Seiyuu Digest #29 – Yuichiro Umehara

Stoic, calm and collected. Talented seiyuu often dubbed as one of the best looking faces in the industry. This digest is all about Yuichiro Umehara.

Umehara is one of those seiyuu to have a sudden explosive rise in popularity right from the very start of their career. His unique voice tone and his looks were certainly 2 of the reasons people couldn’t help but to follow his work.  

Yuichiro Umehara

Kanji: 梅原裕一郎

Born: March 8, 1991

Occupation: seiyuu, singer, radio host

Height: 173 cm

Note: This article is undergoing a deep update. There may be some information missing.

Seiyuu career

Born on March 8, 1991, in Shizuoka prefecture, Umehara has debuted in 2013.

When taking a look at the numbers it becomes quite apparent that Umehara has been one of the seiyuu that has quickly risen his popularity since his debut.

Not following a rather common trend, he managed to get a role that made him become recognized or at least catch the eye of the fans and not simply evaporate into thin air after that occurrence. At 25, Umehara had an opportunity and grabbed it, hence why he has so much popularity nowadays despite all obstacles in his career.

Yuichiro Umehara is one of the seiyuu that has been steadily gaining popularity throughout the years.

Over the past few years Umehara has been expanding his horizon in the seiyuu industry, making endeavors into singing.

He has began to not only appear in anime, but he also has increasingly been making appearances in games and drama CDs, which in the majority of cases is a good thing, since one gets to ascertain just how talented this man actually is.

Granted that popularity does not always mean talent, but that does not appear to be Umehara’s case.

2013 – 2014

The starting point

Although his career amounts to just a couple of years, unlike what would believe Umehara has been working hard to make himself known by the fans.

Even if one mentions that he debuted in 2013, reality is that in that same year he did not have a single role in anime, which now does not seem so unusual, but at the time one can strongly believe just how frustrating it must have been for the newcomer.

However, one year later Umehara was lucky enough to land on a main role in the famous anime Orenchi no Furo Jijou as the laid-back and lazy merman Wakasa.

This role enabled him to get his first contact with some famous seiyuu such as Tatsuhisa Suzuki, Nobunaga Shimazaki, and Kenjiro Tsuda.

Not only did this role made it possible for Umehara to get some actual experience in anime but it was from this point onward that the hype around him started to grow, thus his quick rise.

Actually, it would be correct to say that at the starting point of his career he became a seiyuu with quite a lot of hype behind him.

Now, when one hears something about a hyped seiyuu, it would be acceptable to believe that the person in question has the fame, but chances are that the talent is lacking, even so, Umehara was able to prove those people wrong.

Not only does he have the technique, but he equally has been improving his performance, as well as making sure to do the unexpected while being careful so as not to sound the same in each and every character he portrays.

In the same year he also had other roles in famous anime such as Okami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji, Chaika – The Coffin Princess, Yowamushi Pedal, Magimoji Rurumo, and Riddle Story of Devil.

In 2015, Umehara was part of the cast in the popular anime Akagami no Shirayukihime (Snow White with the Red Hair) as Mitsuhide Lowen, a character with a protective yet out-going and caring personality, and also shares a strong bond with the main character Zen.

Although at this point, he was not yet stuck to a specific type of character, it was refreshing to see him play a character that despite being quite capable still had a human side to him, especially in the comic scenes in the anime.

Umehara reprised his role as Lowen in 2016.

Still in the same year, he appeared to have been caught in the momentum and keep on going strong. In Owari no Seraph he played René Simm, a secondary role that has some important air time, so although it is not the main character in the anime, we could say that it was an important role for him nonetheless.

This role as a vampire was one of the first in his repertoire so it is understandable that the fans became curious about his performance.

On the other hand, since his character had little to no emotion when talking, we can only mention his performance that was on par with the character’s personality and species, so to say.

In this anime, he was able to work with the famous and talented fellow seiyuu Miyu Irino.

Umehara seemed to be on a hot streak in his career as still in 2015, he was cast in the popular anime Young Black Jack as the protagonist, Kuroo Hazama.

In this prequel that had a lot of hype pre-airing, the fans gave mixed reviews, as some claimed that the anime had not fallen short to the original anime, whereas others claimed that some episodes were not precisely connected with the previous which resulted in difficulties when watching the anime.

In Binan Koukou Chikyuu Boueibu LOVE! he played the main character En Yufuin.

As a character that loves to sleep one can pretty much foresee several moments of comic relief with his character.

The parody anime focused on the main characters whose sole wish is to have a relaxed time while they hang out, but their plans are spoiled. Umehara has reprised his role in all the seasons that have come out up until now.

Following his momentum, Umehara was cast as Kazuki Kaionji in the popular sports original anime Battery, in Magic★Kyun! Renaissance as Teika Ichijōji, and in D.Gray-man HALLOW he was Legory Peck, a minor character.

Lastly, Umehara is also a part of the cast in the currently airing anime Trickster, in which not only does he have the opportunity to work with other fellow seiyuu but he also had the chance to work with the famous rockstar, GACKT, who was also cast in this anime.

In 2017, the adaptation to anime of the game Dynamic Chord feat. apple-polisher was green-lit and with that Umehara reprised his role as Shinobu Kurosawa, the leader, and bassist of the band.

Although the game was extremely popular one cannot say the same for the anime adaptation as many criticized it for the lack of air-time of the members of all bands in the franchise, the fact that the plot being a far cry from the original, and the lack of effort put in the animation of the characters.

After a prolific year, Umehara kept the momentum up. In 2017 he was cast in Shingeki no Bahamut: Virgin Soul as Charioce XVII, probably one of the first characters he played that fell more on the antagonist side of the spectrum than anything else.

As the king, Charioce XVII is adored by his followers as he has supposedly defeated their enemies, however when it comes to his popularity between the demons, the same cannot be told as he has imprisoned several and killed another handful all in the name of justice.

If one had to say, Charioce XVII appears to be a magnanimous king and to enjoy taking strolls in the city as he is disguised so as to see for himself what are the problems if there are any. Umehara‘s performance as a king is of quality.

Still in the same year, Umehara reprised his role as Kyoji Takajo, one of Beit’s members, in the anime The IDOLM@STER SideM as well as in Tsukipro The Animation as Dai Murase.

Other roles in Umehara’s repertoire include names such as Makura no Danshi (2016), Shōnen Hollywood -Holly Stage for 50- (2016), Ikemen Sengoku: Toki o Kakeru ga Koi wa Hajimaranai (2017), Koisuru Shirokuma (2017), Star-Myu: High School Star Musical (2017), Caligula (2018), Black Clover (2018), Captain Tsubasa (2018), Dame Prince (2018), Gakuen Babysitters (2018), Darling in the Franxx (2018) and Tada-kun wa Koi o Shinai (2018).

Awards

In 2016, Umehara would have the first major year for him.

If the fact that he started to have main character roles was not enough, then one can without a doubt say that him having won the Award for Best Rookie Seiyuu at the 10th Seiyuu Awards only further solidified his stance as a seiyuu to look forward to.

The roles that made it possible for Umehara to be awarded were Wakasa in Orenchi no Furo Jijou and Kuroo Hazama in Young Black Jack.

Radio

Regarding any radio shows, we must say that Umehara has been in quite a few such as Owari no Radio from the popular anime, in which he was cast, Owari no Seraph.

Umehara has been a host, co-host, and or guest in numerous radio shows, some of these really popular.

Hyorotto Danshi (2015 -)

Umehara’s longest-running co-hosting radio show is 宏太朗と裕一郎 ひょろっと男子 (Kotaro to Yuichiro Hyorotto Danshi).

The radio show, co-hosted with fellow seiyuu Koutaro Nishiyama, kicked off in 2015 and is one of the most popular male seiyuu hosted radio shows.

Stemming from the show, the duo made their debut in 2018 as Hyorotto Danshi with おしえてョ (Oshiete yo).

Music

When it comes to music, the trend is for people to want to know their seiyuu’s favorite music genre, so that’s what we’ll clarify for you out there. Umehara has quite the background when it comes to the music department.

We must come forth and say it outright, his first contact was in his first and second year of high school he had contact with the band called Bump of chicken.

Beit (2014 -)

 

In 2015, Yuichiro Umehara joined THE IDOLM@STER SideM franchise as part of the regal unit, Beit.

Beit consist of Shun Horie, Tomohito Takatsuka, and Yuichiro Umehara. The trio is known for having solid vocals and elegant instrumental pieces.

So far the unit has released World Tre@sure 04, Tomorrow Diamond, THE IDOLM@STER SideM ST@RTING LINE 03 Beit, and THE IDOLM@STER SideM 2nd ANNIVERSARY DISC 02 Beit & S.E.M.

Up until now, the trio has released or participated in the following CDs:

• THE IDOLM@STER SideM ST@RTING LINE-03 Beit (2015),
• THE IDOLM@STER SideM 2nd ANNIVERSARY DISC 02 Beit & S.E.M (2016),
• THE IDOLM@STER SideM ANIMATION PROJECT 01 “Reason!!“ (2017),
• THE IDOLM@STER SideM ANIMATION PROJECT 02 “TOMORROW DIAMOND” (2017),
• 315 St@rry Collaboration 01 ～DRAMATIC STARS&Beit～ (2017),
• THE IDOLM@STER SideM ANIMATION PROJECT 08 “GLORIOUS RO@D” (2018),
• THE IDOLM@STER SideM 5th ANNIVERSARY DISC 01 PRIDE STAR (2019),
• THE IDOLM@STER SideM 5th ANNIVERSARY DISC 06 Jupiter & Beit & THE Kogadou (2020),
• THE IDOLM@STER SideM NEW STAGE EPISODE:05 Beit (2020).

Aside from these CDs, Beit has participated in several cross-unit and solo song projects within the franchise.

So far, the trio participated in four IDOLMASTER SideM stages: 1st STAGE 〜ST@RTING!〜 (2016), 2nd STAGE 〜ORIGIN@L STARS〜 (2017), 3rd STAGE 〜GLORIOUS ST@GE!〜 (2018) and THE IDOLM@STER SideM 4th LIVE STAGE 〜TRE@SURE GATE〜 (2019).

They also participated in the fan meeting tour “GREETING TOUR 2017 ～BEYOND THE DREAM～” in 2017 and  THE IDOLM@STER SideM’s Five-St@r Party!! in 2018.

Akatsuki (2015 -)

Akatsuki is one of the several units in the Ensemble Stars! universe.

With members such as Yuichiro Umehara, Shinichiro Kamio, Keisuke Kaminaga this unit has a traditional sound and when adding their clear technique and talent, this unit is different from others for their uniqueness.

Since their debut, they have released Ensemble Stars! Unit Song CD Vol.4 AKATSUKI, Ensemble Stars! Unit Song CD 2 Vol.4 AKATSUKI, Ensemble Stars! Unit Song CD 3 Vol.8 AKATSUKI and ENSEMBLE STARS! ALBUM SERIES PRESENT -AKATSUKI-.

Akatsuki performed live for the first time Ensemble Stars! Starry Stage 1st ～in Makuhari Messe ～ in 2018.

I♥B (2015 -)

In 2015, Umehara joined the cast of the smartphone rhythm game, I-Chu. With Natsuki Hanae, Naoya Nakanishi, Junya Enoki and Toshiki Masuda, Umehara is a part of the idol unit I♥B.

Since their debut the group has released 7 singles: Fly Fly!, Dear My Precious Friend, My destiny, Mirai Fantasista, Shinkai Mermaid, We are I★CHU! – I♥B ver. and Let’s Go.

MEDICODE (2015 -)

MEDICODE, visual-kei band part of the FlyMe project, a collaboration between seiyuu and visual-kei artists, included popular names in the cast, namely Soma Saito, Takuya Eguchi, Yuichiro Umehara, and Yoshitaka Yamaya.

Despite the fact that Umehara is a member of the cast, his appearance has been limited to a drama CD context only, the frontman in all the releases has been Soma Saito.

The band went on hiatus in the same year they debuted, only making a comeback later in 2017 with the second single GABBY“, single that changed a bit the gears for MEDICODE, embracing a dramatic rock sound.

apple-polisher (2015 -)

Having debuted back in 2015, this band was born from the game Dynamic Chord feat. apple-polisher.

apple-polisher consists of Shouta Aoi (vocals), Yuichiro Umehara, Yoshiki Nakajima, and Takahiro Sakurai.

Umehara only participates in the drama parts within this project. The band dons a groovy mix of R&B, rock, and electronica.

The band has released 4 singles – Against the Rules (2015), real sensation / this song is dedicated to you. (2016), BACK 2 SQUARE 1 (2017) and beat goes on/what have you done for… (2017) – and 1 mini-album everytime i see your face (2018).

SolidS (2015 -)

SolidS started out from songs and a drama CD, then a photo album, live events, culminating on the anime adaptation that aired during 2017’s Fall season.

This group founded in 2015 has grown and evolved over the years and is, since day one, the most popular and best-selling group in the Tsukipro – SQ and ALIVE – franchise.

As a group, SolidS have suffered all kinds of changes. The group we now listen to isn’t the same one that debuted back in 2015.

Their sound was completely revamped and suffered multiple changes over the years to what it is right now (originally they donned a drum&bass sound). For those that haven’t been following the group since their debut, the first releases will sound out-of-place or even over the top ridiculous compared with the music they now release.

That is because Tsukipro and John Zeroness, the unit’s composer/producer, were still trying to figure out what would fit the unit and make us say “this sounds just like a typical SolidS song!“.

SolidS completely embraced their “sexy/mature” concept back in early 2016 and set for a music genre or at least a blend of music genres that is now characteristical of them. Their sound is passionate and fiery, made to excite the listeners and while at it, snatch their hearts.

Even if the unit took their time to find common ground in terms of sound, it wasn’t the only change this unit has suffered.

Initially, it was easy to notice the massive difference in skills between Umehara and the rest of the group – that counts with some of the best singers in the seiyuu industry, the chameleon Soma Saito, the power-vocalist Natsuki Hanae, and rapper and role singer, Takuya Eguchi.

Knowing this, Umehara has been steadily improving his singing skills, evolving from the group’s unreliable member to a solid baritone that can hold his own ground and shine in the meantime.

Just listening to his performance in any of the songs – part of their debut single – and comparing with, for example, Burny!!, Oka Ranman, or Back on Track is enough to understand that he has come a long way.

The group went on hiatus in June 2018, after Yuichiro Umehara was suddenly diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. 

The group didn’t cancel their performance at TSUKIPRO LIVE 2018 SUMMER CARNIVAL in 2018 and performed as a trio instead while rocking Dai (Yuichiro Umehara)’s colors.

As news of Umehara’s recovery surfaced in July, Tsukipro announced the group’s return, resuming their take on the RE:START series.

The group was reunited on stage for SolidS SQP 2019.

All members of SolidS – seiyuu Takuya Eguchi, Soma Saito, Natsuki Hanae, Yuichiro Umehara – attended SolidS SQP 2019, event that counted with live performances, live skits, and talk corners.

SolidS SQP 2019 is set to hit stores in June 2020, including iconic performances of Kiss Me Quick, I AM A BARTENDER, Between the Sheets, DOPE ROCK and more.

ArtiSTARs (2016-)

Alongside Takuya Eguchi, KENN, Yuki Ono, Shouta Aoi and Wataru Hatano, Umehara’s part of ArtiSTARs, pop outfit with a regal vibe.

They’ve performed live in 2017 for a special live event and so far have released 3 singles: “Please kiss my heart” (2016), “Magic-kyun! No.1☆” (2016) and “Sleeping Beauty” (2017).

Osiris (2016 – 2019)

One of the four main bands in the game Band Yarouze is Osiris, with a luxury cast Masanori Kobayashi, Yuma Uchida, Natsuki Hanae, Yuiichiro Umehara. Much like in similar cases, despite the fact that Umehara is a member of the band, namely Shin Koganei (drums), only Kobayashi sings in their releases.

The band has released Duel Gig, For you, FRONTIER, Re:incarnation, Beyond the Limit, Bloody Masquerade, Desire, Heavenly Breeze, Voice, Desire and Darkness.

Hyorotto Danshi (2018 -)

Although Hyorotto Danshi are no novelty, with their radio show being already well known between fans of Koutaro Nishiyama and Yuichiro Umehara -, the duo only made their debut in 2018 with おしえてョ (Oshiete yo).

The duo then returned later in 2019 with the release of Kimi wa Sirius.

Sir Vanity (2020 -)

In 2020, on April Fools, Sir Vanity was announced. This project puts Nikukai’s members Yuichiro Umehara and Yoshiki Nakajima in the same place, sharing their love for rock music.

Sir Vanity consists of Yoshiki Nakajima (vocals and guitar), Yuichiro Umehara (vocals and guitar), Arte Refact’s Satoru Kuwabara (on bass), and taisei (VJ & Creative Director).

Variety

The very first variety/talk show Umehara hosted was Binan Koukou Chikyuu Boueibu LOVE! Nicosei! ~ Battle Namers ~ (2014 -).

The show was broadcasted periodically on Nico Nico and counted with the main cast of the anime series – Kazutomi Yamamoto, Toshiki Masuda, Koutaro Nishiyama, Yuichiro Umehara, and Yusuke Shirai.

The show ran from 2014 up until 2017 and give birth to a lot of famous memes by Nishiyama, Masuda and Umehara, showing how bonkers the whole show was.

Bar SolidS (2015)

Quite possibly one of the most difficult TV show segments to handle, Bar SolidS was marked by frank talk about women, music, dirty jokes, and more, all with a drunk SolidS‘ cast back in 2015.

Even after being heavily edited in post-production, the show was borderline rated R (sometimes really rated R thanks to Natsuki Hanae‘s dangerous wordplays).

Café SolidS (2016)

Taking into account that Bar SolidS proved to be almost a disaster – not because it wasn’t a good show, but due to the fact that drunk seiyuu talking about women and rated themes was difficult to handle for the show’s producers -, the second season of SolidS TV show took a quiet and more controlled turn. 

Cafe Solids (2016) was alcohol-free and focused more on each of the member’s interests in different periods of their lives. Even without alcohol, the group’s mood was laidback and fun.

Real Treasure Hunt (2017)

In 2017, Yuichiro Umehara participated in Marine Entertainment’s variety show, Real Treasure Hunt.

The cast of Real Treasure Hunt “Challenge From Fuma” in Odawara included Shoya Chiba, Yuto Adachi, Yuichiro Umehara, Daiki Yamashita, Yusuke Shirai, Junya Enoki, Makoto Furukawa, Taishi Murata, Daiki Kobayashi, Yoshiki Nakajima, and Hiroki Yasumoto (narrator).

He was paired up with fellow 81 Produce talent Daiki Yamashita in a quest to find the treasure.

The duo went on to casually win the challenges, with Umehara’s logical thinking standing out. 

Saito Soma no Wagokoro wo Kimi ni (2017 -)

In Saito’s tv show Saito Soma no Wagokoro wo Kimi ni that aired back in 2017, Umehara was invited to be the guest of one of the episodes.

As there is no surprise Umehara enjoys taking care of his bonsai, his episode featured an agenda with his hobbies taken into account.

Sokuboku (2018)

Still in the same year, Umehara guested on Koutaro Nishiyama‘s variety show, Sokuboku. These 2 episodes marked Umehara’s return to variety shows after a couple of months away from the seiyuu industry.

Kitsutsuki Tanteidokoro special talk video (2020)

Yuichiro Umehara participated in this special talk video alongside the series’ cast: Shintaro Asanuma, Takahiro Sakurai, Kenjiro Tsuda, Makoto Furukawa, Kensho Ono, Soma Saito and Yukiya Hayashi.

Facts

Close friends with Toshiki Masuda, Koutaro Nishiyama and Yusuke Shirai

His friendship with Toshiki Masuda, Koutaro Nishiyama, and Yusuke Shirai started to be noticed by fans in the Binan Kouko‘s early days. The trio was part of the main cast and quickly hit it off when hosting the same variety show connected to the anime series.

Their chemistry instantly shows when they are together and any show that features him with any of the two will certainly have a lot of teasing and fun going on.

SolidS’ brotherhood

Saito, Hanae, Eguchi, and Umehara tend to get together quite often.

From hanging out at a bar near Saito‘s apartment (even at his flat) to guesting on each other’s shows, narrating or sponsoring each other’s works or just simply mentioning each other and/or working together on the same anime projects, the SolidS members’ friendship is one of the most interesting and well known in the seiyuu business.

Nikukai member

Yuichiro Umehara is part of the star-studded Nikukai group, group of male seiyuu that usually hang out outside of work that consists of Yuma Uchida, Kaito Ishikawa, Soma Saito, Taku Yashiro, Yoshiki Nakajima, and Tasuku Hatanaka.

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That was it for this edition of SEIYUU DIGEST. We hope you’ve enjoyed it and please be sure to come back next month for another feature.

Last updated on 04/08/2021