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Creator / Takahiro Sakurai

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Describe Takahiro Sakurai (born June 13, 1974) here, Troper-han!

YES, MY LORD. HEAVEN'S DOOR!!note 

Think of him as a slightly older version of Mamoru Miyano: a handsome guy who voices handsome guys by the truckload. Said handsome guy can be angsty (Cloud), mean (Kanda) or smooth-talking (Kagami). But mostly, he's a guy well-known for his dark Anti-Hero roles. He made one notable exception of playing Suzaku, a guy who would normally be The Hero of a Mecha Show, but this is later subverted. Big time.

In terms of casting, Sakurai is often partnered with Kenichi Suzumura; the two are good friends in real life, formed a singing duo named R16, and host a radio show together. Both men also work with the actress/singer and the latter's wife Maaya Sakamoto somewhat often. Thanks in large part to Code Geass, he's starting to form a few connections with Jun Fukuyama. Chris Patton is something of an English equivalent of his—they share a few of the same roles (Fakir in Princess Tutu and Sasame in Prétear) and both are known for the Bishounen they play. Some of his roles has also crossed paths with Yuri Lowenthal (Yuuri Shibuya from Kyo Kara Maoh!, Suzaku Kururugi from Code Geass, Eliwood in Fire Emblem Heroes, and Haseo from .hack series), Steve Staley (McGillis Fareed in Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans and Griffith in Berserk (2016)), Keith Silverstein (Zwei in Phantom the Animation, Shirosaki in Rozen Maiden, and Takashi Hayashida in March Comes in Like a Lion) and Andrew Francis (Haseo from the .hack series and the Medicine Man from Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales).

According to Anime News Network, he is the 4th most prolific voice actor (after Takehito Koyasu, Toshiyuki Morikawa, Shin-ichiro Miki). As of October 2023, he is one of the only five to have over 600 anime credits to his name.

Junichi Sato seems to really enjoy Sakurai's work—he appears in several of the shows Sato has directed, normally as the (take a guess) Troubled, but Cute Bishōnen.

Sakurai also does a lot of roles with vampires; in fact he may even be a vampire fan himself...

On September 23, 2022, the Weekly Bunshun tabloid revealed that Sakurai had been married for a while which some fans already suspected four years ago in a radio show. Because of this, Sakurai confirms in a statement from his agency that he's indeed married. However, on October 26, 2022, the same tabloid revealed that he had an extramarital affair with a writer on his radio show for 10 years, following another published article of a second mistress from 15 years affair who came forward and demanded 10 million yen from him after also being unaware about both his marriage and the other affair. Because of this, his upcoming roles were replaced. On March 31, 2023, he ends his contract with his agency.

He's most probably not related to Harumi Sakurai, Masahiro Sakurai or Tomo Sakurai.


Notable roles by Takahiro Sakurai (FUSION UP!):


Tropes associated with Takahiro Sakurai (Not interested...)

  • Ascended Fanboy: He was a huge fan of Final Fantasy VII and Cloud Strife before being cast as the latter in Kingdom Hearts.
    Sakurai: “Eh? It’s that Cloud?” was my first reaction. I never even thought that I would possibly voice act for Cloud, and the shock was like being hit by something huge.(laughs) My hands holding the script were even shaking during the recording. And even when I played Kingdom Hearts, I kept getting weirdly excited at the thought of “Ohhh… it’s Cloud… that’s me…”[1]
  • Casting Gag: By the logic of the Fate multiverse, apparently he and Ayako Kawasumi are the alternate reality versions of the same person; The main universe has male Merlin and Female King Arthur, Sakurai voicing the former and Kawasumi voicing the latter. The alternate "Prototype" universe, Arthur is a man and Merlin is a woman, so the roles are swapped. Grand Order staff have joked that if Fou from the Prototype universe were to show up, he'd be voiced by Sakurai (Despite being a cute animal)
  • Soft-Spoken Sadist: Many of his villain roles aren't particularly hammy, but make up for it by being very cold. Griffith, Shogo, and Luther, in particular are bone-chilling sociopaths with a smooth voice.
  • Star-Making Role: He start racking up roles after he's picked to voice Cloud Strife. Suzaku Kururugi is usually considered a second one for rise to fame.

Now... accept your defeat...

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