Seiyuu Digest #6 – Yuto Suzuki

Seiyuu Digest #6 - Yuto Suzuki

Once a rising star and a stellar solo artist, his career is one of being an underdog. Talented seiyuu, skilled singer yet extremely underrated, this is Yuto Suzuki’s career.

Yuto Suzuki

Yuto Suzuki

KANJI: 鈴木裕斗

BORN: May 5, 1989

OCCUPATION: seiyuu, actor, singer, MC, radio personality

HEIGHT: 170cm

Note: This article is undergoing a deep update. There may be some information missing.

Seiyuu

Yuto Suzuki, born on 5, May 1989 in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan is one of the rising stars in seiyuu industry. A promising voice slowly rising to the top but with a lot of baggage in his over a decade career.

Right after completing high school, Yuto left his household in Yamagata with dreams of becoming a seiyuu and soon enrolled in a vocational school promoted by Dwango Artist Production (artist agency).

After a few years since his enrollment in the professional seiyuu school in Tokyo and while working part-time around the area, Yuto finally made his debut as a voice actor in 2008 under Japanese talent agency Dwango Artist Production.

Yuto Suzuki, Taiten Kusonoki, Tsuda Kenjiro and Kentaro Ito
Yuto Suzuki, Taiten Kusonoki, Tsuda Kenjiro and Kentaro Ito

A few minor roles in anime and games were presented to him but that certainly wasn’t enough for someone so willing to make a name for himself so, a few months later, he joined Amuleto (his current affiliated agency) where he’s a junior to big names in the business like Taiten Kusonoki and Kentaro Ito, as well as a handful of cross-area actors like stage actors/voice actors, Tsuda Kenjiro, Yuki Fujiwara and Genki Okawa.

At D.C. Girl's Symphony Pocket event in 2008
At D.C. Girl’s Symphony Pocket event in 2008

With such a versatile talent agency now backing him up, Yuto has grown significantly as an artist. For those who are following his steps since his debut days, those changes are enormous and impressively visible.

That shy, nervous boy, stumbling on his words as he presented himself in D.C. Girl’s Symphony Pocket otome game live event back in 2008, with the script recited plainly or even the self-contained almost afraid way he hosted his earlier radio shows is no more.

With an impressive charisma, refined looks, and stage presence as well as the funny, witty, and spontaneous MC skills, or mesmerizing singing skills that have impressed a lot of people, Yuto is more than eager to take the opportunity to reach the top seiyuu status.

Makai Ouji event 2013
Makai Ouji event 2013

In the anime industry, we can say that 2013 was a decisive year for him.

That was the year that landed him the first roles with significant exposure to the masses – Makai Ouji Devils and Realist and Diamond no Ace – those were the golden series in which those minor, yet noticeable roles were played, enabling Yuto’s first chance to play with the “big league seiyuu”.

2014 landed him his first big role, still not the main character, but those turned out to be major supporting ones.

Kou Osaki in Shounen Hollywood is an interesting character in the series and has proven to be a good outlet for Yuto to showcase both his skills as a seiyuu and as a singer. Followed by that was his fabulous performance as Izumo Midorikawa in 2014’s major Sci-Fi hit anime Sidonia No Kishi (Knights of Sidonia).

Once again Yuto gives his voice to a minor character which actually played a huge role in the plot, the polished vocal performance with the massive array of emotions displayed in those few episodes of the series turned the tables once again.

People were starting to finally notice him and paying a great deal to his voice acting.

Shounen Hollywood reading event 2014
Shounen Hollywood reading event 2014

Versatility might be the keyword to explain Yuto’s career so far. Besides being mainly a seiyuu he has tried almost everything in the entertainment business.

He’s been a radio host several times since his debut, has kicked off a solo career in the music business, has been part of several TV shows, acted in drama CDs, has been doing seiyuu work non-stop dubbing in critically acclaimed TV series such as “Bones”, “CSI” and ultimately has taken the plunge to the theater.

We’ll talk more about those in the respective sections of this Digest.

Radio

Trying to be a jack of all trades is what Suzuki certainly has aimed to be since his debut and he has fared pretty well in each and every attempt (with some minor setbacks), now being a full-fledged singer with seiyuu unit Marginal#4 and a rising voice actor at the age of 25.

Animarus radio personalities in 2012: Nobunaga Shimazaki, Leona Irie, Koutaro Nishiyama, Yuto Suzuki (down), Hideo Ishiwaka (top)
Animarus radio personalities in 2012: Nobunaga Shimazaki, Leona Irie, Koutaro Nishiyama, Yuto Suzuki (down), Hideo Ishiwaka (top)

Being Hideo Ishikawa‘s protégé in his debut years, he was helped a lot in his first endeavors, having hosted with the veteran legend three radio shows: An’s All StarsのX-tension radio, Hideo Ishikawa’s Dear Girl~Lesson~ and Animarus.

Many of those shows lasted at least one year, which sums up to a good amount of experience and contact with the radio world.

Girl's Symphony radio personalities in 2009: Yuto Suzuki, Horie Kazuma and Tatsuhisa Suzuki
Girl’s Symphony radio personalities in 2009: Yuto Suzuki, Horie Kazuma and Tatsuhisa Suzuki

Looking back and making an overview of his radio career, Yuto has been part of various radio shows alongside fellow seiyuu Kazuma Horie: Alice X Cross Radio on HiBiKi radio station, Da capo~ GS RADIO ~ on Lantis web radio, and Girl’s Symphony radio on HiBiKi radio station (these last two also involved fellow seiyuu Tatsuhisa Suzuki).

Girl’s Symphony radio was the complete entertaining havoc provided by the maddening Suzuki duo and Horie, the ever-so charismatic and stoic senior (can we take a moment to remember how crazy it was when the penalty game for the three of them involved them bare-chested hosting the initial minutes of the show while Kazuma Horie was hosting doing push-ups? All of this in the middle of the Winter? Madness for sure.)

Morikubo Showtaro & Suzuki Yuto Show★You Ari × Raji in 2010
Morikubo Showtaro & Suzuki Yuto Show★You Ari × Raji in 2010

Other radio shows co-hosted by Yuto include Morikubo Shotaro & Suzuki Yuto Show★You Ari × Raji, Sanctuary Yotsuba radio with Daisuke Namikawa, and Rejet presents: Love Bomber (Rejet radio show back in 2013 with Toshiki Masuda and Naozumi Takahashi as hosts) where Yuto was featured as a guest for some shows and the live event.

Rejet presents: Love Bomber in 2013
Rejet presents: Love Bomber in 2013

Music

Solo career (2009)

Debut single "garden of eden"
Debut single “garden of eden”

Taking our focus from that side of Yuto we focus our minds on his solo career in the music industry.

Having solo debuted in 2009, Yuto released only one single, his debut single titled “garden of eden” but soon after it was released his solo career died quickly.

He was under guidance from Masami Okui, famous Japanese singer that suddenly left Yuto stranded alone in his very first steps in the music business.

It was an unfortunate case that made him focus even more on his career as a voice actor.

Units

Animarus (2012)

Animarus debut single "Stride"
Animarus debut single “Stride”

In 2012, Suzuki joined Animarus, seiyuu unit consisting of Koutaro Nishiyama, Leona Irie, and Nobunaga Shimazaki.

That was an interesting project in which every member had the opportunity to showcase each of their charm points and talents.

The unit was supported by veteran seiyuu Hideo Ishikawa.

The seiyuu unit was a great way to boost the four young aspiring seiyuu’s popularity (many had debuted at that time while others were still waiting for their big break).

The unit provided their debut track titled “Stride” for the show but soon the hype behind the so-called unit faded away.

The unit disbanded with the end of the radio show and each member parted ways with Yuto being the only one fully active in the music business to date.

Marginal #4 (2013 -)

Marginal #4

A year after and per Rejet’s CEO Daisuke Iwasaki‘s choice, Yuto was finally making his way back into the music industry, this time as part of the big gamble four-piece seiyuu unit Marginal#4.

Toshiki Masuda, Yuto Suzuki (leader), Takahashi Naozumi, and KENN teamed up as Marginal #4 in 2013.

The unit made a thunderous debut with 100万回の愛革命, single that lived up to all the hype surrounding it at that time. The unit had an addictive pop-rock sound that easily impressed.

Marginal #4 lineup: KENN, Naozumi Takahashi, Toshiki Masuda, Yuto Suzuki // (2014) Credits: Twitter @yuto_suzuki
Credits: Twitter @yuto_suzuki

Marginal #4 rose in popularity with singles such as LOVE★SAVIOR (2013), Masquerade (2013), CHU CHU LUV♥SCANDAL (2014), and Red Hot Saga (2014), setting itself as one of the most exciting 2.5D units in Japan.

The unit ended up performing live for the first time on Rejet Fes 2013, performance that wasn’t released on DVD and still remains a unique experience for those that got to attend Marginal #4’s stage debut.

Credit: Animate TV

However, that status didn’t last long, and later in 2014, the group started to struggle with their identity and sound. Marginal #4 faced a major slum between 2014 and 2016 with all-new singles released during that period being complete disasters – Bingo!!!! (2014) and UFO (2015) -, plagued with overcrowded compositions, lacking vocal performances, and a weird overall feeling that something was missing from the unit’s original exciting yet alluring sound.

In 2016, with the releases of YO-HO! and IV aile, Marginal #4 started to show signs of trying to overcome those struggles. However, the group still lacked consistency, something they were only able to regain with Choooose me (2017).

Marginal #4 @ Pythagoras Production Big Bang Fes 2018

Since their debut, Marginal #4 have released 2 best ofs, 11 singles, 1 solo series, shuffle units releases, and performed live more than a handful of times, the most recent being the headlined show Marginal#4: Kiss kara Tsukuru Big Bang」Presents Pythagoras Production LIVE “Big Bang Fes”.

Since day 1, Suzuki was the undisputed best singer – yet, extremely underrated – in Marginal #4. He’s got a smooth, buttery singing tone and a lot of skill on top of it, being able to pull off ethereal falsetto, high notes, and even some head voice.

If need be, he’ll also go low in his vocal range, although that’s not his natural range.

In a live setting, Suzuki is filled with energy and, at the same time, an immense level of pride for Marginal #4 that translates into passionate performances that, although not flawless, are entertaining and very on-brand with the group’s image.

Marginal#4 on Rejet.Fes 2013 // Credits: Animate.tv
Marginal#4 on Rejet.Fes 2013

The unit has been pretty successful since its debut back in 2013 – even with hiccups along the way – and is still Suzuki’s most successful endeavor in the music industry.

Acting

Ashire Meros - Reading drama in 2014
Ashire Meros

2014 surely was a big year for him.

Besides all the voice acting, event promotion, hosting, among many other things, he grabbed the chance to be in a reading drama. Titled 走れメロス (Ashire Meros), Suzuki played the role of writer/playwright alongside fellow seiyuu and artist agency colleague Genki Okawa.

The reading drama was promoted by MAG.net, a Japanese entertainment show.

Ashire meros cast 2014
Ashire meros cast 2014

Facts

Yuto the overly energetic seiyuu

Banpresto Lab in 2013 - Yuto Suzuki was a guest alongside hosts Kenichi Suzumura and Ryota Osaka
Banpresto Lab 2014 – Yuto Suzuki guested alongside hosts Kenichi Suzumura and Ryota Osaka

Tsuda Kenjiro, fellow seiyuu/stage actor, plus Yuto‘s senior in Amuletohas said it before and we’ll paraphrase it: “If Yuto is quiet something is wrong! That kid is always energetic.”.

When Yuto is on stage it’s quite probable that he won’t stay quiet for long, his talkative and bubbly personality is always on fire whether we’re talking about live events or radio shows and it’s not the first time a seiyuu comments about it.

Yuto the friendship magnet

Known for his constant kindness, energy, pure heart, and bubbly personality that makes it almost impossible to hate him, Yuto is one of the seiyuu with more friends in the business, just to name a few: Yuki Fujiwara, Genki Okawa, KENNRyota OsakaSoma SaitoTatsuhisa Suzuki, Koutaro Nishiyama, Nobunaga Shimazaki, Takuya Sato, Daiki Yamashita, Kensho Ono and best friends Toshiki Masuda (Marginal#4) and Shouta Aoi.

Yuto Suzuki

His personality really doesn’t stop him from being a well-loved voice actor by his peers, be it the legends, the already established ones, or the newcomers – even musicians – let’s take for example his bromance with MIKOTO (Marginal#4‘s music composer and now a solo artist under 5pb records).

Yuto & Mikoto in 2015 // credits: @yuto_suzuki (twitter)
Yuto & Mikoto in 2015 // credits: 5pb records

Yuto the otome gamer

This is not a secret in the seiyuu industry in Japan: Yuto is a major otome gamer.

What was an initial curiosity for him about the genre all his girlfriends talked about, turned out to be something he started to gain interest in.

Yuto not only works on otome games but he also plays them as well as knowing each and every single detail there is about anything of that specific game.

When “Jeweric Nightmare” was released in 2013, Yuto was the one in charge of promoting the game with a small three-part video where he was playing as well as live commenting on it – he was as excited with the game as any other otome game lover around the world was when it was released.

This topic was often picked up when by some of his peers when made his debut as a seiyuu.

He’s justified the now love for those kinds of games as a way to research about women’s hearts since he’s a guy with bad luck when it comes to love – turns out he was dumped by his girlfriends quite often as he once recalled in a radio show – otome games have ever since then been his source to get a glimpse of what goes through a woman’s mind.

The rising seiyuu talent that mysteriously failed to be popular

In 2012 Yuto was featured on Newtype seiyuu/anime/game magazine as one of 10 rising talents in the seiyuu industry alongside Toshiki Masuda, Takuya Sato, Shouta Aoi, and Yuichi Iguchi, among others.

Little did Yuto know that in mid-2013 he’d make his powerful breakthrough as a Marginal#4 member and would get several roles in anime and games as well as hosting a wide variety of events.

However, something went wrong in that same year as years passed and while Toshiki Masuda, Takuya Sato, Shouta Aoi and others got popular, Suzuki was at exactly the same place as where he was in the beginning.

Over the years, Suzuki has struggled for visibility in the seiyuu industry and, seeing as the voice acting industry has gotten extremely competitive – more so than in 2013 -, Suzuki has shifted his focus to stage acting and variety show hosting with the occasional minor role in anime.

Yuto the guy of many skills

Few might know about this but Yuto has good English comprehension skills. He’s certified with level 3 English (A1) as well as level 2 (A1) Chinese.

Regarding his music skills and putting aside the already “certified” vocal skills, Yuto knows how to play taiko drums.

The major boost

Probably and besides Yuto’s own work as a seiyuu, trying to reach as many people as possible with his co-hosting in radio shows, live events, or those minor roles in anime, it was Rejet’s CEO Daisuke Iwasaki that gave Yuto the opportunity for his big break.

Daisuke Iwasaki - Rejet's CEO and Marginal#4's lyricist
Daisuke Iwasaki – Rejet’s CEO and Marginal#4’s lyricist
Honestly: Who knew Yuto and followed his career before Marginal#4 debuted?
The answer is: very few people.

Truly enough there are still a lot of people who don’t know him, but his name isn’t unknown anymore – people know him from what he’s been doing in the otome game industry and especially in the music industry as part of one of the most powerful seiyuu units in the business.

Daisuke Iwasaki has shown over the few years since Rejet’s founding, that he has a good eye for business (that is, of course, not an interesting subject for this digest) but also for finding and nurturing young talented seiyuu in the business.

Yuto joined Rejet’s all-star roster in 2013 and with that, his career received an important boost.

His starlight vocal skills earned him a safe haven in Marginal#4, a place that has allowed him to grow significantly as an artist and seiyuu, at the same time solidifying his position on Rejet’s roster as an important asset. All this gave him as many opportunities as he’s been getting nowadays.

It was the hosting of the 24-hour RejetTV broadcast – Summer Festival aired on Nico Nico on 7th /8th August 2014 – alongside Toshiki Masuda (day 1) and Ryotaro Okiayu (day 2) that really set him on a good path for the next collaboration to have so much success.

His love for otome games plus his witty skills as MC earned him a collaboration with 5pb records – a known otome cd company as well as the home for several pop-rock artists (KENN, MIKOTO, Kenji Nojima, Tomoaki Maeno) in their music branch.

Titled 55キャンペーン–  (55 campaign), this campaign has given Yuto the opportunity to promote otome cd’s, hold talk events, and other things in between throughout Japan since 2014’s summer.

On the other side, Yuto was chosen by Animate Japan to be the first seiyuu to work as “one day Manager” at their stores. That initiative gathered a lot of fans and he has also been touring Animate stores all over Japan ever since as a “one day manager” hand in hand with 55キャンペーン–.

"one day manager" at Animate in 2014 // Credits (twitter): @yuto_suzuki
“one day manager” at Animate in 2014

Yuto was once a seiyuu that usually went to maybe one or two events per year to promote something, now he’s finally host/guest in many shows (sometimes two or three a week) and is promoting himself alongside a major collaboration with Animate stores and the label 5pb.

And a path towards greatness awaits him. It’s just a question of time – and luck.


And with this massive overview of Yuto Suzuki‘s career and interesting facts, we complete another Seiyuu Digest!

For media, PR, and business enquiries, please email me at: info@handthatfeedshq.com

Vanessa Silva
Vanessa Silvahttps://www.handthatfeedshq.com
The Hand That Feeds HQ founder, content creator, and music reviewer. Basically, the only person managing everything at The Hand That Feeds HQ. Stumbling upon Mamoru Miyano's "Orpheus" in 2011 was the start of this journey. If music is thought-provoking or deep, you may find her writing almost essays (not limited to, but it happens a lot with Soma Saito's music). She's the producer and host of the male seiyuu-centric podcast, SEIYUU LOUNGE (see Spotify link in this profile).
  1. Thanks for writing this! I found Yuto through MARGINAL#4 and am pretty familiar with all his works, but hadn’t realised he’d already been in the industry for so long. It just goes to show how one big project can really make a seiyuu’s name – I’m glad he was chosen for MG4! I love reading these digests, keep up the great work! 🙂
    On a side note, I find it interesting that another member of Animarus – Nishiyama Koutarou – has now potentially gotten his big break with the anime Binan Koukou Chikyuu Bouei-bu too!

    • Glad you liked it! There are so few Yuto fans out there that I thought he was being neglected. It’s great seeing him take off as a seiyuu as well as a musician. Out of Animarus – Nobunaga Shimazaki had the best breakthrough but Yuto and Koutarou are on their way. The only one left is Leona that is clouded in the shadows and still hasn’t done something “big” until now – but his time will arrive.

      Thanks for taking the time to read our digests! You rock!

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