Yuta and Kurama Share the Top Spot
The birthday poll on Japanese anime news site Anime Anime collected 244 responses between May 19 and May 26, 2026. The respondent pool skewed heavily female (about 80%) and young, with roughly 35% of voters under 19.
Yuta Okkotsu from Jujutsu Kaisen and Kurama from Yu Yu Hakusho ended up in a dead heat, each pulling about 19% of the vote. Both characters originally appeared in Weekly Shonen Jump manga, a detail the poll results noted.
Fans praised Ogata's range across the two roles. For Yuta, readers pointed to the contrast between his timid early scenes in Jujutsu Kaisen 0 and the darker, more confident version that appeared in Season 3's Culling Game arc. One voter called out the gap between his "thin, boyish voice" as a first-year and his "reassuring, mature tone" as a second-year. For Kurama, comments leaned nostalgic. Multiple readers described the fox demon as their "first anime crush," with one fan noting they'd followed the character for over 30 years.
Hanako-kun Climbs to Third
The ghost of Kamome Academy's seventh school mystery, Hanako-kun from Toilet-bound Hanako-kun, jumped from fifth place in the 2024 edition of this poll to third in 2026 with about 17% support. Voters singled out the character's mix of middle-school energy and sudden flashes of something unsettling. One respondent credited the series with making them an anime fan in the first place.
The Rest of the Top 10
The remaining seven slots read like a tour of Ogata's career across three decades:
- 4th: Shinji Ikari, Neon Genesis Evangelion
- 5th: Nagito Komaeda, Danganronpa 3: The End of Hope's Peak Academy
- 6th: Haruka Tenoh / Sailor Uranus, Sailor Moon S
- 7th: Yukito Tsukishiro, Cardcaptor Sakura
- 8th: Tsukasa Yugi, Toilet-bound Hanako-kun
- 9th: Makoto Naegi, Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
- 10th: Yugi Mutou, Yu-Gi-Oh! (first anime)
Shinji Ikari landed at fourth, with one voter calling his repeated "I mustn't run away" one of anime's most widely recognized lines. BLEACH's Tier Harribel also drew reader comments, with fans hoping to see more of the character when the Thousand-Year Blood War's final cour begins airing in July 2026.
Other write-ins mentioned Ogata's work in the drama CD project idol show time, where she voices the teenage idol Rito Usami opposite Romi Park as his younger brother Koto.
A Career Still in Full Swing
Ogata debuted in 1992 as Kurama in Yu Yu Hakusho and has stayed consistently active since. She won the Takahashi Kazue Award at the 7th Seiyuu Awards, given to voice actors who have raised public awareness of the profession through media, and took Best Lead Actress at the 16th ceremony. Beyond performing, she runs the voice acting agency Breathe Arts and mentors younger talent.
Her 2025-2026 slate has been busy: Toilet-bound Hanako-kun Season 2, Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3's Culling Game arc, plus newer titles Ishura and Dead Account. On her birthday itself, June 6, she is scheduled to hold a birthday concert titled "YELL ROCK BEST!"
Looking Ahead
Several of Ogata's major franchises have upcoming releases for international fans. Jujutsu Kaisen Season 3's Culling Game Part 1 wrapped its broadcast run in March 2026, with Crunchyroll handling international streaming. BLEACH: Thousand-Year Blood War's final cour, featuring Ogata as Tier Harribel, is set to start in July 2026. Toilet-bound Hanako-kun Season 2 also streamed on Crunchyroll. For fans discovering Ogata's older roles through the poll, Neon Genesis Evangelion is available on Netflix, and Yu Yu Hakusho streams on Crunchyroll and Hulu.