Birthday: May 26, 1982

Age: 34

Birthplace: Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan

Occupation (s): Voice Actor

Hobbies: Watching sports

Skills & Abilities: Driving

Blood Type: A

Years Active: 2001- present

Agency: Arts Vision

Height: 177 cm

Weight: 71 kg (credits to NicoleHikari) Academy (アミューズメントメディア総合学院)

Notable Credit (s):

N/A

(A/N: It's weird how this is not available so imma list some of my favorite roles that Maenu did)

Brothers Conflict as Asahina Natsume

Uta no Prince sama as Camus

AoHaru x Kikanjuu as Matsuoka Masamune

Seiyuu facts from Tumblr:

~Maeno Tomoaki really admires KENN

~KENN is his best friend

~Maeno Tomoaki always say that KENN is handsome and perfect

~Maeno is pessimistic about love, he always thinks that he's going to be rejected

~Tomoaki lost his virginity when he was 17 years old

~He thinks about himself that he is almost handsome and that is why he does not succeed in love

~When Suzuki Tatsuhisa said that 'M' from Maeno stands from 'ドMのM'-- aka the King of Masochist, he actually means it as a compliment ^^ he wanted to say that he is proud to be with Maeno Tomoaki

~If Suzuki Tatsuhisa likes pretty legs, Meano Tomoaki gets turned on by a pretty nape. But recently, Tattsun admits that he starts to pay more attentionto the nape

~"The very second the recording stopped, he changes from badass seme to nice guy" -Maeno Tomoaki

*Tatsun also said that after the recording ended, he will epologize to the guests/other seiyuus that he trashed during the recording

~Maeno Tomoaki really likes sandwiches from Subway. He even said that one day he wants to have his own Subway franchise. In one of the episodes of "Maeno Tomoaki & Masuda Toshiki Mission WM" where they had to work at Subway, Masu said that Maeno looked just like a real Subway employee, it scared him.

~When the host asked Maeno Tomoaki, what Doremon tool he wants if he can only choose one? Then "What-If Phone Booth. Because I can start my wish with "IF I were KENN...""

~Once, KENN and Maeno bought a box of takoyaki (10 pieces) at the festival, to be eaten together. KENN embarrassingly told the fans that the takoyaki was so delicious, he unconsciously ate Maeno's share, and left his best friend with the last remaining two pieces only

~Vitamin Z event, September 8th, 2012. In the morning before the event, Maeno Tomoaki and KENN had breakfast together. It felt nostalgic because on the very same day 3 years before that, they also had breakfast together

~Maeno Tomoaki and KENN didn't talk much to each other at first

~Maeno Tomoaki and KENN's first fight was about Pudding. It seems like one of them (most probably Maenu) thought that it was okay to eat the pudding in the fridge, but the other wasn't really happy about it and they ended up with an argument

~Maeno Tomoaki, KENN and Yasumoto Hiroki likes to play Monster Hunter online game together. Maeno said that he will usually tease Yasumoto by email saying "Shall we do it tonight?"

~Maeno Tomoaki told his fans that he took KENN with him to the toilet just now. The toilet was so clean and pretty, he was really delighted~ KENN added that he felt greatful for him and Maenu were able to go to that toilet together

~During his day off, Maeno kills time by going to get a massage or going to a coffee shop to eavesdrop, even though he has no business there. He loves drinking but if he drinks too early he probably won't be able to go home. So he made a rule for himself not to drink early

~Maeno Tomoaki pants size is 28 or less... He wears boxers and sometimes trunks. When asked about the type that he prefers his girls to wear, he said that anything that gives a neat & clean feeling would be nice. He also mentioned the he doesn't mind any color, as long as it's not black

~Maeno Tomoaki reads manga ever since he was 5 years old. His sister bought Weekly Shounen Jump and little Tomo-kun loves Dragon Ball very very much

"Dragon Ball is a very special thing for me. If I hadn't encountered Dragon Ball I'm really sure that I would never be a voice actor. I didn't really have artistic talents when I was a child, neither was I interested in drawing manga. All I did when I was a kid was read manga, and all I do right now for a living is watching anime. Somehome I don't think that my hobby as a child was useless at all. Of course my parents were less supportive to me. They used to say, "Please study and don't just read manga *laugh*""

~Maeno Tomoaki went to a yakiniku restaurant with Morikawa Toshiyuki and Hiyama Nobuyuki. Tomo-kun said that Morikawa-san grilled the meat and Hiyama-san served him, so all he needs to do is eat

~Suzumura Kenichi fed Maeno Tomoaki cake in the 20th episode of Famitsu Gamers DX

~First wore contact lens in Uta no Prince sama Maji Love Live 3rd stage which was December 1, 2013

~When he was a little kid, while playing outside with his older sister (which he calls aneki ), he was almost hit by a speeding truck, because he tried to cross the street without a chaperone

~His sister also entered a voice acting school, earlier than him and he entered a different one from his sister's.

~In one of the schools he went to, he was schoolmates with Kakihara Tetsuya and in another, with Suzuki Tatsuhisa.

~The senpais he look up to the most are Morikawa Toshiyuki and Namikawa Daisuke. He said that he'd want to be just like them, with such a wide and versatile range of voice, regardless of genre.

~He loves the Dragon Ball series a whole lot.

~Also, he has never failed to see any of the Doraemon movies.

~He loves spicy food.

~He's a heavy gamer, especially of RPG game titles, and he likes making mage/wizard class characters.

~Also, he's into MMORPGs, most especially the game called 信長の野望 (Nobunaga's Ambition)

~He's a big fan of the idol band ZONE.

~The first one to ever call him "Maenu" was KENN, which he reciprocated with "KENNU".

~Both his radio shows with Tattsun and KENN always ends up with them talking about eroi topics. 

~He's a self confessed "do-hentai" (super perv) lol.

~If he'll compare himself to an animal, he said that he'd be like a dog.

~When asked the question "If one day you'll turn into a woman but your voice would still be the same, what would you do?", he said that the first thing he'll do is of course, check out and touch himself everywhere in his "new" body.

~He said that if he becomes an invisible man, he'd like to visit a women's bathhouse lol

~While recording for the Toshokan Sensou anime, he saw Marina Inoue's nape which led to him ending up with a nape fetish.

~When talking with Wingu, they both slip into their Ibaraki dialect most of the time.

~Maeno Tomoaki words to KENN

"I... How can I say this... I especially have the habit of competing with people my own age on things like talent and not to be weak. With things like "This person did not want to beat me at this time" or I keep looking for the moment that is on par with that person, it is still a bad habit, even so I'm grateful to KENN.

Even if KENN wins on some things and send many emails, it is totally on a different and as KENN, I think there is nothing to do about that.

To the extent that I have never heard a bad rumour, KENN is like the sun, always shinning. So really KENN being so perfect, so brilliant, makes me think it's ok to make an effort and move on.

So even if you will continue being friends with a person with such bad habits like me, I would be happy.

~"Have you and Suzuki Tatsuhisa always been good friends?"

"We used to ignore each other and our relationship was terrible that time. He was at I'm Enterprise while I was at Arts Vision. When he got his break through the anime 'Dear Boys', I was struggling to make a name for myself.

It's funny how we turned into good friends. Suzuki likes to say, "The person I used to be, somehow it wasn't that bad." And I couldn't agree more with him. In facts, we often talk about something like this. And for the getting along part, we started to get close during the anime 'Library Wars'"

~Maeno Tomoaki

~Yowamushi Pedal Cast Interview 2015

^Please give us your thoughts on the end of recording for season two, "GRANDE ROAD."

Speaking from the position of Hakone Academy's captain, it was extremely disappointing that they could not reign victorious at the end of Inter High. However, in terms of Fukutomi as an individual, I feel that him being able to battle and defeat Kinjou on Day 2 was a very meaningful event. in a real sense, t was the result of him taking a step forward.

^Being the last Inter High of his high-school career, what kind of race did it turn out to be for Fukutomi?

It was too bad they were the runner-ups, but that was the result of them giving their all, so I think he has no regrets. And with Izumida, Manami, Kuroda and others, there are still many formidable first and second years in Hakone Academy, so with the confidence that they will definitely make a comeback next year, Fukutomi can hand over those feelings to his juniors and graduate. It wasn't necessarily "getting a taste of defeat," but to Fukutomi as well as the others, as humans and as athletes, it turned out to be a race which gave them tremendous growth.

^As captain, how do you feel Fukutomi viewed Manami?

Even before the race, he had the intuition that "He (Manami) has what others don't." That's why he told Arakita that if Manami were to fall back, he wanted him to bring him back. If by some chance Fukutomi had predicted the chance that at the very end Manami would aim for the goal, and if it turned out to be a close race, he probably originally thought of leaving it all to Manami.

^From now on, what kinds of expectations do you have for Fukutomi and his rival, Kinjou?

Since I want their relationship to remain as them boosting each other up through friendly competition, rather than friends, I want them to stay as rivals. I think a relationship as "sympathizers" despite being from different schools is a good one.

^Please tell us the highlights of the new scenes in "Re:ROAD."

There are scenes where Hakone Academy's third years show each other their feelings of gratitude, and even though it's acting, really compelled me. There is also a scene where Fukutomi conveys his feelings as captain to the other members.

^Please tell us about your enthusiasm towards "Yowamushi Pedal the Movie," the original story to be released in August.

At any rate, "Yowamushi Pedal" has a large amount of characters, so gathering everyone together for recordings is pretty difficult. I am looking forward to being able to do recordings with the full cast for August's movie. With that anticipation, I am wearing the t-shirt from when the cast of Sohoku and Hakone Academy were together at "Tour de Yowapeda 2014!"

^Lastly, please give a message to the rest of your cast/colleagues.

Hakone Academy's cast is full of people with unusual ties, and the workplace made me feel at home. Sohoku's cast had a good environment going on where the veterans would support Yamashita, the newcomer; so good that I was even a little envious (laughs). When Hakone Academy first appeared at the recordings in season one, the cast of Sohoku exclaimed, "You've finally come, Hakone Academy!", and warmly welcomed us, which has left a great impression on me. I am so glad to have been able to fight alongside you all!

~—Please give us your thoughts on the end of recording for season two, "GRANDE ROAD."

Speaking from the position of Hakone Academy's captain, it was extremely disappointing that they could not reign victorious at the end of Inter High. However, in terms of Fukutomi as an individual, I feel that him being able to battle and defeat Kinjou on Day 2 was a very meaningful event. in a real sense, t was the result of him taking a step forward.

—Being the last Inter High of his high-school career, what kind of race did it turn out to be for Fukutomi?

It was too bad they were the runner-ups, but that was the result of them giving their all, so I think he has no regrets. And with Izumida, Manami, Kuroda and others, there are still many formidable first and second years in Hakone Academy, so with the confidence that they will definitely make a comeback next year, Fukutomi can hand over those feelings to his juniors and graduate. It wasn't necessarily "getting a taste of defeat," but to Fukutomi as well as the others, as humans and as athletes, it turned out to be a race which gave them tremendous growth.

—As captain, how do you feel Fukutomi viewed Manami?

Even before the race, he had the intuition that "He (Manami) has what others don't." That's why he told Arakita that if Manami were to fall back, he wanted him to bring him back. If by some chance Fukutomi had predicted the chance that at the very end Manami would aim for the goal, and if it turned out to be a close race, he probably originally thought of leaving it all to Manami.

—From now on, what kinds of expectations do you have for Fukutomi and his rival, Kinjou?

Since I want their relationship to remain as them boosting each other up through friendly competition, rather than friends, I want them to stay as rivals. I think a relationship as "sympathizers" despite being from different schools is a good one.

—Please tell us the highlights of the new scenes in "Re:ROAD."

There are scenes where Hakone Academy's third years show each other their feelings of gratitude, and even though it's acting, really compelled me. There is also a scene where Fukutomi conveys his feelings as captain to the other members.

—Please tell us about your enthusiasm towards "Yowamushi Pedal the Movie," the original story to be released in August.

At any rate, "Yowamushi Pedal" has a large amount of characters, so gathering everyone together for recordings is pretty difficult. I am looking forward to being able to do recordings with the full cast for August's movie. With that anticipation, I am wearing the t-shirt from when the cast of Sohoku and Hakone Academy were together at "Tour de Yowapeda 2014!"

—Lastly, please give a message to the rest of your cast/colleagues.

Hakone Academy's cast is full of people with unusual ties, and the workplace made me feel at home. Sohoku's cast had a good environment going on where the veterans would support Yamashita, the newcomer; so good that I was even a little envious (laughs). When Hakone Academy first appeared at the recordings in season one, the cast of Sohoku exclaimed, "You've finally come, Hakone Academy!", and warmly welcomed us, which has left a great impression on me. I am so glad to have been able to fight alongside you all!

~Voice Newtype Interview No.56

"I don't want to forget the memories from that period of time when I longed to be a seiyuu"

Maeno Tomoaki who said "Please ask me anything" very seriously answered each question. With his 'sincere' and 'steadfast' appearance, this suited him completely. At the scene of the recording, he also maintained that sincere attitude. From his faith in the words that he said – "I want people to be able to feel that Maeno is happy doing his work," – you're able to see that professional spirit in him. This earnesty of his, just where has it come from? Whether it be work, family, or love – exploring the reason behind how Maeno Tomoaki became the Maeno Tomoaki of the present.

Q. First of all, good work on completing the photoshoot.

A. When I was first asked about what clothes I would be wearing, I didn't think I would be able to pull it off, but they still hoped that I would wear the Library Team's uniformfrom 'Library War'. Not only was I able to do this, but the producers from the live-action movie even asked if they could come and watch; I was very surprised. Although up til now I've carefully had Dojo Atsushi's (T/N: The character he voices in the anime)insignia of rank safely kept away, today I was able to wear it on my shirt collar! Because they didn't want to accidentally damage the clothes, double-sided tape was used to attach it. The glasses I wore are the same as the ones I originally did, many years ago, when the original author, Arikawa Hiro-sensei, and I appeared on a special broadcast together of NHK's 'TOP RUNNER' documentary. This time, I also changed into different outfits and hairstyles, and the atmosphere that I normally have around me has changed – it's even made me think, "It's like I've changed into another person..."

Q. You're featuring on the cover of the magazine by yourself – this is the first time for you, isn't it.

A. Yes, it is. On one hand I thought, "Is it okay for me to do this?", but at the same time I also had a thought in my heart that I wanted people to take notice of myself, I was very happy about it *laughs*

Q. Since you give people the impression that you're a very earnest person that seems a bit unexpected.

A. I hadn't thought of that til now, but in fact when I was a child I hated admitting defeat and wanted other people's attention. I was the type who wanted to be the centre of the universe. The me who was like that, there's still a part of them which exists. At events or during performances I still think that.

Q. I see. This is the first issue in which the 'Library War' uniforms have been specially worn for, the fans will surely be very happy about that.

A. Up til now I've always been very attached to works that I am involved in, but 'Library War' really is a series that has been an integral one for me. It was my starting point. When I heard that it would be getting a live-action sequel, I was extremely happy.

Q. Then, when you think about the first time that you were in the 'spotlight', 'Library War' is the one that comes to mind?

A. When I think about the meaning of 'spotlight', the moment that comes to mind is the first time that I stood in front of thousands of people at a 'VitaminZ' event. The scenery that I could see from being up on that stage, the enthusiasm of the audience, it left a huge impression on me. During a moment when I wasn't on a microphone, I quietly murmured, "Woah, amazing..." For me, that was the moment when it got to a whole new level.

Q. The impression from 'VitaminZ' hasn't left you then.

A. Because the staff (of VitaminZ) had seen me in 'Library War' they were the ones who invited me (to join the Vitamin series), so I'm also grateful to 'Library War' for that. And it was also because I had acted together with (Suzuki) Tatsuhisa – the series we connected through was 'Library War'. Because Fuwa Chisato (T/N: His character from VitaminZ) is a character that speaks Tosa-ben (T/N: A Japanese dialect), I asked Arikawa-sensei who comes for Kochi Prefecture to give me a lecture about it *laughs* And I also had performed with Ono Daisuke-san who also comes from Kochi Prefecture – our relationship now is one where I can easily say "When you have the time please teach me," but at that time we still weren't very close, so I wouldn't have dared to so frankly ask him to do that...

Q. By the way, this time there will be a lot of photos taken with the concept of 'light' – when you think about 'light', is the stage what comes to mind then?

A. It has the feeling of the solo spotlight at events. Like when I took part in the live concert for 'Uta no Prince-Sama' this year, the memory of that is still very fresh.

Q. From the handsome Camus of 'Utapri', to the comedian Naotsugu of 'Log Horizon', to the flashy Iwato of 'M3', Maeno-san has acted in a wide range of different roles. Is there any secret as to how you're able to distinguish between the roles?

A. Personally for me, I don't separate how I plan to play those roles. I have often been told, "You shouldn't change your voice, you should change your heart." As a result of desperately trying to act out one single character, I have the chance to act out all kinds of different characters – I am very grateful that I'm able to be connected to all these separate characters

Q. You've acted as all sorts of characters, have you ever been confused (about a role)?

A. Not particularly. For games though, a single game will involve around three to four recording sessions, so if I'm currently involved in two or three games at the same time sometimes I'll go, "Huh, which scene is it today?" and not really understand what's going on *laughs*

Q. Personally for me, I think Hak from 'Akatsuki no Yona' has the image of 'The real Maeno-san'.

A. Is that true? I'm happy. Hak is the type of cool character that even guys fall in love with. Right from the beginning of when we started doing the drama CDs, every time the cast would gather together we would always say, "We hope we can do an anime(for this series)," so this time when they continued to use the original cast for the anime, I thought that this was extremely fortunate. Recording it was very fun, I didn't want to stop. I've also been told that my character from 'Brothers Conflict', Asahina Natsume, is very much like me.

Q. There is the same sense of that from your character Fukutomi Juichi of 'Yowamushi Pedal' as well.

A. After Fukutomi, there was also Harada Masatoshi from 'Diamond no Ace', they have the position of being the strong bass voice presence, which they've been able to do more and more. In order to be able to create that feeling of the 'Last Boss' even more, I'll continue to do my best.

Q. On the other hand, you've also done characters like Hayami Hiro from 'Pretty Rhythm: Rainbow Live'.

A. He was a pretty unexpected character *laughs* I think I feel a bit closer to Camus from 'Utapri' than him – in the beginning I was a bit worried and wondered, "If he(Hiro) is like this won't he be hated?" However rather than acting defiant that he's disliked by some people, I should instead be happy about it. I was drawn to the depiction of his own struggles and growth, and I was able to see the side of him as a wonderful idol. It was also fun act against Kakki (Kakihara Tetsuya).

Q. Additionally, was there a work which you consider a 'turning point'?

A. Of course it's all of the works (I've been in), but I learned a lot from the first time I was the main character was in a dub for a foreign movie. I was just 20 years old as a newcomer – when I was the recording I suddenly thought to myself "Can I do this?" Including the old man, altogether there were five actors. Although there isn't much room to change the characteristics of a person's voice, when it was an NG they would tell me, "You used the same voice as you did before." *laughs* Back then, I seriously thought, "Nothing that I can do will work." Compared to, "If I can do this character than I won't lose to anyone!" and the essence of that one character, at that time I thought, "It doesn't matter what it is, I'll do anything, even if it's a 'handyman'." There was a huge pressure every single day. However, relatively speaking, dubbing foreign movies is more difficult to do, from this (experience) I think I was able to nurture my skills for anime.

Q. At that time when you were dubbing the foreign movie, what kind of atmosphere was it?

A. Because the budget (for dubbings) is a less than for an anime, there are few ranked seiyuu for at these recordings [seiyuu are separated into ranks] and so whatever the role is these are highly valued by newcomers. At the moment I've been asked to be one of the main cast members for 'The Amazing Spider-Man' thanks to the experiences that I've gone through in the past. From now on, I'll continue to do my best in work that involves dubbing foreign movies.

Q. During the time when you were a newcomer and making the effort to grab a role, wasn't it very difficult?

A. When my agency was contacted and asked, "Is there a seiyuu who is suited to this role?", they recommended me by saying, "There is one called Maeno..." and I first did a voice sample, then they said, "Please do your best!" and handed me the role. Sometimes I'm directly asked by the people in my agency, "I'd love to vist a recording." In any case, I try my absolute hardest (to make sure) that other people remember my face and my name.

Q. When you were a newcomer, did you try and have any part-time jobs?

A. I worked part-time as a male floor cleaner. I was Maeno, the one who would steadily clean the Yodobashi Camera Multimedia store in Shinjuku *laughs* You could think of it as being linked to voice-related work, as I also had to do tele-marketing, but I thought that it didn't suit me, so I quit. After that, I worked as an assistant at my old school, Amusement Media School. I did lines for voice samples and created materials, and conducted discussions with the students. During one of these discussions I was asked, "Which is a good agency (to choose)?" and I answered without properly thinking, "Arts (Vision) is good!" *laughs*(T/N: Arts Vision is his current agency) And we also had discussions about love. After my part-time job I would often go to karaoke, and I would sing songs by T.M.Revolution and claim (their name meant) "Tomoaki Makes Revolution" *laughs* When I was a teenager I would often listen to TMR's songs such as 'HIGH PRESSURE' and 'HEART OF SWORD ~Before the Dawn~'. Because the key(of their songs) is quite high, when I sang them I would drop the key down by two steps.

Q. Do you like singing songs?

A. I do like it, but I never received any professional training in it, so I'm not skilled at it at all. Because it's outside of my expertise, I try to do my absolute best when it comes to character songs. So that other people will like my singing voice, I'll keep working hard.

Q. Then, right now, coming from dubbing foreign films, do you think there's a part of you which has grown?

A. When I was a newcomer, I had been told that I didn't know anything, and now I can understand what that meant. In the past I didn't understand at all what it meant to "Act naturally." The opportunity (that allowed me) to understand this line came when I was still a junior. Someone said to me, "Why don't you think of it as like being on stage," and so when I was in front of the microphone I gave it a try and acted like I was on stage. Then I was praised, "That's being natural." Originally I was only working hard in reading the lines in the script, from that point onwards I was aware that I had changed. At the time, I thought that recording foreign films was scary, but now I think it's very fun.

               By the way, the earphones that I use now when I do dubbings were a birthday present I received from my senpai, Takashina Toshitsugu-san. At the recording of the foreign drama '24', he said, "You've done well, this is for you." For many recordings, those earphones are the ones I use to do them!

Q. Apart from the 'Library War' insignia of rank, Maeno-san has really treasured all of the other goods (from the series you're involved in). From that you can really see that you love the series. 

A. That's kind of exaggerating it... No, I guess it really is like that *laughs* It's because they also carry all of the fan's feelings. So I'm really happy to have these goods, and to be able to use them. As a fan, the feelings of going through the good times and the bad, I want to cherish those feelings.

Q. Which is your favourite piece of merchandise?

A. When I'm at home I use the Camus' coffee mug from 'Utapri'. If it were to break it'd be very troublesome, so whenever I wash it I'm very careful *laughs* And also the ring light from 'Utapri's live stages, and the badges we wore too. However, there are other goods that I've stored away, and if I used them a lot on normal days, like t-shirts and hoodies, they'd get worn out *laughs*

Q. No matter which recording it is or where you are then, Maeno-san what do you think is important in your work?

A. I've been told by others that, "It's comfortable working with Maeno." I'm not like other seiyuu who release (their own) songs or who can write song lyrics. I only have my voice.  This probably will sound defensive, but for each and every piece of work, I want to do my absolute best at all costs.

Q. What do you specifically mean by "Doing my absolute best"?

A. I naturally came to gradually understand this after my many experiences, and though it sounds extreme, sometimes just before the recording I'll have only just checked through the script before we begin. But for me, regardless of whichever series it is, I'll read through the script at home, and decide how it would be best to act it out. If it's a script for a game it'll be very thick, and I'll also think to myself, "Are my lines in here somewhere?" *laughs* but even if it is like that, I prepare for it very seriously.

Q. Have you ever felt that there was a character or series that was easy to do?

A. Because I've gone through dubbing foreign movies, I feel that (everything else) is a bit easier than doing foreign movies, and of course I also like doing anime. I want to become a seiyuu who has no limits, who's able to give a vibrant performance no matter what kind of series it is. ...Ah, sorry for the completely serious answer! *laughs*

Q. That serious attitude of Maeno-san is one of your charms. On your blog as well, you give a sense of sincerity as well.

A. I keep changing my blog each time as well, I write bits and pieces of it in my drafts folder *laughs* If people happen to read it, I hope that people will at least feel happy to see it. But to be honest, I've also thought that using social media is quite difficult. When I was a child and I longed to be a seiyuu, there were only radio antennas, there was no such thing as the internet. At the time my only thought was, "I want to be a seiyuu," and that was my origin, and I think that in the near future, as a seiyuu, there will be a time that I reconsider how I interact with people on social media.

Q. I see. What kind of broadcasts did you like listening to before?

A. I would always listen to Hayashibara Megumi-san's 'Tokyo Boogie Night', and I also loved Koyasu Takehito-san's 'Game Dora Night'. Once, Suzumura (Kenichi)-san asked me, "What's the password?", and I suddenly replied "Bee!" That's a password that comes from Kouda Mariko-san's radio, 'Twin Bee PARADISE' *laughs* I used to just like listening to radio myself, but now I get to act in radio broadcasts, and that's really unbelievable.

Q. When you were younger did you like anime?

A. I especially loved 'Dragon Ball'. When I was able to act in the game, 'Dragon Ball Xenoverse', I was extremely happy! But although I love it, I was (acting) too rigidly – "You learnt 'Wolf Fang Fist' from Yamcha, could you act a bit more like Yamcha?" – so it wasted a bit of time *laughs*

Q. When you were younger what else did you play?

A. At the time there was a popular manga called 'Honoo no Toukyuuji Dodge Danpei', so I would often play dodgeball. We would gather at a friend's house, and we would make a racket playing on the Famicom Disk System. I remember that at the time 'Rockman 2' was a particularly difficult game. After that when I was in my second year of primary school, I was exposed to 'Dragon Ball', and each year I would go with my family to the movies to watch the 'Towei Animation Festival'.

Q. Is there any movie that you one day would like to bring your own children to see?

A. There is, something that I'd want them to see. Recently, my niece said, "I want to go watch Utapri's live concert," – she's started to take an interest in this world. "What should I do if she says she wants to be a seiyuu!" – I've been worried about that *laughs*

Q. What if your niece said she wanted to be a seiyuu like Maeno-san?

A. Hmm, I'd be happy, though... In the past, my older sister also wanted to become a seiyuu together with me, but now that she knows about the harshness (of this industry), she'd probably try to stop my niece. *Speaking emphatically* I just so happened to come across a good opportunity and followed that path, it really was just by coincidence.

Q. It wasn't through your own ability?

A. I was lucky. There's both luck and ability, although you might also consider that to be (part of) your ability.

Q. In this unassuming place, you can really sense Maeno-san's 'dark side' *laughs*

A. Well, who doesn't have a dark side to them *laughs* But I have listened to my older sister's thoughts, though I haven't gotten caught up in them. The one who clearly showed me the path to becoming a seiyuu was my older sister, and I feel that I should do my best for my sister's sake too. ...Well, I say that now, but some people have said that I have a sis-con – we are siblings, but in fact it feels more like we're close friends.

Q. What kind of relationship do you have with your father and mother?

A. Now I feel like I'm a good son, I often call my parents. Originally my father was against me becoming a seiyuu, but now he's approved of it. My mother is the same as before and supports me – she'll watch the series I'm in, and she'll run out and buy magazines I'm in the day they're released. She'll probably buy this issue as well *laughs* You might say that they're my number one fans. I've received a lot of help from my parents, and I want to repay their kindness bit by bit if I can. By doing my hardest at work, that's the best way in which I can repay them.

Q. That serious nature of yours, have you been that way since you were a child?

A. No, I was never a model student or anything like that. I had a number of bad friends, who also did naughty things *laughs* My father was quite tolerant – when I was going through a rebellious periods he thought, "It probably has nothing to do with me." But because of that he was convinced, "My son definitely won't be able to do anything wrong," and after I became aware of that I started to feel like I need to seriously live my life. In my first year of high school I started working at a part-time job, and I started to understand society, it had a big effect on me too. (Understanding) the adults who had left school, the way that they talked, their attitudes, and how they described things. Since I decided that after graduation I would go and study at a seiyuu school, I worked part-time jobs to earn enough money for the tuition fee, and simply earning money like that also made me happy.

Q. Is that when you matured as a person?

A. When I graduated middle school, it was very sudden. Recently when I've measured my height I've been counting each millimetre that I've grown *laughs* Could it because my posture's changed?

Q. When did your vision start to decline?

A. Before I was doing 'Library War' it had already started to decline, but all of a sudden my vision dropped off. I have about 10 pairs of glasses that I wear during my everyday life and for events. Because 'Library War' collaborated with Zoff, I quite like this brand *laughs* I decided that since this happened, I definitely won't go on any adventures, but I'm not the adventuring type anyway. 

Q. Now then, when did you have your first love?

A. When I was in kindergarten. She was in the same class, my reason (for falling in love)was that she was cute *laughs* Aren't you the most popular when you're in primary school? When you're in primary school and around five or six years old, you say, "Let's go out," and that would be your first girlfriend, and you'd write it down in the diary that you'd exchange with your friends. At that time when you had an athletics carnival though, you'd write down things like, "Good work," and "The high jump was really hard" down in the diary. We went out with each other until the second year of middle school, but then we broke up.

Q. Where did you go on dates?

A. We were afraid of being teased, so we never went! We'd do stuff like go with our friends on the train to go watch a movie. When we'd go out and meet with other middle school students, strangely enough I'd start to feel a bit of rivalry *laughs* And at that time there were no mobile phones – "What if her father answers the phone?", with this kind of nervousness I'd be calling her home. After I told her, "I want to become a seiyuu," she said, "You'll definitely be able to!" – it's a good memory.

Q. When did you have your first date?

A. Although we would randomly go on dates like that, the first time I went on a proper date was probably in my second or third year of high school? I went with my girlfriend who was from the same school to Aeon Mall.

Q. Do you wish to get married?

A. Of course I do. A person who is earnest, who is able to understand my work, and who won't get angry when I play games would be nice *laughs* Although of course I'd play games within the normal limits. I'd be happy if we were able to drink together, and play games together, but apart from these requirements, I don't have too many other requests *laughs* Also, it's essential to have good health for work, so if they quite liked to cook then that that would be nice too.

Q. By the way, what does Maeno-san thinks it means to 'be cool'?

A. To keep doing what you believe in. Coolness isn't just in your appearance – as long as you're a person who works hard towards your goal, regardless of whether you're old or young, male or female, I would think that you're cool.

Q. Just now you were talking about video games, Maeno-san, do you also like baseball?

A. After entering the seiyuu industry I've become a Giants fan! A few days before because the Giants lost a match after a comeback (from the other team), but I couldn't accept it and went and drowned my sorrows by drinking *laughs* But personally I've never played baseball. I was in the soccer club when I was in middle school, although I never attended clubs in high school.

Q. You can't take that much alcohol?

A. I'm actually quite good with alcohol. Although I'm alright with not drinking as well, after I have a bath I'll have a drink. While I'm in the bath I'll think, "Let's drink and play a game!" and that will totally set me into a relaxed mode. In the time between when I get home to when I get in the bath, I don't get changed, but instead I'll diligently study up. Then when I get in the bath, I'll think, "The day is over!"

Q. What kind of alcohol do you like?

A. I'll drink anything. If I'm in a shop I'll drink quite a lot of high-end things. Since as much as possible I don't want to drink alcohol with a high content of purine.

Q. You pay quite a bit of attention to your health.

A. Normally when I eat I'm careful to eat a lot of vegetables, and not as much oil. I go to Subway to eat sandwiches, and I cook for myself as well. I've also been to the gym for about a year. Compared to before the number of times I've fallen ill has been less. I've learnt from my senpais that it's not good if you can't take care of your health properly.

Q. Which senpais do you consider to be your goal?

A. Although there are quite a lot, in the sense that just being present in the recording studio they're able to allow people to be calm, then it would have to be Namikawa (Daisuke)-san. When I'm acting against Namikawa-san, the staff's directions also seem more relaxed. Whether they're senpais or kouhais, people will always joke around with him, and he'll notice that and happily play along with it. That's something that only Namikawa-san is able to do – he has a different approach, and I hope I'll be able to do that myself and be able to affect how the recording goes. In terms of age, more often I find myself the oldest seiyuu at the recording, and I want to open up my introverted personality more as much as possible, and be able to talk about all sorts of things with everyone.

"Because I lack confidence, that makes me want to work harder"

Q. As a senpai, what kind of existence do you wish to have?

A. Although it's unreasonable, I still want to become a senpai that others will look up to. Speaking of the senpais in my agency, Toriumi (Kousuke)-san always takes care of others, so I hope that I will be able to treat those younger than me like that as well. On the other hand, they (kouhais) are also rivals with whom you fight for roles, so I also definitely do not want to lose to my kouhais. So I'm still quite far away from the realm that Toriumi-san holds *laughs*

Q. When you were a newcomer yourself, compared to the newcomers these days, do you think there are some differences?

A. During the time when I was still a newcomer, I went from becoming a regular (cast member), to getting a few more roles, it's a slow ascension up the rankings and this process is mainstream. It's a very rare case when a newcomer will come out and be selected for the main role, but honestly speaking, I'm also envious of the newcomers these days. If I was ten years younger, would I have been able to achieve success earlier? It's a complicated feeling.

Q. Your hard work has paid off though, now you have your own foothold – haven't you found your own style that you belong to?

A. I've found it... probably? Just now I also said, "I'm a professional, and at the same time I want to be a seiyuu who does their work happily," and that's my style. Also, because I'm generally a person who doesn't have any confidence, I have to work harder. Because I have no confidence in myself, I feel even happier that I get to act in all these different roles.

Q. Since you lack confidence, you've been able to lead yourself into this good direction then. If you were to self-evaluate the work that you do now, how many points would you score yourself?

A. Ehhhh... Almost 60 points? As a professional you're always keeping your actions in mind, but I don't think I've done badly. But I also think that there's room for improvement in my performance! I'm still not satisfied with my own performance. I've covered up my expressive ability for parts within a higher range, I want to be able to broaden my own acting ability.

Q. In order to enhance your expressive ability, how do you try to work at it?

A. What's most important is to watch all kinds of different performances at the studio. Especially the senpais' unexpected performances. And I'll also read some books. I like reading suspense books, so I've been reading Miyabe Miyuki-sensei's works. I also like light novels about the 'Dragon Quest' and 'Gundam' games and anime.

Q. From your own point of view, what do you think are "Maeno Tomoaki's strong points"?

A. My sincerity in doing things.

Q. Then on the other hand, what about "shortcomings"?

A. That same earnesty. If you're too serious, for better or for worse, other people may thing, "How boring." But it's impossible for me to change my attitude towards life now. Like if I was to make my debut for a night out on the town... That's unthinkable *laughs*

Q. When you'd just started living in Tokyo by yourself, you didn't go out at night?

A. At that time I was on Telehodai [a fixed plan telephone service where from 11pm at night to 8am the next day there was no restriction on the amount of time you could use the service] and addicted to online games on the Dreamcast, that was a different type of debut for me *laughs*  

Q. Did you often go out, or did you have any areas that you liked to go to?

A. Since it's close to my agency, I often go to Yoyogi. In the first four years after I came to live in Tokyo, I would sometimes go and take a stroll around there. Despite the inevitable homesickness, I found out that I had been accepted into Arts Vision and had my deposit received for a house (while I was in that area). If I were to go back to that place I'll think back to that time, and think back to my starting point. During the recording of the first episode for 'Library War', since I was too early I went to the park and sat down on the bench and waited since the park is a short distance from the recording studio – nowadays from time to time I'll still walk around there.

Q. So that's a "bench full of memories" then.

A. I hope those memories from that time will always remain. To change the topic, a few days ago, Sakura (Takahiro)-san organised a "Male Seiyuu Drinking Party" and invited me out to it. I was completely surrounded by all these famous senpais, and it made me happy to find myself invited to this kind of gathering. In my agency there are important senpais such as Hiyama Nobuyuki-san, and since I was a child I've been longing for these legends. And so to be able to be with these people drinking in together, I think that it's incredible.

Q. That longing as a child, that was Maeno-san's starting point then.

A. It was. During that drinking party though, we played "Manly Rock Paper Scissors", and the winner had to pay for everyone else's drinks – it got my heart racing *laughs* My feelings towards money is the same as ordinary people's is. Although I was taught by my senpais, "In order to spend more money you need to be able to improve your acting." Personally though, I'm not able to take my kouhais along to go drinking.

Q. But you like to go driving, don't you.

A. In Ibaraki (T/N: His home town), I have friends who like to restore cars, and I grew up with this kind of local tradition, I really do like cars. My ideal car is the Lexus RCF. I hope that one day I'll be able to sit in a Lexus.

Q. What have you been recently interested in then?

A. In my free time I've been sweating it out at the gym. My body feels better than before. Because of my physique and my muscles, it's difficult to improve them. I've also been addicted to the tax payments in my home town *laughs* (T/N: I have no idea what he means by this at all) The tuna of Kochi prefecture, and the beef tongue of Sendai, the local specialities of these places are very delicious.

Q. They really are reliable (good dishes) aren't they. Do you not do anything too crazy in your private life then?  

A. During this past February, I was told, "Tomorrow you can have the day off," and I went to Kyoto with absolutely no preparation. At Fushimi Inari Shrine, I took anomikuji and got "Excellent Luck"! I checked and there's only a 0.00004% probability of getting that one. What was written on the strip is invincible, this year will definitely be a good one. It was thanks to that that I received a letter asking me to be in the magazine this time! *laughs* If this year I'm able to rise up and be called "The Unparalleled Maeno" then that would be good! And because of this I will do my absolute best in every series, and act out my performances diligently and carefully. It might be a bit different to what was requested of me at the recording site, but I won't be limited to any specific genre, and I want to be active and grow in multiple areas!

Column: My Sunlight & Starlight

My Sunlight

Their existence is like the 'sun', my very good friends. When I'm together with them, I feel full of energy. In the seiyuu world, I'm good friends with KENN-kun and Terashima (Takuma)-kun both publicly and privately. A friend's existence is very important.

My Starlight

For me, my 'star' is Pappi-senpai, Hoshi Souichirou-san. Although this may be a bit impolite to say this as his kouhai, but he's a very sweet and adorable person. Like when he says, "Wine and karaage are the best combination!", or when he stresses, "That's not beer!" *laughs*

Musical Career:

Maeno Tomoaki doesn't have an official musical career. Which means that he is not signed with labels like Lantis or Avex, but instead he sings in musical animes like Stamyu and Uta no Prince sama. He also sings character songs.

Maeno Tomoaki sang the opening for AoHaru x Kikanjuu, The Bravest Destiny together with Matsuoka Yoshitsugu and Komatsu Mikako

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

8832 words including his musical career XD I'm going crazy over here :P I didn't put the whole musical career since it was super long and I'm going to start using Jap Wiki as a reference since Eng Wiki is not complete in terms of info. As for the other seiyuus I'm gonna check their Jap wiki next time :)

Today is also Christmas eve at the same time it's Kaki's bday \(^o^)/ I just wanna wish everyone an advance Merry Christmas to you all and I hope you stay safe. If I would be able to finish, I would upload again tomorrow.

Contact me:

Facebook: Anime Class (You can just message this page :))

Twitter: seiyuu_otaku

Garena: TiffanyAnneSo

Skype: Tiffany Anne So (tell me you're from Wattpad :))

WeChat: SuzuKen2001 (tell me you're from Wattpad:))

Line: seiyuu4ever

Seiyuu Blog on Tumblr: seiyuu4ever

Next seiyuu: KENN