As a seiyuu, she has sailed along ever since, a minor star just below the level of super-stardom. But as a personality, she is very well known among Japanese anime fans. She has hosted 13 different radio shows, and has released seven singles in her own name as a singer. And now she is getting more and more roles.
As a personality, Mikakoshi (her nickname) is a lovely combination of forceful and sweet. She has a deep voice and can be loud and strong, but always gives a natural, easy, honest feeling.
She admires multitalented seiyuu/singers Horie Yui and Sakamoto Maaya, as well as the great Kaida Yuuko, who is a highly successful anime seiyuu but has the kind of range that makes her one of the very top voices in dubbing. Kaida-san also has a coolness and strength that Mikakoshi can easily aspire to.
Here are pics of four of Mikakoshi's best-known characters, Marika (Space Pirates), Neko (K), Miuna (Nagi no Asukara) and Tsugumi Seishirou (Nisekoi):
Here is a clip of voice samples from her spring 2015 roles, Hina (Tesagura Bukatsumono Puru Purun Shanumu to Asobou), Totsuka Saita (Teen Romantic Comedy Snafu), and Seishirou (Nisekoi), three roles that cover quite a wide range:
This summer, she has four roles, Ginger (in Gangsta), Hotaru (Aoharu x Kikanjuu), Asako (Ushio to Tora) and Yayoi (Danchigai):
To get an idea of what she's like in person, have a look at this compendium of minor embarrassments:
Mikako was born 11 November 1988 (she is now 26).
Her given name Mikako was the name of a synchronized swimmer, Kotani Mikako, who was competing in the Seoul Olympics while Mikakoshi was still in the womb. Her three-year-old brother kept shouting "Mikako!" in support of the swimmer, and whenever he did, the baby moved. So her parents gave her that name.
She loved the Great Detective Conan animes as a child, and adorned the walls of her room with posters of the theme-song singer, Kuraki Mai, whom she continued to admire as she grew up. Earlier this year, she sang a duet with Kuraki-san.
She began in show business as a 14-year-old in 2003, when she won an audition to become part of a new idol group associated with a radio program. Here is a somewhat uncomfortable video clip from that time:
In 2007-8, age 18-19, she had roles in some TV dramas.
In 2010, age 21, she began her seiyuu career as Joey in Heroman.
In 2012, aged 23, she released her first two singles, Black Holy and Tsumetai Heya, Hitori ("A Cold Room, Alone"). At the release concert for Black Holy, the audience generated so much heat that she took off her hat, then her jacket, then her boots, and ended up singing barefoot.
In 2013, she proclaimed her adherence to a new religious sect she called "Sweet Sixteen," modelled after Inoue Kikuko's declaration that she would always be 17.
Here she is in 2013, singing Owaranai Melody wo Utaidashimashita:
In 2014, she attended a publicity event for her hometown of Kuwana, in Mie prefecture. She went to a private school there until she was in high school, then moved to a private school in Tokyo.
Mikakoshi was given her nickname by otaku fellow-students in college. It means something like "Mme. Mikako" (or even "Mr. Mikako").
It was when she heard the low voice of Saitou Ayaka playing the male role of Mitsukuni in Ouran High School Host Club that she first thought she herself could become a seiyuu. She never liked her low voice, but when the director of a play she was in praised her for sounding "just like a young man," she began to be reconciled to it. And when the director of Bodacious Space Pirates said her character Marika sounded like "a handsome girl," she finally accepted it.
Here she is on location in Yokohama for shooting the cover of her album e'tuis, in 2014:
She uses Apple's Garage Band software to compose songs.
Some of Her Anime Roles
2010
Shinryaku Ika Musume (Tanaka)
Heroman (Joey)
Great Detective Conan Magic Kaitou (student)
2011
Gosick (Ian Musgrave)
Hanasaku Iroha (3 roles)
Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal (Kotori)
Last Exile Fam (Erio)
Towa no Quon (Yuuma)
2012
K (Neko)
Sukitte Ii na yo! (Mihiro)
Senki Zesshou Symphogear (Andou Kuriyo)
Natsuiro Kiseki (Keita)
High School DxD (Hanakai)
Mouretsu Uchuu Kaizoku ("Bodacious Space Pirates" - Capt. Kato Marika)
2013
Space Battleship Yamato 2199 (4 roles)
Sunday Without God (Ulla Hecmatika)
Gundam Build Fighters (Iori Sei)
Nagi no Asukara (Miuna)
Pretty Rhythm Rainbow Live (Suzuno Ito)
Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko (young Youto)
Teen Romantic Comedy Snafu (Totsuka Saita)
Sanjougattai Transformers Go! OVA (Tatewaki Isami)
2014
Ao Haru Ride (Murao Shuuko)
Aldnoah Zero (Inko)
Ookami Shoujo to Kuro Ouji (Tezuka Aki)
Sora no Method (Togawa Shione)
Nisekoi (Tsugumi Seishirou)
Noragami (Mutsumi)
Mahou Shoujo Taisen (Kamiki Suzuka)
Madan to Vanadis (Alexandra Alshavin)
Momokyun Sword (Kaguya)
Chain Chronicle OVA (Cain)
2015
Gourmet Girl Graffiti (Shiina)
Junketsu no Maria (Priapos)
Nekota no Koto ga Ki ni Natte Shikatanai special (Amane Mikiko)
Plastic Memories (Andie)
Tesagura Bukatsumono Puru Purun Shanumu to Asobou (Usami Hina)
Gangsta (Ginger)
Aoharu x Kikanjuu (Hotaru)
Ushio to Tora (Asako)
Danchigai (Yayoi)
Games
-- 41 games
Dubbing
-- 3 films, including Snow White in Mirror, Mirror (Lily Collins)
-- 3 TV shows, including Harmony in Glee.
Radio
-- host of 13 shows, two current, including her self-titled Mikakoshi no Rajiokoshi, a half-hour show she has hosted every Friday at midnight since 2012.
TV Drama
-- 4 TV dramas, 2007-2008
Stage
-- has starred in 2 plays, in 2010 and 2015, including this year's stage/reading adaptation of Hoshi no Koe (by Shinkai Makoto), with the Catmint theatre troupe.
Music
-- she has released six singles: 2012 - Black Holy, Tsumetai Heya Hitori; 2013 - Owaranai Melody wo Utaidashimashita, Niji no Yakusoku; 2014 - Sail Away, Latimer Road
-- new single comes out in August: Gunjou Survival.
-- two limited-edition singles: ABC (2013), Naminori Glider (2014).
-- two albums: THEE Futures (2013), e'tuis (2014)
-- one mini-album: cosmic EXPO (2012)
-- one remix album: cosmic Explosion (2014)
-- five special music videos: Mikako Komatsu the First All Days, MK Music Crips, MK The First Live(s), Komatsu Mikako Live Tour "Thee Futures" (all 2013); Mikako Komatsu 2nd Live Tour -in the suite- +Music Clips (2014).
-- participated in 17 anime music CDs
-- 28 live events, including Animelo Summer Music Live (2012-2013)
(Click images to enlarge.)
Links
in English:
Anime Database
Anime News Network
Wikipedia
in Japanese:
Wikipedia
agency site
music site
blog (ended 2013)
YouTube