Kikunosuke Toya and Shion Wakayama win the absolute seiyuu award

Lending vocal cords to a teenager with chainsaws on his head or a female student chased by aliens is a job that knows no biological barriers. This Sunday, March 15, the organizing committee held the anime industry awards ceremony officially titled the 20th Annual Seiyu Awards in Tokyo. The ceremony marked a structural turning point by dismantling the classic separation between actors and actresses for the night's main category.

The end of the gender divide

The board of directors justified this historic change with an undeniable argument. Voice acting transcends the performer's gender in Japanese animation, where it is extremely common to see women portraying male shonen protagonists. By unifying the top category, the jury crowned two absolute talents for their acting performance during the latest release cycle:

• Kikunosuke Toya as Denji.[Best Leading Actor winner for the movie Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc].
• Shion Wakayama as Momo Ayase.[Best Leading Actress winner for the series Dandadan].

The tears of a devil hunter

Kikunosuke Toya's acceptance speech exposed the harsh reality of the profession. The actor took the podium and tearfully confessed his absolute commercial failure between 2017 and 2022. His career was on the brink of collapse due to his inability to pass studio auditions. The seiyuu attributed his professional rescue and current victory directly to the mentorship of veteran Megumi Ogata, who trained him at her private academy when he was about to quit the industry.

The microphone elite in 2026

The rest of the gala distributed recognition among the different trenches of audio entertainment. The weight of supporting secondary plots fell on Reina Ueda, Shinji Kawada, and Mayumi Tanaka, who claimed the statuettes for best supporting talents. The power of the popular vote was felt when fans crowned veteran Akira Ishida as the most valuable talent of the year, while the unit AiScReam from the Love Live! franchise dominated the musical performance category.

Considering the current level of competition in Japan, which other voice actor do you think deserved to take home the absolute best protagonist award for their work this year?