Kuno Misaki -- A New Voice from Osawa Office

Agency portrait

Kuno Misaki 久野美咲 has a vivid new version of one of those high, childish voices that are beloved in Japan but not so much outside it.

I first noticed her as Hoshimiya Kate in World Domination -- the Zvezda Plot. She had great command of that powerful lisp. Then she really struck me as the voice of the bloodthirsty fighting pixie Tama in Selector Infected Wixoss.

To me, her uniqueness is the combination of cuteness and power. She makes a great demanding little girl. As a comment on one of her auditions said, her voice creates a real presence.

It didn't take long before I realized that she was a rising star. Comment streams on Nicovideo and 2channel praise her voice with lots of comments about how cute it is, and how well she works it.

The industry knows: she is represented by Osawa Office, the highly respected, somewhat old-fashioned agency that manages Kawasumi Ayako, Noto Mamiko, and Hanazawa Kana.

In real life

Now that I am beginning to look for more info about her, it turns out that being an anime seiyuu is her second career in show business. Starting from age ten, she has done a lot of Japanese dubbing of foreign films: Alien 2, Finding Nemo, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and many others.

She did only dubbing until she was 15, then after a two-year hiatus, she began doing both dubbing and seiyuu work. She is now 21, and getting a stream of good anime roles. She was born in Tokyo on 19 January 1993.

She began anime work in 2010 with a smaller part in OreImo, as Bridget. In Galilei Donna in 2013, she was Grande Rosso, the AI who looked like a goldfish. And she was Serara in Log Horizon (a role she will reprise this fall). This year, she has had her roles in Zvezda and Wixoss (she will also reprise that latter role this fall). And her new role this fall will be as the proud talking pig who is a friend of the hero in Seven Deadly Sins.


Those are just her major roles. She had a total of eight roles last year and now ten this year.

In TV appearances, she seems very nervous, but also seems to dominate any event. Her self-introduction in a Wixoss TV talk show was almost painful -- as well as painfully cute. Co-star Kakuma Ai held her hand and seemed to nurse her through the process. She has been a regular on three different radio shows, so I'm not sure how simulated her nervousness is, but it certainly seems real.




Her director in the 2010 anime film Ibara no Ou said that most of the time she was very quiet and like a well-behaved child. But as soon as she was at the microphone she switched to a different mode. She even inserted some perfect ad libs that the staff kept. This at age 17.

At about age 10, when she was beginning her dubbing career.

With superior talents of two generations: Tamura Mutsumi (middle) and Yajima Akiko, recording the anime film "Big First-Grader and Litttle Second-Grader."

She has a very identifiable voice that seems suited for only one type of character. But that is how Hanazawa Kana seemed, too, before moving to Osawa Office and getting a somewhat broader range of roles. Check the voice samples on her agency page. And she played a male character (Keiichi) in Noragami.

Here are samples of three of her characters. The voice is the same, but the characters each have their own feel. First, here she is as the "little girl commander" Hoshimiya Kate in Zvezda:



Here she is as the fighting avatar Tama in Wixoss:



And here she is as Serara in some scenes from Log Horizon (with Nakata Jouji):




And here is the amazing way she looks and acts in live interview shows. This is from a Selector Infected Wixoss show, with (left to right) Kakuma Ai, Kuno Misaki, Kayano Ai, and Seto Asami:


Original full video on NicoNico Douga. I had the feeling that Seto-san and Kayano-san were less than thrilled with playing second fiddle to her weirdly fascinating schtick. From the video:

With other stars of Wixoss: (clockwise from top left) Kakuma Ai, Seto Asami, Kayano Ai

Here are images of her main roles:

Bridget (OreImo) -- Melln (Problem Children) -- Mimi (Roh-Kyu-Bu SS):


Grande Rosso (Galilei Donna) -- Kurumiko (Kanojo ga Flag) -- Saki (Nanana):


Hoshimiya Kate (Zvezda) -- Venera-sama (Kate's alter ego) -- Tama (Wixoss)



Serara (Log Horizon) -- Hawk (Seven Deadly Sins):



List of Works 

Anime Roles

2009
Black Rock Shooter (OAV) Hiro
King of Thorn (movie) Alice

2010
Oreimo (TV) Bridget Evans (ep 10)

2012
Black Rock Shooter (TV) Hiro
Naruhodo Agent (TV insert) Anna

2013
Problem children are coming from another world, aren't they? (TV) Melln
Oreimo 2 (TV) Bridget Evans (eps 5, 10)
Ro-Kyu-Bu! SS (TV) Mimi Balgerry
il sole penetra le illusioni (TV) Cerebrum (little girl; eps 10-11)
Strike the Blood (TV) Lydianne Didieh (ep 14)
Log Horizon (TV) Serara
Non Non Biyori (TV) Girl (ep 7)
Galilei Donna (TV) Grande Rosso

2014
Noragami (TV) Keiichi
Escha and Logy (TV) Kuu
World Conquest Zvezda Plot (TV) Hoshimiya Kate/Venera-sama
Selector Infected Wixoss (TV) Tama
Mahouka Koukou (TV) as Kasuga Nanami
Kanojo ga Flag o Oraretara (TV) Daishikyougawa Kurumiko
Nanana's Buried Treasure (TV) Yoshino Saki
Selector Spread Wixoss (TV) as Tama
Log Horizon (TV 2) Serara
The Seven Deadly Sins (TV) Hawk
Ookii Ichinensei to Chiisana Ninensei (movie) Mariko


Game Roles
2011 -- 1
2012 -- 2
2013 -- 1
2014 -- 5


Drama CD Roles
2013 -- 1 role
2014 -- 3 roles


Radio
guest appearances -- 7 appearances
regular show host -- 3 shows

Internet TV
Wixoss -- 2 shows

TV/Movie Dubbing
2003 -- 3 roles
2004 -- 3 roles
2005 -- 6 roles
2006 -- 1 role
2007 -- 2 roles
2008 -- 1 role
2011 -- 1 role
2012 -- 3 roles
2013 -- 6 roles
2014 -- 5 roles

Stage Plays
1999 -- 1 roles
2000 -- 1 role
2002 -- 1 role
2003 -- 1 role

Music CDs
2013
Roh-Kyu-Bu character song CD (as part of a group)
OreImo BD5 special CD (solo)
Roh-Kyu-Bu BD3 special CD (solo)
2014
Zvezda BD1 special CD (solo)
Mahou Shoujo Overage (solo)


Links:
Anime News Network page (en)
Wikipedia page (en)
Wikipedia (jp)
agency page (jp)
images (Mogyutto)
images (Google)