Shonen Otaku's Top 5 Voice Actors

Voice actors are a critical part of any animated medium.  Just like any live-action movie or TV show, no game or animated series would have anything close to the kind of emotional impact it has without the performance to back it up and voice actors have just as much training and background as the Hollywood stars.  Among the many actors in games and anime, there are a select few who stand out as my favorites.  Based on my previous writing one may expect such favorites to be the likes of Keith Silverstein, Kevin Michael Richardson, David Brimmer, Maddie Blaustein or Christopher Corey Smith, but that is a misconception.  To set the record straight, I present my top 5 favorite voice actors ever.

Trigger warning: sex crimes

5. Todd Haberkorn

Todd Haberkorn is a bit like Kevin Michael Richardson in that his voice is naturally predisposed to certain characters, Haberkorn’s case being the sinister types.  That’s why he’s the best when it comes to voicing people like Haruo Nijima or Korekiyo Shinguji.  Even when he voices someone like Natsu in Fairy Tail he sounds like he wants to plot against me with a doomsday weapon or something, but that’s what makes him one of a kind.

Acting as sinister characters is in no way indicative of his character as a person, of course.  Sure there was the accusations that he raped someone after getting them drunk to the point of practical unconsciousness with someone known for sexual offenses, but just because they can’t consent doesn’t make it rape, right?

I really wish people would stop shoving dictionaries in my face.

Besides, there’s no proof except text messages of Todd himself coming from a verified source and eyewitness accounts, but what are those worth anyway?  Our Fuher Trump would bring such injustices to justice if it really happened!  On that note, Bill Cosby did nothing wrong.

4. Illich Guardiola

Illich Guardiola is one of those actors typically cast as secondary characters, much like Christopher Corey Smith.  The characters he does voice always have imposing toughness to them and really puts his drama education to good use.  Chances are you’ve heard him before if you watched anime in the 2000s.  He was Gin in the bad dub of One Piece, Souther in that Fist of the North Star OVA series and the mohawked badass Shinjiro in Cromartie High School, a series exclusively for geniuses and sane people.

Unfortunately he hasn’t been voice acting ever since he moved to Nevada marry his now-wife.  It’s a good thing he went there otherwise he would have been breaking the law, since she was 16 while he was about 40, and he already had to be brought in by police when he was in Texas.  The age of consent is more like a guideline anyway, am I right?  Children have just as much experience and authority as people twice their age and practically have a college degree by the time they’re 16!  That’s why I go to my regular NAMBLA meetings to advocate for love of all kinds, though for some reason everyone at the meetings I go to looks like that guy from The Godfather.

3. Scott Freeman

Scott Freeman voiced Murasame!  Murasame is one of the biggest badasses in shonen media history!  He’s way better than that thieving rat Ikaruga!  He deserves Hien!  He’s better than her!  Scott Freeman has voiced other characters too, like England in Hetalia and Shusei in Psycho Pass, but it’s Murasame that makes him one of the best!

He is best grill.

I wish he would voice act more, but someone made a big stink about him having pornography of children.  It was only 8 times though, and if I were a parent I would be honored for my child to be used as arousal material for someone as amazing as him!  Make all porn legal!  Maybe then we can finally get an English dub of Euphoria and have it star Scott himself!

I hope someday he’ll come back into anime.  Then he can attend a convention so I can get his autograph.  I found a really high quality picture for him to sign on some website called Sexoff Ender’s Regis Tree.

2. Chris Niosi

From humble beginnings as an animator on Newgrounds with projects used as examples by teachers in his college, Chris Niosi moved on to voice in official works rather than fan ones in spite of the many many many people who have tried to make everyone think he stiffs artists, throws people under buses and takes minimal pay in voice acting for attention.  All it took was a good voice acting strike and Niosi finally got his start voicing characters like Reigen in Mob Psycho 100, Therion in Square Enix’s Octophath Traveler and one of the most iconic game characters of the last decade, YIIK’s Alex.

I mean sure he abused multiple people emotionally and sexually, enabled and even helped a notorious pedophile for several years, pals around with a well-known rapist and stalker, tried to use homelessness as an ultimatum for sex, broke NDA several times and is blacklisted by animators everywhere, but he has since apologized and admitted to his misdeeds so hopefully he will do better and learn from this after four times over the course of 10 years.

Well, he kind of mentioned his misdeeds.

Well, he vaguely alluded to his misdeeds.

Well, he… Contradicted the victim’s stories of misdeeds he said to believe...

But all is forgiven.  Now stop showing me how the victims responded!  I’ll assume all is forgiven and that's what I'm sticking with!

1. Vic Mignona

Oh hell yes!  Vic Mignona is the best!  He has the widest range of voices ever and is one of the most prolific voice actors in anime!  He’s voiced all the greats, like the mystical ninja Goemon, Bui, Stupei and even Cee, the best ninja in Naruto’s history!

But now he’s barely voicing in anything because of a bunch of liars who are trying to ruin his good name!  People keep trying to show me the video footage of him admitting to pulling someone’s hair, but I just know there was a gun just offscreen pointed at his head to make him say that!  Furthermore, those court documents about him cheating on his wife were all forged!  The judge is in on it!

And I know there are stories and posts over the past decade saying he’s preyed on underage girls, sexually harassed people and treated convention staff badly, but that’s all part of the liar’s conspiracy!  Those lying bitches used a time machine to travel to the past to spread those lies as part of an elaborate scheme to ruin him!  But I won’t let that happen!  I’ll make as many accounts as it takes to tell them that they’re lying and that Vic didn’t do anything wrong and that those companies were wrong for blacklisting him!

At least I’ll get on that once I’m safe.  There’s apparently a search warrant out for me for rape, distribution of child pornography, pedophilia, domestic abuse and harassment.  Apparently being inspired by your heroes is suddenly a crime!