Written by: Nicole Castro
Published on: September 17, 2021 at 08:45 PHT (GMT+8)
Japanese voice actor Yoshitsugu Matsuoka is celebrating his 35th birthday today, September 17.
Yoshitsugu Matsuoka is a Japanese voice actor affiliated with I'm Enterprise. Like many other seiyuu, Matsuoka entered the industry by voicing supporting roles in the early 2010s. He landed his major protagonist role as Kirito/Kazuto Kirigaya from Sword Art Online (SAO) in 2012, with the anime popularizing the concept of virtual reality MMORPG worlds. With Kirito largely contributing to his success, Matsuoka-san has gained numerous recognitions through the years, winning the sixth Seiyu Awards for Best New Actor in 2012 and the 10th Seiyu Awards for Best Lead Actor in 2016.
With his highly versatile voice, he has voiced a combination of goofy, loud characters, but also calm and aloof ones. With his wide range, TsuguTsugu (as called by his fans), has shown he deserves a top spot in many must-watch anime. Some of his other highly popular roles with enduring franchises include Sōma Yukihira from Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma, Inosuke Hashibira from Demon Slayer, Kokichi Muta/Mechamaru from Jujutsu Kaisen, Sora from No Game No Life, and Takashi Mitsuya from Tokyo Revengers.
Currently: The Sword Art Online franchise alone keeps him busy, with the Sword Art Online Progressive: Aria of a Starless Night film set to premiere on Oct. 30, 2021.
Did you know? As of Jun. 17, 2019, Matsuoka-san holds the Guinness World Record for most unique sound bites by a voice actor with over 10,000 in a roleplaying game, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?: Memoria Freese.
Social media: Despite voicing "harem protagonists" like Kirito, Matsuoka-san himself is very shy. Let us know once he's finally on social media!
Source: MyAnimeList
