10 Best Anime Characters Voiced By Miyuki Sawashiro

Miyuki Sawashiro’s voice acting career in anime began in 1999, with her role as Puchiko in Di Gi Charat, and has only gone up from there. With her wide range and powerful delivery, her performances have been amazing fans for over two decades.

She has played a great variety of characters: male and female, child and adult, hero and villain. A common character type for her is strong and angry, but also has a great capacity for love and gentleness deep down, such as Kurapika from Hunter x Hunter.

Kurapika (Hunter x Hunter)

Of the four main characters of Hunter x Hunter, Kurapika’s journey is the loneliest. He is the sole survivor of the Kurta clan, who were all murdered by the Phantom Troupe for their rare Scarlet Eyes. Now Kurapika devotes his life completely to avenging his family and recovering their stolen remains, isolating himself from everyone, including his friends, in pursuit of this goal.

Sawashiro’s performance not only conveys Kurapika’s wrath but that he is not brooding and bloodthirsty by nature. He is a gentle young man and a kind friend, who is so unsuited to killing that he is terrified his rage will fade over time and leave him without the push he needs to go through with it.

Celty Sturluson (Durarara!!)

Usually, when someone says that they’ve lost their head, they mean it figuratively. Celty very much does not. One of the best characters in Durarara!!, she is a centuries-old Dullahan from Ireland whose severed head was stolen from her. In between doing her job as a courier, she cruises the streets of Ikebukuro in search of it on her black motorcycle, Shooter.

Despite her terrifying supernatural powers and intimidating appearance, Celty is actually very friendly, even cute. She wears a motorcycle helmet with kitty ears, is afraid of aliens because she believed they destroyed the dinosaurs and is always willing to lend a helping hand to those in need. Her human boyfriend Shinra adores her, and the feeling is mutual.

Kirari Momobami (Kakegurui)

At Hyakkaou Private Academy, the skilled gamblers (or just good cheaters) rule the school, while those who lose too much money become their “house pets,” to the point where their bodies can be legally owned by the uber-powerful student council. This system was put in place by student council president Kirari so that the future of Japan itself will fall under Hyakkaou’s control.

While she is one of the least likable characters in Kakegurui, Kirari isn’t interested in being liked, she’s interested in having others under her total control. She is intelligent, sadistic, and, like the show’s compulsive gambler protagonist Yumeko Jabami, is motivated by a need for excitement. Sawashiro lends her a soft, deceptively sweet voice that befits her personality.

Shion Karanomori (Psycho-Pass)

In the dystopian future of Psycho-Pass, citizens are judged by their potential to commit crime. Many with a high criminality potential, or Psycho-Pass, are conscripted into the Public Safety Bureau to hunt those like them. Shion wanted to be a doctor, but the stress of medical school caused her Psycho-Pass to skyrocket, leading her to join the Public Safety Bureau for her own safety.

As an Analyst, she assists her coworkers from their headquarters and supports them however they need. She is particularly close with Enforcer Yayoi Kunizuka, and the two of them are in one of the coolest LGBT relationships in anime. When Yayoi feels insecure about their relationship, Shion is quick to reassure her she loves her.

Lag Seeing (Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee)

In Amberground, it’s eternally night, the earth is a desolate wasteland, and everywhere outside cities is crawling with gigantic killer insects called Gaichuu. To keep in contact, humanity relies on the elite mail service of the Letter Bees. After being delivered to his new home as a child by top Letter Bee Gauche Suede, Lag wants nothing more than to become a great Letter Bee himself.

Lag is unfailingly kind and very sensitive, crying very easily when something gets him emotional. Though he becomes a Bee at only age twelve, he does his job just as skillfully as any of the older Bees, believing that there is nothing more important than delivering the “heart” contained within people’s letters to each other.

Ginko (Mushishi)

Typically, anime heroes who hunt (and often slay) monsters for a living are loud, hot-blooded, and eager for battle. Ginko is far gentler and more thoughtful. The protagonist of one of the best anime about protecting the environment, he wanders the world solving problems caused by mushi, which are often more forces of nature than monsters. Because mushi are naturally attracted to him, he cannot stay anywhere very long.

As an adult, Ginko is voiced by Yuto Nakano, but in the episode “One-Eyed Fish,” Miyuki Sawashiro voices his child self. This episode and Sawashiro’s role in it is particularly significant because it reveals Ginko’s backstory. As a child, he was cursed by the same mushi that killed his surrogate mother, which cost him both his left eye and all memories of his life prior to being cursed.

Himeko Inaba (Kokoro Connect)

The Student Cultural Society of Yamaboshi Academy consists of only five students who, realizing that they don’t fit into the school’s regular clubs, decide that they should stick together instead. They get a lot more than they bargained for out of the arrangement: when they begin spontaneously switching bodies, they learn all each other’s dark secrets and hidden traumas.

Vice president Inaba is cold, logical, and never hesitates to point out all her friends’ flaws. However, as they discover, she is hardest on herself most of all. She doesn’t know the reason why she’s so sharp and slow to trust others, leading her to think she’s an inherently flawed person and hate herself for it.

Bishamon (Noragami)

Noragami is one of the best manga created by women and boasts several strong and unique female characters. Bishamonten, the god of war, is a fan favorite among them. She is extremely powerful, and will hold a murderous grudge for centuries, but is also incredibly honorable and kind, taking on more Regalia than she can handle out of a need to save and protect as many as possible.

Her intense kindness can backfire on her. While most of her Regalia are incredibly loyal to her, not all of them can follow her into battle. So several, like Suzuha, feel unimportant and ignored, but cannot express it out of fear of corrupting Bishamon. Sawashiro perfectly conveys both her soft and nurturing feelings for her Regalia and the earth-shaking fury of a god of war.

Yuzuki Seo (Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun)

While more blunt and self-absorbed than deliberately cruel, Yuzuki Seo is still dreaded by Roman Academy. She says whatever is on her mind no matter how rude it is, ruins the mood everywhere she goes, and plays sports so violently that the boys’ basketball team is terrified of her. However, her singing voice is so sweet and beautiful that her Choir Club has dubbed her their Lorelei.

She frequently picks on classmate Hirotaka Wakamatsu. While Wakamatsu is irritated by Seo, he has fallen deeply in love with “Lorelei,” whose singing instantly cures his insomnia, despite never having seen her, and he is unaware that the two are one and the same. Their antics lead Nozaki to create characters based on them in his shoujo manga.

Kyoko Honda (Fruits Basket)

Despite dying shortly before the beginning of the series, Kyoko’s impact on Fruits Basket cannot be overstated. A feared biker gang leader in her youth, she settled down in adulthood and became an inspiring and loving mother. She was incredibly close to her daughter Tohru, as she did her best to raise her on her own after her husband’s death. Even after Kyoko’s death, Tohru idolizes her to a fault.

She also befriended a young Kyo Sohma, at a time when he desperately needed kindness and guidance. Though they had lost contact until the day of her fatal traffic accident, in the episode “You Fought Well,” she recognized his older self and instantly trusted that he would protect her daughter, trying to tell him so with her last breath. Kyo, however, is misunderstood and still believes she hates him for being too afraid to save her.