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I want to be a voice actor whose work will be remembered even 10 or 20 years from now.

Voice actor : Shoya Chiba

In front of Building No. 33 Toyama Campus

Voice actor Shoya Chiba plays the lead role in many youth anime works, such as "Ao no Hako" (as Inomata Daiki), "Classroom of the Elite" (as Ayanokoji Kiyotaka), and "Blue Orchestra" (as Aono Hajime). Not only does he play the lead role, but he also plays the "voice of youth" in various works, and he spent his youth at Waseda University's School of Culture, Media and Society. Chiba, who was active as a voice actor while still a student and also worked hard in student club, shared his own youth story and his pride as a voice actor.

During his student days... The Waseda period that nurtured the voice actor Shoya Chiba

Chiba was active as a child actor and was familiar with acting from an early age. Although his career came to an end when he was in junior high school, he wondered "what kind of job is it that only I can do?" and he aimed to become a voice actor when he was in high school.

"I started attending a voice actor training school when I was in my second year of high school. It was also the time when I was aiming to go to university, and I wanted to study media, theater, and literature, which are all things that are familiar to voice actors, so I applied to School of Culture, Media and Society at Waseda University."

After enrolling in the university, Chiba began his career as a voice actor in his first year. He explored what he could gain from working as both a student and a voice actor.

"The fact that I actually lived college life should be relevant when I play college students or characters who have college experiences. So, I thought it was important to have experiences with my friends outside of work. I spent my days wanting to enjoy the things that a student should do."

One of those experiences was participating in a student club band. Looking back on his interactions with his seniors and classmates, he reminisces about that time, saying, "I remember it as the peak of my youth."

"It was an irreplaceable time for me to shed tears at the graduation of a close senior student and experience the excitement that only students have at that moment. In my work as a voice actor, I often play characters who work hard at something, such as club activities or graduation, so my experiences as a student have definitely become a part of me."

Chiba visited Waseda University Student Center (Toyama Campus Building No. 30) for the first time since graduating. He used to go there when he was a student.

Also, the experience of performing on stage at the  Waseda Festival provided him with a different kind of inspiration than he gets from expressing himself as a voice actor.

"When playing a character as a voice actor or on stage, the basic principle is to 'make the most of the role.' You're not actively expressing yourself, so thinking about how to express yourself on stage with the band and actually performing in front of an audience was a valuable experience in terms of thinking about 'entertainment.'"

With these experiences, he landed his first lead role in his second year at university, as Gion Kenji, a small rugby player in the high school rugby-themed production "ALL OUT!!".

"It was just when my undergraduate seminar started, and the time for that seminar was almost the same as the recording time for "ALL OUT!!". I almost felt like I was at a dead end, but my seminar teacher was very understanding, and I was able to manage both."

At almost the same time, he also landed the role of the protagonist, Azumi Kotaro, an aspiring novelist in the anime "The Moon is Beautiful."

"Although the broadcast dates were different, the recording took place around the same time as 'ALL OUT!!'. For one, the protagonist is a hot-blooded guy who needs to have a powerful voice in a sports setting. For the other hand, the protagonist is a timid guy who wants to express his inner self through acting rather than his voice, in a production that is like a live-action movie despite being an anime. By experiencing both extreme characters at the same time, I was able to have more time to think about acting. There is no doubt that this period helped shape the 'voice actor Shoya Chiba'."

How can we create a difference that makes people think, "It's because of this person."

After spending his time at Waseda University as both a student and a voice actor, he finally started his career as a voice actor after graduation. Even though he has already played main characters, the voice acting industry is a tough and competitive society. Even for Chiba, it was difficult to rest easy for a while.

"Until then, I was often the youngest person at work, and people around me would say, 'You're a university student. You're so young.' But when I lost the title of student and was put on the same terms as other voice actors, I realized how much tougher the world was. More than anything, what should I do when I'm not working? My university classmates were working from morning until night, so what was I doing? I felt a great sense of urgency."

Nevertheless, by facing each job and character and working closely with the production staff, he built up a track record and trust.

"If I'm not satisfied with something, even if I get the OK, I'll make another suggestion. Also, since voice actors and production staff tend to have different positions, I think about how we can communicate with each other. It may seem like a simple thing, but I try to be aware of this precisely because I'm in a different location every day."

It's been eight years since Chiba graduated, and he's turning 30 this year. What are his thoughts about his future career?

"I want to continue playing the main character, and I want to explore all possibilities so that I can be entrusted with roles other than the main character as well. To that end, I want to continue to grow older as a person. Looking at my seniors, I feel that there are roles that they got due to the luck of their age, and there are also roles that they would still be the right person for even if they were to audition 20 years from now. For me too, establishing a position that can be said to be 'only possible for Shoya Chiba' is a theme that I want to build on in the long term."

What he aims for beyond that is to be involved in national productions that can have an impact on many people.

"While "national" is a loose term, I want to be involved in anime that makes viewers want to pursue a career in that industry, that makes them want to try their hand at the theme of the work. I also want to be a voice actor whose work will be remembered even 10 or 20 years from now."

Chiba has been searching for a job that only he can do and has landed on the profession of voice actor, where he continues to work hard to create his own unique character. Although it may seem like a difficult challenge to achieve the ambition of "something only you can do," which everyone aspires to, Chiba advises that a change in perspective will change what you see.

"When we hear 'something only I can do,' like aiming to be the main character as a voice actor, we tend to think in terms of a 'position', such as a job type or title. But what's really important is to create change in a job that anyone can do, that makes people think 'it's because of this person.' That, too, is something only I can do. More than what you become, it's what you do. Of course, you should do the tasks you're assigned to do properly. I think it's in the other areas that your 'uniqueness' comes out."

To that end, he continued, it is important to live each day with the awareness of expanding your "range of possibilities."

"Even on campus, the areas you frequent tend to be limited. But just changing floors can completely change the people you meet and the experiences you have. That's the great thing about university. Once you enter the workforce, you'll realize that there's no other place where you can meet people with different tastes than university. I hope everyone makes the most of this."

[Waseda Weekly] Introduction video

Chiba narrated the promotional video for Waseda Weekly, which was renewed in April 2025. It is also being shown on campus signage, so be sure to check it out!

【お知らせ】
早稲田大学の学生部公式Webマガジン「早稲田ウィークリー」のナレーションを務めさせていただきました！

母校に仕事で恩返しできてとても光栄です！
ぜひ読んでみてくださいね！https://t.co/dRUmwlxzG3 https://t.co/hOzmJyOfZs

— 千葉翔也 (@Shoya_Chiba) April 1, 2025

Introduced on Chiba's X account