Summary
AmongMy Hero Academia’s expansive and diverse cast of characters,Shota Aizawa (better known as Eraser Head) is one of the biggest standouts. Class 1-A’s homeroom teacher may be strict and lazy at times, but he’s also a caring mentor and a skilled Pro Hero who has defeated countless villains with his Erasure quirk. He was already a memorable character on his own, but there’s no denying that his popularity was elevated by the impeccable performance ofJunichi Suwabe, his voice actor in the Japanese dub.
He’s actually one of the most famous and prolific voice actors in the Japanese anime industry, and he has worked on multiple popular shows (mainly in the action shonen genre) both before and after his debut as Eraser Head inMy Hero Academia. With his deep and intimidating voice and his impressive range, Suwabe has brought to life many beloved characters, and the following are just some of the many prominent examples of his talent.
If there’s one Junichi Suwabe role that may be more well-known than Eraser Head fromMy Hero Academia, it would undoubtedly beRyomen Sukuna, the King of Curses andthe main antagonist ofJujutsu Kaisen. This is a truly despicable character who, despite residing inside protagonist Yuji Itadori’s body, cares for nobody else but himself and even explicitly enjoys other people’s suffering.
Needless to say, Suwabe put his deep and gravelly voice to excellent use and made Sukuna sound cool, intimidating, and like an unhinged psychopath, depending on the situation. On top of that, the impeccable chemistry he has with Itadori’s voice actor, Junya Enoki, has helped make their relationship all the more interesting and complex.
Junichi Suwabe obviously has a knack for voicing hateable antagonists in iconic shonen anime because he also worked onOne Piece, where he voiced not one but two infamous villains. First, years before he was cast as Sukuna or Eraser Head, he voicedVergo, one of the elite officers of the Donquixote Pirates who appeared in the Punk Hazard Arc. Suwabe’s deadpan delivery made him sound surprisingly threatening and imposing, but he also knew how to use it for comedy as well, since Vergo is also the star of a silly running gag in which he gets random food stuck to his face.
Suwabe was chosen to voiceAdmiralAramaki(better known asRyokugyu)in the Wano Country Arc, after the character’s original voice actor, Keiji Fujiwara, tragically passed away in 2020. This performance couldn’t be any more different from Vergo, since Aramaki is very loud, extreme, ruthless, and elitist. Nevertheless, Suwabe gave an excellent performance that successfully made him sound and feel like the truly despicable villain he is.
Grimmjow Jaegerjaquezis one of the most beloved and iconic characters inBleach, similarly to how Sukuna and Eraser Head are some of the most popular characters in their respective series. Since 2007, this Arrancar has beencaptivating countless fans with his incredible power, his impulsive personality, and his deep but loud voice, which was courtesy of Junichi Suwabe himself.
While the voice actor’s signature voice may seem out of place for a character like Grimmjow at first, he quickly took over the role and managed to make him sound both really strong and really cool, especially whenever he clashes with Ichigo Kurosaki and reignites their fierce rivalry. Fortunately, Suwabe got the chance to voice everybody’s favorite Arrancar in the animated adaptation ofBleach: Thousand-Year Blood Warand proved that he never lost his touch, even eleven years after the end of the original anime.
Junichi Suwabe has seemingly worked on almost every major action shonen franchise, andDemon Slayeris no exception. However,his work as the Drum DemonKyogaiis quite different from his usual rolessince, instead of making him sound threatening or serious, Suwabe gave a surprisingly loud, over-the-top, and somber performance.
At first, Kyogai seemed soft-spoken and quiet, but he eventually showed his true self during his encounter with Tanjiro Kamado, in which he began shouting at the top of his lungs while unleashing destructive attacks, and Suwabe’s voice got so raspy and high-pitched that it was almost unrecognizable. Like most other demons inDemon Slayer, Kyogai had a tragic backstory, and his inevitable death scene was elevated by Suwabe’s emotional performance.
Kyogai is not the only demon from a popular anime series that Junichi Suwabe has brought to life, becausehe also voicedLugnerinFrieren: Beyond Journey’s End. He’s an emotionless and prideful demon who repeatedly tries to trick humans into believing he can actually feel something, which in turn has made him into one of the most despicable antagonists in the entire show.
This obviously wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for Suwabe’s deadpan performance, which helped make Lugner sound as hateable as was necessary, without ever going overboard. While this was a very short-lived role for him, it definitely had an impact onFrierenfans, who consider Lugner one of the series’ most memorable antagonists.
It seems like Junichi Suwabe is getting prominent voice roles in almost every popular anime series, seeing as he was also cast asHwang Dongsooin A-1 Pictures’ animated adaptation ofSolo Leveling.This Korean-American S-Rank huntertraveled back to Korea with one goal in mind: to get revenge on the protagonist, Sung Jinwoo, for killing his older brother, Hwang Dongsuk.
To no one’s surprise, this is another villainous role in which Suwabe got to use his signature deep and intimidating voice to embody a character who is selfish, violent, and impulsive. As always, he brought his a-game into this relatively brief performance, but fortunately for him and for fans of his work, he will get his chance to shine even more in future seasons ofSolo Leveling, since Hwang Dongsoo has a big role in later arcs of the original manhwa.
Needless to say, Junichi Suwabe has not only voiced despicable antagonists and violent anti-heroes; he has also voiced a few beloved anime heroes, with one of the most remarkable examples beingYami SukehirofromBlack Clover. After all,the first captain of the Black Bull squadand Asta’s mentor is one of the most popular characters in the series.
Yami is a carefree and laid-back but very strong and incredibly ruthless magic knight, and almost everybody loves him, both in-universe and in the real world. This definitely wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t for Suwabe’s flawless performance, seeing as he put his deep and gravelly voice to perfect use in order to make him sound as cool as he is. Curiously enough, this performance is quite similar to his role as Eraser Head.
The cross-generational nature ofJoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’s story has allowed David Production to cast the same voice actors as different characters from different parts that never interact with each other, and Junichi Suwabe is no exception. He made his debut inStardust Crusaders, where he voicedTelence T. D’Arby, a one-dimensional but very entertaining villain who’s very easy to hate. To no one’s surprise, he delivered yet another high-quality performance that successfully made D’Arby sound as despicable as he is.
But Suwabe’s work inJoJo’s Bizarre Adventurealso resulted in one of the absolute best performances of his entire career, since he was also chosen to voiceLeone Abbacchio, one of the main characters ofVento Aureo. This is a multi-layered character that, at first, seems extremely aggressive and resentful (especially towards Giorno), but he slowly reveals that he’s actually quite clever, mature, and caring. Needless to say, Suwabe’s deep and intimidating voice worked perfectly for this complex character, and his performance during Abbacchio’s emotional final scenes resulted in one of the best voice-acted scenes in anime history. Fun fact: In this role,Junichi Suwabe interacted with Deku’s voice actor, Daiki Yamashita, who voices Narancia Ghirga.
