People take voice acting in anime very seriously. Voice actors in Japan are as popular as music idols are in Hollywood. Of course, voice acting includes a huge variety of jobs like dubbing anime, Hollywood films, commercials, dramas and even narrating in video games.
For the purpose of convenience, this article will only focus on the popularity of female anime voice actresses. Their popularity is solely based on the number of anime franchises they have done, as well as how many big franchises they have been part of. Without further ado, here are 10 extremely popular Japanese voice actresses.
10 Kana Hanazawa
Hanazawa is a multi-talented person. Not only does she dub anime, but she also does live-action performances as well as sing as a professional singer. Her career began early on when she was in college. In the 2015 Seiyu Awards, she won the Best Supporting Actress award for her work.
Hanazawa's notable roles include Akane Tsunemori in Psycho-Pass, Rize Kamishiro in Tokyo Ghoul, Shirase Kobuchizawa in A Place Further than the Universe, Kanade Tachibana in Angel Beats!, and Hina Kawamoto in March Comes in Like a Lion
9 Romi Park
Romi Park is of Japanese Korean descent and she is popular in Japan for playing no-nonsense badass female characters. She has also voiced young male characters that are aggressive but also smart. Edward Elric is the best example of her work. She also lends her voice to the dubbing of Western shows that air in Japan.
Park's notable roles include Temari in Naruto, Zoe Hange in Attack on Titan, Ragyo Kiryuin in Kill la Kill, and Tōshirō Hitsugaya in Bleach.
8 Inori Minase
Minase is a singer as well as a voice actress who is relatively new to the world of dubbing. She officially made her debut in 2015 and in the 2016 Seiyu Awards, she won the Best Lead Actress Award. She is popular among fans for the huge variety of emotions her voice can portray.
Minase's notable roles include Chino in Is the Order a Rabbit?, Rem in Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World, Noel in Celestial Method, and Hestia in Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?
7 Junko Takeuchi
Junko Takeuchi is a veteran voice actress, who has been in the anime industry for decades now. She is popular for voice young male characters that are slightly airheaded and often make their own paths. She has actually voiced some of the most popular shounen characters in anime.
Takeuchi's notable roles include Naruto Uzumaki from Naruto, Mamoru Endou in Inazuma Eleven, and Gon Freecss in Hunter x Hunter (1999).
6 Maaya Sakamoto
Sakamoto possesses a bachelor's degree in sociology, but her passion lies in voice acting. Apart from anime dubs, she is popular among Japanese fans for her incredible singing voice, as well as her collaboration with popular Japanese musicians like Yoko Kanno. Sakamoto has also been a part of the Japanese theatrical version of Les Misérables.
Sakamoto's notable roles include Ciel Phantomhive in Black Butler, Haruhi Fujioka in Ouran High School Host Club, Shinobu Oshino in Monogatari, and Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell: Arise.
5 Maaya Uchida
Like most other actresses in this list, Uchida has won the Best New Actress Award from the prestigious Seiyu Awards. When she isn’t dubbing for anime, she sings professionally. In fact, her debut song was titled Soushou no Innocence, and her agency is named Pony Canyon.
Uchida's notable works include Hiyori Iki in Noragami, Alluka Zoldyck in Hunter × Hunter (2011), Katarina Claes in My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! and Rikka Takanashi in Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions.
4 Mayumi Tanaka
Mayumi Tanaka is the second veteran actress on this list, with her debut being way back in 1978. One Piece fans have definitely heard her voice and loved her for it. No, she didn’t voice any female characters from it, but Monkey D. Luffy himself! Yes, the very fact it’s hard to believe a woman voiced him, goes on to show her fantastic vocal range.
Tanaka's other noteworthy roles include Koenma in YuYu Hakusho, Krillin in Dragon Ball, and Pazu in Studio Ghibli's Laputa: Castle in the Sky.
3 Ikue Otani
Ikue Otani is someone who needs no introduction. Most people know her as the voice of the immensely beloved anime character Pikachu from the Pokémon series. She has also lent her voice to some of the biggest anime franchises of all time. Otani is well known for voicing both male and female characters.
Otani's other notable roles include Tony Tony Chopper in One Piece, Morgana in Persona 5 game and anime, Konohamaru Sarutobi in Naruto, and Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya in Detective Conan.
2 Akari Kitou
Akari Kitou made her anime debut in the year 2014, and her first lead role was with the anime Time Bokan 24. She has increasingly been playing more and more important/leading characters in anime. This is a surprise, seeing how the anime industry tends to prefer veterans for lead roles, as opposed to newbies. Fans will recognize Kitou as the voice of Nezuko from the Demon Slayer series.
Kitou's other notable works include Kana Yajima in Wolf Girl and Black Prince, Momo Chiyoda in The Demon Girl Next Door, Yashiro Nene in Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun, and Kaho Hinata in Blend S.
1 Rie Kugimiya
Casual anime fans would easily be able to recognize Rie Kugimiya’s voice because she can usually be seen voicing tsundere female characters. In fact, she’s done so many notable tsundere roles that she has earned the nickname Queen of Tsundere among her Japanese fanbase.
Kugimiya's most noteworthy role was that of Taiga from Toradora, for which she also won the Best Actress award in the third Seiyu Awards. Her other notable roles include Alphonse Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist, 001 in Darling in the FranXX, Louise in The Familiar of Zero, and Kagura in Gintama.