Tatsuhisa Suzuki is one of the popular names in the Seiyuu industry and one of the biggest names in the music industry thanks to the success of his art-rock band, OLDCODEX.
Tatsuhisa Suzuki
KANJI: 鈴木達央
BORN: November 11, 1983
OCCUPATION: seiyuu, singer, radio personality
HEIGHT: 173cm
A note, this article was written in 2015 and is currently undergoing a deep update.
Some information below may be dated or not updated.
Seiyuu
Taking his first steps into the seiyuu business at the age of 19, after dropping out of school and going into a seiyuu school, Tatsuhisa had his debut and in only a year he had already a leading role in the famous basketball anime Dear boys with his character Tsutomu Ishii.
In 2005 he was lucky enough to have roles in two famous anime series such as Black Cat and Bleach, but both of them were very minor roles. Three years later he had a role in Black Butler as Viscount Druitt, a role that made him gain lots of recognition from the fans and also from people in the industry.
After 2008 he was also in SKET Dance, BLOOD-C, Kuroko no Basket as the comic character Kazunari Takao.
In 2013 we can say that he had at least three big roles that everyone remembers, in Uta no☆Prince-sama♪ Maji Love 2000% as Ranmaru Kurosaki, in FREE! as Makoto Tachibana and we cannot forget his role in Kyoukai no Kanata as Hiroomi Nase.
This last year we can mention his role as Yuuta Mishima in the currently airing sports anime Diamond no Ace and we can also anticipate his comeback as Ranmaru in the third season of UtaPri, Uta no☆Prince-sama♪ Maji Love Revolutions confirmed to air this year.
With all the characters he has already played, we can say that throughout the years he’s been gaining lots of experience with different roles which made him the versatile seiyuu he is today.
Music
Solo career
Tatsuhisa started to take his first steps into the music industry when he began to sing an anime song from “Saint Beast” which caught the attention of the music director from Lantis, Kenichirou Tsutsumi, that ended up invited him to join them.
He started this project with an innocent and young visual and with a more pop genre but he also tilted to a more pop-rock genre in his album Turn on my Life.
This solo project earned him a total of four singles and an album that served as a base for him to use in his future work in the field but it was also his launching ramp to his future success in the industry.
Despite him sounding fresh and new while showing his abilities with his voice that little by little started to resemble a lot to what we listen to in his current band, OLDCODEX, at the beginning we still could listen to him using his vibrato in most songs, something we seldom listen to nowadays due to his current genre and surprisingly it sounded pretty good for an “inexperienced” person in the field and it was an amazing addition that turned him into someone worth listening to.
2007 would be the last time we would ever listen to Tatsuhisa Suzuki working solo with the innocent and young image with the record label Lantis.
OLDCODEX (2009 -)
In 2009 Tatsuhisa returned to the music industry with a new image, more adult and completely different from before.
Not only he returned as a musician, separating his seiyuu work from the music he plays, but he had switched labels to work with GloryHeaven until 2012, but later on, he ended up returning to Lantis.
This time he came as the vocalist of a band named OLDCODEX.
The current band had numerous member changes throughout the years which caused them to change a little their genre since the beginning, but that wasn’t that bad for the band.
At the moment the only members left from the original band are Tatsuhisa (the vocalist) and Yorke (in charge of the lyrics) having lost their previous guitarist R.O.N (who was also in charge of the music composition), that now has a solo project and does the instrumentals of some of Lantis’s talents, but they also lost their other guitarist and drummer.
This project has been growing a lot since their debut and overall the band has been well accepted by the fans given the thought that their first release was in the Oricon charts as #51 and if we compare it to his solo project who didn’t even make it I think it was a pretty good position.
OLDCODEX, unlike, when he was working solo, is a punk-rock oriented band so it was a great change in genres, especially for those who followed Tatsuhisa since his beginning, not to mention that in the beginning, it was R.O.N that created the instrumental pieces, but now that he’s left they have a bigger workload making Tatsuhisa in charge of some lyrics and instrumental as well as Yorke.
Truth be told this band has been gaining importance, whether be it by their albums or singles that featured many tracks that were the intro or ending themes in anime which make it easier for to people known about the band or simply because they’ve been turning into a pretty good band throughout the years if I do say so myself, of course, and as others bands, they’ve also made some mistakes in some songs, but nothing that ruined their reputation.
One thing we cannot forget is that to those fans who give importance to their positioning in the Oricon charts, we can easily see that year after year they’ve been climbing the ladder, especially their last album released A Silent, within the Roar that was the highest position ever by the band being the #5.
When we talk about OLDCODEX it is true that some people might say that they preferred Tatsuhisa when he sang with a less rough voice, but if we see this way, he sings the genre he likes and while some may think he only knows how to sing punk-rock that is not the truth because their albums, almost as standard, have a ballad and that’s when we can actually see that he has a lot of vocal potential, one example is How Affection from their previous album A Silent, within the Roar.
Seiyuu Units
Like many other seiyuu, Tatsuhisa has been in his fair share of seiyuu units that were created whether because of a game or a radio show.
His first unit was with fellow seiyuu Naozumi Takahashi because they were in the same radio show called “Takahashi Naozumi Trouble maker“, their unit was called Naozumi Takahashi + Tatsuhisa Suzuki and they released a total of two songs “Gold Goal” and “Always in my heart”, the opening and ending themes of their radio show.
Cell Division (2006 – 2007)
In 2006, Tatsuhisa Suzuki teamed up with fellow male seiyuu, Wataru Hatano, in the R&B unit, Cell Division.
During their short-lived career, the duo released two singles: Song on morning (2006) and One Night Stand-愛体 (2007).
The unit stemmed from a radio show called 『倉橋トキヤ×佐伯カズナ CELL DIVISIONの男話室13』.
They were only active for 1 year after disbanding.
Naozumi Takahashi + Tatsuhisa Suzuki (2006 – 2008)
Several years later, in 2006, a new seiyuu unit was formed.
Originated from Takahashi Naozumi‘s radio show Takahashi Naozumi Trouble maker, in collaboration with newbie seiyuu Tatsuhisa Suzuki the duo, simply called Naozumi Takahashi + Tatsuhisa Suzuki released “Gold Goal” and “Always in my heart“, singles that were featured as the opening and ending themes for the show.
Both singles were strong releases showcasing their singing skills.
Naozumi’s focus was on putting the spotlight on Suzuki with this unit. This unpredictable and unexpected seiyuu unit debut ended up being short-lived but quite awesome at the same time.
Two years later the duo disbanded – at the same time that Tatsuhisa‘s presence in the show was over.
QUARTET★NIGHT (2011 -)
QUARTET★NIGHT is the most successful 2D idol unit in the industry.
They have paved the way for other 2D units to top charts and actually compete toe-to-toe with other music acts, even those completely outside of the seiyuu industry.
QUARTET★NIGHT is an idol group from the Shining Entertainment group and they consist of Showtaro Morikubo (as Reiji Otori, the leader) Tatsuhisa Suzuki (as Ranmaru Kurosaki), Tomoaki Maeno (as Camus), and Shouta Aoi (as Mikaze Ai).
Tatsuhisa Suzuki’s deep and husky vocals are the edge that QUARTET★NIGHT needed, as well as the perfect contrast to Shouta Aoi’s crystal clear, delicate high vocal register.
The group’s first appearance in-game was in 2011’s Uta no☆Prince-Sama ♪ Repeat and their first appearance on anime was on 2013’s Uta no☆Prince-sama♪ Maji Love 2000%.
Their debut track was the self-titled, Quartet Night, song featured on 2012’s Shining All Star CD.
QUARTET★NIGHT then participated in the Unit Drama CDs in 2011, this being the first glimpse everyone was getting at how the group sounded – even if they were not performing together but split into 4 groups.
Over the years, the group has participated in several shuffle and duet series, and has even performed solo on 2 occasions: All Star After Secret Idol Song & Quartet Idol Song (2014) and Maji LOVE Revolutions Idol Song (2015).
Now, when it comes to group songs, it is was Poison KISS (released in 2013), one of the most electrifying and catchy songs in the whole Utapri franchise, that made many fans of the franchise question their loyalties.
The song was featured in the anime series Uta no☆Prince-sama♪ Maji Love 2000% and has been a fan favorite since then.
But up until 2016, the group was popular within its franchise and fandom. It wasn’t until then that the group would explode in popularity and turn into the most successful 2D idol group in the industry.
The release of God’s S.T.A.R. shook the industry. Up until then, 2D idol music barely sold beyond their fanbase and, at times, it barely charted on Oricon and Billboard’s charts.
God’s S.T.A.R. came out of nowhere and, in 1 week, was awarded a Gold Record Certification by RIAJ.
The single sold 108,000 physical copies and caught the long-coveted #1 spot on Oricon Weekly’s Singles chart, being the first group to achieve it.
Since then, the group has been a chart-topper, having several releases within the top 10.
QUARTET★NIGHT made their stage performance at Uta no Prince-Sama Maji LOVE LIVE 4th STAGE (2015) and since then they have attended all of the franchise’s lives, delivering electrifying performances on top of impressive chemistry between members.
The group’s popularity skyrocketed in 2016 and, in 2017, QUARTET★NIGHT turned into the first-ever 2D unit to actually promote themselves in a solo live, taking the 2D into 3D.
QUARTET NIGHT LIVE EVOLUTION 2017 was the group’s first-ever solo live show and it was a massive hit. It counted with group, solo, and duet performances, all for an impressive show that made their fans begging for more.
A year later, QUARTET★NIGHT was back on the road for their 2nd live show, QUARTET NIGHT LIVE FUTURE 2018.
This wasn’t an ordinary live show. This was a full-fledged idol performance, counting with cinematic intro VTRs and a big production behind them. This was yet another successful live for the talented quartet.
QUARTET★NIGHT is the most successful 2D unit and the most popular in the Utapri franchise.
Their music continues to evolve with the group and their live performances are always something to anticipate due to the quality that this group can deliver on the vocal end.
STYLE FIVE (2013 -)
Now one of the seiyuu units that he’s been a part of with very recognition is STYLE FIVE, which was created with the purpose of promoting the anime FREE!.
As part of the main cast – voicing Makoto Tachibana – Suzuki joined the group. STYLE FIVE included as well fellow seiyuu Daisuke Hirakawa, Tsubasa Yonaga, Mamoru Miyano, and Nobunaga Shimazaki.
Not to forget to mention that this seiyuu unit usually have famous seiyuu, but in this case and also with the previous one aforementioned it is the same, they’re all known which in some way gives more impact to this units.
The unit has released Splash Free, Future Fish, Rising Free, FREE-STYLE SPIRIT, and Gold Evolution.
PENTACLE★ (2015 -)
Created with the main cast of Dance With Devils, Wataru Hatano, Soma Saito, Subaru Kimura, Kondo Takashi and Daisuke Hirakawa – with Tatsuhisa Suzuki joining the group on a later stage -, PENTACLE★ have released several singles featured in the anime series as well as the franchise’s games.
So far the unit released the singles Mademo★iselle (2015), 覚醒のAir starring PENTACLE★ (2015), BL(U)CK BASIS (2016) and 光れCAROL (2018).
Radio
Since he debuted, Tatsuhisa has been a part of numerous radio shows with fellow seiyuu Naozumi Takahashi in Takahashi Naozumi Trouble maker or with Wataru Hatano in 『倉橋トキヤ×佐伯カズナ CELL DIVISIONの男話室13』, but he also was a part of a radio show titled ダ・カーポ～gs radio～ that was created because of a game called D.C. Girl’s Symphony.
The show was presented by Kazuma Horie, Yuuto Suzuki and Tatsuhisa Suzuki, them being the main characters of the actual game.
He’s also hosted the radio show Mobile Cultural Broadcast A&G Suzuki Tatsuhisa Radio TIME, Dengeki Taishou, Shuuei Academy Maiden Research Intitute and BLOOD-R.
Those are just some of the radio shows he’s hosted to show you that he’s been working hard in every department possible.
Wrapping this up, after we get to know more about Tatsuhisa himself, we can only expect more and greater things in the future from him, whether as a seiyuu or as a musician.
This was this month’s Seiyuu Digest, hope you enjoyed it and please look forward to next month’s.
Spelling: “Kazunari Tao” should be “Kazunari Takao”
Thanks for correcting the typo.