So, 2021. Another bumper year of expanding my following of seiyuu further and further. The same faces I loved before have continued to entertain me, and some brilliant new talents have popped up to lighten my life. And what that means, of course, is more seiyuu to sort. Sure enough, my seiyuu sorter hit the 300 mark, giving us all a nice round figure for anyone who deigns to match all of them up with each other. 

And so, my seiyuu sorter for 2021.

Compare, if you will, against my year-end seiyuu sorter for last year:

With this, my top tier of seiyuu – those who you could reasonably say I would simp for – has become a top 30. My top, top tier remains pretty much my top 10. And, of course, I gained a third seiyuu to well and truly oshi this year. So let’s analyse my best of the best – the top 10%. When you spin it like that, you realise just how impressive this lot all are.

1. Ayaka Ohashi (◄►)

Obviously, pinned to the top forever, no matter what anyone else does. She is, after all, the reason I’m doing any of this in the first place.

2. Ami Maeshima (▲3)

When I compiled my 2020 sorter, I was right in the midst of the discovery process that got Amita to this point very soon after. She covers every single base you could think of. Especially as the release of her photobook has unveiled a whole different dimension to her. Long may her perfection continue.

3. Himika Akaneya (NR)

As I covered quite vocally in the last blogpost I dropped before this, Himi was my find of the year. The absolute perfect humorous personality and a truly one-of-a-kind look. Annoyingly, I haven’t managed to build on my new-found love for her that much in the past month: she’s been fully occupied on a stage play for the past month. But she’s free now.

4. Suzuko Mimori (▼2)

A shoo-in for the top, top tier for as long as she looks as good as she does. Even if someone surpasses her in that regard some day, her flawless, mature look will be forever my own personal golden ratio.

5. Aya Suzaki (▼1)

Always guaranteed a spot in my highest echelons on account of voicing the one anime character in history I’d most want as a lifelong partner. Minami Nitta lives rent-free in my head.

6. Azumi Waki (▲1)

Only being one spot higher feels wholly inadequate for the work Ajuju puts in, but it doesn’t matter really. She’s simply a wonderful talent, with her qualities giving her quite a similar vibe to Hasshi. Which is probably why she’s the face of the most popular series going right now. Not that I even care about Uma, mind you.

7. Yoshino Nanjo (▼1)

So much importance on an anisong, idol genre and seiyuu level. Even her music’s worthy of note (she released a new album two days ago). Sadly, her time as the incomparable voice of fripSide will come to a close next year. We will never see the like again.

8. Yuuko Iida (▼5)

More than any other, rated highly for importance, even in the face of being less famous than anyone else around here. That’s what she deserves for the part she played in getting me into iM@s.

9. Sumire Uesaka (▼1)

Of all the absolutely, properly famous seiyuu, Sumipe has to go down as simply the best in the business. She is simply way too good not to rate highly, even if I have more genuine love for others.

10. Nagisa Aoyama (NR)

Earlier this year, I felt that deep down I was probably underrating Nagi in any sorters I did with her. This one finally reflected all the love I’ve given since finding her. To be honest, I could have put her above Sumipe, I just wasn’t sure about going for that just yet. She’ll certainly be above her very soon. She’ll be above a few others this time next year as well. She’s one for both the present and the future. I really thought I might end up properly oshiing her at some point, but when a window of opportunity came up, Himi beat her to it. Maybe that was too soon for Nagi, but I have no doubt that the sky is the limit for her. Knowing what she’s already done, and what she could go on to do next year, she is nailed on as the next big thing for me.

11. Haruka Yoshimura (▼2)

Truthfully, deserves to be top 10, again on sheer significance. Alas, with her winding down to live a normal life – she had a child in July this year – she’s very much settled down now…except for her role as Mika. And thank goodness for that.

12. Akari Kito (▲8)
I definitely undersold her in last year’s sorter. This year, she made a very good crack at breaking into my very top tier. That probably peaked around the time this photoshoot was released… 

Why didn’t it happen? Probably because the one thing she’s missing is a character role to really drag me in. (She has played Reimu Hakurei, but not in a capacity that interests me. Or is ongoing anymore.) Her actual photobook this year was also unusual in that she managed to conjure up several looks that looked nothing like herself. The sheer variety was noteworthy by itself, mind. Otherwise, she’s absolutely brilliant.

13. Arisa Komiya (▲190(?!?!))

That change in ranking is what happens when you escape what can simply be referred to as ‘the Aquors zone’. Never mind escaping it, Arisha isn’t even in the same postcode as it. I can give you all sorts of reasons for that, but this covers the two most important.

14. Ayasa Itou (▲7)
Here’s someone who has been rising in my estimations for months now, and isn’t showing any sign of stopping. This year, I’ve constantly noticed with Ayasa that she’s just so unbelievably…attractive. She went and released a photobook as well, which proved my point. Her Team Y videos are the best examples of her appeal, though. Not only is her incredible charm at its most stark there, she’s also shown there that it extends to her dancing. 

If Ayasa gets into my top tier next year, you heard it here first.

15. Azusa Tadokoro (▲8)

Rising plenty of spots and yet she still feels too low. But the competition at her level is fierce. Always one of the cutest, and this year the setter of an unusually high number of milestones, such as ‘first seiyuu to answer a question I asked’, ‘seiyuu that most could have made me die of laughter’ and by association ‘seiyuu that made me laugh loudest in public’ and, on a serious note, ‘seiyuu with the best solo song I’ve heard from any of them yet’.

Her Waver album is truly magnificent.

16. Emiri Katou (▼6)

Importance plays its part here again; my love for Emirin stretches back to way before I considered any idol anime. On that note, Aya Hirano and Yui Horie would be around her level if only I could include them in this sorter. Sadly, the former’s attempt at being an actual idol ended in acrimony and the latter is 45, and fully occupied.

17. Hinako Umemura (NR)

Hopefully, we might see more of Hinanchu this year. That’s on account of her departure from Silent Siren (which subsequently disbanded, somewhat sadly). I’ve said that Hinanchu is like what I want Kanon Shizaki to look like in my head. She’s just a wholly attractive person in general.

18. Miyu Kubota (◄►)

God knows how Miyutan hasn’t moved. Especially since she’s no longer my favourite member of iRis (nor, indeed, the only one I knew about). At current pace, she won’t even be second-best by next year – of which, more later – but that’s not to take away from her obvious brilliance and talent.

19. Rikako Aida (▲93)
The other seiyuu to escape the Aquors zone, though to be fair she was already out of it last year on account of voicing Riko, who remains the sole character from the group I will (just about) give the time of day. But Rikyako’s looks were grabbing my attention more and more. Then I saw her look like this in one of her Halloween getups and…

…I knew I had to give her some love. So, welcome to the top tier, Snow White.

20. Hinata Sato (▲28)

Can you believe Hii-chan turned only 23 yesterday? Nor can I. To be honest, I had her rated higher than this for most of the year. It’s just others turned up the heat right at the end. Hii-chan remains a brilliant all-rounder in every aspect though, most notably being a glorious performer as both Noa and Leah.

21. Nozomi Yamamoto (▼10)

Nojo has always felt like your cousin who tries to be hip and cool, and somewhat by accident actually manages to pull it off. She’s just a wonderful person. She’s also made it genuinely big via Hypnosis Mic, another music project that looks enticing but which I simply do not have the time to look at closely.

22. Sayuri Date (NR)

How about those Liella girls, man! Sayuri is such a good face for the group, a great voice for the best main character the series has had and a simply wonderful singer. Mind you, she sounds better in recordings than live. In the one I watched it felt like she was trying too hard to get her vocals across. But she’s still only 19, so there’s plenty of time for her to amend that.

23. Liyuu (NR)

And now for Liella’s gorgeous, statuesque stunner. (That’s what being 167cm tall gets you in this industry.) Li-chan is just a wonderful looker. She’s got a lovely, cool personality as well, and early next year she’s moving into the solo game with her first album. I wait with bated breath.

24. Yu Serizawa (NR)

Seriko, number one? Alas not. In fact, Seriko’s number was probably the hardest to pick, because she is my ‘thing’ at this moment in time. She has so many bases covered it’s unbelievable. Cuteness, beauty, dancing, height, singing… Oh god, she’s gonna be top 20 easily by next month. I went conservative on ranking her here because I’m feeling her out – a bit like Amita this time last year, actually – but she’s definitely on the way up.

25. Yuki Wakai (NR)

And here’s another iRis member to cap off the sign of their collective brilliance. Yuki has a glorious voice, is another beautiful looking person and, of course, comes with the overriding factor that is exceptionally short. So much so it can only add to her already plentiful charm. And she too is making inroads to the solo side, having just released her first single.

26. Yuzuki Watase (▲21)

On pure cuteness alone, Yuzu might not be my number one anymore in this corner of my interests (my number one isn’t a seiyuu, but I really hope she will be one day!) but she remains impeccable in that respect. Actually, though, she is maturing more and more, which shouldn’t come as a surprise as she’s still only 18. She’s definitely gonna be something special in the future, though.

27. Shu Uchida (NR)

And here’s where my Anglophile bias comes through. In all honesty, though, Shu is on the way up for me. She’s looking better and better with every passing day, especially after recently making a move to shorter hair, as is the top trend among seiyuu these days. 

28. Machico (▼13)

Truthfully, this drop feels harsh on Machico, who is still a wonderful, colourful personality. Certainly it’s notable that she’s stayed here whereas other wild personalities have very much gone stale to me (and my sorter from last year makes that clear). If only I’d rolled that Tsubasa perm back then, eh?

29. Ruriko Aoki (▼12)

Ruriko remains a seiyuu I very much like – albeit not on the scale of before – on a few unique grounds, one of which is her being the tallest of the lot here and another being her frequent and en vogue gaming streams. Currently she appears to be doing BDSP (which I might put my thoughts on here one day). Good on her.

30. Haruka Yamazaki (▲13)

Oh, to remember the heady days of last year when Pyon was my #2. How I wish deep down she had stayed there. That love I had for her before her, shall we say, unfortunate hairstyle change, means she will always the borderline of my top tier. Her hair’s back to what it should be, but her moment has gone. Too many seiyuu have established themselves in my mind to get her back to where she was now.

What will next year have in store for me in the world of seiyuu? That’s the fun part. I couldn’t possibly know. One thing’s for certain – my top tier won’t look exactly like this by the end of it.