Seiyuu Digest #84 – Seiichiro Yamashita

Despite a slow start to his career, Seiichiro Yamashita has slowly turned into one of the most exciting rising talents in the voice acting industry in Japan.

Seiichiro Yamashita

KANJI: 山下誠一郎

BORN: May 21, 1992

OCCUPATION: seiyuu

HEIGHT: 170cm

Seiichiro Yamashita was born on May 21, 1992, in Hiroshima. He is represented by Office Osawa since 2012.

Seiyuu

When he was a high-schooler, Yamashita fell in love with acting, and from that point on, he wanted to pursue a career that would enable him to act – regardless if it was stage acting, live acting, or voice acting. Seiichiro confirmed that on episode 8 of his radio show Yamashita Seiichiro no Radio YOUR SEICHI BOOKS.

After graduating from high school, Seiichiro Yamashita enrolled at Amusement Media Academy (former graduates: Miyake Kenta, Wataru Hatano, Tetsuya Kakihara, Yusuke Kobayashi, Yusuke Shirai, Shinichiro Kamio), aiming at becoming a voice actor.

After completing his studies and graduating from the academy, Yamashita joined Office Osawa, a talent agency that, up until this day, represents him.

Contrary to other talent agencies, when seiyuu talents join Office Osawa they still have to pass an audition to become affiliated with them instead of just being a “new talent” that doesn’t get full support from the agency.

This is an old-school format in place for screening new talents.

As of 2021, very few talent agencies employ such a method of screening new talents to potentially join the company full time. Aside from Office Osawa, Sigma Seven (Hiroki Yasumoto, Shoya Chiba, Hiroyuki Yoshino, etc.) has the same screening process for new talents.

With that being said, although Seiichiro Yamashita joined Office Osawa in 2012, only in 2013 was he considered an affiliated talent – fully backed by the talent agency -, after passing the audition required for that.

And starting from that point, his career was completely different with him getting his first leading role in that same year.

2012 – 2015

The first steps

Yamashita made his debut as a voice actor in 2012 however the path ahead of him was far from being easy to trail. In his first year as a voice actor, he did not get any roles – not even random, minor characters.

His first role as a voice actor was actually in a dub.

In 2013, Yamashita started to actively push towards getting roles in anime series. After passing the affiliation audition at Office Osawa, he got his first leading role in anime.

He was cast as Takahiro Mizuno in the romance/ecchi anime Walkure Romanze.

The anime wasn’t a particular standout but, as a first leading role, Yamashita delivered a rock-solid performance that made a lot of people actually look for who was voicing the character.

A year later, he got a supporting role as Prince Soarer in the fantasy/romance anime series Lady Jewelpet.

In 2015, Yamashita was cast as Yukimura Rekka, the passionate protagonist of the action/fantasy anime series Battle Spirits: Burning Soul.

Rekka is a skilled player of Battle Spirits with a strong sense of justice.

Also in the same year, Yamashita was cast as Masahiro Altland in the action/mecha anime Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans.

This was a supporting role but one that impressed, with Yamashita’s emotional range in a full showcase, leaving a stronger impression than many of the other voice actors in the series.

Other anime series in which he voiced characters during this period of time include:

• Aikatsu! (2013)
• WHITE ALBUM 2 (2013)
• Toaru Kagaku no Railgun S (2013)
• Kamisama no Inai Nichiyoubi (2013)
• Yama no Susume (2014)
• The Irregular at Magic High School (2014)
• Nagi no Asu kara (2014)
• Soul Eater NOT! (2014)
• Akagami no Shirayukihime (2015)

2016 –

Starting to draw attention of the public

In 2016, things changed a bit around for Seiichiro Yamashita.

After a couple of lukewarm years with 2 leading roles to his name and a couple of minor characters, he started the year with one of the most impressive performances he’s delivered to date.

Yamashita was cast as Kakeru Naruse, the male protagonist of the drama/romance anime series ORANGE.

This was one of the standout anime series of 2016, with its gripping story and character development bringing in a lot of attention to it.

The anime centers around its future and how his friends will end up changing it. The story is well worth your time so I won’t spoil the anime further.

Yamashita’s performance stood out for his emotional range and how natural he sounded. This was and still continues to be his best performance to date.

Earlier in the year, Yamashita was cast as Buntaro Houjo in the slice-of-life anime Shoujo-tachi wa Kouya wo Mezasu.

The anime wasn’t well-received, especially due to its watered-down characters and formulaic story but still, Houjo managed to stand out for straying away from the clichéd harem protagonist tropes.

He then reprised his role as the calm and collected Yagen Toushiro in the slice-of-life anime adaptation of the popular Touken Ranbu game, Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru.

Also in the same series, he reprised his role as Aizen Kunitoshi.

A year later, in 2017, he reprised his role as Yagen Toushiro in the action-packed adaptation of Tokuen Ranbu.

He was then cast as the quick-witted Shogo Yumekawa in the anime series Idol Time PriPara.

Although this is a supporting character in the series, Yumekawa still plays a role in the story, having a sort of romantic side-story.

At the same time, and stemming for this anime series, Seiichiro Yamashita started to perform live as part of WITH, group in which Yumekawa is the center.

Still in the same year, he was cast as the righteous Edward Midford in Kuroshitsuji Movie: Book of the Atlantic.

2018 was a really quiet year for Yamashita, only scoring a couple of minor and supporting roles. Out of those, the most important was his reprisal of Yagen Toshirou in the 2nd season of Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru.

Although 2019 was yet another quiet year, there was a big role in there. Seiichiro Yamashita was cast as James Moriarty in the crime mystery anime series, Kabukicho Sherlock.

This was the very first time fans got to listen to Yamashita voicing an anti-hero (you can argue he is a villain) in an anime series. This was another strong performance of his, being able to fool everyone – viewer included – of his true intentions.

Still in the same year, he reprised his role as Aki Kagura in the anime adaptation of the popular puzzle/romance game Stand My Heroes!, Stand My Heroes: Piece of Truth.

In 2020, Yamashita was back to voicing a character in the main cast.

He joined the cast of the Appare-Ranman! as the cowardly low-ranked government samurai tasked with keeping the series’ protagonist in check, Kosame Isshiki.

In 2021, he was cast as Toru Ishikawa, one of the coolest characters in the anime adaptation of the popular romance manga, Horimiya.

He was cast as Hosomichi Kudo, the protagonist in sci-fi/mecha anime series Gyakuten Sekai no Denchi Shoujo.

The biggest role of the year is, however, Raiden Shuga in the popular military/mecha anime series, 86 (Eighty Six).

Shuga is the straightforward vice-captain of the Spearhead Squadron.

Although a supporting character, Shuga plays an important role in the main plot, being an emotional anchor to the series’ protagonist and like a motherly figure to the members of the Spearhead Squadron.

Yamashita gives a grounded element to Shuga’s personality, making him sound like a “safe harbor” for the other characters in the squadron.

Once again, he showed that he does have the quality and skill to pull off characters with a lot of emotion with a natural performance as Shuga.

For 2022, Seiichiro Yamashita is confirmed to voice characters in Futsal Boys!!!!!, Eien no 831 and Ao Ashi.

As it is, Yamashita has been impressing his roles as villains or you can even say, characters in a morally grey zone. From Boku no Hero Academia 5th Season‘s Geten to James Moriarty in Kabukicho Sherlock, Yamashita knows how to deliver performances that stand out – regardless if he’s voicing a main or supporting character.

This could turn into a thing for him however, only time will tell if he ends up fully embracing those morally grey characters.

Other anime series he has voiced characters during this period of time include:

• HaruChika: Haruta to Chika wa Seishun suru (2016)
• Mob Psycho 100 (2016)
• Saiki Kusuo no Ψ-nan (2016)
• Hitorijime My Hero (2017)
• Butlers: Chitose Momotose Monogatari (2018)
• Piano no Mori (2018)
• LOST SONG (2018)
• revisions (2019)
• Dounika Naru Hibi (2020)
• Gal to Kyouryuu (2020)
• Boku no Hero Academia 5th Season (2021)

Radio

Although Seiichiro Yamashita has been active as a seiyuu since 2012, he still doesn’t have much radio work.

In the few opportunities he got to host/co-host a radio show Yamashita showed a lot of sense and quick wits, adapting to new situations relatively easy.

On his solo radio shows, Yamashita is calm and friendly at all times. His hosting style makes it so that the listener feels like they are having a conversation with him. Warm and with a good vibe, his radio shows are always a treat to listen to.

His first radio appearance was on “Minato Soft Radio” in 2015.

Still in the same year, Yamashita got to co-host a radio show for the very first time.

Seiichiro Yamashita and Makoto Furukawa no orange na futari (2016)

He teamed up with Makoto Furukawa to host 山下誠一郎・古川慎のorangeなふたり（Seiichiro Yamashita and Makoto Furukawa no orange na futari). This radio show stemmed from the popular anime “orange“.

MAN TWO MONTH RADIO (2016)

He was invited to be the host of MAN TWO MONTH RADIO, show in which seiyuu can handle their own radio show for two months before switching with the next seiyuu.

In 山下誠一郎のモブFだった僕がヒーローを目指すラジオ (Yamashita Seiichiro no Mob F datta Boku ga Hero o Mezasu Radio), Yamashita challenged himself to become a hero through various corners that ranged from creating sound effects to do counseling sessions for his listeners to help them with their problems.

Yamashita Seiichiro no Radio YOUR SEICHI BOOKS (2021 -)

In 2021, Yamashita started to host 山下誠一郎のラジオ・YOUR SEICHI BOOKS (Yamashita Seiichiro no Radio YOUR SEICHI BOOKS), a laidback radio show with a classy twist.

The radio show mixes free talk parts covering the happenings in Yamashita’s life as well as his love for books and giving advice to his listeners.

Other radio shows he guested/hosted/co-hosted include:

• Butlers: Chitose Momotose Monogatari Radio (2018)
• LOST SONG; CONTINUE (2018)
• Lord El-Melloi II Sei no Jikenbo: Rail Zeppelin Grace Note radio (2019)
• “Appare-Ranman!” Radio Here we go !!!!! (2020)

Acting

Yamashita is passionate about acting not only behind a mic but also on stage. Up until 2021, he’s got 2 opportunities to showcase his acting skills on stage.

The first opportunity was with the live reading drama L’asterisme- in 2018.

And in late 2020, Yamashita was cast as Shogo Yumekawa in the WITH by IdolTimePripara stage play/musical, reprising his role from the anime series.

This was his very first leading role in a stage play, one that was extremely well received by both his fans and the ones of the original material from which the stage play stemmed.

Narration / Dubbing

The first work Seiichiro Yamashita got when joining the voice acting industry was in narration. He’s got plenty of work lending his voice to TV commercials for various brands and TV channels.

He’s also got some work in dubbing, with credits in Pilgrimage (dubbing Tom Holland, the movie’s protagonist), The Good Doctor (this is the first dubbing gig Yamashita got back in 2012), Samayou Yaiba, Adventures of Rufus: The Fantastic Pet, Legendary (once again, dubbing Tom Holland), and BULL.

Despite having dubbed 2 movies as the voice of Tom Holland, Seiichiro Yamashita is not his official voice in Japan, that will be Junya Enoki.

Drama CDs

Drama CDs are a constant in Yamashita’s repertoire. He’s been pretty active in the BL scene, having over 30 credits in drama CDs such as:

• Escape Journey (2016),
• “Hitorijime My Hero” Drama CD Vol.1 (2017),
• Principle (2018),
• Momo to Manji (2018),
• Liquor & Cigarettes (2018),
• Rennai Fuyuki Todoki (2018 – 2019),
• Outotsu Sugar Days (2019),
• Ikigami and Donor (2021),

between many more.

At the same time, Yamashita is active in regular/otome/situation drama CDs however, in comparison to his credits in BL works, he has few credits, and most of those are closely connected to either anime series, 2D music projects, or games.

Some of those credits include:

• Ninja Slayer (2013)
• Overlord Vol.6 (2014)
• Hibi Chocho (2014)
• Haruchika 〜 Haruta to Chika wa seishun suru 〜 drama CD (2017)
• Hana-Doll* (2019 -)
• Otogi No Uta: Chronicle Ochiyuku Hasu No Hanabira Rinne Wo Mitsumete (2019)
• Live us vol.1 ～ vol.6 (2021)

Games

As far as games go, Yamashita has a couple of interesting roles under his belt. You can find him more commonly in otome games but he also lends his voice to characters in action and RPG games.

Below are some of his most interesting roles in games.

Yagen Toshirou in Touken Ranbu (2015 -)

One of Yamashita’s most popular roles in games is Yagen Toshirou in Touken Ranbu online.

The game went on to be extremely popular spawning 2 different anime adaptations: Touken Ranbu: Hanamaru (slice-of-life adaptation) and Touken Ranbu: Katsugeki (action-packed anime adaptation).

Ace Trappola in Disney: Twisted-Wonderland (2020 – )

In 2020, Yamashita joined the cast of the popular smartphone game Disney: Twisted-Wonderland.

He voices Ace Trappola, a first-year student in Heartslabyul that is well known for his mischievous personality. Deep down, Trappola is righteous and will protect the ones he cares about even if he has to resort to brute force.

Yoichi in Kimi wa Yukima ni Koinegau (2021)

In 2021, Yamashita was cast in the otome game Kimi wa Yukima ni Koinegau.

He voices Yoichi, one of the most popular characters in his game.

Yoichi is quite the lazy character however, he’s incredibly caring and loving towards the protagonist, something that easily sets him apart from all other characters in the game.

The game was so popular in Japan that it is confirmed to get an international release date, with Aksys Games being in charge of its localization for the western public.

Other games he’s lent his voice acting talents to include:

• Hakkenden ~ Yoto Kitan ~ (2013)
• NAtURAL DOCtRINE (2014)
• Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book (2015)
• Shoujo‑tachi wa Kouya wo Mezasu (2016)
• Stand My Heroes (2016)
• Dia Horizon (2017)
• Idol Time PriPara (2017)
• Super Robot Wars DD (2019)
• Shadowverse (2020)
• Shuen no Virshu -ErroR: salvation- (2021)

Music

When it comes to music, Seiichiro Yamashita is part of a couple of 2D music projects, and in all of those he has been showcasing his singing skills, versatility as a singer + dancer, always focusing on delivering energetic and gripping performances.

Yamashita may be best known for his rapping for Anthos*, being a core piece in the group, adding a lot of swagger and power to their songs, but he’s also a solid singer, with a strong baritone voice riding on consistent mid-tones.

If he happens to perform live with the groups he’s a part of, fans can expect a lot of energy and comfort on stage.

Despite being more inexperienced than other seiyuu – part of many more 2D music projects and with more live performances under their belts – it always seems like Yamashita is on his element on stage, never looking nor sounding nervous.

Below are some of the 2D music projects in which Seiichiro Yamashita is a member.

WITH (2017 – )

In 2017, Seiichiro Yamashita joined the lineup for WITH, a unit stemming from the Pripara anime series and consisting of Seiichiro Yamashita, Tatsuyuki Kobayashi, Reiou Tsuchida.

Yamashita is the group’s center.

Since their debut, the group has released 11 songs.

The group has also performed live on several occasions and even with the end of the franchise, the group remains active holding live shows and releasing music.

In 2018, WITH headlined their first live show – “朝も！夜も！どんなときも！always WITH you！！” (Asa mo! Yoru mo! Donna toki mo! Always WITH you!!)- closely tied to the promotions for the anime series IdolTimePripara.

In 2021, the group performed live for the Special event “WITH/lations” by IdolTimePripara.

Mushoku no Sora to Warau Ito (2019 – )

In 2019, Yamashita joined the lineup of Mushoku no Sora to Warau Ito, rock band part of the Otogi no Uta franchise.

The band’s lineup consists of Koutaro Hashimoto (vocals), Seiichiro Yamashita, and Chiharu Sawashiro.

Since their debut, the group has released 1 single “Ochiyuku Hasu No Hanabira Rinne Wo Mitsumete” and has participated in 1 versus CD and 1 all-stars CD.

Anthos* (2019 – )

In 2019, Seiichiro Yamashita joined the ambitious and unique project, Hana-Doll*.

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

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

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

So far, the group has released the following CDs:

• Birth (2019)
• BOXED (2019)
• IDOLls (2019)
• Message (2020)
• For… (2020)
• Meet (2021)
• Es (2021)

Their unique sound completely strays away from that of regular idol projects.

The lyrics delve into darker themes (after all, there’s a really dramatic and emotional story at the core of this group and each character), 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.

In 2021, the franchise kicked off its first solo CD series The Way I Am. As Mahiro, Yamashita performed “Tycoon“, a high-tension EDM song.

Still in the same year, Anthos* started to slightly change their sound, embracing more tropical music while putting aside their minimalistic, chillout sound from their debut.

As a group, their dynamic changed as well with the addition of Shun Horie, Anthos* got more power on the tenor range.

“Meet” was the first album released by the, now rebranded, Anthos*. And it brought two intense tunes to the spotlight, the leading track “Flash Point” and its b-side “Shine on“.

In June 2021, Anthos* performed live on stage for the very first time. 7 Meet A  Anthos* Stage Event 2021 was held at Tokorozawa Sakura Town Japan Pavilion Hall A in Saitama on 06/06/2021.

The live event featured performances by the group as well as the solo tracks released in The Way I Am CD series.

Before the end of 2021, Anthos* released a new CD “INCOMPLICA:I/F~es~“.

This CD welcomed two new songs to the group’s repertoire “Lay it down“, a hard-hitting, dancefloor-driven song favoring the rappers within the group – Daiki Hamano and Seiichiro Yamashita – and “Paradiso“, song favoring the main vocals of the group.

Unknown Order (2021 – )

In 2021, Seiichiro Yamashita joined the cast of the 2D music project, Live us. He was cast as Ryuu Kiyama, one of the members of the rock band, Unknown Order.

The band made their debut in December 2021 with the single “sunrise“.

Although he is a part of this band, it’s actually Shugo Nakamura that is in charge of the singing.

Magazines

In 2021, Seiichiro Yamashita appeared for the very first time on the cover of a seiyuu magazine. He was featured on the back cover of Seiyuu Animedia January 2022 issue.

Variety

Contrary to what is now common for seiyuu, Seiichiro Yamashita doesn’t appear often in variety shows or cast events for anime series.

Still, whenever he appears, fans can expect him to be serious for a moment, read the room and adjust himself to the shenanigans going on during those shows.

At times he’s caught by surprise or led into hilarious hijinks, especially if the other seiyuu guesting/co-hosting/hosting the shows are close to him or, in some way, are helping him feel more comfortable.

Below are some of the best variety/cast event shows he’s guested on over the years.

Animemashite (2014)

In 2014, Yamashita co-hosted TV Tokyo’s Animemashite, show focused on the anime and seiyuu scenes, with fellow seiyuu Natsuki Hanae.

The recording was split into two, with a part of each episode focusing on each seiyuu, their likes, ambitions, and what was the catalyst for them to enter the business.

The show’s concept allowed the seiyuu to interview each other and then interview other guests – that went there to promote their shows and/or music releases.

Banpresto/Prebanlab (2019)

In 2019, Seiichiro Yamashita was a guest on Banpresto, popular variety show hosted by Kenichi Suzumura and Ryota Osaka.

He was incredibly straightforward as a guest, immediately saying he was nervous to be on the show however, as time passed, he got increasingly comfortable, going along with Suzumura’s unique filming skills for the goods corner and then showcasing his acting skills in the gesture game near the end of the show.

Kabukicho Sherlock Cast Special Program (2019)

Still in the same year and this time around to promote the Kabukicho Sherlock anime series, Seiichiro Yamashita was one of the cast members participating in Kabukicho Sherlock Cast Special Program (歌舞伎町シャーロックキャスト出演特番).

Alongside Katsuyuki Konishi and Soma Saito, Seiichiro Yamashita ended up being the protagonist of all the hilarity going on. Right off the bat, Konishi pointed out that he’d never hosted/participated in a cast event with Yamashita and it was Yamashita’s first time participating in a live cast event.

Starting from there, and with a visibly overwhelmed and nervous Yamashita, Konishi and Saito teamed up to make him feel more comfortable which resulted in… all hell breaking loose with the pair, during the quiz section, teasing and tricking Yamashita into saying things he didn’t want to on live broadcast – much to their and the staff’s entertainment.

Much in the style of the anime, there were plenty of dirty jokes going on in the middle of the commentary on the key scenes in the series’ 1st season as well as the quiz part.

What initially seemed like a straightforward, business-like event to promote an anime series ended up being filled with laughter and a buddy vibe going on between all 3 cast members.

Facts

Really passionate about books

Seiichiro Yamashita is quite the bookworm.

He loves to read, not only to himself but also aloud – live reading/reading plays – and has taken his passion to a whole new level, hosting a radio show all about it, Yamashita Seiichiro no Radio YOUR SEICHI BOOKS.

Good at calligraphy

In 2016, on Yamashita Seiichiro no Mob F datta Boku ga Hero o Mezasu Radio, Yamashita said that he’s rather good at Shodo (Japanese calligraphy).

To prove that, after each episode of the radio, Yamashita wrote his feelings or a message using his calligraphy skills.

Doesn’t feel comfortable singing karaoke

On episode 8 of Yamashita Seiichiro no Radio YOUR SEICHI BOOKS, one of the listeners sent in an email telling Yamashita that she didn’t feel confident about her singing skills and didn’t like to hear her singing voice.

Upon prompted to give advice to the listener, Yamashita added that he too doesn’t like singing karaoke as he doesn’t like the pressure that comes with it.

However, he mentioned that his not liking to sing karaoke because of the pressure does not apply to his work singing for 2D groups.

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.