of an interesting arc that would end up putting the spotlight – even if slightly – on Hirose’s performance.

This role showed that Hirose can perform darker, more serious roles without an issue.

2019 on a positive note, with Hirose grabbing another leading role to himself. He was cast as Takuma Akutsu in the ecchi anime series Val x Love.

Akutsu suffers from social anxiety and has trouble expressing his thoughts. For plot reasons – and due to the anime’s genre – 9 girls end up at his home while preparing themselves to protect Earth from danger.

The anime series wasn’t that well-received though – even by fans of the genre – due to the way Akutsu’s situation was handled, between many other details.

2020 was a rather quiet year for every single seiyuu. Covid-19 hit Japan in March 2020 and the seiyuu and anime industries – among many others – were practically without working up until late May, early June.

Due to that, it is normal to find seiyuu that actually did not manage to score many roles in anime in that year, especially when auditions were being made through videocall or by sending in footage to directors.

Hirose managed to grab a couple of roles but nothing that put him in the spotlight he deserves.

Things got back on track a year later.

In 2021, Yuya Hirose finally got to reprise his role as Haruka Isumi, ZOOL’s center, in IDOLiSH7 Third Beat. This specific season – its 3rd – adapts the 3 story chapter in the game, one that introduces ZOOL as the antagonists.

Haruka appears as a confident center for ZOOL but with a chip on his shoulder that leads to him no questioning the ways his talent agency and the group itself end up acting towards other groups or individuals.

He sees in Tenn Kujo, TRIGGER’s center, as his rival, the person to beat but also the person responsible for the chip on his shoulder.

Hirose’s performance in the anime series is much more polished than the – already good – performance in the game. You can feel the dislike for certain characters, his hunger to surpass and prove everyone wrong.

There’s a lot of emotion going on in his performance something that, as episodes roll in and the anime adaptation goes deeper into the story, fans will get to experience and be impressed by.

Although not a main role, it is still worth mentioning that Hirose was cast in the popular anime Tokyo Revengers as timid yet loyal and passionate Takuya Yamamoto.

Other anime series in which Hirose voiced characters include:

• Yowamushi Pedal GLORY LINE (2018)
• Hakumei and Mikochi (2018)
• That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (2018 – 2021)
• Araburu Kisetsu no Otome-domo yo. (2019)
• Dr.STONE (2019)
• Ahiru no Sora (2019)
• Hoshiai no Sora (2019)
• Diamond no Ace: Act II (2019 – 2020)
• Darwin’s Game (2020)
• IDOLiSH7 Second BEAT! (2020)
• 2.43: Seiin Koukou Danshi Volley-bu (2021)
• Hataraku Saibou!! (2021)
• Skate-Leading☆Stars (2021)
• Horimiya (2021)

Radio

Taking into account how Yuya Hirose is still building up momentum in his career, he still doesn’t have much radio work in his repertoire.

In the few radio shows he’s co-hosted, Hirose shows a lot of enthusiasm.

That ends up leading to him being intense while professional or go bonkers, especially if he loves a specific theme or if he admires any of the guests.

Bubbly and friendly at all times, listeners will always have a good time with whatever radio show he hosts/co-hosts/guests in.

His first work in radio was in 2018, with GRIDMAN Radio Toriaezu Union.

GRIDMAN Radio Toriaezu Union (2018 -)

He co-hosted the radio show with fellow seiyuu Yume Miyamoto from 2018 to 2020.

The show included talk about SSSS.GRIDMAN and the whole Ultraman franchise and counted as well with guests from the cast of the anime series.

Hirose Yuya to Miyamoto Yume no Toriaezu Radio (2020 -)

Stemming from GRIDMAN Radio Toriaezu Union, Yuya Hirose and Yume Miyamoto kicked off their own radio show in 2020 titled Hirose Yuya to Miyamoto Yume no Toriaezu Radio.

Games

Since 2014, Yuya Hirose has managed to frequently get roles in games.

He’s more commonly found voicing characters in otome games although he does also have credits in RPG and action games.

His first credit in games was in 2014. Below are some of his most important roles in games:

Aki Kashii in DYNAMIC CHORD feat.[rêve parfait] + Append Disc (2014 and 2016)

Aki Kashii or Knight is the drummer of rêve parfait and brother of the band’s frontman, Reon.

When Aki was in his 3rd year of middle school, he invited his best friend Kuon and his younger brother Reon, which lead to the formation of rêve parfait.

He chose to become the band’s drummer because he wishes to act as musical support for Reon and Kuon. Aki is also the lyricist, and his unique outlook of the world is part of the band’s style.

Personality-wise, Aki is gentle and carefree. He doesn’t have much confidence in himself and gets anxious easily, something that shows naturally through Hirose’s voice acting.

There’s a twist to Aki – I’m not going to spoil it for you entirely – as while gentle and caring of others, he doesn’t really believe in love nor feels any, struggling with it throughout his route in the game.

Noa Arimura in Blackish House ←sideZ (2017)

After DYNAMIC CHORD, Yuya Hirose was back to working with Honeybee Black, this time around for the otome game Blackish House ←sideZ.

Arimura is a 3rd-year high-school student and an actor that accepts whatever role is given to him. Due to the load of work he has, he’s sleep-deprived yet he’s always smiling.

Haruka Isumi in IDOLiSH7 (2017)

For those playing IDOLiSH7, unveiling the game’s rival unit came off as a surprise. ZOOL made its debut in 2017 in what is considered the best chapter in the game’s story.

Hirose voices ZOOL‘s center, Haruka Isumi. Despite his sweet looks, he’s actually a self-centered person that despises those that don’t acknowledge him.

Deep down he’s still a teen and like one, he’s a gamer and quite childish at times, something that is noticeable in his interactions within the group and with others that are a bit closer to him.

Yuya Hirose fleshed out Haruka in a way that people couldn’t help but hate the character and what it had brought upon a certain group in the franchise.

However, as the story progressed, fans got to see both Haruka and the group growing and showing a bit of their colors and backstory, with Hirose’s emotional performances standing out throughout.

Other games he’s voice characters for include:

• Un: BIRTHDAY SONG 〜 koi o utau shinigami 〜 (2015)
• Phantom Yaso kyoku -Phantom Nocturne- (2016)
• Blackish House sideA→ (2016)
• VIIDOG CODE (2016)
• Touken Ranbu (2017 – )
• On Air! (2018)
• Epic Seven (2019)
• OCTOPATH TRAVELER (2020)
• Digimon Survive (2021)

Narration / Dubbing / Reading Plays

These are the areas in which Yuya Hirose is least active.

Hirose has started getting work in dubbing. He’s got dubbing credits on ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE and Girl Meets World.

When it comes to narration, Hirose does not have any credits so far.

As far as reading plays go, Hirose already has a couple of credits under his belt.

In 2020, he joined the cast of the remote reading play Koyoi, Meiji de yoi shirete (今宵、明治で酔い痴れて). He acted alongside fellow seiyuu Yuki Sakakihara and Daiki Hamano.

Drama CDs

So far in his career, Yuya Hirose has been a regular name in Rejet’s works.

He’s got credits in various CDs in the CARNELIAN BLOOD franchise as EROSION’s Byakuya as well as FABULOUS NIGHT as Kuon Kamizuki.

Aside from Rejet’s works, Hirose’s first credits in drama CDs were in the DYNAMIC CHORD franchise as rêve parfait’s Aki.

Although he already counts with some credits under his belt, he’s done a little bit of everything in terms of personalities and voice types for characters.

At the moment, he doesn’t seem like he is typecasted for specific types of roles in drama CDs.

Music

One of the rising talents when it comes to singing is, undoubtedly, Yuya Hirose.

This isn’t just my observation following his career – or due to personal preference – it has actually been pointed out by other seiyuu such as Shoya Chiba, Toshiyuki Toyonaga, Subaru Kimura, and Soma Saito, among many others that have had the pleasure of working with him.

Hirose is a tenor with a really delicate twist to it. He does pack a lot of power in his performances and if required, he’ll make sure to add some rawness and aggression to those.

Since his debut as a seiyuu, Hirose has joined a couple of 2D music projects. And since he joined those, he got to showcase his versatility, performing rock, electronica, dance and pop with a lot of energy and intensity.

His performances don’t lack in the delivery department although he’s not shown much when it comes to his technique as most 2D music projects he’s been a part of, haven’t required to push him in order to deliver something truly challenging and impressive.

Still, it is worth noting that his voice tone is unique, pretty soft – as far as top tenors among seiyuu go, he sounds much softer than Toshiyuki Toyonaga and Soma Saito -, something that can be interesting to capitalize on in future music endeavors – if he ever decides to make a solo debut.

Like most tenors, he’s got a solid vocal range that taps a bit into faux baritone, which gives him more room for creativity and variety in the ways he approaches his performances – noticeable in ZOOL’s songs.

Hirose is a talent on the rise that even got the opportunity to perform at Pony Canyon’s festival P’s Live! -Boys Side-, however not in a solo capacity. He was invited to perform the character song for Yuta Hibiki in SSSS.GRIDMAN.

Below are some of the music projects he’s a part of.

Rêve Parfait (2014 -)

In the Dynamic Chord franchise, rêve parfait is one of the four bands and some would say its representative band.

In the franchise’s universe, rêve parfait is a rookie punk-rock/pop-rock band consisting of four high school boys including Reon (CV: Takuya Eguchi), Tsumugi (CV: Ryohei Kimura), Kuon (Kousuke Toriumi), and Aki (Yuya Hirose).

When it comes to the band itself, only Eguchi performs the songs. The franchise does not feature character songs for the other members.

rêve parfait is perhaps the band in the franchise with the most experimental or should one say eclectic sound.

The first tracks released by the band were different from one another yet strangely similar at the same time. 

Judgment was featured in the game as the opening music, while KOI was the ending theme for the game. Similarly, CHECK MATE TONIGHT was featured in the V edition of the game.

One of the aspects that captivated the fans of this band is its indie roots and the fact that just as the band has yet to debut (early on in the games) thus, their songs have an indie feel.

rêve parfait so far has released several singles, such as “Christmas Carol”, “CHECK ☆ MATE ☆ TONIGHT“, “P.S.I HATE YOU♡XXX” and “Accidental date”.

In 2021, and after a long hiatus, rêve parfait released a new single 黒髪リフレックス (Kurokami Reflex).

ŹOOĻ (2017 – )

In 2017, Yuya Hirose joined the IDOLiSH7 franchise.

He was announced as part of ŹOOĻ, an urban pop/industrial group that shook the franchise when it was first introduced in the in-game story and made many jaw drops when their first single, Poisonous Gangster was introduced released in the same year.

This was a new challenge for Yuya Hirose, especially being a center for a 2D group.

In the group’s 1st single, Poisonous Gangster, he was the highlight with his smooth singing skills and slightly R&B-ish touch he gives to his performances.

However, the single was known for not having equal lines distribution. Yuya Hirose and Subaru Kimura led the way whilst Koutaro Nishiyama and Takashi Kondo were in the background vocals and only in the chorus.

Things changed when the group performed live for the first time at IDOLISH7 2nd live REUNION in 2019.

In an explosive set that included the Poisonous Gangster, Look at… and ZONE OF OVERLAP, fans were in awe at the teamwork, vocal prowess, explosive dance moves and the dangerous aura the group exuded.

On IDOLISH7 2nd live REUNION, Hirose impressed everyone with his clear live singing, powerful demeanor, and intense dance moves.

2020 welcomed the group’s 2nd single, Bang!Bang!Bang!.

The single included the highly anticipated ZONE OF OVERLAP and the unique title track.

In Summer 2020, ZOOL released their 1st full-length album “einstaZ“.

This album was a massive departure from the group’s original urban pop-meets-hip-hop sound going on in their first singles.

K-pop-inspired music took over, with many of the songs lending elements from the sub-genre of pop, focused on being flashy and catchy with not much care for depth or a more melodic, emotional side.

There were exceptions in the album though.

“4-ROAR” was a nod to ZOOL’s original sound bringing a gritty and intense sound that put on the spotlight their unique brand of urban pop.

“ZONE OF OVERLAP” made its comeback, having a big impact on the intensity that “einsatZ” packs.

And “Ache” put ZOOL in its first try at an emotional, melodic type of music. The quartet performed a slow-paced R&B tune and they dazzled everyone with their chemistry and quality on the vocal end.

For this album, Hirose got to show his mantle as a center and he completely dominated every single performance thrown at him and delivered it with twice as much power.

His smooth singing skills shone, his tenor range got plenty of opportunities to dazzle and Hirose even tapped into a rougher twist to his performance, something noticeable in “ZONE OF OVERLAP”.

While “einsatZ” was far from an impressive album – or even an upgrade over what ZOOL had previously done – it is also certain that it was an awesome outlet to showcase how much every single member improved in the singing department.

That was the highlight of the album: the growth and chemistry that all 4 seiyuu showcased.

EROSION (2020 -)

CARNELIAN BLOOD is a mixed media – voice comics, music, radio, etc – project created by Rejet. EROSION stems from the franchise as its representative group, a rock band with 5 vocals.

EROSION consists of Shoya Chiba, Arthur Lounsbery, Ryota Suzuki (leader), Toshiyuki Toyonaga and Yuya Hirose.

Hirose voices BYAKUYA, one of the band’s members.

Since its inception in 2020, EROSION has been simultaneously a 2D and 3D group.

Rejet always releases 2 types of videos for each new song: a short teaser featuring the characters and a full music video featuring the seiyuu cast.

In the first season of CDs, EROSION released 3 singles: “From a Spicy Peak”, “Aspiration” and “RAD HEAD”. All singles were released in 2020.

Right off the bat, in “From a Spicy Peak“, EROSION doesn’t shy away from a darker, heavier approach to their sound, which I love.

I feel like rock bands in 2D music projects seldom get courageous enough to embrace a heavier sound because they feel like regular 2D music fans will certainly avoid it at all costs.

So, it is a breath of fresh air to find EROSION doing their thing and being cool about their rock sound and, at the same time, really comfortable while performing it.

From “Underdogs” to “From a Spicy Peak“, this single was overflowing with an aggressive and daring rock sound that the 2D industry hadn’t been graced with for a couple of years.

At the same time, the group showed that there’s no need to have an “all popular/star” seiyuu lineup to sound good.

With Toshiyuki Toyonaga and Arthur Lounsbery’s vast experience as singers, all members sounded incredibly well, ushering a new era of singers among seiyuu as young talents Yuya Hirose, Shoya Chiba and Ryota Suzuki showcased their skills in quite an impressive fashion.

Soon after, the band released its 2nd single “Aspiration“.

This CD was a departure from the band’s debut sound, shifting from high-octane rock with some hits and bits of hardcore, to easy-listening pop-rock.

“Aspiration” has its moments of brilliance although the band is sounding more and more like an idol group instead of a rock band, which as some of you may be aware of, is the band’s selling point.

For a band that started out with a considerably heavy sound as their debut song, with each song in this CD, EROSION gradually toned down their aggression.

“The Oath” put Byakuya (CV: Yuya Hirose) at center stage. Yuya Hirose led everyone in EROSION with his delicate, high-toned, and breathy vocals in what is a chilling performance. 

This song stands out for being almost like a hybrid of OSIRIS and Growth (although not matching the vocal prowess of both) and it is all in a grandiose, dark, and emotional setting that captured the listener’s attention.

In November 2020, EROSION wrapped up its first season of CDs with electrifying “RAD HEAD“.

“RAD HEAD” is powerful, intimidating, and overflowing with energy and quality. The title track brought a lot of grit and intensity back to EROSION’s sound.

“Get Out!!!!!” brought a bit of electronica into the mix, creating a tasteful blend of their gritty rock sound and dirty electronica. 

And “Sham’ing” introduced electronica to the band’s sound, a first however something that worked incredibly well with the vocals that EROSION has at its disposal.

EROSION kicked off 2021 with its 1st live show “EROSION 1st LIVE「UNDERDOGS」from CARNELIAN BLOOD“.

The music video for “What is mine” was recorded during this live show.

EROSION released its 1st full-length album “What is mine“.

The CD featured all songs released up until then and added 4 new tracks – with 3 of those spread across the CD’s 3 editions – “What is mine“, “Vigrante“, “The Sun Also Rises” and “CRIER!! CRIER!!“.

Fabulous Night (2020 -)

Still in 2020, Rejet – in collaboration with Marvelous – launched Fabulous Night, the host club-meets-Eurobeat music + drama project.

The franchise is hosted by Kenjiro Tsuda, that plays the role of the DJ (he does not sing in this franchise), and features 5 host clubs: Chronostasis, Twilight, Vendetta, Himmel, and Neo Basara.

All follow a different theme and have a completely different vibe to their visuals and music.

Yuya Hirose was cast as Himmel‘s no.1 host, Kuon Kamizuki.

Himmel‘s lineup includes Yuya Hirose, Yoshiki Nakajima, and Kouhei Amasaki.

The group’s first CD release is titled “Host-Song Reservation -Khaki- Himmel” and is set to be released in September 2021.

The CD includes the club’s theme song performed by Himmel’s members, a solo track by Kuon Kamizuku (CV: Yuya Hirose), and drama tracks that delve into the club’s happening and the relationships between the members.

Golden Record (2021 -)

In 2021, Yuya Hirose joined the Pythagoras Production franchise (Marginal #4, LAGRANGE POINT, Unicorn Jr.) as the leader of Golden Record, vocal, dance and rap group.

Golden Record consists of Yuya Hirose (leader), Gakuto Kajiwara, and Shogo Yano.

In the same year, the group released its debut single “Love Holic” and they impressed.

At the time I reviewed this single, I said the following: Golden Record arrived with a bang, making a statement with their flawless debut single “Love Holic”. A refreshing loungy sound with a surprisingly mature vibe arrives with the trio, with the self-titled song “Love Holic” impressing in more ways than one.

“Naniiro” was still in the same tone but with a completely different intensity that shows that the group can groove but they can also go strong on you with a powerful performance. Vocals-wise, the lineup for Golden Record is perfect.

Gakuto Kajiwara showed that he is incredibly reliable and is the perfect choice for the group’s center. Yuya Hirose is a vocal powerhouse when it comes to unleashing high notes and he’s well known for harmonizing insanely well with anyone and with this group, he can spread his wings and do that like crazy.

And Shogo Yano arrives to impress with low mid-tones and powerful harmonies in the chorus where his higher range shines. All in all, Golden Record’s debut CD “Love Holic” is a breath of fresh air in the Pythagoras Production franchise and a fantastic greeting card to what seems to be a group with a lot of potential to do great things in future releases.

However, since their debut in 2021, the group has yet to release new music.

Variety

In a variety setting, Yuya Hirose has changed quite a bit.

When he started to appear on variety shows he was incredibly young (a minor by Japan’s legal standards – 19 years old) and thus, he kept a lot of his crazy shenanigans to himself.

You could tell he was nervous on camera and tried to redirect that nervousness by trying to put everyone in the conversation.

Things changed a bit around 2019, and early 2020. Hirose started to show his outgoing, bright, and goofy side and thus, his variety show appearances started to be incredibly funny.

A good example of that growth and comfort on camera is noticeable in his 2 appearances in Prebanlab.

He was chaotic the 2nd time he went to the show and had a lot more confidence in himself to actually take the lead and him being the “boke” guest, much to everyone’s entertainment.

The various variety show appearances of his through the years have shaped the way he interacts with guests – when he is a host -, hosts – when he’s invited to shows – or by himself and some camera staff – on his own variety show.

Hirose shows a lot of variety sense and his lack of ability to read the mood in the room often lead to other people in the same variety shows as him being caught off guard, something that, no matter how many times it happens, is always hilarious to see.

Below are some of the most important variety shows Yuya Hirose has been invited to or hosted.

Banpresto/Prebanlab (2019 and 2020)

Yuya Hirose is one of the few seiyuu that has gotten the chance to appear more than once on Banpresto, popular variety show hosted by Kenichi Suzumura and Ryota Osaka.

In 2019, Hirose was invited to help promote Touken Ranbu’s goods in what was – for the most part – a really normal and simple episode.

You could tell Hirose was still not comfortable in front of the camera as he kept his playful self to a minimum.

When it came to the games portion of the episode, that’s when things got really interesting.

Hirose kept making his own rules to the games, Suzumura kept playfully yelling at him because of that, something that led to a pretty hilarious part of the episode.

A year later, Hirose made a return to the show, this time around to help promote Code Geass’ goods (unrelated to his career as a seiyuu) however there was much more to it.

From the initially picking on him by the presenters and staff to starting a modeling/photoshoot session with Suzumura in charge of the camera’s close-ups and other shenanigans, there was no shortage of funny and entertaining content.

Hirose Yuya no ○○ tte i ne! (2020 -)

In 2020, Yuya Hirose kicked off his own variety show, Hirose Yuya no ○○ tte i ne! (translated: Yuya Hirose’s ○○ is good!).

For this YouTube show, distributed by PONY CANYON, Hirose does things he loves and documents those with special videos.

ZOOL LOOK AT ME! (2020)

Still in the same year, alongside the other members of ZOOL – Subaru Kimura, Takashi Kondo, and Koutaro Nishiyama – Yuya Hirose co-hosted the special broadcast to celebrate IDOLiSH7’s 5th anniversary “ZOOL LOOK AT ME!“.

On top of celebrating the franchise’s 5th anniversary, the group unveiled details on their 1st full-length album “einsatZ” and revisited their first live performance at IDOLiSH7 2nd Live REUNION.

Seiyuu Undokai (2021)

In 2021, Yuya Hirose joined the cast of the sports variety show Seiyuu Undokai.

Seiyuu Undokai is an athletic meeting TV variety show where rookie, up-and-coming and popular seiyuu aim to become the “Number 1 athlete” among seiyuu.

The cast is split into 2 teams: red and blue. The teams were the following.

RED team

• Kouhei Amasaki,
• Tatsumaru Tachibana,
• Masahiro Ito,
• Naoyuki Shimoduru

BLUE team

• Yuya Hirose,
• Gakuto Kajiwara,
• Seiji Maeda,
• Noda Tetsuro

Facts

Extremely athletic

During his school days, Hirose was active in swimming, karate, marathon, and soccer. When he was in elementary school, Hirose joined the soft tennis club and won the city tournament.

Now, an active seiyuu, Hirose cites that his specialties are playing soccer and tennis. He’s shown his athleticism when he participated in the sports variety show, Seiyuu Undokai early in 2021.

Positive and bright personality with a twist

These two are characteristics that most seiyuu that work with Hirose often point out about him.

He’s friendly and eager to learn and always approaches issues with a positive demeanor. That contrasts with what Shinnosuke Tachibana and Soma Saito have said that “Yuya Hirose sounds really mature for his age”.

Despite his bright personality, Hirose is a professional at everything he does, focusing on learning the most he can from his seniors as well as try to hone his skills to match what anime directors or sound engineers ask of him.

Underneath an excited and bubbly youth is a man with a will to learn and be the better version of himself as a professional. It’s no wonder many veterans love him.

Dreamed about being a nursery teacher

Way before joining the voice acting industry, Yuya Hirose wanted to be a nursery teacher.

He loves children and seeing how he’s got a naturally bright and friendly personality, it’s safe to say that the kids would love to have him around.

Hirose actually enrolled in a college in its department of Education but it is not confirmed whether he completed his studies nor if was, in fact, studying to be a nursery teacher.

Good at juggling big responsibilities

While he was in high school, Hirose was the President of the Student Council. He was juggling that position with his role as vocalist for a band outside of school.

Rejet’s new “golden boy”

Every 5 years, there’s a specific male seiyuu (or a pair of seiyuu) that Rejet’s CEO Daisuke Iwasaki takes a liking to, featuring them in as many projects as he can.

Yuya Hirose is, alongside fellow seiyuu Shoya Chiba, in that exact same situation. He’s the latest “golden boy” for Rejet, having joined in the last 2 years, 3 2D music projects for the mixed-media label.

He’s voices characters and sings in the CARNELIAN BLOOD (2020 -), Fabulous Night (2020 -), and Pythagoras Production (2021 -)’s franchises.

Singing experience

Frequently pointed out as one of the biggest singing talents among seiyuu, Yuya Hirose has actually the experience to back up those claims.

Before deciding to be a seiyuu and while in high school, Hirose was the frontman for a band. He often mentions that he loves singing and considers it to be one of his best skills.

Idolizes Soma Saito

Yuya Hirose is really particular about his love and admiration for fellow seiyuu, Soma Saito.

He is known for sort of worshiping Saito – in a healthy way.

Hirose often addresses Saito as “souchan” and hangs out with him quite frequently. He mentions that Saito does give him a lot of advice and since they 1st worked together has been doting on him quite a lot.

The pair started to work closely in IDOLiSH7 – ironically as rivals starting in 2017 – and quickly grew closer outside of work. A couple of years earlier, both were cast in the DYNAMIC CHORD franchise – in different bands – however, they never happen to cross paths during that time.

They’ve grown even closer because of SSSS.GRIDMAN (2018) in which both were part of the main cast – with Hirose voicing the protagonist.

According to Hirose, Saito is a great friend and even greater senpai, also a bonafide “ikemen”.

In 2020, on Saito’s birthday, he left a congratulatory message on his Twitter account followed by words on how Saito is a great listener, helping him out even with private issues of his, how much patience Saito has to deal with his silly conversations, and how Saito is an all-around great person, thus he admires him.

A year earlier, Hirose mentioned that he takes pointers from Saito on how to pose for magazines or even how to do fanservice during live shows or variety shows/events.

Those tips were so well “absorbed” by Hirose that it has gotten to the point in which he “lent” Saito’s trademark gesture for Tenn during IDOLiSH7 2nd Live REUNION, much to the initial indignation of Saito and entertainment of Kensho Ono and Shinnosuke Tachibana that were part of that special video feature in which the issue was raised.

Hirose justified it as “giving a twist” to the iconic gesture, something that made everyone in the studio crack up, including Saito himself.

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