Popular anime you've heard Sanji's voice in

Important takeaways

• Hiroaki Hirata, known for voicing Sanji in One Piece, has displayed an impressive vocal range in various roles.
• His appearances as Genma, Leomon and Godot highlight his versatility and his talent.
• Hirata's portrayal of Mutta Nanba and Wild Tiger prove his unexpected ability to excel in leading roles.

One Piece is home to some of the most memorable and iconic main characters in all of anime and manga, with Wine smoke Sanji is one of the most prominent examples. The romantic chef of the Straw Hat Pirates is a funny but honorable and charming gentleman who stands out for many reasons, one of them being his gruff voice, which belongs to none other than the great Hiroaki Hirata.

Hirata is an experienced Japanese voice actor and narrator who has worked in the anime industry for over 27 years. As a result, he has portrayed many different characters where he got the chance to show off his impressive vocal range, especially since some of them are quite different from Sanji. The following eight roles are the best examples of Hiroaki Hirata's talent.

8 Genma Shiranui

In Naruto & Naruto Shippuden

Even if One Piece and Naruto are often considered “rival series”, this has not stopped several talented voice actors from voicing characters in both of them, and Hiroaki Hirata is clearly no exception. In this case, he lent his voice to Genma Shiranuione of the many jonin who work at Hidden Leaf Village.

This is clearly a more subdued role for Hirata, as Genma is more calm and collected than Sanji and most of his other characters. Still, his solid performance and deep voice helped Genma emerge as one of the most memorable background characters in all of Naruto and Naruto Shippuden.

7 Leomon (and others)

In Digimon Adventure

Digimon Adventure is one of the most iconic anime series produced by Toei Animation, right behind Dragon Ball and One Piece. It's not uncommon for major Japanese animation studios to cast voice actors in more than one project, and Hiroaki Hirata has had the honor of working on this show since its inception, with his most popular character being Leomon.

With his excellent performance, he manages to bring a lot of kindness and charm to the so-called “King of Beasts”, while keeping his ferocity and scare factor intact. As good as this portrayal is, this is not Hirata's only character in it Digimon Adventureas he also voiced Megadramon, Hagurumon, Hiroaki Ishida and even the narrator himself.

6 Klein / Tsuboi Ryōtarō

In Sword Art Online

Hiroaki Hirata has often primarily specialized in voicing two specific (but very different) types of characters: tough and intimidating fighters or super friendly and nice guys. Because of this talent, he brought to life what would eventually become one of the most popular characters in the Sword Art Online: Tsuboi Ryōtarōalso known as Klein.

Klein is an easy-going and good-natured character known for being the first friend Kirito ever made in the original Sword Art Onlinenot to mention he even explained the basic mechanics of the game to him. On the other hand, he's also a lady, which must have resonated with Hirata after voicing Sanji for so many years. Klein would never have earned his rightful reputation among fans were it not for Hirata's performance.

5 Terada Tatsugorō

In Gintama

Roronoa Zoro's voice actor, Kazuya Nakai, portrayed Toushirou Hijikata in the Gintama, but he is not the only famous one One Piece talent who worked on Sunrise's hilarious adaptation of Hideaki Sorachi's manga. Yet Hiroaki Hirata ended up voicing a much more tragic character: Terada Tatsugorō.

Once again, Hirata showcases his impeccable ability to bring kind but strong and cool characters to life, as Terada was a policeman protecting the Kabuki district, and a great rival to Doromizu Jirocho, before his tragic death. This is not the most famous character in the Gintamabut he is certainly one of the most memorable, thanks in part to Hirata's impressive acting.

4 Godot

In Ace Attorney

• Release date: April 2, 2016
• Genre(s): Drama, mystery
• Studio: A-1 Images, CloverWorks
• Streaming Service(s): Crunchyroll

It cannot be denied Godot is one of the most popular characters in the whole Ace lawyer franchise. So when it came time for this iconic game series to be adapted into an anime, he had the honor of being voiced by the great Hiroaki Hirata, who was absolutely perfect for this role.

Godot is a bold and confident prosecutor who in many ways is not that different from Sanji, which makes Hirata's gruff voice end up fitting him surprisingly well. Godot was already quite a loved one Ace lawyer character, but Hirata's charismatic portrayal in the anime adaptation certainly contributed to his increased popularity among anime viewers.

3 Mutta Nanba

In Space Brothers

Hiroaki Hirata is best known for portraying suave and cool side characters, like Sanji or Godot, but he is also talented enough to star in a show as one of the main characters. Indeed, he has done this on numerous occasions, with one of the most prominent examples being: Mutta Nanba from Space Brothers.

As one of the titles Space BrothersMutta Nanba is quite a complex character that requires the full extent of Hirata's vocal talent: he's calm and collected, he's very intelligent, he cares a lot for his brother Hibito, and he's just a really likable guy overall. This is definitely one of the best vocal performances of Hirata's entire career.

2 Kotetsu T. Kaburagi / Wild Tiger

In Tiger & Bunny

Another memorable anime protagonist who was voiced by Hiroaki Hirata is Kotetsu T. Kaburagi (also known as Wild Tiger), one of the titular main characters from Tiger & Bunny. This should come as no surprise though, as Kotetsu actually looks a lot like his most famous role, Sanji.

This is another one of those roles where Hirata got to show his incredible range, especially his flawless ability to portray characters that are heroic and selfless, but also quite funny and stubborn. At the end of the day, both Wild Tiger and Mutta Nanba from Space Brothers is undeniable proof that Hirata needs to voice the main characters in anime more often.

1 Rikiya Yotsubashi / Re-Destro

In My Hero Academia

As mentioned several times in this list, most of the characters that Hiroaki Hirata voices are kind and easy-going hero figures, and he has excelled in this type of role for many years. That is precisely why his performance as the despicable villain Re-Destro in season 5 of My Hero Academia was such an unexpected treat. In just one astonishing performance, Hirata managed to seamlessly pull off both Re-Destro's likable CEO persona and his true self, an ambitious and manipulative villain who will go to extreme lengths to achieve his goals.

While Sanji's voice can initially be heard somewhat in Re-Destro's lines, Hirata does such an excellent job of eventually giving him an identity of his own, one that is extremely unlike any of his other characters. Oddly enough, season 5 of My Hero Academia also introduced Flect Turn – the film's main villain The mission of world heroes – who is voiced by none other than Kazuya Nakai. That means both Sanji and Zoro were technically voicing villains in the same show around the same time.