Yuki Kaji Voice Actor - Attack on Titan

Yuki Kaji was born on September 3, 1985 in Tokyo, Japan. He is a popular and famous Japanese voice actor, narrator and singer affiliated with the VIMS agency. His step into the voice acting industry started when he passed a free Newcomer Audition held by Arts Vision that gained him entry into a course at the Japanese Narration and Acting Institute. He made his TV anime series debut in 2006 with a role in “Fushigihoshi no Futagohime”. Since debut, Kaji has voiced many vital characters in popular anime series such as Eren Yeager in Attack on Titan, Sabito in Demon Slayer, Lyon Vastia in Fairy Tail, Shoto Todoroki in My Hero Academia and many more. He also is a part of the four-unit singing group G.Addict, which was part of the Goulart Knights project, and has acted as one of the main protagonists in the movie Kami Voice: The Voice Makes a Miracle. In addition to voice acting work he has hosted a web radio show called Yuki Kaji’s Monologue since March 2014.

During his career his popularity has increased and in 2009, he won the Best Rookie Actor Award in the 3rd Seiyu Awards. In addition, he won the Best Voice Actor Award two years consecutively in the 7th and 8th Seiyu Awards, in 2013 and 2014.

Eren Yeager

In the Attack on Titan series, Yuki Kaji voices Eren Yeager, the series protagonist who holds a strong-willed zeal that propels him to eliminate every last enemy monster Titan. Eren is a reckless energetic protagonist who blindly runs into danger to save the ones he loves, especially his adopted sister Mikasa Ackermann and childhood friend, Armin Arlelt. He disregards the risk and harm he brings unto himself.

In Season 1 of the anime, Yuki Kaji was an exceptional voice actor who went above and beyond normal voice actors. There were many scenes in the first season where he screamed with his heart and soul to act out Eren’s feelings. Many viewers were impressed at the way he was able to pour his soul into his voice acting recordings. Sometimes pouring too much as he was faced with an incident where he had to get his throat treated due to excessive straining of the vocal cords.

Yuki Kaji says that he is a huge fan of the manga, although he has not read the most recent chapter. “As a fan of the original manga, deep down I want to read ahead however as the main protagonist of the story I should share the same reactions as the viewer when they first see a plot twist. It makes me wonder if someone like me where to read ahead, would it affect the way I would perform? I think that connecting the dots and finding out the real identity of each Titan is something I am better off not knowing until it happens.”

History

Yuki Kaji was born in Tokyo, but raised with his younger sister in Saitama. Since high school he had always aimed to become a voice actor and immediately joined the theatre club. He was able to gain basic acting skills and was given a main role to play at his school.

Through an audition held by Arts Vision, Kaji later enrolled at the Japanese Narration and Acting Institute where he specialised in narration and voice acting for anime.

Kaji made his debut under the talent agency Arts Vision as a voice actor in 2004, with the Playstation 2 game “Teikokusensenki” (帝国千戦記). It took 2 years before he finally got his first anime role in “Fushigihoshi no Futagohime”. He soon started to make his name and expand his portfolio with his first ever leading role in the sports anime Overdrive in 2007. He had worked on many other minor roles throughout the year.

2008 was a big boost to his portfolio with landing roles in major anime series such as, Inazuma 11, Kyou Kara Maou. He grew a stronger female fanbase with the role as Finnian in Kuroshitsuji. The way he played Finnian in Kuroshitsuji was a huge success. Finnian's childish nature was captured by Kaji's great voice acting. 2010 was a big year for Kaji. Second season of Kuroshitsuji, Bakugan Battle Brawlers, Soukyuu no Fafner were all roles he was able to land.

Walker Yumazaki in Durarara!! and Lion Vastia in FAIRY TAIL were 2 other mainstream roles that he was able to land that inevitably boosted his career. Both characters had a serious and a comedic side to them which Kaji was able to switch between them flawlessly. His career to a super star began after voicing for Eren Yeager in Attack on Titan in 2013. And he has since won various awards for his voice acting in Attack on Titan.

Awards

Won the Best Rookie actors award at the 3rd Seiyu Awards in 2009.
Won the Best Male Character Voice Prize at the Famitsu Awards in 2012.
Nominated for Best voice actor at the 2nd Newtype Anime Awards in 2012.
Nominated for Best voice actor at the 3rd Newtype Anime Awards in 2013.
Won Best Voice Actor at the 12th Tokyo Anime Award in 2013.
Won Best Voice Actor at the 35th Anime Grand Prix in 2013.
Won Best Actor at the 7th Seiyu Awards in 2013
Won Best Voice Actor at the 36th Anime Grand Prix in 2014
Won Best Actor at the 8th Seiyu Awards in 2014

Other Notable Animation Roles

Guilty Crown (Shu Ouma)
High School DxD series (Issei Hyodo)
Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic series (Alibaba Saluja)
Noragami (Yukine)
Haikyu!! Series (Kenma Kozume)
Tokyo Ghoul (Ayato Kiris)
Durarara!! (Walker Yumasakihima)
My Hero Academia (Shoto Todoroki)

Links

Yuki Kaji Vims Profile
Japanese Narration and Acting Institute