Soramimi Project #2: Nakai Kazuya 中井和哉

(I've decided to rename my seiyuu project to Soramimi, which means mishearing or just hearing things in Japanese, since recognizing seiyuu usually takes a lot of practices as well as trial and error.)

Now on to the main topic today, which is a rather big one. Let's start with the standard breakdown list.

First heard: Peacemakers Galil and Socom (Scrapped Princess)

First noticed: Tres Iqus (Trinity Blood)/Sugawara Fumiya (Hatarakiman)

Memorable characters: Mugen (Samurai Champloo), Date Masamune (Sengoku BASARA), Witz Sou (Gundam X), Hijikata Toushirou (Gintama), Etou Kouzou (Nodame Cantabile), Gray Ringmarc (Clover no Kuni no Alice)

Image character: Mugen (Samurai Champloo)/Date Masamune (Sengoku BASARA)

Discernment rate: very high; visual

Number of works seen: 22 (2009.11.25)

Scrapped Princess was one of my earliest anime and I wasn't able to recognize seiyuu very well at that time. Nakai-san's roles in Scrapped Princess didn't really have a lot of screen time, so I claim full excuse for not noticing him then. I also heard him in other shows such as Gundam SEED, Inuyasha and Juuni Kokuki, but they were mostly very small roles. I became interested in his voice in Trinity Blood, but he played a cyborg and talked in a monotone so it was difficult to tell of his acting skill. Then I picked up Hatarakiman because of Tanaka Rie, and I started to take note of Nakai Kazuya.

What really made me pinned to his voice was Mugen in Samurai Champloo, an unruly and wild vagabond who trusts no one but himself and his sword, yet he would give his all and fight to the very end for something he believes in. I haven't seen enough Gintama to be familiar with Hijikata, but both Witz and Masamune resemble Mugen in a way, except that they're more like the grown-up version who knows the value of working together with fellow comrades rather than relying solely on one's own strength.

I haven't heard very much of Nakai's cooler voice in anime, but his otome game characters are must play for me if they're available. I recently finished the DS game Dual Love which has Nakai as one of the playable characters, and I endured (except for Namikawa's route) going through all five paths just so I could unlock his character. BTW, unless you're into seiyuu, I don't recommend Dual Love to anyone... Nakai's character Gray isn't very eye catching amongst the colourful cast in Clover no Kuni no Alice, but he is easily the most reasoned voice in the crooked world. He ended up as my 2nd favourite character beside Blood.

Nakai-san's got a nice low and husky voice on screen, though his original voice is softer and more laid back. While he plays a lot of rowdy characters, he is also good with cool and gentle roles. From what I can remember, his characters are usually the straightforward type that live in their own pace and prefer not to trouble those around them. It's pretty easy to like his characters even though they may have some oddities. Oh, and for some reason they give me the impression that they are easily clueless around girls they like. XD

I couldn't decide between Mugen and Masamune for the image character for Nakai-san because both have very strong persona and represent his hot-bloodedness well, so I listed them both. There's a couple seiyuu who's played a wide range of remarkable characters, so there will be times when I have multiple roles listed for image character, or none at all if the seiyuu is just too good with any character.

I'd say my discernment rate for Nakai Kazuya is very high. I've been able to tell him every time since I started take note of seiyuu; hasn't missed so far. He's also one of the few seiyuu that I know by face. While he's not the fashionable type, his simpleness and faithfulness to his wife are pretty cute so I like him as a person as well. :)

Even though Nakai Kazuya is not one of my top two male seiyuu (I seriously doubt anyone can overthrown Ishida Akira and Seki Tomokazu), but he is definitely on my growing list of favourite seiyuu. I look forward to hear more of him in anime and games (if only I have at least a PS2...)!