Anime Voices 3.0:

The top voice actors in the anime business have been previously identified as, on the boy's team:

Hikaru Midorikawa, who plays Yoshino Yusuke in Clannad, Lancer in Fate/Zero, Li Xengke in Code Geass, Tokia Mikagame in Flame of Recca, Kyousuke Natsume in Little Busters, and many other good roles.

Yuichi Nakamura, who plays Tomoya Okazaki in Clannad, Gray Fullbuster in Fairy Tail, Kyosuke Kosaka in Oreimo, Hotaru Oreki in Hyouka, and many other good roles.

Norio Wakamoto, who plays Cell in Dragonball, Woodchuck from Lodoss War, Gustave St. Germain in Baccano, Taishakutan in RG Veda, Charles zi Brittania from Code Geass, and many other good roles.

Jun Fukuyama, who plays Lelouche in Code Geass, Sota Takanashi in Working, Kraft Lawrence from Spice and Wolf, and many other good roles.

Showtaro Morikubi, who plays Shikamaru Nara from Naruto, Goro Shigeno from Major, and many other good roles.

Noriaki Sugiyama, who plays Sasuke Uchiha from Naruto, Ishida Uryuu from Bleach, Emiya Shirou from Fate/Stay Night and many other good roles.

Tetsuya Kakihara, who plays Simon from Tengen Toppa Gurrenn Lagann, Natsu Dragneel from Fairy Tail, and many other good roles.


And on the Girls Team (which is larger because girls' voices are naturally better than men's voices, and girls are the focus of anime in the first place and therefore all have the better roles, probably because girls are just plain better than men which is why they always end up being the focus of any story:)

Satsuki Yukino, who plays Mion and Shion Sonozaki in Higurashi, Kaname Chidori in Full Metal Panic, Kagome Higurashi in Inuyasha, and many other good roles.

Yukari Tamura, who plays Mei Sunohara from Clannad, Nanoha Takamachi from Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha, Rika Furude from Higurashi, Sakura Yoshino from Da Capo, Togame from Katanagatari, Ranpha Franboise from Galaxy Angel, Suzuha Amane from Steins;Gate, Masuzu Natsukawa from Oreshura, and many other good roles.  ((Is Yukari Tamura the greatest voice actress to ever live?  Possibly, but there are some other strong contenders still left to consider-->))

Mai Nakahara, who plays Nagisa Furukawa from Clannad, Teana Lanster from Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha, Juvia Luxor from Fairy Tail, Rena Ryuuguu from Higurashi, Nanami Yasuri from Katanagatari, Ritsuko Akizuki from Idolmaster, Teru Miyanaga from Saki, Nola from Spice and Wolf, Yuzuha from Utawarerumono, and many other good roles.  ((Mai Nakahara might actually be the best, but then there's even more competition-->))

Nana Mizuki, who plays Tsubomi Hanasaki/Cure Blossom in Pretty Cure, Fate Testorossa in Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha, Hinata Hyuuga in Naruto, Iga Oboro in Basilisk, and many other good roles.

Ami Koshimizu, who plays Hibiki Hojo/Cure Melody in Pretty Cure, Kallen Stadtfeld in Code Geass, Yayoi Takatsuki in Idolmaster, Nodoka Haramura in Saki, Holo in Spice and Wolf, and many other good roles.

Mariya Ise, who plays Killua Zoldyck in Hunter x Hunter, Urara/Cure Lemonade in Pretty Cure, Levi Macgarden in Fairy Tail, and many other good roles.

Eri Kitamura, who plays Miki Aono/Cure Berry in Pretty Cure, Kana Alberona in Fairy Tail, Yui from Angel Beats, Sayaka Miki from Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Makoto Kikuchi in Idolmaster, Yachiyo Todoroki in Working, Kureha Suminoya in Sora no Woto, Ami Kawashimi in Toradora, Karen Araragi in Bake-(etc)-monogatari, Miu Takanashi in Papa no Iukoto, Saya Takagi in High School of the Dead, and many other good roles.

Mayumi Tanaka, who plays Kuririn in Dragonball, Luffy in One Piece, Koenma in Yu Yu Hakusho, and many other good roles.

Aki Toyosaki, who plays Yui Hirasawa in K-On, Kazari Uiharu in Railgun, Nako Oshimizu in Hanasaku Iroha, and many other good roles.

Ayane Taketatsu, who plays Azusa Nakano in K-On, Kirino Kosaka in Oreimo, Miharu Shimizu in Baka to Test, Fu Sawatari in Tamayura, and many other good roles.

Aya Hirano, who plays Minato Nagase from Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka, Konata Izumi from Lucky Star, Misa Amane from Death Note, Ume Kurumizawa from Kimi ni Todoke, Haruhi Suzumiya from Haruhi Suzumiya, Lucy Heartfilia from Fairy Tail, and many other good roles.

Rie Kugimiya, who plays Happy from Fairy Tail, Iori Minase from Idolmaster, Nagi Sanzenin from Hayate no Gotoku, Taiga Aisaka from Toradora, Yuki Kataoka from Saki, Shana from Shakugan no Shana, Yuuhi Katagiri from Akaneiro ni Somaru Saka, Louise from Zero no Tsukaima, and many other good roles.  ((She may well be the best voice actress ever.  She even makes Hidan no Aria a good show.  She even made Dragon Crisis a good show, all on her own, by the sole power of her voice.))

Kana Hanazawa, who plays Kobato Hasegawa from Haganai, Mayuri Shiina from Steins;Gate, Nadeko Sengoku from Bake-(etc)-monogatari, Ruri Gokou (Kuroneko) from Oreimo, Kuro Matsumi from Saki, Shiori Shiomiya from The World God Only Knows, Kobato Hanato from Kobato, Kanade Tachibana (Tenshi) from Angel Beats, and many other good roles.  ((She may well be the best voice actress ever.  Some of her lines are so beautifully said that you can't help but replay them over and over, just like a spoken symphony.))

Ayako Kawasumi, who plays Lafiel from Crest of the Stars, Ko Aoki from Bakuman, Fuu from Samurai Champloo, Saber from Fate/Stay Night, Kazumi Yoshida from Shakugan no Shana, Akari Kamigishi from To Heart, Henrietta de Tristain from Zero no Tsukaima, and many other good roles.

Yukana Nogami, who plays Honoka Yukishiro/Cure White, Shirahoshi from One Piece, Reinforce from Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha, C.C. from Code Geass, Teletha Tessa Testorossa from Full Metal Panic, Ai Nanasaki from Amagami SS, and many other good roles.

However, I feel this list is incomplete.  That's because it leaves out some voice actresses who tend to be more prevalent in visual novels than anime.  But so long as they appear in any anime, their voices can be included in great anime voice actress lists, right?  They stand on even footing no matter how few roles they have:

Keiko Suzuki, who plays Haruka Saigusa and Kanata Futaki from Little Busters, her only anime role to date.  In Tomoyo After Story she plays the all important roles of both Kanako and Takafumi, she is Sizuru from Rewrite, and she is Yumemi Hoshino from Planetarian, the voice that will spawn more tears than any other in the history of storytelling, but none of these incredibly good stories have been animated so nobody knows about her.

Natsume Yanase, who plays Komari Kamikita in Little Busters, Akane Hanasaki in Da Capo II, and Chihiro Shindo in Ef.  Her voice is utterly unique to this world, like a crying chiming bell, or a rip in the fabric of spacetime.  A voice like that belongs in the list of all stars, however infrequently used by the anime business.

Tomoe Tamiyasu, who plays Rin Natsume from Little Busters.  In the Key visual novel, she also plays the roles of Sassasegawa and Riki, but the anime stole those roles from her, more's the pity.  So far, her role in Little Busters is her only important role, but her voice is so beautiful that it already belongs among the best.  Just listen to her say 'pudding' or 'itai' or 'baka' and it's already clear she's at the highest level.

and Ui Miyazaki, who plays Aisia from Da Capo Second Season and Charles Yoshino from Da Capo III, among other roles.  In episode 10 of D.C. S.S., as Aisia, she gives the classic line, "Shouri-da!  Shun, Shun."  Which is about as adorable as humanly possible.  Another instance is episode 6, where she goes 'Dokidoki, Wakuwaku,' in the middle of a trash compactor facing imminent death.  There's something about her voice which is so innocent and cute that no matter how few roles she has, she's more memorable than the most veteran pros.

 There are many more great voice actors and actresses than this, but none of them seize me by the throat and require I recognize their ability like the four new girls listed above do.  If any new voice does captivate me, I'll be sure to recognize them next time around as well.  By the way, who is the best?  Kana Hanazawa, Mai Nakahara, Yukari Tamura or Rie Kugimiya?  Think about that one for a while.