Kikunosuke Toya: Having Worked His Way onto the Scene Through a Variety of Roles, He Is Now Ready to Soar to the Next Level [Part 2 of 2]

Kikunosuke Toya

Born: Nov. 30, 1998
Height: 175 centimeters
Notable skills: Playing jazz piano and the trombone, and memorizing text and music.
In October 2017, he won a special award in the sixth “Anistoteles,” a voice actor audition held by SMA. He came to the attention of anime fans with his role as Denji, the hero in the “Chainsaw Man” TV anime series.

Having zero understanding of what acting was all about

(Continued from Part 1)
Toya’s efforts paid off when he won a special award in the sixth “Anistoteles,” a voice actor audition held by Sony Music Artists (SMA). He subsequently joined the ranks of other artists working under SMA. Although this marked the first step of his career as a budding voice actor, Toya said he had concerns at the time about his voice-acting techniques and skills.

“I was elated after my dream talent agency took me on as a voice actor, which was my dream job, and I was full of enthusiasm,” Toya said. “But when you look around, there are far more voice actors who made their debut after finishing voice-acting school. I became a voice actor by only passing an audition, so I hadn’t taken proper voice-acting lessons before.

SMA had me take tape auditions [which use voice recordings to screen applicants] for various voice-acting roles, and, in the meantime, my manager was teaching me how to act. So I was doing my job and taking lessons at the same time, so to speak. And boy, was it tough! I was thinking I wouldn’t have a bright career unless I could learn acting and expressive skills from the basics.”

It was around this time that Toya learned from a staffer at his agency that voice actor and singer Megumi Ogata planned to launch “Team BareboAt,” a free private school aimed at producing the next generation of voice actors in June 2019. Ogata is a well-known industry veteran whose work includes roles in many major anime titles, including “NEON GENESIS EVANGELION” and “YuYu Hakusho.” The school had begun recruiting its first students.

“I thought, ‘This is it!’,” Toya said. “There aren’t many chances to take acting lessons with none other than Megumi Ogata. I learned that the school would teach beginners and professionals alike, so I thought I should audition for it. In the interview with Ogata-san, I was honest and I told her that I had never had any acting lessons before and that I had no idea what I had to do to learn how to act. So, I showed her what I could do, and I was lucky enough to pass. Then I began taking lessons at the school.”

Toya thus learned the basics of voice-acting through lessons with Ogata, in person for two years and remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, for a total of about three years between June 2019 and May 2022.

“The lessons were very strict but I learned so much,” Toya said. “Until then, I had zero understanding of what acting was all about. I had just been imitating voices [from anime] and trying to produce what I thought was a voice actor’s voice. But the school for the first time made me understand the idea that acting was essentially about creating reality, and, how to bring that reality to life. It taught me the basics of acting and how to apply them, as well as specific things, including what physical training was necessary, what techniques are required to recreate reality through acting, and how to bring out the emotions of a character from within myself.”

It was in 2020 while learning the basics of acting from Ogata that Toya finally made his debut as a voice actor with the roles of supporting characters in the “Re Evolve” mobile MMORPG game. The following year, he was cast as Osei Kiyoshima, his first role as one of the main characters, in the “Wind Boys!” game.

“I think I had done a fairly good job with my acting through this point. However, when it comes to voicing a game character, you are all alone in the recording sessions, without anybody else to interact with,” he said. “Acting out all by myself was very difficult for me. I thought I was doing at least a decent job during the recording sessions, but when I listened back to my acting on the actual game, many lines made me think, ‘No, that’s not right!’ The other voice actors who appeared in the game were more experienced and were very, very good, which I guess is natural (laughs). I remember feeling disheartened by my very poor acting while at the same time thinking that professional voice actors were amazing.”

“Maybe I did it this time!”

Then in 2022, Toya began getting more roles in anime titles. And he finally won a major role that proved to be the turning point in his career. It was the role of Denji, the protagonist in “Chainsaw Man.” The namesake manga the anime is based on attracted attention soon after it began its serialization in the Weekly Shonen Jump boys’ manga weekly. The manga is currently carried in Shonen Jump+.

“It began with a tape audition,” Toya said. “And I knew my skills were far from adequate, so I was carefree at this point, only thinking I would just be lucky if I passed. Then we heard the news that I would go on to the studio audition, which excited both me and the staff at the agency. Unlike the auditions for other anime works I did, I was asked to demonstrate my acting in a natural and realistic way in the studio. As I had been into realistic acting around this time, I really felt like I handled it well.”

Toya said it was a combination of “coincidence, good luck and great timing” that led him to pass the audition for his breakthrough role. He was able to do the realistic acting style required for “Chainsaw Man” thanks to two of his favorite anime titles that inspired him, he said.

“They were ‘SSSS.GRIDMAN’ and ‘BEASTARS’,” Toya said. “‘SSSS.GRIDMAN’ surprised me for being such a realistic anime unlike any I had ever seen before, and in ‘BEASTARS,’ Chikahiro Kobayashi’s voice-acting of Legoshi was amazing. What was required for playing the role of Denji in ‘Chainsaw Man’ was exactly the type of acting that Chikahiro Kobayashi did. During the audition, I was told to forget about anime and speak like I normally would. That made me think, ‘Now that’s exactly what I’m into doing!’ I gave it a try and they gave me the OK. So my expectations rose, like, ‘Maybe I did it this time!’”

Having given his 100 percent in the audition, Toya was feeling satisfied. But then the news came that he was going on to the third screening.

“I was told I was one of just a few candidates selected, so I was nervous when I went to the studio,” he said. “And when I spoke with the director, he said, ‘you naturally have the vibe for Denji.’ So I gave it a try, thinking I would give it my all my using the emotional expression skills I learned from Ogata-san, and, this may sound a bit conceited, but I gave an excellent performance. But I knew ‘Chainsaw Man’ is such a huge manga. Even though I felt like my chances for passing were slim, I felt I was able to demonstrate everything I had with my ability, so I told myself I should be proud of that. Then, I received a notice telling me I passed. I was really surprised, I mean, I was like, ‘My God, this is the beginning of something huge!’”

Toya had been a big “Chainsaw Man” fan since before he auditioned for a role in it. “There’s nothing like playing the role of the protagonist in a work I love, I was ridiculously lucky.” he said. It was a reminder that voice acting “can give [us] such amazing experiences.” His breakthrough role was also a life changer.

“In terms of the job, it was so rewarding to know that so many different people were watching my acting,” he said. “There was also the joy of being recognized for the kind of acting that I believed was right, which I learned from Ogata-san. Since I have started to realize there are still some aspects of my acting that need work, I’m feeling determined to address them. There is no looking back for me now.”

As “Chainsaw Man” has many roles, he got to work with, and be acquainted with, many other voice actors who were more experienced than he was. Some of them generously offered him advice that he treasures, with some of it having proved useful also in his private life, he said.

“‘Chainsaw Man’ frequently features very violent fighting scenes,” he said. “I belonged to a baseball team in school, so I’m good at projecting a loud voice, and my throat is strong, Still, in the early recording sessions, I began to feel that my throat was quite strained, and I was concerned maybe I should do something about it. Then, while we were recording the first episode, Tomori Kusunoki, playing the role of Makima, told me about this inhaler to care for vocal cords. I jumped on the advice and bought one for myself, and it was great! My sempai [a term of respect toward older or more experience persons] were so helpful to me.”

Having been cast as the hero in a hit anime, new types of offers that he had never done before began to come in. These included appearances in events and shows on streaming services, and interviews for magazines.

“So, like the photo session we just did today, for example” he said. “At first, I didn’t even know how to smile, and I ended up being photographed with a weird expression, no matter how hard I tried (laughs). I have a feeling I’ve become better at forming a more natural expression...I hope! When I appear as the main guest in a streamed show or an event, typically, I’m asked, ’Finally, can we have a few words for your fans please?’ Initially, I was like, ‘What? Me!?’ and all I could say was, ‘yoroshiku onegaishimasu!’ [a common Japanese expression used in many contexts, here meaning, ‘Please keep supporting me!’] or something. So I was often left wondering, ‘Am I doing okay...?’ Now I have had many interviews and I have learned to give more interesting comments!”

“Normal is boring but I want to be a decent person”

Toya played the role of a teenage boy who dreams of becoming a pop music idol in “UniteUp!” The “multidimensional idol project” required him to sing and dance as well, which presented a challenge that he had not experienced before. Toya didn’t feel confident at singing or dancing, but he is a hard-working person by nature. By steadily practicing, he overcame his weaknesses.

“The anime was aired earlier this year, but the audition was held in early 2020,” he said. “Then there was this long period where we had lessons, and the casting was announced in 2022. So I was involved in this work for a long time. I’m not really good at singing or dancing. In particular, I had little confidence in my singing. Unlike when I play an instrument, it’s difficult to sing in the right pitch, and I wasn’t used to projecting a singing voice in the right way. I began taking voice training lessons shortly before the recording sessions began for the songs in “UniteUp!” and after that, I finally began to think that my singing may be good enough to listen to. Actually, I was also taking dance lessons privately as well. I went to a dance studio in the neighboring town and took lessons with children and learned from the basics.”

Toya has grown stronger mentally and physically and has honed his acting skills through his many roles. He is in the process of soaring to the next level. Now in his mid-twenties, he is at the point where he is set to begin to grow as a person, not just as a voice actor. It will be interesting to hear how he regards himself as a person at this point in time.

“When I appeared in a streamed talk show about ‘Chainsaw Man,’ I was told that I seemed like a freewheeling person like Denji. But I think I tend to pay a lot of attention to other people. I do love to be funny though (laughs). I am the type of person who suddenly feels the urge to run or tends to feel that anything ordinary is boring. That said, I also want to be a decent, normal person at the same time. I guess there are two conflicting sides to me.”

That is why he likes to try things that other people in acting don’t do as well, he said. Perhaps it owes to his comic background, but he says he tends to feel like fooling around when portraying a comical persona.

“We’ve already begun recording sessions for ‘The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse,’ which will begin airing this coming fall. My role of Donny gives me plenty of room for joking around,” he said. “So when I first read through the script, I marked all the parts where I can insert something, or my ideas. And when I try those ideas in the pre-recordings in the studio, the director says something like, ‘Er, sorry, you didn’t have to do that’ (laughs). That’s inevitable, I guess, because I’m still new in the industry. But I’ve seen many veterans who can improvise a really, really funny line and insert it at the perfect timing, and it makes the work a lot better. That’s the ideal voice actor I truly aspire for.”

What types of roles or productions does he want to try in the future, then?

“I don’t know...I can’t describe specific types of roles but I would love to play a role in a realistic work in which I can give more realistic acting,” Toya said. “In addition to anime, I did narration in Nippon Television’s information variety show called ‘Zeroichi.’ I feel so fortunate to have been given so many chances to do different things because I still have a lot to learn.”

These days, voice actors have been required to be equipped with a wider range of entertainment skills, including singing and appearing in variety shows, in addition to acting skills. They are also required to be creative. Toya, who has been interested in multiple fields, says he is ready to try things other than just acting.

“I want to create something. For example, I want to write lyrics and music. I have written an instrumental jazz tune, and I sing while playing the piano and play the trombone in my solo live shows. For the next step, I’m thinking it will be great if I can write my own pop song so that I can sing it while playing the piano. So, music is another thing I’m interested in doing. There are many things I want to try while I continue to, of course, hone my skills as a voice actor!”

Kikunosuke Toya Love Say You -Voice in Love-

Text by Mika Abe
Photos by Osamu Hoshikawa
Translated by Atsushi Kodera