Today is the 43rd birthday of popular Japanese voice actress Chiwa Saito. Let’s all wish her a happy birthday, and check out her most iconic anime voice roles!
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How Did Chiwa Saito Become a Voice Actress?
Chiwa Saito was born on March 12, 1981 in Saitama Prefecture. She’s worked in the industry since 1999 and is affiliated with the I’m Enterprise talent agency.
In junior high school, Chiwa was on her school’s basketball team but was so bad at shooting the ball that she eventually quit. She’s interested in foreign languages, including English. Once while her class was visiting London, someone stole her friend’s bag. She chased the thief, bringing him down with a flying kick, which got her into trouble with her teachers.
Chiwa became interested in the voice acting world when her mother asked her to buy a fashion magazine called ViVi in a bookstore, but she brought back a magazine about seiyu instead. She was a fan of Harrison Ford, and the magazine had a feature article about how voice dubbing for movies was made, which ignited a dream in her of working as a voice actress. When she graduated from high school, she entered the Japan Narration Acting Institute.
During one of her first auditions for an anime called Kokoro Library, she was feeling sick and out of energy that day, and was sure she had messed up the audition. But everything worked out well, as her listless performance was exactly what the director was looking for in that role. This helped her create the kuudere type of persona that she’s famous for now. Other early roles included Lavi from Last Exile, Anita King from the Read Or Die anime series and Aika from the Aria series.
Chiwa Saito hit the big time after winning the role of Hitagi Senjogahara in the wildly popular Bakemonogatari anime. Other big roles came soon after, including Homura Akemi from Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Tamamo no Mae from FGO. She also voices Princess Leia in the revamped Star Tours ride in Tokyo Disneyland.
In 2013 Chiwa Saito announced that she had gotten married, and two years later, she gave birth to her first child. Outside of work, her hobbies include watching basketball on TV and dog training.
What Are Chiwa Saito’s Best Roles?
Hitagi Senjogahara Was a Turning Point in Chiwa Saito’s Career
The voice role that made Chiwa Saito a household name among anime otaku was a double-edged sword for her because of the number of lines she had to speak. “I felt like I’d spoken a year’s worth of lines for that work, just for that one series.” Once we met the cruel and cold Hitagi, fans could never fall out of love with her.
Akemi Homura Is the Perfect Role for Her
When Gen Urobuchi wrote Madoka Magica, he specifically requested Chiwa Saito for the role of Akemi. Because the character had to voice both cute and tough-as-nails sides to her personality, he said that only a very special voice actress could fill the role.
Chloe Von Einzbern Might Be Her Cutest Role
As if we didn’t need another reason to love Chiwa, she voices the sexy Kuro from from the Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA magical girl anime. Is there a better tanned waifu out there?
Francesca Lucchini Was Another Important Voice Role
Before her really big roles came along, Chiwa voiced the popular side character Francesca from Strike Witches. May her pantsu never fall down!
Chihiro Uomi Is Our Favorite Perverted Student Council President
Seitokai Yakuindomo is a genius gag anime about an all-girl school that only recently started admitting boys. Poor Suda is surrounded on all sides by perverted girls who constantly hit him with sexual tsukkomi jokes, and Womi has some of the best ones. This is the perfect anime if you want to hear Chiwa Saito talk dirty!
Aoi Asahina from Danganronpa
Another popular role of hers is Aoi from Danganronpa. Her “death” scene was so much fun to watch!
Tamamo no Mae from Fate/Grand Order
Did you know that voice actors get different amounts of pay depending on how long they’ve worked in the industry? It’s typical for “no rank” seiyu to only make $100-300 for a 30-minute dubbing session for anime. After three years in the industry, they get a “rank” which rises the longer they work, until they reach S-rank, after which pay is negotiated for each project. They also get higher pay for dubbing video games than for anime. It’s nice to know that Chiwa Saito made lots of money for voicing Tamamo no Mae from FGO!
Rebecca Miyamoto from Paniponi Dash!
I didn’t know that Chiwa Saito voiced Rebecca from this show. It’s a great example of how she switched from voicing super-cute characters early in her career to darker, more serious ones today.
Natsumi Hinata from Sgt. Frog
One of her first leading roles was voicing Natsumi from the Sgt. Frog anime, which was created by a former hentai artist. This is why there’s a lot of sexy fan art of Natsumi out there.
Nadeshiko Oomuro from Yuru Yuri!
Finally, Chiwa Saito voiced the calming older sister of Sakurako and Hanako. Such a great role for her!
Thanks for reading this blog post celebrating the birthday and career of Chiwa Saito. Which of her voice roles made you a fan of hers? Tell us in the comments below.
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