Seiyuu Digest #54 – Takuya Eguchi

Takuya Eguchi is possibly one of the most prolific seiyuu out there and rarely do people miss him out on a project. Loved by his peers, Eguchi has made his career in a solid manner, and in a way, many seiyuu wish to be able to follow.

Takuya Eguchi

KANJI: 江口 拓也

BORN: May 22, 1987

OCCUPATION: seiyuu, radio personality, variety host, solo artist, narrator, mangaka, fashion designer

HEIGHT: 187 cm

A note, this article was written in 2019 and currently undergoing a deep update.

Some information below may be dated or not updated.

Seiyuu

Born in Setagaya, Tokyo on May 22, 1987, Takuya Eguchi has come a long way since he first became an 81 Produce talent back in 2008, at the young age of 21.

Since then, the seiyuu has certainly taken all the measures to not only be prolific in several branches of the entertainment industry but he has also remained the same senpai that so many other seiyuu admire and/or depend on.

Be it for guidance or simply for admiration to this man who has built his solid career over the years, the interesting things as that many rookies aspire to follow in his footsteps. Eguchi’s personality helps rookies approach him. 

When Eguchi auditioned in 2007 at the 1st 81 Produce Audition, a total of 1,017 people participated, with only 29 of the participants, including Eguchi, going to the secondary selection and only two passing to the final stage. At the age of 20, Eguchi won the 1st edition of the 81 Produce Audition.

In the judge’s section, he had veteran seiyuu Miki Shinichiro. After winning the audition Eguchi stayed at the 81ACTOR’S STUDIO for a year before debuting.

2008 – 2010

The first few years right after a seiyuu debuts are tough, regardless of the talent agency backing one up, and by now, it has more or less become an established fact that not many seiyuu are able to indeed break free from this tendency.

Eguchi, like many others in his position, though a slightly different case, did not create waves in his first years as a seiyuu.

It is true that he did have the luck, or perhaps it was 81 Produce’s work (which it’s more likely), that enabled the at the time rookie seiyuu to grab some roles, no matter how minor they were, in the year of his debut, a fit not many seiyuu have the opportunity to have experienced.

Eguchi’s first two roles in anime were quick appearances as random characters in Golgo 13 (2008) and in Live On Cardliver Kakeru (2008), nothing unexpected there as aforementioned, it is important that seiyuu start somewhere and they usually start from bellow and make their way up, just like Eguchi.

The following year was more or less of a repetition of the previous, with roles in Akikan! (2009) as a random character.

Unexpectedly so, Eguchi had his first named role in that same precise year in Gokujou!! Mecha Mote Iinchou (2009) as Taichi Sugimura.

Although there is not much focus on his character one thing one can be sure about, Eguchi’s start had begun and he indeed grabbed the opportunity to give his best at it.

Still in the same year, the seiyuu got himself another role as Satoshi Osugi in Higashi no Eden (2009).

Other roles he has in his repertoire include names such as Hyoue Janfus in Tatakau Shisho: The Book of Bantorra (2009), Beyblade: Metal Masters (2010), Momotaro in Lilpri (2010), K-On!! (2010), Seitokai Yakuindomo (2010), Nurarihyon no Mago (2010), MM! (2010) and Boufura Maniwa in Katanagatari (2010).

2011 – 2012

Throughout a seiyuu’s career, there are bound to be one or two characters, or sometimes more than that, that sort of become a landmark in their career, in Eguchi‘s case, his first role as the main character is also one that the fans recognize it as an important moment in Eguchi‘s career.

Gosick, the anime adaptation of the light novel, aired back in 2011 and although many enjoyed the anime, there were quite a few people criticizing it for the lack of originality.

Amidst all the waves created around the subject of the anime’s quality, however, Eguchi rose as Kazuya Kujo, one of the two main characters. Kujo is the youngest son of the Kujo family and has lived his life not only burdened by his older brothers’ success but also overshadowed by it, so his jealousy is far from unfounded.

From a young age, Kujo understands that no matter how hard he tried to catch other people’s hearts his efforts would not bring forth the desired reaction as from the start the adults around him had deemed him, the youngest son, to be spoiled and incapable of doing something with worth.

Not even after going abroad does Kujo get a peaceful life as he is called “the reaper” for his black hair and dark-colored eyes and has no friends.

In a seiyuu’s career one is bound to at least once have a role in a historical anime, and Eguchi did not escape from this fate. In 2011, Sengoku☆Paradise Kiwami aired and Eguchi was cast as one of the members of the main cast as Yukimura Sanada. As of now, many have noticed is that Eguchi excels when it comes to the comedy/parody genres.

Almost as a change of pace, Eguchi’s role in the anime adaptation of the manga Inu x Boku SS was Banri Watanuki, the tanuki youkai with a not that honest personality, since he believes himself to be a delinquent but in all reality, everybody can see at first glance that he is trying too hard.

Truth be told, he is a full-fledged tsundere and there are even people that consider him cute which is sort of a taboo word for Watanuki. And if the plot of a character being transported to another dimension had not been used enough times already, Oda Nobunaga no Yabou‘s made sure to thoroughly use it once again.

Eguchi was cast as the main character, Yoshiharu Sagara, and the only male character in the main cast. This anime’s plot is slightly different from the typical ones, as although we have historical figures in the cast, those were reimagined as females instead.

By the end of the year, Eguchi would get a role in the at the time hyped basketball anime adaptation of the also popular manga Kuroko no Basket as Shinji Koganei, a sophomore in Seirin and considered to be a jack of all trades.

Aside from his deceiving looks, Koganei or Koga as he is usually called, he is quite intelligent and somehow he is able to read the mind of one member of the basketball team, Mitobe, that never talks.

With his dog-like features, he is often the character delivering some comic relief when it is most needed, at least in the first seasons of the anime.

Throughout the series, Koga is often not the main focus, however in moments of need inside and outside the court. He is reliable, especially because of the skills that enable him to shoot the ball from any place in the court with a considerable rate of success.

When one talks about Eguchi‘s iconic roles, for several reasons, the name Kon Hokaze must not be forgotten.

Ixion Saga DT aired back in 2012 and this anime did not have a shortage of moments when one could notice that its main idea behind the plot is a parody to pop culture, more specifically to games and anime.

Hozake is a boy that is suddenly faced with a new world, which is indeed the inside of a game he plays, and has to find a way to either fit in or to get back to real life.

Eguchi’s performance was flawless, shuffling between the moments when Hozake is not being serious and those in which he is, the seiyuu fully captured the character’s soul.

When the anime was airing it received good reviews for it was an interesting and funny anime, however, the plot never got too deep or complicated which once again only pulls us more towards the idea that the anime was a parody, thus it has served its purpose.

At this moment in time, it is safe to say that everybody has noticed the trend of Eguchi appearing in comedy anime with quite some frequency and no one can blame him when the same seems to have such talent for that genre.

Even more so, when his characters have a gap of some sort between a “serious mode” and a “goofy mode”, so to say, as is the case with Hozake and other characters the seiyuu has played so far.

Some of the other characters he played include names such as:

• Seikaiichi Hatsukoi (2011),
• Hidan no Aria (2011),
• Sacred Seven (2011),
• Battle Spirits: Heroes (2011),
• Mysterious Girlfriend X (2012),
• Inazuma Elven GO 2: Chrono Stone (2012), 
• Campione! (2012),
• Sword Art Online (2012), and
• Battle Spirits: Sword Eyes (2012). 

2013 –

Yahari Ore no Seishun Love Comedy wa Machigatteiru. is definitely one of the most popular anime Eguchi was cast in 2013, as he played the role of an awkward teenage boy called Hachiman Hikigaya.

In this type of anime, usually, the main character is all for the youth feeling that teenagers all long for, however, Hikigaya is far from wanting that. He believes that there is no such thing as the feeling of youth and that those who actually believe in that are hypocrites and those who engage in the active search for that feeling are hypocrites as well, so all in all.

Hikigaya is a friendless and unfriendly boy that believes himself to be fine on his own.

Although between seasons 1 and 2 one can see that there is a slight and gradual change in his ideals, one can also understand that they are just as equally non-bendable.

Thus, this anime is indeed that journey through which Hikigaya understands the need to have friends and that without others one is not always fine and that there is no shame in that.

Through several setbacks and some other circumstances, one can get to the conclusion that the anime is indeed about youth, Hikigaya’s youth that is.

2013 brought with it more funny and relevant characters played by Eguchi. Although not as well received the audience as other anime in which he has played a character, Makai Ouji: Devils and Realist are worth mentioning for a slightly serious role.

The anime adaptation aired in 2013 and Eguchi played the main character William Twining, a teenage boy from a noble family rumored to be older than the royal family.

With that being said, it comes as no surprise that people around Twining, namely the other students at school really admire and respect him for his future is promising and bright-ridden of financial setbacks.

Being the realist that he is, Twining has no desire to believe in magical creatures from another dimension, let alone believe in their existence. However, one day, he gets tangled in the affairs of the demon world for unknown reasons, to him at least.

Unfortunately for the demons, being the realist that Twining is, believing in the existence of beings from another dimension such as demons is something that is simply not possible for him.

It is precisely because of it that Dantalion‘s attempts of approaching him are hindered several times.

Yet, this mysterious and bewitching demon claiming to have a sort of a contract with an important person, which Twining appears to have incarnated, shows no signs of wanting to give up.

Although there are some moments of comic relief, the majority of times, Eguchi‘s character is level-headed, though not that grown-up as he likes to lead others to believe.

Though it is, to a certain degree, Twining‘s realist mindset that makes certain scenes comic, the pattern is not always the same. Regrettably, around him, unlike his knowledge, he had always been surrounded by such creatures, he just had no idea.

After the more comic roles, Eguchi finally changed genres and went to the popular sports anime, Diamond no Ace as Yousuke Maki, the pitcher from Sensen Academy. Not long after that, Hamatora The Animation aired and Eguchi got cast as Mao, a local information broker from Yokohama that often helps Nice, the main character played by fellow seiyuu Ryota Osaka.

Love Stage!!‘s anime adaptation received green-lit and in 2014 it was airing.

Cast as one of the main characters Eguchi played Ryoma Ichijou, an actor that has been in the showbiz since he was a child. Hiding his true intentions, Ichijou is more than thrilled to reunite with the girl of his dreams 10 years after the first time they met, only to realize a major failure on his part.

That pure love he had felt for that girl had been due to all smoke and mirrors, so as Ichijou has a huge pride this mistake of his makes him bring out his true personality, which is much more on par with his age, though it might sometimes be even a little childish, especially when he threatens others that have humiliated him.

Love Stage!! was then a manga with considerate popularity and by the time it had the anime adaptation, the fans were more than thrilled. In fact, many have complimented the plot for the fact that the romance elements were well explored as well as the fact that one can delve into how showbiz works, something that not many.

In 2015, it seems Eguchi woke again to the sports anime fever and several were the roles he played in such anime. His role in the 2nd season of the tennis anime Baby Steps as Atsushi Taira, although minor still had some importance to the plot as it was him who translated what others were saying to Maruo at the Florida Tennis Academy.

Then came also the second season of the popular volleyball anime Haikyuu!!. As Yuuji Terushima, the recently appointed capital of the Jouzenji volleyball team, Eguchi is playing a character with a playful and laidback personality.

As it may seem, after a sports anime fever, Eguchi was drawn to the romance anime and with that being said one cannot neglect to mention his role as the main character in Ore Monogatari!! as Takeo Gouda.

Gouda is a tall and muscular teenage boy with a face that is far from being friendly.

All the times he fell in love and thought about confessing his love, he had the poorest of luck and saw his love interest confessing their love for his childhood friend Sunakawa, a good-looking teenage boy completely uninterested in romance.

It is because of that that Gouda has never succeeded in getting a girlfriend and it is also due to this misunderstanding that throughout the whole anime Gouda believes that Rinko Yamato loves Sunakawa and not him.

Gouda, despite his tough features and overall look, does not hesitate to help others even if his feelings are pushed aside, such is his will to be helpful.

On another page is Tomoya Matsunaga, Eguchi’s character in Nijiiro Days. Matsunaga has the looks but also has a terrible flaw, which is to say he is a playboy.

Several are the ex-girlfriends he’s had and even though he has a narcissistic personality and a tendency to flirt with any girl, he falls in love.

Needless to say, things are more difficult for him than they would normally be for this time he is really being honest, but his past behavior leaves much to expect from a teenage boy that pretty much has a reputation of dating a lot.

2016 was a busy year for Eguchi. Among the several roles he played, Nero in 91 Days requires some attention as it is a character that we often don’t see Eguchi playing.

Usually portraying the more goofy characters, he is oftentimes typecasted in only some roles, when in reality more serious roles also fit the seiyuu. In 91 Days we explore a little of that talent.

Nero Vanetti is a man that values his family above everything else and because of that, he does not tolerate others harming his family’s pride. With a bright and positive personality, Vanetti is far from only being that, as he himself has many skeletons hidden in his closet.

One must say that even though he is oftentimes tangled in the middle of chaos, few are the times he is actually hurt, so in that aspect, one could say he is lucky.

Eguchi frequently is found portraying characters with a vocal tone that is very different from his, ao in characters such as Nero Vanetti, that although not completely natural to the seiyuu, his voice is quite close to Eguchi’s.

Other characters Eguchi played include names such as:

• Pokémon Origins (2013) as Green,
• Gundam Build Fighters (2013) as Luang Dallara,
• Himegoto (2014) as Tadokoro,
• Chaos’ Dragon (2015) as Hien,
• Young Black Jack (2015) as Jou,
• Prince of Stride Alternative (2016) as Bantaro Chiyomatsu, 
• Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku wo! (2016-2017) as Kyoya Mitsurugi,
• Hatsukoi Monster (2016) as Munemitsu Makurazaki,
• D-Gray Man Hallow (2016) as Madarao, 
• Danganronpa 3: The End of Kibougamine Gakuen (2016) as Sonosuke Izayoi, 
• Bubuki Buranki (2016) as Hakushin Shinkansen, and
• Magic-Kyun! Renaissance (2016) as Kanato Hibiki.

In 2017, Dynamic Chord‘s anime adaptation was green-lit and with it, many of the fans saw the opportunity to finally see their favorite character come to life, so the hype was far from small.

Problems arose when the anime aired and some technical issues became the reason for fans to criticize not only the fact that the story does not follow the original plot explored in the games of the franchise, but also for the poor animation and the lack of quality overall.

Needless to say, regardless of the hype and fan base the franchise had prior to the anime adaptation, it is fair to say that many may have lost faith in this anime, sticking only with the games.

When it comes to Eguchi’s performance there is little to say because there were not many times Kashii spoke in the series, though when he did we are certain that Eguchi voiced him with the utmost quality, as usual.

In the same year, Eguchi was for the first time portraying Shiki Takamura, the leader of SolidS, in an anime context.

The hyped anime adaptation of the rhythm game Tsukipara was all the rage back in 2017, as it appears that in the same year several other franchises decided to air an anime adaptation of the rhythm game, such as The iDOLM@STER SideM.

Tsukipro The Animation was then green-lit, aired, and with SolidS in the cast, one could simply wait for more of those comic moments in which Takamura is able to say random things with a straight face as he himself believes what he said to be fully right.

Needless to say that other than these moments, Takamura interacting with Tsubasa who calls him “Darling” were all there, and for the fans, those small moments must’ve been more than satisfying.

Once again, Eguchi is seen stuck with the typical good-looking guy that appears to be capable and really down to earth but deep inside he is a goofy and even an oddball, something that his outward appearance would never give off.

Takamura certainly brought comic relief whenever he appeared and his character in the anime was on pair with his version in-game.

If 2017 was the year for Eguchi to be in the anime adaptation of rhythm games, 2018 was no different as it appears that the trend carried on.

In a year like 2018, Eguchi reprised his role as Nagi Rokuya from the IDOLiSH7 franchise. Rokuya is half-northern European and because of that he has exquisite looks, that is to say, that Rokuya is more handsome than your average Japanese or even an idol.

Perhaps because of his mixed origins, he has a tendency to flirt with every woman that he sees and that does not exclude IDOLiSH7‘s manager, as he goes as far as to say that every woman is beautiful. More than that Rokuya is an anime lover.

When it comes to role prepping, it is up to the seiyuu to overcome such obstacles.

In his case, preparing for the role, be it for the anime or for the game, back in 2015, was revealed to be a difficult process. As one may guess when in a seiyuu school, something that is taught is the intonation and perfect pronunciation of words.

When Eguchi was preparing for this role, however, he had to learn how to do the opposite, as Rokuya speaks weird Japanese.

Intonation and pronunciation of words are all over the place and mind you that even in songs Eguchi has to sing with those elements in mind. The fact that the seiyuu managed to pull that off and not sound strange in doing so, is in itself a miracle, but it just comes to show just how much of a perfectionist Eguchi is.

Still in the same year, Eguchi portrayed Kouta Hasegawa, the main character in Sanrio Danshi an anime that focused on Hasegawa and the journey of him befriending other colleagues with the same likes as him and the process of him becoming honest with himself. Overall, the plot is very laidback with some conflict but nothing major is happening.

Eguchi‘s performance as Hasegawa was flawless at all times, even in the most dramatic scenes. Another role of his was as Chassepot in The Thousand Musketeers.

Other of his works include names such as Seiren (2017) as Tatsuya Araki, Warau Salesman NEW (2017) as Kenichi Nakajima, The Royal Tutor (2017) as Ernst Rosenberg, Sakurada Reset (2017) as Tomiko Nakano, Mr. Tonegawa: Middle Management Blues (2018) as  Kouji Doushita, Space Battleship Tiramisu (2018) as Subaru-B, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (2018) as Souei and Domestic Girlfriend (2019) as Fumiya Kurimoto.

Awards

2012 was an unforgettable year for Eguchi as with only two years into his career as a seiyuu, he won the Best Rookie Actor in the 6th edition of the Seiyuu Awards Ceremony.

Alongside Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Eguchi won this prize for his roles as Kazuya Kujo in Gosick and Amemiya Taiyo in Inazuma Eleven GO.

Radio

Eguchi is probably one of the seiyuu that has more than a handful of entries when it comes to radio hosting or being a guest in radio shows.

More than prepared and used to radio hosting, one could say that Eguchi has been in this field since his debut as a seiyuu and since then has been more or less a consistent personality.

Takuya Eguchi, Ryohei Kimura and Yonaga Tsubasa Kira Kira☆Beat

Back in 2011, Eguchi’s first big radio show, and one in which he was a host, was none other than Kira Kira Beat, a radio show that brings laughter to its listeners and even to the hosts Eguchi, Ryohei and Yonaga for the three have a natural chemistry that makes their show all the more interesting and relevant.

In 2012, the show changed its name as TRIGNAL was formed and therefore and up until now its new name is Trignal no Kira Kira Beat R. In one of the episodes, Ryohei gave nicknames to the other members, all because

Eguchi has a quirk when talking, usually saying “Eguchi tekini” (speaking in 3rd person about himself), so Ryohei saw fit to call him “Straw” as Eguchi is lean and tall, and Yonaga became “Cocktail-kun“, Ryohei, on the other hand, became “Boss”.

Following this nicknaming session, Eguchi adopted his code-name and said “Straw tekini” which made all the other members laugh like there was no tomorrow.

Those moments or when Eguchi said he wanted to have a six-pack in a month are the moments that make this radio show worth listening to.

Takuya・Ryoko Dream Dream Party

In 2013, Eguchi engaged in another radio show and this time he did not host it solo. Alongside Ryoko Shintani, the two hosted the show.

Takuya・Ryoko Dream Dream Party is a radio show that has a laidback vibe and gives off the lively feeling one gets when going to a party. The show has been airing since 2013.

Ono Yuuki to Eguchi Takuya no Team Yutaku Nico Tsuku! (2015 – )

Despite initially being an unusual combo, Yuki Ono and Takuya Eguchi ended up showing how awesome as radio hosts both are with one of the most entertaining and genuinely funny radio shows hosted by male seiyuu.

Ono Yuuki to Eguchi Takuya no Team Yutaku Nico Tsuku! started airing in 2015 and since then has been doing so without fail.

From this show, the unit Yutaku was born. Throughout the years, several known seiyuu were guests in the show, namely Yonaga Tsubasa and Takuya Sato.

Eguchi Takuya ・Nishiyama Koutaro Konya mo Nemurasenai Kindan Shiri

Aside from the goofy name of this radio show, Eguchi and Koutaro hosting this show can only mean one thing, and that is laughter for everyone. The two good friends are known for their personalities and the duo has more than chemistry, therefore this show’s hosts are but a wonderful mix.

The show first aired in 2015 and still is airing. By the name of the radio show, there is not much we can miss. Their theme is more on the side of using alcohol not to let the listeners fall asleep.

Production Eguchi Soma

Earlier in 2018, TS ONE UNITED announced that Soma Saito and Takuya Eguchi had paired up to host their own radio show for their online radio.

The two 81 Produce talents and long-time friends host “Production Eguchi Soma“, a show that kicked off in late January. The show has a different format from all others mentioned above.

For this radio show, Saito and Eguchi don’t share a studio. Each one has a whole 60 minutes to fill alone, with their recordings being broadcasted intercalated. It’s like having two different radio shows in the same radio show.

For his take on “Production Eguchi Soma“, Eguchi did whatever he pleased.

When the two members reunited for the live show, the duo had good chemistry. At the live show, they did corners that each one used to do on their segment. 

A&G TRIBAL Radio Ejison

This is Eguchi‘s most recent radio show that he has been hosting since 2018, alongside Saori Oonishi.

This radio show gives the latest news about anime and games that have come out the same week the show has aired.

A rather common concept, however, Eguchi’s presence makes the show all the more worth listening to. Other than news, the show also addresses new trends.

Some of the other radio shows Eguchi has hosted or been invited to as a guest are:

• VOICHA! RADIO (2010-2011),
• Ixion Saga PR (2012-2013), 
• Eguchi Takuya and Saito Soma Genji Monogatari’s Happy Radio! (2014 – 2015), 
• Ore Monogatari Tayorini naru Radio (2015),
• Nijiiro Days Radio (2016), 
• 9 minutes and 10 seconds Radio (2016), 
• Sakurada Reset Service Radio of Ishikawa and ○○ (2017),
• Yasumoto Hiroki・Eguchi Takuya no Mikucha Radio (2018), and
• RADIO MIRACLE6 (2018).

Dubbing/Narration/Audiobooks

Narration is a big part of Eguchi’s career and it appears to be something that comes as natural to the seiyuu.

There have been several instances in which one was watching a show and noticed that he was narrating and/or commenting, and in fact, that is not a random occurrence.

So, when it comes to dubbing TV series Eguchi has had some experience, although not all that much. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald in which he played Theseus Scamander or Battle Ship in which he played Angus and Arjon’s Great Adventure ~ Mystery of Ice Lotus ~ as Arjon are just some of the most known names in Eguchi’s repertoire when it comes to dubbing.

Regarding Eguchi’s endeavors in the narration field, he has some entries, although, once again, he is not extremely prolific in this department, some entries include names such as the CM for Tsukipro‘s live concert in 2017, A3! and Haunted Campus. As well, as Kiramune and Nishiyama Koutaro Genki no Bokura.

More surprising, however, is the fact that Eguchi is the person you’ll listen to if you actually read audiobooks such as Eternal 0, Yomiuri Newspaper, or Scrap and Build.

It is understandable why Eguchi would be chosen for this type of task as his narration voice tends to be pleasant to the ears as it has a stable cadence and neutral tone that makes his performance all the more soothing.

Acting

If there’s a movie we should mention when we talk about Eguchi‘s endeavors in the acting department it’s “Kami Voice: The Voice Makes a Miracle” in which he performed alongside the main characters of the cast Wataru Hatano and co-star, Yuki Kaji which impressed with their emotional performances.

The movie is an adaptation of a famous manga written by Yoshiki Sakurai and Team G.V. and illustrated by Kuroko Yabuguchi.

The live-action premiered on November 19, 2011.

The movie is deeply connected with the seiyuu life and shows the hardships one has to face to enter and strive in that field of work, especially when something goes awry that can put that career in jeopardy.

The cast counted with the notable presences of Takuya Eguchi, Showtaro Morikubo, Mamoru Miyano, Rikiya Koyama, Romi Paku, Daisuke Namikawa, Junya Enoki, and Yoshimasa Hosoya, among many others.

Eguchi played Tetsurou, a character rather eccentric as he enjoys reciting love poems, and needless to say one cannot laugh at the things he did or the way his character acted.

Eguchi’s second entry in this department is his performance for a play called Croji Silver Country Gold Song started in 2017.

Playing Hamaya, emperor Suguri’s advisor, Eguchi captivated everyone.

Even though his experience on stage, when it comes to acting was little, Eguchi was complimented on the fact that his facial expressions gave him a certain presence on stage. As he played a difficult role, Eguchi and even though he did so accordingly.

Drama CDs

Eguchi is indeed an all-rounder. Making sure to have, at least once, experimented with every department possible in the entertainment industry, therefore it is far from surprising to have Eguchi being prolific in the drama CDs department.

In fact, the seiyuu is quite known for several popular collections, a wide majority of them are part of popular franchises, which boosts up the hype around them.

When analyzing his career, what really is surprising is how quickly he began doing drama CDs – back in 2011 – in his second year after his debut. Usually, the normal course is for a seiyuu to first become accustomed to their workload, and only then, a couple of years in his career, will we see the seiyuu going for his first work in that department.

Nevertheless, by now everybody knows better than most that Eguchi is a full-fledged all-rounder with overflowing talent and passion for what he does, no matter what it is, and that applies to drama CDs as well.

Much like in anything, Eguchi’s first roles were supporting characters, small roles mostly. Then came bigger productions, the wide majority of them were reprisals of roles Eguchi had already played in either game or anime format.

Aside from these, Eguchi has also been in drama CDs adaptations of manga such as P to Jk as Heisuke Ookami, a delinquent-looking teenage boy. So one can see how well-versed Eguchi is.

Some of the drama CDs in his repertoire include names such as:

• ACTORS – Drama Edition -,
• COLORFUL 5, 
• Collar × Malice ~, 
• Kimi ♥ Doll, 
• Kuroko’s Basketball DRAMA THEATER, 
• GOSICK – Gothic – Series, 
• Shinobi, Koi Utsu Series, 
• STORM LOVER 2nd series, 
• SolidS series, 
• DYNAMIC CHORD series, 
• Tsutsukitsu! Series, 
• FlyME project series, 
• Welcome to the Flower Shop ~ Whisper of the Tsukishimi ~, 
• ROOT ∞ REXX,
• Blue Sky Complex,
• Akai ito,
• Namaiki Hierarchy,
• Danshi Koukousei Hajimete No, between many others.

Games

Nowadays it is more frequent to see seiyuu venturing into the game industry and it has certainly become a trend to do so. He has been active in this department since 2008 with some minor roles or secondary characters in a couple of popular names.

Although seiyuu being more prolific in the game department has become more and more the trend, it is also equally true that not all seiyuu have actually triumphed in their ventures.

Eguchi is one of the seiyuu that has been lucky enough to be a part of the cast of several projects that luckily have been successful, hence why there is so much to mention when the game talk comes into play.

It is virtually impossible to miss him out when venturing into this department.

Back in 2012, Eguchi has featured in the Kuroko no Basket‘s games as Shinji Koganei, and did so until 2015, when the last game came out. 2013 was the year for Eguchi to personate Toru Kanzaki, one of the members of X.I.P in the already closed game Tokimeki Restaurant.

Kanzaki is Kento‘s (voiced by Satoshi Hino) childhood friend, rumored to be an extremely good singer that once joined a choir and probably one of the members with fewer problems vocalizing to others his true feelings.

Far from being done, Eguchi’s presence as the main character in both Devils and Realist as William Twining and in My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected as Hachiman Hikigaya proved to be essential for when he reprised his roles in the anime adaptations of the aforementioned games.

Back in 2015 several rhythm games came out and Eguchi was cast in three of the big names that have now reached popularity.

With that being said, Ensemble Stars has a broadcast due to the nature of its plot, among the several seiyuu Eguchi has been playing Wataru Hibiki, the president of the theatre club, considered one of the three oddballs and member of fine, one of the most remarkable units in the academy.

Despite all of his displays of fickle and erratic behavior, he has quite the fandom supporting him and his singing skills are undeniably exceptional. Matching well with his way of being is his dramatic personality.

Another peculiar, and perhaps even off-putting behavior of Hibiki is his tendency of using masks quite frequently, which has got him a nickname given by the other members.

Then there is Tsukino Park which also came out in the same year. Although a little different approach, this game featured several mini-games and the talents under the Tsukino Talent Production. In all reality, this game is nothing like Ensemble or other games in the same genre.

The came IDOLiSH7, one of the games that best combines the rhythm game aspects and the storyline.

As a member of this game’s cast Eguchi has been playing Nagi Rokuya, a character that aside from the peculiar way of talking has also an eccentric personality which often leaves the other members either flabbergasted or completely dumbfounded as Rokuya has several occasions in which he acts in an unfit manner due to lack of common sense.

Later on, however, the members understand the reason behind his behavior, but that does not mean that they’ll stop being shocked by Rokuya’s whimsical fits.

Other than rhythm or music-related games, the year 2015 was prolific in all sorts of different games and genres.

Eguchi was in what seemed to be in winning streak, so to say, as he was cast in many distinct games.

From IDOLiSH7, Eguchi leaped to Prince of Stride, games with an interesting plot. Built around the sports world with a closer focus on the fictional sport called “stride”, an extreme sport akin to parkour.

Focused on teams of six members running in relay through the city, Prince of Stride‘s plot was not only innovative but also brought to the table the possibility to develop an anime adaptation, a project that was greenlit in 2016 with Eguchi in the cast as Bantarou Chiyomatsu.

When it comes to music-related games, Eguchi has quite a few entries in his repertoire. rêve parfait is the rookie band in the Dynamic Chord franchise and the members include Eguchi, Kousuke Toriumi, Ryohei Kimura and Hirose Yuya.

Eguchi is playing Reon Kashii the vocalist of the band which goes by the artistic name of King.

Characters that are full of themselves and are perhaps even overly confident are nothing to be surprised by, yet it is not often that one has the chance to see Eguchi playing a character like that, at least not back in 2016 when the game Dynamic Chord feat. rêve parfait had come out.

At the time the game was well-received as the plot was interesting the characters well likable and different from one another having problems to solve about their past whether it be regrets or bad memories, all the while enjoying their youth and making their way towards the path to be a professional musician, towards their debut.

Kashii although appears to be rude at the beginning and has little interest in his childhood friend, the heroin, with the passing of some time begins to open up to her, which shows us different sides of his personality, others more surprising than others.

Finally, in 2017, the rhythm game Tsukino Paradise came out and with it, Eguchi reprised his role as Tamura Shiki, the leader, and composer for SolidS.

Although the game came out a little after the big wave of rhythm games, at least concerning Eguchi’s roles in those games, the game itself was well accepted, perhaps because of the storyline or the likable characters featured in it.

One thing is certain, Eguchi’s role as Shiki in the game was definitely popular for the fact that his character’s personality could not be nicer and more humane, something that not always is found in these types of circumstances.

In 2018, games such as IDOLiSH7 and Dynamic Chord came out with games on different platforms.

Music

Venturing in to the music industry has once been a privilege that seiyuu seldom had, however, trends change with time and so the jump from one part of the entertainment industry to another has become quite the common practice, in fact, one would say that it is quite close to the norm, at least it is something that has also become expected from a seiyuu.

Eguchi is one of the seiyuu in the industry that has been prolific in all branches of the vast entertainment business, and so there is no way to miss him, it is actually more probable for one to come across one of the projects he either has been a part of or one that is currently still very much alive.

With that being said, it is not like Eguchi has only started his endeavors yesterday, as a matter of a fact, the seiyuu has been consistently been expanding his repertoire and inevitably his experience has made him improve his skills with all the years that he has been active in this part of his career.

TRIGNAL (2012 -)

Eguchi‘s first endeavors into the music industry started off in 2012, however back in 2011 the unit’s name was decided and the following year TRIGNAL would debut at the Kiramune Music Festival where they performed live for the first time, in other words, it was their first live show.

Back when the unit had just debuted one could not really say their performance was comfortable and that they lacked experience both at singing as a unit and as individuals.

With that being said it took them a while to achieve that landmark. “so funny” was the first evidence we got that TRIGNAL had finally begun to show their hard work towards the quality that they exude now, be it in CD or live performance context. Eguchi‘s first time penning a song was with “延長線上のFriends” back in “so funny“.

Although the seiyuu has mentioned that he enjoys listening to upbeat pop songs it was quite surprising to see him take on a more rock track, in fact, that was the first time TRIGNAL featured a rock song in their repertoire. Not only did Eguchi’s talent for penning songs came to light but his powerful vocals have also awestruck many.

In fact, that album was a turning point for all the members, as aforementioned, it was the first time they began to noticeably improve their skills.

Granted that we talk about the unit is in need to improve, yet we cannot forget that it was pretty much Eguchi giving support to the unit since the beginning, as he was the most reliable member when it came down to singing.

If there is a song that is iconic is “mission” with Eguchi shining bright with his vocals and rapping skills. Although the track has quite a danceable instrumental piece the trademark brightness of the unit remained ever so present.

As the years have been passing Eguchi not only has improved his rapping skills and flow as he has been melting everyone’s heart with his low vocals, which could not be a better fit into the unit’s panorama.

Back in 2017, TRIGNAL and Okamoto collaborated in “光を／TIC TAC ANNIVERSARY” and with the release, they adopted the name of “Nobunagal” as a sign of the conjoint release.

This stellar collaboration was far from being disappointing, on the contrary, not only did everyone get mesmerized by the outcome but also surprised by the pleasant aftermath.

Such was the popularity of this sub-unit, so to say, that they had a joint tour and released a DVD from their live performance, “Kiramune Presents Okamoto Nobuhiko ×Trignal JOINT LIVE 2017 “Nobunagal”.

For the fans, Kiramune’s announcement regarding TRIGNAL‘s live performance at the end of 2018 was beyond the expectation of many, but sure enough, the fact that the unit got to have a broadcast of MTV LIVE: Trignal 5th Anniversary Live “SMILE PARTY” – a digest of the performances of the two days – was a moment to rejoice as there are few units and/or seiyuu that sing that have been featured on MTV Live.

So far, TRIGNAL has released Party, Summer Magic, so funny, One step forward, Plus, Update A Day, 光を/Tic Tac Anniversary, Back to Basic, tricolore, and Message from LIVE!!.

YUTAKU II (2011 – )

Yuki Ono and Takuya Eguchi teamed up as a unit in 2011. The duo was originally called YUTAKU but changed its name to Yutaku II prior to releasing its debut single “third Wizard / IN FUTURE!!“.

Since its debut, the duo released the following CDs:

• Brave Quest (2013)
• take you take me/FRIENDIER (2013)
• Furi mawase megane fuki (2014)
• inVy/O・N・O (2014)
• inVy ～feat.kenzaVrow～ (2014)
• Team Mate (2015)
• eternal snow (2015)
• Melty Snow (2015)
• Lost angel (2016)
• Team Yutaku 5th Anniversary remix best album (2016)

Their music featured lyrics and or music written/composed by Yuki Ono and Takuya Eguchi.

Although the seiyuu unit never ended up becoming truly popular, they had a tight following that loved their music, live appearances, events and the sort.

In 2014 along with Rejet and Avex, YUTAKU released a drama CD, as the result of their collaboration, called “Sacrifice” and as if that was not enough they even performed at RejetFes.

Since 2016, the unit hasn’t released any music.

X.I.P (2013 – 2023)

The group exuding sexiness is X.I.P. consisted of Takuya Eguchi, Kousuke Toriumi, Satoshi Hino.

One of the two units in the now-closed game Tokimeki Restaurant, X.I.P. were known to have addicting instrumental pieces as well as powerful vocal performances.

With the center and leader of the group being Toriumi’s character, the dancing machine being Hino’s character, and the power vocalist being Eguchi‘s character, this unit had a lot to give and much more to show to the world.

The unit started off at full gas when the explosive Cheat Dancer and E-Motion came out, both tracks were oozing with sexiness and had an adult charm, so to say, but the appeal to the unit did not run short.

The three members sang the songs with passion and mainly due to that could the fans have such dangerous performances in both of the aforementioned tracks. The not-so-common formula – nowadays –  of incorporating quick lines as if one was in a drama CD only created more hype around the sexy group of the franchise.

Since the game has ended, the group has not been that much active, and although the game has met its end the units still thrive. X.I.P. have released several known titles, namely Naughty !!!, ALTERNATIVE!, TRICK★STER, IN THE NIGHT, Paint it DARK, SPLASH SUMMER, Black Mirage, Keep on chasing, Let’s make a miracle, 3 Majesty×X.I.P. – 2×3!～DUET CROSS THREE!～ III and Prince Rep. Selection.

fine (2014 -)

fine are the unit in the Ensemble Stars franchise composed of the members of the student council, this unit is the most successful, formidable, and undefeated unit of the school.

Attesting to the group’s reputation is the star-studded lineup that includes Hikaru Midorikawa, Takuya Eguchi, Ayumu Murase, and Kotaro Hashimoto.

The group is known for their toned-down pop sound focused on sounding delicate yet, and this is quite the contrast, imposing at the same time.

The unit’s first release was in 2015 with Ensemble Stars! Unit Song CD Vol.3 fine and since then fine has released: 

The quartet so far has released:

• Ensemble Stars! Unit Song CD 3 Vol.3 fine (2015),
• Ensemble Stars! Unit Song CD 2 Vol.9 fine (2017),
• Ensemble Stars! Unit Song CD 3 Vol.3 fine (2017),
• ENSEMBLE STARS! ALBUM SERIES PRESENT -fine- (2019),
• Ensemble Stars! ED Collection Vol.3 (2019),
• ES Idol Song Season 1: fine (2020),
• ES Idol Song Season 2 (2021),
• “Crossing×Heart” FUSION UNIT SERIES 04 (2021),
• ES Idol Song Extra: fine & Eden (2022),
• “Ghostic Treat House” ES Idol Song Season 3 (2022),
• “Starlight Parade” COVER SONG SERIES 06 (2023).

The group would end up making its 1st ever live event appearance at Ensemble Stars!! Starry Stage 4th -Star’s Parade- July in 2022.

rêve parfait (2014 -)

Within the Dynamic Chord universe, rêve parfait is one of the four bands featured in-game, and consequently, they are the rookie group consisting of four high school boys including Takuya Eguchi (vocal), Ryohei Kimura, Kousuke Toriumi, and Hirose Yuya.

When it comes to the unit itself, the only member actually featured in the songs is Eguchi as he plays the vocalist, so it makes sense.

rêve parfait is perhaps the band in the franchise with the most experimental or should one say eclectic sound. That being said, Eguchi has certainly been doing his best performances as the talented rookie vocalist, Kashi Reon or King – the character’s stage name.

The first tracks released by the band were different from one another yet, at the same time, strangely similar. Judgment was featured in the game as the opening music, while KOI was the ending theme for the game.

Judgment was featured in the game as the opening music, while KOI was the ending theme for the game. Similarly, CHECK MATE TONIGHT was featured in the V edition of the game.

One of the aspects that captivated the fans of this band is its indie roots and the fact that just as the band has yet to debut, at least in an in-game context, the tracks released do sound more “homemade”, so to say.

Granted that this was a factor in the appeal of the unit. Then, the other element might’ve been Eguchi’s performance as the vocalist.

For someone such as him to sing well is a normal thing, yet for Eguchi to sing well and sound comfortable singing rock is something that perhaps the fans were not expecting at first, hence the excitement when the outcome was positive and surprising.

In 2017, Eguchi performed live at the “DYNAMIC CHORD NO LIMIT VOCAL LIVE” and needless to say that his performance was perfect. Let’s just say that Eguchi really embraced the rocker persona on stage and his poise while singing on stage was to be expected.

rêve parfait so far has released several singles, such as “Christmas Carol”, “CHECK ☆ MATE ☆ TONIGHT“, “P.S .I HATE YOU♡XXX” and “Accidental date”. As rêve parfait‘s vocalist Eguchi has showcased his mid-ranged vocals, a sight that is not as frequent as one would think.

IDOLiSH7 (2015 -)

Also in 2015, Eguchi would join what is now one of the most popular rhythm games and franchises in Japan, IDOLiSH7.

The rhythm game slowly builds up its popularity due to its gripping story, which gave dimension to each of its characters like no other game of the genre had been able to pull off before.

IDOLiSH7 is a story-driven game that mixes a rich, believable story with rhythm and card collecting features to create an addictive and immersive experience for the player. The game currently features 4 units: IDOLiSH7, TRIGGER, Re:vale, and ZOOL.

Eguchi joined the franchise from the start. He was cast as Nagi Rokuya, IDOLiSH7‘s charismatic member and the first one to attempt to help the other members in moments of strife.

Rokuya is a mystery. Not only does his past in his home country remains a secret from the other members aside from the fact that he is from Northmare.

With his love for anime, Rokuya is the cause of several comical moments in the franchise.

SolidS (2015 – )

SolidS started out from songs and a drama CD, then a photo album, live events, culminating in the anime adaptation that aired during 2017’s Fall season. This group founded in 2015 has grown and evolved over the years.

As a group, SolidS have suffered all kinds of changes.

The group we now listen to isn’t the same one that debuted back in 2015. Their sound was completely revamped and suffered multiple changes over the years to what it is right now (originally they donned a drum&bass sound).

For those that haven’t been following the group since their debut, the first releases will sound out-of-place or even over the top ridiculous compared with the music they now release.

That is because Tsukipro and John Zeroness, the unit’s composer/producer, were still trying to figure out what would fit the unit and make us say “this sounds just like a typical SolidS song!“.

SolidS completely embraced their “sexy/mature” concept back in early 2016 and set for a music genre or at least a blend of music genres that is now characteristic of them.

Their sound is passionate and fiery, made to excite the listeners and while at it, snatch their hearts. Even if the unit took their time to find common ground in terms of sound, it wasn’t the only change this unit has suffered.

Eguchi joined the group and has been ever since the beginning a pillar to the unit, even so, throughout the years not only has he shown his improved singing skills but also showed us some of the cards he had up his sleeve.

For instance, Eguchi that had never showcased his talent for rapping delivered a perfect performance in “Tide -光の射す方へ-” as not only did he rap with all the poise but he also sang with high notes.

Usually singing as a baritone, Eguchi has seldom sung with his comfortable tone which is tenor, so “Tide -光の射す方へ-” is certainly the pinnacle of his talent.

He has certainly been the pillar to the unit delivering solid performances since the unit’s debut, but the fact that he still had other hidden talents took everyone by surprise.

Even in a context where Eguchi is singing with a deeper vocal register, he has proven that he is comfortable enough to do so and do it effortlessly.

Take the example of “クロノア -chronoah” when he alongside Saito sing this song.

Eguchi is of course in charge of the deeper tone, for the most part, whereas Saito goes higher in tone.

When we mention his performance in this track, we mustn’t forget that Eguchi and Saito are both going high in the chorus in a harmony, so although they are both going to the high notes one can still tell one from the other.

In this track, however, it is not solely Eguchi doing the rap, but both have almost equal parts of the rap distributed.

Other than being the pillar of this unit, Eguchi has proven throughout the years that his talent does not amount to solely that.

Aside from him singing to uniform the “sound” of SolidS, Eguchi has proven he has talent as a rapper and that not only does he sing in a tone that is not his natural one – as a baritone – but that he does so without breaking much sweat.

The group went on hiatus in June 2018, after Yuichiro Umehara was suddenly diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. As news of Umehara’s recovery surfaced in July, Tsukipro announced the group’s return, resuming their take on the RE:START series.

KiLLER KiNG (2016 – )

In 2016, Takuya Eguchi joined the cast of B-PROJECT. He was introduced as KiLLER KiNG‘s quiet member, Shingari Miroku.

KiLLER KiNG, consist of Shoya Chiba, Koutaro Nishiyama, Taku Yashiro, and Takuya Eguchi.

Since their debut, the group has released 4 singles – Kira Kira Smile (2016),  Hungry Wolf (2016), Break it down (2017), and Jyubyo Mirai (2019) – and 1 mini-album – Phantom of Love (2018).

KiLLER KiNG has performed live thrice: B-PROJECT Kodou Ambitious BRILLIANT PARTY (2016), B-PROJECT Summer Live 2018 – Eternal Pacific – and THRIVE’s first live tour (2019).

MEDICODE (2015 – )

MEDICODE, visual-kei band part of the FlyMe project, a collaboration between seiyuu and visual-kei artists, included popular names in the cast, namely Soma Saito, Takuya Eguchi, Yuichiro Umehara, and Yoshitaka Yamaya.

Although Eguchi is a member of the cast, the front-man in all the releases has been Soma Saito, with Eguchi solely being featured on the drama CDs released so far.

The band went on hiatus in the same year they debuted, only making a comeback later in 2017 with the second single “GABBY“, a single that changed a bit the gears for MEDICODE, embracing a dramatic rock sound.

ArtiSTARs (2016)

Alongside Yuichiro Umehara, KENN, Yuki Ono, Shouta Aoi, and Wataru Hatano, Eguchi’s part of ArtiSTARs, pop outfit with a regal vibe.

They’ve performed live in 2017 for a special live event and so far have released 3 singles: “Please kiss my heart” (2016), “Magic-kyun! No.1☆” (2016) and “Sleeping Beauty” (2017).

Epicurean (2016)

Rejet created the project Forbidden Star in 2016.

Several units were announced to be part of this project – now dropped – including Epicurean, group that counted with Yuto Suzuki, Toshiki Masuda, Nobunaga Shimazaki, and Takuya Eguchi. Epicurean had music produced by R.O.N.

The group released two singles Check it Love! (2016) and Dream on Stage! (2016).

T-Backers (2017)

T-Backers is a seiyuu unit created by Saito and that includes Koutaro Nishiyama and Takuya Eguchi. The unit debuted in 2017 with the song “Kachofugetsu”, the official theme song for Saito‘s variety show “Wagokoro wo Kimi Ni”.

Summer Troupe (2017 -)

As mentioned above, Eguchi is Summer Troupe‘s leader. He voices Tenma Sumeragi, Summer Troupe’s leader and talented actor (picture above in the middle).

The troupe initially counted with Takuya Eguchi, Shunichi Toki, Yoshitaka Yamaya, Daisuke Hirose, Ren Ozawa, and Tasuku Hatanaka but early in 2018, all crews in the franchise got a new member, extending the lineups to 6 people. Tasuku Hatanaka is a recent addition to the Summer Troupe.

The Summer Troupe has participated in two EP series: First (2017) and Blooming(2017). Recently, it was announced that the troupe is going to participate in the third EP series “VIVID“.

A3ders! (2017 -)

In 2017, Eguchi joined the cast of what ended up being one of the most popular and buzzworthy game franchises: A3!. For a change, the focus for a game with “handsome” characters wasn’t about idols but on-stage actors.

This concept ended up easily attracting a lot of fans within its first year, reaching a whopping 3 million users in 2018.

The franchise created a special group, A3ders!, unit consisting of the leaders of all troupes. Kodai Sakai (Spring), Takuya Eguchi (Summer), Chiharu Sawashiro(Autumn), and Atsushi Tamaru (Winter). So far, the group has released two singles.

The first one, MANKAI☆開花宣言 (released in 2017), was certified Gold Record in just a couple of months after its release, catching everyone off guard.

In 2018, A3ders! returned to perform the theme song for the second story season.

“Haru Natsu Aki Fuyu☆Blooming!”, although yet to be certified gold, was met with overwhelming support and sales figures, charting within the top 10 on Oricon Weekly for several weeks.

ECCENTRIC FIVE (2018 -)

As a member of the in-game unit fine, Eguchi’s character is considered to be eccentric, to say the least, so it comes as no surprise that Hibiki is a member of the recently created unit consisting of the five oddballs called Eccentric Five.

With a cast consisting of Toshiki Masuda, Koutaro Nishiyama, Takuya Eguchi, Hiroki Takahashi, and Kenji Nojima this unit has much to impress and it has actually done so in Eccentric Party Night!! with a great vocal performance by all the members, but Eguchi certainly left his mark. If not for his characteristic manner of singing, due to Hibiki’s personality, he would not be as in sync as he is.

Although the main focus of the group so far has been the fact that the five members, despite being a little far from normal are overflowing with talent, hence why no one can deny their art.

So far, the unit has solely released one track featured in Switch’s newest release ENSEMBLE STARS! ALBUM SERIES SWITCH.

Photobook

Eguchi, like many other seiyuu, has also had the opportunity to release photobooks that dive a bit more into his life outside of the recording studio.

The first one was back in 2016, with a more youthful and innocent theme, at least for the cover. “MEET” featured not only Eguchi’s photos but also a short interview.

The second one came out a year later, but even if Eguchi had not changed much the vibe that he gave off in “Eguchi Takuya no Motefuku PRESS Complete Photo Book” was totally different.

Eguchi had not only a more professional image but he also seemed a more fashionable and bettered version of his first take on the photo books challenge.

Variety

Bar SolidS (2015)

Quite possibly one of the most difficult TV show segments to handle, Bar SolidS was marked by frank talk about women, music, dirty jokes, and more, all with a drunk SolidS‘ cast back in 2015.

Even after being heavily edited in post-production, the show was borderline rated R (sometimes really rated R thanks to Natsuki Hanae‘s dangerous wordplays). 

Fukuyamuscle! (2015)

Eguchi is known for not playing sports or for not being an active person, so in 2015 at Fukuyamuscle alongside other seiyuu, such as Kenji Nojima, Hirofumi Nojima, Yuuki Ono, and Jun Fukuyama, just to name a few, Eguchi did several sports, and in several cases proved that he has some talent.

Several were the sports he played, from basketball 3×3, bouldering, keirin, yoga, kabaddi, dodge ball, and futsal.

Some of them revealed to be more of a struggle for him than others, however, overall Eguchi showed that despite his physique not being anything special, bouldering, for instance, is something that even he can do.

Some of the moments that Eguchi showed the limits of his capacities was when elasticity came into play, namely in yoga and in the special segment with Hirofumi and Fukuyama.

Real Treasure Hunt at the German Village (2015)

As a member of the cast chosen to allegedly to, according to the theme, save the world from a curse Eguchi was paired with Yuki Ono. And as if Eguchi by himself was not enough to make one laugh, the duo was even better.

From trying to deceive other members, namely Saito and Hatano, and failing miserably to do so, as he stuttered halfway through the attempt to trick his fellow 81 Produce talents, and the duo actually being able to solve the riddles and even getting lost in the woods, there was a little of everything.

Diamond no Ace: All-Star 2 (2016)

It is no surprise that Eguchi has not a lot of talent for tasks that involve moving the body around, so when the seiyuu was participating in the live event of Diamond no Ace, there was no shortage of comic comments regarding his ability to actually hit the ball.

As always, Eguchi did not fail to amuse us and not only did he have a hard time hitting the ball, partially due to his height and the rest being his lack of practice, but he also refused to acknowledge defeat when he was eliminated.

He simply made his usual goofy face and did not leave his position in the field.

Cafe SolidS (2016)

Taking into account that Bar SolidS proved to be almost a disaster – not because it wasn’t a good show, but due to the fact that drunk seiyuu talking about women and rated themes was difficult to handle for the show’s producers -, the second season of SolidS TV show took a quiet and more controlled turn.

Cafe Solids (2016) was alcohol-free and focused more on each of the member’s interests in different periods of their lives. Even without alcohol, the group’s mood was laidback and fun. 

Oreiya (2016-)

Hosted by Takuya Eguchi and Koutaro Nishiyama (assistant). This variety show’s concept comprises their traveling to unknown places to discover different ways to relax and have some healing time.

Soma Saito is the narrator of the series. Currently, the show is on its 4th season with 12 episodes.

As far as guests are concerned, the show has featured Yuichi Nakamura, Ryohei Kimura, and Natsuki Hanae, as well as Soma Saito – as a special guest on the 13th episode of every season.

Pictuiz (2017)

In 2017, Uchida teamed up with Takuya Eguchi to host the internet variety show, 空想写真問題ピクチャイズ (Kusou Sashin Mandai Pictuiz).

Pictuiz was, in its essence, a talk and quiz variety show that would base each episode on a set of pictures previously selected by viewers. The show aired every week from July 2017 to September 2017. In the end, it spawned a total of 12 episodes.

Watarururu (2017)

Hosted by Wataru Hatano, Watarururu brought to the table one of the most comic situations in Eguchi’s career.

Upon receiving emails to read for both the host and the guest, in this case, Eguchi, to do something the sender had asked for both Hatano and Eguchi are presented with the request to perform a “Mata don”.

Now, there is little need to explain how that would be an almost failed request as they have very different heights and therefore bigger or smaller legs. And that was the issue with them.

When it was Hatano’s turn there were no problems whatsoever, problems did arise when it was Eguchi’s. Imagine the spectacle it was for Hatano to try to take a photo of the “Mata don” while having Eguchi’s leg almost hitting him in the groin area.

Between nervous laughter and fear of something going wrong, both of them were fully occupied.

Takuya Eguchi, Taku Yashiro’s “Santaku !!!” – Santaku Variety – (2017)

If there is one variety show that is hilarious, “Santaku!!!” is the way to go. When you combine Takuya Eguchi and Yashiro Taku in the same place there is no way this could get better.

Eguchi is known for his goofy attacks and punchlines delivered with a straight and oftentimes innocent face when he knows better than anyone that he did something wrong; whereas Taku frequently is the one being laughed at as he perhaps makes it easy for others to be made the joke.

But, fear not, Yashiro’s variety sense does not stop there. On the show, guests have to somehow incorporate “Taku” into their names and the result is Chiba being called “Chitakun” and Eguchi called Nakajima “Takuki”.

Sanrio Dashi niconico live Valentine special (2018)

Eguchi, Souma Saito, and Jun Oosuka were the members, as they the members of the main cast. As in any event of the sort, there was a corner at which they had to do some fan service. Needless to say that things got out of hand.

They started with the task of delivering valentine’s day presents and ended up performing an impromptu BL skit. As he drank water like a spectator, fellow seiyuu Jun Oosuka only said “Oh, 81 [Produce] is really open-minded”.

At another event, Sanrio Danshi’s special event while the anime was airing with the whole cast, Eguchi was also unstoppable, between kissing his mascot and trying to explain his character in his dandy voice, there was no shortage of funny moments.

Facts

Jewelry designer

Back in 2013, Eguchi announced that he had created his jewelry line, which he named “Perusona”, and also mentioned that he’d be the head designer for the brand.

At the time, the first item he’d designed as a pendant and launched on December 8th of the year. It is called Perusona The Hatena Pendant.

Mangaka

It is no surprise that Eguchi is a well-versed seiyuu, but in 2017 he took everyone by surprise when an announcement came out with the news that Eguchi would add mangaka to his long resumé. “Eguchi Takuya no Gainen Planet” has been serialized on Kadokawa’s Dengeki Girl’s Style Online website.

Aside from Eguchi not being the most talented when it comes down to drawing, he wished to approach several topics in this 4-panel manga.

Doting senpai

In 2016, at the Ensemble stars radio on NICONICO, Souma Saito mentioned that Eguchi dotes on him quite a lot.

Eguchi tried to help Saito early on in his career who was having problems. Saito mentions that as a senpai Eguchi loves to dote on his kouhai, and although we mention Saito, he has not been the only witness to Eguchi’s kindness.

Curry lover… because it’s the easiest thing to cook

It is no mistake that Eguchi is a curry lover, in fact, he has mentioned several times on different occasions. Such is his passion for this dish, that he does not even tolerate others bad-mouthing curry in front of him.

More recently Eguchi mentioned that he loves other types of food, curry just happens to be the fastest thing he can cook (literally, it’s cooked in the microwave).

No care for his “image”

Seiyuu nowadays have to take care of their looks and have a certain image to uphold, however, Eguchi does not seem to abide by those rules. Whenever he has the opportunity, Eguchi displays his goofy face with no restraint.

In fact, it is more often for Eguchi to make weird faces and not care about how he looks to the fans than the other way around.

Regular in the basketball team in high school

One thing that many may know, through the several testimonies given by fellow seiyuu Ryohei Kimura at the Kira Kira Beat, Eguchi is not the most active person, so when the seiyuu mentioned in Fukuyamuscle! that in high school he was a regular in the basketball team, the most expected reaction is to doubt him.

Little did we know, but Eguchi scored point like there was no tomorrow, did fakes and feints, and because of his height, he even succeeded in stealing some balls from the adversary.

SolidS’ brotherhood

Hanae, Eguchi, Saito and Umehara tend to hang out quite often.

From hanging out at a bar and visiting each others’ homes, to guesting on each other’s shows, narrating or sponsoring each other’s works, or just simply mentioning each other and/or working together on the same anime projects, the SolidS members’ friendship is one of the most interesting and well known in the seiyuu business.

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That was it for this month’s Seiyuu Digest.