Okay, this time we'll feature a voice actor. For some reason, actresses have generally enjoyed more popularity, but maybe that has to do with more popular female anime characters. But why is that? Are there more male fans? Well... yes. Also, many female fans, but few male fans, would choose a character of the same gender as their favorite; this can bias popularity towards female characters. Anyway... here's one of the most talented anime actors: Akira Kamiya.

Born on September 18th, 1946, he was a part of the first wave of popular seiyuus in the 80's. He has a really versatile voice: if you have a character who would have a deep, cool-guy voice one minute and do a totally pathetic, stupid voice the next, he is the man. To date, he has done 54 roles, although only 7 of these are title character roles that I'm sure of, including Ryo Saeba of City Hunter (which we're showing tonight, hence the excuse for this article), Ken of Fist of the North Star (how about his "atatatata" attack?), and Muscle Man in the series of the same title (just had to mention it - it was my ultimate favorite when I was a kid). The low number of title roles is a bit surprising, but it could be that his voice has a more "supporting role" quality to it. He's done three notable evil characters: Ashram in Record of Lodoss War, the evil professor in Sailor Moon S, and Garlic Jr. in DBZ (well, almost notable). What he's most famous for, though, are his roles as the super-cool, rich, handsome playboy who suddenly shows up, instantly capturing the interest of most of the women in the series and providing competition for the pathetic loser - I mean, sensitive male lead we should be rooting for - to vie for the indecisive heroine. This is clearly seen as Mitaka in MI, Kazamatsuri in Yawara, and Mendou in UY (well, Lum isn't indecisive, but you get the point).

He's been acting less and less lately - doing much less prominent roles, anyway - but he always attends seiyuu events, proving that he is still very popular and that he cares about his fans and the industry.