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Some of 18th Seiyu Awards' Winners Announced

The organizers of the 18th Annual Seiyū Awards announced the winners of the Merit Awards and the Kazue Takahashi Awards on Tuesday.

Merit Awards

Award for the seiyū who have contributed to many genres, including foreign works, over the years Toshio Furukawa
Agency: Aoni Production
Roles: One Piece (Portgas D. Ace)

Eiko Yamada
Agency: 81 Produce
Roles: Dragon Ball Super (Mai)

Kei Tomiyama/Kazue Takahashi Awards

Award for the seiyū who has been active in every field including acting Akemi Okamura
Agency: Mausu Promotion
Roles: One Piece (Nami), Porco Rosso (Fio)

Nozomu Sasaki
Agency: Inspire
Roles: The Legend of the Galactic Heroes (Julian Mintz)

The awards ceremony, which will reveal the full list of awardees, will be held on March 9. Starting in 2023, the categories of "Best Lead Voice Actor," "Best ing Voice Actor," and "New Voice Actor" are no longer 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 ed 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)."

Source: Press release