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Seiyū Love: Kenjirō Tsuda

More fans are probably familiar with Kenjirō Tsuda’s role as arch-rival Seto Kaiba “Yu-Gi-Oh!,” but for me Vincent Bold from “Space Brothers" is my iconic Tsuda character. Vincent is an intimidating, uptight, ex-military astronaut instructor with a complicated past. He’s cold, critical, and dismissive of civilian astronauts and is a personal and personnel roadblock to the lead. We really don’t like Vincent in the beginning because Tsuda lets the bitterness of a man whose life-long goals have been thwarted seep into every word.

Although there may be a more villainous character I'm unaware of, master swordsman Sanji’s vicious younger brother Yonji from “One Piece" is a perfect example of how Tsuda’s gravely voice lends itself to bad guys. The same qualities that can be good for badness can also be used for coolness, as Tsuda’s long list of cool heroes can attest — Zaveid from “Tales of Zestiria the X,” Nino from “ACCA: 13,” Graze from “The Heroic Legend of Arslan,” and Shijaku from “Gintama,” to name a few.

Since the first Tsuda role I encountered was an older man, and so many others were baddies or cool guys, I was surprised to hear him also play high-school characters. The quirky, amusing Sadaharu Inui from “Prince of Tennis,” and energetic, enthusiastic Seijūrō Mikoshiba from “Free!,” showcase his the breadth of emotions and personalities Tsuda is capable of performing.

All of the characters mentioned have a quantity of cool in them. Then there’s Hannes from “Attack on Titan." Arguably a drunkard, although he’s a unit captain, he is rather laid back, not particularly driven and close to cowardly, attributes that Tsuda conveyed perfectly, despite the seemingly natural manly dynamic of his voice. Regardless of Hannes’s failings, he rises to the level of hero in the end, a remarkable accomplishment for him and Tsuda, given their limited airtime.

With his deep, smokey voice, Tsuda could easily have been typecast as a villain or dark hero, but his talents have provided him more diversity, which continues to expand over time.