Summary
Toshinori Yagi,better known asAll Might, is the #1 Pro Hero of Japan and the famous Symbol of Peace. Needless to say, this powerful and heroic figure is one of the most popular characters inMy Hero Academia, and he would arguably be nowhere near as beloved if it wasn’t for his deep and powerful voice in the Japanese version, which is courtesy of the legendaryKenta Miyake.
He’s a prosperous voice actor who has worked on almost every single popular action shōnen franchise, and thus, has brought to life multiple iconic characters, both before and after he began his role as All Might. Naturally, there is an extensive list of shows on which Miyake has worked on, but the following contain some of his most remarkable performances.
Before he voiced All Might inMy Hero Academia, Kenta Miyake was closely associated with another popular action shōnen series produced by Studio Bones:Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, in which he voiced the Ishvalan anti-hero simply known asScar.It’s important to mention that he only voiced this character in the 2009 reboot, as the role was previously handled by Ryōtarō Okiayu in the 2003 series.
To no one’s surprise, Miyake did an unbelievable job as Scar, a conflicted figure who starts the series off as a violent antagonist looking for revenge and slowly turns into an anti-hero who plays a big role in the fight against Father. This is a character with many layers to him, and Miyake flawlessly used his deep voice, changing it depending on the situation. As a result, Scar can sound calm and collected in one minute, and dangerous and furious in the next.
Many years beforeMy Hero AcademiaorFullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Kenta Miyake also played some minor but important roles inNaruto, which arguably put him on the map for many seasoned anime fans. For starters,he voicedJirobo, one of the Sound Four introduced during the Sasuke Recovery Mission arc, and Miyake’s low-pitched voice established how threatening and powerful this antagonist truly was.
Jirobo was already a wonderful performance from this talented voice actor, but he also went on to voiceAkatsuchi, the “shield” of the Third Tsuchikage, inNaruto Shippuden. Curiously enough, this is a much more jovial and lighthearted character and yet Miyake managed to give him a goofy voice that fits him perfectly, which is a perfect display of his impressive vocal range.
Needless to say, Kenta Miyake’s deep voice has allowed him to portray numerous evil villains and heroic figures, but he also has a lot of experience voicing bizarre comedic characters. One of the most prominent examples of this practice isCharlotte Chuhlhourne, the 20th Arrancar of Aizen’s army inBleach.
While most villains inBleachare threatening and/or cool-looking, Charlotte is much more different, as he’s actually superficial, arrogant, flamboyant, and extravagant, and yet Miyake gave out an excellent vocal performance that perfectly fit his bizarre personality and appearance. Fortunately, he came back to voice the same character again in the 2022 adaptation ofThe Thousand-Year Blood Wararc.
That’s right! Kenta Miyake is one of the very few Japanese voice actors who have worked onNaruto,BleachandOne Piece, the famous Big 3 of shōnen anime and manga. In the animated adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s manga, he voicedZambai– Franky’s right-hand man in the Franky Family - during the Water 7 and Enies Lobby arcs. While this is not a particularly memorable character, Miyake’s notorious voice helped him stand out and, as a result, made him even more likable.
Fourteen years later, Miyake returned toOne Piecein yet another role,seeing as he voiced one of the commanders of the Revolutionary Army,Morley. While his deep voice fits her perfectly because she’s a giant, he still managed to make her sound kind and feminine. Between Charlotte Chuhlhourne and Morley, it’s evident that Kenta Miyake has a lot of experience voicing gender-nonconforming characters.
Like many other Japanese voice actors, Miyake had a very brief but very memorable role inAttack on Titan, seeing as this is a show that’s infamous for constantly killing most of its characters, especially those that are not part of the main cast. In his case, he voicedMike Zacharias, a strong and seasoned soldier who had the misfortune of stumbling upon the Beast Titan before anyone else.
Mike was brave and resourceful, and he starred in one of the most suspenseful moments in the entire show, when he is surrounded by multiple Abnormal Titans. Miyake used his deep voice to his advantage and successfully made the scene even more intense than it already was.But the most noteworthy part of this performance was the death of his character, as Mike eventually reached his breaking point and screamed in agony and terror when he was devoured by the Titans. As always, Miyake’s incredible range managed to make a previously intimidating character sound helpless and vulnerable during his final moments, and it was truly chill-inducing.
Naturally, Kenta Miyake not only has experience working on classic anime, but he is still actively working today, and has gotten involved in multiple new releases. One of the most noteworthy examples is his experience onKaiju No. 8, where he voicedKaiju No. 10.As its name implies, this is one of the most powerful antagonists of the show, and the voice actor succeeded in making him sound as intimidating as necessary.
No. 10 is not just a mindless monster (even though the voice actor’s roars and grunts were impeccable), but he actually has a personality, and the chemistry Miyake had with Hoshina’s voice actor, Kengo Kawanishi, made their climactic rivalry all the more intense and epic. Nevertheless, manga readers are aware that Kenta Miyake’s role isn’t over yet, and he will eventually give an even more compelling performance in future seasons ofKaiju No. 8.
As if conquering most of the iconic action shōnen anime wasn’t enough, Kenta Miyake has also worked on one of the most popular animated children’s shows in the world:Pokemon, in which he voiced the leader of Team Rocket,Giovanni. It’s important to point out, however, that he inherited the role from the late Hirotaka Suzuoki, who voiced Giovanni in the first three generations of the show.
This means that Miyake has portrayed the iconic antagonist from theDiamond & Pearlseries onwards and, as a result, had the chance to voice him during the Meloetta Arc of theBlack & Whiteseries, which is famous for being one of the few times he actively got involved in the story instead of staying at Team Rocket HQ. Of course, his low-pitched voice goes perfectly with Giovanni’s devious and manipulative personality, but Miyake also implemented his experience in comedy to voice the character during Meowth’s hilarious fantasies.
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders
Longtime anime fans mainly associate Kenta Miyake with three shows:My Hero Academia,Fullmetal Alchemistand, obviously,JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, where he voicedMuhammad Avdolin the 2014 adaptation ofStardust Crusaders. This is arguably the character who sounds the most like All Might, which is especially interesting because he got to voice him just a few years before theMy Hero Academiaanime began airing.
Similarly to All Might, Avdol is responsible, intelligent and extremely powerful, not to mention that he serves as a mentor and the voice of reason for the group. Miyake gave an incredible performance that made Avdol an icon, as he is the man behind many hilarious catchphrases like “Tsk, Tsk” or “YES! I AM!”. But this character wasn’t just about his one-liners, because Avdol got involved in many intense fights in which his deep voice made him sound fittingly intimidating and wise, and the fact that he died while sacrificing himself for Polnareff proved how heroic he was.All Might and Muhammad Avdol not only share a voice actor, but they also have the same level of unwavering loyalty, which means that Kenta Miyake was the perfect choice for both of these roles.
