Mitsuishi Kotono: Best seiyuu ever? :: By Illusion, 15th Nov 2002

Yes it's true. I am a Mitsuishi Kotono fangirl. I'm not ashamed to admit that. What's so great about her? Well, put simply, EVERYTHING. I am in fact a big seiyuu fangirl, I just love watching anime and picking out the familiar voices and going "Wow, I can't believe Koyasu Takehito did Hanagata's voice!" or "That is sooooo Megumi Hayashibara". But Mitsuishi Kotono is one seiyuu that just has impressed me over and over again. The joy of hearing her voice, especially in her more serious roles, is indescribable. I first fell in love with her voice and talent when I watched her role in Neon Genesis Evangelion as Misato Katsuragi. She gave the character of Misato meaning and brought her to life, displaying the raw emotions during the psychological trauma in the later episodes. Misato immediately became my favorite female anime character, and she still remains today, although she is followed closely by Mireille Bouquet from Noir, yet another one of Mitsuishi-sama's stunning roles. The danger and passion that she gave Mireille did it for me: Mitsuishi Kotono rocked. Anime fans were shocked at how fast she could talk in Excel Saga, and how kawaii she could sound in Fruits Basket.

Her debut role was in Ace wo Nerae! Final Stage, but perhaps her most famous and long-running role is as Tsukino Usagi (Sailor Moon), which boosted her career to incredible proportions. She has come a long from then, featuring in over a hundred animes, and contorting her voice to become almost unrecognizable (I said almost!) in many different roles. A comprehensive list of her roles in anime can be found here or at the ever-resourceful Hitoshi Doi, among many other seiyuus. Look out for her most recent roles in Spiral: Suiri no Kizuna and Gundam SeeD. I am sure she will continue to impress countless fans (including me) in her roles in these animes, and many more to animes to come.

As people are probably aware, Mitsuishi Kotono, like most other seiyuus, has released music albums independent of any anime series. I believe one of her albums was called Birthday of the Sun. Now, let me say something to shock you: *cough* I don't like her singing *cough*. Yes, I actually am not obsessed over one facet of her broad range of talents. I don't mean any offense to her (of course not! I adore her!), but I really don't think she sings as well as she voice acts. It's not like Hayashibara Megumi or Sakamoto Maaya who's singing is absolutely gorgeous most of the time, and who are practically J-pop singers more than they are seiyuus. Don't get me wrong, Mitsuishi Kotono sounds alright when she sings, but it's not great, and many other seiyuus such as Horie Yui and Araki Kae do it better. *cough* Geez, it hurts me to admit this. However, her voice acting completely makes up for everything, and she doesn't need singing to make her any greater. There, I feel better now.

So to conclude, is Mitsuishi Kotono the best seiyuu ever? Many would say no, and many would say yes. Personally I yell with a resounding YES! Just like I think Kajiura Yuki composes better music than Kanno Yoko, many people will dispute me. It's all up to opinion, and as much as I love lots and lots of other seiyuu, no one has surpassed Mitsuishi-sama in her talent and greatness just yet. If I ever find someone, I'll be sure to update this page!