Summary
One Pieceishome to some of the most memorable and iconic main characters in all anime and manga, withVinsmoke Sanjibeing one of the most prominent examples. The romantic chef of the Straw Hat Pirates is a funny but honorable and charming gentleman who stands out for many reasons, one of them being his gruff voice, which belongs to none other than the greatHiroaki Hirata.
Hirata is a seasoned Japanese voice actor and narrator who has been working in the anime industry for over 27 years. As a result, he has portrayed numerous different characters in which he got the chance to showcase his impressive vocal range, especially since some of them are quite different from Sanji. The following eight roles are the best examples of Hiroaki Hirata’s talent.
Even thoughOne PieceandNarutoare often considered to be “rival series”, this hasn’t stopped multiple talented voice actors from voicing characters in both of them, and Hiroaki Hirata is obviously not an exception. In this case, he lent his voice toGenma Shiranui, one of the many jonin working at the Hidden Leaf Village.
This is clearly a more subdued role for Hirata, as Genma is more calm and collected than Sanji and most of his other characters. Nevertheless, his solid performance and deep voice helped Genma stand out as one of the most memorable background characters in all ofNarutoandNaruto Shippuden.
Digimon Adventureis one of the most iconic anime series produced by Toei Animation, right behindDragon BallandOne Piece.It’s not uncommon for big Japanese animation studios to cast voice actors in more than one project, and Hiroaki Hirata has had the honor of working on this show since its inception,with his most popular character beingLeomon.
With his excellent performance, he manages to bring a lot of kindness and charm to the so-called “King of Beasts”, while still keeping his ferociousness and intimidation factor intact. As great as this portrayal is, this isn’t Hirata’s only character inDigimon Adventure, since he also voiced Megadramon, Hagurumon, Hiroaki Ishida, and even the narrator himself.
Hiroaki Hirata often mainly specializes in voicing two specific (but very different) types of characters: tough and intimidating fighters or super friendly and kind guys. Because of this talent, he brought to life what would eventually become one of the most popular characters inSword Art Online:Tsuboi Ryōtarō, also known asKlein.
Klein is a lighthearted and good-natured characterwho is famous for being the first friend Kirito ever made in the originalSword Art Online, not to mention that he even explained the basic mechanics of the game to him. On the other hand, however, he is also a ladies’ man, which must have resonated with Hirata after having voiced Sanji for so many years. Klein would’ve never earned his rightful reputation among fans if it wasn’t for Hirata’s performance.
Roronoa Zoro’s voice actor, Kazuya Nakai, portrayed Toushirou Hijikata inGintama,but he’s not the only famousOne Piecetalent who worked on Sunrise’s hilarious adaptation of Hideaki Sorachi’s manga. Nevertheless, Hiroaki Hirata ended up voicing a much more tragic character:Terada Tatsugorō.
Once again, Hirata showcases his impeccable ability to bring kind but strong and cool characters to life, as Terada was a policeman who protected the Kabuki District, and a good rival of Doromizu Jirocho, before his tragic death. This is not the most recognizable character inGintama, but he’s certainly one of the most memorable ones, thanks in part to Hirata’s impressive acting.
4Godot
In Ace Attorney
There’s no denying thatGodotisone of the most popular characters in the entireAce Attorneyfranchise. So, when it was time for this iconic game series to be adapted into an anime, he had the honor of being voiced by the great Hiroaki Hirata, who was an absolutely perfect fit for this role.
Godot is a suave and confident prosecutor who, in many ways, is not too different from Sanji, which means that Hirata’s gruff voice ends up fitting him surprisingly well. Godot was already quite a belovedAce Attorneycharacter, but Hirata’s charismatic portrayal in the anime adaptation certainly contributed to his boost in popularity among anime viewers.
Hiroaki Hirata is mostly known for portraying suave and cool secondary characters, like Sanji or Godot, but he’s also talented enough to star in a show as one of the main characters. He has actually done this on numerous occasions, with one of the most prominent examples beingMutta NanbafromSpace Brothers.
As one of the titularSpace Brothers, Mutta Nanba is quite a complex characterwho requires the full extent of Hirata’s vocal talent: he’s calm and collected, he’s very intelligent, he cares a lot about his brother Hibito, and he’s overall a really likable guy. This is definitely one of the best vocal performances in Hirata’s entire career.
Another memorable anime protagonist who was voiced by Hiroaki Hirata isKotetsu T. Kaburagi(also known asWild Tiger),one of the titular main characters fromTiger & Bunny. This shouldn’t be much of a surprise, however, sinceKotetsu actually looks a lot like his most famous role, Sanji.
This is yet another one of the roles in which Hirata got to display his full incredible range, especially his flawless ability to portray characters that are heroic and selfless, but also quite funny and stubborn. At the end of the day, both Wild Tiger and Mutta Nanba fromSpace Brothersare undeniable proof that Hirata needs to voice the main characters in anime more often.
As mentioned multiple times throughout this list, most characters that Hiroaki Hirata voices are kind and lighthearted heroic figures, and he has excelled at this type of role for many years. This is exactly why his performance as the despicable villainRe-Destroin Season 5 ofMy Hero Academiawas such an unexpected treat. In just one mind-blowing performance, Hirata managed to seamlessly pull off both Re-Destro’s likable CEO persona and his true self, an ambitious and manipulative villain who will go to extreme lengths to achieve his goals.
While, at first, Sanji’s voice can be heard slightly in Re-Destro’s lines,Hirata does such an excellent job that he eventually gives him an identity of his own, one that’s extremely different from all of his other characters. Curiously enough, Season 5 ofMy Hero Academiaalso introduced Flect Turn – the main villain of the movieWorld Heroes' Mission- who is voiced by none other than Kazuya Nakai. This means that both Sanji and Zoro technically voiced villains in the same show around the same time.
