In my opinion, creating a proper performance by a character is achieved by a lot of different aspects. Obviously, the voice acting is extremely important in making your character as believable or likeable as possible.  Without a good script and proper ability by the writers to define the character, even the most talented voice actors in the industry wouldn’t be able to make your character come to life.

The perfect example of a well written character with an amazing voice acting has to be Yakumo Yuurakutei performed by Akira Ishida from the modern classic series “Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu” and it’s clear as day to see why. Yakumo is a performer and he has to take on different roles all the time, always pretending to be someone else, a character in a story. Hence why the concept of the character itself already allows Akira Ishida to shine through with his vast amount of talents.

Yakumo everyday seems withdrawn, quiet, gives out the premonition of being very stingy. That’s why the moments when he enters the scene and starts acting seem so special every time. Akira Ishida utilizes his seemingly infinite talents to create characters that are all over the place yet somehow always work for the type of the tale Yakumo is currently presenting to us. But Akira Ishida doesn’t present us those characters as someone completely different from Yakumo. In fact he is somehow able to fuse both the typical dire tone of Rakugo’s protagonist with the distinct personalities of the presented tales. You can always tell that those characters are in fact played by Yakumo himself but at the same time you can fully believe in all the different masks he’s wearing on the stage. The fantastic and untouchable display of pure skill and talent by one of the industry’s most talented actors combined with his excellently written character ended up creating one of the best examples of quality voice acting I’ve ever seen in any piece of media to date.