The organizers of the 17th Annual Seiyū Awards announced the winners of the Merit Award, Kids/Family Award, Kei Tomiyama Award, and Kazue Takahashi Award on Tuesday.
Merit Award
Award for the seiyū who have contributed to many genres, including foreign works, over the years
【第十七回声優アワード先行発表！】
🏆功労賞
長年に渡り外画も含め多くのジャンルに貢献された声優■秋元 千賀子
所属：Ritrovo■屋良 有作
所属：青二プロダクション#声優アワード pic.twitter.com/77XZlScRPn— 声優アワード実行委員会 (@seiyuawards) February 21, 2023
Chikako Akimoto (left in post above)
Agency: Ritrovo
Roles: Ippatsu Kanta-kun (Ichiro)
Yūsaku Yara (right in post above)
Agency: Aoni Production
Roles: Chibi Maruko-chan (Hiroshi Sakura), Dr. Slump (Senbei Norimaki)
Kids/Family Award
Award selected by children
【第十七回声優アワード先行発表！】
🏆キッズファミリー賞
子ども達の視点で選ばれた声優■大谷 育江
所属：マウスプロモーション■松本 梨香（まつもと りか）
所属：Matsurica pic.twitter.com/yw4GwJk9jk— 声優アワード実行委員会 (@seiyuawards) February 21, 2023
Ikue Ōtani (left in post above)
Agency: Mausu Promotion
Roles: Pokémon series (Pikachu)
Rica Matsumoto (right in post above)
Agency: Matsurica
Roles: Pokémon series (Ash)
Kei Tomiyama Award
Award for the male seiyū who has been active in every field including acting
【第十七回声優アワード先行発表！】
🏆富山敬賞
作品の出演を含め各方面で活躍された声優(男性)■諏訪部 順一
所属：俳協#声優アワード pic.twitter.com/pAqouYW0Nb— 声優アワード実行委員会 (@seiyuawards) February 21, 2023
Junichi Suwabe
Agency: Haikyō
Roles: The Prince of Tennis (Keigo Atobe), Kuroko’s Basketball (Daiki Aomine), Yuri!!! on Ice (Victor Nikiforov)
Kazue Takahashi Award
Award for the female seiyū who has been active in every field including acting
【第十七回声優アワード先行発表！】
🏆高橋和枝賞
作品の出演を含め各方面で活躍された声優(女性)■川村 万梨阿（かわむら まりあ）
所属：フリーランス#声優アワード pic.twitter.com/SwIRyvtkpt— 声優アワード実行委員会 (@seiyuawards) February 21, 2023
Maria Kawamura
Agency: Freelance
Roles: Heavy Metal L-Gaim (Gaw Ha Leccee; Lillis Faw), Slayers – The Motion Picture (Naga the Serpent), Hana no Utame Gothicmade (Berin)
The awards ceremony, which will reveal the full list of awardees, will be held on March 11. This year’s ceremony will be the first in-person ceremony in three years. In addition, this year the categories of “Best Lead Voice Actor,” “Best Supporting Voice Actor,” and “New Voice Actor” will no longer be separated by gender. The awards committee stated regarding the change, “voice acting is a job that transcends gender, as female voice actors sometimes voice male characters and vice-versa.” The committee added that it discussed the topic for a few years and decided to make the three awards gender free out of respect for diversity.
Starting in 2017, the Special Merit Award, which honors deceased voice actors and actresses who have contributed to many genres, was replaced with an honoring of all voice actors and actresses who passed away in the previous year.
Beginning in 2019, the awards introduced four new categories, which include “Foreign Movie/Series Award,” “Game Award,” “Influencer Award,” and “MVS (Most Valuable Seiyū).”