A popular anime where you hear Sanji's voice

Key takeaways

• Hiroaki Hirata, best known for voicing Sanji in One Piece, has presented an impressive vocal range in various roles.
• His performances as Genma, Leomon, and Godot highlight his versatility and his talent.
• Hirata's portrayal of Mutta Nanba and Wild Tiger proves her uncanny ability to excel in lead character roles.

a piece Home to some of the most memorable and iconic main characters in all of anime and manga Winsmoke Sanji is one of the most prominent examples. The romantic chef of the Straw Hat Pirates is a funny yet dignified and charming gentleman who stands out for many reasons, one of them being his gruff voice, which belongs to none other than the great. Hiroki Hirata.

Hirata is a veteran Japanese voice actor and narrator who has been working in the anime industry for over 27 years. As a result, he has portrayed many different characters in which he has had the opportunity to showcase his impressive vocal range, notably some of them being very different from Sanji. The following eight roles are excellent examples of Hiroki Hirata's talent.

8 Genma Shiranui

In Naruto and Naruto Shippuden

Even so a piece and Naruto Often considered “rival series,” that hasn't stopped many talented voice actors from voicing characters in both of them, and Hiroki Hirata is clearly no exception. In this case, he gave his voice Genma ShiranuiOne of the many jonin working in the Hidden Leaf Village.

This is obviously a more subdued role for Hirata as Genma is more calm and collected than Sanji and his other characters. Still, his solid performance and deep voice helped Genma stand out as one of the most memorable background characters of all. Naruto and Naruto Shippuden.

7 Leoman (and others)

In Digimon Adventure

Digimon Adventure One of the most iconic anime series produced by Toei Animation, right behind Dragon Ball and a piece It's not unusual for major Japanese animation studios to cast voice actors on more than one project, and Hiroki Hirata has had the honor of working on the show since its inception with his most popular character. Leoman.

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 ferocity and fear factor intact. As great as this portrayal is, it's not Hirata's only character Digimon AdventureBecause he voiced Megadramon, Hagurumon, Hiroaki Ishida, and even the narrator himself.

6 Klein / Tsuboi Ryōtarō

In Sword Art Online

Hiroaki Hirata mainly specializes in voicing two specific (but very different) types of characters: tough and scary 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 Sword Art Online: Tsuboi RyōtarōAlso known as Klein.

Klein is a light-hearted and good-natured character who is best known as Kirito's first friend. Sword Art OnlineNot to mention that he also explained the basic mechanics of the game to him. But on the other hand, he is also a ladies' man, who must have resonated with Hirata after voicing Sanji for so many years. Klein would never have earned his rightful reputation among fans if it weren't for Hirata's performance.

5 Terada Tatsugoro

In Gintama

Roronoa Zoro's voice actor, Kazuya Nakai, portrays Toushirou Hijikata Gintama, But he is not the only famous one a piece The genius at work on Hideaki Sorachi's hilarious adaptation of the manga Sunrise. However, Hiroki Hirata voices a very sad character: Terada Tatsugoro.

Once again, Hirata shows his impeccable ability to bring kind but strong and calm characters to life, as Terada was a policeman who protected the Kabuki district, and was a good rival to Doromizu Jirocho before his tragic death. This is not the most recognizable character GintamaBut he is definitely one of the most memorable ones because of Hirata's impressive performance.

4 Godot

At Ace Advocate

• Release Date: April 2, 2016
• Genre(s): Drama, mystery
• studio: A-1 Pictures, CloverWorks
• Streaming Service(s): Crunchyroll

There is no denying it Godot One of the most popular characters in the whole Ace Advocate suffrage So, when it came time to adapt this iconic game series into an anime, he had the honor of being voiced by the great Hiroaki Hirata, who was a perfect fit for the role.

Godot is a polite and confident prosecutor who, in many ways, isn't too different from Sanji, meaning that Hirata's creepy voice fits him surprisingly well. Godot was already very beloved Ace Advocate character, but Hirata's charismatic portrayal in the anime adaptation certainly contributed to his popularity among anime audiences.

3 Mutta Nanba

In Space Brothers

Hiroaki Hirata is mostly known for portraying bland and classy secondary characters like Sanji or Godot, but he's talented enough to star in a show as one of the main characters. He has actually done this on several occasions, one of the most prominent examples Mutta Nanba from Space Brothers.

As one of the titles Space BrothersMutta Nanba is a very complex character that requires the full extent of Hirata's vocal talents: he's calm and collected, he's very intelligent, he cares a lot about his brother Hibito, and he's just a really likable guy overall. This is definitely one of Hirata's best vocal performances in his entire career.

2 Kotetsu T. Kaburagi / wild tiger

In Tiger and Bunny

Another memorable anime hero voiced by Hiroki Hirata Kotetsu T. Kaburagi (Also known as wild tiger), One of the titular main characters from The tiger and the rabbit. It shouldn't be too surprising, however, that Kotetsu actually resembles his most famous role, Sanji.

This is another role in which Hirata gets to display his full incredible range, especially his impeccable ability to portray heroic and selfless, yet very funny and stubborn characters. At the end of the day, both wild tigers and mutts from Nanba Space Brothers It's undeniable proof that Hirata needs to voice main characters more often in anime.

1 Rikiya Yotsubashi / Re-Destro

In My Hero Academia

As mentioned several times on this list, most of the characters voiced by Hiroki Hirata are kind and mildly heroic figures, and he has excelled in this type of role for many years. It is for this reason that his acting as a villain is abhorrent again destruction In season 5 My Hero Academia It was such an unexpected treat. In just one mind-blowing performance, Hirata manages to seamlessly pull off both Re-Destro's likeable CEO persona and his true self, an ambitious and manipulative villain who will go to extreme lengths to achieve his goals.

At first, Sanji's voice can be heard a little along the lines of Re-Destro, Hirata does such a great job that he finally gives him his own identity, which is very different from all his other characters. Interestingly, of season 5 My Hero Academia The film's main villain – Flect Turn – was also introduced World 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 at the same time.