The official website of 17th Seiyu Awards announced on Feb 21, 2023, that Ikue Otani (Pikachu VA) and Matsumoto Rika (Ash VA) have won under the Kids/Family Awards category, selected by children.

Along with this, the winners for various other categories were also announced, namely Merit Award, Kei Tomiyama Award, and Kazue Takahashi Award. Checkout the full list of winners below:

Merit Award

The award is presented to Voice Actors who have contributed to many genres, including foreign films, over the years.

• Chikako Akimoto

Roles: Ippatsu Kanta-kun, Astro Boy

Affiliation: Ritrovo

• Yusaku Yara

Roles: Chibi Maruko-chan, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba

Affiliation: Aoni Production

Kei Tomiyama Award

This award is presented to male Voice Actor who has been active in various fields including acting.

• Junichi Suwabe

Roles: Yuri On Ice!!, Kuroko’s Basketball, Jujutsu Kaisen

Affiliation: Haikyo

Kazue Takahashi Award

This award is presented to female Voice Actor who has been active in various fields including acting.

• Maria Kawamura

Roles: Heavy Metal L-Gaim, Revolutionary Girl Utena, Saint Seiya

Affiliation: Freelance

The 17th Seiyu Award ceremony will be held on March 11, 2023, for the first time in three years. The rest of the winners, in addition to the above mentioned winners, will be announced during the award ceremony.

This years Awards will see that “Best Lead Voice Actor,” “Best Supporting Voice Actor,” and “New Voice Actor” will no longer be separated on the basis of gender and will be integrated.

Henceforth,

• Best Actor / Best Actress ⇒ Best Voice Actor
• Best Supporting Actor/ Best Supporting Actress ⇒ Supporting Voice Actor
• New Actor / New Actress ⇒ New Voice Actor

“Of course, voice acting is a career that transcends gender, such as women voicing male characters and vice versa.
By doing this, we believe that it will be easier to focus on the fact that it is a voice actor award and to clearly convey the intention of the award. We have decided to change the name of the category in order to spread recognition of voice actors, which is the purpose of the award, and to contribute to raising the status of voice actors,” the Executive Committee of Seiyu Awards commented.

Source: Official Website