Yoshitsugu Matsuoka Biography

Yoshitsugu Matsuoka began his career in the late 2000s. His first role as a ‘Seiyuu’ or voice actor was as AKX20000 in the anime television series ‘Eden of the East’. He then continued to do other roles but his rise to fame only came in early 2010. His first role that garnered praise from the audience was when he voiced Narumi Fujishima in ‘Kami-sama no Memo-cho’. His roles increased tremendously and he gained prominence as Kirito in the ‘Sword Art Online’ (SAO) series. The success of SAO earned him the titles like Harem King, Nice Guy and Vanilla Hero since he is almost always plays confident and powerful roles like Kirito, Sora and Soma. He is also one of the richest Seiyuus born in Japan. At the 6th Seiyu Awards in 2012, he won the ‘Best New Actor’ award and the 10th Seiyu Awards in 2016, he won the ‘Best Lead Actor’ award. He holds the Guinness World Record for most unique sound bites by a voice actor with over 10,000 in a roleplaying game, Danmachi-Memoria Freese.

Yoshitsugu Matsuoka was born on 17 Septembe, 1986 in Obihiro, Hokkaido. Not much is known about his childhood and family. According to some sources, he is the oldest of the four children in his family, with one brother and two sisters. When asked in an interview, he mentioned that his interest in voice acting arose when he was in middle school and watched an anime called ‘Neon Genesis Evangelion’. He found it quite interesting and discovered the character (Kaoru Nagisa which was voiced by Akira Ishida. He also remembered how calm the voice made him feel and consequently found out about a career in voice acting. He also said that he wasn’t serious about it until he was in his senior year in high school. It was only after then he decided to pursue a career in voice acting or just acting in general.

He is been known to spend most of his time on sets. His friends and those close to him often call him ‘Tsugutsugu’ affectionately. He is as an introvert, who keeps to himself and does not engage in conversation until necessary. He has mentioned that he always wanted to be a car mechanic, given his interest in cars but ironically, he does not own a car or even drive himself. His favourite colour is blue and he loves to eat hamburgers. He has also revealed that he has a certain fascination for women that are older than him.

One of his many talents include screeching in girlish terror in a high-pitched voice for a comedic edge in certain roles, that is fans absolutely adore. He is known to be shy and rarely makes eye contact when talking to others and sometimes has difficulty even looking into the camera. When confronted about it, he said that he has been working on being more sociable and present. Since he has this penchant for being alone, he has said his hobbies include playing the guitar, singing, jogging, creative cuisine, cars, snowboarding and talking long walks.